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diff --git a/old/ozmoz10h.htm b/old/ozmoz10h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index d9a2434..0000000 --- a/old/ozmoz10h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4416 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<head> -<meta name="generator" content= -"HTML Tidy for Mac OS X (vers 1st December 2004), see www.w3.org" /> -<meta http-equiv="content-type" content= -"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> -<title>Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.</title> - -<style type="text/css"> -/*<![CDATA[*/ - <!-- - body {font-family:Georgia,serif;margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} - p {text-align: justify;} - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;font-variant:small-caps;} - pre {font-family:Courier,monospaced;font-size: 0.8em;} - hr {width: 50%;} - hr.full {width: 100%;} - hr.short {width:25%;} - h2 {padding-top:1.5em;} - ol {margin-left:10%;font-variant:small-caps;} - .returnTOC {text-align:right;font-size:.7em;} - .cen {text-align:center;} - .rgt {text-align:right;} - .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} - a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} - a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} - a:hover {color:red} - --> -/*]]>*/ -</style> -</head> -<body> -<pre> -**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum** -#6 in our L. Frank Baum series -#5 in the Oz series - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check -the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! - -Please take a look at the important information in this header. -We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an -electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* - -Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and -further information is included below. We need your donations. - - -Ozma of Oz - -by L. Frank Baum - -April, 1996 [Etext #486] - - -**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum** -*****This file should be named ozmoz10.txt or ozmoz10.zip****** - -Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, ozmoz11.txt. -VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ozmoz10a.txt. - - -This etext was created by John N White, and was proofed by -Dennis Amundson, Fargo, North Dakota. Etext was scanned in -from an unabridged edition of the text. - - -</pre> -<h1>Ozma of Oz</h1> -<h3>A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of<br /> -Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin<br /> -Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and<br /> -the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good<br /> -People too Numerous to Mention<br /> -Faithfully Recorded Herein</h3> -<h2>by L. Frank Baum</h2> -<h4>The Author of The Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, etc.</h4> -<hr /> -<h2><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a>Contents</h2> -<ol start="0"> -<li style="list-style-type: none;"><a href= -"#AuthorNote">—Author’s Note—</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_1">The Girl in the Chicken Coop</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_2">The Yellow Hen</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_3">Letters in the Sand</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_4">Tiktok, the Machine Man</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_5">Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_6">The Heads of Langwidere</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_7">Ozma of Oz to the Rescue</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_8">The Hungry Tiger</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_9">The Royal Family of Ev</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_10">The Giant with the Hammer</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_11">The Nome King</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_12">The Eleven Guesses</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_13">The Nome King Laughs</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_14">Dorothy Tries to be Brave</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_15">Billina Frightens the Nome King</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_16">Purple, Green and Gold</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_17">The Scarecrow Wins the Fight</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_18">The Fate of the Tin Woodman</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_19">The King of Ev</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_20">The Emerald City</a></li> -<li><a href="#Ch_21">Dorothy’s Magic Belt</a></li> -</ol> -<hr /> -<h2><a id="AuthorNote" name="AuthorNote"></a>Author’s -Note</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>My friends the children are responsible for this new “Oz -Book,” as they were for the last one, which was called The -Land of Oz. Their sweet little letters plead to know “more -about Dorothy”; and they ask: “What became of the -Cowardly Lion?” and “What did Ozma do -afterward?”—meaning, of course, after she became the -Ruler of Oz. And some of them suggest plots to me, saying: -“Please have Dorothy go to the Land of Oz again”; or, -“Why don’t you make Ozma and Dorothy meet, and have a -good time together?” Indeed, could I do all that my little -friends ask, I would be obliged to write dozens of books to satisfy -their demands. And I wish I could, for I enjoy writing these -stories just as much as the children say they enjoy reading -them.</p> -<p>Well, here is “more about Dorothy,” and about our -old friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and about the -Cowardly Lion, and Ozma, and all the rest of them; and here, -likewise, is a good deal about some new folks that are queer and -unusual. One little friend, who read this story before it was -printed, said to me: “Billina is REAL OZZY, Mr. Baum, and so -are Tiktok and the Hungry Tiger.”</p> -<p>If this judgment is unbiased and correct, and the little folks -find this new story “real Ozzy,” I shall be very glad -indeed that I wrote it. But perhaps I shall get some more of those -very welcome letters from my readers, telling me just how they like -“Ozma of Oz.” I hope so, anyway.</p> -<p class="rgt">L. FRANK BAUM.<br /> -MACATAWA, 1907.</p> -<hr /> -<h2><a id="Ch_1" name="Ch_1"></a>1. The Girl in the Chicken -Coop</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending -ripples across its surface. Then the wind pushed the edges of the -ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until -they became billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher -even than the tops of houses. Some of them, indeed, rolled as high -as the tops of tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs -between the great billows were like deep valleys.</p> -<p>All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big -ocean, which the mischievous wind caused without any good reason -whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is -liable to cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage.</p> -<p>At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out -upon the waters. When the waves began to tumble and toss and to -grow bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped -sidewise—first one way and then the other—and was -jostled around so roughly that even the sailor-men had to hold fast -to the ropes and railings to keep themselves from being swept away -by the wind or pitched headlong into the sea.</p> -<p>And the clouds were so thick in the sky that the sunlight -couldn’t get through them; so that the day grew dark as -night, which added to the terrors of the storm.</p> -<p>The Captain of the ship was not afraid, because he had seen -storms before, and had sailed his ship through them in safety; but -he knew that his passengers would be in danger if they tried to -stay on deck, so he put them all into the cabin and told them to -stay there until after the storm was over, and to keep brave hearts -and not be scared, and all would be well with them.</p> -<p>Now, among these passengers was a little Kansas girl named -Dorothy Gale, who was going with her Uncle Henry to Australia, to -visit some relatives they had never before seen. Uncle Henry, you -must know, was not very well, because he had been working so hard -on his Kansas farm that his health had given way and left him weak -and nervous. So he left Aunt Em at home to watch after the hired -men and to take care of the farm, while he traveled far away to -Australia to visit his cousins and have a good rest.</p> -<p>Dorothy was eager to go with him on this journey, and Uncle -Henry thought she would be good company and help cheer him up; so -he decided to take her along. The little girl was quite an -experienced traveller, for she had once been carried by a cyclone -as far away from home as the marvelous Land of Oz, and she had met -with a good many adventures in that strange country before she -managed to get back to Kansas again. So she wasn’t easily -frightened, whatever happened, and when the wind began to howl and -whistle, and the waves began to tumble and toss, our little girl -didn’t mind the uproar the least bit.</p> -<p>“Of course we’ll have to stay in the cabin,” -she said to Uncle Henry and the other passengers, “and keep -as quiet as possible until the storm is over. For the Captain says -if we go on deck we may be blown overboard.”</p> -<p>No one wanted to risk such an accident as that, you may be sure; -so all the passengers stayed huddled up in the dark cabin, -listening to the shrieking of the storm and the creaking of the -masts and rigging and trying to keep from bumping into one another -when the ship tipped sidewise.</p> -<p>Dorothy had almost fallen asleep when she was aroused with a -start to find that Uncle Henry was missing. She couldn’t -imagine where he had gone, and as he was not very strong she began -to worry about him, and to fear he might have been careless enough -to go on deck. In that case he would be in great danger unless he -instantly came down again.</p> -<p>The fact was that Uncle Henry had gone to lie down in his little -sleeping-berth, but Dorothy did not know that. She only remembered -that Aunt Em had cautioned her to take good care of her uncle, so -at once she decided to go on deck and find him, in spite of the -fact that the tempest was now worse than ever, and the ship was -plunging in a really dreadful manner. Indeed, the little girl found -it was as much as she could do to mount the stairs to the deck, and -as soon as she got there the wind struck her so fiercely that it -almost tore away the skirts of her dress. Yet Dorothy felt a sort -of joyous excitement in defying the storm, and while she held fast -to the railing she peered around through the gloom and thought she -saw the dim form of a man clinging to a mast not far away from her. -This might be her uncle, so she called as loudly as she could:</p> -<p>“Uncle Henry! Uncle Henry!”</p> -<p>But the wind screeched and howled so madly that she scarce heard -her own voice, and the man certainly failed to hear her, for he did -not move.</p> -<p>Dorothy decided she must go to him; so she made a dash forward, -during a lull in the storm, to where a big square chicken-coop had -been lashed to the deck with ropes. She reached this place in -safety, but no sooner had she seized fast hold of the slats of the -big box in which the chickens were kept than the wind, as if -enraged because the little girl dared to resist its power, suddenly -redoubled its fury. With a scream like that of an angry giant it -tore away the ropes that held the coop and lifted it high into the -air, with Dorothy still clinging to the slats. Around and over it -whirled, this way and that, and a few moments later the -chicken-coop dropped far away into the sea, where the big waves -caught it and slid it up-hill to a foaming crest and then down-hill -into a deep valley, as if it were nothing more than a plaything to -keep them amused.</p> -<p>Dorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she -didn’t lose her presence of mind even for a second. She kept -tight hold of the stout slats and as soon as she could get the -water out of her eyes she saw that the wind had ripped the cover -from the coop, and the poor chickens were fluttering away in every -direction, being blown by the wind until they looked like feather -dusters without handles. The bottom of the coop was made of thick -boards, so Dorothy found she was clinging to a sort of raft, with -sides of slats, which readily bore up her weight. After coughing -the water out of her throat and getting her breath again, she -managed to climb over the slats and stand upon the firm wooden -bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.</p> -<p>“Why, I’ve got a ship of my own!” she thought, -more amused than frightened at her sudden change of condition; and -then, as the coop climbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked -eagerly around for the ship from which she had been blown.</p> -<p>It was far, far away, by this time. Perhaps no one on board had -yet missed her, or knew of her strange adventure. Down into a -valley between the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed -another crest the ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long -way off. Soon it had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and then -Dorothy gave a sigh of regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began -to wonder what was going to happen to her next.</p> -<p>Just now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with -nothing to keep her afloat but a miserable wooden hen-coop that had -a plank bottom and slatted sides, through which the water -constantly splashed and wetted her through to the skin! And there -was nothing to eat when she became hungry—as she was sure to -do before long—and no fresh water to drink and no dry clothes -to put on.</p> -<p>“Well, I declare!” she exclaimed, with a laugh. -“You’re in a pretty fix, Dorothy Gale, I can tell you! -and I haven’t the least idea how you’re going to get -out of it!”</p> -<p>As if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and -the gray clouds overhead changed to inky blackness. But the wind, -as if satisfied at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped -blowing this ocean and hurried away to another part of the world to -blow something else; so that the waves, not being joggled any more, -began to quiet down and behave themselves.</p> -<p>It was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided; -otherwise, brave though she was, I fear she might have perished. -Many children, in her place, would have wept and given way to -despair; but because Dorothy had encountered so many adventures and -come safely through them it did not occur to her at this time to be -especially afraid. She was wet and uncomfortable, it is true; but, -after sighing that one sigh I told you of, she managed to recall -some of her customary cheerfulness and decided to patiently await -whatever her fate might be.</p> -<p>By and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky -overhead, with a silver moon shining sweetly in the middle of it -and little stars winking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their -way. The coop did not toss around any more, but rode the waves more -gently—almost like a cradle rocking—so that the floor -upon which Dorothy stood was no longer swept by water coming -through the slats. Seeing this, and being quite exhausted by the -excitement of the past few hours, the little girl decided that -sleep would be the best thing to restore her strength and the -easiest way in which she could pass the time. The floor was damp -and she was herself wringing wet, but fortunately this was a warm -climate and she did not feel at all cold.</p> -<p>So she sat down in a corner of the coop, leaned her back against -the slats, nodded at the friendly stars before she closed her eyes, -and was asleep in half a minute.