In
the big, cold, outside world people did not invite shaggy men to their
homes, and this shaggy man of ours had slept more in hay-lofts and
stables than in comfortable rooms. When the others left the great
hall he eyed the splendidly dressed servants of the Princess Ozma as
if he expected to be ordered out; but one of them bowed before him as
respectfully as if he had been a prince, and said:
"Permit me, sir, to conduct you to your apartments."
The shaggy man drew a long breath and took courage.
"Very well," he answered. "I'm ready."
Through the big hall they went, up the grand staircase carpeted thick
with velvet, and so along a wide corridor to a carved doorway. Here
the servant paused, and opening the door said with polite deference:
"Be good enough to enter, sir, and make yourself at home in the rooms
our Royal Ozma has ordered prepared for you. Whatever you see is for
you to use and enjoy, as if your own. The Princess dines at seven, and
I shall be here in time to lead you to the drawing-room, where you
will be privileged to meet the lovely Ruler of Oz. Is there any
command, in the meantime, with which you desire to honor me?"
"No," said the shaggy man; "but I'm much obliged."
He entered the room and shut the door, and for a time stood in
bewilderment, admiring the grandeur before him.
He had been given one of the handsomest apartments in the most
magnificent palace in the world, and you can not wonder that his good
fortune astonished and awed him until he grew used to his surroundings.
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