side toward them and then his black side, as if he wanted to show to all
of his greedy four eyes the sight of so many fat prisoners. The captives
sat in a sorrowful group at the other end of the room--except
Polychrome, who danced back and forth in the little place to keep
herself warm, for she felt the chill of the cave. Whenever she
approached the shaggy man he would whisper something in her ear, and
Polly would nod her pretty head as if she understood.
The shaggy man told Dorothy and Button-Bright to stand before him while
he emptied the potatoes out of one of the sacks. When this had been
secretly done little Polychrome, dancing near to the guard, suddenly
reached out her hand and slapped his face, the next instant whirling
away from him quickly to rejoin her friends.
The angry Scoodler at once picked off his head and hurled it at the
Rainbow's Daughter; but the shaggy man was expecting that, and caught
the head very neatly, putting it in the sack, which he tied at the
mouth. The body of the guard, not having the eyes of its head to guide
it, ran here and there in an aimless manner, and the shaggy man easily
dodged it and opened the door. Fortunately there was no one in the big
cave at that moment, so he told Dorothy and Polly to run as fast as they
could for the entrance, and out across the narrow bridge.
[Illustration: THE SHAGGY MAN CAUGHT THE HEADS AND TOSSED THEM INTO THE
GULF BELOW]
"I'll carry Button-Bright," he said, for he knew the little boy's legs
were too short to run fast.
Dorothy picked up Toto, and then seized Polly's hand and ran swiftly
toward the entrance to the cave. The shaggy man perched Button-Bright on
his shoulders and ran after them. They moved so quickly and their escape
was so wholly unexpected that they had almost reached the bridge when
one of the Scoodlers looked out of his house and saw them.
The creature raised a shrill cry that brought all its fellows bounding
out of the numerous doors, and at once they started in chase. Dorothy
and Polly had reached the bridge and crossed it when the Scoodlers began
throwing their heads. One of the queer missiles struck the shaggy man on
his back and nearly knocked him over; but he was at the mouth of the
cave now, so he set down Button-Bright and told the boy to run across
the bridge to Dorothy.
Then the shaggy man turned around and faced his enemies, standing just
outside the opening, and as fast as they threw their heads at him he
caught them and tossed them into the black gulf below. The headless
bodies of the foremost Scoodlers kept the others from running close up,
but they also threw their heads in an effort to stop the escaping
prisoners. The shaggy man caught them all and sent them whirling down
into the black gulf. Among them he noticed the crimson and yellow head
of the Queen, and this he tossed after the others with right good will.
Presently every Scoodler of the lot had thrown its head, and every head
was down in the deep gulf, and now the helpless bodies of the creatures
were mixed together in the cave and wriggling around in a vain attempt
to discover what had become of their heads. The shaggy man laughed and
walked across the bridge to rejoin his companions.
[Illustration]
"It's lucky I learned to play base-ball when I was young," he remarked,
"for I caught all those heads easily, and never missed one. But come
along, little ones; the Scoodlers will never bother us or anyone else
any more."
Button-Bright was still frightened and kept insisting, "I don't want to
be soup!" for the victory had been gained so suddenly that the boy could
not realize they were free and safe. But the shaggy man assured him that
all danger of their being made into soup was now past, as the Scoodlers
would be unable to eat soup for some time to come.
So now, anxious to get away from the horrid gloomy cave as soon as
possible, they hastened up the hillside and regained the road just
beyond the place where they had first met the Scoodlers; and you may be
sure they were glad to find their feet on the old familiar path again.
Johnny Dooit Does It
[Illustration]
"It's getting awful rough walking," said Dorothy, as they trudged along.
Button-Bright gave a deep sigh and said he was hungry. Indeed, all were
hungry, and thirsty, too; for they had eaten nothing but the apples
since breakfast; so their steps lagged and they grew silent and weary.
At last they slowly passed over the crest of a barren hill and saw
before them a line of green trees with a strip of grass at their feet.
An agreeable fragrance was wafted toward them.
Our travelers, hot and tired, ran forward on beholding this refreshing
sight and were not long in coming to the trees. Here they found a spring
of pure bubbling water, around which the grass was full of wild
strawberry plants, their pretty red berries ripe and ready to eat. Some
of the trees bore yellow oranges and some russet pears, so the hungry
adventurers suddenly found themselves provided with plenty to eat and to
drink.
