www.freeclassicebooks.com

What's that?" asked the boy.

You don't seem to know anything, Button-Bright. Invis'ble is a thing you

can't see."

Then Toto's invis'ble," declared the boy, and Dorothy found he was right.

Toto had disappeared from view, but they could hear him barking furiously

among the heaps of grey rock ahead of them.

They moved forward a little faster to see what the dog was barking at, and

found perched upon a point of rock by the roadside a curious creature. It had

the form of a man, middle-sized and rather slender and graceful; but as it sat

silent and motionless upon the peak they could see that its face was black as

ink, and it wore a black cloth costume made like a union suit and fitting tight

to its skin. Its hands were black, too, and its toes curled down, like a bird's.

The creature was black all over except its hair, which was fine, and yellow,

banged in front across the black forehead and cut close at the sides. The

eyes, which were fixed steadily upon the barking dog, were small and

sparkling and looked like the eyes of a weasel.

What in the world do you s'pose that is?" asked Dorothy in a hushed voice, as

the little group of travelers stood watching the strange creature.

Don't know," said Button-Bright.

The thing gave a jump and turned half around, sitting in the same place but

with the other side of its body facing them. Instead of being black, it was now

pure white, with a face like that of a clown in a circus and hair of a brilliant

purple. The creature could bend either way, and its white toes now curled the

same way the black ones on the other side had done.

It has a face both front and back," whispered Dorothy, wonderingly; "only

there's no back at all, but two fronts."

Having made the turn, the being sat motionless as before, while Toto barked

louder at the white man than he had done at the black one.

Once," said the shaggy man, "I had a jumping jack like that, with two faces."

Was it alive?" asked Button-Bright.

No," replied the shaggy man; "it worked on strings and was made of wood."

The Road to Oz