is friend sorrowfully.

[Illustration]

"Dear me!" he exclaimed; "what a _misfortune_!"

"It is, indeed," replied the Tin Woodman, speaking in muffled tones
because so much water covered him. "I cannot drown, of course, but I
must lie here until you find a way to get me out. Meantime, the water is
soaking into all my joints and I shall become badly rusted before I am
rescued."

"Very true," agreed the Scarecrow; "but be patient, my friend, and I'll
dive down and get you. My straw will not rust, and is easily replaced,
if damaged, so I'm not afraid of the water."

The Scarecrow now took off his hat and made a dive from the boat into
the water; but he was so light in weight that he barely dented the
surface of the stream, nor could he reach the Tin Woodman with his
outstretched straw arms. So he floated to the boat and climbed into it,
saying the while:

"Do not despair, my friend. We have an extra anchor aboard, and I will
tie it around my waist, to make me sink, and dive again."

"Don't do that!" called the tin man. "That would anchor you also to the
bottom, where I am, and we'd both be helpless."

"True enough," sighed the Scarecrow, wiping his wet face with a
handkerchief; and then he gave a cry of astonishment, for he found he
had wiped off one painted eye and now had but one eye to see with.

[Illustration]

"How dreadful!" said the poor Scarecrow. "That eye must have been
painted in water-color, instead of oil. I must be careful not to wipe
off the other eye, for then I could not see to help you at all."

A shriek of elfish laughter greeted this speech and looking up the
Scarecrow found the trees full of black crows, who seemed much amused by
the straw man's one-eyed countenance. He knew the crows well, however,
and they had usually been friendly to him because he had never deceived
them into thinking he was a meat man--the sort of man they really
feared.

"Don't laugh," said he; "you may lose an eye yourselves some day."

[Illustration]

"We couldn't look as funny as you, if we did," replied one old crow, the
king of them. "But what has gone wrong with you?"

"The Tin Woodman, my dear friend and companion, has fallen overboard and
is now on the bottom of the river," said the Scarecrow. "I'm trying to
get him out again, but I fear I shall not succeed."

"Why, it's easy enough," declared the old crow. "Tie a string to him and
all of my crows will fly down, take hold of the string, and pull him up