American library books ยป Other ยป The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (short books for teens .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (short books for teens .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   L. Frank Baum



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answered the Scarecrow. โ€œHow do you do?โ€

โ€œIโ€™m pretty well, thank you,โ€ replied Dorothy politely. โ€œHow do you do?โ€

โ€œIโ€™m not feeling well,โ€ said the Scarecrow, with a smile, โ€œfor it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.โ€

โ€œCanโ€™t you get down?โ€ asked Dorothy.

โ€œNo, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you will please take away the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you.โ€

Dorothy reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole, for, being stuffed with straw, it was quite light.

โ€œThank you very much,โ€ said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down on the ground. โ€œI feel like a new man.โ€

Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.

โ€œWho are you?โ€ asked the Scarecrow when he had stretched himself and yawned. โ€œAnd where are you going?โ€

โ€œMy name is Dorothy,โ€ said the girl, โ€œand I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the Great Oz to send me back to Kansas.โ€

โ€œWhere is the Emerald City?โ€ he inquired. โ€œAnd who is Oz?โ€

โ€œWhy, donโ€™t you know?โ€ she returned, in surprise.

โ€œNo, indeed. I donโ€™t know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have no brains at all,โ€ he answered sadly.

โ€œOh,โ€ said Dorothy, โ€œIโ€™m awfully sorry for you.โ€

โ€œDo you think,โ€ he asked, โ€œif I go to the Emerald City with you, that Oz would give me some brains?โ€

โ€œI cannot tell,โ€ she returned, โ€œbut you may come with me, if you like. If Oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.โ€

โ€œThat is true,โ€ said the Scarecrow. โ€œYou see,โ€ he continued confidentially, โ€œI donโ€™t mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesnโ€™t matter, for I canโ€™t feel it. But I do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know anything?โ€

โ€œI understand how you feel,โ€ said the little girl, who was truly sorry for him. โ€œIf you will come with me Iโ€™ll ask Oz to do all he can for you.โ€

โ€œThank you,โ€ 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 did not like this addition to the party at first. He smelled around the stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of rats in the straw, and he often growled in an unfriendly way at the Scarecrow.

โ€œDonโ€™t mind Toto,โ€ said Dorothy to her new friend. โ€œHe never bites.โ€

โ€œOh, Iโ€™m not afraid,โ€ replied the Scarecrow. โ€œHe canโ€™t hurt the straw. Do let me carry that basket for you. I shall not mind it, for I canโ€™t get tired. Iโ€™ll tell you a secret,โ€ he continued, as he walked along. โ€œThere is only one thing in the world I am afraid of.โ€

โ€œWhat is that?โ€ asked Dorothy; โ€œthe Munchkin farmer who made you?โ€

โ€œNo,โ€ answered the Scarecrow; โ€œitโ€™s a lighted match.โ€

IV The Road Through the Forest

After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow bricks, which were here very uneven. Sometimes, indeed, they were broken or missing altogether, leaving holes that Toto jumped across and Dorothy walked around. As for the Scarecrow, having no brains, he walked straight ahead, and so stepped into the holes and fell at full length on the hard bricks. It never hurt him, however, and Dorothy would pick him up and set him upon his feet again, while he joined her in laughing merrily at his own mishap.

The farms were not nearly so well cared for here as they were farther back. There were fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, and the farther they went the more dismal and lonesome the country became.

At noon they sat down by the roadside, near a little brook, and Dorothy opened her basket and got out some bread. She offered a piece to the Scarecrow, but he refused.

โ€œI am never hungry,โ€ he said, โ€œand it is a lucky thing I am not, for my mouth is only painted, and if I should cut a hole in it so I could eat, the straw I am stuffed with would come out, and that would spoil the shape of my head.โ€

Dorothy saw at once that this was true, so she only nodded and went on eating her bread.

โ€œTell me something about yourself and the country you came from,โ€ said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner. So she told him all about Kansas, and how gray everything was there, and how the cyclone had carried her to this queer Land of Oz.

The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, โ€œI cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas.โ€

โ€œThat is because you have no brainsโ€ answered the girl. โ€œNo matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.โ€

The Scarecrow sighed.

โ€œOf course I cannot understand it,โ€ he said. โ€œIf your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.โ€

โ€œWonโ€™t you tell me a story, while we are resting?โ€ asked the child.

The Scarecrow looked at her reproachfully, and answered:

โ€œMy life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before that time is all unknown to me. Luckily, when the farmer made my head, one of the

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