Trot rode with more comfort than she had expected,although the swing swayed so much that she had to hold ontight with both hands. Cap'n Bill's bird followed theOrk, and Trot came next, with Button-Bright trailingbehind her. It was quite an imposing procession, butunfortunately there was no one to see it, for the Ork hadheaded straight for the great sandy desert and in a fewminutes after starting they were flying high over thebroad waste, where no living thing could exist.

The little girl thought this would be a bad place forthe birds to lose strength, or for the cloth ropes togive way; but although she could not help feeling atrifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the hugeand brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well asin Cap'n Bill's knowledge of how to twist and fasten arope so it would hold.

That was a remarkably big desert. There was nothing torelieve the monotony of view and every minute seemed anhour and every hour a day. Disagreeable fumes and gasesrose from the sands, which would have been deadly to thetravelers had they not been so high in the air. As itwas, Trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath offresher air filled her nostrils and on looking ahead shesaw a great cloud of pink-tinted mist. Even while shewondered what it could be, the Ork plunged boldly intothe mist and the other birds followed. She could seenothing for a time, nor could the bird which carried hersee where the Ork had gone, but it kept flying assturdily as ever and in a few moments the mist was passedand the girl saw a most beautiful landscape spread outbelow her, extending as far as her eye could reach.

She saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fieldsof waving grain, fountains, rivers and lakes; andthroughout the scene were scattered groups of prettyhouses and a few grand castles and palaces.

Over all this delightful landscape -- which from Trot'shigh perch seemed like a magnificent painted picture --was a rosy glow such as we sometimes see in the west atsunset. In this case, however, it was not in the westonly, but everywhere.

No wonder the Ork paused to circle slowly over thislovely country. The other birds followed his action, alleyeing the place with equal delight. Then, as with oneaccord, the four formed a group and slowly saileddownward. This brought them to that part of the newly-discovered land which bordered on the desert's edge; butit was just as pretty here as anywhere, so the Ork andthe birds alighted and the three passengers at once gotout of their swings.

"Oh, Cap'n Bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimedTrot rapturously. "How lucky we were to discover thisbeautiful country!"

"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit,Trot," replied the old sailor-man, looking around him,"but we don't know, as yet, what its people are like."

"No one could live in such a country without beinghappy and good -- I'm sure of that," she said earnestly."Don't you think so, Button-Bright?"

"I'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy."It tires me to think, and I never seem to gain anythingby it. When we see the people who live here we will knowwhat they are like, and no 'mount of thinking will makethem any different."

"That's true enough," said the Ork. "But now I want tomake a proposal. While you are getting acquainted withthis new country, which looks as if it containseverything to make one happy, I would like to fly along -- all by myself -- and see if I can find my home on theother side of the great desert. If I do, I will staythere, of course. But if I fail to find Orkland I willreturn to you in a week, to see if I can do anything moreto assist you."

They were sorry to lose their queer companion, butcould offer no objection to the plan; so the Ork badethem good-bye and rising swiftly in the air, he flew overthe country and was soon lost to view in the distance.

The three birds which had carried our friends nowbegged permission to return by the way they had come, totheir own homes, saying they were anxious to show theirfamilies how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill and Trotand Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for theirassistance and soon the birds began their long flighttoward the Land of Mo. Being now left to themselves inthis strange land, the three comrades selected a prettypathway and began walking along it. They believed thispath would lead them to a splendid castle which theyespied in the distance, the turrets of which towered farabove the tops of the trees which surrounded it. It didnot seem very far away, so they sauntered on slowly,admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined thepathway and listening to the singing of the birds and thesoft chirping of the grasshoppers.

Presently the path wound over a little hill. In avalley that lay beyond the hill was a tiny cottagesurrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. On the shadyporch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, apleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children,to whom she was telling stories. The children quicklydiscovered the strangers and ran toward them withexclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and herfriends became the center of a curious group, allchattering excitedly. Cap'n Bill's wooden leg seemed toarouse the wonder of the children, as they could notunderstand why he had not two meat legs. This attentionseemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads ofthe children kindly and then, raising his hat to thewoman, he inquired:

"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?"

She stared hard at all three of the strangers as shereplied briefly: "Jinxland."