They lost no time in picking the biggest strawberries and ripest oranges
and soon had feasted to their hearts' content. Walking beyond the line
of trees they saw before them a fearful, dismal desert, everywhere grey
sand. At the edge of this awful waste was a large white sign with black
letters neatly painted upon it; and the letters made these words:
ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO
VENTURE UPON THIS DESERT
For the Deadly Sands will Turn Any Living Flesh to Dust in an
Instant. Beyond This Barrier is the
LAND OF OZ
But no one can Reach that Beautiful Country because of these
Destroying Sands
"Oh," said Dorothy, when the shaggy man had read this sign aloud; "I've
seen this desert before, and it's true no one can live who tries to walk
upon the sands."
"Then we mustn't try it," answered the shaggy man, thoughtfully. "But as
we can't go ahead and there's no use going back, what shall we do
next?"
[Illustration]
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"I'm sure I don't know, either," added Dorothy, despondently.
"I wish father would come for me," sighed the pretty Rainbow's Daughter,
"I would take you all to live upon the rainbow, where you could dance
along its rays from morning till night, without a care or worry of any
sort. But I suppose father's too busy just now to search the world for
me."
"Don't want to dance," said Button-Bright, sitting down wearily upon the
soft grass.
"It's very good of you, Polly," said Dorothy; "but there are other
things that would suit me better than dancing on rainbows. I'm 'fraid
they'd be kind of soft an' squnshy under foot, anyhow, although they're
so pretty to look at."
This didn't help to solve the problem, and they all fell silent and
looked at one another questioningly.
"Really, I don't know what to do," muttered the shaggy man, gazing hard
at Toto; and the little dog wagged his tail and said "Bow-wow!" just as
if he could not tell, either, what to do. Button-Bright got a stick and
began to dig in the earth, and the others watched him for a while in
deep thought. Finally the shaggy man said:
"It's nearly evening, now; so we may well sleep in this pretty place and
get rested; perhaps by morning we can decide what is best to be done."
There was little chance to make beds for the children, but the leaves of
the trees grew thickly and would serve to keep off the night dews, so
the shaggy man piled soft grasses in the thickest shade and when it was
dark they lay down and slept peacefully until morning.
Long after the others were asleep, however, the shaggy man sat in the
starlight by the spring, gazing thoughtfully into its bubbling waters.
Suddenly he smiled and nodded to himself as if he had found a good
thought, after which he, too, laid himself down under a tree and was
soon lost in slumber. [Illustration]
In the bright morning sunshine, as they ate of the strawberries and
sweet juicy pears, Dorothy said:
"Polly, can you do any magic?"
"No, dear," answered Polychrome, shaking her dainty head.
"You ought to know _some_ magic, being the Rainbow's Daughter,"
continued Dorothy, earnestly.
"But we who live on the rainbow among the fleecy clouds have no use for
magic," replied Polychrome.
"What I'd like," said Dorothy, "is to find some way to cross the desert
to the Land of Oz and its Emerald City. I've crossed it already, you
know, more than once. First a cyclone carried my house over, and some
Silver Shoes brought me back again--in half a second. Then Ozma took me
over on her Magic Carpet, and the Nome King's Magic Belt took me home
that time. You see it was magic that did it every time 'cept the first,
and we can't 'spect a cyclone to happen along and take us to the Emerald
City now."
"No, indeed," returned Polly, with a shudder; "I hate cyclones, anyway."
"That's why I wanted to find out if you could do any magic," said the
little Kansas girl. "I'm sure I can't; and I'm sure Button-Bright can't;
and the only magic the shaggy man has is the Love Magnet, which won't
help us much."
"Don't be too sure of that, my dear," spoke the shaggy man, a smile on
his donkey face. "I may not be able to do magic myself, but I can call
to us a powerful friend who loves me because I own the Love Magnet, and
this friend surely will be able to help us."
"Who is your friend?" asked Dorothy.
"Johnny Dooit."
"What can Johnny do?"
"Anything," answered the shaggy man, with confidence.
"Ask him to come," she exclaimed, eagerly.
The shaggy man took the Love Magnet from his pocket and unwrapped the
paper that surrounded it. Holding the charm in the palm of his hand he
looked at it steadily and said these words:
_"Dear Johnny Dooit, come to me._
_I need you bad as bad can be."_
"Well, here I am," said a cheery little voice; "but you shouldn't say
you need me bad, 'cause I'm always, _always_ good."
At this they quickly whirled around to find a funny little man sitting
on a big copper chest, puffing smoke from a long pipe. His hair was
grey, his whiskers were grey; and these whiskers were so long that he
had wound the ends of them around his waist and tied them in a hard knot
underneath the leather apron that reached from his chin nearly to his
feet, and which was soiled and scratched as if it had been used a long
time. His nose was broad, and stuck up a little; but his eyes were
twinkling and merry. The little man's hands and arms were as hard and
tough as the leather in his apron, and Dorothy thought Johnny Dooit
looked as if he had done a lot of hard work in his lifetime.
