The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Page 2

not gray; he was a little black
dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on
either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and
Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the
doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than
usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at
the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry
and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the
coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the
south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the
grass coming from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look
after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and
horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her

of the danger close at hand.
"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"
Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl
started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door
in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.
Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she
was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind,
and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down
suddenly upon the floor.
Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through
the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the
exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is
generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the
house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the
cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as
easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy
found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and
one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were
being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,
barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see
what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the
little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears
sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was
keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught
Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward

closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.
Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her
that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be
dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and
nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait
calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over
the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed
and lay down beside her.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,
Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

2. The Council with the Munchkins
She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy
had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was,
the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened; and
Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally. Dorothy
sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for
the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She
sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the
door.
The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her eyes