"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "I am sure we shall sometime come to some place."But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before them but thescarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it again in time toreach the Emerald City, I shall never get my brains.""Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I can scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a very long journey.""You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven"t the courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at her companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found that for the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterfly that flew past his head. So he put out his tongue and panted and looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do next. "Suppose we call the field mice," she suggested. "They could probably tell us theway to the Emerald City."
"To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow. "Why didn"t we think of that before?"Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her neck since theQueen of the Mice had given it to her. In a few minutes they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small gray mice came running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself, who asked, in her squeaky little voice:
"What can I do for my friends?"
"We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us where the Emerald City is?""Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off, for you have had it at your backs all this time." Then she noticed Dorothy"s Golden Cap, and said, "Why don"t you use the charm of the Cap, and call the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Oz in less than an hour.""I didn"t know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, in surprise. "What is it?" "It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of the Mice. "But if youare going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away, for they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us.""Won"t they hurt me?" asked the girl anxiously.
"Oh, no. They must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!"And she scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written upon the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read the directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
"What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what she was doing. "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time on her right foot. "Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman calmly.
"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on both feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys flew up to them.
The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked, "What is your command?""We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we have lost our way.""We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had he spoken than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, and one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog tried hard to bite him.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at first, for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated them before; but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode through the air quite cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the pretty gardens and woods far below them.
Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggest Monkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of their hands and were careful not to hurt her.
"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked. "That is a long story," answered the King, with a Winged laugh;"but as we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time by telling you about it, if you wish.""I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
