L.Frank Baum. The marvelous land of Oz -
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crown to the Wonderful Wizard, who passed it on to me. Now the girl Jinjur
claims it, and I sincerely hope it will not give her a headache."
"A kindly thought, which I greatly admire," said the Tin Woodman,
nodding approvingly.
"And now I will indulge in a quiet think," continued the Scarecrow,
lying back in the throne.
The others remained as silent and still as possible, so as not to
disturb him; for all had great confidence in the extraordinary brains of
the Scarecrow.
And, after what seemed a very long time indeed to the anxious
watchers, the thinker sat up, looked upon his friends with his most
whimsical expression, and said:
"My brains work beautifully today. I'm quite proud of them. Now,
listen! If we attempt to escape through the doors of the palace we shall
surely be captured. And, as we can't escape through the ground, there is
only one other thing to be done. We must escape through the air!"
He paused to note the effect of these words; but all his hearers
seemed puzzled and unconvinced.
"The Wonderful Wizard escaped in a balloon," he continued. "We don't
know how to make a balloon, of course; but any sort of thing that can fly
through the air can carry us easily. So I suggest that my friend the Tin
Woodman, who is a skillful mechanic, shall build some sort of a machine,
with good strong wings, to carry us; and our friend Tip can then bring the
Thing to life with his magical powder."
"Bravo!" cried Nick Chopper.
"What splendid brains!" murmured Jack.
"Really quite clever!" said the Educated Woggle-Bug.
"I believe it can be done," declared Tip; "that is, if the Tin
Woodman is equal to making the Thing."
"I'll do my best," said Nick, cheerily; "and, as a matter of fact, I