2. The Glass City


When Dorothy recovered her senses they were still falling, but not so
fast. The top of the buggy caught the air like a parachute or an
umbrella filled with wind, and held them back so that they floated
downward with a gentle motion that was not so very disagreeable to
bear. The worst thing was their terror of reaching the bottom of this
great crack in the earth, and the natural fear that sudden death was
about to overtake them at any moment. Crash after crash echoed far
above their heads, as the earth came together where it had split, and
stones and chunks of clay rattled around them on every side. These
they could not see, but they could feel them pelting the buggy top,
and Jim screamed almost like a human being when a stone overtook him
and struck his boney body. They did not really hurt the poor horse,
because everything was falling together; only the stones and rubbish
fell faster than the horse and buggy, which were held back by the
pressure of the air, so that the terrified animal was actually more
frightened than he was injured.

How long this state of things continued Dorothy could not even guess,
she was so greatly bewildered. But bye and bye, as she stared ahead
into the black chasm with a beating heart, she began to dimly see the
form of the horse Jim--his head up in the air, his ears erect and his
long legs sprawling in every direction as he tumbled through space.
Also, turning her head, she found that she could see the boy beside
her, who had until now remained as still and silent as she herself.