The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1909-10-13

river The scarecrow was rescued by
.S yws sSk Ts3 pUfotSy to p0P f
asleep. The scarecrow and tin woodman
rescued her and her dog from the deadly
the road OF yellow brick which led to the
ffaIs sr mice The Moodmsn killed the wild
cat. The queen mouse became friendly.
CHAPTER Ix-continued.
At this the Queen of the Mice stuck
her head out from clump Of grass
and asked, in q timid voice:
Are you sure he will not bite us?'
II will not let him." said the Wood
man; $50 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 bit
ten him had he not known very well
he was made Of tin. Finally one of
The biggest mice spoke:
rs there anything we can do" 1t
asked. ito repay you for saving the
life OF our Queen?"
Nothing that know Of" answered
the Woodman: but the Scarecrow.
who had been trying to think. but
could not because his head was
stuffed with straw. said. quickly:
"Oh. yes; you can save our friend.
the Cowardiy Lion. who 10 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 IL q coward"
"Really?" asked the Mouse.
He says SO himself" answered the
Scarecrow, land he would never hurt
any one who is our friend. II you
will help US to save him l promise
that he shall treat you all with kind
ness"
very WE'LL" said the Queen. I'VE
will trust you. But what shall
we do?"
Are there many of these mice
which call you Queen and are willing
10 obey your"
"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 &c the mice that
attended her and told them to go at
once and get all her people As soon
as they heard her orders they ran
away in every direction as fast as pos
sible.
Now" said the Scarecrow to the
Tin woodman. you must go to those
trees by the riverside and make
truck that will carry the Lion"
So the woodman went at once to
the trees and began to work: and he
soon made truck out OF the limbs OF
trees. from which he chopped away all
the leaves and branches. He fastened
IT together with wooden pegs and
made four wheels out of the short
pieces Of big tree-trunk. So fast and
SO well did he work that by the time
the mice began to arrive the truck
was all ready for them.
They came from all directions. and
there were thousands of them. big
mice and little mice and middle-sized
mice: and each one brought a piece Of
string in his mouth. 1t was about this
time that Dorothy woke from her long
sleep and opened her eyes. She was
greatly astonished to find herself ly-
ing upon the grass. with thousands
of mice standing around and looking
at her timidly. But the Scarecrow
told her about everything. and turn
ing to the dignified little Mouse. he
said:
Permit me to introduce to you her
majesty. the Queen"
Dorothy nodded gravely and the
Queen made a courtesy, after which
she became quite friendly with the
little girl.
The Scarecrow and the Woodman
now began to fasten the mice to the
truck, using the strings they had
brought One end of a string was tied
around the neck of each mouse and
the other end to the truck. or course
the truck was a thousand times big
ger than any of the mice who were
to draw It; but when all the mice
lad been harnessed they were able to
pull 1t quite easily. Even the Scare
crow and the Tin Woodman could sit
on 1t, and were drawn swiftly by their
queer little horses to the place where
the Lion lay asleep.
After a great deal of hard work. for
the Lion was heavy. they managed to
get him up on the truck. Then the
Queen hurriedly gave her people the
order to start. for she feared II the
mice stayed among the poppies too
long they also would fall asleep.
At first the little creatures. many
though they were, could hardly stir
the heavily loaded truck; but the
Woodman and the Scarecrow both
pushed from behind. and they got
along better. Soon they rolled the
Lion cut of the poppy bed to the
green fields. where he could breathe
the sweet, fresh air again instead OF