Dot and Tot of Merryland. Baum Lyman Frank

But you must be hungry, and I trust you will allow me to offer you some dinner. What will you have?"

      "What you got?" inquired Tot.

      "Well, I have in my cupboard some fried goldfish, boiled buttercups and pickled shoelaces," he answered.

      "Don't want any," said Tot.

      "These seem rather foolish things to eat," remarked Dot.

      "Of course, they are foolish things," agreed Flippityflop, cheerfully. "Everything we do here is foolish. You certainly can't expect wisdom in a country of Clowns."

      "Course not," said Tot.

      "If you'll send to the boat for our basket, I think we will prefer to eat the things we brought with us," declared Dot.

      "Certainly!" answered the Prince, and immediately sticking his head through the trapdoor, he asked a Clown who stood outside to fetch the basket.

      It came in a remarkably short time, and then Flippityflop assisted Dot to lay the cloth on the blue and silver table, while the children proceeded to eat of the sandwiches, cake and apple-tarts that remained in the basket.

      "Wouldn't you like something to drink?" asked the Prince.

      "I am rather thirsty," admitted Dot; "have you any milk?"

      "No, we do not use milk in this Valley," he answered. "But we have some excellent green paint, or, if you prefer it, I can give a bottle of red mucilage."

      "No, thank you," said Dot; "we couldn't drink those. Perhaps you will bring us some fresh water from the river."

      "But the water is quite wet," exclaimed the Clown, "and is liable to make you damp. Surely you won't think of drinking it!"

      "Oh, yes; we're accustomed to drinking water," said the girl.

      So the water was sent for, and Dot and Tot took long and refreshing drinks, although their action alarmed Flippityflop, who urged them to eat a few handfuls of sawdust afterward to absorb the dampness.

      "Do all the Clowns live in this Valley?" asked the girl, when the table was cleared.

      "Yes, all except those we send into the world to amuse the children," answered Flippityflop. "You see, we train them all very carefully, and every year one is selected to go into the world."

      "How do they get there?" asked the child.

      "At the upper edge of our Valley there is one place not so steep as the rest. The Clown who is leaving us climbs to this place and finds himself on the top of a mountain. So he makes himself into a ball, as he has been taught to do, and rolls down the mountain into the outside world, where he travels around until he finds a circus to join."

      "Oh!" exclaimed Dot. "I've seen 'em – in circuses."

      "To be sure; that's the proper place for Clowns. Do they make the children laugh?"

      "Sometimes," said the girl.

      "When they do not," said Flippityflop, gravely, "they are imitation Clowns, and were never trained in this Valley of Merryland. The real Clowns are sure to make you laugh. But come, it is time our people were gathering on the platforms for their evening practice. Would you like to watch them?"

      "Yes, indeed!" cried Dot, joyfully; and Tot clapped his hands and echoed: "'Deed, yes!"

      So Flippityflop lifted them through the hole to the top of the padded platform, where they saw a strange and merry sight.

      All the platforms on both sides of the street were now occupied by Clowns, who were performing in a most marvelous manner. The trees were full of electric lights, which shed brilliant rays over the scene and enabled the children to see everything distinctly.

      "Come with me," said their friend, "and I will lead you through the street, that you may see what my brothers are doing."

      They left the Prince's platform and came to the next, where three gaily dressed Clowns were bounding into the air and whirling around before they came down again. Every time they jumped they cried: "All right, Mr. Johnson!" in their shrill voices, and often one of them would fall on his head or back instead of landing on his feet. When this happened they were not hurt, for the platform was soft and yielding; so they sprang up at once and tried it over again, laughing at their own mishaps.

      At the next platform were some juggling Clowns. One of these placed a light ladder on his shoulders, and another ran up it and stood upon his head on the top rung.