Next morning they pushed the raft into the waterand all got aboard. The Quadling man had to holdthe log craft fast while they took their places,and the flow of the river was so powerful that itnearly tore the raft from his hands. As soon asthey were all seated upon the logs he let go andaway it floated and the adventurers had beguntheir voyage toward the Winkie Country.

The little house of the Quadlings was out ofsight almost before they had cried their good-byes, and the Scarecrow said in a pleased voice:"It won't take us long to get to the WinkieCountry, at this rate."

They had floated several miles down the streamand were enjoying the ride when suddenly the raftslowed up, stopped short, and then began to floatback the way it had come.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Dorothy, inastonishment; but they were all just as bewilderedas she was and at first no one could answer thequestion. Soon, however, they realized the truth:that the current of the river had reversed and thewater was now flowing in the opposite direction--toward the mountains.

They began to recognize the scenes they hadpassed, and by and by they came in sight of thelittle house of the Quadlings again. The manwas standing on the river bank and he calledto them:

"How do you do? Glad to see you again. I forgotto tell you that the river changes its directionevery little while. Sometimes it flows one way,and sometimes the other."

They had no time to answer him, for the raftwas swept past the house and a long distance onthe other side of it.

"We're going just the way we don't want togo," said Dorothy, "and I guess the best thingwe can do is to get to land before we're carriedany farther."

But they could not get to land. They hadno oars, nor even a pole to guide the raft with.The logs which bore them floated in the middleof the stream and were held fast in that positionby the strong current.

So they sat still and waited and, even whilethey were wondering what could be done, the raftslowed down, stopped, and began drifting the otherway--in the direction it had first followed. Aftera time they repassed the Quadling house and theman was still standing on the bank. He cried outto them:

"Good day! Glad to see you again. I expectI shall see you a good many times, as you goby, unless you happen to swim ashore."

By that time they had left him behind andwere headed once more straight toward theWinkie Country.

"This is pretty hard luck," said Ojo in adiscouraged voice. "The Trick River keepschanging, it seems, and here we must float backand forward forever, unless we manage in some wayto get ashore."

"Can you swim?" asked Dorothy.

"No; I'm Ojo the Unlucky."

"Neither can I. Toto can swim a little, butthat won't help us to get to shore."

"I don't know whether I could swim, or not,"remarked Scraps; "but if I tried it I'd surely ruinmy lovely patches."

"My straw would get soggy in the water andI would sink," said the Scarecrow.

So there seemed no way out of their dilemmaand being helpless they simply sat still. Ojo,who was on the front of the raft, looked overinto the water and thought he saw some largefishes swimming about. He found a loose endof the clothesline which fastened the logstogether, and taking a gold nail from his pockethe bent it nearly double, to form a hook, andtied it to the end of the line. Having baited thehook with some bread which he broke from hisloaf, he dropped the line into the water andalmost instantly it was seized by a great fish.

They knew it was a great fish, because itpulled so hard on the line that it dragged theraft forward even faster than the current of theriver had carried it. The fish was frightened,and it was a strong swimmer. As the other endof the clothesline was bound around the logshe could not get it away, and as he had greedilyswallowed the gold hook at the first bite hecould not get rid of that, either.

When they reached the place where the currenthad before changed, the fish was still swimmingahead in its wild attempt to escape. The raftslowed down, yet it did not stop, because the fishwould not let it. It continued to move in the samedirection it had been going. As the currentreversed and rushed backward on its course itfailed to drag the raft with it. Slowly, inch byinch, they floated on, and the fish tugged andtugged and kept them going.

"I hope he won't give up," said Ojo anxiously."If the fish can hold out until the currentchanges again, we'll be all right."

The fish did not give up, but held the raftbravely on its course, till at last the water inthe river shifted again and floated them the waythey wanted to go. But now the captive fishfound its strength failing. Seeking a refuge, itbegan to drag the raft toward the shore. As theydid not wish to land in this place the boy cutthe rope with his pocket-knife and set the fishfree, just in time to prevent the raft fromgrounding.

The next time the river backed up the Scarecrowmanaged to seize the branch of a tree thatoverhung the water and they all assisted him tohold fast and prevent the raft from being carriedbackward. While they waited here, Ojo spied a longbroken branch lying upon the bank, so he leapedashore and got it. When he had stripped off theside shoots he believed he could use the branch asa pole, to guide the raft in case of emergency.

They clung to the tree until they found thewater flowing the right way, when they let goand permitted the raft to resume its voyage. Inspite of these pauses they were really makinggood progress toward the Winkie Country andhaving found a way to conquer the adversecurrent their spirits rose considerably. Theycould see little of the country through whichthey were passing, because of the high banks,and they met with no boats or other craft uponthe surface of the river.

