was weary with his long walk, they
halted right in the middle of a field and allowed Woot to get his supper
from the food he carried in his knapsack. Then the Scarecrow laid
himself down, so that Woot could use his stuffed body as a pillow, and
the Tin Woodman stood up beside them all night, so the dampness of the
ground might not rust his joints or dull his brilliant polish. Whenever
the dew settled on his body he carefully wiped it off with a cloth, and
so in the morning the Emperor shone as brightly as ever in the rays of
the rising sun.

They wakened the boy at daybreak, the Scarecrow saying to him:

"We have discovered something queer, and therefore we must counsel
together what to do about it."

"What have you discovered?" asked Woot, rubbing the sleep from his eyes
with his knuckles and giving three wide yawns to prove he was fully
awake.

"A Sign," said the Tin Woodman. "A Sign, and another path."

"What does the Sign say?" inquired the boy.

"It says that 'All Strangers are Warned not to Follow this Path to
Loonville,'" answered the Scarecrow, who could read very well when his
eyes had been freshly painted.

[Illustration: All strangers are warned not to follow this Path to
Loonville]

"In that case," said the boy, opening his knapsack to get some
breakfast, "let us travel in some other direction."

But this did not seem to please either of his companions.

"I'd like to see what Loonville looks like," remarked the Tin Woodman.

"When one travels, it is foolish to miss any interesting sight," added
the Scarecrow.

"But a warning means danger," protested Woot the Wanderer, "and I
believe it sensible to keep out of danger whenever we can."

They made no reply to this speech for a while. Then said the Scarecrow:

"I have escaped so many dangers, during my lifetime, that I am not much
afraid of anything that can happen."

"Nor am I!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman, swinging his glittering axe
around his tin head, in a series of circles. "Few things can injure tin,
and my axe is a powerful weapon to use against a foe. But our boy
friend," he continued, looking solemnly at Woot, "might perhaps be
injured if the people of Loonville are really dangerous; so I propose he
waits here while you and I, Friend Scarecrow, visit the forbidden City
of Loonville."

"Don't worry about me," advised Woot, calmly. "Wherever you wish to go,
I will go, and share your dangers. During my wanderings I have found it
more wi