The Magic of Oz

be greatly shamed when the Oz people see her in this condition, and

perhaps she'll take the lesson to heart and leave the monkeys alone

hereafter."

However, the Glass Cat could not see or hear, and to avoid carrying

her on the journey the Wizard picked the mud out of her eyes and ears and

Dorothy dampened her handkerchief and washed both the eyes and ears

clean.

As soon as she could speak the Glass Cat asked indignantly: "Aren't

you going to punish those monkeys for playing such a trick on me?"

No," answered the Wizard. "You played a trick on them by pulling

their tails, so this is only tit-for-tat, and I'm glad the monkeys had their

revenge."

He wouldn't allow the Glass Cat to go near the water, to wash herself,

but made her follow them when they resumed their journey toward the

Emerald City.

This is only part of your punishment," said the Wizard, severely.

Ozma will laugh at you, when we get to her palace, and so will the

Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, and Tik-Tok, and the Shaggy Man, and

Button-Bright, and the Patchwork Girl, and--"

And the Pink Kitten," added Dorothy.

That suggestion hurt the Glass Cat more than anything else. The Pink

Kitten always quarreled with the Glass Cat and insisted that flesh was

superior to glass, while the Glass Cat would jeer at the Pink Kitten,

because it had no pink brains. But the pink brains were all daubed with

blue mud, just now, and if the Pink Kitten should see the Glass Cat in such

a condition, it would be dreadfully humiliating.

For several hours the Glass Cat walked along very meekly, but toward

noon it seized an opportunity when no one was looking and darted away

through the long grass. It remembered that there was a tiny lake of pure

water near by, and to this lake the Cat sped as fast as it could go.

The others never missed her until they stopped for lunch, and then it

was too late to hunt for her.

I s'pect she's gone somewhere to clean herself," said Dorothy.