e sooner we rescue them the
happier they'll be."

"Are you sure you can get 'em out of their fix?" the little girl
inquired.

"I've no doubt of it," the Wizard assured her. "But I can't tell what
sort of magic I must use until I get to the place and discover just how
they are enchanted."

"I've heard of that Magic Isle where the Wonderful Flower grows,"
remarked the Cowardly Lion. "Long ago, when I used to live in the
forests, the beasts told stories about the Isle and how the Magic
Flower was placed there to entrap strangers--men or beasts."

"Is the Flower really wonderful?" questioned Dorothy.

"I have heard it is the most beautiful plant in the world," answered
the Lion. "I have never seen it myself, but friendly beasts have told
me that they have stood on the shore of the river and looked across at
the plant in the gold flower-pot and seen hundreds of flowers, of all
sorts and sizes, blossom upon it in quick succession. It is said that
if one picks the flowers while they are in bloom they will remain
perfect for a long time, but if they are not picked they soon disappear
and are replaced by other flowers. That, in my opinion, make the Magic
Plant the most wonderful in existence."

"But these are only stories," said the girl. "Has any of your friends
ever picked a flower from the wonderful plant?"

"No," admitted the Cowardly Lion, "for if any living thing ventures
upon the Magic Isle, where the golden flower-pot stands, that man or
beast takes root in the soil and cannot get away again."

"What happens to them, then?" asked Dorothy.

"They grow smaller, hour by hour and day by day, and finally disappear
entirely."

"Then," said the girl anxiously, "we must hurry up, or Cap'n Bill an'
Trot will get too small to be comf'table."

They were proceeding at a rapid pace during this conversation, for the
Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion were obliged to move swiftly in
order to keep pace with the Glass Cat. After leaving the Forest of
Gugu they crossed a mountain range, and then a broad plain, after which
they reached another forest, much smaller than that where Gugu ruled.

"The Magic Isle is in this forest," said the Glass Cat, "but the river
is at the other side of the forest. There is no path through the
trees, but if we keep going east, we will find the river, and then it
will be easy to find the Magic Isle."

"Have you ever traveled this way before?" inquired the Wizard.

"Not exactly," adm