WOZ-C01-S000 Chapter I The Cyclone
WOZ-C01-S001 Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife.
WOZ-C01-S002 Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.
WOZ-C01-S003 There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
WOZ-C01-S004 Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.
WOZ-C01-S005 There was no garret at all, and no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.
WOZ-C01-S006 It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
WOZ-C01-S007 When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.
WOZ-C01-S008 Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.
WOZ-C01-S009 The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.
WOZ-C01-S010 Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere.
WOZ-C01-S011 Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.
WOZ-C01-S012 When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife.
WOZ-C01-S013 The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also.
WOZ-C01-S014 She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.
WOZ-C01-S015 When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.
WOZ-C01-S016 Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was.
WOZ-C01-S017 He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.
WOZ-C01-S018 It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings.
WOZ-C01-S019 Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.
WOZ-C01-S020 Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly. Today, however, they were not playing.
WOZ-C01-S021 Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual.
WOZ-C01-S022 Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too.
WOZ-C01-S023 Aunt Em was washing the dishes. From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm.
WOZ-C01-S024 There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.
WOZ-C01-S025 Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up. “There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife. “I’ll go look after the stock.”
WOZ-C01-S026 Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.
WOZ-C01-S027 Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.
WOZ-C01-S028 “Quick, Dorothy!” she screamed. “Run for the cellar!”
WOZ-C01-S029 Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him.
WOZ-C01-S030 Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.
WOZ-C01-S031 Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
WOZ-C01-S032 When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
WOZ-C01-S033 Then a strange thing happened. The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.
WOZ-C01-S034 Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
WOZ-C01-S035 The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.
WOZ-C01-S036 In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
WOZ-C01-S037 It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily.
WOZ-C01-S038 After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
WOZ-C01-S039 Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.
WOZ-C01-S040 Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him.
WOZ-C01-S041 But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall.
WOZ-C01-S042 She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.
WOZ-C01-S043 Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf.
WOZ-C01-S044 At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring.
WOZ-C01-S045 At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.
WOZ-C01-S046 In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.