"We cannot be far from the road of yellow brick, now," remarkedthe Scarecrow, as he stood beside the girl, "for we have comenearly as far as the river carried us away."

The Tin Woodman was about to reply when he heard a low growl,and turning his head (which worked beautifully on hinges) he saw astrange beast come bounding over the grass toward them. It was,indeed, a great yellow Wildcat, and the Woodman thought it mustbe chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its headand its mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth, whileits red eyes glowed like balls of fire. As it came nearer the TinWoodman saw that running before the beast was a little gray fieldmouse, and although he had no heart he knew it was wrong for theWildcat to try to kill such a pretty, harmless creature.

So the Woodman raised his axe, and as the Wildcat ran by he gaveit a quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body,and it rolled over at his feet in two pieces.

The field mouse, now that it was freed from its enemy, stopped short;and coming slowly up to the Woodman it said, in a squeaky little voice:

"Oh, thank you! Thank you ever so much for saving my life."

"Don't speak of it, I beg of you," replied the Woodman."I have no heart, you know, so I am careful to help all thosewho may need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse."

"Only a mouse!" cried the little animal, indignantly."Why, I am a Queen--the Queen of all the Field Mice!"

"Oh, indeed," said the Woodman, making a bow.

"Therefore you have done a great deed, as well as a brave one,in saving my life," added the Queen.

At that moment several mice were seen running up as fast astheir little legs could carry them, and when they saw their Queenthey exclaimed:

"Oh, your Majesty, we thought you would be killed! How didyou manage to escape the great Wildcat?" They all bowed so low tothe little Queen that they almost stood upon their heads.

"This funny tin man," she answered, "killed the Wildcat andsaved my life. So hereafter you must all serve him, and obey hisslightest wish."

"We will!" cried all the mice, in a shrill chorus. And then theyscampered in all directions, for Toto had awakened from his sleep, andseeing all these mice around him he gave one bark of delight and jumpedright into the middle of the group. Toto had always loved to chase micewhen he lived in Kansas, and he saw no harm in it.

But the Tin Woodman caught the dog in his arms and held him tight,while he called to the mice, "Come back! Come back! Toto shall not hurt you."

At this the Queen of the Mice stuck her head out from underneath a clumpof grass and asked, in a timid voice, "Are you sure he will not bite us?"

"I will not let him," said the Woodman; "so do not be afraid."

One by one the mice came creeping back, and Toto did not bark again,although he tried to get out of the Woodman's arms, and would have bittenhim had he not known very well he was made of tin. Finally one of thebiggest mice spoke.

"Is there anything we can do," it asked, "to repay you forsaving the life of our Queen?"

"Nothing that I know of," answered the Woodman; but theScarecrow, who had been trying to think, but could not because hishead was stuffed with straw, said, quickly, "Oh, yes; you can saveour friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed."

"A Lion!" cried the little Queen. "Why, he would eat us all up."

"Oh, no," declared the Scarecrow; "this Lion is a coward."

"Really?" asked the Mouse.

"He says so himself," answered the Scarecrow, "and he wouldnever hurt anyone who is our friend. If you will help us to savehim I promise that he shall treat you all with kindness."

"Very well," said the Queen, "we trust you. But what shall we do?"

"Are there many of these mice which call you Queen and are willingto obey you?"

"Oh, yes; there are thousands," she replied.

"Then send for them all to come here as soon as possible,and let each one bring a long piece of string."

The Queen turned to the mice that attended her and told themto go at once and get all her people. As soon as they heard herorders they ran away in every direction as fast as possible.

"Now," said the Scarecrow to the Tin Woodman, "you must go tothose trees by the riverside and make a truck that will carry the Lion."

So the Woodman went at once to the trees and began to work;and he soon made a truck out of the limbs of trees, from which hechopped away all the leaves and branches. He fastened it togetherwith wooden pegs and made the four wheels out of short pieces of abig tree trunk. So fast and so well did he work that by the timethe mice began to arrive the truck was all ready for them.

They came from all directions, and there were thousands ofthem: big mice and little mice and middle-sized mice; and eachone brought a piece of string in his mouth. It was about thistime that Dorothy woke from her long sleep and opened her eyes.She was greatly astonished to find herself lying upon the grass,with thousands of mice standing around and looking at her timidly.But the Scarecrow told her about everything, and turning to thedignified little Mouse, he said:

"Permit me to introduce to you her Majesty, the Queen."

Dorothy nodded gravely and the Queen made a curtsy, afterwhich she became quite friendly with the little girl.

The Scarecrow and the Woodman now began to fasten the mice tothe truck, using the strings they had brought. One end of astring was tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end tothe truck. Of course the truck was a thousand times bigger thanany of the mice who were to draw it; but when all the mice hadbeen harnessed, they were able to pull it quite easily. Even theScarecrow and the Tin Woodman could sit on it, and were drawn swiftlyby their queer little horses to the place where the Lion lay asleep.

After a great deal of hard work, for the Lion was heavy, theymanaged to get him up on the truck. Then the Queen hurriedly gaveher people the order to start, for she feared if the mice stayedamong the poppies too long they also would fall asleep.

At first the little creatures, many though they were, couldhardly stir the heavily loaded truck; but the Woodman and theScarecrow both pushed from behind, and they got along better.Soon they rolled the Lion out of the poppy bed to the green fields,where he could breathe the sweet, fresh air again, instead of thepoisonous scent of the flowers.

Dorothy came to meet them and thanked the little mice warmlyfor saving her companion from death. She had grown so fond ofthe big Lion she was glad he had been rescued.

Then the mice were unharnessed from the truck and scamperedaway through the grass to their homes. The Queen of the Mice wasthe last to leave.

"If ever you need us again," she said, "come out into thefield and call, and we shall hear you and come to your assistance.Good-bye!"

"Good-bye!" they all answered, and away the Queen ran, whileDorothy held Toto tightly lest he should run after her andfrighten her.

After this they sat down beside the Lion until he shouldawaken; and the Scarecrow brought Dorothy some fruit from a treenear by, which she ate for her dinner.