  Dorothy and the Wizard awakened bright and early the next morning, eager to pursue their adventures. Mrs. Hi-Lo prepared a hearty breakfast for them from her magic recipe and, as they made ready to leave the pretty little cottage, Hi-Lo advised them: "Just follow the trail that leads through the Pine Forest and you will come to the Village of Pineville where Princess Ozana lives. You can't miss it, and if you walk steadily you should be there by noon." Stepping from the cottage, Dorothy and the Wizard found the morning sun bright and warm and the air filled with the pungent aroma of pine from the forest. "Good-bye!" called Mrs. Hi-Lo from the door of the cottage. "Good-bye!" called Mr. Hi-Lo. "Don't forget to remember us to the Princess!" "We won't," promised Dorothy. "We'll tell her how kind you've been to us." In a short time the cottage was lost to their view, and the two travelers were deep in the cool shade of the Pine Forest. The trail over which they walked was carpeted with pine needles, making a soft and pleasant path for their feet. Once when they paused to rest for a few moments a red squirrel frisked down a nearby tree and, sitting on a stump before Dorothy, asked saucily, "Where to, strangers?" "We're on our way to see Princess Ozana," said Dorothy. "Oh, are you indeed!" exclaimed the squirrel with a flirt of his whiskers. "Well, you are just halfway there. If you walk briskly you'll find yourselves out of the forest in another two hours." "How do you know we are just halfway there?" asked Dorothy. "Because I've measured the distance many times," replied the squirrel. "I should think you would prefer to live nearer the village of Pineville," remarked Dorothy. "It must be very lonesome here in this deep pine forest." "Oho! That shows how unobserving you mortals are!" exclaimed the red squirrel. "My family and I wouldn't think of living anywhere but here, no matter how lonely it is. Know why?" "No, I must say I don't," confessed the girl. "Look at my tree—look at my tree!" chattered the squirrel, flirting his big bushy tail in the direction of the tree from which he had appeared. "Of course!" chuckled the Wizard. "It's a hickory tree!" "But I don't see—" began Dorothy in perplexity. "What do squirrels like best of all, my dear?" asked the Wizard, smiling with amusement. "Oh, Wizard, why didn't I think of that? They like nuts, of course!" "Exactly!" snapped the little red squirrel. "And since pine trees do not bear nuts and hickory trees do—well, city life and fine company may be all right for some folks, but I prefer to remain here in comfort where I know my family will be well provided for." And with that the wise little creature gave a leap and a bound and darted up the trunk of the one and only nut tree in all the Pine Forest. Dorothy and the Wizard followed the pine-needle trail on through the Pine Forest until finally the trees thinned and they stepped out into an open meadow, bright with yellow buttercups. The sun was almost directly overhead by this time. Below the two travelers, in a pretty green valley that formed the center of the mountain top, lay a small village of several hundred cottages, all similar to Hi-Lo's. The buildings were painted with glossy blue enamel and shone brilliantly in the sun. They were grouped in a circle about one large central cottage that differed from the others in that it was considerably larger, and, from where Dorothy and the Wizard stood, appeared to be surrounded by rather extensive gardens and grounds. Dorothy and the Wizard followed the trail over the meadow to a point where it broadened into a street that led among the houses. The two travelers set out on this street, which was wide and pleasant and paved with blocks of white pine. As Dorothy and the Wizard walked through the village, they saw that the cottages were occupied by wooden folks, much like Hi-Lo and his wife. A wooden woman was washing the windows of her cottage. A wooden man with wooden shears was trimming the hedge around his house. Another was repairing the white picket fence around his cottage. Tiny wooden children, almost doll-like they were so small, played in the yards. From one cottage a spotted wooden dog ran into the road and barked at the strangers. They saw wooden folks—much like Mr. and Mrs. Hi-Lo "I suppose he's made of dog-wood," observed Dorothy with a smile. Dorothy and the Wizard aroused much curiosity among the little wooden folk, most of whom paused in their work to stare at the strangers as they passed. But none of them seemed to fear the meat people. A wooden lady approached them, walking down the street with quick, lively steps. On her arm was a market basket full of green pine cones. Pausing, the Wizard removed his hat and in his most polite manner addressed her. "Pardon me, Madame. Can you tell me if this street leads to the palace of Princess Ozana?" "Palace? What's that?" asked the woman with a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't know what a palace is, Sir, but if you follow this street you will come to the cottage where our Princess Ozana dwells." "Thank you, Madame," said the Wizard, and the little woman trotted busily down the street. In a few minutes more Dorothy and the Wizard had reached the central part of Pineville. Here a trim, white picket fence encircled a large area that seemed to be one huge flower garden with every sort of flower imaginable growing in it. In the exact center of this enclosure stood an attractive blue cottage, large enough to accommodate comfortably full-sized human beings. Just in front of the cottage was a pond of placid blue water. In the pond grew water lilies and all sorts of flowering plants that one finds in lakes and ponds. The path that led from the entrance of the cottage divided at the pond's edge and encircled the water, meeting on the opposite side of the pond and running again as a single path to a gate in the fence before which Dorothy and the Wizard stood. Forming a bower over the gate was a white wooden trellis covered with roses. From the center of the pretty trellis hung a blue sign with these words in white enameled letters: "Well, I guess that means us," said the Wizard with a smile, as he read the sign and pushed open the gate. |
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