Chapter Twenty-Four

Ojo Finds the Darkwell

They now followed Diksey to the farther end of

the great cave, beyond the Horner city, where

there were several round, dark holes leading into

the ground in a slanting direction. Diksey went to

one of these holes and said:

“Here is the mine in which lies the dark well

you are seeking. Follow me and step care fully and

I’ll lead you to the place.”

He went in first and after him came Ojo, and

then Dorothy, with the Scarecrow behind her.

The Patchwork Girl entered last of all, for Toto

kept close beside his little mistress.

A few steps beyond the mouth of the opening it

was pitch dark. “You won’t lose your way, though,”

said the Homer, “for there’s only one way to go.

The mine’s mine and I know every step of the way.

How’s that for a joke, eh? The mine’s mine.” Then

he chuckled gleefully as they followed him

silently down the steep slant. The hole was just

big enough to permit them to walk upright,

although the Scarecrow, being much the taller of

the party, often had to bend his head to keep from

hitting the top.

The floor of the tunnel was difficult to walk

upon because it had been worn smooth as glass, and

pretty soon Scraps, who was some distance behind

the others, slipped and fell head foremost. At

once she began to slide downward, so swiftly that

when she came to the Scarecrow she knocked him off

his feet and sent him tumbling against Dorothy,

who tripped up Ojo. The boy fell against the

Horner, so that all went tumbling down the slide

in a regular mix-up, unable to see where they were

going because of the darkness.

Fortunately, when they reached the bottom the

Scarecrow and Scraps were in front, and the others

bumped against them, so that no one was hurt. They

found themselves in a vast cave which was dimly

lighted by the tiny grains of radium that lay

scattered among the loose rocks.

“Now,” said Diksey, when they had all re

gained their feet, “I will show you where the

dark well is. This is a big place, but if we hold

fast to each other we won’t get lost.”

They took hold of hands and the Homer led

them into a dark corner, where he halted.

“Be careful,” said he warningly. “The well is

at your feet.”

“All right,” replied Ojo, and kneeling down

he felt in the well with his hand and found

that it contained a quantity of water. “Where’s

the gold flask, Dorothy?” he asked, and the

little girl handed him the flask, which she had

brought with her.

Ojo knelt again and by feeling carefully in

the dark managed to fill the flask with the

unseen water that was in the well. Then he

screwed the top of the flask firmly in place and

put the precious water in his pocket.

“All right!” he said again, in a glad voice;

“now we can go back.”

They returned to the mouth of the tunnel and

began to creep cautiously up the incline. This

time they made Scraps stay behind, for fear she

would slip again; but they all managed to get up

in safety and the Munchkin boy was very happy when

he stood in the Horner city and realized that the

water from the dark well, which he and his friends

had traveled so far to secure, was safe in his

jacket pocket.