upon his square back end and looking at her

reflectively, while Toto barked joyously to find his
mistress unhurt after her whirlwind trip.

"Good!" said the Woozy; "here's another and a dog,
both safe and sound. But, my word, Dorothy, you flew

some! If you could have seen yourself, you'd have been
absolutely astonished."

"They say 'Time flies,'" laughed Button-Bright; "but
Time never made a quicker journey than that."

Just then, as Dorothy turned around to look at the
whirling mountains, she was in time to see tiny Trot

come flying from the nearest hill to fall upon the soft
grass not a yard away from where she stood. Trot was so

dizzy she couldn't stand, at first, but she wasn't at
all hurt and presently Betsy came flying to them and

would have bumped into the others had they not treated
in time to avoid her.

Then, in quick succession, came the Lion, Hank and
the Sawhorse, bounding from mountain to mountain to

fall safely upon the greensward. Only the Wizard was
now left behind and they waited so long for him that

Dorothy began to be worried. But suddenly he came
flying from the nearest mountain and tumbled heels over

head beside them. Then they saw that he had wound two
of their blankets around his body, to keep the bumps

from hurting him, and had fastened the blankets with
some of the spare straps from the harness of the

Sawhorse.
Chapter Eight

The Mysterious City
There they sat upon the grass, their heads still

swimming from their dizzy flights, and looked at one
another in silent bewilderment. But presently, when

assured that no one was injured, they grew. more calm
and collected and the Lion said with a sigh of relief:

"Who would have thought those Merry-Go-Round
Mountains were made of rubber?"

"Are they really rubber?" asked Trot.
"They must be," replied the Lion, "for otherwise we

would not have bounded so swiftly from one to another
without getting hurt."

"That is all guesswork," declared the Wizard,
unwinding the blankets from his body, "for none of us

stayed long enough on the mountains to discover what
they are made of. But where are we?"

"That's guesswork, too," said Scraps. "The shepherd
said the Thistle-Eaters live this side of the mountains

and are waited on by giants."
"Oh, no," said Dorothy; "it's the Herkus who

have giant slaves, and the Thistle-Eaters hitch
dragons to their chariots."

"How could they do that?" asked the Woozy. "Dragons
have long tails, which would get in the way of the

chariot wheels'."
"And, if the Herkus have conquered the giants," said

Trot, "they must be at least twice the size of giants.
P'raps the Herkus are the biggest people in all the

world!"
"Perhaps they are," assented the Wizard, in a

thoughtful tone of voice. "And perhaps the shepherd
didn't know what he was talking about. Let us travel on

toward the west and discover for ourselves what the
people of this country are like."

It, seemed a pleasant enough country, and it was
quite still and peaceful when they turned their eyes

away from the silently whirling mountains. There were
trees here and there and green bushes, while throughout

the thick grass were scattered brilliantly colored
flowers. About a mile away was a low hill that hid from

them all the country beyond it, so they realized they
could not tell much about the country until they had

crossed the hill.
The Red Wagon having been left behind, it was now

necessary to make other arrangements for traveling. The
Lion told Dorothy she could ride upon his back, as she

had often done before, and the Woozy said he could
easily carry both Trot and the Patchwork Girl. Betsy

still had her mule, Hank, and Button-Bright and the
Wizard could sit together upon the long, thin back of

the Sawhorse, but they took care to soften their seat
with a pad of blankets before they started. Thus

mounted, the adventurers started for the hill, which
was reached after a brief journey.

As they mounted the crest and gazed beyond the hill
they discovered not far away a walled city, from the

towers and spires of which gay banners were flying. It
was not a very big city, indeed, but its walls were

very high and thick and it appeared that the people who
lived there must have feared attack by a powerful

enemy, else they would not have surrounded their
dwellings with so strong a barrier.

There was no path leading from the mountains to the
city, and this proved that the people seldom or never

visited the whirling hills; but our friends found the
grass soft and agreeable to travel over and with the

city before them they could not well lose their way.
When they drew nearer to the walls, the breeze carried

to their ears the sound of music -- dim at first but
growing louder as they advanced.

"That doesn't seem like a very terr'ble place,"
remarked Dorothy.

"Well, it looks all right," replied Trot, from her
seat on the Woozy, "but looks can't always be trusted."

"My looks can," said Scraps. "I look patchwork, and I
am patchwork, and no one but a blind owl could ever

doubt that I'm the Patchwork Girl." Saying which she
turned a somersault off the Woozy and, alighting on

her feet, began wildly dancing about.
"Are owls ever blind?" asked Trot.

"Always, in the daytime," said Button-Bright. "But
Scraps can see with her button eyes both day and night.

Isn't it queer?"
"It's queer that buttons can see at all," answered

Trot; "but -- good gracious! what's become of the
city?"

"I was going to ask that myself," said Dorothy. "It's
gone!"

