You will remember there was no road--not even a pathway--between the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City.When the four travelers went in search of the Witch she had seenthem coming, and so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her.It was much harder to find their way back through the big fieldsof buttercups and yellow daisies than it was being carried.They knew, of course, they must go straight east, toward the risingsun; and they started off in the right way. But at noon, when thesun was over their heads, they did not know which was east andwhich was west, and that was the reason they were lost in thegreat fields. They kept on walking, however, and at night themoon came out and shone brightly. So they lay down among thesweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly until morning--all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.

The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they startedon, as if they were quite sure which way they were going.

"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "I am sure we shallsometime come to some place."

But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing beforethem but the scarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.

"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find itagain in time to reach the Emerald City, I shall never get my brains."

"Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me Ican scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is avery long journey."

"You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't thecourage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."

Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and lookedat her companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Totofound that for the first time in his life he was too tired tochase a butterfly that flew past his head. So he put out histongue and panted and looked at Dorothy as if to ask what theyshould do next.

"Suppose we call the field mice," she suggested. "They couldprobably tell us the way to the Emerald City."

"To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow. "Why didn't wethink of that before?"

Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried abouther neck since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In afew minutes they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of thesmall gray mice came running up to her. Among them was the Queenherself, who asked, in her squeaky little voice:

"What can I do for my friends?"

"We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us wherethe Emerald City is?"

"Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off,for you have had it at your backs all this time." Then shenoticed Dorothy's Golden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use thecharm of the Cap, and call the Winged Monkeys to you? They willcarry you to the City of Oz in less than an hour."

"I didn't know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, insurprise. "What is it?"

"It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen ofthe Mice. "But if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys wemust run away, for they are full of mischief and think it greatfun to plague us."

"Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl anxiously.

"Oh, no. They must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!"And she scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.

Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words writtenupon the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she readthe directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.

"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.

"What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know whatshe was doing.

"Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this timeon her right foot.

"Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman calmly.

"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing onboth feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard agreat chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of WingedMonkeys flew up to them.

The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked, "What is your command?"

"We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we havelost our way."

"We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had hespoken than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms andflew away with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman andthe Lion, and one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them,although the dog tried hard to bite him.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened atfirst, for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys hadtreated them before; but they saw that no harm was intended, sothey rode through the air quite cheerfully, and had a fine timelooking at the pretty gardens and woods far below them.

Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggestMonkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair oftheir hands and were careful not to hurt her.

"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.

"That is a long story," answered the King, with a Winged laugh;"but as we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time bytelling you about it, if you wish."

"I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.

"Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happilyin the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit,and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhapssome of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down topull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, andthrowing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we werecareless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day.This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to ruleover this land.

"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess,who was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to helpthe people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good.Her name was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace builtfrom great blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatestsorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, since allthe men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautifuland wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome andmanly and wise beyond his years. Gayelette made up her mind thatwhen he grew to be a man she would make him her husband, so shetook him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers tomake him as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish.When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said tobe the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly beautywas so great that Gayelette loved him dearly, and hastened to makeeverything ready for the wedding.

"My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeyswhich lived in the forest near Gayelette's palace, and the old fellowloved a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding,my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walkingbeside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk andpurple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could do.At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in theirarms until they were over the middle of the river, and then dropped himinto the water.

"`Swim out, my fine fellow,' cried my grandfather, `and see ifthe water has spotted your clothes.' Quelala was much too wisenot to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his goodfortune. He laughed, when he came to the top of the water, andswam in to shore. But when Gayelette came running out to him shefound his silks and velvet all ruined by the river.

"The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it.She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said atfirst that their wings should be tied and they should be treatedas they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But mygrandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown inthe river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word forthem also; so that Gayelette finally spared them, on conditionthat the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times thebidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been madefor a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost theprincess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all theother Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is how ithappens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of theGolden Cap, whosoever he may be."

"And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatlyinterested in the story.

"Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," repliedthe Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As hisbride could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him inthe forest after he had married her and ordered us always to keepwhere she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which wewere glad to do, for we were all afraid of her.

"This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell intothe hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave theWinkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of theWest. Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have theright to lay your wishes upon us."

As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked downand saw the green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them.She wondered at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad thejourney was over. The strange creatures set the travelers downcarefully before the gate of the City, the King bowed low toDorothy, and then flew swiftly away, followed by all his band.

"That was a good ride," said the little girl.

"Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles," replied the Lion."How lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"