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."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."After climbing down from the china wall the travelers found
themselves in a disagreeable country, full of bogs and marshes and
covered with tall, rank grass. It was difficult to walk without
falling into muddy holes, for the grass was so thick that it hid
them from sight. However, by carefully picking their way, they got
safely along until they reached solid ground. But here the country
seemed wilder than ever, and after a long and tiresome walk through
the underbrush they entered another forest, where the trees were
bigger and older than any they had ever seen.
"This forest is perfectly delightful," declared the Lion,
looking around him with joy. "Never have I seen a more beautiful
place."
"It seems gloomy," said the Scarecrow.
"Not a bit of it," answered the Lion. "I should like to live
here all my life. See how soft the dried leaves are under your feet
and how rich and green the moss is that clings to these old trees.
Surely no wild beast could wish a pleasanter home."
"Perhaps there are wild beasts in the forest now," said
Dorothy.
"I suppose there are," returned the Lion, "but I do not see any
of them about."
They walked through the forest until it became too dark to go
any farther. Dorothy and Toto and the Lion lay down to sleep, while
the Woodman and the Scarecrow kept watch over them as usual.
When morning came, they started again. Before they had gone far
they heard a low rumble, as of the growling of many wild animals.
Toto whimpered a little, but none of the others was frightened, and
they kept along the well-trodden path until they came to an opening
in the wood, in which were gathered hundreds of beasts of every
variety. There were tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and
foxes and all the others in the natural history, and for a moment
Dorothy was afraid. But the Lion explained that the animals were
holding a meeting, and he judged by their snarling and growling
that they were in great trouble.
As he spoke several of the beasts caught sight of him, and atthat they were in great trouble.
As he spoke several of the beasts caught sight of him, and at
once the great assemblage hushed as if by magic. The biggest of the
tigers came up to the Lion and bowed, saying:
"Welcome, O King of Beasts! You have come in good time to fight
our enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once
more."
"What is your trouble?" asked the Lion quietly.
"We are all threatened," answered the tiger, "by a fierce enemy
which has lately come into this forest. It is a most tremendous
monster, like a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and
legs as long as a tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and
as the monster crawls through the forest he seizes an animal with a
leg and drags it to his mouth, where he eats it as a spider does a
fly. Not one of us is safe while this fierce creature is alive, and
we had called a meeting to decide how to take care of ourselves
when you came among us."
The Lion thought for a moment.
"Are there any other lions in this forest?" he asked.
"No; there were some, but the monster has eaten them all. And,
besides, there were none of them nearly so large and brave as
you."
"If I put an end to your enemy, will you bow down to me and obey
me as King of the Forest?" inquired the Lion.
"We will do that gladly," returned the tiger; and all the other
beasts roared with a mighty roar: "We will!"
"Where is this great spider of yours now?" asked the Lion.
"Yonder, among the oak trees," said the tiger, pointing with his
forefoot.
"Take good care of these friends of mine," said the Lion, "and I
will go at once to fight the monster."
He bade his comrades good-bye and marched proudly away to do
battle with the enemy.
The great spider was lying asleep when the Lion found him, and
it looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust. Its
legs were quite as long as the tiger had said, and its body covered
with coarse black hair. It had a great mouth, with a row of sharp
teeth a foot long; but its head was joined to the pudgy body by a