[Illustration]
"Good morning, Johnny," said the shaggy man. "Thank you for coming to me
so quickly."
"I never waste time," said the newcomer, promptly. "But what's happened
to you? Where did you get that donkey head? Really, I wouldn't have
known you at all, Shaggy Man, if I hadn't looked at your feet."
The shaggy man introduced Johnny Dooit to Dorothy and Toto and
Button-Bright and the Rainbow's Daughter, and told him the story of
their adventures, adding that they were anxious now to reach the Emerald
City in the Land of Oz, where Dorothy had friends who would take care of
them and send them safe home again.
"But," said he, "we find that we can't cross this desert, which turns
all living flesh that touches it into dust; so I have asked you to come
and help us."
Johnny Dooit puffed his pipe and looked carefully at the dreadful desert
in front of them--stretching so far away they could not see its end.
"You must ride," he said, briskly.
"What in?" asked the shaggy man.
"In a sand-boat, which has runners like a sled and sails like a ship.
The wind will blow you swiftly across the desert and the sand cannot
touch your flesh to turn it into dust."
"Good!" cried Dorothy, clapping her hands delightedly. "That was the way
the Magic Carpet took us across. We didn't have to touch the horrid sand
at all."
"But where is the sand-boat?" asked the shaggy man, looking all around
him.
"I'll make you one," said Johnny Dooit.
As he spoke he knocked the ashes from his pipe and put it in his pocket.
Then he unlocked the copper chest and lifted the lid, and Dorothy saw
it was full of shining tools of all sorts and shapes.
Johnny Dooit moved quickly now--so quickly that they were astonished at
the work he was able to accomplish. He had in his chest a tool for
everything he wanted to do, and these must have been magic tools because
they did their work so fast and so well.
The man hummed a little song as he worked, and Dorothy tried to listen
to it. She thought the words were something like these:
_The only way to do a thing
Is do it when you can,
And do it cheerfully, and sing
And work and think and plan.
The only real unhappy one
Is he who dares to shirk;
The only really happy one
Is he who cares to work._
Whatever Johnny Dooit was singing he was certainly doing things, and
they all stood by and watched him in amazement.
He seized an axe and in a couple of chops felled a tree. Next he took a
saw and in a few minutes sawed the tree-trunk into broad long boards. He
then nailed the boards together into the shape of a boat, about twelve
feet long and four feet wide. He cut from another tree a long, slender
pole which, when trimmed of its branches and fastened upright in the
center of the boat, served as a mast. From the chest he drew a coil of
rope and a big bundle of canvas, and with these--still humming his
song--he rigged up a sail, arranging it so it could be raised or lowered
upon the mast.
Dorothy fairly gasped with wonder to see the thing grow so speedily
before her eyes, and both Button-Bright and Polly looked on with the
same absorbed interest.
[Illustration]
"It ought to be painted," said Johnny Dooit, tossing his tools back into
the chest, "for that would make it look prettier. But 'though I can
paint it for you in three seconds it would take an hour to dry, and
that's a waste of time."
"We don't care how it looks," said the shaggy man, "if only it will take
us across the desert."
"It will do that," declared Johnny Dooit. "All you need worry about is
tipping over. Did you ever sail a ship?"
"I've seen one sailed," said the shaggy man.
"Good. Sail this boat the way you've seen a ship sailed, and you'll be
across the sands before you know it."
With this he slammed down the lid of the chest, and the noise made them
all wink. While they were winking the workman disappeared, tools and
all.
The Deadly Desert Crossed
[Illustration]
"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 modelled 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 grey 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."
[Illustration]
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.
"If 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-bye 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.
[Illustration: "LOOK OUT!" SCREAMED POLYCHROME]
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."
[Illustration]
The Truth Pond
[Illustration]
They now made a more careful examination of the country around them. All
was fresh and beautiful after the sultriness of the desert, and the
sunshine and sweet, crisp air were delightful to the wanderers. Little
mounds of yellowish green were away at the right, while on the left
waved a group of tall leafy trees bearing yellow blossoms that looked
like tassels and pompoms. Among the grasses carpeting the ground were
pretty buttercups and cowslips and marigolds. After looking at these a
moment Dorothy said reflectively:
"We must be in the Country of the Winkies, for the color of that country
is yellow, and you will notice that 'most everything here is yellow that
has any color at all."
"But I thought this was the Land of Oz," replied the shaggy man, as if
greatly disappointed.
