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."The forest became more and more open, and soonthe trees gave way to fertile fields that lay along theriver bank.After a short walk, the group came to aneat little yellow farmhouse where the Tin Woodmanasked for straw.When the farmer and his wiferealized that the strange tin creature at their doorwas their own beloved emperor, they insisted that theentire party enter their humble abode and have lunch,which they all ate with relish.Since the Emperor re-quired no food, he carried the head and clothing ofthe Scarecrow to the straw stack behind the domedhouse and restuffed his friend while the rest of theparty ate their hearty meal.Soon the Scarecrow wasas good as new."I feel better than I have for weeks," he declared."I've been needing new straw for some time now.Itmakes me feel like a new man."Page 131ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlDorothy, Jam, and the rest were delighted to seetheir friend in his old shape again, and the Winkiefarmer and his wife were fascinated by the story ofhow the noble creature had saved his friends' lives bysacrificing his straw to make the bonfire that freedthem from the cruel snowmen."To think that such a place exists near our home!"exclaimed the farmer."We never enter the forest," his wife continued,"for fear of wild beasts.Now I am sure that we willstay well away from it."CHAPTER 18A Raft of TroubleAFTER a brief rest in the comfortable house of theWinkies, the Tin Woodman reminded his com-panions that they must be on their journey, for theyhad some distance to go before they could reach thecastle of Terp, the Terrible, and free his slaves frombondage.So they all bade farewell to the kind littleman and his wife and set out once again toward theriver.It was a lovely day, with the soft breezes gentlyswaying the sunflowers and other yellow blossoms toand fro.Wild canaries flitted about on their tinywings, filling the air with their happy songs."It's very pleasant here," said Jam."Who wouldthink that such dreadful people as the Books of Book-ville and the chilly Snowmen could live in such aPage 132ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllovely land?""There are indeed strange inhabitants of this coun-try," agreed the tin man, "but the good are in muchgreater numbers than the bad.""Once there were wicked witches living here,"Dorothy told the little boy, "but they have all beendestroyed.""Dorothy herself rid the Land of Oz of the twowickedest ones," the Scarecrow told Jam."One ofthem was killed when her house fell on the witch.""Her house!" exclaimed Jam."Oh, didn't you know about that?" asked Dorothy."The first time I came to the land of Oz, my house wasblown here by a cyclone.""Then," continued the Tin Woodman, "she de-stroyed the Wicked Witch of the West by melting herwith a bucket of water.""The Winkies then asked the Tin Woodman to betheir Emperor," said the straw man."And don't forget that you, yourself, were the rulerof the Land of Oz for a while," the Cowardly Lion re-minded him."Oh, yes," said the Scarecrow, "I served a short termbetween the reigns of the Wizard of Oz and our pres-ent ruler, Ozma.But I didn't really like being king,because the crown was so heavy that it gave me aheadache."Jam marveled at the account of all these strangeadventures, which could happen only in a fairylandsuch as this.By the time they had finished their briefPage 133ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhistory, the party had come to the banks of the wideriver which was the boundary between the Gillikenand the Winkie sections."Here we are again, kiddo," said the white rat, hiswhiskers twitching."How do we get across this time?""This shouldn't be too hard," answered the TinWoodman."With my trusty axe I can make us a raftthat will float us across the river quite easily.I havedone it many times before."With these words, he turned to a small wooded areanearby to chop down some trees for the raft.As hehacked away at the trunks, he thought he heard low,moaning noises, but as he could see no one in theforest he thought that his imagination was playinghim tricks or that the sound he heard was the windsighing through the branches.Although Nick Chop-per was a champion wood cutter, it was some time be-fore the logs were ready to be fastened into a raft,for the thing had to be large enough to accommodatethe two large beasts as well as the rest of them.TheCowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger did not like toget wet any more than most lions and tigers do.Theyhelped the Tin Woodman roll the logs to the river'sedge where he fastened them together with woodenpegs which he fashioned from small pieces of wood.Every time he drove a peg into a log, he thought thathe heard a moan, and finally even Dorothy noticedthe sound."I thought that I heard a groan," she commented."I've been hearing that sound for some time now,"Page 134ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe Tin Woodman told her, "But I thought that per-haps my imagination was playing tricks.If you hearit too, however, there must be something or someonewho is groaning.""But who could it be?" asked Jam looking allaround for some stranger in their midst and findingno one.The mystery remained unsolved, and as the raftwas now ready for travel, they all slid it into the waterand climbed aboard.The Tin Woodman had cut twolong poles which he and the Scarecrow used to guidethe craft, and they soon had propelled it out into thecurrent of the river.Suddenly, without a warning, thepole that the Scarecrow held flipped high into the airand sailed toward the bank from which they had come.Our stuffed friend was almost flung into the swirlingwater with the force of the leap the pole made, buthe had enough presence of mind to let go of the polewhen he felt it begin its wild leap and managed tokeep his balance with some difficulty."Why did you throw the pole away, kiddo?" askedPercy."I didn't throw it," protested the Scarecrow."Itjumped right out of my hands.""Jumped," exclaimed Dorothy."How could a poledo that?""I don't know how," replied the straw man."All Iknow is that it did.It acted like it was alive."Just at this moment, the other pole, held by the TinWoodman, followed its companion, sailing through thePage 135ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlair with ease.Being prepared by what had happenedto his friend, the tin man was in no danger of beingflung into the water, which would indeed have beendisastrous to him, for it would have rusted him allover."Mine jumped out of my hands, too," he cried."Itfelt just like it was alive.""What are we going to do now?" asked Jam."With-out poles we won't be able to steer the raft at all, andwe will drift downstream in the wrong direction.""Perhaps we'll drift near the shore and be able toget to the bank," said Dorothy [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]