Our little party of travelers
awakened the next morning refreshed
and full of hope, and Dorothy
breakfasted like a princess off
peaches and plums from the trees
beside the river. Behind them
was the dark forest they had
passed safely through, although
they had suffered many discouragements;
but before them was a lovely,
sunny country that seemed to
beckon them on to the Emerald
City.
To be sure, the broad river
now cut them off from this beautiful
land. But the raft was nearly
done, and after the Tin Woodman
had cut a few more logs and fastened
them together with wooden pins,
they were ready to start. Dorothy
sat down in the middle of the
raft and held Toto in her arms.
When the Cowardly Lion stepped
upon the raft it tipped badly,
for he was big and heavy; but
the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman
stood upon the other end to steady
it, and they had long poles in
their hands to push the raft
through the water.
They got along quite well at
first, but when they reached
the middle of the river the swift
current swept the raft downstream,
farther and farther away from
the road of yellow brick. And
the water grew so deep that the
long poles would not touch the
bottom.
"This is bad," said the Tin
Woodman, "for if we cannot get
to the land we shall be carried
into the country of the Wicked
Witch of the West, and she will
enchant us and make us her slaves."
"And then I should get no brains," said
the Scarecrow.
"And I should get no courage," said
the Cowardly Lion.
"And I should get no heart," said
the Tin Woodman.
"And I should never get back
to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"We must certainly get to the
Emerald City if we can," the
Scarecrow continued, and he pushed
so hard on his long pole that
it stuck fast in the mud at the
bottom of the river. Then, before
he could pull it out again--or
let go--the raft was swept away,
and the poor Scarecrow left clinging
to the pole in the middle of
the river.
"Good-bye!" he
called after them, and they
were very sorry
to leave him. Indeed, the Tin
Woodman began to cry, but fortunately
remembered that he might rust,
and so dried his tears on Dorothy's
apron.
Of course this was a bad thing
for the Scarecrow.
"I am now worse off than when
I first met Dorothy," he thought. "Then,
I was stuck on a pole in a cornfield,
where I could make-believe scare
the crows, at any rate. But surely
there is no use for a Scarecrow
stuck on a pole in the middle
of a river. I am afraid I shall
never have any brains, after
all!"
Down the stream the raft floated,
and the poor Scarecrow was left
far behind. Then the Lion said:
"Something
must be done to save us. I
think I can swim to
the shore and pull the raft after
me, if you will only hold fast
to the tip of my tail."
So he sprang into the water,
and the Tin Woodman caught fast
hold of his tail. Then the Lion
began to swim with all his might
toward the shore. It was hard
work, although he was so big;
but by and by they were drawn
out of the current, and then
Dorothy took the Tin Woodman's
long pole and helped push the
raft to the land.
They were all tired out when
they reached the shore at last
and stepped off upon the pretty
green grass, and they also knew
that the stream had carried them
a long way past the road of yellow
brick that led to the Emerald
City.
"What shall we do now?" asked
the Tin Woodman, as the Lion
lay down on the grass to let
the sun dry him.
"We must get back to the road,
in some way," said Dorothy.
"The best plan will be to walk
along the riverbank until we
come to the road again," remarked
the Lion.
So, when they were rested,
Dorothy picked up her basket
and they started along the grassy
bank, to the road from which
the river had carried them. It
was a lovely country, with plenty
of flowers and fruit trees and
sunshine to cheer them, and had
they not felt so sorry for the
poor Scarecrow, they could have
been very happy.
They walked
along as fast as they could,
Dorothy only stopping
once to pick a beautiful flower;
and after a time the Tin Woodman
cried out: "Look!"
Then they all looked at the
river and saw the Scarecrow perched
upon his pole in the middle of
the water, looking very lonely
and sad.
"What can we do to save him?" asked
Dorothy.
The Lion and the Woodman both
shook their heads, for they did
not know. So they sat down upon
the bank and gazed wistfully
at the Scarecrow until a Stork
flew by, who, upon seeing them,
stopped to rest at the water's
edge.
"Who are you and where are
you going?" asked the Stork.
"I am Dorothy," answered the
girl, "and these are my friends,
the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly
Lion; and we are going to the
Emerald City."
"This isn't the road," said
the Stork, as she twisted her
long neck and looked sharply
at the queer party.
"I know it," returned Dorothy, "but
we have lost the Scarecrow, and
are wondering how we shall get
him again."
"Where is he?" asked
the Stork.
"Over there in the river," answered
the little girl.
"If he wasn't so big and heavy
I would get him for you," remarked
the Stork.
