The Patchwork Girl of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  THE TRICK RIVER

  CHAP. 26

  Next morning they pushed the raft into the water and all got aboard. TheQuadling man had to hold the log craft fast while they took theirplaces, and the flow of the river was so powerful that it nearly torethe raft from his hands. As soon as they were all seated upon the logshe let go and away it floated and the adventurers had begun their voyagetoward the Winkie Country.

  The little house of the Quadlings was out of sight almost before theyhad cried their good-byes, and the Scarecrow said in a pleased voice:"It won't take us long to get to the Winkie Country, at this rate."

  They had floated several miles down the stream and were enjoying theride when suddenly the raft slowed up, stopped short, and then began tofloat back the way it had come.

  "Why, what's wrong?" asked Dorothy, in astonishment; but they were alljust as bewildered as she was and at first no one could answer thequestion. Soon, however, they realized the truth: that the current ofthe river had reversed and the water was now flowing in the oppositedirection--toward the mountains.

  They began to recognize the scenes they had passed, and by and by theycame in sight of the little house of the Quadlings again. The man wasstanding on the river bank and he called to them:

  "How do you do? Glad to see you again. I forgot to tell you that theriver changes its direction every little while. Sometimes it flows oneway, and sometimes the other."

  They had no time to answer him, for the raft was swept past the houseand a long distance on the other side of it.

  "We're going just the way we don't want to go," said Dorothy, "and Iguess the best thing we can do is to get to land before we're carriedany farther."

  But they could not get to land. They had no oars, nor even a pole toguide the raft with. The logs which bore them floated in the middle ofthe stream and were held fast in that position by the strong current.

  So they sat still and waited and, even while they were wondering whatcould be done, the raft slowed down, stopped, and began drifting theother way--in the direction it had first followed. After a time theyrepassed the Quadling house and the man was still standing on the bank.He cried out to them:

  "Good day! Glad to see you again. I expect I shall see you a good manytimes, as you go by, unless you happen to swim ashore."

  By that time they had left him behind and were headed once more straighttoward the Winkie Country.

  "This is pretty hard luck," said Ojo in a discouraged voice. "The TrickRiver keeps changing, it seems, and here we must float back and forwardforever, unless we manage in some way to get ashore."

  "Can you swim?" asked Dorothy.

  "No; I'm Ojo the Unlucky."

  "Neither can I. Toto can swim a little, but that won't help us to get toshore."

  "I don't know whether I could swim, or not," remarked Scraps; "butif I tried it I'd surely ruin my lovely patches."

  "My straw would get soggy in the water and I would sink," said theScarecrow.

  So there seemed no way out of their dilemma and being helpless theysimply sat still. Ojo, who was on the front of the raft, looked overinto the water and thought he saw some large fishes swimming about. Hefound a loose end of the clothesline which fastened the logs together,and taking a gold nail from his pocket he bent it nearly double, toform a hook, and tied it to the end of the line. Having baited the hookwith some bread which he broke from his loaf, he dropped the line intothe water and almost instantly it was seized by a great fish.

  They knew it was a great fish, because it pulled so hard on the linethat it dragged the raft forward even faster than the current of theriver had carried it. The fish was frightened, and it was a strongswimmer. As the other end of the clothesline was bound around the logshe could not get it away, and as he had greedily swallowed the gold hookat the first bite he could not get rid of that, either.

  When they reached the place where the current had before changed, thefish was still swimming ahead in its wild attempt to escape. The raftslowed down, yet it did not stop, because the fish would not let it. Itcontinued to move in the same direction it had been going. As thecurrent reversed and rushed backward on its course it failed to drag theraft with it. Slowly, inch by inch, they floated on, and the fish tuggedand tugged and kept them going.

  "I hope he won't give up," said Ojo anxiously. "If the fish can hold outuntil the current changes again, we'll be all right."

  The fish did not give up, but held the raft bravely on its course, tillat last the water in the river shifted again and floated them the waythey wanted to go. But now the captive fish found its strength failing.Seeking a refuge, it began to drag the raft toward the shore. As theydid not wish to land in this place the boy cut the rope with hispocket-knife and set the fish free, just in time to prevent the raftfrom grounding.

  The next time the river backed up the Scarecrow managed to seize thebranch of a tree that overhung the water and they all assisted him tohold fast and prevent the raft from being carried backward. While theywaited here, Ojo spied a long broken branch lying upon the bank, so heleaped ashore and got it. When he had stripped off the side shoots hebelieved he could use the branch as a pole, to guide the raft in case ofemergency.

  They clung to the tree until they found the water flowing the right way,when they let go and permitted the raft to resume its voyage. In spiteof these pauses they were really making good progress toward the WinkieCountry and having found a way to conquer the adverse current theirspirits rose considerably. They could see little of the country throughwhich they were passing, because of the high banks, and they met with noboats or other craft upon the surface of the river.

