Chapter VIII.
The Deadly Poppy Field.
Our little party of travellers awakened next morning refreshed andfull of hope, and Dorothy breakfasted like a princess off peaches andplums from the trees beside the river.
Behind them was the dark forest they had passed safely through,although they had suffered many discouragements; but before them was alovely, sunny country that seemed to beckon them on to the Emerald City.
To be sure, the broad river now cut them off from this beautifulland; but the raft was nearly done, and after the Tin Woodman had cuta few more logs and fastened them together with wooden pins, theywere ready to start. Dorothy sat down in the middle of the raft andheld Toto in her arms. When the Cowardly Lion stepped upon the raftit tipped badly, for he was big and heavy; but the Scarecrow and theTin Woodman stood upon the other end to steady it, and they had longpoles in their hands to push the raft through the water.
They got along quite well at first, but when they reached the middleof the river the swift current swept the raft down stream, fartherand farther away from the road of yellow brick; and the water grew sodeep that the long poles would not touch the bottom.
"This is bad," said the Tin Woodman, "for if we cannot get to theland we shall be carried into the country of the wicked Witch of theWest, and she will enchant us and make us her slaves."
"And then I should get no brains," said the Scarecrow.
"And I should get no courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
"And I should get no heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"And I should never get back to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"We must certainly get to the Emerald City if we can," the Scarecrowcontinued, and he pushed so hard on his long pole that it stuck fastin the mud at the bottom of the river, and before he could pull itout again, or let go, the raft was swept away and the poor Scarecrowleft clinging to the pole in the middle of the river.
"Good bye!" he called after them, and they were very sorry to leavehim; indeed, the Tin Woodman began to cry, but fortunately rememberedthat he might rust, and so dried his tears on Dorothy's apron.
Of course this was a bad thing for the Scarecrow.
"I am now worse off than when I first met Dorothy," he thought."Then, I was stuck on a pole in a cornfield, where I could makebelieve scare the crows, at any rate; but surely there is no use fora Scarecrow stuck on a pole in the middle of a river. I am afraid Ishall never have any brains, after all!"
Down the stream the raft floated, and the poor Scarecrow was left farbehind. Then the Lion said:
"Something must be done to save us. I think I can swim to the shoreand pull the raft after me, if you will only hold fast to the tip ofmy tail."
So he sprang into the water and the Tin Woodman caught fast holdof his tail, when the Lion began to swim with all his might towardthe shore. It was hard work, although he was so big; but by and bythey were drawn out of the current, and then Dorothy took the TinWoodman's long pole and helped push the raft to the land.
They were all tired out when they reached the shore at last andstepped off upon the pretty green grass, and they also knew that thestream had carried them a long way past the road of yellow brick thatled to the Emerald City.
"What shall we do now?" asked the Tin Woodman, as the Lion lay downon the grass to let the sun dry him.
"We must get back to the road, in some way," said Dorothy.
"The best plan will be to walk along the river bank until we come tothe road again," remarked the Lion.
So, when they were rested, Dorothy picked up her basket and theystarted along the grassy bank, back to the road from which the riverhad carried them. It was a lovely country, with plenty of flowersand fruit trees and sunshine to cheer them, and had they not felt sosorry for the poor Scarecrow they could have been very happy.
They walked along as fast as they could, Dorothy only stopping once topick a beautiful flower; and after a time the Tin Woodman cried out,
"Look!"
Then they all looked at the river and saw the Scarecrow perched uponhis pole in the middle of the water, looking very lonely and sad.
"What can we do to save him?" asked Dorothy.
The Lion and the Woodman both shook their heads, for they did notknow. So they sat down upon the bank and gazed wistfully at theScarecrow until a Stork flew by, which, seeing them, stopped to restat the water's edge.
"Who are you, and where are you going?" asked the Stork.
"I am Dorothy," answered the girl; "and these are my friends, the TinWoodman and the Cowardly Lion; and we are going to the Emerald City."
"This isn't the road," said the Stork, as she twisted her long neckand looked sharply at the queer party.
"I know it," returned Dorothy, "but we have lost the Scarecrow, andare wondering how we shall get him again."
"Where is he?" asked the Stork.
"Over there in the river," answered the girl.
