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clown's toes and, seeing that Bob was rather pale, Notta hastily changed the
subject. Not long after that they came to the palace. To Bob it looked like a
huge barn stuck between four trees. It was about ten feet from the ground and
from the top of each tree fluttered a bright yellow flag bearing the word, UN.
The Cowardly Lion trembled a good deal as they went up the rickety
green ladder, but with a little help from Notta he managed it, and next instant
they were in the presence of the King. "Two creatures and a beast, your
Skyness!" announced the leader of the delegation. Then stepping close to
Notta he shouted at the top of his voice, "His Majesty, I-wish-I-was, King of
Un!" Notta's cap fell off and he clapped his hand to his ear. The Cowardly Lion
made a little spring at the Un and had the pleasure of seeing the King's
feathers rise erect upon his head and wave to and fro.
"Approach, creatures and beast," commanded I-wish-I-was in a slightly
shaky voice. He was sitting on a high wooden perch, swinging his feet.
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Grouped about him were a number of Uns in bright green uniforms that
exactly matched their feather hair. Notta made a deep bow and Bob and the
Cowardly Lion moved forward together.
"How did you come to come here?" asked I-wish-I-was, adjusting a pair
of spectacles on his terrible beak.
"We didn't come to come at all," said Notta hastily. "We were standing
under a tree, watching it knit-a very strange sight, your Skyness will agree."
"Why shouldn't it knit?" snapped the King impatiently. "There's no law
against it, is there? In fact, if it were not for that tree, we'd be in a pretty state
for fishing nets."
"Well, we were caught in the tree's net, the net flew up and here we
are," finished Notta, determined not to quarrel if he could help it.
"A mighty poor catch, I call you," muttered the King complainingly. He
turned to his guard to see whether they agreed with him and they all nodded
so hard it made Bob dizzy.
"Are you willing to become Uns?" he asked gloomily.
"I'll not grow feathers for anybody," growled the Cowardly Lion,
shaking his paw at I-wish-I-was.
"Wait till you've tried," answered the King loftily. "But what I mean is
this: Each of you must do something unish, for we are all Uns here. I'm unfair
any Un will tell you that. Bill, there," he pointed proudly at the commander of
the Guard, "Bill, he's ungrateful." Then he waved to the Un beside him. "And
Tom's unkind. See what I mean? We're all Uns together." The King rubbed his
clawlike hands gleefully.
"But I never heard of such a place!" gasped Notta.
"Of course not! Un's positively unheard of," confided the King,
smoothing back his feathers complacently. Bob's eyes grew rounder and
rounder, Notta swallowed, and the Cowardly Lion tilted one ear forward to be
sure he was hearing aright.
"Why, you're Uns already," said I-wish-I-was, with a mean little
chuckle.
"You," he pointed his long thin finger at Notta, "are unnatural. You," he
pointed to the Cowardly Lion, "are unpleasant. And you," he wiggled his
finger teasingly at Bob, "you're uninteresting!"
"Thanks!" said the clown, taking off his cap. "And besides that," cried I-
wish-I-was, his voice rising to a shrill squeak, "you're all uninvited."
"And bound to be unlucky," gurgled Bill of the Guard.
"And terribly unhappy," squealed another, dancing up and down.
"And terrifically uncomfortable," added a third. Hereupon the Uns
began hopping frantically about, each shouting something unish, till Bob
covered his ears and the Cowardly Lion began to lash his tail with fury.
"Stop! Stop!" shouted the clown, stamping his foot. "I believe this is the
unpleasantest island I've ever been on." Loud cheers from the Uns
interrupted him here. "And if you will tell us the way off we'll go at once.
I-wish-I-was raised his claw for silence, pulled a pad from his pocket, a
long feather quill from his head and, dipping it in ink, wrote something in a
great hurry. This he handed to the Commander of the Guard and Notta
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looking over his shoulder read, "Push them off at the first opportunity." The
Guard, not knowing that the clown had read the message, bowed and began
whispering to his comrades, while Notta scratched his ear and wondered
what he should do.
"Could your Skyness give us a bite to eat?" he asked presently. That, he
reflected, would give him time to think.
"Certainly not," answered the King, snapping his birdlike eyes. "If
you're hungry, go fish, the same as the rest of us do. Bill, give them some
rods." He winked wickedly at the green guardsman. Notta saw him make a
little push in the air. Bill with a chuckle winked back; then brought three rods
and reels and handed them to the clown.
"Oh!" cried Bob Up, "I'd love to go fishing."
"Where do you fish around here?" asked Notta, wrinkling up his
forehead.
"Just go to the edge of the skyle and drop your line over," said the King,
and nudged the Un nearest him. At this all the Uns began nudging and
winking first one eye and then the other. "Come on," whispered Notta and,
tucking the rods under his arm, ran toward the door. The Cowardly Lion, in
his haste to follow, fell all the way down the ladder, but at a quick word from
Notta jumped up, and as Bob joined them they all started on a run for a little
clump of trees. "I tell you," puffed the clown, pausing at length to mop his
brow, "they are bad Uns, sure enough. They mean to push us off the skyle.
That's why they sent us fishing."
"Just let 'em try it!" roared the Cowardly Lion, shaking his mane. He
had skinned his knees in his fall down the ladder and was feeling quite ready
for a battle.
"But shall we go fishing or not?" asked the clown uncertainly. Bob Up
said nothing, but he looked wistfully at the fishing rods. Bob had never been
fishing in his life, and even the thought of being pushed off the skyle did not
seem as dreadful as being deprived of this pleasure. Notta saw the look.
"I'm hungry as a lion," said the clown suddenly, "and we've lost
Mustafa's packets somewhere between Oz and Un."
"Well, you're not as hungry as this lion," rumbled the Cowardly Lion,
with a wink at Bob. "It must be long past noon. Let's risk it. You fish and I'll
watch, and if any of these Uns start pushing us-." The Cowardly Lion gave a
roar and shook his paws threateningly at the palace of I-wish-I-was.
CHAPTER 11 A Strange Fishing Party
To their surprise, none of the Uns followed them, and in about an hour
they had come to the edge of the skyle. The Cowardly Lion shuddered as he
looked down into the clear blue air, and even Notta had a queer feeling in the
pit of his stomach as the white clouds went rolling and tumbling past them.
"Do you think we'll catch any birds, Notta?" asked Bob Up, venturing so
near the edge that the Cowardly Lion gave a roar of terror. "Remember
you're not a bird," he warned.
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"I'll fix him," said Notta. Cutting the line from one of the rods he
doubled it many times and fastened Bob securely to the tree. With what was
left, he made a safety belt for himself. Then, while the Cowardly Lion
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