Then the others came forward and stood near her. The one who had spoken to her said, “Have no fear and all will be well. You must do just as we tell you, and we will soon be there. Now stand up and do just as you see us do.”

Dorothy stood up and as she saw the little people raise their arms and glide through the air, she hesitated a second and then she too lifted her arms, and behold, she found herself floating after them. They passed out through the window, and on, on, up, up, they went. They passed over the city and miles of beautiful country. It was strange to look down and see everything so far below; but the feeling of freedom was wonderful. Dorothy thought how fine it would be always to travel like that, instead of the way people do down on the earth.

The little person near her answered at once and said, “You may always travel just like you are now if you will remember not to be afraid.”

She wondered how he knew what she had been thinking. He told her that in the world she was now in, they could “hear” her thoughts without her speaking out loud, and that soon she would be able to hear them that way. That, in fact, she was now able to do, as they never spoke in the same way the people on earth do. They were now over a beautiful garden, and they told Dorothy that all she had to do was “wish” to descend and she would.

She did wish to be in the garden below, and sure enough she felt herself gradually descending lower and lower until finally she was on the ground. All the little people had come down into the garden too. She wondered if she could do other things by just “wishing,” and decided to try it. She saw a beautiful flower at a distance and wished to be close to it so that she might smell its fragrance. She felt herself rise a little and almost at once she was near it. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The fragrance seemed to fill her whole being, and she felt a thrill of delight. She turned about and found that the others had come along with her, and she wondered what she was to call the little people.

One of them answered her thought and told her to call them “The Brownies.” “Oh Brownies,” she said, “I am so glad that you have brought me to this lovely world, and I am so glad to