Glinda
the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the little girl a good-bye kiss,
and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindness she had shown to her friends and
herself.
Dorothy
now took Toto up solemnly in her arms, and having said one last good-bye she
clapped the heels of her shoes together three times, saying:
"Take
me home to Aunt Em!"
Instantly
she was whirling through the air, so swiftly that all she could see or feel was
the wind whistling past her ears.
The
Silver Shoes took but three steps, and then she stopped so suddenly that she
rolled over upon the grass several times before she knew where she was.
At
length, however, she sat up and looked about her.
"Good
gracious!" she cried.
For
she was sitting on the broad Kansas prairie, and just before her was the new
farmhouse Uncle Henry built after the cyclone had carried away the old one.
Uncle Henry was milking the cows in the barnyard, and Toto had jumped out of
her arms and was running toward the barn, barking furiously.
Dorothy
stood up and found she was in her stocking-feet. For the
Silver Shoes had fallen off in her flight through the air, and were lost
forever in the desert.
Aunt
Em had just come out of the house to water the
cabbages when she looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her.
"My
darling child!" she cried, folding the little girl in her arms and
covering her face with kisses. "Where in the world did you come
from?"
"From
the Land of Oz," said Dorothy gravely. "And here is Toto, too. And
oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!"