Изумрудный город страны Оз
10. How the Cuttenclips Lived
"You’rebreakingtherules,youknow,bylaughing."
"Oh,Ididn’tknowthat,"shereplied.
"Tolaughinthisplaceisnearlyasdangerousastocough,"saidtheCaptain."You’llhavetobreatheveryquietly,Iassureyou."
"We’lltryto,"promisedthegirl."MayweseeMissCuttenclip,please?"
"Youmay,"promptlyreturnedtheCaptain."Thisisoneofherreceptiondays.Begoodenoughtofollowme."
Heturnedandledthewayupapath,andastheyfollowedslowly,becausethepaperCaptaindidnotmoveveryswiftly,theytooktheopportunitytogazearoundthematthisstrangepapercountry.
Besidethepathwerepapertrees,allcutoutveryneatlyandpaintedabrilliantgreencolor.Andbackofthetreeswererowsofcardboardhouses,paintedinvariouscolorsbutmostofthemhavinggreenblinds.Somewerelargeandsomesmall,andinthefrontyardswerebedsofpaperflowersquitenaturalinappearance.Oversomeoftheporchespapervinesweretwined,givingthemacozyandshadylook.
Asthevisitorspassedalongthestreetagoodmanypaperdollscametothedoorsandwindowsoftheirhousestolookatthemcuriously.Thesedollswerenearlyallthesameheight,butwerecutintovariousshapes,somebeingfatandsomelean.Thegirldollsworemanybeautifulcostumesoftissuepaper,makingthemquitefluffy;buttheirheadsandhandswerenothickerthanthepaperofwhichtheyweremade.
