Like a flash Nick darted down and set Bob on a huge bowlder. Then, with wings spread, he flew up and down, intending, if possible, to break Notta's fall with his own feathery body. But Notta and the Cowardly Lion never did finish their fall--for as they whizzed past a tall, craggy rock, jutting out from the side of a mountain, a stone arm reached out and miraculously caught the rope that held them together. "Scrags and scrivets! What kind of birds are these?" cried a grating voice, and down from the ledge stepped a roughly hewn man of stone. Swinging Notta and the Cowardly Lion easily in one hand, he came crunching toward Nick and Bob. Chapter 17 The Stone Man of Oz 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?" "I'm a Cowardly Lion," roared the big beast huskily, "so don't frighten me, for if you do I'll pound you to pebbles." "I don't believe he could do it," creaked the Stone Man, turning to Notta. "Do you?" "Well, he's a terrible fighter," admitted the clown, with a reassuring wink at Bob, "but let's not talk of such disagreeable things. Since you were kind enough to catch us perhaps you will tell us who you are." "Crunch is my name," answered the Stone Man, picking up a rock and crumbling it to powder in his hand.