er to
examine the Flower closer, sprang from the raft and ran up the bank
until she reached the Golden Flower-pot. Then she stood beside it
motionless and filled with wonder. Cap'n Bill joined her, coming more
leisurely, and he, too, stood in silent admiration for a time.

"Ozma will like this," remarked the Glass Cat, sitting down to watch
the shifting hues of the flowers. "I'm sure she won't have as fine a
birthday present from anyone else."

"Do you 'spose it's very heavy, Cap'n? And can we get it home without
breaking it?" asked Trot anxiously.

"Well, I've lifted many bigger things than that," he replied; "but
let's see what it weighs."

He tried to take a step forward, but could not lift his meat foot from
the ground. His wooden leg seemed free enough, but the other would not
budge.

"I seem stuck, Trot," he said, with a perplexed look at his foot. "It
ain't mud, an' it ain't glue, but somethin's holdin' me down."

The girl attempted to lift her own feet, to go nearer to her friend,
but the ground held them as fast as it held Cap'n Bill's foot. She
tried to slide them, or to twist them around, but it was no use; she
could not move either foot a hair's breadth.

"This is funny!" she exclaimed. "What do you 'spose has happened to us,
Cap'n Bill?"

"I'm tryin' to make out," he answered. "Take off your shoes, Trot.
P'raps it's the leather soles that's stuck to the ground."

She leaned down and unlaced her shoes, but found she could not pull her
feet out of them. The Glass Cat, which was walking around as naturally
as ever, now said:

"Your foot has got roots to it, Cap'n, and I can see the roots going
into the ground, where they spread out in all directions. It's the
same way with Trot. That's why you can't move. The roots hold you
fast."

Cap'n Bill was rather fat and couldn't see his own feet very well, but
he squatted down and examined Trot's feet and decided that the Glass
Cat was right.

"This is hard luck," he declared, in a voice that showed he was uneasy
at the discovery. "We're pris'ners, Trot, on this funny island, an'
I'd like to know how we're ever goin' to get loose, so's we can get
home again."

"Now I know why the Kalidah laughed at us," said the girl, "and why he
said none of the beasts ever came to this island. The horrid creature
knew we'd be caught, and wouldn't warn us."

In the meantime, the Kalidah, although pinned fast to the earth by
Cap'n Bill's stake, was fac