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You will remember there was no road--not even a pathway--
 between the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City.
 When the four travelers went in search of the Witch she had seen
 them coming, and so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her.
 It was much harder to find their way back through the big fields
 of buttercups and yellow daisies than it was being carried.
 They knew, of course, they must go straight east, toward the rising
 sun; and they started off in the right way. But at noon, when the
 sun was over their heads, they did not know which was east and
 which was west, and that was the reason they were lost in the
 great fields. They kept on walking, however, and at night the
 moon came out and shone brightly. So they lay down among the
 sweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly until morning--
 all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
 
 The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started
 on, as if they were quite sure which way they were going.
 
 "If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "I am sure we shall
 sometime come to some place."
 
 But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before
 them but the scarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
 
 "We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it
 again in time to reach the Emerald City, I shall never get my brains."
 
 "Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I
 can scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a
 very long journey."
 
 "You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't the
 courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."
 
 Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked
 at her companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto
 found that for the first time in his life he was too tired to
 chase a butterfly that flew past his head. So he put out his
 tongue and panted and looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they
 should do next.
 
 "Suppose we call the field mice," she suggested. "They could
 probably tell us the way to the Emerald City."
 
 "To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow. "Why didn't we
 think of that before?"
 
 Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about
 her neck since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In a
 few minutes they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the
 small gray mice came running up to her. Among them was the Queen
 herself, who asked, in her squeaky little voice:
 
 "What can I do for my friends?"
 
 "We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us where
 the Emerald City is?"
 
 "Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off,
 for you have had it at your backs all this time." Then she
 noticed Dorothy's Golden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use the
 charm of the Cap, and call the Winged Monkeys to you? They will
 carry you to the City of Oz in less than an hour."
 
 "I didn't know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, in
 surprise. "What is it?"
 
 "It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of
 the Mice. "But if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we
 must run away, for they are full of mischief and think it great
 fun to plague us."
 
 "Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl anxiously.
 
 "Oh, no. They must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!"
 And she scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
 
 Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written
 upon the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read
 the directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
 
 "Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
 
 "What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what
 she was doing.
 
 "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time
 on her right foot.
 
 "Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman calmly.
 
 "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on
 both feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a
 great chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged
 Monkeys flew up to them.
 
 The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked, "What is your command?"
 
 "We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we have
 lost our way."
 
 "We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had he
 spoken than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and
 flew away with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and
 the Lion, and one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them,
 although the dog tried hard to bite him.
 
 The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at
 first, for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had
 treated them before; but they saw that no harm was intended, so
 they rode through the air quite cheerfully, and had a fine time
 looking at the pretty gardens and woods far below them.
 
 Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggest
 Monkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of
 their hands and were careful not to hurt her.
 
 "Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.
 
 "That is a long story," answered the King, with a Winged laugh;
 "but as we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time by
 telling you about it, if you wish."
 
 "I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
 
 "Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happily
 in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit,
 and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps
 some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to
 pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and
 throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were
 careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day.
 This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule
 over this land.
 
 "There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess,
 who was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help
 the people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good.
 Her name was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built
 from great blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest
 sorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, since all
 the men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful
 and wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome and
 manly and wise beyond his years. Gayelette made up her mind that
 when he grew to be a man she would make him her husband, so she
 took him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers to
 make him as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish.
 When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said to
 be the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly beauty
 was so great that Gayelette loved him dearly, and hastened to make
 everything ready for the wedding.
 
 "My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys
 which lived in the forest near Gayelette's palace, and the old fellow
 loved a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding,
 my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walking
 beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and
 purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could do.
 At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in their
 arms until they were over the middle of the river, and then dropped him
 into the water.
 
 "`Swim out, my fine fellow,' cried my grandfather, `and see if
 the water has spotted your clothes.' Quelala was much too wise
 not to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good
 fortune. He laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and
 swam in to shore. But when Gayelette came running out to him she
 found his silks and velvet all ruined by the river.
 
 "The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it.
 She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at
 first that their wings should be tied and they should be treated
 as they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my
 grandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in
 the river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word for
 them also; so that Gayelette finally spared them, on condition
 that the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the
 bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been made
 for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the
 princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all the
 other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is how it
 happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the
 Golden Cap, whosoever he may be."
 
 "And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatly
 interested in the story.
 
 "Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," replied
 the Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his
 bride could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in
 the forest after he had married her and ordered us always to keep
 where she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we
 were glad to do, for we were all afraid of her.
 
 "This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into
 the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the
 Winkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the
 West. Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the
 right to lay your wishes upon us."
 
 As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down
 and saw the green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them.
 She wondered at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the
 journey was over. The strange creatures set the travelers down
 carefully before the gate of the City, the King bowed low to
 Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away, followed by all his band.
 
 "That was a good ride," said the little girl.
 
 "Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles," replied the Lion.
 "How lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"