ind of roads have you?" asked Dorothy timidly. It was her
first experience at buying roads, and she felt a bit perplexed.

"Sunny, shady, straight, crooked, and cross-roads," snapped the Fix.

"We wouldn't want a cross one," said Dorothy positively. "Have you
any with trees at both sides and water at the end?"

"How many yards?" asked the Fix, taking a pair of shears as large as
himself off a long counter beside him.

"Five miles," said Sir Hokus as Dorothy looked confused. "That ought
to take us somewhere!"

The Fix rang one of the bells in the counter. The next minute, a big
trap door in the ground opened, and a perfectly huge roll bounced out
at his feet.

"Get on," commanded the Fix in such a sharp tone that the three
jumped to obey. Holding fast to Sir Hokus, Dorothy stepped on the
piece of road that had already unrolled. The Cowardly Lion, looking
very anxious, followed. No sooner had they done so than the road gave
a terrific leap forward that stretched the three flat upon their
backs and started unwinding from its spool at a terrifying speed.
As it unrolled, tall trees snapped erect on each side and began
laughing derisively at the three travelers huddled together in the
middle.

"G-g-glad we only took five miles," stuttered Dorothy to the Knight,
whose armor was rattling like a Ford.

The Cowardly Lion had wound his tail around a tree and dug his claws
into the road, for he had no intention of falling off into
nothingness. As for the road, it snapped along at about a mile a
minute, and before they had time to grow accustomed to this singular
mode of travel, it gave a final jump that sent them circling into the
air, and began rapidly winding itself up.

Down, down, down whirled Dorothy, falling with a resounding splash
into a broad stream of water. Then down, down, down again, almost to
the bottom.

"Help!" screamed Dorothy as her head rose above water, and she began
striking out feebly. But the fall through the air had taken all her
breath.

"What do you want?" A thin, neat little man was watching her
anxiously from the bank, making careful notes in a book that he held
in one hand.

"Help! Save me!" choked Dorothy, feeling herself going down in the
muddy stream again.

"Wait! I'll look it up under the 'H's," called the little man, making
a trumpet of his hands. "Are you an island? An island is a body of
land entirely surrounded by water, but this seems to be a some-body,"
Dorothy heard him mu