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_2" name="Ch_2"></a>2. The Yellow Hen</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>A strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that -day had dawned and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky. She -had been dreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in -the old barn-yard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around -her; and at first, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she -really imagined she was there.</p> -<p>“Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut! Kut-kut-kut, -ka-daw-kut!”</p> -<p>Ah; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her. -Surely it was a hen cackling! But her wide-open eyes first saw, -through the slats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now -calm and placid, and her thoughts flew back to the past night, so -full of danger and discomfort. Also she began to remember that she -was a waif of the storm, adrift upon a treacherous and unknown -sea.</p> -<p>“Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-w-w—kut!”</p> -<p>“What’s that?” cried Dorothy, starting to her -feet.</p> -<p>“Why, I’ve just laid an egg, that’s -all,” replied a small, but sharp and distinct voice, and -looking around her the little girl discovered a yellow hen -squatting in the opposite corner of the coop.</p> -<p>“Dear me!” she exclaimed, in surprise; “have -YOU been here all night, too?”</p> -<p>“Of course,” answered the hen, fluttering her wings -and yawning. “When the coop blew away from the ship I clung -fast to this corner, with claws and beak, for I knew if I fell into -the water I’d surely be drowned. Indeed, I nearly drowned, as -it was, with all that water washing over me. I never was so wet -before in my life!”</p> -<p>“Yes,” agreed Dorothy, “it was pretty wet, for -a time, I know. But do you feel comfor’ble now?”</p> -<p>“Not very. The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it -has your dress, and I feel better since I laid my morning egg. But -what’s to become of us, I should like to know, afloat on this -big pond?”</p> -<p>“I’d like to know that, too,” said Dorothy. -“But, tell me; how does it happen that you are able to talk? -I thought hens could only cluck and cackle.”</p> -<p>“Why, as for that,” answered the yellow hen -thoughtfully, “I’ve clucked and cackled all my life, -and never spoken a word before this morning, that I can remember. -But when you asked a question, a minute ago, it seemed the most -natural thing in the world to answer you. So I spoke, and I seem to -keep on speaking, just as you and other human beings do. Strange, -isn’t it?”</p> -<p>“Very,” replied Dorothy. “If we were in the -Land of Oz, I wouldn’t think it so queer, because many of the -animals can talk in that fairy country. But out here in the ocean -must be a good long way from Oz.”</p> -<p>“How is my grammar?” asked the yellow hen, -anxiously. “Do I speak quite properly, in your -judgment?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” said Dorothy, “you do very well, for a -beginner.”</p> -<p>“I’m glad to know that,” continued the yellow -hen, in a confidential tone; “because, if one is going to -talk, it’s best to talk correctly. The red rooster has often -said that my cluck and my cackle were quite perfect; and now -it’s a comfort to know I am talking properly.”</p> -<p>“I’m beginning to get hungry,” remarked -Dorothy. “It’s breakfast time; but there’s no -breakfast.”</p> -<p>“You may have my egg,” said the yellow hen. “I -don’t care for it, you know.”</p> -<p>“Don’t you want to hatch it?” asked the little -girl, in surprise.</p> -<p>“No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I’ve -a nice snug nest, in some quiet place, with a baker’s dozen -of eggs under me. That’s thirteen, you know, and it’s a -lucky number for hens. So you may as well eat this egg.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I couldn’t POSS’BLY eat it, unless it was -cooked,” exclaimed Dorothy. “But I’m much obliged -for your kindness, just the same.”</p> -<p>“Don’t mention it, my dear,” answered the hen, -calmly, and began preening her feathers.</p> -<p>For a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea. She -was still thinking of the egg, though; so presently she asked:</p> -<p>“Why do you lay eggs, when you don’t expect to hatch -them?”</p> -<p>“It’s a habit I have,” replied the yellow hen. -“It has always been my pride to lay a fresh egg every -morning, except when I’m moulting. I never feel like having -my morning cackle till the egg is properly laid, and without the -chance to cackle I would not be happy.”</p> -<p>“It’s strange,” said the girl, reflectively; -“but as I’m not a hen I can’t be ’spected -to understand that.”</p> -<p>“Certainly not, my dear.”</p> -<p>Then Dorothy fell silent again. The yellow hen was some company, -and a bit of comfort, too; but it was dreadfully lonely out on the -big ocean, nevertheless.</p> -<p>After a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat -of the coop, which was a little above Dorothy’s head when she -was sitting upon the bottom, as she had been doing for some moments -past.</p> -<p>“Why, we are not far from land!” exclaimed the -hen.</p> -<p>“Where? Where is it?” cried Dorothy, jumping up in -great excitement.</p> -<p>“Over there a little way,” answered the hen, nodding -her head in a certain direction. “We seem to be drifting -toward it, so that before noon we ought to find ourselves upon dry -land again.”</p> -<p>“I shall like that!” said Dorothy, with a little -sigh, for her feet and legs were still wetted now and then by the -sea-water that came through the open slats.</p> -<p>“So shall I,” answered her companion. “There -is nothing in the world so miserable as a wet hen.”</p> -<p>The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it -grew more distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by -the little girl in the floating hen-coop. Next to the water was a -broad beach of white sand and gravel, and farther back were several -rocky hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees -that marked the edge of a forest. But there were no houses to be -seen, nor any sign of people who might inhabit this unknown -land.</p> -<p>“I hope we shall find something to eat,” said -Dorothy, looking eagerly at the pretty beach toward which they -drifted. “It’s long past breakfast time, -now.”</p> -<p>“I’m a trifle hungry, myself,” declared the -yellow hen.</p> -<p>“Why don’t you eat the egg?” asked the child. -“You don’t need to have your food cooked, as I -do.”</p> -<p>“Do you take me for a cannibal?” cried the hen, -indignantly. “I do not know what I have said or done that -leads you to insult me!”</p> -<p>“I beg your pardon, I’m sure -Mrs.—Mrs.—by the way, may I inquire your name, -ma’am?” asked the little girl.</p> -<p>“My name is Bill,” said the yellow hen, somewhat -gruffly.</p> -<p>“Bill! Why, that’s a boy’s name.”</p> -<p>“What difference does that make?”</p> -<p>“You’re a lady hen, aren’t you?”</p> -<p>“Of course. But when I was first hatched out no one could -tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little -boy at the farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of -me because I was the only yellow chicken in the whole brood. When I -grew up, and he found that I didn’t crow and fight, as all -the roosters do, he did not think to change my name, and every -creature in the barn-yard, as well as the people in the house, knew -me as ‘Bill.’ So Bill I’ve always been called, -and Bill is my name.”</p> -<p>“But it’s all wrong, you know,” declared -Dorothy, earnestly; “and, if you don’t mind, I shall -call you ‘Billina.’ Putting the ‘eena’ on -the end makes it a girl’s name, you see.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I don’t mind it in the least,” returned -the yellow hen. “It doesn’t matter at all what you call -me, so long as I know the name means ME.”</p> -<p>“Very well, Billina. MY name is Dorothy Gale—just -Dorothy to my friends and Miss Gale to strangers. You may call me -Dorothy, if you like. We’re getting very near the shore. Do -you suppose it is too deep for me to wade the rest of the -way?”</p> -<p>“Wait a few minutes longer. The sunshine is warm and -pleasant, and we are in no hurry.”</p> -<p>“But my feet are all wet and soggy,” said the girl. -“My dress is dry enough, but I won’t feel real -comfor’ble till I get my feet dried.”</p> -<p>She waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big -wooden coop grated gently on the sandy beach and the dangerous -voyage was over.</p> -<p>It did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may -be sure. The yellow hen flew to the sands at once, but Dorothy had -to climb over the high slats. Still, for a country girl, that was -not much of a feat, and as soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew -off her wet shoes and stockings and spread them upon the sun-warmed -beach to dry.</p> -<p>Then she sat down and watched Billina, who was pick-pecking away -with her sharp bill in the sand and gravel, which she scratched up -and turned over with her strong claws.</p> -<p>“What are you doing?” asked Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Getting my breakfast, of course,” murmured the hen, -busily pecking away.</p> -<p>“What do you find?” inquired the girl, -curiously.</p> -<p>“Oh, some fat red ants, and some sand-bugs, and once in a -while a tiny crab. They are very sweet and nice, I assure -you.”</p> -<p>“How dreadful!” exclaimed Dorothy, in a shocked -voice.</p> -<p>“What is dreadful?” asked the hen, lifting her head -to gaze with one bright eye at her companion.</p> -<p>“Why, eating live things, and horrid bugs, and crawly -ants. You ought to be ’SHAMED of yourself!”</p> -<p>“Goodness me!” returned the hen, in a puzzled tone; -“how queer you are, Dorothy! Live things are much fresher and -more wholesome than dead ones, and you humans eat all sorts of dead -creatures.”</p> -<p>“We don’t!” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“You do, indeed,” answered Billina. “You eat -lambs and sheep and cows and pigs and even chickens.”</p> -<p>“But we cook ’em,” said Dorothy, -triumphantly.</p> -<p>“What difference does that make?”</p> -<p>“A good deal,” said the girl, in a graver tone. -“I can’t just ’splain the diff’rence, but -it’s there. And, anyhow, we never eat such dreadful things as -BUGS.”</p> -<p>“But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs,” -retorted the yellow hen, with an odd cackle. “So you are just -as bad as we chickens are.”</p> -<p>This made Dorothy thoughtful. What Billina said was true enough, -and it almost took away her appetite for breakfast. As for the -yellow hen, she continued to peck away at the sand busily, and -seemed quite contented with her bill-of-fare.</p> -<p>Finally, down near the water’s edge, Billina stuck her -bill deep into the sand, and then drew back and shivered.</p> -<p>“Ow!” she cried. “I struck metal, that time, -and it nearly broke my beak.”</p> -<p>“It prob’bly was a rock,” said Dorothy, -carelessly.</p> -<p>“Nonsense. I know a rock from metal, I guess,” said -the hen. “There’s a different feel to it.”</p> -<p>“But there couldn’t be any metal on this wild, -deserted seashore,” persisted the girl. “Where’s -the place? I’ll dig it up, and prove to you I’m -right,”</p> -<p>Billina showed her the place where she had “stubbed her -bill,” as she expressed it, and Dorothy dug away the sand -until she felt something hard. Then, thrusting in her hand, she -pulled the thing out, and discovered it to be a large sized golden -key—rather old, but still bright and of perfect shape.</p> -<p>“What did I tell you?” cried the hen, with a cackle -of triumph. “Can I tell metal when I bump into it, or is the -thing a rock?”</p> -<p>“It’s metal, sure enough,” answered the child, -gazing thoughtfully at the curious thing she had found. “I -think it is pure gold, and it must have lain hidden in the sand for -a long time. How do you suppose it came there, Billina? And what do -you suppose this mysterious key unlocks?”</p> -<p>“I can’t say,” replied the hen. “You -ought to know more about locks and keys than I do.”</p> -<p>Dorothy glanced around. There was no sign of any house in that -part of the country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a -lock and every lock must have a purpose. Perhaps the key had been -lost by somebody who lived far away, but had wandered on this very -shore.</p> -<p>Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her -dress and then slowly drew on her shoes and stockings, which the -sun had fully dried.</p> -<p>“I b’lieve, Billina,” she said, -“I’ll have a look ’round, and see if I can find -some breakfast.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_3" name="Ch_3"></a>3. Letters in the Sand</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Walking a little way back from the water’s edge, toward -the grove of trees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of white sand -that seemed to have queer signs marked upon its surface, just as -one would write upon sand with a stick.</p> -<p>“What does it say?” she asked the yellow hen, who -trotted along beside her in a rather dignified fashion.</p> -<p>“How should I know?” returned the hen. “I -cannot read.”</p> -<p>“Oh! Can’t you?”</p> -<p>“Certainly not; I’ve never been to school, you -know.”</p> -<p>“Well, I have,” admitted Dorothy; “but the -letters are big and far apart, and it’s hard to spell out the -words.”</p> -<p>But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered -that these words were written in the sand:</p> -<p class="cen">“BEWARE THE WHEELERS!”</p> -<p>“That’s rather strange,” declared the hen, -when Dorothy had read aloud the words. “What do you suppose -the Wheelers are?”</p> -<p>“Folks that wheel, I guess. They must have wheelbarrows, -or baby-cabs or hand-carts,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Perhaps they’re automobiles,” suggested the -yellow hen. “There is no need to beware of baby-cabs and -wheelbarrows; but automobiles are dangerous things. Several of my -friends have been run over by them.”</p> -<p>“It can’t be auto’biles,” replied the -girl, “for this is a new, wild country, without even -trolley-cars or tel’phones. The people here haven’t -been discovered yet, I’m sure; that is, if there ARE any -people. So I don’t b’lieve there CAN be any -auto’biles, Billina.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps not,” admitted the yellow hen. “Where -are you going now?”</p> -<p>“Over to those trees, to see if I can find some fruit or -nuts,” answered Dorothy.</p> -<p>She tramped across the sand, skirting the foot of one of the -little rocky hills that stood near, and soon reached the edge of -the forest.</p> -<p>At first she was greatly disappointed, because the nearer trees -were all punita, or cotton-wood or eucalyptus, and bore no fruit or -nuts at all. But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the -little girl came upon two trees that promised to furnish her with -plenty of food.</p> -<p>One was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters -on all the limbs, and upon the biggest and ripest boxes the word -“Lunch” could be read, in neat raised letters. This -tree seemed to bear all the year around, for there were lunch-box -blossoms on some of the branches, and on others tiny little -lunch-boxes that were as yet quite green, and evidently not fit to -eat until they had grown bigger.</p> -<p>The leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented -a very pleasing appearance to the hungry little girl.</p> -<p>But the tree next to the lunch-box tree was even more wonderful, -for it bore quantities of tin dinner-pails, which were so full and -heavy that the stout branches bent underneath their weight. Some -were small and dark-brown in color; those larger were of a dull tin -color; but the really ripe ones were pails of bright tin that shone -and glistened beautifully in the rays of sunshine that touched -them.</p> -<p>Dorothy was delighted, and even the yellow hen acknowledged that -she was surprised.</p> -<p>The little girl stood on tip-toe and picked one of the nicest -and biggest lunch-boxes, and then she sat down upon the ground and -eagerly opened it. Inside she found, nicely wrapped in white -papers, a ham sandwich, a piece of sponge-cake, a pickle, a slice -of new cheese and an apple. Each thing had a separate stem, and so -had to be picked off the side of the box; but Dorothy found them -all to be delicious, and she ate every bit of luncheon in the box -before she had finished.