The animals came to a sudden halt, for the city had
really disappeared -- walls and all -- and before them

lay the clear, unbroken sweep of the country.
"Dear me!" exclaimed the Wizard. "This is rather

disagreeable. It is annoying to travel almost to a
place and then find it is not there."

"Where can it be, then?" asked Dorothy. "It cert'nly
was there a minute ago."

"I can hear the music yet," declared Button-Bright,
and when they all listened the strains of music could

plainly be heard.
"Oh! there's the city -- over at the left," called

Scraps, and turning their eyes they saw the walls and
towers and fluttering banners far to the left of them.

"We must have lost our way," suggested Dorothy.
"Nonsense," said the Lion. "I, and all the other

animals, have been tramping straight toward the city
ever since we first saw it."

"Then how does it happen --"
"Never mind," interrupted the Wizard, "we are no

farther from it than we were before. It is in a
different direction, that's all; so let us hurry and

get there before it again escapes us.
So on they went, directly toward the city, which

seemed only a couple of miles distant; but when they
had traveled less than a mile it suddenly disappeared

again. Once more they paused, somewhat discouraged, but
in a moment the button eyes of Scraps again discovered

the city, only this time it was just behind them, in
the direction from which they had come.

"Goodness gracious!" cried Dorothy. "There's surely
something wrong with that city. Do you s'pose it's on

wheels, Wizard?"
"It may not be a city at all," he replied, looking

toward it with a speculative gaze.
"What could it be, then?"

"Just an illusion."
"What's that?" asked Trot.

"Something you think you see and don't see."
"I can't believe that," said Button-Bright. "If we

only saw it, we might be mistaken, but if we can see it
and hear it, too, it must be there."

"Where?" asked the Patchwork Girl.
"Somewhere near us," he insisted.

"We will have to go back, I suppose," said the Woozy,
with a sigh.

So back they turned and headed for the walled city
until it disappeared again, Only to reappear at the

right of them. They were constantly getting nearer to
it, however, so they kept their faces turned toward it

as it flitted here and there to all points of the
compass. Presently the Lion, who was leading the

procession, halted abruptly and cried out: "Ouch!"
"What's the matter?" asked Dorothy.

"Ouch -- Ouch!~ repeated the Lion, and leaped
backward so suddenly that Dorothy nearly tumbled from

his back. At the same time Hank the Mule yelled "Ouch!"
almost as loudly as the Lion had done, and he also

pranced backward a few paces.
"It's the thistles," said Betsy. "They prick their

legs."
Hearing this, all looked down, and sure enough the

ground was thick with thistles, which covered the plain
from the point where they stood way up to the walls of

the mysterious city. No pathways through them could be
seen at all; here the soft grass ended and the growth

of thistles began.
"They're the prickliest thistles I ever felt,"

grumbled the Lion. "My legs smart yet from their
stings, though I jumped out of them as quick as I

could."
"Here is a new difficulty," remarked the Wizard in a

grieved tone. "The city has stopped hopping around, it
is true; but how are we to get to it, over this mass of

prickers?"
"They can't hurt me," said the thick-skinned Woozy,

advancing fearlessly and trampling among the thistles.
"Nor me," said the Wooden Sawhorse.

"But the Lion and the Mule cannot stand the
prickers," asserted Dorothy, "and we can't leave them

behind."
"Must we all go back?" asked Trot.

"Course not!" replied Button-Bright scornfully.
"Always, when there's trouble, there's a way out of it,

• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
• succession [sək´seʃən] n.继任；继承(权) (初中英语单词)
• safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
• harness [´hɑ:nis] vt.上马具 n.马具 (初中英语单词)
• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
• swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
• peaceful [´pi:sfəl] a.和平的；平静的 (初中英语单词)
• silently [´sailəntli] ad.寂静地；沉默地 (初中英语单词)
• soften [´sɔfən] v.使(变)软(柔和) (初中英语单词)
• agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)
• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
• button [´bʌtn] n.钮扣 vt.扣上(扣子) (初中英语单词)
• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)
• abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)
• backward [´bækwəd] ad.向后 a.向后的 (初中英语单词)
• wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
• whirlwind [´wə:l,wind] n.旋风；猛烈的势力 (英语四级单词)
• wizard [´wizəd] n.术士；男巫 (英语四级单词)
• unbroken [ʌn´brəukən] a.未破的；不间断的 (英语四级单词)
• traveled [´trævəld] a.见面广的；旅客多的 (英语四级单词)
• reappear [,ri:ə´piə] vi.再(出)现 (英语四级单词)
• joyously [´dʒɔiəsli] ad.快乐地，高兴地 (英语六级单词)
• bewilderment [bi´wildəmənt] n.为难；狼狈；迷惑 (英语六级单词)
• brilliantly [´briljəntli] ad.灿烂地；杰出地 (英语六级单词)
• annoying [ə´nɔiiŋ] a.使人气恼的；讨厌的 (英语六级单词)
• speculative [´spekjulətiv] a.臆测的；投机的 (英语六级单词)