big tree and, taking
out his knife, cut away a big, broad piece of thick bark. Then he sat
down on the ground and after taking a roll of stout cord from his
pocket--which seemed to be full of all sorts of things--he proceeded to
bind the flat piece of bark to the bottom of his good foot, over the
leather sole.

"What's that for?" inquired the Wizard.

"I hate to be stumped," replied the sailor-man; "so I'm goin' back to
that island."

"And get enchanted again?" exclaimed Trot, with evident disapproval.

"No; this time I'll dodge the magic of the island. I noticed that my
wooden leg didn't get stuck, or take root, an' neither did the glass
feet of the Glass Cat. It's only a thing that's made of meat--like man
an' beasts--that the magic can hold an' root to the ground. Our shoes
are leather, an' leather comes from a beast's hide. Our stockin's are
wool, an' wool comes from a sheep's back. So, when we walked on the
Magic Isle, our feet took root there an' held us fast. But not my
wooden leg. So now I'll put a wooden bottom on my other foot an' the
magic can't stop me."

"But why do you wish to go back to the island?" asked Dorothy.

"Didn't you see the Magic Flower in the gold flower-pot?" returned
Cap'n Bill.

"Of course I saw it, and it's lovely and wonderful."

"Well, Trot an' I set out to get the magic plant for a present to Ozma
on her birthday, and I mean to get it an' take it back with us to the
Emerald City."

"That would be fine," cried Trot eagerly, "if you think you can do it,
and it would be safe to try!"

"I'm pretty sure it is safe, the way I've fixed my foot," said the
sailor, "an' if I SHOULD happen to get caught, I s'pose the Wizard
could save me again."

"I suppose I could," agreed the Wizard. "Anyhow, if you wish to try
it, Cap'n Bill, go ahead and we'll stand by and watch what happens."

So the sailor-man got upon the raft again and paddled over to the Magic
Isle, landing as close to the golden flower-pot as he could. They
watched him walk across the land, put both arms around the flower-pot
and lift it easily from its place. Then he carried it to the raft and
set it down very gently. The removal did not seem to affect the Magic
Flower in any way, for it was growing daffodils when Cap'n Bill picked
it up and on the way to the raft it grew tulips and gladioli. During
the time the sailor was paddling across the river to where his friends
awaited him, seven different varieties