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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter 8. The Deadly Poppy Field
Our little party of travelers woke the next morning fresh and full of hope.
Dorothy had breakfast like a princess with peaches and plums from the trees by the river.
Behind them was the dark forest they had passed safely through, though they had had many troubles.
Before them was a lovely, sunny land that seemed to invite them on to the Emerald City.
The wide river now stopped them from going to this beautiful land.
The raft was almost done, after the Tin Woodman cut more logs and tied them, they were ready.
Dorothy sat in the middle of the raft and held Toto in her arms.
When the Cowardly Lion stepped on the raft it tipped badly, for he was big and heavy.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman stood at the other end to make it steady.
And they had long poles to push the raft through the water.
They went along quite well at first.
When they reached the middle of the river, the current took the raft away from the road of yellow brick.
The water grew so deep that the long poles didn't touch the bottom.
"This is bad," said the Tin Woodman.
"If we can't get to the land we'll be taken into the country of the Wicked Witch of the West."
"She'll cast a spell on us and make us her slaves."
"And then I'd get no brains," said the Scarecrow.
"And I'd get no courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
"And I'd get no heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"And I'd never get back to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"We must certainly get to the Emerald City if we can," the Scarecrow went on.
He pushed so hard with his long pole that it stuck fast in the mud at the bottom of the river.
Then, before he could pull it out again or let go, the raft was swept away.
The poor Scarecrow was left holding the pole in the middle of the river.
"Good-bye!" he called after them, and they were very sorry to leave him.
Indeed, the Tin Woodman began to cry.
But he remembered that he might rust, and so he wiped his tears on Dorothy's apron.
Of course this was a bad thing for the Scarecrow.
"I'm now worse off than when I first met Dorothy," he thought.
"Then I was stuck on a pole in a cornfield, where I could pretend to scare the crows."
"But surely there's no use for a Scarecrow stuck on a pole in the middle of a river."
"I'm afraid I'll never have any brains, after all."
Down the stream the raft floated, and the poor Scarecrow was left far behind, then the Lion said,
"Something must be done to save us."
"I think I can swim to the shore and pull the raft after me, if you'll only hold fast to the tip of my tail."
So he jumped into the water, and the Tin Woodman took hold of his tail.
Then the Lion began to swim with all his might toward the shore.
It was hard work, although he was so big.
Soon the water gave way, and Dorothy took the Tin Woodman's pole and helped push the raft to land.
They were all tired when they reached the shore and stepped off on the pretty green grass.
They knew the stream had carried them far past the yellow brick road to the Emerald City.
"What shall we do now?" asked the Tin Woodman, as the Lion lay down on the grass to let the sun dry him.
"We must get back to the road, in some way," said Dorothy.
"The best plan will be to walk along the riverbank until we come to the road again," said the Lion.
So, when they were rested, Dorothy picked up her basket.
They started along the grassy bank to the road from which the river had carried them.
It was a lovely country with many flowers, fruit trees, and warm sunshine to cheer them.
If they had not felt so sorry for the poor Scarecrow, they could have been very happy.
They walked as fast as they could, Dorothy only stopping once to pick a beautiful flower.
After a time the Tin Woodman cried out, "Look!"
They looked at the river and saw the Scarecrow on his pole in the water, lonely and sad.
"What can we do to save him?" asked Dorothy.
The Lion and the Woodman both shook their heads, for they didn't know.
They sat down on the bank and looked sadly at the Scarecrow until a Stork flew by.
When she saw them, she stopped to rest at the water's edge.
"Who are you and where are you going?" asked the Stork.
"I'm Dorothy," answered the girl, "and these are my friends, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, and we're going to the Emerald City."
"This isn't the road," said the Stork, as she turned her long neck and looked closely at the strange party.
"I know it," answered Dorothy, "but we have lost the Scarecrow, and are wondering how we'll get him again."
"Where is he?" asked the Stork.
"Over there in the river," answered the little girl.
"If he wasn't so big and heavy I'd get him for you," said the Stork.
