hey asked everyone
they met for news of Ozma, but none in this district had seen her or
even knew that she had been stolen. And by nightfall they had passed
all the farmhouses and were obliged to stop and ask for shelter at the
hut of a lonely shepherd. When they halted, Toto was not far behind.
The little dog halted, too, and stealing softly around the party, he
hid himself behind the hut.

The shepherd was a kindly old man and treated the travelers with much
courtesy. He slept out of doors that night, giving up his hut to the
three girls, who made their beds on the floor with the blankets they
had brought in the Red Wagon. The Wizard and Button-Bright also slept
out of doors, and so did the Cowardly Lion and Hank the Mule. But
Scraps and the Sawhorse did not sleep at all, and the Woozy could stay
awake for a month at a time if he wished to, so these three sat in a
little group by themselves and talked together all through the night.

In the darkness, the Cowardly Lion felt a shaggy little form nestling
beside his own, and he said sleepily, "Where did you come from, Toto?"

"From home," said the dog. "If you roll over, roll the other way so you
won't smash me."

"Does Dorothy know you are here?" asked the Lion.

"I believe not," admitted Toto, and he added a little anxiously, "Do
you think, friend Lion, we are now far enough from the Emerald City for
me to risk showing myself, or will Dorothy send me back because I
wasn't invited?"

"Only Dorothy can answer that question," said the Lion. "For my part,
Toto, I consider this affair none of my business, so you must act as
you think best." Then the huge beast went to sleep again, and Toto
snuggled closer to the warm, hairy body and also slept. He was a wise
little dog in his way, and didn't intend to worry when there was
something much better to do.

In the morning the Wizard built a fire, over which the girls cooked a
very good breakfast. Suddenly Dorothy discovered Toto sitting quietly
before the fire, and the little girl exclaimed, "Goodness me, Toto!
Where did YOU come from?"

"From the place you cruelly left me," replied the dog in a reproachful
tone.

"I forgot all about you," admitted Dorothy, "and if I hadn't, I'd
prob'ly left you with Jellia Jamb, seeing this isn't a pleasure trip
but stric'ly business. But now that you're here, Toto, I s'pose you'll
have to stay with us, unless you'd rather go back again. We may get
ourselves into trouble b