As they were preparing to leave, Dorothy asked:"Can you tell us where there is a dark well?"

"Never heard of such a thing," said theTottenhot. "We live our lives in the dark, mostly,and sleep in the day-time; but we've never seen adark well, or anything like one."

"Does anyone live on those mountains beyondhere?" asked the Scarecrow.

"Lots of people. But you'd better not visitthem. We never go there," was the reply.

"What are the people like?" Dorothy inquired.

"Can't say. We've been told to keep awayfrom the mountain paths, and so we obey. Thissandy desert is good enough for us, and we'renot disturbed here," declared the Tottenhot.

So they left the man snuggling down to sleep inhis dusky dwelling, and went out into thesunshine, taking the path that led toward therocky places. They soon found it hard climbing,for the rocks were uneven and full of sharp pointsand edges, and now there was no path at all.Clambering here and there among the boulders theykept steadily on, gradually rising higher andhigher until finally they came to a great rift ina part of the mountain, where the rock seemed tohave split in two and left high walls on eitherside.

"S'pose we go this way," suggested Dorothy;it's much easier walking than to climb overthe hills."

"How about that sign?" asked Ojo.

"What sign?" she inquired.

The Munchkin boy pointed to some wordspainted on the wall of rock beside them, whichDorothy had not noticed. The words read:

"LOOK OUT FOR YOOP."

The girl eyed this sign a moment and turned tothe Scarecrow, asking:

"Who is Yoop; or what is Yoop?"

The straw man shook his head. Then looked atToto and the dog said "Woof!"

"Only way to find out is to go on, Scraps."

This being quite true, they went on. As theyproceeded, the walls of rock on either side grewhigher and higher. Presently they came uponanother sign which read:

"BEWARE THE CAPTIVE YOOP."

"Why, as for that," remarked Dorothy, "if Yoopis a captive there's no need to beware of him.Whatever Yoop happens to be, I'd much rather havehim a captive than running around loose."

"So had I," agreed the Scarecrow, with a nod ofhis painted head.

"Still," said Scraps, reflectively:

"Yoop-te-hoop-te-loop-te-goop!Who put noodles in the soup?We may beware but we don't care,And dare go where we scare the Yoop."

"Dear me! Aren't you feeling a little queer,just now?" Dorothy asked the Patchwork Girl.

"Not queer, but crazy," said Ojo. "When shesays those things I'm sure her brains get mixedsomehow and work the wrong way.

"I don't see why we are told to beware the Yoopunless he is dangerous," observed the Scarecrow ina puzzled tone.

"Never mind; we'll find out all about him whenwe get to where he is," replied the little girl.

The narrow canyon turned and twisted this wayand that, and the rift was so small that they wereable to touch both walls at the same time bystretching out their arms. Toto had run on ahead,frisking playfully, when suddenly he uttered asharp bark of fear and came running back to themwith his tail between his legs, as dogs do whenthey are frightened.

"Ah," said the Scarecrow, who was leadingthe way, "we must be near Yoop."

Just then, as he rounded a sharp turn, theStraw man stopped so suddenly that all theothers bumped against him.

"What is it?" asked Dorothy, standing ontip-toes to look over his shoulder. But then shesaw what it was and cried "Oh!" in a tone ofastonishment.

In one of the rock walls--that at their left--was hollowed a great cavern, in front of which wasa row of thick iron bars, the tops and bottomsbeing firmly fixed in the solid rock. Over thiscavern was a big sign, which Dorothy read withmuch curiosity, speaking the words aloud that allmight know what they said:

"MISTER YOOP--HIS CAVE

The Largest Untamed Giant in Captivity.Height, 21 Feet.--(And yet he has but 2 feet.)Weight, 1640 Pounds.--(But he waits all the time.)Age, 400 Years 'and Up' (as they say in the

Department Store advertisements).Temper, Fierce and Ferocious.--(Except when asleep.)Appetite, Ravenous.--(Prefers Meat People and Orange Marmalade.)

P. S.--Don't feed the Giant yourself."

"Very well," said Ojo, with a sigh; "let's go back."

"It's a long way back," declared Dorothy.

"So it is," remarked the Scarecrow, "and itmeans a tedious climb over those sharp rocks ifwe can t use this passage. I think it will be bestto run by the Giant's cave as fast as we can go.Mister Yoop seems to be asleep just now."

But the Giant wasn't asleep. He suddenlyappeared at the front of his cavern, seized theiron bars in his great hairy hands and shookthem until they rattled in their sockets. Yoopwas so tall that our friends had to tip their headsway back to look into his face, and they noticedhe was dressed all in pink velvet, with silverbuttons and braid. The Giant's boots were ofpink leather and had tassels on them and hishat was decorated with an enormous pink ostrichfeather, carefully curled.

