"Oh, that's too bad!" cried
Dorothy; "I wanted to thank
Johnny Dooit for all his kindness
to us."
"He hasn't time to listen
to thanks," replied the shaggy
man; "but I'm sure he knows
we are grateful. I suppose
he is already at work in some
other part of the world."
They now looked more carefully
at the sand-boat, and saw that
the bottom was modeled with
two sharp runners which would
glide through the sand. The
front of the sand-boat was
pointed like the bow of a ship,
and there was a rudder at the
stern to steer by.
It had been built just at
the edge of the desert, so
that all its length lay upon
the gray sand except the after
part, which still rested on
the strip of grass.
"Get in, my dears," said
the shaggy man; "I'm sure I
can manage this boat as well
as any sailor. All you need
do is sit still in your places."
Dorothy got in, Toto in her
arms, and sat on the bottom
of the boat just in front of
the mast. Button-Bright sat
in front of Dorothy, while
Polly leaned over the bow.
The shaggy man knelt behind
the mast. When all were ready
he raised the sail half-way.
The wind caught it. At once
the sand-boat started forward--slowly
at first, then with added speed.
The shaggy man pulled the sail
way up, and they flew so fast
over the Deadly Desert that
every one held fast to the
sides of the boat and scarcely
dared to breathe.
The sand lay in billows,
and was in places very uneven,
so that the boat rocked dangerously
from side to side; but it never
quite tipped over, and the
speed was so great that the
shaggy man himself became frightened
and began to wonder how he
could make the ship go slower.
"It we're spilled in this
sand, in the middle of the
desert," Dorothy thought to
herself, "we'll be nothing
but dust in a few minutes,
and that will be the end of
us."
But they were not spilled,
and by-and-by Polychrome, who
was clinging to the bow and
looking straight ahead, saw
a dark line before them and
wondered what it was. It grew
plainer every second, until
she discovered it to be a row
of jagged rocks at the end
of the desert, while high above
these rocks she could see a
tableland of green grass and
beautiful trees.
"Look out!" she screamed
to the shaggy man. "Go slowly,
or we shall smash into the
rocks."
He heard her, and tried to
pull down the sail; but the
wind would not let go of the
broad canvas and the ropes
had become tangled.
Nearer and nearer they drew
to the great rocks, and the
shaggy man was in despair because
he could do nothing to stop
the wild rush of the sand-boat.
They reached the edge of
the desert and bumped squarely
into the rocks. There was a
crash as Dorothy, Button-Bright,
Toto and Polly flew up in the
air in a curve like a skyrocket's,
one after another landing high
upon the grass, where they
rolled and tumbled for a time
before they could stop themselves.
The shaggy man flew after
them, head first, and lighted
in a heap beside Toto, who,
being much excited at the time,
seized one of the donkey ears
between his teeth and shook
and worried it as hard as he
could, growling angrily. The
shaggy man made the little
dog let go, and sat up to look
around him.
Dorothy was feeling one of
her front teeth, which was
loosened by knocking against
her knee as she fell. Polly
was looking sorrowfully at
a rent in her pretty gauze
gown, and Button-Bright's fox
head had stuck fast in a gopher
hole and he was wiggling his
little fat legs frantically
in an effort to get free.
Otherwise they were unhurt
by the adventure; so the shaggy
man stood up and pulled Button-Bright
out of the hole and went to
the edge of the desert to look
at the sand-boat. It was a
mere mass of splinters now,
crushed out of shape against
the rocks. The wind had torn
away the sail and carried it
to the top of a tall tree,
where the fragments of it fluttered
like a white flag.
"Well," he said, cheerfully, "we're
here; but where the here is
I don't know."
"It must be some part of
the Land of Oz," observed Dorothy,
coming to his side.
"Must it?"
"'Course
it must. We're across the
desert, aren't we? And
somewhere in the middle of
Oz is the Emerald City."
"To be sure," said the shaggy
man, nodding. "Let's go there."
"But I don't see any people
about, to show us the way," she
continued.
"Let's hunt for them," he
suggested. "There must be people
somewhere; but perhaps they
did not expect us, and so are
not at hand to give us a welcome."
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