he Munchkin boy pointed to some words painted on the wall of rock
beside them, which Dorothy had not noticed. The words read:

"LOOK OUT FOR YOOP."

The girl eyed this sign a moment and turned to the Scarecrow, asking:

"Who is Yoop; or what is Yoop?"

The straw man shook his head. Then looked at Toto and the dog said
"Woof!"

"Only way to find out is to go on," said Scraps.

This being quite true, they went on. As they proceeded, the walls of
rock on either side grew higher and higher. Presently they came upon
another sign which read:

"BEWARE THE CAPTIVE YOOP."

"Why, as for that," remarked Dorothy, "if Yoop is a captive there's no
need to beware of him. Whatever Yoop happens to be, I'd much rather
have him a captive than running around loose."

"So had I," agreed the Scarecrow, with a nod of his painted head.

"Still," said Scraps, reflectively:

"Yoop-te-hoop-te-loop-te-goop!
Who put noodles in the soup?
We may beware but we don't care,
And dare go where we scare the Yoop."

"Dear me! Aren't you feeling a little queer, just now?" Dorothy asked
the Patchwork Girl.

"Not queer, but crazy," said Ojo. "When she says those things I'm sure
her brains get mixed somehow and work the wrong way.

"I don't see why we are told to beware the Yoop unless he is
dangerous," observed the Scarecrow in a puzzled tone.

"Never mind; we'll find out all about him when we get to where he is,"
replied the little girl.

The narrow canyon turned and twisted this way and that, and the rift
was so small that they were able to touch both walls at the same time
by stretching out their arms. Toto had run on ahead, frisking
playfully, when suddenly he uttered a sharp bark of fear and came
running back to them with his tail between his legs, as dogs do when
they are frightened.

"Ah," said the Scarecrow, who was leading the way, "we must be near
Yoop."

Just then, as he rounded a sharp turn, the Straw man stopped so
suddenly that all the others bumped against him.

"What is it?" asked Dorothy, standing on tip-toes to look over his
shoulder. But then she saw what it was and cried "Oh!" in a tone of
astonishment.

In one of the rock walls--that at their left--was hollowed a great
cavern, in front of which was a row of thick iron bars, the tops and
bottoms being firmly fixed in the solid rock. Over this cavern was a
big sign, which Dorothy read with much curiosity, speaking the words
aloud tha