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CHAPTER 2 - THE SCARECROW'S FAMILY TREE

The moon shone brightly, but everyone in the Emerald City was fast asleep!

Through the deserted streets hurried the Scarecrow. For the first time since

his discovery by little Dorothy, he was really unhappy. Living as he did in a

Fairyland, he had taken many things for granted and had rather prided

himself on his unusual appearance. Indeed, not until Professor Wogglebug's

rude remarks concerning his family had he given his past a thought.

I am the only person in Oz without a family!" he reflected sorrowfully. "Even

the Cowardly Lion has kingly parents and a palm tree! But I must keep

thinking. My brains have never failed me yet. Who was I? Who were I? Who

were I?"

Often he thought so hard that he forgot to look where he was going and ran

headlong into fences, stumbled down gutters, and over stiles. But

fortunately, the dear fellow could not hurt himself, and he would struggle

up, pat his straw into shape, and walk straightway into something else. He

made good time in between falls, however, and was soon well on his way

down the yellow brick road that ran through the Munchkin Country. For he

had determined to return to the Munchkin farm where Dorothy had first

discovered him and try to find some traces of his family.

Now being stuffed with straw had many advantages, for requiring neither

food nor sleep the Scarecrow could travel night and day without

interruption. The stars winked out one by one, and by the time the cocks of

the Munchkin farmers began to crow, he had come to the banks of a broad

blue river!

The Scarecrow took off his hat and scratched his head thoughtfully.

Crossing rivers is no easy matter in Oz, for there isn't a ferry in the

Kingdom, and unless one is a good swimmer or equipped with some of the

Wizard's magic it is mighty troublesome. Water does not agree with the

Scarecrow at all, and as for swimming, he can no more swim than a bag of

meal.

But he was too wise a person to give up merely because a thing appeared to

be impossible. It was for just such emergencies that his excellent brains had

been given to him.

The Royal Book of Oz