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Dorothy was an innocent,

harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home;

and she had never killed anything in all her life.

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said,

with hesitation, "You are very kind, but there must be some mistake.

I have not killed anything."

"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a

laugh, "and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing

to the corner of the house. "There are her two feet, still sticking

out from under a block of wood."

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed,

just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet

were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together

in dismay. "The house must have fallen on her. Whatever shall we do?"

"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman calmly.

"But who was she?" asked Dorothy.

"She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered

the little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for

many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are

all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."

"Who are the Munchkins?" inquired Dorothy.

"They are the people who live in this land of the East

where the Wicked Witch ruled."

"Are you a Munchkin?" asked Dorothy.

"No, but I am their friend, although I live in the land of the

North. When they saw the Witch of the East was dead the Munchkins

sent a swift messenger to me, and I came at once. I am the Witch

of the North."

"Oh, gracious!" cried Dorothy. "Are you a real witch?"

"Yes, indeed," answered the little woman. "But I am a good witch,

and the people love me. I am not as powerful as the Wicked Witch was

who ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself."

"But I thought all witches were wicked," said the girl, who

was half frightened at facing a real witch. "Oh, no, that is a

great mistake. There were only four witches in all the Land of

Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South,

are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them

myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and

the West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have

killed one of them, there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land

of Oz--the one who lives in the West."

"But," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "Aunt Em has

told me that the witches were all dead--years and years ago."

"Who is Aunt Em?" inquired the little old woman.

"She is my aunt who lives in Kansas, where I came from."

The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her

head bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and

said, "I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that

country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?"

"Oh, yes," replied Dorothy.

"Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I

believe there are no witches left, nor wizards, nor sorceresses,

nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been

civilized, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world.

Therefore we still have witches and wizards amongst us."

"Who are the wizards?" asked Dorothy.

"Oz himself is the Great Wizard," answered the Witch, sinking

her voice to a whisper. "He is more powerful than all the rest of

us together. He lives in the City of Emeralds."

Dorothy was going to ask another question, but just then the

Munchkins, who had been standing silently by, gave a loud shout and

pointed to the corner of the house where the Wicked Witch had been lying.

"What is it?"