"Dorothy," trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, stopping a good twenty feet from the little group and elevating his trunk haughtily, "what are you doing with those shabby fellows? Don't you realize you're a Princess? A tailor! Great Grump! Do you expect me to associate with a tailor?" "But gaze upon his ears," cried Humpy, waving his cloak triumphantly at Tora. "They wag, wiggle and fly off by themselves. And we're hunting a king, a witch and a goose. Hurry up, you elegant old thing, we need you in this picture." "No we don't, we'll go on by ourselves." Snip looked angrily at Kabumpo and, taking Tora's arm, began to walk off. "Oh wait!" gasped Dorothy, more embarrassed by Kabumpo's rudeness than by the dummy's ridiculousness. "Kabumpo doesn't mean that. He's really awfully jolly when you get to know him better." "Don't bother, my dear," Tora smiled, a little sadly. Reaching up he took off both his ears and put them quietly into his pocket. "I never listen to unpleasant conversations," explained the old man simply. "Good-bye," said Snip, bowing rather stiffly to Dorothy. "If you reach the Emerald City before we do, be sure to tell Ozma about her father." "Now please don't go," begged Dorothy. "Wait! Wait!" In great distress she dashed over to the Elegant Elephant and poured out the whole story of the lost King of Oz and of Mombi's wickedness. When Tora had so unexpectedly taken off his ears Kabumpo's little eyes had fairly rolled in his head and now, as he listened to Dorothy's strange recital, they began to snap and sparkle with interest. If there was one thing Kabumpo enjoyed, it was being mixed up in a royal adventure. Finding the lost King of Oz would be a very creditable thing, even for an elephant so elegant as himself. It might even gain him an important position at court, thought Kabumpo craftily. And what a choice bit of news to carry home to Pumperdink--that Ozma was not the Queen at all, and that he, Kabumpo the Magnificent, had helped find the real monarch and had been present at the coronation. Already his imagination leaped ahead to this important event. Concealing, in his pompous and provoking fashion, his real interest and excitement, Kabumpo set Dorothy upon his back and started in a dignified and stately manner toward Tora and Snip. "I understand you are friends of the lost King of Oz," wheezed Kabumpo grandly, as he came up beside them. "Are you going on to the Emerald City? Care to ride?" he asked graciously. This was as near an apology as Kabumpo ever got. "Hear! Hear!" spluttered the dummy, who was walking stiffly behind the tailor. Of course Tora could not do this, as his ears were still in his pocket, but Snip, looking inquiringly up at Dorothy saw her motion earnestly for him to yield. He decided to overlook the elephant's rudeness and gave Kabumpo a signal to lift him up. "Did she say you were a mutton boy?" asked Kabumpo, as he placed Snip beside the little girl.