www.freeclassicebooks.com

Johnny Dooit moved quickly now--so quickly that they were astonished at the

work he was able to accomplish. He had in his chest a tool for everything he

wanted to do, and these must have been magic tools because they did their

work so fast and so well.

The man hummed a little song as he worked, and Dorothy tried to listen to it.

She thought the words were something like these:

The only way to do a thing Is do it when you can, And do it cheerfully, and

sing And work and think and plan. The only real unhappy one Is he who

dares to shirk; The only really happy one Is he who cares to work.

Whatever Johnny Dooit was singing he was certainly doing things, and they

all stood by and watched him in amazement.

He seized an axe and in a couple of chops felled a tree. Next he took a saw

and in a few minutes sawed the tree-trunk into broad, long boards. He then

nailed the boards together into the shape of a boat, about twelve feet long and

four feet wide. He cut from another tree a long, slender pole which, when

trimmed of its branches and fastened upright in the center of the boat, served

as a mast. From the chest he drew a coil of rope and a big bundle of canvas,

and with these--still humming his song--he rigged up a sail, arranging it so it

could be raised or lowered upon the mast.

Dorothy fairly gasped with wonder to see the thing grow so speedily before her

eyes, and both Button-Bright and Polly looked on with the same absorbed

interest.

It ought to be painted," said Johnny Dooit, tossing his tools back into the

chest, "for that would make it look prettier. But 'though I can paint it for you

in three seconds it would take an hour to dry, and that's a waste of time."

We don't care how it looks," said the shaggy man, "if only it will take us

across the desert."

It will do that," declared Johnny Dooit. "All you need worry about is tipping

over. Did you ever sail a ship?"

I've seen one sailed," said the shaggy man.

Good. Sail this boat the way you've seen a ship sailed, and you'll be across

the sands before you know it."

The Road to Oz