</p> -<p>“A lunch isn’t zactly breakfast,” she said to -Billina, who sat beside her curiously watching. “But when one -is hungry one can eat even supper in the morning, and not -complain.”</p> -<p>“I hope your lunch-box was perfectly ripe,” observed -the yellow hen, in a anxious tone. “So much sickness is -caused by eating green things.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m sure it was ripe,” declared Dorothy, -“all, that is, ’cept the pickle, and a pickle just HAS -to be green, Billina. But everything tasted perfectly splendid, and -I’d rather have it than a church picnic. And now I think -I’ll pick a dinner-pail, to have when I get hungry again, and -then we’ll start out and ’splore the country, and see -where we are.”</p> -<p>“Haven’t you any idea what country this is?” -inquired Billina.</p> -<p>“None at all. But listen: I’m quite sure it’s -a fairy country, or such things as lunch-boxes and dinner-pails -wouldn’t be growing upon trees. Besides, Billina, being a -hen, you wouldn’t be able to talk in any civ’lized -country, like Kansas, where no fairies live at all.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps we’re in the Land of Oz,” said the -hen, thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“No, that can’t be,” answered the little girl; -because I’ve been to the Land of Oz, and it’s all -surrounded by a horrid desert that no one can cross.”</p> -<p>“Then how did you get away from there again?” asked -Billina.</p> -<p>“I had a pair of silver shoes, that carried me through the -air; but I lost them,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Ah, indeed,” remarked the yellow hen, in a tone of -unbelief.</p> -<p>“Anyhow,” resumed the girl, “there is no -seashore near the Land of Oz, so this must surely be some other -fairy country.”</p> -<p>While she was speaking she selected a bright and pretty -dinner-pail that seemed to have a stout handle, and picked it from -its branch. Then, accompanied by the yellow hen, she walked out of -the shadow of the trees toward the sea-shore.</p> -<p>They were part way across the sands when Billina suddenly cried, -in a voice of terror:</p> -<p>“What’s that?”</p> -<p>Dorothy turned quickly around, and saw coming out of a path that -led from between the trees the most peculiar person her eyes had -ever beheld.</p> -<p>It had the form of a man, except that it walked, or rather -rolled, upon all fours, and its legs were the same length as its -arms, giving them the appearance of the four legs of a beast. Yet -it was no beast that Dorothy had discovered, for the person was -clothed most gorgeously in embroidered garments of many colors, and -wore a straw hat perched jauntily upon the side of its head. But it -differed from human beings in this respect, that instead of hands -and feet there grew at the end of its arms and legs round wheels, -and by means of these wheels it rolled very swiftly over the level -ground. Afterward Dorothy found that these odd wheels were of the -same hard substance that our finger-nails and toe-nails are -composed of, and she also learned that creatures of this strange -race were born in this queer fashion. But when our little girl -first caught sight of the first individual of a race that was -destined to cause her a lot of trouble, she had an idea that the -brilliantly-clothed personage was on roller-skates, which were -attached to his hands as well as to his feet.</p> -<p>“Run!” screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in -great fright. “It’s a Wheeler!”</p> -<p>“A Wheeler?” exclaimed Dorothy. “What can that -be?”</p> -<p>“Don’t you remember the warning in the sand: -‘Beware the Wheelers’? Run, I tell -you—run!”</p> -<p>So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came -after her in full chase.</p> -<p>Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great -procession of Wheelers emerging from the forest—dozens and -dozens of them—all clad in splendid, tight-fitting garments -and all rolling swiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange -cries.</p> -<p>“They’re sure to catch us!” panted the girl, -who was still carrying the heavy dinner-pail she had picked. -“I can’t run much farther, Billina.”</p> -<p>“Climb up this hill,—quick!” said the hen; and -Dorothy found she was very near to the heap of loose and jagged -rocks they had passed on their way to the forest. The yellow hen -was even now fluttering among the rocks, and Dorothy followed as -best she could, half climbing and half tumbling up the rough and -rugged steep.</p> -<p>She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill -a moment after her; but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the -creature stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.</p> -<p>Dorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling, -henny way.</p> -<p>“Don’t hurry, my dear,” cried Billina. -“They can’t follow us among these rocks, so we’re -safe enough now.”</p> -<p>Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for -she was all out of breath.</p> -<p>The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, -but it was evident that their wheels would not roll upon the rough -and jagged rocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow -Dorothy and the hen to where they had taken refuge. But they -circled all around the little hill, so the child and Billina were -fast prisoners and could not come down without being captured.</p> -<p>Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a -threatening manner, and it seemed they were able to speak as well -as to make their dreadful outcries, for several of them -shouted:</p> -<p>“We’ll get you in time, never fear! And when we do -get you, we’ll tear you into little bits!”</p> -<p>“Why are you so cruel to me?” asked Dorothy. -“I’m a stranger in your country, and have done you no -harm.”</p> -<p>“No harm!” cried one who seemed to be their leader. -“Did you not pick our lunch-boxes and dinner-pails? Have you -not a stolen dinner-pail still in your hand?”</p> -<p>“I only picked one of each,” she answered. “I -was hungry, and I didn’t know the trees were -yours.”</p> -<p>“That is no excuse,” retorted the leader, who was -clothed in a most gorgeous suit. “It is the law here that -whoever picks a dinner-pail without our permission must die -immediately.”</p> -<p>“Don’t you believe him,” said Billina. -“I’m sure the trees do not belong to these awful -creatures. They are fit for any mischief, and it’s my opinion -they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn’t picked -a dinner-pail.”</p> -<p>“I think so, too,” agreed Dorothy. “But what -shall we do now?”</p> -<p>“Stay where we are,” advised the yellow hen. -“We are safe from the Wheelers until we starve to death, -anyhow; and before that time comes a good many things can -happen.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_4" name="Ch_4"></a>4. Tiktok the Machine Man</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back -into the forest, leaving only three of their number to guard the -hill. These curled themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go -to sleep on the sands; but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled -by this trick, so they remained in security among the rocks and -paid no attention to their cunning enemies.</p> -<p>Finally the hen, fluttering over the mound, exclaimed: -“Why, here’s a path!”</p> -<p>So Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there, -sure enough, was a smooth path cut between the rocks. It seemed to -wind around the mound from top to bottom, like a cork-screw, -twisting here and there between the rough boulders but always -remaining level and easy to walk upon.</p> -<p>Indeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll -up this path; but when she followed it to the foot of the mound she -found that several big pieces of rock had been placed directly -across the end of the way, thus preventing any one outside from -seeing it and also preventing the Wheelers from using it to climb -up the mound.</p> -<p>Then Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she -came to the very top of the hill, where a solitary round rock stood -that was bigger than any of the others surrounding it. The path -came to an end just beside this great rock, and for a moment it -puzzled the girl to know why the path had been made at all. But the -hen, who had been gravely following her around and was now perched -upon a point of rock behind Dorothy, suddenly remarked:</p> -<p>“It looks something like a door, doesn’t -it?”</p> -<p>“What looks like a door?” enquired the child.</p> -<p>“Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you,” -replied Billina, whose little round eyes were very sharp and seemed -to see everything. “It runs up one side and down the other, -and across the top and the bottom.”</p> -<p>“What does?”</p> -<p>“Why, the crack. So I think it must be a door of rock, -although I do not see any hinges.”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Dorothy, now observing for the first -time the crack in the rock. “And isn’t this a key-hole, -Billina?” pointing to a round, deep hole at one side of the -door.</p> -<p>“Of course. If we only had the key, now, we could unlock -it and see what is there,” replied the yellow hen. “May -be it’s a treasure chamber full of diamonds and rubies, or -heaps of shining gold, or—”</p> -<p>“That reminds me,” said Dorothy, “of the -golden key I picked up on the shore. Do you think that it would fit -this key-hole, Billina?”</p> -<p>“Try it and see,” suggested the hen.</p> -<p>So Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the -golden key. And when she had put it into the hole of the rock, and -turned it, a sudden sharp snap was heard; then, with a solemn creak -that made the shivers run down the child’s back, the face of -the rock fell outward, like a door on hinges, and revealed a small -dark chamber just inside.</p> -<p>“Good gracious!” cried Dorothy, shrinking back as -far as the narrow path would let her.</p> -<p>For, standing within the narrow chamber of rock, was the form of -a man—or, at least, it seemed like a man, in the dim light. -He was only about as tall as Dorothy herself, and his body was -round as a ball and made out of burnished copper. Also his head and -limbs were copper, and these were jointed or hinged to his body in -a peculiar way, with metal caps over the joints, like the armor -worn by knights in days of old. He stood perfectly still, and where -the light struck upon his form it glittered as if made of pure -gold.</p> -<p>“Don’t be frightened,” called Billina, from -her perch. “It isn’t alive.”</p> -<p>“I see it isn’t,” replied the girl, drawing a -long breath.</p> -<p>“It is only made out of copper, like the old kettle in the -barn-yard at home,” continued the hen, turning her head first -to one side and then to the other, so that both her little round -eyes could examine the object.</p> -<p>“Once,” said Dorothy, “I knew a man made out -of tin, who was a woodman named Nick Chopper. But he was as alive -as we are, ’cause he was born a real man, and got his tin -body a little at a time—first a leg and then a finger and -then an ear—for the reason that he had so many accidents with -his axe, and cut himself up in a very careless manner.”</p> -<p>“Oh,” said the hen, with a sniff, as if she did not -believe the story.</p> -<p>“But this copper man,” continued Dorothy, looking at -it with big eyes, “is not alive at all, and I wonder what it -was made for, and why it was locked up in this queer -place.”</p> -<p>“That is a mystery,” remarked the hen, twisting her -head to arrange her wing-feathers with her bill.</p> -<p>Dorothy stepped inside the little room to get a back view of the -copper man, and in this way discovered a printed card that hung -between his shoulders, it being suspended from a small copper peg -at the back of his neck. She unfastened this card and returned to -the path, where the light was better, and sat herself down upon a -slab of rock to read the printing.</p> -<p>“What does it say?” asked the hen, curiously.</p> -<p>Dorothy read the card aloud, spelling out the big words with -some difficulty; and this is what she read:</p> -<p class="cen" style="border:thin black solid;">SMITH & -TINKER’S<br /> -Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,<br /> -Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking<br /> -MECHANICAL MAN<br /> -Fitted with our Special Clock-Work Attachment.<br /> -Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.<br /> -Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev.<br /> -All infringements will be promptly Prosecuted according to Law</p> -<p>“How queer!” said the yellow hen. “Do you -think that is all true, my dear?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” answered Dorothy, who had more -to read. “Listen to this, Billina:”</p> -<p class="cen" style="border:thin black solid;">DIRECTIONS FOR -USING:<br /> -For THINKING:—Wind the Clock-work Man under his left -arm,<br /> -(marked No. 1.)<br /> -For SPEAKING:—Wind the Clock-work Man under his right -arm,<br /> -(marked No. 2.)<br /> -For WALKING and ACTION:—Wind Clock-work in the middle of his -back,<br /> -(marked No. 3.)<br /> -N. B.—This Mechanism is guaranteed to work perfectly for a -thousand years.</p> -<p>“Well, I declare!” gasped the yellow hen, in -amazement; “if the copper man can do half of these things he -is a very wonderful machine. But I suppose it is all humbug, like -so many other patented articles.”</p> -<p>“We might wind him up,” suggested Dorothy, -“and see what he’ll do.”</p> -<p>“Where is the key to the clock-work?” asked -Billina.</p> -<p>“Hanging on the peg where I found the card.”</p> -<p>“Then,” said the hen, “let us try him, and -find out if he will go. He is warranted for a thousand years, it -seems; but we do not know how long he has been standing inside this -rock.”</p> -<p>Dorothy had already taken the clock key from the peg.</p> -<p>“Which shall I wind up first?” she asked, looking -again at the directions on the card.</p> -<p>“Number One, I should think,” returned Billina. -“That makes him think, doesn’t it?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” said Dorothy, and wound up Number One, under -the left arm.</p> -<p>“He doesn’t seem any different,” remarked the -hen, critically.</p> -<p>“Why, of course not; he is only thinking, now,” said -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“I wonder what he is thinking about.”</p> -<p>“I’ll wind up his talk, and then perhaps he can tell -us,” said the girl.</p> -<p>So she wound up Number Two, and immediately the clock-work man -said, without moving any part of his body except his lips:</p> -<p>“Good morn-ing, lit-tle girl. Good morn-ing, Mrs. -Hen.”</p> -<p>The words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and they were -uttered all in the same tone, without any change of expression -whatever; but both Dorothy and Billina understood them -perfectly.</p> -<p>“Good morning, sir,” they answered, politely.</p> -<p>“Thank you for res-cu-ing me,” continued the -machine, in the same monotonous voice, which seemed to be worked by -a bellows inside of him, like the little toy lambs and cats the -children squeeze so that they will make a noise.</p> -<p>“Don’t mention it,” answered Dorothy. And -then, being very curious, she asked: “How did you come to be -locked up in this place?”</p> -<p>“It is a long sto-ry,” replied the copper man; -“but I will tell it to you brief-ly. I was pur-chased from -Smith & Tin-ker, my man-u-fac-tur-ers, by a cru-el King of Ev, -named Ev-ol-do, who used to beat all his serv-ants un-til they -died. How-ev-er, he was not a-ble to kill me, be-cause I was not -a-live, and one must first live in or-der to die. So that all his -beat-ing did me no harm, and mere-ly kept my cop-per bod-y well -pol-ished.</p> -<p>“This cru-el king had a love-ly wife and ten beau-ti-ful -chil-dren—five boys and five girls—but in a fit of -an-ger he sold them all to the Nome King, who by means of his -mag-ic arts changed them all in-to oth-er forms and put them in his -un-der-ground pal-ace to or-na-ment the rooms.