"So it is," she declared; "but there are four parts to the Land of Oz.
The North Country is purple, and it's the Country of the Gillikins. The
East country is blue, and that's the Country of the Munchkins. Down at
the South is the red Country of the Quadlings, and here, in the West,
the yellow Country of the Winkies. This is the part that is ruled by the
Tin Woodman, you know."
"Who's he?" asked Button-Bright.
"Why, he's the tin man I told you about. His name is Nick Chopper, and
he has a lovely heart given him by the wonderful Wizard."
"Where does _he_ live?" asked the boy.
"The Wizard? Oh, he lives in the Emerald City, which is just in the
middle of Oz, where the corners of the four countries meet."
"Oh," said Button-Bright, puzzled by this explanation.
"We must be some distance from the Emerald City," remarked the shaggy
man.
"That's true," she replied; "so we'd better start on and see if we can
find any of the Winkies. They're nice people," she continued, as the
little party began walking toward the group of trees, "and I came here
once with my friends the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, and the
Cowardly Lion, to fight a wicked witch who had made all the Winkies her
slaves."
[Illustration]
"Did you conquer her?" asked Polly.
"Why, I melted her with a bucket of water, and that was the end of her,"
replied Dorothy. "After that the people were free, you know, and they
made Nick Chopper--that's the Tin Woodman--their Emp'ror."
"What's that?" asked Button-Bright.
"Emp'ror? Oh, it's something like an alderman, I guess."
"Oh," said the boy.
"But I thought Princess Ozma ruled Oz," said the shaggy man.
"So she does; she rules the Emerald City and all the four countries of
Oz; but each country has another little ruler, not so big as Ozma. It's
like the officers of an army, you see; the little rulers are all
captains, and Ozma's the general."
By this time they had reached the trees, which stood in a perfect circle
and just far enough apart so that their thick branches touched--or
"shook hands," as Button-Bright remarked. Under the shade of the trees
they found, in the center of the circle, a crystal pool, its water as
still as glass. It must have been deep, too, for when Polychrome bent
over it she gave a little sigh of pleasure.
"Why, it's a mirror!" she cried; for she could see all her pretty face
and fluffy, rainbow-tinted gown reflected in the pool, as natural as
life.
Dorothy bent over, too, and began to arrange her hair, blown by the
desert wind into straggling tangles. Button-Bright leaned over the edge
next, and then began to cry, for the sight of his fox head frightened
the poor little fellow.
"I guess I won't look," remarked the shaggy man, sadly, for he didn't
like his donkey head, either. While Polly and Dorothy tried to comfort
Button-Bright, the shaggy man sat down near the edge of the pool, where
his image could not be reflected, and stared at the water thoughtfully.
As he did this he noticed a silver plate fastened to a rock just under
the surface of the water, and on the silver plate was engraved these
words:
[Illustration: THE TRUTH POND]
"Ah!" cried the shaggy man, springing to his feet with eager joy; "we've
found it at last."
"Found what?" asked Dorothy, running to him.
"The Truth Pond. Now, at last, I may get rid of this frightful head; for
we were told, you remember, that only the Truth Pond could restore to me
my proper face."
"Me, too!" shouted Button-Bright, trotting up to them.
"Of course," said Dorothy. "It will cure you both of your bad heads, I
guess. Isn't it lucky we found it?"
[Illustration]
"It is, indeed," replied the shaggy man. "I hated dreadfully to go to
Princess Ozma looking like this; and she's to have a birthday
celebration, too."
Just then a splash startled them, for Button-Bright, in his anxiety to
see the pool that would "cure" him, had stepped too near the edge and
tumbled heels over head into the water. Down he went, out of sight
entirely, so that only his sailor hat floated on the top of the Truth
Pond.
He soon bobbed up, and the shaggy man seized him by his sailor collar
and dragged him to the shore, dripping and gasping for breath. They all
looked upon the boy wonderingly, for the fox head with its sharp nose
and pointed ears was gone, and in its place appeared the chubby round
face and blue eyes and pretty curls that had belonged to Button-Bright
before King Dox of Foxville transformed him.
"Oh, what a darling!" cried Polly, and would have hugged the little one
had he not been so wet.
Their joyful exclamations made the child rub the water out of his eyes
and look at his friends questioningly.
"You're all right now, dear," said Dorothy. "Come and look at yourself."
She led him to the pool, and although there were still a few ripples on
the surface of the water he could see his reflection plainly.
"It's me!" he said, in a pleased yet awed whisper.
[Illustration: THE SHAGGY MAN'S OWN HEAD RESTORED]