"He isn't heavy at all," said Dorothy quickly.
"For he's stuffed with straw, and if you'll bring him back to us we'll thank you very much."
"Well, I'll try," said the Stork, "but if I find he's too heavy to carry I'll have to drop him in the river again."
So the big bird flew over the water until she reached the Scarecrow on his pole.
Then the Stork, with her great claws, took the Scarecrow by the arm and carried him up into the air.
She carried him back to the bank where Dorothy and the Lion and the Tin Woodman and Toto were sitting.
When the Scarecrow found himself among his friends again, he was so happy that he hugged them all, even the Lion and Toto.
As they walked along he sang "Tol-de-ri-de-oh!" at every step, he felt so glad.
"I was afraid I'd have to stay in the river forever," he said.
"But the kind Stork saved me. If I ever get any brains, I'll find the Stork again and do her some kindness in return."
"That's all right," said the Stork, who was flying along beside them.
"I always like to help anyone in trouble."
"But I must go now, for my babies are waiting in the nest for me."
"I hope you'll find the Emerald City and that Oz will help you."
"Thank you," replied Dorothy, and then the kind Stork flew into the air and was soon out of sight.
They walked along, listening to the brightly colored birds sing and looking at the lovely flowers.
The flowers now grew so thick that they covered the ground.
There were big yellow, white, blue, and purple flowers, and red poppies so bright they almost hurt Dorothy's eyes.
"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked, as she breathed in the sweet smell of the bright flowers.
"I suppose so," answered the Scarecrow.
"When I have brains I'll probably like them more."
"If I only had a heart, I'd love them," said the Tin Woodman.
"I always did like flowers," said the Lion.
"They seem so weak and helpless. But there are none in the forest so bright as these."
They came upon more and more big red poppies and fewer of the other flowers.
Soon they found themselves in the middle of a great field of poppies.
When many of these flowers grow together, their smell is so strong that anyone who breathes it falls asleep.
If the sleeper isn't moved away from the smell, he'll sleep on and on forever, but Dorothy didn't know this.
Dorothy could not get away from the bright red flowers that were all around her.
Soon her eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and sleep.
But the Tin Woodman wouldn't let her do this.
"We must hurry and get back to the road of yellow brick before dark," he said, and the Scarecrow agreed with him.
So they kept walking until Dorothy couldn't stand any longer.
Her eyes closed in spite of herself and she forgot where she was and fell among the poppies, fast asleep.
"What shall we do?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"If we leave her here she'll die," said the Lion.
"The smell of the flowers is killing us all. I can hardly keep my eyes open, and the dog is asleep already."
It was true, Toto had fallen down beside his little mistress.
But the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, weren't hurt by the smell of the flowers.
"Run fast," said the Scarecrow to the Lion.
"And get out of this deadly flower bed as soon as you can."
"We'll bring the little girl with us, but if you fall asleep you're too big to be carried."
So the Lion woke himself and ran forward as fast as he could go.
In a moment he was out of sight.
"Let us make a chair with our hands and carry her," said the Scarecrow.
So they picked up Toto and put the dog in Dorothy's lap.
They made a chair with their hands and arms and carried the sleeping girl between them through the flowers.
On and on they walked, and it seemed that the great field of deadly flowers would never end.
They followed the bend of the river, and at last they found their friend the Lion, lying fast asleep among the poppies.
The flowers were too strong for the huge beast.
He had given up at last and fallen only a short way from the end of the poppy field.
The sweet grass spread in beautiful green fields before them.
"We can do nothing for him," said the Tin Woodman, sadly.
"For he's much too heavy to lift."
"We must leave him here to sleep forever, and perhaps he'll dream that he has found courage at last."
"I'm sorry," said the Scarecrow.
"The Lion was a very good friend for one so cowardly. But let us go on."
They carried the sleeping girl to a pretty place by the river.
It was far enough from the poppy field to keep her from breathing any more of the harmful smell.
They laid her gently on the soft grass and waited for the fresh breeze to wake her.