The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Page 5

Whether he is a man or not I cannot tell, for I
have never seen him."
"How can I get there?" asked Dorothy.
"You must walk. It is a long journey, through a country that is
sometimes pleasant and sometimes dark and terrible. However, I will
use all the magic arts I know of to keep you from harm."
"Won't you go with me?" pleaded the girl, who had begun to look upon
the little old woman as her only friend.
"No, I cannot do that," she replied, "but I will give you my kiss, and no
one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch of the
North."

She came close to Dorothy and kissed her gently on the forehead.
Where her lips touched the girl they left a round, shining mark, as
Dorothy found out soon after.
"The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick," said the
Witch, "so you cannot miss it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of
him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-bye, my dear."
The three Munchkins bowed low to her and wished her a pleasant
journey, after which they walked away through the trees. The Witch
gave Dorothy a friendly little nod, whirled around on her left heel three
times, and straightway disappeared, much to the surprise of little Toto,
who barked after her loudly enough when she had gone, because he had
been afraid even to growl while she stood by.
But Dorothy, knowing her to be a witch, had expected her to disappear
in just that way, and was not surprised in the least.

3. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry. So she went to
the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with butter.
She gave some to Toto, and taking a pail from the shelf she carried it
down to the little brook and filled it with clear, sparkling water. Toto
ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting there.
Dorothy went to get him, and saw such delicious fruit hanging from the
branches that she gathered some of it, finding it just what she wanted to
help out her breakfast.
Then she went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto to
a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready for the
journey to the City of Emeralds.
Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and
was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks of
white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with many
washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself carefully,

dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink sunbonnet on
her head. She took a little basket and filled it with bread from the
cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she looked down at
her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.
"They surely will never do for a long journey, Toto," she said. And
Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged his
tail to show he knew what she meant.
At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had
belonged to the Witch of the East.
"I wonder if they will fit me," she said to Toto. "They would be just the
thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out."
She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which
fitted her as well as if they had been made for her.
Finally she picked up her basket.
"Come along, Toto," she said. "We will go to the Emerald City and ask
the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again."
She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the pocket of
her dress. And so, with Toto trotting along soberly behind her, she
started on her journey.
There were several roads near by, but it did not take her long to find the
one paved with yellow bricks. Within a short time she was walking
briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling merrily on
the hard, yellow road-bed. The sun shone bright and the birds sang
sweetly, and Dorothy did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a
little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her own
country and set down in the midst of a strange land.
She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country
was about her. There were neat fences