the folds of the leaf hugging him on all sides.

At first he struggled hard to escape, crying out in anger: "Let me go!
Let me go!" But neither struggles nor protests had any effect whatever.
The leaf held him firmly and he was a prisoner.

Then Ojo quieted himself and tried to think. Despair fell upon him when
he remembered that all his little party had been captured, even as he
was, and there was none to save them.

"I might have expected it," he sobbed, miserably. "I'm Ojo the Unlucky,
and something dreadful was sure to happen to me."

He pushed against the leaf that held him and found it to be soft, but
thick and firm. It was like a great bandage all around him and he found
it difficult to move his body or limbs in order to change their
position.

The minutes passed and became hours. Ojo wondered how long one could
live in such a condition and if the leaf would gradually sap his
strength and even his life, in order to feed itself. The little Munchkin
boy had never heard of any person dying in the Land of Oz, but he knew
one could suffer a great deal of pain. His greatest fear at this time
was that he would always remain imprisoned in the beautiful leaf and
never see the light of day again.

No sound came to him through the leaf; all around was intense silence.
Ojo wondered if Scraps had stopped screaming, or if the folds of the
leaf prevented his hearing her. By and by he thought he heard a whistle,
as of some one whistling a tune. Yes; it really must be some one
whistling, he decided, for he could follow the strains of a pretty
Munchkin melody that Unc Nunkie used to sing to him. The sounds were low
and sweet and, although they reached Ojo's ears very faintly, they were
clear and harmonious.

Could the leaf whistle, Ojo wondered? Nearer and nearer came the sounds
and then they seemed to be just the other side of the leaf that was
hugging him.

Suddenly the whole leaf toppled and fell, carrying the boy with it, and
while he sprawled at full length the folds slowly relaxed and set him
free. He scrambled quickly to his feet and found that a strange man was
standing before him--a man so curious in appearance that the boy stared
with round eyes.

He was a big man, with shaggy whiskers, shaggy eyebrows, shaggy
hair--but kindly blue eyes that were gentle as those of a cow. On his
head was a green velvet hat with a jeweled band, which was all shaggy
around the brim. Rich but shaggy laces were at his throat; a