"Yo--ho!" he said in a deep bass voice; "I smelldinner."

"I think you are mistaken," replied theScarecrow. "There is no orange marmalade aroundhere."

"Ah, but I eat other things," asserted MisterYoop. "That is, I eat them when I can get them.But this is a lonely place, and no good meat haspassed by my cave for many years; so I'm hungry."

"Haven't you eaten anything in many years?"asked Dorothy.

"Nothing except six ants and a monkey. I thoughtthe monkey would taste like meat people, but theflavor was different. I hope you will tastebetter, for you seem plump and tender."

"Oh, I'm not going to be eaten," said Dorothy.

"Why not?"

"I shall keep out of your way," she answered.

"How heartless!" wailed the Giant, shaking thebars again. "Consider how many years it is sinceI've eaten a single plump little girl! They tellme meat is going up, but if I can manage to catchyou I'm sure it will soon be going down. And I'llcatch you if I can."

With this the Giant pushed his big arms,which looked like tree-trunks (except that tree-trunks don't wear pink velvet) between the ironbars, and the arms were so long that theytouched the opposite wall of the rock passage.Then he extended them as far as he could reachtoward our travelers and found he could almosttouch the Scarecrow--but not quite.

"Come a little nearer, please," begged theGiant.

"I'm a Scarecrow."

"A Scarecrow? Ugh! I don't care a straw fora scarecrow. Who is that bright-colored delicacybehind you?"

"Me?" asked Scraps. "I'm a Patchwork Girl,and I'm stuffed with cotton."

"Dear me," sighed the Giant in a disapointedtone; "that reduces my dinner from four to two--and the dog. I'll save the dog for dessert."

Toto growled, keeping a good distance away.

"Back up," said the Scarecrow to those behindhim. "Let us go back a little way and talk thisover.

So they turned and went around the bend inthe passage, where they were out of sight of thecave and Mister Yoop could not hear them.

"My idea," began the Scarecrow, when theyhad halted, "is to make a dash past the cave,going on a run.

"He'd grab us," said Dorothy.

"Well, he can't grab but one at a time, andI'll go first. As soon as he grabs me the rest ofyou can slip past him, out of his reach, and hewill soon let me go because I am not fit to eat."

They decided to try this plan and Dorothytook Toto in her arms, so as to protect him. Shefollowed just after the Scarecrow. Then cameOjo, with Scarps the last of the four. Theirhearts beat a little faster than usual as they againapproached the Giant's cave, this time movingswiftly forward.

It turned out about the way the Scarecrow hadplanned. Mister Yoop was quite astonished to seethem come flying toward him, and thrusting hisarms between the bars he seized the Scarecrow in afirm grip. In the next instant he realized, fromthe way the straw crunched between his fingers,that he had captured the non-eatable man, butduring that instant of delay Dorothy and Ojo hadslipped by the Giant and were out of reach.Uttering a howl of rage the monster threw theScarecrow after them with one hand and grabbedScraps with the other.

The poor Scarecrow went whirling through the airand so cleverly was he aimed that he struck Ojo'sback and sent the boy tumbling head over heels,and he tripped Dorothy and sent her, also,sprawling upon the ground. Toto flew out of thelittle girl's arms and landed some distance ahead,and all were so dazed that it was a moment beforethey could scramble to their feet again. When theydid so they turned to look toward the Giant'scave, and at that moment the ferocious Mister Yoopthrew the Patchwork Girl at them.

Down went all three again, in a heap, withScraps on top. The Giant roared so terribly thatfor a time they were afraid he had broken loose;but he hadn't. So they sat in the road and lookedat one another in a rather bewildered way, andthen began to feel glad.

"We did it!" exclaimed the Scarecrow, withsatisfaction. "And now we are free to go onour way.

"Mister Yoop is very impolite," declaredScraps. "He jarred me terribly. It's lucky mystitches are so fine and strong, for otherwise suchharsh treatment might rip me up the back."

"Allow me to apologize for the Giant," saidthe Scarecrow, raising the Patchwork Girl toher feet and dusting her skirt with his stuffedhands. "Mister Yoop is a perfect stranger to me,but I fear, from the rude manner in which hehas acted, that he is no gentleman."

Dorothy and Ojo laughed at this statementand Toto barked as if he understood the joke,after which they all felt better and resumed thejourney in high spirits.

"Of course," said the little girl, when they hadwalked a way along the passage, "it was lucky forus the Giant was caged; for, if he had happened tobe loose, he--he--"

"Perhaps, in that case, he wouldn't be hungryany more," said Ojo gravely.