is
tipping over. Did you ever sail a ship?"

"I've seen one sailed," said the shaggy man.

"Good. Sail this boat the way you've seen a ship sailed, and you'll be
across the sands before you know it."

With this he slammed down the lid of the chest, and the noise made them
all wink. While they were winking the workman disappeared, tools and
all.

12. The Deadly Desert Crossed

"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Dorothy; "I wanted to thank Johnny Dooit
for all his kindness to us."

"He hasn't time to listen to thanks," replied the shaggy man; "but I'm
sure he knows we are grateful. I suppose he is already at work in some
other part of the world."

They now looked more carefully at the sand-boat, and saw that the
bottom was modeled with two sharp runners which would glide through the
sand. The front of the sand-boat was pointed like the bow of a ship,
and there was a rudder at the stern to steer by.

It had been built just at the edge of the desert, so that all its
length lay upon the gray sand except the after part, which still rested
on the strip of grass.

"Get in, my dears," said the shaggy man; "I'm sure I can manage this
boat as well as any sailor. All you need do is sit still in your
places."

Dorothy got in, Toto in her arms, and sat on the bottom of the boat
just in front of the mast. Button-Bright sat in front of Dorothy,
while Polly leaned over the bow. The shaggy man knelt behind the mast.
When all were ready he raised the sail half-way. The wind caught it.
At once the sand-boat started forward--slowly at first, then with added
speed. The shaggy man pulled the sail way up, and they flew so fast
over the Deadly Desert that every one held fast to the sides of the
boat and scarcely dared to breathe.

The sand lay in billows, and was in places very uneven, so that the
boat rocked dangerously from side to side; but it never quite tipped
over, and the speed was so great that the shaggy man himself became
frightened and began to wonder how he could make the ship go slower.

"It we're spilled in this sand, in the middle of the desert," Dorothy
thought to herself, "we'll be nothing but dust in a few minutes, and
that will be the end of us."

But they were not spilled, and by-and-by Polychrome, who was clinging
to the bow and looking straight ahead, saw a dark line before them and
wondered what it was. It grew plainer every second, until she
discovered it to be a row of jagged rocks at the