Omaha daily bee., 1918-03-31

wonder if old Mombi knew they
were in the bottom of the pepper-box.
| remember hearing her say that she
got the Powder of Life from this same
Nikidik."
He must be a powerful Sorcererr
exclaimed the Tin Woodman; and
since the powder proved success we
ought to have confidence in the pills.
But how" asked the Scarecrow,
"can anyone count u by twos? Sew
enteen is an odd number"
That is true" replied Tip, greatly
disappointed. mo one can possibly
count IL by twos."
Then the pills are of no use to US, "
walled the Pumpkinhead; "and this
fact overwhelms me with grief. For
| had intended wishing that my head
would never spoil"
Nonsense" said the Scarecrow,
sharply. "If we could use the pills at
all we would make far better wishes
than that
II do not see how anything could
be better" protested poor Jack. III
you were liable to spoil at any time
you could understand my anxiety"
For my part" said the Tin Wood
man, Il sympathize with you in every
respect. But since we cannot count
II by twos, sympathy is all you are
liable to get"
By this time it had become quite
dark, and the voyagers found above
them cloudy sky, through which the
rays of the moon could not penetrate.
The Gump flew steadily on, and for
some reason the huge sota-body
rocked more and more dizzily every
hour.
The Woggle- Bug declared he was
sea-sick; and Tip was also pale and
somewhat distressed. But the others
clung to the backs Of the sofas and
did not seem to mind the motion as
long as they were not tipped out.
Darker and darker grew the night,
and on and on sped the Gump
through the black heavens. The trrav-
elers could not even see one another,
and an oppressive silence settled down
upon them.
After long time Tip, who had been
thinking deeply, spoke.
How are we to know when we
come to the palace OF Gllnda the
Good" he asked. =,
"It's long way to Glinda's palace"
answered the Woodman; I've traV-
eled it.
,5aI,1ssBut how are we to know how fast
the Gump is hying?" persisted the
boy. 1--WE cannot see single thing
down on the earth. and before morn
ing We may be far beyond the place
we want to reach"
- THAT is all true enough" the Scare
crow replied, little uneasily; tor we
might alight in river, or on the top
of a steeple; and that would be a
great disaster"
So they permitted the Gump to fly
on, with regular fops of its great
wings, and waited patiently tor morn
ing.
Then Tips fears were proven to be
we'll founded; for with the first streaks
of gray dawn they looked over the
sides Of the sofas and discovered roll
ing plains dotted with queer villages,
where the houses. instead OF beng
dome -shaped-as they all are in the
Land of Oz-had slanting roots that
rose to a peak in the center. Odd
looking animals were also moving
about Upon the open plains, and the
country was unfamiliar to both the
Tin Woodman and the ScarecroW
/ who had formerly visited Glinda the
Goods domain and knew it we'll.
"We are lostw said the Scarecrow,
dolefully. "The Gump must have
carried us entirely out of the Land OF
OF and over the sandy deserts and
into the terrible outside world that
Dorothy told us about"
: 1--WE must get back" exclaimed the
Tin Woodman, earnestly; we must
get back as soon as possiblep
"Turn aroundw cried Tip to the
Gump; turn as quickly as you can't
"If do / shalt upset" answered the
Gump, 'I'm not at all used to flying,
and the best plan would be for me to
alight in some place, and. then | can
turn around and take fresh start
lust then, however, there seemed
to be no stopping-place that would
answer their purpose. They flew over
a village so big that the Woggle-Bug
declared it was city; and then they
came to a range of high mountains
with many deep gorges and steep
cliffs showing plainly. 3, >,
! Now is our chance to stop, said
the boy, finding they were very close
to the mountain tops. Then ne turned
to the Gump and commanded. stop
at the fist level place you seer
"Nery WELL" answered the Gump'
and settled down upon table OF rock
that stood between two cliffs: 8,
But not being experienced in such
matters, the Gump did not Judge his
speed correctly; and instead OF COM
ing to a stop upon the fiat rock he
missed it by half the width of his
body, breaking off both his right
wings against the sharp edge of the
rock and then tumbling over and over
down the cliff.
= Our friends held on to the sofas as
long as they could, but when the
Gurnp caught on projecting rock the
Thing stopped suddeniy-bottom side
up-and all were Immediately dumped
out.
By good fortune they fell only a
few feet; for underneath them was a
monster nest, built bya colony of jack
DAVIS in hollow ledge of rock; so
M.aln6himd RlasY Bees