</p> -<p>“Af-ter-ward the King of Ev re-gret-ted his wick-ed -ac-tion, and tried to get his wife and chil-dren a-way from the -Nome King, but with-out a-vail. So, in de-spair, he locked me up in -this rock, threw the key in-to the o-cean, and then jumped in -af-ter it and was drowned.”</p> -<p>“How very dreadful!” exclaimed Dorothy.</p> -<p>“It is, in-deed,” said the machine. “When I -found my-self im-pris-oned I shout-ed for help un-til my voice ran -down; and then I walked back and forth in this lit-tle room un-til -my ac-tion ran down; and then I stood still and thought un-til my -thoughts ran down. Af-ter that I re-mem-ber noth-ing un-til you -wound me up a-gain.”</p> -<p>“It’s a very wonderful story,” said Dorothy, -“and proves that the Land of Ev is really a fairy land, as I -thought it was.”</p> -<p>“Of course it is,” answered the copper man. “I -do not sup-pose such a per-fect ma-chine as I am could be made in -an-y place but a fair-y land.”</p> -<p>“I’ve never seen one in Kansas,” said -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“But where did you get the key to un-lock this -door?” asked the clock-work voice.</p> -<p>“I found it on the shore, where it was prob’ly -washed up by the waves,” she answered. “And now, sir, -if you don’t mind, I’ll wind up your action.”</p> -<p>“That will please me ve-ry much,” said the -machine.</p> -<p>So she wound up Number Three, and at once the copper man in a -somewhat stiff and jerky fashion walked out of the rocky cavern, -took off his copper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before -Dorothy. Said he:</p> -<p>“From this time forth I am your o-be-di-ent ser-vant. -What-ev-er you com-mand, that I will do will-ing-ly—if you -keep me wound up.”</p> -<p>“What is your name?” she asked.</p> -<p>“Tik-tok,” he replied. “My for-mer mas-ter -gave me that name be-cause my clock-work al-ways ticks when it is -wound up.”</p> -<p>“I can hear it now,” said the yellow hen.</p> -<p>“So can I,” said Dorothy. And then she added, with -some anxiety: “You don’t strike, do you?”</p> -<p>“No,” answered Tiktok; “and there is no a-larm -con-nec-ted with my ma-chin-er-y. I can tell the time, though, by -speak-ing, and as I nev-er sleep I can wak-en you at an-y hour you -wish to get up in the morn-ing.”</p> -<p>“That’s nice,” said the little girl; -“only I never wish to get up in the morning.”</p> -<p>“You can sleep until I lay my egg,” said the yellow -hen. “Then, when I cackle, Tiktok will know it is time to -waken you.”</p> -<p>“Do you lay your egg very early?” asked Dorothy.</p> -<p>“About eight o’clock,” said Billina. -“And everybody ought to be up by that time, I’m -sure.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_5" name="Ch_5"></a>5. Dorothy Opens the Dinner -Pail</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>“Now Tiktok,” said Dorothy, “the first thing -to be done is to find a way for us to escape from these rocks. The -Wheelers are down below, you know, and threaten to kill -us.”</p> -<p>“There is no rea-son to be a-fraid of the -Wheel-ers,” said Tiktok, the words coming more slowly than -before.</p> -<p>“Why not?” she asked.</p> -<p>“Be-cause they are ag-g-g—gr-gr-r-r-“</p> -<p>He gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands -frantically until suddenly he became motionless, with one arm in -the air and the other held stiffly before him with all the copper -fingers of the hand spread out like a fan.</p> -<p>“Dear me!” said Dorothy, in a frightened tone. -“What can the matter be?”</p> -<p>“He’s run down, I suppose,” said the hen, -calmly. “You couldn’t have wound him up very -tight.”</p> -<p>“I didn’t know how much to wind him,” replied -the girl; “but I’ll try to do better next -time.”</p> -<p>She ran around the copper man to take the key from the peg at -the back of his neck, but it was not there.</p> -<p>“It’s gone!” cried Dorothy, in dismay.</p> -<p>“What’s gone?” asked Billina.</p> -<p>“The key.”</p> -<p>“It probably fell off when he made that low bow to -you,” returned the hen. “Look around, and see if you -cannot find it again.”</p> -<p>Dorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl -discovered the clock-key, which had fallen into a crack of the -rock.</p> -<p>At once she wound up Tiktok’s voice, taking care to give -the key as many turns as it would go around. She found this quite a -task, as you may imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock, -but the machine man’s first words were to assure Dorothy that -he would now run for at least twenty-four hours.</p> -<p>“You did not wind me much, at first,” he calmly -said, “and I told you that long sto-ry a-bout King Ev-ol-do; -so it is no won-der that I ran down.”</p> -<p>She next rewound the action clock-work, and then Billina advised -her to carry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would not get -lost again.</p> -<p>“And now,” said Dorothy, when all this was -accomplished, “tell me what you were going to say about the -Wheelers.”</p> -<p>“Why, they are noth-ing to be fright-en’d at,” -said the machine. “They try to make folks be-lieve that they -are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but as a mat-ter of fact the Wheel-ers are -harm-less e-nough to an-y one that dares to fight them. They might -try to hurt a lit-tle girl like you, per-haps, be-cause they are -ver-y mis-chiev-ous. But if I had a club they would run a-way as -soon as they saw me.”</p> -<p>“Haven’t you a club?” asked Dorothy.</p> -<p>“No,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>“And you won’t find such a thing among these rocks, -either,” declared the yellow hen.</p> -<p>“Then what shall we do?” asked the girl.</p> -<p>“Wind up my think-works tight-ly, and I will try to think -of some oth-er plan,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>So Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he was -thinking she decided to eat her dinner. Billina was already pecking -away at the cracks in the rocks, to find something to eat, so -Dorothy sat down and opened her tin dinner-pail.</p> -<p>In the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice -lemonade. It was covered by a cup, which might also, when removed, -be used to drink the lemonade from. Within the pail were three -slices of turkey, two slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad, -four slices of bread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and -nine large strawberries, and some nuts and raisins. Singularly -enough, the nuts in this dinner-pail grew already cracked, so that -Dorothy had no trouble in picking out their meats to eat.</p> -<p>She spread the feast upon the rock beside her and began her -dinner, first offering some of it to Tiktok, who declined because, -as he said, he was merely a machine. Afterward she offered to share -with Billina, but the hen murmured something about “dead -things” and said she preferred her bugs and ants.</p> -<p>“Do the lunch-box trees and the dinner-pail trees belong -to the Wheelers?” the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in -eating her meal.</p> -<p>“Of course not,” he answered. “They be-long to -the roy-al fam-il-y of Ev, on-ly of course there is no roy-al -fam-il-y just now be-cause King Ev-ol-do jumped in-to the sea and -his wife and ten chil-dren have been trans-formed by the Nome King. -So there is no one to rule the Land of Ev, that I can think of. -Per-haps it is for this rea-son that the Wheel-ers claim the trees -for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and din-ners to eat -them-selves. But they be-long to the King, and you will find the -roy-al “E” stamped up-on the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner -pail.”</p> -<p>Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal -mark upon it, as Tiktok had said.</p> -<p>“Are the Wheelers the only folks living in the Land of -Ev?” enquired the girl.</p> -<p>“No; they on-ly in-hab-it a small por-tion of it just back -of the woods,” replied the machine. “But they have -al-ways been mis-chiev-ous and im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter, -King Ev-ol-do, used to car-ry a whip with him, when he walked out, -to keep the crea-tures in or-der. When I was first made the -Wheel-ers tried to run o-ver me, and butt me with their heads; but -they soon found I was built of too sol-id a ma-ter-i-al for them to -in-jure.”</p> -<p>“You seem very durable,” said Dorothy. “Who -made you?”</p> -<p>“The firm of Smith & Tin-ker, in the town of Evna, -where the roy-al pal-ace stands,” answered Tiktok.</p> -<p>“Did they make many of you?” asked the child.</p> -<p>“No; I am the on-ly au-to-mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they -ev-er com-plet-ed,” he replied. “They were ver-y -won-der-ful in-ven-tors, were my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in -all they did.”</p> -<p>“I am sure of that,” said Dorothy. “Do they -live in the town of Evna now?”</p> -<p>“They are both gone,” replied the machine. -“Mr. Smith was an art-ist, as well as an in-vent-or, and he -paint-ed a pic-ture of a riv-er which was so nat-ur-al that, as he -was reach-ing a-cross it to paint some flow-ers on the op-po-site -bank, he fell in-to the wa-ter and was drowned.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m sorry for that!” exclaimed the little -girl.</p> -<p>“Mis-ter Tin-ker,” continued Tiktok, “made a -lad-der so tall that he could rest the end of it a-gainst the moon, -while he stood on the high-est rung and picked the lit-tle stars to -set in the points of the king’s crown. But when he got to the -moon Mis-ter Tin-ker found it such a love-ly place that he -de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up the lad-der af-ter him and -we have nev-er seen him since.”</p> -<p>“He must have been a great loss to this country,” -said Dorothy, who was by this time eating her custard pie.</p> -<p>“He was,” acknowledged Tiktok. “Also he is a -great loss to me. For if I should get out of or-der I do not know -of an-y one a-ble to re-pair me, be-cause I am so com-pli-cat-ed. -You have no i-de-a how full of ma-chin-er-y I am.”</p> -<p>“I can imagine it,” said Dorothy, readily.</p> -<p>“And now,” continued the machine, “I must stop -talk-ing and be-gin think-ing a-gain of a way to es-cape from this -rock.” So he turned half way around, in order to think -without being disturbed.</p> -<p>“The best thinker I ever knew,” said Dorothy to the -yellow hen, “was a scarecrow.”</p> -<p>“Nonsense!” snapped Billina.</p> -<p>“It is true,” declared Dorothy. “I met him in -the Land of Oz, and he traveled with me to the city of the great -Wizard of Oz, so as to get some brains, for his head was only -stuffed with straw. But it seemed to me that he thought just as -well before he got his brains as he did afterward.”</p> -<p>“Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the -Land of Oz?” enquired Billina, who seemed a little -cross—perhaps because bugs were scarce.</p> -<p>“What rubbish?” asked the child, who was now -finishing her nuts and raisins.</p> -<p>“Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk, -and a tin woodman who is alive, and a scarecrow who can -think.”</p> -<p>“They are all there,” said Dorothy, “for I -have seen them.”</p> -<p>“I don’t believe it!” cried the hen, with a -toss of her head.</p> -<p>“That’s ’cause you’re so -ign’rant,” replied the girl, who was a little offended -at her friend Billina’s speech.</p> -<p>“In the Land of Oz,” remarked Tiktok, turning toward -them, “an-y-thing is pos-si-ble. For it is a won-der-ful -fair-y coun-try.”</p> -<p>“There, Billina! what did I say?” cried Dorothy. And -then she turned to the machine and asked in an eager tone: -“Do you know the Land of Oz, Tiktok?”</p> -<p>“No; but I have heard a-bout it,” said the cop-per -man. “For it is on-ly sep-a-ra-ted from this Land of Ev by a -broad des-ert.”</p> -<p>Dorothy clapped her hands together delightedly.</p> -<p>“I’m glad of that!” she exclaimed. “It -makes me quite happy to be so near my old friends. The scarecrow I -told you of, Billina, is the King of the Land of Oz.”</p> -<p>“Par-don me. He is not the king now,” said -Tiktok.</p> -<p>“He was when I left there,” declared Dorothy.</p> -<p>“I know,” said Tiktok, “but there was a -rev-o-lu-tion in the Land of Oz, and the Scare-crow was de-posed by -a sol-dier wo-man named Gen-er-al Jin-jur. And then Jin-jur was -de-posed by a lit-tle girl named Oz-ma, who was the right-ful heir -to the throne and now rules the land un-der the ti-tle of Oz-ma of -Oz.”</p> -<p>“That is news to me,” said Dorothy, thoughtfully. -“But I s’pose lots of things have happened since I left -the Land of Oz. I wonder what has become of the Scarecrow, and of -the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. And I wonder who this girl -Ozma is, for I never heard of her before.”</p> -<p>But Tiktok did not reply to this. He had turned around again to -resume his thinking.</p> -<p>Dorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as -not to be wasteful of good things, and the yellow hen forgot her -dignity far enough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which -she ate rather greedily, although she had so lately pretended to -despise the things that Dorothy preferred as food.</p> -<p>By this time Tiktok approached them with his stiff bow.</p> -<p>“Be kind e-nough to fol-low me,” he said, “and -I will lead you a-way from here to the town of Ev-na, where you -will be more com-for-ta-ble, and al-so I will pro-tect you from the -Wheel-ers.”</p> -<p>“All right,” answered Dorothy, promptly. -“I’m ready!”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_6" name="Ch_6"></a>6. The Heads of Langwidere</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>They walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going -first, Dorothy following him, and the yellow hen trotting along -last of all.</p> -<p>At the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed -aside with ease the rocks that encumbered the way. Then he turned -to Dorothy and said:</p> -<p>“Let me car-ry your din-ner-pail.”</p> -<p>She placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers -closed firmly over the stout handle.</p> -<p>Then the little procession marched out upon the level sands.</p> -<p>As soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw -them, they began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly -toward the little group, as if to capture them or bar their way. -But when the foremost had approached near enough, Tiktok swung the -tin dinner-pail and struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head -with the queer weapon. Perhaps it did not hurt very much, but it -made a great noise, and the Wheeler uttered a howl and tumbled over -upon its side. The next minute it scrambled to its wheels and -rolled away as fast as it could go, screeching with fear at the -same time.</p> -<p>“I told you they were harm-less,” began Tiktok; but -before he could say more another Wheeler was upon them. Crack! went -the dinner-pail against its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen -feet away; and that was enough for this Wheeler, also. It rolled -away after the first one, and the third did not wait to be pounded -with the pail, but joined its fellows as quickly as its wheels -would whirl.</p> -<p>The yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch -upon Tiktok’s shoulder, she said:</p> -<p>“Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of, -too. Now we are free from those ugly creatures.”</p> -<p>But just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest, -and relying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely -upon Tiktok. Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her -tight, and the machine embraced the form of the little girl with -his left arm, the better to protect her. Then the Wheelers were -upon them.</p> -<p>Rattlety, bang! bang! went the dinner-pail in every direction, -and it made so much clatter bumping against the heads of the -Wheelers that they were much more frightened than hurt and fled in -a great panic. All, that is, except their leader. This Wheeler had -stumbled against another and fallen flat upon his back, and before -he could get his wheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had -fastened his copper fingers into the neck of the gorgeous jacket of -his foe and held him fast.</p> -<p>“Tell your peo-ple to go a-way,” commanded the -machine.