They now followed Diksey to the farther end ofthe great cave, beyond the Horner city, wherethere were several round, dark holes leading intothe ground in a slanting direction. Diksey went toone of these holes and said:

"Here is the mine in which lies the dark wellyou are seeking. Follow me and step care fully andI'll lead you to the place."

He went in first and after him came Ojo, andthen Dorothy, with the Scarecrow behind her.The Patchwork Girl entered last of all, for Totokept close beside his little mistress.

A few steps beyond the mouth of the opening itwas pitch dark. "You won't lose your way, though,"said the Homer, "for there's only one way to go.The mine's mine and I know every step of the way.How's that for a joke, eh? The mine's mine." Thenhe chuckled gleefully as they followed himsilently down the steep slant. The hole was justbig enough to permit them to walk upright,although the Scarecrow, being much the taller ofthe party, often had to bend his head to keep fromhitting the top.

The floor of the tunnel was difficult to walkupon because it had been worn smooth as glass, andpretty soon Scraps, who was some distance behindthe others, slipped and fell head foremost. Atonce she began to slide downward, so swiftly thatwhen she came to the Scarecrow she knocked him offhis feet and sent him tumbling against Dorothy,who tripped up Ojo. The boy fell against theHorner, so that all went tumbling down the slidein a regular mix-up, unable to see where they weregoing because of the darkness.

Fortunately, when they reached the bottom theScarecrow and Scraps were in front, and the othersbumped against them, so that no one was hurt. Theyfound themselves in a vast cave which was dimlylighted by the tiny grains of radium that layscattered among the loose rocks.

"Now," said Diksey, when they had all regained their feet, "I will show you where thedark well is. This is a big place, but if we holdfast to each other we won't get lost."

They took hold of hands and the Homer ledthem into a dark corner, where he halted.

"Be careful," said he warningly. "The well isat your feet."

"All right," replied Ojo, and kneeling downhe felt in the well with his hand and foundthat it contained a quantity of water. "Where'sthe gold flask, Dorothy?" he asked, and thelittle girl handed him the flask, which she hadbrought with her.

Ojo knelt again and by feeling carefully inthe dark managed to fill the flask with theunseen water that was in the well. Then hescrewed the top of the flask firmly in place andput the precious water in his pocket.

"All right!" he said again, in a glad voice;"now we can go back."

They returned to the mouth of the tunnel andbegan to creep cautiously up the incline. Thistime they made Scraps stay behind, for fear shewould slip again; but they all managed to get upin safety and the Munchkin boy was very happy whenhe stood in the Horner city and realized that thewater from the dark well, which he and his friendshad traveled so far to secure, was safe in hisjacket pocket.