st they came in sight of a
cluster of low mountains. These were cone-shaped, rising from broad
bases to sharp peaks at the tops. From a distance the mountains appeared
indistinct and seemed rather small--more like hills than mountains--but
as the travelers drew nearer they noted a most unusual circumstance: the
hills were all whirling around, some in one direction and some the
opposite way.

"I guess those are the Merry-Go-Round Mountains, all right," said
Dorothy.

"They must be," said the Wizard.

"They go 'round, sure enough," added Trot, "but they don't seem very
merry."

There were several rows of these mountains, extending both to the right
and to the left, for miles and miles. How many rows there might be, none
could tell, but between the first row of peaks could be seen other
peaks, all steadily whirling around one way or another. Continuing to
ride nearer, our friends watched these hills attentively, until at last,
coming close up, they discovered there was a deep but narrow gulf around
the edge of each mountain, and that the mountains were set so close
together that the outer gulf was continuous and barred farther advance.

At the edge of the gulf they all dismounted and peered over into its
depths. There was no telling where the bottom was, if indeed there was
any bottom at all. From where they stood it seemed as if the mountains
had been set in one great hole in the ground, just close enough together
so they would not touch, and that each mountain was supported by a rocky
column beneath its base which extended far down into the black pit
below. From the land side it seemed impossible to get across the gulf
or, succeeding in that, to gain a foothold on any of the whirling
mountains.

"This ditch is too wide to jump across," remarked Button-Bright.

"P'raps the Lion could do it," suggested Dorothy.

"What, jump from here to that whirling hill?" cried the Lion
indignantly. "I should say not! Even if I landed there, and could hold
on, what good would it do? There's another spinning mountain beyond it,
and perhaps still another beyond that. I don't believe any living
creature could jump from one mountain to another, when both are whirling
like tops and in different directions."

"I propose we turn back," said the Wooden Sawhorse, with a yawn of his
chopped-out mouth, as he stared with his knot eyes at the Merry-Go-Round
Mountains.

"I agree with you," said the Woozy, wagging his square head.

"We s