His nose was broad, and stuck up a little; but his eyes
were twinkling and merry. The little man's hands and arms were as
hard and tough as the leather in his apron, and Dorothy thought Johnny
Dooit looked as if he had done a lot of hard work in his lifetime.
"Good morning, Johnny," said the shaggy man. "Thank you for coming to
me so quickly."
"I never waste time," said the newcomer, promptly. "But what's
happened to you? Where did you get that donkey head? Really,
I wouldn't have known you at all, Shaggy Man, if I hadn't looked
at your feet."
The shaggy man introduced Johnny Dooit to Dorothy and Toto and
Button-Bright and the Rainbow's Daughter, and told him the story of
their adventures, adding that they were anxious now to reach the
Emerald City in the Land of Oz, where Dorothy had friends who would
take care of them and send them safe home again.
"But," said he, "we find that we can't cross this desert, which turns
all living flesh that touches it into dust; so I have asked you to
come and help us."
Johnny Dooit puffed his pipe and looked carefully at the dreadful
desert in front of them--stretching so far away they could not see
its end.
"You must ride," he said, briskly.
"What in?" asked the shaggy man.
"In a sand-boat, which has runners like a sled and sails like a ship.
The wind will blow you swiftly across the desert and the sand cannot
touch your flesh to turn it into dust.
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