The day was nearly gone when, at last, the raft was ready.

"It ain't so very big," said the old sailor, "but I don't weighmuch, an' you, Trot, don't weigh half as much as I do, an' the glasspussy don't count."

"But it's safe, isn't it?" inquired the girl.

"Yes; it's good enough to carry us to the island an' back again, an'that's about all we can expect of it."

Saying this, Cap'n Bill pushed the raft into the water, and when itwas afloat, stepped upon it and held out his hand to Trot, who quicklyfollowed him. The Glass Cat boarded the raft last of all.

The sailor had cut a long pole, and had also whittled a flat paddle,and with these he easily propelled the raft across the river. As theyapproached the island, the Wonderful Flower became more plainlyvisible, and they quickly decided that the Glass Cat had not praisedit too highly. The colors of the flowers that bloomed in quicksuccession were strikingly bright and beautiful, and the shapes of theblossoms were varied and curious. Indeed, they did not resembleordinary flowers at all.

So intently did Trot and Cap'n Bill gaze upon the Golden Flower-potthat held the Magic Flower that they scarcely noticed the islanditself until the raft beached upon its sands. But then the girlexclaimed: "How funny it is, Cap'n Bill, that nothing else grows hereexcep' the Magic Flower."

Then the sailor glanced at the island and saw that it was all bareground, without a weed, a stone or a blade of grass. Trot, eager toexamine the Flower closer, sprang from the raft and ran up the bankuntil she reached the Golden Flower-pot. Then she stood beside itmotionless and filled with wonder. Cap'n Bill joined her, coming moreleisurely, and he, too, stood in silent admiration for a time.

"Ozma will like this," remarked the Glass Cat, sitting down to watchthe shifting hues of the flowers. "I'm sure she won't have as fine abirthday present from anyone else."

"Do you 'spose it's very heavy, Cap'n? And can we get it homewithout breaking it?" asked Trot anxiously.

"Well, I've lifted many bigger things than that," he replied; "butlet's see what it weighs."

He tried to take a step forward, but could not lift his meat footfrom the ground. His wooden leg seemed free enough, but the otherwould not budge.

"I seem stuck, Trot," he said, with a perplexed look at his foot."It ain't mud, an' it ain't glue, but somethin's holdin' me down."

The girl attempted to lift her own feet, to go nearer to her friend,but the ground held them as fast as it held Cap'n Bill's foot. Shetried to slide them, or to twist them around, but it was no use; shecould not move either foot a hair's breadth.

"This is funny!" she exclaimed. "What do you 'spose has happened tous, Cap'n Bill?"

"I'm tryin' to make out," he answered. "Take off your shoes, Trot.P'raps it's the leather soles that's stuck to the ground."

She leaned down and unlaced her shoes, but found she could not pullher feet out of them. The Glass Cat, which was walking around asnaturally as ever, now said:

"Your foot has got roots to it, Cap'n, and I can see the roots goinginto the ground, where they spread out in all directions. It's the sameway with Trot. That's why you can't move. The roots hold you fast."

Cap'n Bill was rather fat and couldn't see his own feet very well,but he squatted down and examined Trot's feet and decided that theGlass Cat was right.

"This is hard luck," he declared, in a voice that showed he wasuneasy at the discovery. "We're pris'ners, Trot, on this funnyisland, an' I'd like to know how we're ever goin' to get loose, so'swe can get home again."

"Now I know why the Kalidah laughed at us," said the girl, "and whyhe said none of the beasts ever came to this island. The horridcreature knew we'd be caught, and wouldn't warn us."

In the meantime, the Kalidah, although pinned fast to the earth byCap'n Bill's stake, was facing the island, and now the ugly expressionwhich passed over its face when it defied and sneered at Cap'n Billand Trot, had changed to one of amusement and curiosity. When it sawthe adventurers had actually reached the island and were standingbeside the Magic Flower, it heaved a breath of satisfaction--a long, deepbreath that swelled its deep chest until the beast could feel the stakethat held him move a little, as if withdrawing itself from the ground.

"Ah ha!" murmured the Kalidah, "a little more of this will set mefree and allow me to escape!"

So he began breathing as hard as he could, puffing out his chest asmuch as possible with each indrawing breath, and by doing this hemanaged to raise the stake with each powerful breath, until at lastthe Kalidah--using the muscles of his four legs as well as his deepbreaths--found itself free of the sandy soil. The stake was stickingright through him, however, so he found a rock deeply set in the bankand pressed the sharp point of the stake upon the surface of this rockuntil he had driven it clear through his body. Then, by getting thestake tangled among some thorny bushes, and wiggling his body, hemanaged to draw it out altogether.

"There!" he exclaimed, "except for those two holes in me, I'm asgood as ever; but I must admit that that old wooden-legged fellowsaved both himself and the girl by making me a prisoner."

Now the Kalidahs, although the most disagreeable creatures in theLand of Oz, were nevertheless magical inhabitants of a magicalFairyland, and in their natures a certain amount of good was mingledwith the evil. This one was not very revengeful, and now that his latefoes were in danger of perishing, his anger against them faded away.

"Our own Kalidah King," he reflected, "has certain magical powers ofhis own. Perhaps he knows how to fill up these two holes in my body."

So without paying any more attention to Trot and Cap'n Bill thanthey were paying to him, he entered the forest and trotted along asecret path that led to the hidden lair of all the Kalidahs.

While the Kalidah was making good its escape Cap'n Bill took hispipe from his pocket and filled it with tobacco and lighted it. Then,as he puffed out the smoke, he tried to think what could be done.

"The Glass Cat seems all right," he said, "an' my wooden leg didn'ttake roots and grow, either. So it's only flesh that gets caught."

"It's magic that does it, Cap'n!"

"I know, Trot, and that's what sticks me. We're livin' in a magic country,but neither of us knows any magic an' so we can't help ourselves."

"Couldn't the Wizard of Oz help us--or Glinda the Good?" asked thelittle girl.

"Ah, now we're beginnin' to reason," he answered. "I'd probablythought o' that, myself, in a minute more. By good luck the Glass Catis free, an' so it can run back to the Emerald City an' tell theWizard about our fix, an' ask him to come an' help us get loose."

"Will you go?" Trot asked the cat, speaking very earnestly.

"I'm no messenger, to be sent here and there," asserted the curiousanimal in a sulky tone of voice.

"Well," said Cap'n Bill, "you've got to go home, anyhow, 'cause youdon't want to stay here, I take it. And, when you get home, itwouldn't worry you much to tell the Wizard what's happened to us."

"That's true," said the cat, sitting on its haunches and lazilywashing its face with one glass paw. "I don't mind telling theWizard--when I get home."

"Won't you go now?" pleaded Trot. "We don't want to stay here anylonger than we can help, and everybody in Oz will be interested inyou, and call you a hero, and say nice things about you because youhelped your friends out of trouble."

That was the best way to manage the Glass Cat, which was so vainthat it loved to be praised.

"I'm going home right away," said the creature, "and I'll tell theWizard to come and help you."

Saying this, it walked down to the water and disappeared under thesurface. Not being able to manage the raft alone, the Glass Catwalked on the bottom of the river as it had done when it visited theisland before, and soon they saw it appear on the farther bank and trotinto the forest, where it was quickly lost to sight among the trees.

Then Trot heaved a deep sigh.

"Cap'n," said she, "we're in a bad fix. There's nothing here toeat, and we can't even lie down to sleep. Unless the Glass Cathurries, and the Wizard hurries, I don't know what's going to becomeof us!"