“Now, little girl,” said the bronze woman, “you may run about and play, while I go for the water.”
Dorothy was very glad to come out of the jar, because her legs were a little cramped. For several minutes she ran about, jumping and skipping to limber them up. At last she stopped and found herself on the bank of a very wide river. There was something that looked like a great black fish on top of the water, and Dorothy going nearer, saw that it was a crocodile. She had a picture of it at home, and papa had told her all about it.
While she was looking, a great many crocodiles, large and small, appeared on the surface of the water, and then came to the bank and sat in a row. Dorothy hid behind a small tree and watched them, and very soon more crocodiles came out of the water. Last of all, a long crocodile appeared, and he took a seat facing all the others.
“Why, it looks just like a school,” said Dorothy to herself, and in a few minutes she saw that it really was a school.
“It seems so funny to see crocodiles at school,” said the little girl, and she crept softly a little nearer. One large crocodile sat apart from the others with a great dunce-cap on his head.
Suddenly the teacher opened a book and said to the first crocodile, “Spell your name.”
“C-r-o-c-k-o-d-i-l-e,” spelled the crocodile who sat in the No. 1 seat.
“Wrong,” said the teacher. “Who can spell it?”
“I can,” said Dorothy, jumping up from her hiding-place. She forgot all about being afraid, and stood before the crocodiles and spelled the word correctly. It was Dorothy’s pet word and she often spelled it for papa.
“That is right,” said the teacher, “and you may stand at the head.”