Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.
A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.
While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen.

They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small.

In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.
Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed.

They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved.

The hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders.