The next morning Dorothy kissed
the pretty green girl good-bye,
and they all shook hands with
the soldier with the green whiskers,
who had walked with them as far
as the gate. When the Guardian
of the Gate saw them again he
wondered greatly that they could
leave the beautiful City to get
into new trouble. But he at once
unlocked their spectacles, which
he put back into the green box,
and gave them many good wishes
to carry with them.
"You are now our ruler," he
said to the Scarecrow; "so you
must come back to us as soon
as possible."
"I certainly shall if I am
able," the Scarecrow replied; "but
I must help Dorothy to get home,
first."
As Dorothy bade the good-natured
Guardian a last farewell she
said:
"I have been
very kindly treated in your
lovely City, and everyone
has been good to me. I cannot
tell you how grateful I am."
"Don't try, my dear," he answered. "We
should like to keep you with
us, but if it is your wish to
return to Kansas, I hope you
will find a way." He then opened
the gate of the outer wall, and
they walked forth and started
upon their journey.
The sun shone brightly as our
friends turned their faces toward
the Land of the South. They were
all in the best of spirits, and
laughed and chatted together.
Dorothy was once more filled
with the hope of getting home,
and the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman were glad to be of use
to her. As for the Lion, he sniffed
the fresh air with delight and
whisked his tail from side to
side in pure joy at being in
the country again, while Toto
ran around them and chased the
moths and butterflies, barking
merrily all the time.
"City life does not agree with
me at all," remarked the Lion,
as they walked along at a brisk
pace. "I have lost much flesh
since I lived there, and now
I am anxious for a chance to
show the other beasts how courageous
I have grown."
They now turned and took a
last look at the Emerald City.
All they could see was a mass
of towers and steeples behind
the green walls, and high up
above everything the spires and
dome of the Palace of Oz.
"Oz was not such a bad Wizard,
after all," said the Tin Woodman,
as he felt his heart rattling
around in his breast.
"He knew how to give me brains,
and very good brains, too," said
the Scarecrow.
"If Oz had taken a dose of
the same courage he gave me," added
the Lion, "he would have been
a brave man."
Dorothy said nothing. Oz had
not kept the promise he made
her, but he had done his best,
so she forgave him. As he said,
he was a good man, even if he
was a bad Wizard.
The first day's journey was
through the green fields and
bright flowers that stretched
about the Emerald City on every
side. They slept that night on
the grass, with nothing but the
stars over them; and they rested
very well indeed.
In the morning they traveled
on until they came to a thick
wood. There was no way of going
around it, for it seemed to extend
to the right and left as far
as they could see; and, besides,
they did not dare change the
direction of their journey for
fear of getting lost. So they
looked for the place where it
would be easiest to get into
the forest.
The Scarecrow, who was in the
lead, finally discovered a big
tree with such wide-spreading
branches that there was room
for the party to pass underneath.
So he walked forward to the tree,
but just as he came under the
first branches they bent down
and twined around him, and the
next minute he was raised from
the ground and flung headlong
among his fellow travelers.
This did not hurt the Scarecrow,
but it surprised him, and he
looked rather dizzy when Dorothy
picked him up.
"Here is another space between
the trees," called the Lion.
"Let me try it first," said
the Scarecrow, "for it doesn't
hurt me to get thrown about." He
walked up to another tree, as
he spoke, but its branches immediately
seized him and tossed him back
again.
"This is strange," exclaimed
Dorothy. "What shall we do?"
"The trees seem to have made
up their minds to fight us, and
stop our journey," remarked the
Lion.
"I believe I will try it myself," said
the Woodman, and shouldering
his axe, he marched up to the
first tree that had handled the
Scarecrow so roughly. When a
big branch bent down to seize
him the Woodman chopped at it
so fiercely that he cut it in
two. At once the tree began shaking
all its branches as if in pain,
and the Tin Woodman passed safely
under it.
"Come on!" he shouted to the
others. "Be quick!" They all
ran forward and passed under
the tree without injury, except
Toto, who was caught by a small
branch and shaken until he howled.
But the Woodman promptly chopped
off the branch and set the little
dog free.
The other trees of the forest
did nothing to keep them back,
so they made up their minds that
only the first row of trees could
bend down their branches, and
that probably these were the
policemen of the forest, and
given this wonderful power in
order to keep strangers out of
it.
The four travelers walked with
ease through the trees until
they came to the farther edge
of the wood. Then, to their surprise,
they found before them a high
wall which seemed to be made
of white china. It was smooth,
like the surface of a dish, and
higher than their heads.
"What shall we do now?" asked
Dorothy.
"I will make a ladder," said
the Tin Woodman, "for we certainly
must climb over the wall."
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