inches long; but they were ivory white and sharp

pointed, and no wonder the Hoppers feared them.
The skins of the Horners were light brown, but

they wore snow-white robes and were bare footed.
Dorothy thought the most striking thing about them

was their hair, which grew in three distinct
colors on each and every head--red, yellow and

green. The red was at the bottom and sometimes
hung over their eyes; then came a broad circle of

yellow and the green was at the top and formed a
brush-shaped topknot.

None of the Horners was yet aware of the
presence of strangers, who watched the little

brown people for a time and then went to the
big gate in the center of the dividing fence. It

was locked on both sides and over the latch was
a sign reading:

"WAR IS DECLARED"
"Can't we go through?" asked Dorothy.

"Not now," answered the Champion.
"I think," said the Scarecrow, "that if I could

talk with those Horners they would apologize to
you, and then there would be no need to fight."

"Can't you talk from this side?" asked the
Champion.

"Not so well," replied the Scarecrow. "Do you
suppose you could throw me over that fence?

It is high, but I am very light."
"We can try it," said the Hopper. "I am perhaps

the strongest man in my country, so I'll undertake
to do the throwing. But I won't promise you will

land on your feet."
"No matter about that," returned the Scarecrow.

"Just toss me over and I'll be satisfied."
So the Champion picked up the Scarecrow

and balanced him a moment, to see how much
he weighed, and then with all his strength

tossed him high into the air.
Perhaps if the Scarecrow had been a trifle

heavier he would have been easier to throw and
would have gone a greater distance; but, as it

was, instead of going over the fence he landed
just on top of it, and one of the sharp pickets

caught him in the middle of his back and held him
fast prisoner. Had he been face downward the

Scarecrow might have managed to free himself, but
lying on his back on the picket his hands waved in

the air of the Horner Country while his feet
kicked the air of the Hopper Country; so there he

was.
"Are you hurt?" called the Patchwork Girl

anxiously.
"Course not," said Dorothy. "But if he wig-gles

that way he may tear his clothes. How can we get
him down, Mr. Champion?"

The Champion shook his head.
"I don't know," he confessed. "If he could

scare Horners as well as he does crows, it might
be a good idea to leave him there."

"This is terrible," said Ojo, almost ready to
cry. "I s'pose it's because I am Ojo the Unlucky

that everyone who tries to help me gets into
trouble."

"You are lucky to have anyone to help you,"
declared Dorothy. "But don't worry. We'll rescue

the Scarecrow somehow."
"I know how," announced Scraps. "Here, Mr.

Champion; just throw me up to the Scarecrow. I'm
nearly as light as he is, and when I'm on top the

fence I'll pull our friend off the picket and toss
him down to you."

"All right," said the Champion, and he picked up
the Patchwork Girl and threw her in the same

manner he had the Scarecrow. He must have used
more strength this time, however, for Scraps

sailed far over the top of the fence and, without
being able to grab the Scarecrow at all, tumbled

to the ground in the Horner Country, where her
stuffed body knocked over two men and a woman and

made a crowd that had collected there run like
rabbits to get away from her.

Seeing the next moment that she was harmless,
the people slowly returned and gathered around the

Patchwork Girl, regarding her with astonishment.
One of them wore a jeweled star in his hair, just

above his horn, and this seemed a person of
importance. He spoke for the rest of his people,

who treated him with great respect.
"Who are you, Unknown Being?" he asked.

"Scraps," she said, rising to her feet and
patting her cotton wadding smooth where it had

bunched up.
"And where did you come from?" he continued.

"Over the fence. Don't be silly. There's no
other place I could have come from," she replied.

He looked at her thoughtfully.
"You are not a Hopper," said he, "for you

have two legs. They're not very well shaped,
but they are two in number. And that strange

creature on top the fence--why doesn't he stop
kicking?--must be your brother, or father, or son,

for he also has two legs."
"You must have been to visit the Wise Donkey,"

said Scraps, laughing so merrily that the crowd
smiled with her, in sympathy. "But that reminds

me, Captain--or King--"
"I am Chief of the Horners, and my name is Jak."

"Of course; Little Jack Horner; I might have
known it. But the reason I volplaned over the

fence was so I could have a talk with you about
the Hoppers."

"What about the Hoppers?" asked the Chief,
frowning.

