try, I believe the thief must have flown from place to place by
means of magic arts which neither Glinda nor I understand."

On they went, and before the gates closed behind them Toto managed to
dodge through them. The country surrounding the Emerald City was thickly
settled and for a while our friends rode over nicely paved roads which
wound through a fertile country dotted with beautiful houses, all built
in the quaint Oz fashion. In the course of a few hours, however, they
had left the tilled fields and entered the Country of the Winkies, which
occupies a quarter of all the territory in the Land of Oz but is not so
well known as many other parts of Ozma's fairyland. Long before night
the travelers had crossed the Winkie River near to the Scarecrow's
Tower (which was now vacant) and had entered the Rolling Prairie where
few people live. They asked everyone they met for news of Ozma, but none
in this district had seen her or even knew that she had been stolen. And
by nightfall they had passed all the farmhouses and were obliged to stop
and ask for shelter at the hut of a lonely shepherd. When they halted,
Toto was not far behind. The little dog halted, too, and stealing softly
around the party he hid himself behind the hut.

The shepherd was a kindly old man and treated the travelers with much
courtesy. He slept out of doors, that night, giving up his hut to the
three girls, who made their beds on the floor with the blankets they had
brought in the Red Wagon. The Wizard and Button-Bright also slept out of
doors, and so did the Cowardly Lion and Hank the Mule. But Scraps and
the Sawhorse did not sleep at all and the Woozy could stay awake for a
month at a time, if he wished to, so these three sat in a little group
by themselves and talked together all through the night.

In the darkness the Cowardly Lion felt a shaggy little form nestling
beside his own, and he said sleepily:

"Where did you come from, Toto?"

"From home," said the dog. "If you roll over, roll the other way, so you
won't smash me."

"Does Dorothy know you are here?" asked the Lion.

"I believe not," admitted Toto, and he added, a little anxiously: "Do
you think, friend Lion, we are now far enough from the Emerald City for
me to risk showing myself? Or will Dorothy send me back because I wasn't
invited?"

"Only Dorothy can answer that question," said the Lion. "For my part,
Toto, I consider this affair none of my business, so you must act as you