3. Letters in the Sand


Walking a little way back from the water's edge, toward the grove of
trees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of white sand that seemed to
have queer signs marked upon its surface, just as one would write upon
sand with a stick.

"What does it say?" she asked the yellow hen, who trotted along beside
her in a rather dignified fashion.

"How should I know?" returned the hen. "I cannot read."

"Oh! Can't you?"

"Certainly not; I've never been to school, you know."

"Well, I have," admitted Dorothy; "but the letters are big and far
apart, and it's hard to spell out the words."

But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered that
these words were written in the sand:


"BEWARE THE WHEELERS!"


"That's rather strange," declared the hen, when Dorothy had read aloud
the words. "What do you suppose the Wheelers are?"