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apron that reached from his chin nearly to his feet, and which was soiled and

scratched as if it had been used a long time. His nose was broad, and stuck

up a little; but his eyes were twinkling and merry. The little man's hands and

arms were as hard and tough as the leather in his apron, and Dorothy

thought Johnny Dooit looked as if he had done a lot of hard work in his

lifetime.

Good morning, Johnny," said the shaggy man. "Thank you for coming to me

so quickly."

I never waste time," said the newcomer, promptly. "But what's happened to

you? Where did you get that donkey head? Really, I wouldn't have known

you at all, Shaggy Man, if I hadn't looked at your feet."

The shaggy man introduced Johnny Dooit to Dorothy and Toto and Button-

Bright and the Rainbow's Daughter, and told him the story of their

adventures, adding that they were anxious now to reach the Emerald City in

the Land of Oz, where Dorothy had friends who would take care of them and

send them safe home again.

But," said he, "we find that we can't cross this desert, which turns all living

flesh that touches it into dust; so I have asked you to come and help us."

Johnny Dooit puffed his pipe and looked carefully at the dreadful desert in

front of them--stretching so far away they could not see its end.

You must ride," he said, briskly.

What in?" asked the shaggy man.

In a sand-boat, which has runners like a sled and sails like a ship. The wind

will blow you swiftly across the desert and the sand cannot touch your flesh to

turn it into dust."

Good!" cried Dorothy, clapping her hands delightedly. "That was the way the

Magic Carpet took us across. We didn't have to touch the horrid sand at all."

But where is the sand-boat?" asked the shaggy man, looking all around him.

I'll make you one," said Johnny Dooit.

As he spoke, he knocked the ashes from his pipe and put it in his pocket.

Then he unlocked the copper chest and lifted the lid, and Dorothy saw it was

full of shining tools of all sorts and shapes.

The Road to Oz