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asked the Scarecrow.

"You don't need them. You are learning something every day.

A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the

only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth

the more experience you are sure to get."

"That may all be true," said the Scarecrow, "but I shall be

very unhappy unless you give me brains."

The false Wizard looked at him carefully.

"Well," he said with a sigh, "I'm not much of a magician,

as I said; but if you will come to me tomorrow morning, I will

stuff your head with brains. I cannot tell you how to use them,

however; you must find that out for yourself."

"Oh, thank you--thank you!" cried the Scarecrow. "I'll find

a way to use them, never fear!"

"But how about my courage?" asked the Lion anxiously.

"You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need

is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid

when it faces danger. The True courage is in facing danger when you are

afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty."

"Perhaps I have, but I'm scared just the same," said the Lion.

"I shall really be very unhappy unless you give me the sort of

courage that makes one forget he is afraid."

"Very well, I will give you that sort of courage tomorrow,"

replied Oz.

"How about my heart?" asked the Tin Woodman.

"Why, as for that," answered Oz, "I think you are wrong to

want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it,

you are in luck not to have a heart."

"That must be a matter of opinion," said the Tin Woodman.

"For my part, I will bear all the unhappiness without a murmur,

if you will give me the heart."

"Very well," answered Oz meekly. "Come to me tomorrow and you

shall have a heart. I have played Wizard for so many years that I

may as well continue the part a little longer."

"And now," said Dorothy, "how am I to get back to Kansas?"

"We shall have to think about that," replied the little man.

"Give me two or three days to consider the matter and I'll try to

find a way to carry you over the desert. In the meantime you

shall all be treated as my guests, and while you live in the Palace

my people will wait upon you and obey your slightest wish. There is

only one thing I ask in return for my help--such as it is. You must

keep my secret and tell no one I am a humbug."

They agreed to say nothing of what they had learned, and went

back to their rooms in high spirits. Even Dorothy had hope that

"The Great and Terrible Humbug," as she called him, would find a

way to send her back to Kansas, and if he did she was willing to

forgive him everything.

16. The Magic Art of the Great Humbug

Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends:

"Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last.

When I return I shall be as other men are."

"I have always liked you as you were," said Dorothy simply.

"It is kind of you to like a Scarecrow," he replied. "But surely

you will think more of me when you hear the splendid thoughts my new

brain is going to turn out." Then he said good-bye to them all in a

cheerful voice and went to the Throne Room, where he rapped upon the door.

"Come in," said Oz.

The Scarecrow went in and found the little man sitting down by

the window, engaged in deep thought.

"I have come for my brains," remarked the Scarecrow, a little uneasily.

"Oh, yes; sit down in that chair, please," replied Oz. "You must

excuse me for taking your head off, but I shall have to do it in order

to put your brains in their proper place."

"That's all right," said the Scarecrow. "You are quite welcome to take

my head off, as long as it will be a better one when you put it on again."

So the Wizard unfastened his head and emptied out the straw.

Then he entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which

he mixed with a great many pins and needles. Having shaken them

together thoroughly, he filled the top of the Scarecrow's head with

the mixture and stuffed the rest of the space with straw, to hold

it in place.

When he had fastened the Scarecrow's head on his body again he

said to him, "Hereafter you will be a great man, for I have given

you a lot of bran-new brains."

The Scarecrow was both pleased and proud at the fulfillment of

his greatest wish, and having thanked Oz warmly he went back to

his friends.

Dorothy looked at him curiously. His head was quite bulged

out at the top with brains.

"How do you feel?"