Ozma of Oz | Page 3

no
sooner had she seized fast hold of the slats of the big box in which the
chickens were kept than the wind, as if enraged because the little girl
dared to resist its power, suddenly redoubled its fury. With a scream
like that of an angry giant it tore away the ropes that held the coop and
lifted it high into the air, with Dorothy still clinging to the slats. Around
and over it whirled, this way and that, and a few moments later the
chicken-coop dropped far away into the sea, where the big waves
caught it and slid it up-hill to a foaming crest and then down-hill into a
deep valley, as if it were nothing more than a plaything to keep them
amused.
Dorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she didn't lose her
presence of mind even for a second. She kept tight hold of the stout
slats and as soon as she could get the water out of her eyes she saw that
the wind had ripped the cover from the coop, and the poor chickens
were fluttering away in every direction, being blown by the wind until
they looked like feather dusters without handles. The bottom of the
coop was made of thick boards, so Dorothy found she was clinging to a
sort of raft, with sides of slats, which readily bore up her weight. After
coughing the water out of her throat and getting her breath again, she
managed to climb over the slats and stand upon the firm wooden
bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.
"Why, I've got a ship of my own!" she thought, more amused than
frightened at her sudden change of condition; and then, as the coop
climbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked eagerly around for the
ship from which she had been blown.
It was far, far away, by this time. Perhaps no one on board had yet
missed her, or knew of her strange adventure. Down into a valley
between the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed another
crest the ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long way off. Soon it
had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and then Dorothy gave a sigh of
regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began to wonder what was
going to happen to her next.

Just now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with nothing to
keep her afloat but a miserable wooden hen-coop that had a plank
bottom and slatted sides, through which the water constantly splashed
and wetted her through to the skin! And there was nothing to eat when
she became hungry--as she was sure to do before long--and no fresh
water to drink and no dry clothes to put on.
"Well, I declare!" she exclaimed, with a laugh. "You're in a pretty fix,
Dorothy Gale, I can tell you! and I haven't the least idea how you're
going to get out of it!"
As if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and the gray
clouds overhead changed to inky blackness. But the wind, as if satisfied
at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped blowing this ocean and
hurried away to another part of the world to blow something else; so
that the waves, not being joggled any more, began to quiet down and
behave themselves.
It was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided; otherwise,
brave though she was, I fear she might have perished. Many children,
in her place, would have wept and given way to despair; but because
Dorothy had encountered so many adventures and come safely through
them it did not occur to her at this time to be especially afraid. She was
wet and uncomfortable, it is true; but, after sighing that one sigh I told
you of, she managed to recall some of her customary cheerfulness and
decided to patiently await whatever her fate might be.
By and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky
overhead, with a silver moon shining sweetly in the middle of it and
little stars winking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their way. The
coop did not toss around any more, but rode the waves more
gently--almost like a cradle rocking--so that the floor upon which
Dorothy stood was no longer swept by water coming through the slats.
Seeing this, and being quite exhausted by the excitement of the past
few hours, the little girl decided that sleep would be the best thing to
restore her strength and the easiest way in which she could pass the
time. The floor was damp and she was herself wringing wet, but
fortunately this was