At last Dorothy and her friends exited the forest.
In front of them lay open land—and a river with a powerful current.
The Tin Man eyed the river.
"How will we cross that river?" he asked his friends.
"Oh, that's easy," said the Scarecrow.
"You will cut some logs, and we will build a raft."
With the Tin Man's ax, the Lion's strength, and the Scarecrow's encouragement, a raft was soon built.
"How will we steer the raft?" asked Dorothy.
"We'll make long poles," replied the Scarecrow.
"We will push the raft across the river."
"Careful!" shouted the Tin Man to the Lion.
"If I fall into the river, I'll rust for sure."
"Sorry," said the Lion.
"Use the poles to push us off," said the Scarecrow.
They all pushed hard and were soon making their way across the river.
The Tin Man looked nervous. "This isn't good," he said.
"No, not at all," said the Scarecrow.
"What's wrong?" asked Dorothy.
"If the river takes us any farther downriver," answered the Tin Man, "we'll be in trouble."
"Yes," said the Lion, who was starting to cry.
"It'll take us to the Wicked Witch of the West. She'll kill us for sure!"
"Oh no!" exclaimed Dorothy.
"Help!" cried the Scarecrow suddenly.
Everyone looked and realized the Scarecrow was no longer on the raft.
He was holding onto his pole in the middle of the river.
"What should we do?" shouted Dorothy.
"Good-bye!" shouted the Scarecrow, waving from the pole.
The Tin Man began to cry.
"Stop," said Dorothy.
"Crying will make you rust, and that will make a bad situation worse."
The Tin Man dried his eyes on Dorothy's dress.
"We must get across, or we are doomed," said the Lion.
"I can swim, but you must hold my tail and pull the raft."
"What should we do now?" said the Tin Man when they had reached shore.
"We must get back to the road," said Dorothy.
"We should follow the river upstream," said the Lion, shaking himself dry.
"It will take us back to the road."
"Look," said the Tin Man, pointing to the Scarecrow perched upon his pole.
"How can we save him?" asked Dorothy.
"Well, if one of you could fly, it would be easy," said the Scarecrow.
Just then a great white stork flew overhead.
"Mr. Stork!" shouted the Tin Man.
"It's Mrs. Stork," said the Stork, annoyed.
"Oh, don't listen to the Tin Man," said Dorothy sweetly.
"I can see you are a wonderful mother."
"Why yes, I am," said the Stork happily. "And who are you?"
"I'm Dorothy and these are my friends.
We are on our way to see the Wizard of Oz," she said.
"I see," said the Stork, "but this isn't the road to Oz."
"I know," said Dorothy. "Our friend needs our help, but none of us can fly."
"I can fly," said the Stork proudly.
"Could you help our friend?" asked Dorothy.
"He looks heavy," said the Stork.
"Oh no, he's very light," replied Dorothy. "He's made of straw."
The Stork flew to the Scarecrow, grabbed him with her claws, and easily brought him to shore.
"Thank you," said the Scarecrow, happy to be back with his friends.
"That's all right," said the Stork. "I like to help people who are in trouble.
Now I must return to my babies. Have a good trip to Oz."
Dorothy and her friends waved good-bye as the Stork flew away.
"Look!" shouted the Lion. "There's the Yellow Brick Road."
"Let's get back to the road," said Dorothy happily.
She started to run, and her friends followed her.
Soon Dorothy stumbled because she felt sleepy. But she did not get up.
"Dorothy, what's wrong?" asked the Tin Man.
"It's the flowers," said the Lion sleepily.
"They are magic and make people sleep forever."
"Don't you fall asleep too," said the Scarecrow to the Lion.
"You are too big for us to carry."
"Get out of here as fast as you can," the Tin Man told the Lion.
"We will bring Dorothy."
The Lion tried to run, but he soon fell asleep.