her until finally they came to a great
rift in a part of the mountain, where the rock seemed to have split in
two and left high walls on either side.

"S'pose we go this way," suggested Dorothy; "it's much easier walking
than to climb over the hills."

"How about that sign?" asked Ojo.

"What sign?" she inquired.

The Munchkin boy pointed to some words painted on the wall of rock
beside them, which Dorothy had not noticed. The words read:

"LOOK OUT FOR YOOP."

The girl eyed this sign a moment and then turned to the Scarecrow,
asking:

"Who is Yoop; or what is Yoop?"

The straw man shook his head. Then she looked at Toto and the dog said
"Woof!"

"Only way to find out is to go on," said Scraps.

This being quite true, they went on. As they proceeded, the walls of
rock on either side grew higher and higher. Presently they came upon
another sign which read:

"BEWARE THE CAPTIVE YOOP."

"Why, as for that," remarked Dorothy, "if Yoop is a captive there's no
need to beware of him. Whatever Yoop happens to be, I'd much rather have
him a captive than running around loose."

"So had I," agreed the Scarecrow, with a nod of his painted head.

"Still," said Scraps, reflectively:

"Yoop-te-hoop-te-loop-te-goop!
Who put noodles in the soup?
We may beware but we don't care,
And dare go where we scare the Yoop."

"Dear me! Aren't you feeling a little queer, just now?" Dorothy asked
the Patchwork Girl.

"Not queer, but crazy," said Ojo. "When she says those things I'm sure
her brains get mixed somehow and work the wrong way."

"I don't see why we are told to beware the Yoop unless he is dangerous,"
observed the Scarecrow in a puzzled tone.

"Never mind; we'll find out all about him when we get to where he is,"
replied the little girl.

The narrow canyon turned and twisted this way and that, and the rift was
so small that they were able to touch both walls at the same time by
stretching out their arms. Toto had run on ahead, frisking playfully,
when suddenly he uttered a sharp bark of fear and came running back to
them with his tail between his legs, as dogs do when they are
frightened.

"Ah," said the Scarecrow, who was leading the way, "we must be near
Yoop."

Just then, as he rounded a sharp turn, the straw man stopped so suddenly
that all the others bumped against him.

"What is it?" asked Dorothy, standing on tip-toes to look over his
shoulder. But then she saw what it was a