"You've insulted them, and you'd better beg
their pardon," said Scraps. "If you don't, they'll

probably hop over here and conquer you.
"We're not afraid--as long as the gate is

locked," declared the Chief. "And we didn't insult
them at all. One of us made a joke that the stupid

Hoppers couldn't see."
The Chief smiled as he said this and the smile

made his face look quite jolly.
"What was the joke?" asked Scraps.

"A Horner said they have less understanding than
we, because they've only one leg. Ha, ha! You see

the point, don't you? If you stand on your legs,
and your legs are under you, then--ha, ha, ha!--

then your legs are your under-standing. Hee, bee,
hee! Ho, ho! My, but that's a fine joke. And the

stupid Hoppers couldn't see it! They couldn't see
that with only one leg they must have less

under-standing than we who have two legs. Ha, ha,
ha! Hee, bee! Ho, ho!" The Chief wiped the tears

of laughter from his eyes with the bottom hem of
his white robe, and all the other Horners wiped

their eyes on their robes, for they had laughed
just as heartily as their Chief at the absurd

joke.
"Then," said Scraps, "their understanding of the

understanding you meant led to the
misunderstanding."

"Exactly; and so there's no need for us to
apologize," returned the Chief.

"No need for an apology, perhaps, but much need
for an explanation," said Scraps decidedly. "You

don't want war, do you?"
"Not if we can help it," admitted Jak Horner.

"The question is, who's going to explain the joke
to the Horners? You know it spoils any joke to be

obliged to explain it, and this is the best joke I
ever heard."

"Who made the joke?" asked Scraps.
"Diksey Horner. He is working in the mines, just

now, but he'll be home before long. Suppose we
wait and talk with him about it? Maybe he'll be

willing to explain his joke to the Hoppers."
"All right," said Scraps. "I'll wait, if Diksey

isn't too long."
"No, he's short; he's shorter than I am. Ha,

ha, ha! Say! that's a better joke than Diksey's.
He won't be too long, because he's short. Hee,

hee, ho!"
The other Horners who were standing by roared

with laughter and seemed to like their Chief's
joke as much as he did. Scraps thought it was odd

that they could be so easily amused, but decided
there could be little harm in people who laughed

so merrily.
Chapter Twenty-Three

Peace Is Declared
"Come with me to my dwelling and I'll introduce

you to my daughters," said the Chief. "We're
bringing them up according to a book of rules that

was written by one of our leading old bachelors,
and everyone says they're a remarkable lot of girls."

So Scraps accompanied him along the street to a
house that seemed on the outside exceptionally

grimy and dingy. The streets of this city were not
paved nor had any attempt been made to beautify

the houses or their surroundings, and having
noticed this condition Scraps was astonished when

the Chief ushered her into his home.
Here was nothing grimy or faded, indeed. On the

contrary, the room was of dazzling brilliance and
beauty, for it was lined throughout with an

exquisite metal that resembled translucent frosted
silver. The surface of this metal was highly

ornamented in raised designs representing men,
animals, flowers and trees, and from the metal

itself was radiated the soft light which flooded
the room. All the furniture was made of the same

glorious metal, and Scraps asked what it was.
"That's radium," answered the Chief. "We

Horners spend all our time digging radium from
the mines under this mountain, and we use it

to decorate our homes and make them pretty and
cosy. It is a medicine, too, and no one can ever

be sick who lives near radium."
"Have you plenty of it?" asked the Patchwork

Girl.
"More than we can use. All the houses in this

• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)
• circle [´sə:kəl] n.圆圈 v.环绕；盘旋 (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən] n.冠军 vt.拥护 (初中英语单词)
• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)
• sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)
• conquer [´kɔŋkə] v.征服；克服；抑制 (初中英语单词)
• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• dwelling [´dweliŋ] n.住所；寓所 (初中英语单词)
• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
• decorate [´dekəreit] vt.装饰；装修(房屋等) (初中英语单词)
• downward [´daunwəd] a.下降的，向下的 (高中英语单词)
• regarding [ri´gɑ:diŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)
• merrily [´merili] ad.欢乐地；愉快地 (高中英语单词)
• heartily [´hɑ:tili] ad.衷心地；亲切地 (高中英语单词)
• decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)
• apology [ə´pɔlədʒi] n.道歉(的话)；辩解 (英语四级单词)
• picket [´pikit] n.(尖)桩 v.设置；监视 (英语六级单词)
• brilliance [´briljəns] n.光辉，辉煌 (英语六级单词)