noon
When the four travelers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming , and so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her . It was much harder to find their way back through the big fields of buttercups and yellow daisies than it was being carried . They knew , of course , they must go straight east , toward the rising sun ; and they started off in the right way . But at noon , when the sun was over their heads , they did not know which was east and which was west , and that was the reason they were lost in the great fields . They kept on walking , however , and at night the moon came out and shone brightly . So they lay down among the sweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly until morning -- all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman . The next morning the sun was behind a cloud , but they started on , as if they were quite sure which way they were going .