chop it down, so that it will fall to the other side, we can walk
across it easily."

"That is a first-rate idea," said the Lion. "One would almost suspect
you had brains in your head, instead of straw."

The Woodman set to work at once, and so sharp was his axe that the tree
was soon chopped nearly through. Then the Lion put his strong front
legs against the tree and pushed with all his might, and slowly the big
tree tipped and fell with a crash across the ditch, with its top
branches on the other side.

They had just started to cross this queer bridge when a sharp growl
made them all look up, and to their horror they saw running toward them
two great beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers.

"They are the Kalidahs!" said the Cowardly Lion, beginning to tremble.

"Quick!" cried the Scarecrow. "Let us cross over."

So Dorothy went first, holding Toto in her arms, the Tin Woodman
followed, and the Scarecrow came next. The Lion, although he was
certainly afraid, turned to face the Kalidahs, and then he gave so loud
and terrible a roar that Dorothy screamed and the Scarecrow fell over
backward, while even the fierce beasts stopped short and looked at him
in surprise.

But, seeing they were bigger than the Lion, and remembering that there
were two of them and only one of him, the Kalidahs again rushed
forward, and the Lion crossed over the tree and turned to see what they
would do next. Without stopping an instant the fierce beasts also
began to cross the tree. And the Lion said to Dorothy:

"We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp
claws. But stand close behind me, and I will fight them as long as I
am alive."

"Wait a minute!" called the Scarecrow. He had been thinking what was
best to be done, and now he asked the Woodman to chop away the end of
the tree that rested on their side of the ditch. The Tin Woodman began
to use his axe at once, and, just as the two Kalidahs were nearly
across, the tree fell with a crash into the gulf, carrying the ugly,
snarling brutes with it, and both were dashed to pieces on the sharp
rocks at the bottom.

"Well," said the Cowardly Lion, drawing a long breath of relief, "I see
we are going to live a little while longer, and I am glad of it, for it
must be a very uncomfortable thing not to be alive. Those creatures
frightened me so badly that my heart is beating yet."

"Ah," said the Tin Woodman sadly, "I wish I had a heart to b