</p> -<p>The leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so -Tiktok shook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the -Wheeler’s teeth rattled together with a noise like hailstones -on a window pane. Then, as soon as the creature could get its -breath, it shouted to the others to roll away, which they -immediately did.</p> -<p>“Now,” said Tiktok, “you shall come with us -and tell me what I want to know.”</p> -<p>“You’ll be sorry for treating me in this way,” -whined the Wheeler. “I’m a terribly fierce -person.”</p> -<p>“As for that,” answered Tiktok, “I am only a -ma-chine, and can-not feel sor-row or joy, no mat-ter what -hap-pens. But you are wrong to think your-self ter-ri-ble or -fierce.”</p> -<p>“Why so?” asked the Wheeler.</p> -<p>“Be-cause no one else thinks as you do. Your wheels make -you help-less to in-jure an-y one. For you have no fists and can -not scratch or e-ven pull hair. Nor have you an-y feet to kick -with. All you can do is to yell and shout, and that does not hurt -an-y one at all.”</p> -<p>The Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy’s -great surprise.</p> -<p>“Now I and my people are ruined forever!” he sobbed; -“for you have discovered our secret. Being so helpless, our -only hope is to make people afraid of us, by pretending we are very -fierce and terrible, and writing in the sand warnings to Beware the -Wheelers. Until now we have frightened everyone, but since you have -discovered our weakness our enemies will fall upon us and make us -very miserable and unhappy.”</p> -<p>“Oh, no,” exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see -this beautifully dressed Wheeler so miserable; “Tiktok will -keep your secret, and so will Billina and I. Only, you must promise -not to try to frighten children any more, if they come near to -you.”</p> -<p>“I won’t—indeed I won’t!” promised -the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and becoming more cheerful. -“I’m not really bad, you know; but we have to pretend -to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking -us.”</p> -<p>“That is not ex-act-ly true,” said Tiktok, starting -to walk toward the path through the forest, and still holding fast -to his prisoner, who rolled slowly along beside him. “You and -your peo-ple are full of mis-chief, and like to both-er those who -fear you. And you are of-ten im-pu-dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too. -But if you will try to cure those faults I will not tell any-one -how help-less you are.”</p> -<p>“I’ll try, of course,” replied the Wheeler, -eagerly. “And thank you, Mr. Tiktok, for your -kindness.”</p> -<p>“I am on-ly a ma-chine,” said Tiktok. “I can -not be kind an-y more than I can be sor-ry or glad. I can on-ly do -what I am wound up to do.”</p> -<p>“Are you wound up to keep my secret?” asked the -Wheeler, anxiously.</p> -<p>“Yes; if you be-have your-self. But tell me: who rules the -Land of Ev now?” asked the machine.</p> -<p>“There is no ruler,” was the answer, “because -every member of the royal family is imprisoned by the Nome King. -But the Princess Langwidere, who is a niece of our late King -Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal palace and takes as much money -out of the royal treasury as she can spend. The Princess Langwidere -is not exactly a ruler, you see, because she doesn’t rule; -but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we have at -present.”</p> -<p>“I do not re-mem-ber her,” said Tiktok. “What -does she look like?”</p> -<p>“That I cannot say,” replied the Wheeler, -“although I have seen her twenty times. For the Princess -Langwidere is a different person every time I see her, and the only -way her subjects can recognize her at all is by means of a -beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain attached to -her left wrist. When we see the key we know we are beholding the -Princess.”</p> -<p>“That is strange,” said Dorothy, in astonishment. -“Do you mean to say that so many different princesses are one -and the same person?”</p> -<p>“Not exactly,” answered the Wheeler. “There -is, of course, but one princess; but she appears to us in many -forms, which are all more or less beautiful.”</p> -<p>“She must be a witch,” exclaimed the girl.</p> -<p>“I do not think so,” declared the Wheeler. -“But there is some mystery connected with her, nevertheless. -She is a very vain creature, and lives mostly in a room surrounded -by mirrors, so that she can admire herself whichever way she -looks.”</p> -<p>No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of -the forest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before -them—a beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and -green fields, with pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and -broad, smooth roads that led in every direction.</p> -<p>In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our -friends were standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace, -which glittered brightly against their background of blue sky. The -palace was surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and -shrubbery. Several tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were -pleasant walks bordered by rows of white marble statuary.</p> -<p>All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or -admire until they had advanced along the road to a position quite -near to the palace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights -when her little party entered the grounds and approached the big -front door of the king’s own apartments. To their -disappointment they found the door tightly closed. A sign was -tacked to the panel which read as follows:</p> -<p class="cen" style= -"border:thin black solid;width:60%;margin:auto;">OWNER -ABSENT.<br /> -<br /> -Please Knock at the Third<br /> -Door in the Left Wing.</p> -<p>“Now,” said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler, -“you must show us the way to the Left Wing.”</p> -<p>“Very well,” agreed the prisoner, “it is -around here at the right.”</p> -<p>“How can the left wing be at the right?” demanded -Dorothy, who feared the Wheeler was fooling them.</p> -<p>“Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn -down, so the one on the right is the only one left. It is a trick -of the Princess Langwidere to prevent visitors from annoying -her.”</p> -<p>Then the captive led them around to the wing, after which the -machine man, having no further use for the Wheeler, permitted him -to depart and rejoin his fellows. He immediately rolled away at a -great pace and was soon lost to sight.</p> -<p>Tiktok now counted the doors in the wing and knocked loudly upon -the third one.</p> -<p>It was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay -ribbons, who bowed respectfully and asked:</p> -<p>“What do you wish, good people?”</p> -<p>“Are you the Princess Langwidere?” asked -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“No, miss; I am her servant,” replied the maid.</p> -<p>“May I see the Princess, please?”</p> -<p>“I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant -you an audience,” said the maid. “Step in, please, and -take a seat in the drawing-room.”</p> -<p>So Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine. But as -the yellow hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried -“Shoo!” and flapped her apron in Billina’s -face.</p> -<p>“Shoo, yourself!” retorted the hen, drawing back in -anger and ruffling up her feathers. “Haven’t you any -better manners than that?”</p> -<p>“Oh, do you talk?” enquired the maid, evidently -surprised.</p> -<p>“Can’t you hear me?” snapped Billina. -“Drop that apron, and get out of the doorway, so that I may -enter with my friends!”</p> -<p>“The Princess won’t like it,” said the maid, -hesitating.</p> -<p>“I don’t care whether she likes it or not,” -replied Billina, and fluttering her wings with a loud noise she -flew straight at the maid’s face. The little servant at once -ducked her head, and the hen reached Dorothy’s side in -safety.</p> -<p>“Very well,” sighed the maid; “if you are all -ruined because of this obstinate hen, don’t blame me for it. -It isn’t safe to annoy the Princess Langwidere.”</p> -<p>“Tell her we are waiting, if you please,” Dorothy -requested, with dignity. “Billina is my friend, and must go -wherever I go.”</p> -<p>Without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished -drawing-room, lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in -through beautiful stained-glass windows.</p> -<p>“Remain here,” she said. “What names shall I -give the Princess?”</p> -<p>“I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas,” replied the child; -“and this gentleman is a machine named Tiktok, and the yellow -hen is my friend Billina.”</p> -<p>The little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several -passages and mounting two marble stairways before she came to the -apartments occupied by her mistress.</p> -<p>Princess Langwidere’s sitting-room was paneled with great -mirrors, which reached from the ceiling to the floor; also the -ceiling was composed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished -silver that reflected every object upon it. So when Langwidere sat -in her easy chair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her -form was mirrored hundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and -floor, and whichever way the lady turned her head she could see and -admire her own features. This she loved to do, and just as the maid -entered she was saying to herself:</p> -<p>“This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite -attractive. I must wear it more often than I have done of late, -although it may not be the best of my collection.”</p> -<p>“You have company, Your Highness,” announced the -maid, bowing low.</p> -<p>“Who is it?” asked Langwidere, yawning.</p> -<p>“Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Mr. Tiktok and Billina,” -answered the maid.</p> -<p>“What a queer lot of names!” murmured the Princess, -beginning to be a little interested. “What are they like? Is -Dorothy Gale of Kansas pretty?”</p> -<p>“She might be called so,” the maid replied.</p> -<p>“And is Mr. Tiktok attractive?” continued the -Princess.</p> -<p>“That I cannot say, Your Highness. But he seems very -bright. Will Your Gracious Highness see them?”</p> -<p>“Oh, I may as well, Nanda. But I am tired admiring this -head, and if my visitor has any claim to beauty I must take care -that she does not surpass me. So I will go to my cabinet and change -to No. 17, which I think is my best appearance. Don’t -you?”</p> -<p>“Your No. 17 is exceedingly beautiful,” answered -Nanda, with another bow.</p> -<p>Again the Princess yawned. Then she said:</p> -<p>“Help me to rise.”</p> -<p>So the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere -was the stronger of the two; and then the Princess slowly walked -across the silver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every -step upon Nanda’s arm.</p> -<p>Now I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had -thirty heads—as many as there are days in the month. But of -course she could only wear one of them at a time, because she had -but one neck. These heads were kept in what she called her -“cabinet,” which was a beautiful dressing-room that lay -just between Langwidere’s sleeping-chamber and the mirrored -sitting-room. Each head was in a separate cupboard lined with -velvet. The cupboards ran all around the sides of the -dressing-room, and had elaborately carved doors with gold numbers -on the outside and jeweled-framed mirrors on the inside of -them.</p> -<p>When the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she -went to her cabinet, opened one of the velvet-lined cupboards, and -took the head it contained from its golden shelf. Then, by the aid -of the mirror inside the open door, she put on the head—as -neat and straight as could be—and afterward called her maids -to robe her for the day. She always wore a simple white costume, -that suited all the heads. For, being able to change her face -whenever she liked, the Princess had no interest in wearing a -variety of gowns, as have other ladies who are compelled to wear -the same face constantly.</p> -<p>Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed -alike but all being of exceeding loveliness. There were heads with -golden hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none -with gray hair. The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of -brown and of black; but there were no red eyes among them, and all -were bright and handsome. The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse -and Oriental, representing all types of beauty; and the mouths were -of assorted sizes and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the -heads smiled. As for dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, -wherever they might be most charming, and one or two heads had -freckles upon the faces to contrast the better with the brilliancy -of their complexions.</p> -<p>One key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these -treasures—a curious key carved from a single blood-red -ruby—and this was fastened to a strong but slender chain -which the Princess wore around her left wrist.</p> -<p>When Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of -cupboard No. 17, the Princess unlocked the door with her ruby key -and after handing head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the -maid, she took No. 17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck. It -had black hair and dark eyes and a lovely pearl-and-white -complexion, and when Langwidere wore it she knew she was remarkably -beautiful in appearance.</p> -<p>There was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went -with it (and which was hidden somewhere under the glossy black -hair) was fiery, harsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led -the Princess to do unpleasant things which she regretted when she -came to wear her other heads.</p> -<p>But she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests -in the drawing-room with a feeling of certainty that she would -surprise them with her beauty.</p> -<p>However, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors -were merely a small girl in a gingham dress, a copper man that -would only go when wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting -contentedly in Langwidere’s best work-basket, where there was -a china egg used for darning stockings. (It may surprise you to -learn that a princess ever does such a common thing as darn -stockings. But, if you will stop to think, you will realize that a -princess is sure to wear holes in her stockings, the same as other -people; only it isn’t considered quite polite to mention the -matter.)</p> -<p>“Oh!” said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of -No. 17. “I thought some one of importance had -called.”</p> -<p>“Then you were right,” declared Dorothy. -“I’m a good deal of ‘portance myself, and when -Billina lays an egg she has the proudest cackle you ever heard. As -for Tiktok, he’s the—”</p> -<p>“Stop—Stop!” commanded the Princess, with an -angry flash of her splendid eyes. “How dare you annoy me with -your senseless chatter?”</p> -<p>“Why, you horrid thing!” said Dorothy, who was not -accustomed to being treated so rudely.</p> -<p>The Princess looked at her more closely.</p> -<p>“Tell me,” she resumed, “are you of royal -blood?”</p> -<p>“Better than that, ma’am,” said Dorothy. -“I came from Kansas.”</p> -<p>“Huh!” cried the Princess, scornfully. “You -are a foolish child, and I cannot allow you to annoy me. Run away, -you little goose, and bother some one else.”</p> -<p>Dorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no -words to reply. But she rose from her chair, and was about to leave -the room when the Princess, who had been scanning the girl’s -face, stopped her by saying, more gently:</p> -<p>“Come nearer to me.”</p> -<p>Dorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the -Princess while Langwidere examined her face with careful -attention.</p> -<p>“You are rather attractive,” said the lady, -presently. “Not at all beautiful, you understand, but you -have a certain style of prettiness that is different from that of -any of my thirty heads. So I believe I’ll take your head and -give you No. 26 for it.”