"Dorothy," wailed the sorely tried and tired little fairy, "where is my father?"
"Here! Here!" honked Pajuka, doing his best to make Humpy turn 'round. "This is the King of Oz!"
Dorothy, astonished though she was by Ozma's sudden entry, hastened to break the shock of her disappointment. "You must remember," she explained hastily, "he is not quite himself!"
"He's bewitched—we're all bewitched!" groaned the goose, flapping his wings despairingly.
"Well, who hit me with the castle?" demanded Scraps, staring around indignantly. "I told you the King was a dunce!"
The little girls, Sir Hokus and the Wizard were regarding the stuffed man's actions with horror and dismay.
"Are you my father?" faltered Ozma, approaching the dummy timidly. "Why, where have you been all these years?"
"In the pictures," answered Humpy in a matter-of-fact voice. With a final snatch he had captured the tailor's ears and was more interested in them than in his daughter. "I double for the stars, my dear. I fall and die and all that sort of thing. Ask Dorothy, she knows all about me."
"He's been leading a double life," murmured the Scarecrow, looking solemnly at Sir Hokus of Pokes. Then, facing the King, he asked frankly, "Are you a dub or a double?"
"He's bewitched, I tell you," puffed Pajuka, trying to get some attention. "Make her disenchant us!" He shot his neck angrily in Mombi's direction and immediately everyone's attention was directed to the old witch, whom the Elegant Elephant still guarded in the corner.