"Certainly he has gone somewhere," said Twiffle, who was becoming angry. "And you had better tell us where. Don't forget that the Shaggy Man is an important personage of the Land of Oz. If anything happens to him you will be sorry." "Pooh!" sniffed King Ticket. "We know all about the Land of Oz and its silly girl ruler, Ozma. But your famous Shaggy Man had not even heard of the Valley of Romance. What can anyone in Oz do? They don't even know of our existence." "I wouldn't be too sure of that," declared Twiffle with more courage than he felt. "Anyway," continued King Ticket musingly, "the Land of Oz is vastly over-rated. Why, as far as I know, there isn't a single theater in all the country!" "And so," began Queen Curtain quietly, "why don't you children just make yourselves comfortable until dinner time? Then you may join us for the meal and afterwards you shall be our guests in the Royal Box to witness the performance of our new play." Twiffle was aroused now. He climbed right up on the arm of King Ticket's chair. "We don't want your dinner. We don't want to see your play. All we want is the Shaggy Man and then we shall continue our journey." "Tut, tut," admonished King Ticket. "What a violent disposition the little puppet has." "I am afraid," said Queen Curtain, "that you really have no choice. You must stay here until we are ready for you to depart. After all, you came of your own accord, you know." Twiffle was silent. He was at a loss to know what to say or do. Twink and Tom felt suddenly alone and a little bit frightened, now that the Shaggy Man was gone. Even in the brief time they had known him, they had grown very fond of him, and had come to rely upon him. Seeing this, Twiffle returned to stand by the children and said: "Never you mind. We'll find the Shaggy Man all right. Perhaps it would be wise to remain here tonight as these people wish us to do. That will give us a chance to find out what they have done with Shaggy." This was said in a whisper, to which Tom answered: "Well, I could enjoy a good meal. We haven't had anything to eat but fruit since yesterday." Actually Tom was as worried about Shaggy as Twink, but, being a boy, he didn't want to let the girl know. Twink was indignant. "I'm surprised at you, Tom! The idea of talking about food when we've just lost our best friend! But I suppose Twiffle is right." "Good!" said King Ticket. "Then that is settled and you will be with us for dinner and the theater!" "Gosh!" exclaimed Tom, "do you suppose he heard everything we said?" "I don't have any doubt of it," replied Twiffle calmly. "Therefore we might as well converse in our ordinary voices." "You were indeed fortunate to have arrived just in time for the opening night of our new play," said Queen Curtain pleasantly. "I am sure you will enjoy it immensely. Tell me, have you children seen many plays?"