Once more the trick river reversed its current,but this time the Scarecrow was on guard andused the pole to push the raft toward a bigrock which lay in the water. He believed therock would prevent their floating backward withthe current, and so it did. They clung to thisanchorage until the water resumed its properdirection, when they allowed the raft to drift on.

Floating around a bend they saw ahead a highbank of water, extending across the entire river,and toward this they were being irresistiblycarried. There being no way to arrest the progressof the raft they clung fast to the logs and letthe river sweep them on. Swiftly the raft climbedthe bank of water and slid down on the other side,plunging its edge deep into the water anddrenching them all with spray.

As again the raft righted and drifted on,Dorothy and Ojo laughed at the ducking they hadreceived; but Scraps was much dismayed and theScarecrow took out his handkerchief and wiped thewater off the Patchwork Girl's patches as well ashe was able to. The sun soon dried her and thecolors of her patches proved good, for they didnot run together nor did they fade.

After passing the wall of water the current didnot change or flow backward any more but continuedto sweep them steadily forward. The banks of theriver grew lower, too, permitting them to see moreof the country, and presently they discoveredyellow buttercups and dandelions growing amongstthe grass, from which evidence they knew they hadreached the Winkie Country.

"Don't you think we ought to land?" Dorothyasked the Scarecrow.

"Pretty soon," he replied. "The Tin Woodman'scastle is in the southern part of the WinkieCountry, and so it can't be a great way fromhere."

Fearing they might drift too far, Dorothy andOjo now stood up and raised the Scarecrow intheir arms, as high as they could, thus allowinghim a good view of the country. For a time hesaw nothing he recognized, but finally he cried:

"There it is! There it is!"

"What?" asked Dorothy.

"The Tin Woodman's tin castle. I can seeits turrets glittering in the sun. It's quite a wayoff, but we'd better land as quickly as we can."

They let him down and began to urge the rafttoward the shore by means of the pole. It obeyedvery well, for the current was more sluggishnow, and soon they had reached the bank andlanded safely.

The Winkie Country was really beautiful,and across the fields they could see afar thesilvery sheen of the tin castle. With light heartsthey hurried toward it, being fully rested bytheir long ride on the river.

By and by they began to cross an immensefield of splendid yellow lilies, the delicatefragrance of which was very delightful.

"How beautiful they are!" cried Dorothy,stopping to admire the perfection of theseexquisite flowers.

"Yes," said the Scarecrow, reflectively, "butwe must be careful not to crush or injure anyof these lilies."

"Why not?" asked Ojo.

"The Tin Woodman is very kind-hearted,"was the reply, "and he hates to see any livingthing hurt in any way.

"Are flowers alive?" asked Scraps.

"Yes, of course. And these flowers belong tothe Tin Woodman. So, in order not to offendhim, we must not tread on a single blossom."

"Once," said Dorothy, "the Tin Woodmanstepped on a beetle and killed the little creature.That made him very unhappy and he cried untilhis tears rusted his joints, so he couldn't move'em."

"What did he do then?" asked Ojo.

"Put oil on them, until the joints workedsmooth again.

"Oh!" exclaimed the boy, as if a great discoveryhad flashed across his mind. But he did not tellanybody what the discovery was and kept the ideato himself.

It was a long walk, but a pleasant one, andthey did not mind it a bit. Late in the afternoonthey drew near to the wonderful tin castle ofthe Emperor of the Winkies, and Ojo andScraps, who had never seen it before, werefilled with amazement.

Tin abounded in the Winkie Country andthe Winkies were said to be the most skillfultinsmiths in all the world. So the Tin Woodmanhad employed them in building his magnificentcastle, which was all of tin, from the ground tothe tallest turret, and so brightly polished thatit glittered in the sun's rays more gorgeouslythan silver. Around the grounds of the castleran a tin wall, with tin gates; but the gates stoodwide open because the Emperor had no enemiesto disturb him.

When they entered the spacious grounds ourtravelers found more to admire. Tin fountains sentsprays of clear water far into the air and therewere many beds of tin flowers, all as perfectlyformed as any natural flowers might be. Therewere tin trees, too, and here and there shadybowers of tin, with tin benches and chairs to situpon. Also, on the sides of the pathway leading upto the front door of the castle, were rows of tinstatuary, very cleverly executed. Among these Ojorecognized statues of Dorothy, Toto, theScarecrow, the Wizard, the Shaggy Man, JackPumpkinhead and Ozma, all standing upon neatpedestals of tin.

Toto was well acquainted with the residence ofthe Tin Woodman and, being assured a joyfulwelcome, he ran ahead and barked so loudly at thefront door that the Tin Woodman heard him and cameout in person to see if it were really his oldfriend Toto. Next moment the tin man had claspedthe Scarecrow in a warm embrace and then turnedto hug Dorothy. But now his eye was arrested bythe strange sight of the Patchwork Girl, and hegazed upon her in mingled wonder and admiration.