The Scarecrow of Oz | Page 5

capacious
pockets of his "sou'wester." This sou'wester was a short coat of oilskin
which the old sailor wore on all occasions -- when he wore a coat at all
-- and the pockets always contained a variety of objects, useful and
ornamental, which made even Trot wonder where they all came from
and why Cap'n Bill should treasure them. The jackknives -- a big one
and a little one -- the bits of cord, the fishhooks, the nails: these were

handy to have on certain occasions. But bits of shell, and tin boxes with
unknown contents, buttons, pincers, bottles of curious stones and the
like, seemed quite unnecessary to carry around. That was Cap'n Bill's
business, however, and now that he added the candles and the matches
to his collection Trot made no comment, for she knew these last were
to light their way through the caves. The sailor always rowed the boat,
for he handled the oars with strength and skill. Trot sat in the stern and
steered. The place where they embarked was a little bight or circular
bay, and the boat cut across a much larger bay toward a distant
headland where the caves were located, right at the water's edge. They
were nearly a mile from shore and about halfway across the bay when
Trot suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed: "What's that, Cap'n?"
He stopped rowing and turned half around to look.
"That, Trot," he slowly replied, "looks to me mighty like a whirlpool."
"What makes it, Cap'n?"
"A whirl in the air makes the whirl in the water. I was afraid as we'd
meet with trouble, Trot. Things didn't look right. The air was too still."
"It's coming closer," said the girl.
The old man grabbed the oars and began rowing with all his strength.
"'Tain't comin' closer to us, Trot," he gasped; "it's we that are comin'
closer to the whirlpool. The thing is drawin' us to it like a magnet!"
Trot's sun-bronzed face was a little paler as she grasped the tiller firmly
and tried to steer the boat away; but she said not a word to indicate fear.
The swirl of the water as they came nearer made a roaring sound that
was fearful to listen to. So fierce and powerful was the whirlpool that it
drew the surface of the sea into the form of a great basin, slanting
downward toward the center, where a big hole had been made in the
ocean -- a hole with walls of water that were kept in place by the rapid
whirling of the air.

The boat in which Trot and Cap'n Bill were riding was just on the outer
edge of this saucer-like slant, and the old sailor knew very well that
unless he could quickly force the little craft away from the rushing
current they would soon be drawn into the great black hole that yawned
in the middle. So he exerted all his might and pulled as he had never
pulled before. He pulled so hard that the left oar snapped in two and
sent Cap'n Bill sprawling upon the bottom of the boat.
He scrambled up quickly enough and glanced over the side. Then he
looked at Trot, who sat quite still, with a serious, far-away look in her
sweet eyes. The boat was now speeding swiftly of its own accord,
following the line of the circular basin round and round and gradually
drawing nearer to the great hole in the center. Any further effort to
escape the whirlpool was useless, and realizing this fact Cap'n Bill
turned toward Trot and put an arm around her, as if to shield her from
the awful fate before them. He did not try to speak, because the roar of
the waters would have drowned the sound of his voice.
These two faithful comrades had faced dangers before, but nothing to
equal that which now faced them. Yet Cap'n Bill, noting the look in
Trot's eyes and remembering how often she had been protected by
unseen powers, did not quite give way to despair.
The great hole in the dark water -- now growing nearer and nearer --
looked very terrifying; but they were both brave enough to face it and
await the result of the adventure.

Chapter Two
The Cavern Under the Sea

The circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the
boat moved so much more swiftly, that Trot was beginning to get dizzy
with the motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived

headlong into the murky depths of the hole. Whirling like tops, but still
clinging together, the sailor and the girl were separated from their boat
and plunged down -- down -- down -- into the farthermost recesses of
the great