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I can't believe that," said Button-Bright. "If we only saw it, we might be

mistaken, but if we can see it and hear it, too, it must be there."

Where?" asked the Patchwork Girl.

Somewhere near us," he insisted.

We will have to go back, I suppose," said the Woozy with a sigh.

So back they turned and headed for the walled city until it disappeared again,

only to reappear at the right of them. They were constantly getting nearer to

it, however, so they kept their faces turned toward it as it flitted here and

there to all points of the compass. Presently the Lion, who was leading the

procession, halted abruptly and cried out, "Ouch!"

What's the matter?" asked Dorothy.

Ouch--Ouch!" repeated the Lion, and leaped backward so suddenly that

Dorothy nearly tumbled from his back. At the same time Hank the Mule yelled

Ouch!"

Ouch! Ouch!" repeated the Lion and leaped backward so suddenly that

Dorothy nearly tumbled from his back. At the same time, Hank the Mule

yelled "Ouch!" almost as loudly as the Lion had done, and he also pranced

backward a few paces.

It's the thistles," said Betsy. "They prick their legs."

Hearing this, all looked down, and sure enough the ground was thick with

thistles, which covered the plain from the point where they stood way up to

the walls of the mysterious city. No pathways through them could be seen at

all; here the soft grass ended and the growth of thistles began. "They're the

prickliest thistles I ever felt," grumbled the Lion. "My legs smart yet from their

stings, though I jumped out of them as quickly as I could."

Here is a new difficulty," remarked the Wizard in a grieved tone. "The city has

stopped hopping around, it is true, but how are we to get to it over this mass

of prickers?"

They can't hurt ME," said the thick-skinned Woozy, advancing fearlessly and

trampling among the thistles.

Nor me," said the Wooden Sawhorse.

The Lost Princess of Oz