Betsy and Trot, when they heard of the rescueexpedition, begged the Wizard to permit them to join itand he consented. The Glass Cat, overhearing theconversation, wanted to go also and to this the Wizardmade no objection.

This Glass Cat was one of the real curiosities of Oz.It had been made and brought to life by a clevermagician named Dr. Pipt, who was not now permitted towork magic and was an ordinary citizen of the EmeraldCity. The cat was of transparent glass, through whichone could plainly see its ruby heart beating and itspink brains whirling around in the top of the head.

The Glass Cat's eyes were emeralds; its fluffy tailwas of spun glass and very beautiful. The ruby heart,while pretty to look at, was hard and cold and theGlass Cat's disposition was not pleasant at all times.It scorned to catch mice, did not eat, and wasextremely lazy. If you complimented the remarkable caton her beauty, she would be very friendly, for sheloved admiration above everything. The pink brains werealways working and their owner was indeed moreintelligent than most common cats.

Three other additions to the rescue party were madethe next morning, just as they were setting out upontheir journey. The first was a little boy called ButtonBright, because he had no other name that anyone couldremember. He was a fine, manly little fellow, wellmannered and good humored, who had only one bad fault.He was continually getting lost. To be sure, ButtonBright got found as often as he got lost, but when hewas missing his friends could not help being anxiousabout him.

"Some day," predicted the Patchwork Girl, "he won'tbe found, and that will be the last of him." But thatdidn't worry Button Bright, who was so careless that hedid not seem to be able to break the habit of gettinglost.

The second addition to the party was a Munchkin boyof about Button Bright's age, named Ojo. He was oftencalled "Ojo the Lucky," because good fortune followedhim wherever he went. He and Button Bright were closefriends, although of such different natures, and Trotand Betsy were fond of both.

The third and last to join the expedition was anenormous lion, one of Ozma's regular guardians and themost important and intelligent beast in all Oz. Hecalled himself the Cowardly Lion, saying that everylittle danger scared him so badly that his heartthumped against his ribs, but all who knew him knewthat the Cowardly Lion's fears were coupled withbravery and that however much he might be frightened hesummoned courage to meet every danger he encountered.Often he had saved Dorothy and Ozma in times of peril,but afterward he moaned and trembled and wept becausehe had been so scared.

"If Ozma needs help, I'm going to help her," said thegreat beast. "Also, I suspect the rest of you may needme on the journey -- especially Trot and Betsy -- foryou may pass through a dangerous part of the country. Iknow that wild Gillikin country pretty well. Itsforests harbor many ferocious beasts."

They were glad the Cowardly Lion was to join them,and in good spirits the entire party formed aprocession and marched out of the Emerald City amid theshouts of the people, who wished them success and asafe return with their beloved Ruler.

They followed a different route from that taken byOzma and Dorothy, for they went through the WinkieCountry and up north toward Oogaboo. But before theygot there they swerved to the left and entered theGreat Gillikin Forest, the nearest thing to awilderness in all Oz. Even the Cowardly Lion had toadmit that certain parts of this forest were unknown tohim, although he had often wandered among the trees,and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, who were greattravelers, never had been there at all.

The forest was only reached after a tedious tramp,for some of the Rescue Expedition were quite awkward ontheir feet. The Patchwork Girl was as light as afeather and very spry; the Tin Woodman covered theground as easily as Uncle Henry and the Wizard; butTik-Tok moved slowly and the slightest obstruction inthe road would halt him until the others cleared itaway. Then, too, Tik-Tok's machinery kept running down,so Betsy and Trot took turns in winding it up.

The Scarecrow was more clumsy but less bother, foralthough he often stumbled and fell he could scrambleup again and a little patting of his straw-stuffed bodywould put him in good shape again.

Another awkward one was Jack Pumpkinhead, for walkingwould jar his head around on his neck and then he wouldbe likely to go in the wrong direction. But the Frogmantook Jack's arm and then he followed the path moreeasily.

Cap'n Bill's wooden leg didn't prevent him fromkeeping up with the others and the old sailor couldwalk as far as any of them.

When they entered the forest the Cowardly Lion tookthe lead. There was no path here for men, but manybeasts had made paths of their own which only the eyesof the Lion, practiced in woodcraft, could discern. Sohe stalked ahead and wound his way in and out, theothers following in single file, Glinda being next tothe Lion.

There are dangers in the forest, of course, but asthe huge Lion headed the party he kept the wilddenizens of the wilderness from bothering thetravelers. Once, to be sure, an enormous leopard sprangupon the Glass Cat and caught her in his powerful jaws,but he broke several of his teeth and with howls ofpain and dismay dropped his prey and vanished among thetrees.

"Are you hurt?" Trot anxiously inquired of the GlassCat.

