"We cannot be far from the road
of yellow brick, now," remarked
the Scarecrow, as he stood beside
the girl, "for we have come nearly
as far as the river carried us
away."
The Tin Woodman
was about to reply when he
heard a low growl, and turning
his head (which worked beautifully
on hinges) he saw a strange
beast come bounding over the
grass toward them. It was,
indeed, a great yellow Wildcat,
and the Woodman thought it
must be chasing something,
for its ears were lying close
to its head and its mouth was
wide open, showing two rows
of ugly teeth, while its red
eyes glowed like balls of fire.
As it came nearer the Tin Woodman
saw that running before the
beast was a little gray field
mouse, and although he had
no heart he knew it was wrong
for the Wildcat to try to kill
such a pretty, harmless creature.
So the Woodman
raised his axe, and as the
Wildcat ran by he gave it a
quick blow that cut the beast's
head clean off from its body,
and it rolled over at his feet
in two pieces.
The field mouse,
now that it was freed from
its enemy, stopped short; and
coming slowly up to the Woodman
it said, in a squeaky little
voice:
"Oh, thank
you! Thank you ever so much
for saving my life."
"Don't speak
of it, I beg of you," replied
the Woodman. "I have no heart,
you know, so I am careful to
help all those who may need
a friend, even if it happens
to be only a mouse."
"Only a mouse!" cried
the little animal, indignantly. "Why,
I am a Queen--the Queen of
all the Field Mice!"
"Oh, indeed," said
the Woodman, making a bow.
"Therefore
you have done a great deed,
as well as a brave one, in
saving my life," added the
Queen.
At that moment
several mice were seen running
up as fast as their little
legs could carry them, and
when they saw their Queen they
exclaimed:
"Oh, your Majesty,
we thought you would be killed!
How did you manage to escape
the great Wildcat?" They all
bowed so low to the little
Queen that they almost stood
upon their heads.
"This funny
tin man," she answered, "killed
the Wildcat and saved my life.
So hereafter you must all serve
him, and obey his slightest
wish."
"We will!" cried
all the mice, in a shrill chorus.
And then they scampered in
all directions, for Toto had
awakened from his sleep, and
seeing all these mice around
him he gave one bark of delight
and jumped right into the middle
of the group. Toto had always
loved to chase mice when he
lived in Kansas, and he saw
no harm in it.
But the Tin
Woodman caught the dog in his
arms and held him tight, while
he called to the mice, "Come
back! Come back! Toto shall
not hurt you."
At this the
Queen of the Mice stuck her
head out from underneath a
clump of grass and asked, in
a timid voice, "Are you sure
he will not bite us?"
"I will not
let him," said the Woodman; "so
do not be afraid."
One by one
the mice came creeping back,
and Toto did not bark again,
although he tried to get out
of the Woodman's arms, and
would have bitten him had he
not known very well he was
made of tin. Finally one of
the biggest mice spoke.
"Is there anything
we can do," it asked, "to repay
you for saving the life of
our Queen?"
"Nothing that
I know of," answered the Woodman;
but the Scarecrow, who had
been trying to think, but could
not because his head was stuffed
with straw, said, quickly, "Oh,
yes; you can save our friend,
the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep
in the poppy bed."
"A Lion!" cried
the little Queen. "Why, he
would eat us all up."
"Oh, no," declared
the Scarecrow; "this Lion is
a coward."
"Really?" asked
the Mouse.
"He says so
himself," answered the Scarecrow, "and
he would never hurt anyone
who is our friend. If you will
help us to save him I promise
that he shall treat you all
with kindness."
"Very well," said
the Queen, "we trust you. But
what shall we do?"
"Are there
many of these mice which call
you Queen and are willing to
obey you?"
"Oh, yes; there
are thousands," she replied.
"Then send
for them all to come here as
soon as possible, and let each
one bring a long piece of string."
The Queen turned
to the mice that attended her
and told them to go at once
and get all her people. As
soon as they heard her orders
they ran away in every direction
as fast as possible.
"Now," said
the Scarecrow to the Tin Woodman, "you
must go to those trees by the
riverside and make a truck
that will carry the Lion."
So the Woodman
went at once to the trees and
began to work; and he soon
made a truck out of the limbs
of trees, from which he chopped
away all the leaves and branches.
He fastened it together with
wooden pegs and made the four
wheels out of short pieces
of a big tree trunk. So fast
and so well did he work that
by the time the mice began
to arrive the truck was all
ready for them.
They came from
all directions, and there were
thousands of them: big mice
and little mice and middle-sized
mice; and each one brought
a piece of string in his mouth.
It was about this time that
Dorothy woke from her long
sleep and opened her eyes.
She was greatly astonished
to find herself lying upon
the grass, with thousands of
mice standing around and looking
at her timidly. But the Scarecrow
told her about everything,
and turning to the dignified
little Mouse, he said:
"Permit me
to introduce to you her Majesty,
the Queen."
Dorothy nodded
gravely and the Queen made
a curtsy, after which she became
quite friendly with the little
girl.
The Scarecrow
and the Woodman now began to
fasten the mice to the truck,
using the strings they had
brought. One end of a string
was tied around the neck of
each mouse and the other end
to the truck. Of course the
truck was a thousand times
bigger than any of the mice
who were to draw it; but when
all the mice had been harnessed,
they were able to pull it quite
easily. Even the Scarecrow
and the Tin Woodman could sit
on it, and were drawn swiftly
by their queer little horses
to the place where the Lion
lay asleep.
After a great
deal of hard work, for the
Lion was heavy, they managed
to get him up on the truck.
Then the Queen hurriedly gave
her people the order to start,
for she feared if the mice
stayed among the poppies too
long they also would fall asleep.
At first the
little creatures, many though
they were, could hardly stir
the heavily loaded truck; but
the Woodman and the Scarecrow
both pushed from behind, and
they got along better. Soon
they rolled the Lion out of
the poppy bed to the green
fields, where he could breathe
the sweet, fresh air again,
instead of the poisonous scent
of the flowers.
Dorothy came
to meet them and thanked the
little mice warmly for saving
her companion from death. She
had grown so fond of the big
Lion she was glad he had been
rescued.
Then the mice
were unharnessed from the truck
and scampered away through
the grass to their homes. The
Queen of the Mice was the last
to leave.
"If ever you
need us again," she said, "come
out into the field and call,
and we shall hear you and come
to your assistance. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" they
all answered, and away the
Queen ran, while Dorothy held
Toto tightly lest he should
run after her and frighten
her.
After this
they sat down beside the Lion
until he should awaken; and
the Scarecrow brought Dorothy
some fruit from a tree near
by, which she ate for her dinner.
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