in. Then he bounded to the next one back of it--not on his feet,
but "all mixed up," as Trot said--and then he shot across to another
mountain, disappearing from view just as the Patchwork Girl had done.

"It seems to work, all right," remarked Button-Bright. "I guess I'll
try it."

"Wait a minute," urged the Wizard. "Before any more of us make this
desperate leap into the beyond, we must decide whether all will go or
if some of us will remain behind."

"Do you s'pose it hurt them much to bump against those mountains?"
asked Trot.

"I don't s'pose anything could hurt Scraps or the Woozy," said Dorothy,
"and nothing can hurt ME, because I wear the Magic Belt. So as I'm
anxious to find Ozma, I mean to swing myself across too."

"I'll take my chances," decided Button-Bright.

"I'm sure it will hurt dreadfully, and I'm afraid to do it," said the
Lion, who was already trembling, "but I shall do it if Dorothy does."

"Well, that will leave Betsy and the Mule and Trot," said the Wizard,
"for of course I shall go that I may look after Dorothy. Do you two
girls think you can find your way back home again?" he asked,
addressing Trot and Betsy.

"I'm not afraid. Not much, that is," said Trot. "It looks risky, I
know, but I'm sure I can stand it if the others can."

"If it wasn't for leaving Hank," began Betsy in a hesitating voice.

But the Mule interrupted her by saying, "Go ahead if you want to, and
I'll come after you. A mule is as brave as a lion any day."

"Braver," said the Lion, "for I'm a coward, friend Hank, and you are
not. But of course the Sawhorse--"

"Oh, nothing ever hurts ME," asserted the Sawhorse calmly. "There's
never been any question about my going. I can't take the Red Wagon,
though."

"No, we must leave the wagon," said the wizard, "and also we must leave
our food and blankets, I fear. But if we can defy these Merry-Go-Round
Mountains to stop us, we won't mind the sacrifice of some of our
comforts."

"No one knows where we're going to land!" remarked the Lion in a voice
that sounded as if he were going to cry.

"We may not land at all," replied Hank, "but the best way to find out
what will happen to us is to swing across as Scraps and the Woozy have
done."

"I think I shall go last," said the Wizard, "so who wants to go first?"

"I'll go," decided Dorothy.

"No, it's my turn first," said Button-Bright. "Watch me!"

Even as he spoke, the boy seized the strap, and after ma