Chapter III
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 nearby, 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 at the sides of the road, painted a dainty
blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and vegetables in
abundance. Evidently the Munchkins were good farmers and able to raise
large crops. Once in a while she would pass a house, and the people came
out to look at her and bow low as she went by; for everyone knew she had
been the means of destroying the Wicked Witch and setting them free from
bondage. The houses of the Munchkins were odd-looking dwellings, for each
was round, with a big dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this
country of the East blue was the favorite color.
Toward evening, when Dorothy was tired with her long walk and began to
wonder where she should pass the night, she came to a house rather larger
than the rest. On the green lawn before it many men and women were
dancing. Five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible, and the people
were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was loaded with
delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other good things to eat.
The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to pass
the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest Munchkins in
the land, and his friends were gathered with him to celebrate their freedom
from the bondage of the Wicked Witch.
Dorothy ate a hearty supper and was waited upon by the rich Munchkin
himself, whose name was Boq. Then she sat upon a settee and watched the
people dance.
When Boq saw her silver shoes he said, “You must be a great sorceress.”
“Why?” asked the girl.
“Because you wear silver shoes and have killed the Wicked Witch.
Besides, you have white in your frock, and only witches and sorceresses
wear white.”
“My dress is blue and white checked,” said Dorothy, smoothing out the
wrinkles in it.
“It is kind of you to wear that,” said Boq. “Blue is the color of the
Munchkins, and white is the witch color. So we know you are a friendly
witch.”
Dorothy did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed to
think her a witch, and she knew very well she was only an ordinary little girl
who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.
When she had tired watching the dancing, Boq led her into the house,
where he gave her a room with a pretty bed in it. The sheets were made of
blue cloth, and Dorothy slept soundly in them till morning, with Toto curled
up on the blue rug beside her.
She ate a hearty breakfast, and watched a wee Munchkin baby, who played
with Toto and pulled his tail and crowed and laughed in a way that greatly
amused Dorothy. Toto was a fine curiosity to all the people, for they had
never seen a dog before.
“How far is it to the Emerald City?” the girl asked.
“I do not know,” answered Boq gravely, “for I have never been there. It is
better for people to keep away from Oz, unless they have business with him.
But it is a long way to the Emerald City, and it will take you many days. The
country here is rich and pleasant, but you must pass through rough and
dangerous places before you reach the end of your journey.”
This worried Dorothy a little, but she knew that only the Great Oz could
help her get to Kansas again, so she bravely resolved not to turn back.
She bade her friends good-bye, and again started along the road of yellow
brick. When she had gone several miles she thought she would stop to rest,
and so climbed to the top of the fence beside the road and sat down. There
was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away she saw a
Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.
Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully at the
Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose, and
mouth painted on it to represent a face. An old, pointed blue hat, that had
belonged to some Munchkin, was perched on his head, and the rest of the
figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been
stuffed with straw. On the feet were some old boots with blue tops, such as
every man wore in this country, and the figure was raised above the stalks of
corn by means of the pole stuck up its back.
While Dorothy was looking earnestly into the queer, painted face of the
Scarecrow, she was surprised to see one of the eyes slowly wink at her. She
thought she must have been mistaken at first, for none of the scarecrows in
Kansas ever wink; but presently the figure nodded its head to her in a
friendly way. Then she climbed down from the fence and walked up to it,
while Toto ran around the pole and barked.
“Good day,” said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice.
“Did you speak?” asked the girl, in wonder.
“Certainly,” answered the Scarecrow. “How do you do?”
“I’m pretty well, thank you,” replied Dorothy politely. “How do you do?”
“I’m not feeling well,” said the Scarecrow, with a smile, “for it is very
tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.”
“Can’t you get down?” asked Dorothy.
“No, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you will please take away the
pole I shall be greatly obliged to you.”
Dorothy reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole, for, being
stuffed with straw, it was quite light.
“Thank you very much,” said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down
on the ground. “I feel like a new man.”
Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man
speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.
“Who are you?” asked the Scarecrow when he had stretched himself and
yawned. “And where are you going?”
“My name is Dorothy,” said the girl, “and I am going to the Emerald City,
to ask the Great Oz to send me back to Kansas.”
“Where is the Emerald City?” he inquired. “And who is Oz?”
“Why, don’t you know?” she returned, in surprise.
“No, indeed. I don’t know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have no
brains at all,” he answered sadly.
“Oh,” said Dorothy, “I’m awfully sorry for you.”
“Do you think,” he asked, “if I go to the Emerald City with you, that Oz
would give me some brains?”
“I cannot tell,” she returned, “but you may come with me, if you like. If Oz
will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.”
“That is true,” said the Scarecrow. “You see,” he continued confidentially,
“I don’t mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get
hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn’t matter, for
I can’t feel it. But I do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays
stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know
anything?”
“I understand how you feel,” said the little girl, who was truly sorry for
him. “If you will come with me I’ll ask Oz to do all he can for you.”
“Thank you,” he answered gratefully.
They walked back to the road. Dorothy helped him over the fence, and they
started along the path of yellow brick for the Emerald City.
Toto did not like this addition to the party at first. He smelled around the
stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of rats in the straw, and
he often growled in an unfriendly way at the Scarecrow.
“Don’t mind Toto,” said Dorothy to her new friend. “He never bites.”
“Oh, I’m not afraid,” replied the Scarecrow. “He can’t hurt the straw. Do
let me carry that basket for you. I shall not mind it, for I can’t get tired. I’ll
tell you a secret,” he continued, as he walked along. “There is only one thing
in the world I am afraid of.”
“What is that?” asked Dorothy; “the Munchkin farmer who made you?”
“No,” answered the Scarecrow; “it’s a lighted match.”
