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them. This part of the garden, which lay before the castle, was not walled in,

but extended to the roadway, and the paths were open to the edge of the

forest; so, after two hours of vain search for her friends, the little girl returned

to the castle.

But at the doorway a soldier stopped her.

I live here," said Trot, "so it's all right to let me in. The King has given me a

room."

Well, he has taken it back again," was the soldier's reply. "His Majesty's

orders are to turn you away if you attempt to enter. I am also ordered to forbid

the boy, your companion, to again enter the King's castle."

How 'bout Cap'n Bill?" she inquired.

Why, it seems he has mysteriously disappeared," replied the soldier, shaking

his head ominously. "Where he has gone to, I can't make out, but I can assure

you he is no longer in this castle. I'm sorry, little girl, to disappoint you. Don't

blame me; I must obey my master's orders."

Now, all her life Trot had been accustomed to depend on Cap'n Bill, so when

this good friend was suddenly taken from her she felt very miserable and

forlorn indeed. She was brave enough not to cry before the soldier, or even to

let him see her grief and anxiety, but after she was turned away from the

castle she sought a quiet bench in the garden and for a time sobbed as if her

heart would break.

It was Button-Bright who found her, at last, just as the sun had set and the

shades of evening were falling. He also had been turned away from the King's

castle, when he tried to enter it, and in the park he came across Trot.

Never mind," said the boy. "We can find a place to sleep."

I want Cap'n Bill," wailed the girl.

Well, so do I," was the reply. "But we haven't got him. Where do you s'pose he

is, Trot?

I don't s'pose anything. He's gone, an' that's all I know 'bout it."

Button-Bright sat on the bench beside her and thrust his hands in the

pockets of his knickerbockers. Then he reflected somewhat gravely for him.

The Scarecrow of Oz