</p> -<p>“Well, I b’lieve you won’t!” exclaimed -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“It will do you no good to refuse,” continued the -Princess; “for I need your head for my collection, and in the -Land of Ev my will is law. I never have cared much for No. 26, and -you will find that it is very little worn. Besides, it will do you -just as well as the one you’re wearing, for all practical -purposes.”</p> -<p>“I don’t know anything about your No. 26, and I -don’t want to,” said Dorothy, firmly. “I’m -not used to taking cast-off things, so I’ll just keep my own -head.”</p> -<p>“You refuse?” cried the Princess, with a frown.</p> -<p>“Of course I do,” was the reply.</p> -<p>“Then,” said Langwidere, “I shall lock you up -in a tower until you decide to obey me. Nanda,” turning to -her maid, “call my army.”</p> -<p>Nanda rang a silver bell, and at once a big fat colonel in a -bright red uniform entered the room, followed by ten lean soldiers, -who all looked sad and discouraged and saluted the princess in a -very melancholy fashion.</p> -<p>“Carry that girl to the North Tower and lock her -up!” cried the Princess, pointing to Dorothy.</p> -<p>“To hear is to obey,” answered the big red colonel, -and caught the child by her arm. But at that moment Tiktok raised -his dinner-pail and pounded it so forcibly against the -colonel’s head that the big officer sat down upon the floor -with a sudden bump, looking both dazed and very much -astonished.</p> -<p>“Help!” he shouted, and the ten lean soldiers sprang -to assist their leader.</p> -<p>There was great excitement for the next few moments, and Tiktok -had knocked down seven of the army, who were sprawling in every -direction upon the carpet, when suddenly the machine paused, with -the dinner-pail raised for another blow, and remained perfectly -motionless.</p> -<p>“My ac-tion has run down,” he called to Dorothy. -“Wind me up, quick.”</p> -<p>She tried to obey, but the big colonel had by this time managed -to get upon his feet again, so he grabbed fast hold of the girl and -she was helpless to escape.</p> -<p>“This is too bad,” said the machine. “I ought -to have run six hours lon-ger, at least, but I sup-pose my long -walk and my fight with the Wheel-ers made me run down fast-er than -us-u-al.”</p> -<p>“Well, it can’t be helped,” said Dorothy, with -a sigh.</p> -<p>“Will you exchange heads with me?” demanded the -Princess.</p> -<p>“No, indeed!” cried Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Then lock her up,” said Langwidere to her soldiers, -and they led Dorothy to a high tower at the north of the palace and -locked her securely within.</p> -<p>The soldiers afterward tried to lift Tiktok, but they found the -machine so solid and heavy that they could not stir it. So they -left him standing in the center of the drawing-room.</p> -<p>“People will think I have a new statue,” said -Langwidere, “so it won’t matter in the least, and Nanda -can keep him well polished.”</p> -<p>“What shall we do with the hen?” asked the colonel, -who had just discovered Billina in the work-basket.</p> -<p>“Put her in the chicken-house,” answered the -Princess. “Someday I’ll have her fried for -breakfast.”</p> -<p>“She looks rather tough, Your Highness,” said Nanda, -doubtfully.</p> -<p>“That is a base slander!” cried Billina, struggling -frantically in the colonel’s arms. “But the breed of -chickens I come from is said to be poison to all -princesses.”</p> -<p>“Then,” remarked Langwidere, “I will not fry -the hen, but keep her to lay eggs; and if she doesn’t do her -duty I’ll have her drowned in the horse trough.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_7" name="Ch_7"></a>7. Ozma of Oz to the Rescue</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Nanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper, and she -slept upon a hard stone couch with a single pillow and a silken -coverlet.</p> -<p>In the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the -tower to see if there was any way to escape. The room was not so -very high up, when compared with our modern buildings, but it was -far enough above the trees and farm houses to give her a good view -of the surrounding country.</p> -<p>To the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the -ocean beyond that. There was even a dark speck upon the shore that -she thought might be the chicken-coop in which she had arrived at -this singular country.</p> -<p>Then she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley -lying between two rocky mountains, and a third mountain that shut -off the valley at the further end.</p> -<p>Westward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from -the palace, and the girl could see miles and miles of sandy desert -that stretched further than her eyes could reach. It was this -desert, she thought, with much interest, that alone separated her -from the wonderful Land of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that -she had been told no one had ever been able to cross this dangerous -waste but herself. Once a cyclone had carried her across it, and a -magical pair of silver shoes had carried her back again. But now -she had neither a cyclone nor silver shoes to assist her, and her -condition was sad indeed. For she had become the prisoner of a -disagreeable princess who insisted that she must exchange her head -for another one that she was not used to, and which might not fit -her at all.</p> -<p>Really, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old -friends in the Land of Oz. Thoughtfully she gazed from her narrow -window. On all the desert not a living thing was stirring.</p> -<p>Wait, though! Something surely WAS stirring on the -desert—something her eyes had not observed at first. Now it -seemed like a cloud; now it seemed like a spot of silver; now it -seemed to be a mass of rainbow colors that moved swiftly toward -her.</p> -<p>What COULD it be, she wondered?</p> -<p>Then, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the -vision drew near enough to Dorothy to make out what it was.</p> -<p>A broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, while -advancing across the carpet was a wonderful procession that made -the girl open her eyes in amazement as she gazed.</p> -<p>First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion -and an immense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted -along as gracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses. -And standing upright within the chariot was a beautiful girl -clothed in flowing robes of silver gauze and wearing a jeweled -diadem upon her dainty head. She held in one hand the satin ribbons -that guided her astonishing team, and in the other an ivory wand -that separated at the top into two prongs, the prongs being tipped -by the letters “O” and “Z”, made of -glistening diamonds set closely together.</p> -<p>The girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself, -and at once the prisoner in the tower guessed that the lovely -driver of the chariot must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so -lately heard from Tiktok.</p> -<p>Following close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend -the Scarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden Saw-Horse, which -pranced and trotted as naturally as any meat horse could have -done.</p> -<p>And then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his -funnel-shaped cap tipped carelessly over his left ear, his gleaming -axe over his right shoulder, and his whole body sparkling as -brightly as it had ever done in the old days when first she knew -him.</p> -<p>The Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company -of twenty-seven soldiers, of whom some were lean and some fat, some -short and some tall; but all the twenty-seven were dressed in -handsome uniforms of various designs and colors, no two being alike -in any respect.</p> -<p>Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so -that there was always just enough of it for the procession to walk -upon, in order that their feet might not come in contact with the -deadly, life-destroying sands of the desert.</p> -<p>Dorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her -heart beat high with hope and joy as she realized she was soon to -be rescued and allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of -Oz—the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.</p> -<p>Indeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as she -recognized those in the procession, for she well knew the courage -and loyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others -who came from their marvelous country would prove to be pleasant -and reliable acquaintances.</p> -<p>As soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the -procession, from the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the last soldier, -had reached the grassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet -rolled itself together and entirely disappeared.</p> -<p>Then the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad -roadway leading up to the palace, and the others followed, while -Dorothy still gazed from her tower window in eager excitement.</p> -<p>They came quite close to the front door of the palace and then -halted, the Scarecrow dismounting from his Saw-Horse to approach -the sign fastened to the door, that he might read what it said.</p> -<p>Dorothy, just above him, could keep silent no longer.</p> -<p>“Here I am!” she shouted, as loudly as she could. -“Here’s Dorothy!”</p> -<p>“Dorothy who?” asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head -to look upward until he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over -backward.</p> -<p>“Dorothy Gale, of course. Your friend from Kansas,” -she answered.</p> -<p>“Why, hello, Dorothy!” said the Scarecrow. -“What in the world are you doing up there?”</p> -<p>“Nothing,” she called down, “because -there’s nothing to do. Save me, my friend—save -me!”</p> -<p>“You seem to be quite safe now,” replied the -Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“But I’m a prisoner. I’m locked in, so that I -can’t get out,” she pleaded.</p> -<p>“That’s all right,” said the Scarecrow. -“You might be worse off, little Dorothy. Just consider the -matter. You can’t get drowned, or be run over by a Wheeler, -or fall out of an apple-tree. Some folks would think they were -lucky to be up there.”</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t,” declared the girl, “and -I want to get down immed’i’tly and see you and the Tin -Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.”</p> -<p>“Very well,” said the Scarecrow, nodding. “It -shall be just as you say, little friend. Who locked you -up?”</p> -<p>“The princess Langwidere, who is a horrid creature,” -she answered.</p> -<p>At this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the -conversation, called to Dorothy from her chariot, asking:</p> -<p>“Why did the Princess lock you up, my dear?”</p> -<p>“Because,” exclaimed Dorothy, “I -wouldn’t let her have my head for her collection, and take an -old, cast-off head in exchange for it.”</p> -<p>“I do not blame you,” exclaimed Ozma, promptly. -“I will see the Princess at once, and oblige her to liberate -you.”</p> -<p>“Oh, thank you very, very much!” cried Dorothy, who -as soon as she heard the sweet voice of the girlish Ruler of Oz -knew that she would soon learn to love her dearly.</p> -<p>Ozma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing, -upon which the Tin Woodman boldly proceeded to knock.</p> -<p>As soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand -her ivory wand, stepped into the hall and made her way at once to -the drawing-room, followed by all her company, except the Lion and -the Tiger. And the twenty-seven soldiers made such a noise and a -clatter that the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to her -mistress, whereupon the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger -by this rude invasion of her palace, came running into the -drawing-room without any assistance whatever.</p> -<p>There she stood before the slight and delicate form of the -little girl from Oz and cried out;—</p> -<p>“How dare you enter my palace unbidden? Leave this room at -once, or I will bind you and all your people in chains, and throw -you into my darkest dungeons!”</p> -<p>“What a dangerous lady!” murmured the Scarecrow, in -a soft voice.</p> -<p>“She seems a little nervous,” replied the Tin -Woodman.</p> -<p>But Ozma only smiled at the angry Princess.</p> -<p>“Sit down, please,” she said, quietly. “I have -traveled a long way to see you, and you must listen to what I have -to say.”</p> -<p>“Must!” screamed the Princess, her black eyes -flashing with fury—for she still wore her No. 17 head. -“Must, to ME!”</p> -<p>“To be sure,” said Ozma. “I am Ruler of the -Land of Oz, and I am powerful enough to destroy all your kingdom, -if I so wish. Yet I did not come here to do harm, but rather to -free the royal family of Ev from the thrall of the Nome King, the -news having reached me that he is holding the Queen and her -children prisoners.”</p> -<p>Hearing these words, Langwidere suddenly became quiet.</p> -<p>“I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal -children,” said she, eagerly. “For if they were -restored to their proper forms and station they could rule the -Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that would save me a lot of worry and -trouble. At present there are at least ten minutes every day that I -must devote to affairs of state, and I would like to be able to -spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful heads.”</p> -<p>“Then we will presently discuss this matter,” said -Ozma, “and try to find a way to liberate your aunt and -cousins. But first you must liberate another prisoner—the -little girl you have locked up in your tower.”</p> -<p>“Of course,” said Langwidere, readily. “I had -forgotten all about her. That was yesterday, you know, and a -Princess cannot be expected to remember today what she did -yesterday. Come with me, and I will release the prisoner at -once.”</p> -<p>So Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to -the room in the tower.</p> -<p>While they were gone Ozma’s followers remained in the -drawing-room, and the Scarecrow was leaning against a form that he -had mistaken for a copper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said -suddenly in his ear:</p> -<p>“Get off my foot, please. You are scratch-ing my -pol-ish.”</p> -<p>“Oh, excuse me!” he replied, hastily drawing back. -“Are you alive?”</p> -<p>“No,” said Tiktok, “I am on-ly a ma-chine. But -I can think and speak and act, when I am pro-per-ly wound up. Just -now my ac-tion is run down, and Dor-o-thy has the key to -it.”</p> -<p>“That’s all right,” replied the Scarecrow. -“Dorothy will soon be free, and then she’ll attend to -your works. But it must be a great misfortune not to be alive. -I’m sorry for you.”</p> -<p>“Why?” asked Tiktok.</p> -<p>“Because you have no brains, as I have,” said the -Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, I have,” returned Tiktok. “I am -fit-ted with Smith & Tin-ker’s Im-proved Com-bi-na-tion -Steel Brains. They are what make me think. What sort of brains are -you fit-ted with?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” admitted the Scarecrow. -“They were given to me by the great Wizard of Oz, and I -didn’t get a chance to examine them before he put them in. -But they work splendidly and my conscience is very active. Have you -a conscience?”</p> -<p>“No,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>“And no heart, I suppose?” added the Tin Woodman, -who had been listening with interest to this conversation.</p> -<p>“No,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>“Then,” continued the Tin Woodman, “I regret -to say that you are greatly inferior to my friend the Scarecrow, -and to myself. For we are both alive, and he has brains which do -not need to be wound up, while I have an excellent heart that is -continually beating in my bosom.”</p> -<p>“I con-grat-u-late you,” replied Tiktok. “I -can-not help be-ing your in-fer-i-or for I am a mere ma-chine. When -I am wound up I do my du-ty by go-ing just as my ma-chin-er-y is -made to go. You have no i-de-a how full of ma-chin-er-y I -am.”