so swiftly was the branch growing, but it was not long before the little umbrella began to gain and in several minutes more they were beside Sir Hokus himself.
"Beshrew me, now!" gasped the Knight, stretching out his hand toward Dorothy, "Can'st stop this reckless plant?"
"Give me your sword," commanded the Scarecrow, "and I'll cut you off."
Dorothy, with great difficulty, kept the parasol close to the Knight, while the Scarecrow reached for the sword. But Sir Hokus backed away in alarm.
"Tis part of me, an' you cut it off, I will be cut off too. 'Tis rooted in my back," he puffed.
"What shall we do?" cried Dorothy in distress. "Maybe if we take hold of his hands we can keep him from going any higher."
The Scarecrow, jamming down his hat so it wouldn't blow off, nodded approvingly and, each holding the parasol with one hand, gave the other to the Knight. And when Dorothy pointed the parasol down, to her great delight Sir Hokus came also, the thin green branch' growing just about as fast as they moved.
Just then the little fan, which had been rolling around merrily in Dorothy's pocket, slipped out and
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