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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter 3. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry.
So she went to the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with butter.
She gave bread to Toto, took a bucket, went to the stream and filled it with clear water.
Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting there.
Dorothy went to get him and saw tasty fruit on the branches.
She gathered some that were just right to help her breakfast.
Then she went back to the house and she and Toto had a good drink of the cool clear water.
She began to get ready for the journey to the City of Emeralds.
Dorothy had only one other dress, but it was clean and was hanging on a peg beside her bed.
It was a checked dress with white and blue squares, the blue had faded from washings, but it was pretty.
The girl washed herself carefully, dressed in the clean checked dress, and tied her pink sunbonnet on her head.
She took a little basket and filled it with bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top.
Then she looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.
"They surely won't do for a long journey, Toto," she said.
And Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged his tail to show he knew what she meant.
At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the Witch of the East.
"I wonder if they'll fit me," she said to Toto.
"They'd be just the thing to walk a long way in, for they couldn't wear out."
She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which fit as if made for her.
Finally she picked up her basket.
"Come along, Toto," she said.
"We'll go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again."
She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the pocket of her dress.
And so, with Toto trotting along quietly behind her, she started on her journey.
There were several roads nearby, but it didn't take her long to find the one paved with yellow bricks.
Within a short time she was walking quickly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling happily on the hard, yellow road.
The sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly.
Dorothy did not feel as bad as you might think.
She had been suddenly taken from her country and set down in a strange land.
She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country was around her.
There were neat fences by the road, painted light blue, and beyond them were large fields of grain and vegetables.
The Munchkins were good farmers and could raise large crops.
Sometimes she passed a house, people came out, looked at her, and bowed low as she went by.
Everyone knew she had helped destroy the Wicked Witch and set them free from slavery.
The houses of the Munchkins were odd looking, for each was round with a big dome for a roof.
All were painted blue, for in this east country blue was the favorite color.
Toward evening Dorothy was tired from her long walk and began to wonder where to spend the night.
She came to a house larger than the rest.
On the green lawn before it many men and women were dancing.
Five small fiddlers played as loudly as they could.
The people were laughing and singing.
A big table near them was full of good fruits, nuts, pies, cakes, and many other nice things to eat.
The people greeted Dorothy kindly and invited her to dinner and to stay the night with them.
This was the home of a rich Munchkin, his friends were with him to celebrate freedom from the Wicked Witch.
Dorothy ate a large dinner and was served by the rich Munchkin himself, whose name was Boq.
Then she sat on a sofa and watched the people dance.
When Boq saw her silver shoes he said, "You must be a great sorceress."
"Why?" asked the girl.
"Because you wear silver shoes and have killed the Wicked Witch."
"Also, you have white in your dress, and only witches and sorceresses wear white."
"My dress is blue and white checked," said Dorothy, smoothing out the wrinkles in it.
"That's kind of you to wear that," said Boq.
"Blue is the color of the Munchkins, and white is the witch color. So we know you're a friendly witch."
Dorothy didn't know what to say to this.
All the people seemed to think she was a witch.
She knew she was an ordinary little girl who had come by a cyclone into a strange land.
When she tired of the dancing, Boq led her into the house and gave her a room with a bed.
The sheets were blue, and Dorothy slept till morning with Toto curled on the blue rug beside her.
She ate a good breakfast and watched a small Munchkin baby play with Toto.
The baby pulled Toto's tail, crowed, and laughed, which greatly pleased Dorothy.
Toto was a great wonder to all the people, for they had never seen a dog before.
"How far is it to the Emerald City?" the girl asked.
"I don't know," answered Boq seriously.
"For I have never been there."
"It's better for people to stay away from Oz unless they have business with him."
"But it's a long way to the Emerald City, and it'll take you many days."
"The country here's rich and pleasant, but you must go through rough and dangerous places before you reach the end of your journey."
This worried Dorothy a little, but she knew that only the Great Oz could help her get to Kansas again.
So she bravely decided not to turn back.
She said good-bye to her friends, and started again along the road of yellow brick.
After several miles she stopped to rest, climbed onto the fence by the road and sat down.
There was a great cornfield beyond the fence.
Not far away she saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep birds from the ripe corn.
Dorothy leaned her chin on her hand and looked carefully at the Scarecrow.
Its head was a small sack filled with straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to look like a face.
An old pointed blue hat that had belonged to some Munchkin was on his head.
The rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded.
And it had also been filled with straw.
On its feet were old boots with blue tops, like every man wore in this country.
The figure was raised above the corn by a pole stuck up its back.
While Dorothy looked at the Scarecrow's strange painted face, she was surprised when one eye slowly winked at her.
She thought she must be wrong at first because no scarecrows in Kansas ever winked.
Soon the figure nodded its head to her in a friendly way.
Then she climbed down from the fence and walked up to it, while Toto ran around the pole and barked.
"Good day," said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice.
"Did you speak?" asked the girl, in wonder.
"Certainly," answered the Scarecrow.
"How do you do?"
"I'm pretty well, thank you," replied Dorothy politely.
"How do you do?"
"I'm not feeling well," said the Scarecrow, with a smile.
"For it's very boring being placed up here day and night to scare away crows."
"Can't you get down?" asked Dorothy.
"No, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you'll please take away the pole I'll be very grateful to you."
Dorothy reached up with both arms and lifted the figure off the pole, for, being filled with straw, it was quite light.
"Thank you very much," said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down on the ground.
"I feel like a new man."
Dorothy was puzzled, for it was strange to hear a stuffed man speak and to see him bow and walk.
"Who are you?" asked the Scarecrow when he had stretched himself and yawned.
"And where are you going?"
"My name is Dorothy," said the girl.
"And I'm going to the Emerald City to ask the Great Oz to send me back to Kansas."
"Where is the Emerald City?" he asked.
"And who's Oz?"
"Why, don't you know?" she replied, in surprise.
"No, indeed. I don't know anything. You see, I'm stuffed, so I have no brains at all," he answered sadly.
"Oh," said Dorothy, "I'm very sorry for you."
"Do you think," he asked, "if I go to the Emerald City with you, that Oz would give me some brains?"
"I can't tell,"
"She replied, "You may come with me. If Oz doesn't give you any brains, you'll be no worse off.
"That's true," said the Scarecrow.
"You see," he added quietly, "I don't mind my legs and arms and body being filled, because I can't get hurt."
"If anyone steps on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn't matter, for I can't feel it."
"But I don't want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays filled with straw not brains, how will I know"?
"I know how you feel," said the little girl, who was truly sorry for him.
"If you come with me I'll ask Oz to do all he can for you."
"Thank you," he answered gratefully.
They walked back to the road.
Dorothy helped him over the fence, and they started along the path of yellow brick for the Emerald City.
Toto didn't like this new friend at first.
He smelled the stuffed man as if he thought there might be a nest of rats in the straw.
And he often growled at the Scarecrow.
"Don't mind Toto," said Dorothy to her new friend.
"He never bites."
"Oh, I'm not afraid," replied the Scarecrow.
"He can't hurt the straw."
"Do let me carry that basket for you."
"I won't mind it, for I can't get tired."
"I'll tell you a secret," He continued as he walked along.
"There's only one thing in the world I'm afraid of."
"What's that?" asked Dorothy.
"The Munchkin farmer who made me?" asked the Scarecrow.
"No," he answered, "it's a lighted match."