Permit me to present my card."
With this courteous speech it extended a card toward the Scarecrow, who
accepted it, turned it over and over, and handed it with a shake of his head
to Tip.
The boy read aloud:
"MR. H. M. WOGGLE-BUG, T. E."
143
"Dear me!" ejaculated the Pumpkinhead, staring somewhat intently.
"How very peculiar!" said the Tin Woodman.
Tip's eyes were round and wondering, and the Saw-Horse uttered a sigh and
turned away its head.
"Are you really a Woggle-Bug?" enquired the Scarecrow.
"Most certainly, my dear sir!" answered the stranger, briskly. "Is not my
name upon the card?"
"It is," said the Scarecrow. "But may I ask what 'H. M.' stands for?"
"'H. M.' means Highly Magnified," returned the Woggle-Bug, proudly.
"Oh, I see." The Scarecrow viewed the stranger critically. "And are you, in
truth, highly magnified?"
"Sir," said the Woggle-Bug, "I take you for a gentleman of judgment and
discernment. Does it not occur to you that I am several thousand times
greater than any Woggle-Bug you ever saw before? Therefore it is plainly
evident that I am Highly Magnified, and there is no good reason why you
should doubt the fact."
"Pardon me," returned the Scarecrow. "My brains are slightly mixed since I
was last laundered. Would it be improper for me to ask, also, what the
'T.E.' at the end of your name stands for?"
144
"Those letters express my degree," answered the Woggle-Bug, with a
condescending smile.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99