"The Lion fell asleep too," said the Tin Man.
The Scarecrow nodded.
"I'm sorry to leave him here, but we'd better take Dorothy to safety."
"We can't be far from the road," said the Tin Man.
As soon as he spoke, the road seemed to appear.
"Will Dorothy sleep forever?" asked the Tin Man impatiently.
"I don't know," said the Scarecrow.
"I wish I had a brain so I could think of a way to help the Lion too."
Suddenly a large cat came bounding out of the woods.
It was chasing a tiny gray field mouse.
As the mouse ran by, the Tin Man raised his ax and shouted, "Stop!"
The cat saw the Tin Man and froze.
Just as the Tin Man swung his ax, the cat jumped and ran back into the woods.
"Thank you for saving my life," said the mouse.
"Don't mention it," said the Tin Man.
"I have no heart so I am careful to help everyone, even a mouse."
"Even a mouse?" she said indignantly.
"Why, I am the Queen of all the field mice!"
"Oh!" said the Tin Man as he noticed her crown and several other mice behind her.
"You have saved my life," said the Queen. "I owe you a favor."
Just then Toto woke up and barked, causing the mice to run.
The Tin Man took Toto in his arms.
"Come back! Come back! Toto will not hurt you!" shouted the Tin Man.
"I promise, Toto won't hurt you."
"Are you sure he will not bite us?" asked the Queen.
"I won't let him," said the Tin Man firmly.
The mice returned, and the biggest mouse looked at the Tin Man and asked, "How can we repay you for saving the Queen?"
"We need help rescuing a friend," said the Scarecrow.
"We are small," said the Queen. "How can we help?"
"Are there many of you?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Yes, there are thousands of us," answered the Queen.
"Bring them all, and a lot of string," said the Scarecrow.
Now Dorothy woke up and walked over to her friends.
"Tin Man," said the Scarecrow.
"I need you to build us a cart so we can carry the Lion on it."
The Tin Man began to chop down trees and make the cart.
Soon the mice returned, and there were many thousands of them.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Man pushed the Lion onto the cart.
"Okay! He's on!" shouted the Tin Man.
"Pull!" shouted the Queen to her subjects.
Slowly at first, and then more swiftly, the cart began to move.
"If you ever need us again, just come to the field and call," said the Queen. "We will hear you."
Soon the Lion began to stir.
"I ran as fast as I could, but the flowers were too strong," he murmured.
"How did you move me?"
The Scarecrow and the Tin Man explained that the mice had saved him. The Lion laughed.
"I have always thought myself very big and terrible, yet flowers almost killed me, and some mice saved my life."
"I wonder if we are close to Oz," said Dorothy.
"I don't know," said the Scarecrow. "But there is one way to find out."
The group happily returned to the road, and they were relieved because they thought they had left their adventures behind them.
"We must be in the land of Oz," said Dorothy.
"Yes," said the Scarecrow.
"The favorite color here seems to be green, as it probably is in the Emerald City."
"It is getting dark," said Dorothy. "We will need to stop for the night."
At the next farmhouse, Dorothy bravely knocked.
"Yes?" said the woman at the door.
"Can we spend the night?" asked Dorothy.
"That depends. Is your lion tame?" asked the woman.
"Oh yes," said Dorothy. "He is a coward and wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Okay," said the woman. "You may stay here tonight. Where are you headed?"
"We are going to see the Wizard of Oz," answered Dorothy.
"I don't think you will see the Wizard," said the woman.
"I have been to the Emerald City many times, and I have never seen him."