"Oh!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. "Andwhere is Jinxland, please?"

"In the Quadling Country," said she.

"What!" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. "Do you meanto say this is the Quadling Country of the Land of Oz?"

"To be sure I do," the woman answered. "Every bit ofland that is surrounded by the great desert is the Landof Oz, as you ought to know as well as I do; but I'msorry to say that Jinxland is separated from the rest ofthe Quadling Country by that row of high mountains yousee yonder, which have such steep sides that no one cancross them. So we live here all by ourselves, and areruled by our own King, instead of by Ozma of Oz."

"I've been to the Land of Oz before," said Button-Bright, "but I've never been here."

"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?" asked Trot.

"No," said Button-Bright.

"It is on the Map of Oz, though," asserted the woman,"and it's a fine country, I assure you. If only," sheadded, and then paused to look around her with afrightened expression. "If only --" here she stoppedagain, as if not daring to go on with her speech.

"If only what, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill.

The woman sent the children into the house. Then shecame closer to the strangers and whispered: "If only wehad a different King, we would be very happy andcontented."

"What's the matter with your King?" asked Trot,curiously. But the woman seemed frightened to have saidso much. She retreated to her porch, merely saying:

"The King punishes severely any treason on the part ofhis subjects."

"What's treason?" asked Button-Bright.

"In this case," replied Cap'n Bill, "treason seems toconsist of knockin' the King; but I guess we know hisdisposition now as well as if the lady had said more."

"I wonder," said Trot, going up to the woman, "if youcould spare us something to eat. We haven't had anythingbut popcorn and lemonade for a long time."

"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you somefood," the woman answered, and entering her cottage shesoon returned with a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakesand cheese. One of the children drew a bucket of clear,cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ateheartily and enjoyed the good things immensely.

When Button-Bright could eat no more he filled thepockets of his jacket with cakes and cheese, and not eventhe children objected to this. Indeed they all seemedpleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n Bill decidedthat no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, thepeople would prove friendly and hospitable.

"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, wavinghis hand toward the towers that rose above the trees.

"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl." she said.

"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?"

"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiersand war captains," she replied.

"Is he hunting now?" Trot inquired.

"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about theKing's actions the safer we are."

It was evident the woman did not like to talk aboutKing Krewl and so, having finished their meal, they saidgood-bye and continued along the pathway.

"Don't you think we'd better keep away from thatKing's castle, Cap'n?" asked Trot.

"Well," said he, "King Krewl would find out, sooner orlater, that we are in his country, so we may as well facethe music now. Perhaps he isn't quite so bad as thatwoman thinks he is. Kings aren't always popular withtheir people, you know, even if they do the best theyknow how."

"Ozma is pop'lar," said Button-Bright.

"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I'veheard," remarked Trot musingly, as she walked beside theboy. "And, after all, we are really in the Land of Oz,where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybody else. I neverheard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,Button-Bright?"

"Not when she knows about it," he replied. "But thosebirds landed us in just the wrong place, seems to me.They might have carried us right on, over that row ofmountains, to the Em'rald City."

"True enough," said Cap'n Bill; "but they didn't, an'so we must make the best of Jinxland. Let's try not to beafraid."

"Oh, I'm not very scared," said Button-Bright, pausingto look at a pink rabbit that popped its head out of ahole in the field near by.

"Nor am I," added Trot. "Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad tobe anywhere at all in the wonderful fairyland of Oz thatI think I'm the luckiest girl in all the world. Dorothylives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so does theScarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the ShaggyMan -- and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so muchabout -- not to mention Ozma, who must be the sweetestand loveliest girl in all the world!"

"Take your time, Trot," advised Button-Bright. "Youdon't have to say it all in one breath, you know. And youhaven't mentioned half of the curious people in theEm'rald City."

"That 'ere Em'rald City," said Cap'n Bill impressively,"happens to be on the other side o' those mountains, thatwe're told no one is able to cross. I don't want todiscourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most as muchseparated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when welived in Californy."

There was so much truth in this statement that they allwalked on in silence for some time. Finally they reachedthe grove of stately trees that bordered the grounds ofthe King's castle. They had gone halfway through it whenthe sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.