  Once more the trick river reversed its current, but this time theScarecrow was on guard and used the pole to push the raft toward a bigrock which lay in the water. He believed the rock would prevent theirfloating backward with the current, and so it did. They clung to thisanchorage until the water resumed its proper direction, when theyallowed the raft to drift on.

  Floating around a bend they saw ahead a high bank of water, extendingacross the entire river, and toward this they were being irresistiblycarried. There being no way to arrest the progress of the raft theyclung fast to the logs and let the river sweep them on. Swiftly the raftclimbed the bank of water and slid down on the other side, plunging itsedge deep into the water and drenching them all with spray.

  As again the raft righted and drifted on, Dorothy and Ojo laughed at theducking they had received; but Scraps was much dismayed and theScarecrow took out his handkerchief and wiped the water off thePatchwork Girl's patches as well as he was able to. The sun soon driedher and the colors of her patches proved good, for they did not runtogether nor did they fade.

  After passing the wall of water the current did not change or flowbackward any more but continued to sweep them steadily forward. Thebanks of the river grew lower, too, permitting them to see more of thecountry, and presently they discovered yellow buttercups and dandelionsgrowing amongst the grass, from which evidence they knew they hadreached the Winkie Country.

  "Don't you think we ought to land?" Dorothy asked the Scarecrow.

  "Pretty soon," he replied. "The Tin Woodman's castle is in the southernpart of the Winkie Country, and so it can't be a great way from here."

  Fearing they might drift too far, Dorothy and Ojo now stood up andraised the Scarecrow in their arms, as high as they could, thus allowinghim a good view of the country. For a time he saw nothing he recognized,but finally he cried:

  "There it is! There it is!"

  "What?" asked Dorothy.

  "The Tin Woodman's tin castle. I can see its turrets glittering in thesun. It's quite a way off, but we'd better land as quickly as we can."

  They let him down and began to urge the raft toward the shore by meansof the pole. It obeyed very well, for the current was more sluggish now,and soon they had reached the bank and landed safely.

  The Winkie Country was really beautiful, and across the fields theycould see afar the silvery sheen of the t
in castle. With light heartsthey hurried toward it, being fully rested by their long ride on theriver.

  By and by they began to cross an immense field of splendid yellowlilies, the delicate fragrance of which was very delightful.

  "How beautiful they are!" cried Dorothy, stopping to admire theperfection of these exquisite flowers.

  "Yes," said the Scarecrow, reflectively, "but we must be careful not tocrush or injure any of these lilies."

  "Why not?" asked Ojo.

  "The Tin Woodman is very kind-hearted," was the reply, "and he hates tosee any living thing hurt in any way."

  "Are flowers alive?" asked Scraps.

  "Yes, of course. And these flowers belong to the Tin Woodman. So, inorder not to offend him, we must not tread on a single blossom."

  "Once," said Dorothy, "the Tin Woodman stepped on a beetle and killedthe little creature. That made him very unhappy and he cried until histears rusted his joints, so he couldn't move 'em."

  "What did he do then?" asked Ojo.

  "Put oil on them, until the joints worked smooth again."

  "Oh!" exclaimed the boy, as if a great discovery had flashed across hismind. But he did not tell anybody what the discovery was and kept theidea to himself.

  It was a long walk, but a pleasant one, and they did not mind it a bit.Late in the afternoon they drew near to the wonderful tin castle of theEmperor of the Winkies, and Ojo and Scraps, who had never seen itbefore, were filled with amazement.

  Tin abounded in the Winkie Country and the Winkies were said to be themost skillful tinsmiths in all the world. So the Tin Woodman hademployed them in building his magnificent castle, which was all of tin,from the ground to the tallest turret, and so brightly polished that itglittered in the sun's rays more gorgeously than silver. Around thegrounds of the castle ran a tin wall, with tin gates; but the gatesstood wide open because the Emperor had no enemies to disturb him.

  When they entered the spacious grounds our travelers found more toadmire. Tin fountains sent sprays of clear water far into the air andthere were many beds of tin flowers, all as perfectly formed as anynatural flowers might be. There were tin trees, too, and here and thereshady bowers of tin, with tin benches and chairs to sit upon. Also, onthe sides of the pathway leading up to the front door of the castle,were rows of tin statuary, very cleverly executed. Among these Ojorecognized statues of Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, theShaggy Man, Jack Pumpkinhead and Ozma, all standing upon neat pedestalsof tin.

  Toto was well acquainted with the residence of the Tin Woodman and,being assured a joyful welcome, he ran ahead and barked so loudly at thefront door that the Tin Woodman heard him and came out in person to seeif it were really his old friend Toto. Next moment the tin man hadclasped the Scarecrow in a warm embrace and then turned to hug Dorothy.But now his eye was arrested by the strange sight of the Patchwork Girl,and he gazed upon her in mingled wonder and admiration.