"Who are these people?" asked Jack Pumpkinhead

"Dorothy and Toto once visited us in the Land of Oz, and we were great chums there," replied the Scarecrow. "But her home is here in Kansas, where the wheat fields grow."

"Oh!" responded Jack, "is that stuff wheat, that the farmer is cutting out there?"

"No, indeed," said the Wogglebug, who was anxious to air his wisdom. "For it is called barley."

"That's right," said Dorothy. "And who might these two unusual people be?"

"Allow me to introduce Mr. H.M. Wogglebug T.E.," said the Scarecrow. "And Jack Pumpkinhead, and this is his Sawhorse. And this you saw us come here in is the flying Gump. We built it ourselves."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Dorothy in awe. "The Land of Oz has even more wonders than I was able to stay there to find out!"

"Yes, indeed!" said the Tin Woodman. "And we would be delighted to relate to you all that has happened with us since you left."

"Oh my! Of course!" said Dorothy hastily. "You all must come inside and meet my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry."

"It will be our pleasure," said the Scarecrow.

And so the group of four queer travelers followed Dorothy into the farmhouse. At the entrance they met with Uncle Henry who had paused in his reaping of the field, and Aunt Em who had paused in her hanging out the laundry.

"So you two must be the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman who we heard Dorothy tell so much about after she came home after the tornado," said Uncle Henry. "You are real after all!"

"Oh yes, of course," stated the Scarecrow. "As real as that other Scarecrow I noticed hanging out in your cornfield.

"Not really," said Aunt Em. "For that one isn't alive and walk and talk like you can. I wish he could then the crows would scared to pieces."

"How is it you are alive anyway?" inquired Uncle Henry.

"I don't know," replied the Scarecrow. "I just am. And I didn't stay with the farmer who made me long enough to ask him."

"Well, anyway," continued Uncle Henry. "It is a real pleasure to meet you all. And also such a relief! For it means our Dorothy was not going off her head after all from being caught in that tornado that took her with our old house six months ago."

"I should certainly say not!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman.

"We do so want to learn all we can about you this Land of Oz you came from," said Aunt Em smiling. "Would you care to sit down at the kitchen table and have some tea as we do so?"

"Of course," said the Wogglebug. "I would love a cup of tea."

"We will gladly join you," said the Scarecrow. "But the rest of us cannot drink tea or anything as we are not built to do so.

"Just as well for me," said the Tin Woodman, "Or I would rust from drinking anything other than oil."

"Quite alright," said Aunt Em with a laugh.

"Is tea liable to spoil pumpkins?" asked Jack Pumpkinhead.

And so the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman along with Jack Pumpkinhead and the Wogglebug sat down around the kitchen table with Dorothy sitting at the head as Aunt Em brewed tea and placed a cup in front of the Wogglebug who accepted it graciously.

"How have you two been in ruling your Kingdoms since I left?" Dorothy asked her two old chums.

"I've been really grand in doing so with all my heart. Thank you," replied the Tin Woodman.

"Not the same for me," said the Scarecrow. "I may have had the brains for being a ruler. But I didn't have the heart unlike our friend Nick here. But I didn't have long to worry about it though because a few months after I was crowned this girl named General Jinjur leading an army of girls in revolt with knitting needles took the crown from me. Jinjur thought she would make a better ruler than me and wanted the Emerald City to be ruled by a woman for a change."

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Dorothy in surprise. "That must have been just dreadful for you!"

"It was initially," said the Scarecrow. "But the Tin Woodman and these other two came to my rescue and we went to see Glinda to seek her assistance. Only for her to tell us about the missing Princess Ozma who was the daughter of the King before the Wizard came. She was the rightful heir to the throne. And so we found her and in a way we never would have ever expected to!"

"I would so love to meet this Princess Ozma," said Dorothy wistfully. "For I've always wanted to meet a real princess. How did you find her?"

"We found out she was actually in the disguise of a boy named Tip who was with us all along," explained the Scarecrow. "You see, the Wizard gave her to a witch named Mombi as a baby who placed this enchantment upon her. And we had to get Mombi to break the spell."

"And you may get to meet Ozma someday," added the Tin Woodman. "I'm sure the two of you would become the best of friends quite quickly."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Dorothy in amazement. "I'd read a lot about people and things being placed under enchantments in books in all kinds of ways. But for a girl to be turned into a boy, or a boy to be turned into a girl is the one that tops them all!"

