Toto ran
after her at times, barking joyously the while, only to become sober
again and trot along at Dorothy's heels. The little Kansas girl
walked holding Button-Bright's hand clasped in her own, and the wee
boy with his fox head covered by the sailor hat presented an odd
appeaance. Strangest of all, perhaps, was the shaggy man, with his
shaggy donkey head, who shuffled along in the rear with his hands
thrust deep in his big pockets.
None of the party was really unhappy. All were straying in an unknown
land and had suffered more or less annoyance and discomfort; but they
realized they were having a fairy adventure in a fairy country,
and were much interested in finding out what would happen next.
8. The Musicker
About the middle of the forenoon they began to go up a long hill.
By-and-by this hill suddenly dropped down into a pretty valley,
where the travelers saw, to their surprise, a small house standing
by the road-side.
It was the first house they had seen, and they hastened into the
valley to discover who lived there. No one was in sight as they
approached, but when they began to get nearer the house they heard
queer sounds coming from it. They could not make these out at first,
but as they became louder our friends thought they heard a sort of
music like that made by a wheezy hand-organ; the music fell upon
their ears in this way:
Tiddle-widdle-iddle oom pom-pom!
Oom, pom-pom! oom, pom-pom!
Tiddle-tiddle-tiddle oom pom-pom!
Oom, pom-pom--pah!
"What is it, a band or a mouth-organ?" asked Dorothy.
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