"He was," shouted Twobyfour hoarsely. "He tried to steal the jewels from me. That's how he got the black eye." "But you tried to steal them from me, and what about _that_ my fine fellow?" Twobyfour turned a painful and uncomfortable scarlet under the King's accusing eye. "In Skampavia we have so little, your Majesty," he stuttered miserably. "With these emeralds I thought I might buy a bit of land in some cooler and more comfortable country where my wife and two boys could be happy--a country where flowers would grow in a garden, and where a man would not have to spend his whole life wrestling with rocks and weeds and drilling for hours in the hot sun for no reason whatsoever." "Hah!" exclaimed Pinny Penny, looking meaningly at the King. "Hah, yourself!" grunted Skamperoo wrathfully, then as the emeralds continued to sparkle and glitter in his hand his anger subsided. "You did very wrong to keep the necklace, Twobyfour," he stated mildly. "But I have decided to forgive you. Return now to the Second County and explain to the merchant who gave you this necklace that I must have all three." "All three!" exclaimed Twobyfour. "But he's entitled by law to two of them." "My word is the law here, and you can choose between a broken law or a broken head," Skamperoo told him calmly. "He is the KING," murmured Pinny Penny in a quiet voice. There was nothing sarcastic in the manner of his speech, but something in the Prime Minister's expression made the King prickle all over with discomfort. "Yes, I am the King," he shouted explosively, "and moreover I have spoken. Begone, both of you, and YOU, Twobyfour, have two days to return with those two necklaces. The necklaces or your HEAD, do you understand? And--er--er--you may tell that merchant in your county that he need send no more of his wares to the capital, the three necklaces will suffice," he bellowed as the two Supervisors went bolting through the door. "How nice--they will suffice. You are the King," sniffed Pinny Penny with a sour smile. "Are you a parrot or a Prime Minister? Stop repeating that silly stuff and tell me about Oz," commanded Skamperoo, clasping the emerald necklace around his fat throat. "Have you ever heard of this place, Pinny Penny? It must be a rich and marvelous country if peddlers can trade emerald necklaces as carelessly as we trade wooden beads." "It is a marvelous country," answered Pinny Penny thoughtfully. "I remember my father telling me about the capital of Oz, an Emerald City, where even the streets were inlaid with jewels and every tower and wall was studded with emeralds." "Well, why have I never been told about this?" wheezed the King peevishly. "A country like that just a precious stone's throw away, so to speak." "Your Majesty has never cared for reading or study," Pinny Penny reminded him a bit maliciously. "In our library there is a whole history of Oz."