ground.Afterward Dorothy found that these odd wheels were of the same hard substance that 
our finger-nails and toe-nails are composed of, and she also learned that creatures of 
this strange race were born in this queer fashion.But when our little girl first caught 
sight of the first individual of a race that was destined to cause her a lot of trouble, 
she had an idea that the brilliantly-clothed personage was on roller-skates, which were 
attached to his hands as well as to his feet.
    "Run!" screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in great fright. "It's a Wheeler!"
    "A Wheeler?" exclaimed Dorothy."What can that be?"
    "Don't you remember the warning in the sand: 'Beware the Wheelers'? Run, I tell 
you-run!"
    So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came after her in full 
chase.
    Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great procession of Wheelers 
emerging from the forest-dozens and dozens of them-all clad in splendid, tight-fitting 
garments and all rolling swiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange cries.
    "They're sure to catch us!" panted the girl, who was still carrying the heavy 
dinner-pail she had picked."I can't run much farther, Billina."
    "Climb up this hill,-quick!" said the hen; and Dorothy found she was very near to the 
heap of loose and jagged rocks they had passed on their way to the forest.The yellow hen 
was even now fluttering among the rocks, and Dorothy followed as best she could, half 
climbing and half tumbling up the rough and rugged steep.
    She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill a moment after her; 
but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the creature stopped short with howls of rage 
and disappointment.
    Dorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling, henny way.
    "Don't hurry, my dear," cried Billina."They can't follow us among these rocks, so 
we're safe enough now."
    Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for she was all out of 
breath.
    The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, but it was evident 
that their wheels would not roll upon the rough and jagged rocks, and therefore they were 
helpless to follow Dorothy and the hen to where they had taken refuge.But they circled 
all around the little hill, so the child and Billina were fast prisoners and could not 
come down without being captured.
    Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a threatening manner, and 
it seemed they were able to speak as well as to make their dreadful outcries, for several 
of them shouted:
    "We'll get you in time, never fear!And when we do get you, we'll tear you into little 
bits!"
    "Why are you so cruel to me?" asked Dorothy."I'm a stranger in your country, and have 
done you no harm."
    "No harm!" cried one who seemed to be their leader."Did you not pick our lunch-boxes 
and dinner-pails?Have you not a stolen dinner-pail still in your hand?"
    "I only picked one of each," she answered."I was hungry, and I didn't know the trees 
were yours."
    "That is no excuse," retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most gorgeous suit."It 
is the law here that whoever picks a dinner-pail without our permission must die 
immediately."
    "Don't you believe him," said Billina."I'm sure the trees do not belong to these 
awful creatures.They are fit for any mischief, and it's my opinion they would try to kill 
us just the same if you hadn't picked a dinner-pail."
    "I think so, too," agreed Dorothy."But what shall we do now?"
    "Stay where we are," advised the yellow hen."We are safe from the Wheelers until we 
starve to death, anyhow; and before that time comes a good many things can happen."
    
    4.Tiktok the Machine Man
    
    After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back into the forest, leaving 
only three of their number to guard the hill.These curled themselves up like big dogs and 
pretended to go to sleep on the sands; but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled by 
this trick, so they remained in security among the rocks and paid no attention to their 
cunning enemies.
    Finally the hen, fluttering over the mound, exclaimed: "Why, here's a path!"
    So Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there, sure enough, was a 
smooth path cut between the rocks.It seemed to wind around the mound from top to bottom, 
like a cork-screw, twisting here and there between the rough boulders but always 
remaining level and easy to walk upon.
    Indeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll up this path; but 
when she followed it to the foot of the mound she found that several big pieces of rock 
had been placed directly across the end of the way, thus preventing any one outside from 
seeing it and also preventing the Wheelers from using it to climb up the mound.
    Then Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she came to the very top 
of the hill, where a solitary round rock stood that was bigger than any of the others 
surrounding it.The path came to an end just beside this great rock, and for a moment it 
puzzled the girl to know why the path had been made at all.But the hen, who had been 
gravely following her around and was now perched upon a point of rock behind Dorothy, 
suddenly remarked:
    "It looks something like a door, doesn't it?"
    "What looks like a door?" enquired the child.
    "Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you," replied Billina, whose little round 
eyes were very sharp and seemed to see everything."It runs up one side and down the 
other, and across the top and the bottom."
    "What does?"
    "Why, the crack.So I think it must be a door of rock, although I do not see any 
hinges."
    "Oh, yes," said Dorothy, now observing for the first time the crack in the rock."And 
isn't this a key-hole, Billina?" pointing to a round, deep hole at one side of the door.
    "Of course.If we only had the key, now, we could unlock it and see what is there," 
replied the yellow hen."May be it's a treasure chamber full of diamonds and rubies, or 
heaps of shining gold, or--"
    "That reminds me," said Dorothy, "of the golden key I picked up on the shore.Do you 
think that it would fit this key-hole, Billina?"
    "Try it and see," suggested the hen.
    So Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the golden key.
    And when she had put it into the hole of the rock, and turned it, a sudden sharp snap 
was heard; then, with a solemn creak that made the shivers run down the child's back, the 
face of the rock fell outward, like a door on hinges, and revealed a small dark chamber 
just inside.
    "Good gracious!" cried Dorothy, shrinking back as far as the narrow path would let 
her.