"How silly!" exclaimed the creature in an irritatedtone of voice; "nothing can hurt glass, and I'm toosolid to break easily. But I'm annoyed at thatleopard's impudence. He has no respect for beauty orintelligence. If he had noticed my pink brains work,I'm sure he would have realized I'm too important to begrabbed in a wild beast's jaws."

"Never mind," said Trot consolingly; "I'm sure hewon't do it again."

They were almost in the center of the forest whenOjo, the Munchkin boy, suddenly said: "Why, where'sButton Bright?"

They halted and looked around them. Button Bright wasnot with the party.

Dear me," remarked Betsy, "I expect he's lost again!"

"When did you see him last, Ojo?"inquired Glinda.

"It was some time ago," replied Ojo. "He was trailingalong at the end and throwing twigs at the squirrels inthe trees. Then I went to talk to Betsy and Trot, andjust now I noticed he was gone."

"This is too bad," declared the Wizard, "for it issure to delay our journey. We must find Button Brightbefore we go any farther, for this forest is full offerocious beasts that would not hesitate to tear theboy to pieces."

"But what shall we do?" asked the Scarecrow. "If anyof us leaves the party to search for Button Bright heor she might fall a victim to the beasts, and if theLion leaves us we will have no protector.

"The Glass Cat could go," suggested the Frogman."The beasts can do her no harm, as we have discovered."

The Wizard turned to Glinda.

"Cannot your sorcery discover where Button Brightis?" he asked.

"I think so," replied the Sorceress.

She called to Uncle Henry, who had been carrying herwicker box, to bring it to her, and when he obeyed sheopened it and drew out a small round mirror. On thesurface of the glass she dusted a white powder and thenwiped it away with her handkerchief and looked in themirror. It reflected a part of the forest, and there,beneath a wide-spreading tree, Button Bright was lyingasleep. On one side of him crouched a tiger, ready tospring; on the other side was a big gray wolf, itsbared fangs glistening in a wicked way.

"Goodness me!" cried Trot, looking over Glinda'sshoulder. "They'll catch and kill him sure."

Everyone crowded around for a glimpse at the magicmirror.

"Pretty bad -- pretty bad!" said the Scarecrowsorrowfully.

"Comes of getting lost!" said Cap'n Bill, sighing.

"Guess he's a goner!" said the Frogman, wiping hiseyes on his purple silk handkerchief.

"But where is he? Can't we save him?" asked Ojo theLucky.

"If we knew where he is we could probably save him,"replied the little Wizard, "but that tree looks so muchlike all the other trees, that we can't tell whetherit's far away or near by."

"Look at Glinda!" exclaimed Betsy

Glinda, having handed the mirror to the Wizard, hadstepped aside and was making strange passes with heroutstretched arms and reciting in low, sweet tones amystical incantation. Most of them watched theSorceress with anxious eyes, despair giving way to thehope that she might be able to save their friend. theWizard, however, watched the scene in the mirror, whileover his shoulders peered Trot, the Scarecrow and theShaggy Man.

What they saw was more strange than Glinda's actions.The tiger started to spring on the sleeping boy, butsuddenly lost its power to move and lay flat upon theground. The gray wolf seemed unable to lift its feetfrom the ground. It pulled first at one leg and then atanother, and finding itself strangely confined to thespot began to back and snarl angrily. They couldn'thear the barkings and snarls, but they could see thecreature's mouth open and its thick lips move. ButtonBright, however, being but a few feet away from thewolf, heard its cries of rage, which wakened him fromhis untroubled sleep. The boy sat up and looked firstat the tiger and then at the wolf. His face showed thatfor a moment he was quite frightened, but he soon sawthat the beasts were unable to approach him and so hegot upon his feet and examined them curiously, with amischievous smile upon his face. Then he deliberatelykicked the tiger's head with his foot and catching up afallen branch of a tree he went to the wolf and gave ita good whacking. Both the beasts were furious at suchtreatment but could not resent it.

Button Bright now threw down the stick and with hishands in his pockets wandered carelessly away.

"Now," said Glinda, "let the Glass Cat run and findhim. He is in that direction," pointing the way, "buthow far off I do not know. Make haste and lead him backto us as quickly as you can."

The Glass Cat did not obey everyone's orders, but shereally feared the great Sorceress, so as soon as thewords were spoken the crystal animal darted away andwas quickly lost to sight.

The Wizard handed the mirror back to Glinda, for thewoodland scene had now faded from the glass. Then thosewho cared to rest sat down to await Button Bright'scoming. It was not long before be appeared through thetrees and as he rejoined his friends he said in apeevish tone:

"Don't ever send that Glass Cat to find me again. Shewas very impolite and, if we didn't all know that shehad no manners, I'd say she insulted me."

Glinda turned upon the boy sternly.

"You have caused all of us much anxiety andannoyance," said she. "Only my magic saved you fromdestruction. I forbid you to get lost again."

"Of course," he answered. "It won't be my fault if Iget lost again; but it wasn't my fault this time."