All were astonished at this confession, and Ozma at once sent an
officer to her room to fetch the vase. When he returned the Princess
looked down the narrow neck of the big ornament and discovered her
lost piglet, just as Eureka had said she would.
There was no way to get the creature out without breaking the vase, so
the Tin Woodman smashed it with his axe and set the little prisoner free.
Then the crowd cheered lustily and Dorothy hugged the kitten in her
arms and told her how delighted she was to know that she was innocent.
"But why didn't you tell us at first?" she asked.
"It would have spoiled the fun," replied the kitten, yawning.
Ozma gave the Wizard back the piglet he had so kindly allowed Nick
Chopper to substitute for the lost one, and then she carried her own
into the apartments of the palace where she lived. And now, the trial
being over, the good citizens of the Emerald City scattered to their
homes, well content with the day's amusement.
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