"I miss Tip every day," sighed Jack Pumpkinhead. "He was my dear father after all."

"At least you have Ozma as your dear mother from now on," said the Wogglebug consolingly.

Dorothy from Jack Pumpkinhead and the Wogglebug. "I would now so like to learn a lot more about the two of you. Jack, you said this boy named Tip was your father? How is that?"

"He put me together," explained Jack. "He built my body, carved my face, and picked out my clothes. But it was the witch Mombi you've just heard of who brought me to life with was called the Powder of Life."

"Powder of Life," repeated Dorothy with interest. "Scarecrow do you suppose that was what brought you to life also?"

"I don't know," said the Scarecrow, "I suppose it could have been. I just don't know how. And I was made in the Munchkin country and Jack was made in the Gilikin country."

"I never got to see the Gilikin country when I was in Oz," admitted Dorothy. "How is it like there?"

"It's very purple," said Jack Pumpkinhead. "At least I've heard it is. But I can't see color."

"That is too bad," said Dorothy sympathetically. "Now what about you, Mr. Woggles?"

"Wogglebug," said Mr. Wogglebug with a smile. "H.M. Wogglebug T.E. To be exact."

"What do your initials mean?" asked Dorothy curiously.

"Kind of you to ask," replied the Wogglebug who never tired of this question. "H.M. Means Highly Magnified and T.E. means Thoroughly Educated."

"Oh, I see," said Dorothy. "And so you are a bug?"

"Yes, indeed," he said. "And very proud of it."

"You are a very big bug," said Dorothy. "Why are you so big when all the bugs I've ever seen fit on my finger?"

"I'm delighted to tell you," he said beaming. "I used to be just big enough to fit on your finger also. But I crawled into a schoolhouse that was run by the great and wise Professor Nowitall. He taught me everything I know. And that was how I earned the degree of Thoroughly Educated you see. And one day he found me and to show me to his students he projected me onto a giant magnifying screen and I just stepped off of it at the first opportunity I had and kept my Highly Magnified size. And where I am now just goes to show you how one can rise in the world from education. I am now Ozma's tutor and Royal Adviser to her. And no doubt I am the wisest among us here."

"But I thought I was the wisest among us here!" complained the Scarecrow.

"Please be silent," chided the Wogglebug. "Have manners."

"I wish something as extraordinary as that would happen in the schoolhouse I go to," said Dorothy. "Then the other boys and girls might not be so quick to make fun of me about the Land of Oz anymore."

"They made fun of you when you told them about us?" said the Scarecrow in surprise. "But why?"

"They didn't believe when I told them about you and my adventures in Oz. They thought I was either lying or going crazy," said Dorothy sadly.

"But that wasn't right," said the Wogglebug. "They shouldn't accuse you making up such amazing stories. Not if you have never fabricated anything untrue before. I think they may have just been jealous. In Professor Nowitall's school he always taught to respect others and not accuse them unfairly. Whatever do they teach in your school?"

"Just very boring lessons in math and English from this strict and stuffy old lady," said Dorothy. "And she is just as bad as the students when it comes to hearing my stories about the Land of Oz. She advised Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to take me to see this doctor. But now thanks to your showing up they won't."

"That's good news," said the Wogglebug. "I can't imagine how a doctor could possibly take away your memories of the Land of Oz though of course, or even think anything wrong with them. And as for your schoolmates, I think I would very much like to have a talk with them at the school."

"I'm sure that if you were to show up there they would just have to start believing me!" said Dorothy happily. "You can come with me to school on Monday morning. There is no school tomorrow for it is Sunday."

"I see," said the Wogglebug. "And what exactly do you do on Sundays?"

"We go to church," said Dorothy.

"What is that?" asked the Wogglebug curiously.

"It's a building that we and the whole town go into wearing our best clothes to listen to this old and stuffy man talk about things that happened log ago and what they mean for us today in how to be a good person and how to get along with each other," explained Dorothy.

"That all sounds rather superfluous if you ask me," said the Wogglebug. "I mean, don't you have school for that just like the elders did? And wouldn't you have anything better to do on Sundays than that?"

"I don't know," admitted Dorothy."I suppose we would have nothing better to do than just what we do every other day of the week. I admit I often get bored during the sermons which are often the same things over and over again. But Aunt Em and Uncle Henry say they are important to listen to and I suppose we and everyone else go there out of habit."

"I see," said the Wogglebug. "I think I might like to accompany you there tomorrow to see how this actually is for myself."