The Magic of Oz

CHAPTER 20. The Monkeys Have

Trouble

Now," said the Wizard, "we must start for home. But how are we

going to carry that big gold flower-pot? Cap'n Bill can't lug it all the way,

that's certain."

No," acknowledged the sailor-man; "it's pretty heavy. I could carry it

for a little while, but I'd have to stop to rest every few minutes."

Couldn't we put it on your back?" Dorothy asked the Cowardly Lion,

with a good-natured yawn.

I don't object to carrying it, if you can fasten it on," answered the

Lion.

If it falls off," said Trot, "it might get smashed an' be ruined."

I'll fix it," promised Cap'n Bill. "I'll make a flat board out of one of

these tree trunks, an' tie the board on the lion's back, an' set the flower-pot

on the board." He set to work at once to do this, but as he only had his big

knife for a tool his progress was slow.

So the Wizard took from his black bag a tiny saw that shone like silver

and said to it:

Saw, Little Saw, come show your power; Make us a board for the

Magic Flower."

And at once the Little Saw began to move and it sawed the log so fast

that those who watched it work were astonished. It seemed to understand,

too, just what the board was to be used for, for when it was completed it

was flat on top and hollowed beneath in such a manner that it exactly

fitted the Lion's back.

That beats whittlin'!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, admiringly. "You don't

happen to have TWO o' them saws; do you, Wizard?"

No," replied the Wizard, wiping the Magic Saw carefully with his silk

handkerchief and putting it back in the black bag. "It's the only saw of its

kind in the world; and if there were more like it, it wouldn't be so