"He isn't heavy a bit," said
Dorothy eagerly, "for he is stuffed
with straw; and if you will bring
him back to us, we shall thank
you ever and ever so much."
"Well, I'll try," said the
Stork, "but if I find he is too
heavy to carry I shall have to
drop him in the river again."
So the big bird flew into the
air and over the water till she
came to where the Scarecrow was
perched upon his pole. Then the
Stork with her great claws grabbed
the Scarecrow by the arm and
carried him up into the air and
back to the bank, where Dorothy
and the Lion and the Tin Woodman
and Toto were sitting.
When the Scarecrow
found himself among his friends
again, he was
so happy that he hugged them
all, even the Lion and Toto;
and as they walked along he sang "Tol-de-ri-de-oh!" at
every step, he felt so gay.
"I was afraid I should have
to stay in the river forever," he
said, "but the kind Stork saved
me, and if I ever get any brains
I shall find the Stork again
and do her some kindness in return."
"That's all right," said the
Stork, who was flying along beside
them. "I always like to help
anyone in trouble. But I must
go now, for my babies are waiting
in the nest for me. I hope you
will find the Emerald City and
that Oz will help you."
"Thank you," replied
Dorothy, and then the kind
Stork flew
into the air and was soon out
of sight.
They walked along listening
to the singing of the brightly
colored birds and looking at
the lovely flowers which now
became so thick that the ground
was carpeted with them. There
were big yellow and white and
blue and purple blossoms, besides
great clusters of scarlet poppies,
which were so brilliant in color
they almost dazzled Dorothy's
eyes.
"Aren't they beautiful?" the
girl asked, as she breathed in
the spicy scent of the bright
flowers.
"I suppose so," answered the
Scarecrow. "When I have brains,
I shall probably like them better."
"If I only had a heart, I should
love them," added the Tin Woodman.
"I always did like flowers," said
the Lion. "They of seem so helpless
and frail. But there are none
in the forest so bright as these."
They now came upon more and
more of the big scarlet poppies,
and fewer and fewer of the other
flowers; and soon they found
themselves in the midst of a
great meadow of poppies. Now
it is well known that when there
are many of these flowers together
their odor is so powerful that
anyone who breathes it falls
asleep, and if the sleeper is
not carried away from the scent
of the flowers, he sleeps on
and on forever. But Dorothy did
not know this, nor could she
get away from the bright red
flowers that were everywhere
about; so presently her eyes
grew heavy and she felt she must
sit down to rest and to sleep.
But the Tin Woodman would not
let her do this.
"We must hurry and get back
to the road of yellow brick before
dark," he said; and the Scarecrow
agreed with him. So they kept
walking until Dorothy could stand
no longer. Her eyes closed in
spite of herself and she forgot
where she was and fell among
the poppies, fast asleep.
"What shall we do?" asked
the Tin Woodman.
"If we leave her here she will
die," said the Lion. "The smell
of the flowers is killing us
all. I myself can scarcely keep
my eyes open, and the dog is
asleep already."
It was true; Toto had fallen
down beside his little mistress.
But the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman, not being made of flesh,
were not troubled by the scent
of the flowers.
"Run fast," said the Scarecrow
to the Lion, "and get out of
this deadly flower bed as soon
as you can. We will bring the
little girl with us, but if you
should fall asleep you are too
big to be carried."
So the Lion aroused himself
and bounded forward as fast as
he could go. In a moment he was
out of sight.
"Let us make a chair with our
hands and carry her," said the
Scarecrow. So they picked up
Toto and put the dog in Dorothy's
lap, and then they made a chair
with their hands for the seat
and their arms for the arms and
carried the sleeping girl between
them through the flowers.
On and on they walked, and
it seemed that the great carpet
of deadly flowers that surrounded
them would never end. They followed
the bend of the river, and at
last came upon their friend the
Lion, lying fast asleep among
the poppies. The flowers had
been too strong for the huge
beast and he had given up at
last, and fallen only a short
distance from the end of the
poppy bed, where the sweet grass
spread in beautiful green fields
before them.
"We can do nothing for him," said
the Tin Woodman, sadly; "for
he is much too heavy to lift.
We must leave him here to sleep
on forever, and perhaps he will
dream that he has found courage
at last."
"I'm sorry," said the Scarecrow. "The
Lion was a very good comrade
for one so cowardly. But let
us go on."
They carried the sleeping girl
to a pretty spot beside the river,
far enough from the poppy field
to prevent her breathing any
more of the poison of the flowers,
and here they laid her gently
on the soft grass and waited
for the fresh breeze to waken
her.
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