</p> -<p>“I can guess,” said the Scarecrow, looking at the -machine man curiously. “Some day I’d like to take you -apart and see just how you are made.”</p> -<p>“Do not do that, I beg of you,” said Tiktok; -“for you could not put me to-geth-er a-gain, and my -use-ful-ness would be de-stroyed.”</p> -<p>“Oh! are you useful?” asked the Scarecrow, -surprised.</p> -<p>“Ve-ry,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>“In that case,” the Scarecrow kindly promised, -“I won’t fool with your interior at all. For I am a -poor mechanic, and might mix you up.”</p> -<p>“Thank you,” said Tiktok.</p> -<p>Just then Ozma re-entered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand -and followed closely by the Princess Langwidere.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_8" name="Ch_8"></a>8. The Hungry Tiger</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>The first thing Dorothy did was to rush into the embrace of the -Scarecrow, whose painted face beamed with delight as he pressed her -form to his straw-padded bosom. Then the Tin Woodman embraced -her—very gently, for he knew his tin arms might hurt her if -he squeezed too roughly.</p> -<p>These greetings having been exchanged, Dorothy took the key to -Tiktok from her pocket and wound up the machine man’s action, -so that he could bow properly when introduced to the rest of the -company. While doing this she told them how useful Tiktok had been -to her, and both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman shook hands with -the machine once more and thanked him for protecting their -friend.</p> -<p>Then Dorothy asked: “Where is Billina?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” said the Scarecrow. “Who -is Billina?”</p> -<p>“She’s a yellow hen who is another friend of -mine,” answered the girl, anxiously. “I wonder what has -become of her?”</p> -<p>“She is in the chicken house, in the back yard,” -said the Princess. “My drawing-room is no place for -hens.”</p> -<p>Without waiting to hear more Dorothy ran to get Billina, and -just outside the door she came upon the Cowardly Lion, still -hitched to the chariot beside the great Tiger. The Cowardly Lion -had a big bow of blue ribbon fastened to the long hair between his -ears, and the Tiger wore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in -front of the bushy end.</p> -<p>In an instant Dorothy was hugging the huge Lion joyfully.</p> -<p>“I’m SO glad to see you again!” she cried.</p> -<p>“I am also glad to see you, Dorothy,” said the Lion. -“We’ve had some fine adventures together, haven’t -we?”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed,” she replied. “How are -you?”</p> -<p>“As cowardly as ever,” the beast answered in a meek -voice. “Every little thing scares me and makes my heart beat -fast. But let me introduce to you a new friend of mine, the Hungry -Tiger.”</p> -<p>“Oh! Are you hungry?” she asked, turning to the -other beast, who was just then yawning so widely that he displayed -two rows of terrible teeth and a mouth big enough to startle -anyone.</p> -<p>“Dreadfully hungry,” answered the Tiger, snapping -his jaws together with a fierce click.</p> -<p>“Then why don’t you eat something?” she -asked.</p> -<p>“It’s no use,” said the Tiger sadly. -“I’ve tried that, but I always get hungry -again.”</p> -<p>“Why, it is the same with me,” said Dorothy. -“Yet I keep on eating.”</p> -<p>“But you eat harmless things, so it doesn’t -matter,” replied the Tiger. “For my part, I’m a -savage beast, and have an appetite for all sorts of poor little -living creatures, from a chipmunk to fat babies.”</p> -<p>“How dreadful!” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Isn’t it, though?” returned the Hungry Tiger, -licking his lips with his long red tongue. “Fat babies! -Don’t they sound delicious? But I’ve never eaten any, -because my conscience tells me it is wrong. If I had no conscience -I would probably eat the babies and then get hungry again, which -would mean that I had sacrificed the poor babies for nothing. No; -hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die. But I’ll not have -any cruel deeds on my conscience to be sorry for.”</p> -<p>“I think you are a very good tiger,” said Dorothy, -patting the huge head of the beast.</p> -<p>“In that you are mistaken,” was the reply. “I -am a good beast, perhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger. For it is -the nature of tigers to be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to -eat harmless living creatures I am acting as no good tiger has ever -before acted. That is why I left the forest and joined my friend -the Cowardly Lion.”</p> -<p>“But the Lion is not really cowardly,” said Dorothy. -“I have seen him act as bravely as can be.”</p> -<p>“All a mistake, my dear,” protested the Lion -gravely. “To others I may have seemed brave, at times, but I -have never been in any danger that I was not afraid.”</p> -<p>“Nor I,” said Dorothy, truthfully. “But I must -go and set free Billina, and then I will see you again.”</p> -<p>She ran around to the back yard of the palace and soon found the -chicken house, being guided to it by a loud cackling and crowing -and a distracting hubbub of sounds such as chickens make when they -are excited.</p> -<p>Something seemed to be wrong in the chicken house, and when -Dorothy looked through the slats in the door she saw a group of -hens and roosters huddled in one corner and watching what appeared -to be a whirling ball of feathers. It bounded here and there about -the chicken house, and at first Dorothy could not tell what it was, -while the screeching of the chickens nearly deafened her.</p> -<p>But suddenly the bunch of feathers stopped whirling, and then, -to her amazement, the girl saw Billina crouching upon the prostrate -form of a speckled rooster. For an instant they both remained -motionless, and then the yellow hen shook her wings to settle the -feathers and walked toward the door with a strut of proud defiance -and a cluck of victory, while the speckled rooster limped away to -the group of other chickens, trailing his crumpled plumage in the -dust as he went.</p> -<p>“Why, Billina!” cried Dorothy, in a shocked voice; -“have you been fighting?”</p> -<p>“I really think I have,” retorted Billina. “Do -you think I’d let that speckled villain of a rooster lord it -over ME, and claim to run this chicken house, as long as I’m -able to peck and scratch? Not if my name is Bill!”</p> -<p>“It isn’t Bill, it’s Billina; and you’re -talking slang, which is very undig’n’fied,” said -Dorothy, reprovingly. “Come here, Billina, and I’ll let -you out; for Ozma of Oz is here, and has set us free.”</p> -<p>So the yellow hen came to the door, which Dorothy unlatched for -her to pass through, and the other chickens silently watched them -from their corner without offering to approach nearer.</p> -<p>The girl lifted her friend in her arms and exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Oh, Billina! how dreadful you look. You’ve lost a -lot of feathers, and one of your eyes is nearly pecked out, and -your comb is bleeding!”</p> -<p>“That’s nothing,” said Billina. “Just -look at the speckled rooster! Didn’t I do him up -brown?”</p> -<p>Dorothy shook her head.</p> -<p>“I don’t ’prove of this, at all,” she -said, carrying Billina away toward the palace. “It -isn’t a good thing for you to ’sociate with those -common chickens. They would soon spoil your good manners, and you -wouldn’t be respec’able any more.”</p> -<p>“I didn’t ask to associate with them,” replied -Billina. “It is that cross old Princess who is to blame. But -I was raised in the United States, and I won’t allow any -one-horse chicken of the Land of Ev to run over me and put on airs, -as long as I can lift a claw in self-defense.”</p> -<p>“Very well, Billina,” said Dorothy. “We -won’t talk about it any more.”</p> -<p>Soon they came to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to whom -the girl introduced the Yellow Hen.</p> -<p>“Glad to meet any friend of Dorothy’s,” said -the Lion, politely. “To judge by your present appearance, you -are not a coward, as I am.”</p> -<p>“Your present appearance makes my mouth water,” said -the Tiger, looking at Billina greedily. “My, my! how good you -would taste if I could only crunch you between my jaws. But -don’t worry. You would only appease my appetite for a moment; -so it isn’t worth while to eat you.”</p> -<p>“Thank you,” said the hen, nestling closer in -Dorothy’s arms.</p> -<p>“Besides, it wouldn’t be right,” continued the -Tiger, looking steadily at Billina and clicking his jaws -together.</p> -<p>“Of course not,” cried Dorothy, hastily. -“Billina is my friend, and you mustn’t ever eat her -under any circ’mstances.”</p> -<p>“I’ll try to remember that,” said the Tiger; -“but I’m a little absent-minded, at times.”</p> -<p>Then Dorothy carried her pet into the drawing-room of the -palace, where Tiktok, being invited to do so by Ozma, had seated -himself between the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. Opposite to them -sat Ozma herself and the Princess Langwidere, and beside them there -was a vacant chair for Dorothy.</p> -<p>Around this important group was ranged the Army of Oz, and as -Dorothy looked at the handsome uniforms of the Twenty-Seven she -said:</p> -<p>“Why, they seem to be all officers.”</p> -<p>“They are, all except one,” answered the Tin -Woodman. “I have in my Army eight Generals, six Colonels, -seven Majors and five Captains, besides one private for them to -command. I’d like to promote the private, for I believe no -private should ever be in public life; and I’ve also noticed -that officers usually fight better and are more reliable than -common soldiers. Besides, the officers are more important looking, -and lend dignity to our army.”</p> -<p>“No doubt you are right,” said Dorothy, seating -herself beside Ozma.</p> -<p>“And now,” announced the girlish Ruler of Oz, -“we will hold a solemn conference to decide the best manner -of liberating the royal family of this fair Land of Ev from their -long imprisonment.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_9" name="Ch_9"></a>9. The Royal Family of Ev</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>The Tin Woodman was the first to address the meeting.</p> -<p>“To begin with,” said he, “word came to our -noble and illustrious Ruler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten -children—five boys and five girls—of the former King of -Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by the Nome King and are -held prisoners in his underground palace. Also that there was no -one in Ev powerful enough to release them. Naturally our Ozma -wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the poor prisoners; -but for a long time she could find no way to cross the great desert -between the two countries. Finally she went to a friendly sorceress -of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the story and at once -presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would continually unroll -beneath our feet and so make a comfortable path for us to cross the -desert. As soon as she had received the carpet our gracious Ruler -ordered me to assemble our army, which I did. You behold in these -bold warriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of Oz; and, if we -are obliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as well as the -private, will battle fiercely unto death.”</p> -<p>Then Tiktok spoke.</p> -<p>“Why should you fight the Nome King?” he asked. -“He has done no wrong.”</p> -<p>“No wrong!” cried Dorothy. “Isn’t it -wrong to imprison a queen mother and her ten children?”</p> -<p>“They were sold to the Nome King by King Ev-ol-do,” -replied Tiktok. “It was the King of Ev who did wrong, and -when he re-al-ized what he had done he jumped in-to the sea and -drowned him-self.”</p> -<p>“This is news to me,” said Ozma, thoughtfully. -“I had supposed the Nome King was all to blame in the matter. -But, in any case, he must be made to liberate the -prisoners.”</p> -<p>“My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man,” declared -the Princess Langwidere. “If he had drowned himself before he -sold his family, no one would have cared. But he sold them to the -powerful Nome King in exchange for a long life, and afterward -destroyed the life by jumping into the sea.”</p> -<p>“Then,” said Ozma, “he did not get the long -life, and the Nome King must give up the prisoners. Where are they -confined?”</p> -<p>“No one knows, exactly,” replied the Princess. -“For the king, whose name is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a -splendid palace underneath the great mountain which is at the north -end of this kingdom, and he has transformed the queen and her -children into ornaments and bric-a-brac with which to decorate his -rooms.”</p> -<p>“I’d like to know,” said Dorothy, “who -this Nome King is?”</p> -<p>“I will tell you,” replied Ozma. “He is said -to be the Ruler of the Underground World, and commands the rocks -and all that the rocks contain. Under his rule are many thousands -of the Nomes, who are queerly shaped but powerful sprites that -labor at the furnaces and forges of their king, making gold and -silver and other metals which they conceal in the crevices of the -rocks, so that those living upon the earth’s surface can only -find them with great difficulty. Also they make diamonds and rubies -and emeralds, which they hide in the ground; so that the kingdom of -the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all we have of precious stones -and silver and gold is what we take from the earth and rocks where -the Nome King has hidden them.”</p> -<p>“I understand,” said Dorothy, nodding her little -head wisely.</p> -<p>“For the reason that we often steal his treasures,” -continued Ozma, “the Ruler of the Underground World is not -fond of those who live upon the earth’s surface, and never -appears among us. If we wish to see King Roquat of the Rocks, we -must visit his own country, where he is all powerful, and therefore -it will be a dangerous undertaking.”</p> -<p>“But, for the sake of the poor prisoners,” said -Dorothy, “we ought to do it.”</p> -<p>“We shall do it,” replied the Scarecrow, -“although it requires a lot of courage for me to go near to -the furnaces of the Nome King. For I am only stuffed with straw, -and a single spark of fire might destroy me entirely.”</p> -<p>“The furnaces may also melt my tin,” said the Tin -Woodman; “but I am going.”</p> -<p>“I can’t bear heat,” remarked the Princess -Langwidere, yawning lazily, “so I shall stay at home. But I -wish you may have success in your undertaking, for I am heartily -tired of ruling this stupid kingdom, and I need more leisure in -which to admire my beautiful heads.”</p> -<p>“We do not need you,” said Ozma. “For, if with -the aid of my brave followers I cannot accomplish my purpose, then -it would be useless for you to undertake the journey.”</p> -<p>“Quite true,” sighed the Princess. “So, if -you’ll excuse me, I will now retire to my cabinet. I’ve -worn this head quite awhile, and I want to change it for -another.”</p> -<p>When she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to -see her go) Ozma said to Tiktok:</p> -<p>“Will you join our party?”</p> -<p>“I am the slave of the girl Dor-oth-y, who rescued me from -pris-on,” replied the machine. “Where she goes I will -go.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I am going with my friends, of course,” said -Dorothy, quickly. “I wouldn’t miss the fun for -anything. Will you go, too, Billina?”</p> -<p>“To be sure,” said Billina in a careless tone. She -was smoothing down the feathers of her back and not paying much -attention.</p> -<p>“Heat is just in her line,” remarked the Scarecrow. -“If she is nicely roasted, she will be better than -ever.”</p> -<p>“Then” said Ozma, “we will arrange to start -for the Kingdom of the Nomes at daybreak tomorrow. And, in the -meantime, we will rest and prepare ourselves for the -journey.”</p> -<p>Although Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests, -the palace servants waited upon the strangers from Oz and did -everything in their power to make the party comfortable. There were -many vacant rooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of -twenty-seven was easily provided for and liberally feasted.