couldn’t possibly leap over it. As they all sat down to consider what to do, the Scarecrow quickly surveyed the surrounding area. With reasoning surprisingly cogent for one with no brains, he determined that if the Tin Woodman could chop down a nearby tree so that if fell across the ditch, they could all easily cross to the other side!

And so, with an axe-blade as trenchant as the Scarecrow’s perception, the Tin Woodman mightily set to work, and soon the tree trunk was nearly chopped through. Now the Lion pressed his strong front paws against the tree and pushed hard until the tree slowly tipped over. With a cacophonous crash it fell across the ditch, its benumbed leaves and top branches resting on the other side.

They had just started to cross this queer bridge when they heard behind them a loud snarl that made them stop and turn around. Racing toward them were two large beasts with heads like tigers and bodies like bears! Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman immediately scrambled to the other side. But the Lion, shaking with fear, stayed behind to face the abhorrent brutes.

Feigning truculence, the Lion roared so loudly that even Dorothy and her friends were momentarily frightened. The Kalidahs stopped a moment in startled surprise, but then, realizing they were bigger that the Lion and that there were two of them and only one of him, easily saw through his empty bravado and again rushed forward.

Knowing he was only moments away from excoriation or worse, the Lion, responding more to visceral than intellectual motivation, crossed the bridge like something shot from a slingshot.

Now the Kalidahs were crossing the tree, and the Lion impetuously said to Dorothy, “They’re going to tear us to pieces, but stand behind me and I’ll fight them as long as I’m alive.” With palpable apprehension, he girded himself for the fray.

Meanwhile, the Scarecrow had been furiously ratiocinating. With the sapient strategy of a seasoned general, he told the Tin Woodman to chop away the end of the tree that rested on their side of the ditch. The Tin Woodman set to work at once, and just as the voracious predators were nearly across, the tree fell with a horrifying din into the gulf, carrying the Kalidahs with it. Both were neatly impaled on the sharp, jagged rocks below.

Understandably, the travelers now felt even more threatened by the baleful atmosphere of the tenebrous woods, and they walked as fast as they could. They were delighted to see that the trees became thinner as they advanced. But suddenly they stopped, for before them was a broad, swiftly flowing river.

Chapter 7 “The River”

On the other side of the river they could see brilliant sunshine, azure skies, and beautiful, green meadows studded with brightly colored flowers. And wafting across the water was the delightful aroma of the delicious fruits that hung from the trees that bordered the yellow brick road.

“How will we cross the river?” Dorothy asked.

“That’s easy,” said the