ll never have brains," added the Scarecrow.

"And I shall never have a heart," spoke the Tin Woodman.

"And I shall never see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry," said Dorothy,
beginning to cry.

"Be careful!" cried the green girl. "The tears will fall on your green
silk gown and spot it."

So Dorothy dried her eyes and said, "I suppose we must try it; but I am
sure I do not want to kill anybody, even to see Aunt Em again."

"I will go with you; but I'm too much of a coward to kill the Witch,"
said the Lion.

"I will go too," declared the Scarecrow; "but I shall not be of much
help to you, I am such a fool."

"I haven't the heart to harm even a Witch," remarked the Tin Woodman;
"but if you go I certainly shall go with you."

Therefore it was decided to start upon their journey the next morning,
and the Woodman sharpened his axe on a green grindstone and had all his
joints properly oiled. The Scarecrow stuffed himself with fresh straw
and Dorothy put new paint on his eyes that he might see better. The
green girl, who was very kind to them, filled Dorothy's basket with
good things to eat, and fastened a little bell around Toto's neck with
a green ribbon.

They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight, when
they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived in the
back yard of the Palace, and the cackling of a hen that had laid a
green egg.

12. The Search for the Wicked Witch

The soldier with the green whiskers led them through the streets of the
Emerald City until they reached the room where the Guardian of the
Gates lived. This officer unlocked their spectacles to put them back
in his great box, and then he politely opened the gate for our friends.

"Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?" asked Dorothy.

"There is no road," answered the Guardian of the Gates. "No one ever
wishes to go that way."

"How, then, are we to find her?" inquired the girl.

"That will be easy," replied the man, "for when she knows you are in
the country of the Winkies she will find you, and make you all her
slaves."

"Perhaps not," said the Scarecrow, "for we mean to destroy her."

"Oh, that is different," said the Guardian of the Gates. "No one has
ever destroyed her before, so I naturally thought she would make slaves
of you, as she has of the rest. But take care; for she is wicked and
fierce, and may not allow you to destroy her. Keep to the West, where
the sun sets, and you c