They had now reached the opposite side of the river. Thanking the Scooters for their kindness and bidding them an affectionate farewell, the little girl scampered quickly up the bank. Humpy had already been tossed ashore.
"Good-bye!" shouted the Scooters, cheerfully waving their sails. They were in mid-stream by this time.
"Good-bye!" called Dorothy and Humpy, picking himself up clumsily, waved his crown.
"Ah, still the same size I see," smiled Humpy, looking amiably at Dorothy. "Any more adventures coming?"
"Well, I liked that one," chuckled Dorothy, pulling up her stockings and straightening her hat. "Didn't you?"
Humpy nodded, his eyes wandering over the fields and hills, spreading out invitingly before them. "Is this the way to your palace?" he demanded, throwing his cloak back over one shoulder and waving his stick ahead.
"It's not my palace," explained Dorothy, taking his arm, "it's Ozma's. She is the Queen of Oz, you know, but I have the dearest little apartment there, with a hundred fairy tale books, a hundred games, a hundred dresses, a dog named Toto and a little white kitten."
"Well, I hope your dog won't chew me," said Humpy uneasily. "I was in a picture with a dog once. He was supposed to knock me down. Well, he did and, before they could pull him away he had chewed off my ear and eaten up my wig. I hate dogs."
"But Toto's only a little dog, you'll just love Toto," Dorothy assured him quickly.
Humpy still looked doubtful and, seeing that dogs made him unhappy, Dorothy began telling him all about the Scarecrow and Scraps. Chatting pleasantly, they walked along for more than an hour, when Humpy, ever on the lookout for adventures, gave Dorothy's arm a quick jerk. Moving slowly behind a thin fringe of trees to the right was a great gray shadow. As they stopped, the shadow stopped too and out through the trees something that looked like a long grey snake came curiously curling.