"If he wasn't so big and heavy I would get him for you," remarked theStork.
"He isn't heavy a bit," said Dorothy, eagerly, "for he is stuffedwith straw; and if you will bring him back to us we shall thank youever and ever so much."
"Well, I'll try," said the Stork; "but if I find he is too heavy tocarry I shall have to drop him in the river again."
So the big bird flew into the air and over the water till she came towhere the Scarecrow was perched upon his pole. Then the Stork withher great claws grabbed the Scarecrow by the arm and carried him upinto the air and back to the bank, where Dorothy and the Lion and theTin Woodman and Toto were sitting.
When the Scarecrow found himself among his friends again he was sohappy that he hugged them all, even the Lion and Toto; and as theywalked along he sang "Tol-de-ri-de-oh!" at every step, he felt so gay.
"I was afraid I should have to stay in the river forever," he said,"but the kind Stork saved me, and if I ever get any brains I shallfind the Stork again and do it some kindness in return."
"That's all right," said the Stork, who was flying along beside them."I always like to help anyone in trouble. But I must go now, formy babies are waiting in the nest for me. I hope you will find theEmerald City and that Oz will help you."
"Thank you," replied Dorothy, and then the kind Stork flew into theair and was soon out of sight.
"_The Stork carried him up into the air._"]
They walked along listening to the singing of the bright-coloredbirds and looking at the lovely flowers which now became so thick thatthe ground was carpeted with them. There were big yellow and white andblue and purple blossoms, besides great clusters of scarlet poppies,which were so brilliant in color they almost dazzled Dorothy's eyes.
"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked, as she breathed in the spicyscent of the flowers.
"I suppose so," answered the Scarecrow. "When I have brains I shallprobably like them better."
"If I only had a heart I should love them," added the Tin Woodman.
"I always did like flowers," said the Lion; "they seem so helplessand frail. But there are none in the forest so bright as these."
They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet poppies, andfewer and fewer of the other flowers; and soon they found themselvesin the midst of a great meadow of poppies. Now it is well knownthat when there are many of these flowers together their odor is sopowerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeperis not carried away from the scent of the flowers he sleeps on and onforever. But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away fromthe bright red flowers that were everywhere about; so presently hereyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to sleep.
But the Tin Woodman would not let her do this.
"We must hurry and get back to the road of yellow brick before dark,"he said; and the Scarecrow agreed with him. So they kept walkinguntil Dorothy could stand no longer. Her eyes closed in spite ofherself and she forgot where she was and fell
among the poppies, fastasleep.
"What shall we do?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"If we leave her here she will die," said the Lion. "The smell of theflowers is killing us all. I myself can scarcely keep my eyes openand the dog is asleep already."
It was true; Toto had fallen down beside his little mistress. Butthe Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were nottroubled by the scent of the flowers.
"Run fast," said the Scarecrow to the Lion, "and get out of thisdeadly flower-bed as soon as you can. We will bring the little girlwith us, but if you should fall asleep you are too big to be carried."
So the Lion aroused himself and bounded forward as fast as he couldgo. In a moment he was out of sight.
"Let us make a chair with our hands, and carry her," said theScarecrow. So they picked up Toto and put the dog in Dorothy's lap, andthen they made a chair with their hands for the seat and their arms forthe arms and carried the sleeping girl between them through the flowers.
On and on they walked, and it seemed that the great carpet of deadlyflowers that surrounded them would never end. They followed the bendof the river, and at last came upon their friend the Lion, lyingfast asleep among the poppies. The flowers had been too strong forthe huge beast and he had given up, at last, and fallen only a shortdistance from the end of the poppy-bed, where the sweet grass spreadin beautiful green fields before them.
"We can do nothing for him," said the Tin Woodman, sadly; "for he ismuch too heavy to lift. We must leave him here to sleep on forever,and perhaps he will dream that he has found courage at last."
"I'm sorry," said the Scarecrow; "the Lion was a very good comradefor one so cowardly. But let us go on."
They carried the sleeping girl to a pretty spot beside the river,far enough from the poppy field to prevent her breathing any more ofthe poison of the flowers, and here they laid her gently on the softgrass and waited for the fresh breeze to waken her.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Page 8