Bob put his arm around Snorer's neck, and Nick, clapping his nose on its hook, prepared to fly from this new danger. Dangling from his end of the rope, Notta sighed mournfully to think he had not disguised himself, and the Cowardly Lion, after one look at the stone hand that held them, closed his eyes and began to tremble violently. The Stone Man was about three times the size of an ordinary man and carved out of a huge block of granite. His features, though rough hewn, were not unpleasant and Notta, after a few false starts, ventured a remark.
"It was very kind of you to catch us," faltered the clown.
"It wasn't kindness; it was curiosity," rasped the Stone Man frankly. "I've been watching you fall for some time, and I must say you're the oddest looking creatures I've seen in a stone age."
As he said this, the Stone Man placed them on a flat rock that was on a level with his nose. And as he could not sit down, he leaned up against another rock and regarded them inquisitively.
"Come on up here," he called gruffly to Snorer, "and bring that little fellow with you." Rather reluctantly, Nick flew up with Bob, and the four fallers tried to compose themselves and catch a bit of the breath they had lost on the trip down. The stone eyes of the Stone Man rested longest on the Cowardly Lion. "I like you best," he remarked presently. "You're better made than these others and not so likely to crumble. They look too soft to last long." He poked his stone finger experimentally into Notta's ribs, and only the clown's disguises saved him from serious injury.
"Don't do that," growled the Cowardly Lion sharply.
"What a lovely voice," mused the Stone Man almost to himself. "Tell me, what are you?"
