Then the mice were unharnessed from the truck and scampered away through the grass to their homes. The Queen of the Mice was the last to leave.
“If ever you need us again,” she said, “come out into the field and call, and we shall hear you and come to your assistance. Good-bye!”
“Good-bye!” they all answered, and away the Queen ran, while Dorothy held Toto tightly lest he should run after her and frighten her.
After this they sat down beside the Lion until he should awaken; and the Scarecrow brought Dorothy some fruit from a tree near by, which she ate for her dinner.
Chapter X The Guardian of the Gate
It was some time before the Cowardly Lion awakened, for he had lain among the poppies a long while, breathing in their deadly fragrance; but when he did open his eyes and roll off the truck he was very glad to find himself still alive.
“I ran as fast as I could,” he said, sitting down and yawning, “but the flowers were too strong for me. How did you get me out?”
Then they told him of the field mice, and how they had generously saved him from death; and the Cowardly Lion laughed, and said:
“I have always thought myself very big and terrible; yet such little things as flowers came near to killing me, and such small animals as mice have saved my life. How strange it all is! But, comrades, what shall we do now?”
“We must journey on until we find the road of yellow brick again,” said Dorothy, “and then we can keep on to the Emerald City.”