id he; "and so, if we
had a boat, or a raft, the river would float us there more quickly and
more easily than we could walk."

"That is true," agreed Dorothy; and then they all looked thoughtful and
wondered what could be done.

"Why can't the man make us a raft?" asked Ojo.

"Will you?" inquired Dorothy, turning to the Quadling.

The chubby man shook his head.

"I'm too lazy," he said. "My wife says I'm the laziest man in all Oz,
and she is a truthful woman. I hate work of any kind, and making a raft
is hard work."

"I'll give you my em'rald ring," promised the girl.

"No; I don't care for emeralds. If it were a ruby, which is the color I
like best, I might work a little while."

"I've got some Square Meal Tablets," said the Scarecrow. "Each one is
the same as a dish of soup, a fried fish, a mutton pot-pie, lobster
salad, charlotte russe and lemon jelly--all made into one little tablet
that you can swallow without trouble."

"Without trouble!" exclaimed the Quadling, much interested; "then those
tablets would be fine for a lazy man. It's such hard work to chew when
you eat."

"I'll give you six of those tablets if you'll help us make a raft,"
promised the Scarecrow. "They're a combination of food which people who
eat are very fond of. I never eat, you know, being straw; but some of my
friends eat regularly. What do you say to my offer, Quadling?"

"I'll do it," decided the man. "I'll help, and you can do most of the
work. But my wife has gone fishing for red eels to-day, so some of you
will have to mind the children."

Scraps promised to do that, and the children were not so shy when the
Patchwork Girl sat down to play with them. They grew to like Toto, too,
and the little dog allowed them to pat him on his head, which gave the
little ones much joy.

There were a number of fallen trees near the house and the Quadling got
his axe and chopped them into logs of equal length. He took his wife's
clothesline to bind these logs together, so that they would form a raft,
and Ojo found some strips of wood and nailed them along the tops of the
logs, to render them more firm. The Scarecrow and Dorothy helped roll
the logs together and carry the strips of wood, but it took so long to
make the raft that evening came just as it was finished, and with
evening the Quadling's wife returned from her fishing.

The woman proved to be cross and bad-tempered, perhaps because she had
only caught one red eel during all the da