"This is one of the most unpleasant things about our vegetable lives,"
continued the Prince, with a sigh, "that while we are in our full
prime we must give way to another, and be covered up in the ground to
sprout and grow and give birth to other people."

"I'm sure the Princess is ready to be picked," asserted Dorothy,
gazing hard at the beautiful girl on the bush. "She's as perfect as
she can be."

"Never mind," answered the Prince, hastily, "she will be all right for
a few days longer, and it is best for me to rule until I can dispose
of you strangers, who have come to our land uninvited and must be
attended to at once."

"What are you going to do with us?" asked Zeb.

"That is a matter I have not quite decided upon," was the reply. "I
think I shall keep this Wizard until a new Sorcerer is ready to pick,
for he seems quite skillful and may be of use to us. But the rest of
you must be destroyed in some way, and you cannot be planted,
because I do not wish horses and cats and meat people growing all over
our country."

"You needn't worry," said Dorothy. "We wouldn't grow under ground,
I'm sure."

"But why destroy my friends?" asked the little Wizard. "Why not let
them live?"