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"
Beyond this Rolling Prairie," explained the shepherd, "are the Merry-Go-
Round Mountains, set close together and surrounded by deep gulfs so that no
one is able to get past them. Beyond the Merry-Go-Round Mountains it is
said the Thistle-Eaters and the Herkus live."
"
"
What are they like?" demanded Dorothy.
No one knows, for no one has ever passed the Merry-Go-Round Mountains,"
was the reply, "but it is said that the Thistle-Eaters hitch dragons to their
chariots and that the Herkus are waited upon by giants whom they have
conquered and made their slaves."
"
"
"
"
Who says all that?" asked Betsy.
It is common report," declared the shepherd. "Everyone believes it."
I don't see how they know," remarked little Trot, "if no one has been there."
Perhaps the birds who fly over that country brought the news," suggested
Betsy.
"
If you escaped those dangers," continued the shepherd, "you might encounter
others still more serious before you came to the next branch of the Winkie
River. It is true that beyond that river there lies a fine country inhabited by
good people, and if you reached there, you would have no further trouble. It is
between here and the west branch of the Winkie River that all dangers lie, for
that is the unknown territory that is inhabited by terrible, lawless people."
"
It may be, and it may not be," said the Wizard. "We shall know when we get
there."
"
Well," persisted the shepherd, "in a fairy country such as ours, every
undiscovered place is likely to harbor wicked creatures. If they were not
wicked, they would discover themselves and by coming among us submit to
Ozma's rule and be good and considerate, as are all the Oz people whom we
know."
"
That argument," stated the little Wizard, "convinces me that it is our duty to
go straight to those unknown places, however dangerous they may be, for it is
surely some cruel and wicked person who has stolen our Ozma, and we know
it would be folly to search among good people for the culprit. Ozma may not
be hidden in the secret places of the Winkie Country, it is true, but it is our
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