It is certainly too bad! said the tender-hearted Woodman.
The Scarecrow was thinking again, and his head bulged out so horribly
that Dorothy feared it would burst.
Let us call in the soldier with the green whiskers, he said, and ask
his advice.
So the soldier was summoned and entered the Throne Room timidly, for
while Oz was alive he never was allowed to come farther than the door.
This little girl, said the Scarecrow to the soldier, wishes to cross
the desert. How can she do so?
I cannot tell, answered the soldier, for nobody has ever crossed the
desert, unless it is Oz himself.
Is there no one who can help me? asked Dorothy earnestly.
Glinda might, he suggested.
Who is Glinda? inquired the Scarecrow.
The Witch of the South. She is the most powerful of all the Witches,
and rules over the Quadlings. Besides, her castle stands on the edge of
the desert, so she may know a way to cross it.
Glinda is a Good Witch, isn t she? asked the child.
The Quadlings think she is good, said the soldier, and she is kind
to everyone. I have heard that Glinda is a beautiful woman, who knows
how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived.
How can I get to her castle? asked Dorothy.
The road is straight to the South, he answered, but it is said to be
full of dangers to travelers. There are wild beasts in the woods, and a
race of queer men who do not like strangers to cross their country. For
this reason none of the Quadlings ever come to the Emerald City.
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