little while. Sometimes it flows one
way, and sometimes the other."

They had no time to answer him, for the raft was swept past the house
and a long distance on the other side of it.

"We're going just the way we don't want to go," said Dorothy, "and I
guess the best thing we can do is to get to land before we're carried
any farther."

But they could not get to land. They had no oars, nor even a pole to
guide the raft with. The logs which bore them floated in the middle of
the stream and were held fast in that position by the strong current.

So they sat still and waited and, even while they were wondering what
could be done, the raft slowed down, stopped, and began drifting the
other way--in the direction it had first followed. After a time they
repassed the Quadling house and the man was still standing on the bank.
He cried out to them:

"Good day! Glad to see you again. I expect I shall see you a good many
times, as you go by, unless you happen to swim ashore."

By that time they had left him behind and were headed once more straight
toward the Winkie Country.

"This is pretty hard luck," said Ojo in a discouraged voice. "The Trick
River keeps changing, it seems, and here we must float back and forward
forever, unless we manage in some way to get ashore."

"Can you swim?" asked Dorothy.

"No; I'm Ojo the Unlucky."

"Neither can I. Toto can swim a little, but that won't help us to get to
shore."

"I don't know whether I could swim, or not," remarked Scraps; "but
if I tried it I'd surely ruin my lovely patches."

"My straw would get soggy in the water and I would sink," said the
Scarecrow.

So there seemed no way out of their dilemma and being helpless they
simply sat still. Ojo, who was on the front of the raft, looked over
into the water and thought he saw some large fishes swimming about. He
found a loose end of the clothesline which fastened the logs together,
and taking a gold nail from his pocket he bent it nearly double, to
form a hook, and tied it to the end of the line. Having baited the hook
with some bread which he broke from his loaf, he dropped the line into
the water and almost instantly it was seized by a great fish.

They knew it was a great fish, because it pulled so hard on the line
that it dragged the raft forward even faster than the current of the
river had carried it. The fish was frightened, and it was a strong
swimmer. As the other end of the clothesline was bound around the