</p> -<p>The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the -chariot and allowed to roam at will throughout the palace, where -they nearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no -harm at all. At one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda -crouching in terror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing -before her.</p> -<p>“You certainly look delicious,” the beast was -saying. “Will you kindly give me permission to eat -you?”</p> -<p>“No, no, no!” cried the maid in reply.</p> -<p>“Then,” said the Tiger, yawning frightfully, -“please to get me about thirty pounds of tenderloin steak, -cooked rare, with a peck of boiled potatoes on the side, and five -gallons of ice-cream for dessert.”</p> -<p>“I—I’ll do the best I can!” said Nanda, -and she ran away as fast as she could go.</p> -<p>“Are you so very hungry?” asked Dorothy, in -wonder.</p> -<p>“You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite,” -replied the Tiger, sadly. “It seems to fill my whole body, -from the end of my throat to the tip of my tail. I am very sure the -appetite doesn’t fit me, and is too large for the size of my -body. Some day, when I meet a dentist with a pair of forceps, -I’m going to have it pulled.”</p> -<p>“What, your tooth?” asked Dorothy.</p> -<p>“No, my appetite,” said the Hungry Tiger.</p> -<p>The little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the -Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who related to her all that had -taken place in the Land of Oz since Dorothy had left it. She was -much interested in the story of Ozma, who had been, when a baby, -stolen by a wicked old witch and transformed into a boy. She did -not know that she had ever been a girl until she was restored to -her natural form by a kind sorceress. Then it was found that she -was the only child of the former Ruler of Oz, and was entitled to -rule in his place. Ozma had many adventures, however, before she -regained her father’s throne, and in these she was -accompanied by a pumpkin-headed man, a highly magnified and -thoroughly educated Woggle-Bug, and a wonderful sawhorse that had -been brought to life by means of a magic powder. The Scarecrow and -the Tin Woodman had also assisted her; but the Cowardly Lion, who -ruled the great forest as the King of Beasts, knew nothing of Ozma -until after she became the reigning princess of Oz. Then he -journeyed to the Emerald City to see her, and on hearing she was -about to visit the Land of Ev to set free the royal family of that -country, the Cowardly Lion begged to go with her, and brought along -his friend, the Hungry Tiger, as well.</p> -<p>Having heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own -adventures, and then went out with her friends to find the -Sawhorse, which Ozma had caused to be shod with plates of gold, so -that its legs would not wear out.</p> -<p>They came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the -garden gate, but when Dorothy was introduced to him he bowed -politely and blinked his eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged -his tail, which was only the branch of a tree.</p> -<p>“What a remarkable thing, to be alive!” exclaimed -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“I quiet agree with you,” replied the Sawhorse, in a -rough but not unpleasant voice. “A creature like me has no -business to live, as we all know. But it was the magic powder that -did it, so I cannot justly be blamed.”</p> -<p>“Of course not,” said Dorothy. “And you seem -to be of some use, ‘cause I noticed the Scarecrow riding upon -your back.”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes; I’m of use,” returned the Sawhorse; -“and I never tire, never have to be fed, or cared for in any -way.”</p> -<p>“Are you intel’gent?” asked the girl.</p> -<p>“Not very,” said the creature. “It would be -foolish to waste intelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so many -professors need it. But I know enough to obey my masters, and to -gid-dup, or whoa, when I’m told to. So I’m pretty well -satisfied.”</p> -<p>That night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bed-chamber next -to that occupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina perched upon the foot -of the bed and tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly -in that position as did Dorothy upon her soft cushions.</p> -<p>But before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon -the adventurers were eating a hasty breakfast in the great -dining-room of the palace. Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on -a raised platform, with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow -on her left. The Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but Ozma placed -him near her so that she might ask his advice about the journey -while she ate.</p> -<p>Lower down the table were the twenty-seven warriors of Oz, and -at the end of the room the Lion and the Tiger were eating out of a -kettle that had been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered -around to pick up any scraps that might be scattered.</p> -<p>It did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and -the Tiger were harnessed to the chariot and the party was ready to -start for the Nome King’s Palace.</p> -<p>First rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot -and holding Billina fast in her arms. Then came the Scarecrow on -the Sawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side -just behind him. After these tramped the Army, looking brave and -handsome in their splendid uniforms. The generals commanded the -colonels and the colonels commanded the majors and the majors -commanded the captains and the captains commanded the private, who -marched with an air of proud importance because it required so many -officers to give him his orders.</p> -<p>And so the magnificent procession left the palace and started -along the road just as day was breaking, and by the time the sun -came out they had made good progress toward the valley that led to -the Nome King’s domain.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_10" name="Ch_10"></a>10. The Giant with the -Hammer</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>The road led for a time through a pretty farm country, and then -past a picnic grove that was very inviting. But the procession -continued to steadily advance until Billina cried in an abrupt and -commanding manner:</p> -<p>“Wait—wait!”</p> -<p>Ozma stopped her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow’s -Sawhorse nearly ran into it, and the ranks of the army tumbled over -one another before they could come to a halt. Immediately the -yellow hen struggled from Dorothy’s arms and flew into a -clump of bushes by the roadside.</p> -<p>“What’s the matter?” called the Tin Woodman, -anxiously.</p> -<p>“Why, Billina wants to lay her egg, that’s -all,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Lay her egg!” repeated the Tin Woodman, in -astonishment.</p> -<p>“Yes; she lays one every morning, about this time; and -it’s quite fresh,” said the girl.</p> -<p>“But does your foolish old hen suppose that this entire -cavalcade, which is bound on an important adventure, is going to -stand still while she lays her egg?” enquired the Tin -Woodman, earnestly.</p> -<p>“What else can we do?” asked the girl. -“It’s a habit of Billina’s and she can’t -break herself of it.”</p> -<p>“Then she must hurry up,” said the Tin Woodman, -impatiently.</p> -<p>“No, no!” exclaimed the Scarecrow. “If she -hurries she may lay scrambled eggs.”</p> -<p>“That’s nonsense,” said Dorothy. “But -Billina won’t be long, I’m sure.”</p> -<p>So they stood and waited, although all were restless and anxious -to proceed. And by and by the yellow hen came from the bushes -saying:</p> -<p>“Kut-kut, kut, ka-daw-kutt! Kut, kut, -kut—ka-daw-kut!”</p> -<p>“What is she doing—singing her lay?” asked the -Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“For-ward—march!” shouted the Tin Woodman, -waving his axe, and the procession started just as Dorothy had once -more grabbed Billina in her arms.</p> -<p>“Isn’t anyone going to get my egg?” cried the -hen, in great excitement.</p> -<p>“I’ll get it,” said the Scarecrow; and at his -command the Sawhorse pranced into the bushes. The straw man soon -found the egg, which he placed in his jacket pocket. The cavalcade, -having moved rapidly on, was even then far in advance; but it did -not take the Sawhorse long to catch up with it, and presently the -Scarecrow was riding in his accustomed place behind Ozma’s -chariot.</p> -<p>“What shall I do with the egg?” he asked -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“I do not know,” the girl answered. “Perhaps -the Hungry Tiger would like it.”</p> -<p>“It would not be enough to fill one of my back -teeth,” remarked the Tiger. “A bushel of them, hard -boiled, might take a little of the edge off my appetite; but one -egg isn’t good for anything at all, that I know -of.”</p> -<p>“No; it wouldn’t even make a sponge cake,” -said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. “The Tin Woodman might -carry it with his axe and hatch it; but after all I may as well -keep it myself for a souvenir.” So he left it in his -pocket.</p> -<p>They had now reached that part of the valley that lay between -the two high mountains which Dorothy had seen from her tower -window. At the far end was the third great mountain, which blocked -the valley and was the northern edge of the Land of Ev. It was -underneath this mountain that the Nome King’s palace was said -to be; but it would be some time before they reached that -place.</p> -<p>The path was becoming rocky and difficult for the wheels of the -chariot to pass over, and presently a deep gulf appeared at their -feet which was too wide for them to leap. So Ozma took a small -square of green cloth from her pocket and threw it upon the ground. -At once it became the magic carpet, and unrolled itself far enough -for all the cavalcade to walk upon. The chariot now advanced, and -the green carpet unrolled before it, crossing the gulf on a level -with its banks, so that all passed over in safety.</p> -<p>“That’s easy enough,” said the Scarecrow. -“I wonder what will happen next.”</p> -<p>He was not long in making the discovery, for the sides of the -mountain came closer together until finally there was but a narrow -path between them, along which Ozma and her party were forced to -pass in single file.</p> -<p>They now heard a low and deep -“thump!—thump!—thump!” which echoed -throughout the valley and seemed to grow louder as they advanced. -Then, turning a corner of rock, they saw before them a huge form, -which towered above the path for more than a hundred feet. The form -was that of a gigantic man built out of plates of cast iron, and it -stood with one foot on either side of the narrow road and swung -over its right shoulder an immense iron mallet, with which it -constantly pounded the earth. These resounding blows explained the -thumping sounds they had heard, for the mallet was much bigger than -a barrel, and where it struck the path between the rocky sides of -the mountain it filled all the space through which our travelers -would be obliged to pass.</p> -<p>Of course they at once halted, a safe distance away from the -terrible iron mallet. The magic carpet would do them no good in -this case, for it was only meant to protect them from any dangers -upon the ground beneath their feet, and not from dangers that -appeared in the air above them.</p> -<p>“Wow!” said the Cowardly Lion, with a shudder. -“It makes me dreadfully nervous to see that big hammer -pounding so near my head. One blow would crush me into a -door-mat.”</p> -<p>“The ir-on gi-ant is a fine fel-low,” said Tiktok, -“and works as stead-i-ly as a clock. He was made for the Nome -King by Smith & Tin-ker, who made me, and his du-ty is to keep -folks from find-ing the un-der-ground pal-ace. Is he not a great -work of art?”</p> -<p>“Can he think, and speak, as you do?” asked Ozma, -regarding the giant with wondering eyes.</p> -<p>“No,” replied the machine; “he is on-ly made -to pound the road, and has no think-ing or speak-ing at-tach-ment. -But he pounds ve-ry well, I think.”</p> -<p>“Too well,” observed the Scarecrow. “He is -keeping us from going farther. Is there no way to stop his -machinery?”</p> -<p>“On-ly the Nome King, who has the key, can do that,” -answered Tiktok.</p> -<p>“Then,” said Dorothy, anxiously, “what shall -we do?”</p> -<p>“Excuse me for a few minutes,” said the Scarecrow, -“and I will think it over.”</p> -<p>He retired, then, to a position in the rear, where he turned his -painted face to the rocks and began to think.</p> -<p>Meantime the giant continued to raise his iron mallet high in -the air and to strike the path terrific blows that echoed through -the mountains like the roar of a cannon. Each time the mallet -lifted, however, there was a moment when the path beneath the -monster was free, and perhaps the Scarecrow had noticed this, for -when he came back to the others he said:</p> -<p>“The matter is a very simple one, after all. We have but -to run under the hammer, one at a time, when it is lifted, and pass -to the other side before it falls again.”</p> -<p>“It will require quick work, if we escape the blow,” -said the Tin Woodman, with a shake of his head. “But it -really seems the only thing to be done. Who will make the first -attempt?”</p> -<p>They looked at one another hesitatingly for a moment. Then the -Cowardly Lion, who was trembling like a leaf in the wind, said to -them:</p> -<p>“I suppose the head of the procession must go -first—and that’s me. But I’m terribly afraid of -the big hammer!”</p> -<p>“What will become of me?” asked Ozma. “You -might rush under the hammer yourself, but the chariot would surely -be crushed.”</p> -<p>“We must leave the chariot,” said the Scarecrow. -“But you two girls can ride upon the backs of the Lion and -the Tiger.”</p> -<p>So this was decided upon, and Ozma, as soon as the Lion was -unfastened from the chariot, at once mounted the beast’s back -and said she was ready.</p> -<p>“Cling fast to his mane,” advised Dorothy. “I -used to ride him myself, and that’s the way I held -on.”</p> -<p>So Ozma clung fast to the mane, and the lion crouched in the -path and eyed the swinging mallet carefully until he knew just the -instant it would begin to rise in the air.</p> -<p>Then, before anyone thought he was ready, he made a sudden leap -straight between the iron giant’s legs, and before the mallet -struck the ground again the Lion and Ozma were safe on the other -side.</p> -<p>The Tiger went next. Dorothy sat upon his back and locked her -arms around his striped neck, for he had no mane to cling to. He -made the leap straight and true as an arrow from a bow, and ere -Dorothy realized it she was out of danger and standing by -Ozma’s side.</p> -<p>Now came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, and while they made the -dash in safety they were within a hair’s breadth of being -caught by the descending hammer.</p> -<p>Tiktok walked up to the very edge of the spot the hammer struck, -and as it was raised for the next blow he calmly stepped forward -and escaped its descent. That was an idea for the Tin Woodman to -follow, and he also crossed in safety while the great hammer was in -the air. But when it came to the twenty-six officers and the -private, their knees were so weak that they could not walk a -step.</p> -<p>“In battle we are wonderfully courageous,” said one -of the generals, “and our foes find us very terrible to face. -But war is one thing and this is another. When it comes to being -pounded upon the head by an iron hammer, and smashed into pancakes, -we naturally object.”</p> -<p>“Make a run for it,” urged the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Our knees shake so that we cannot run,” answered a -captain. “If we should try it we would all certainly be -pounded to a jelly.”</p> -<p>“Well, well,” sighed the Cowardly Lion, “I -see, friend Tiger, that we must place ourselves in great danger to -rescue this bold army. Come with me, and we will do the best we -can.”</p> -<p>So, Ozma and Dorothy having already dismounted from their backs, -the Lion and the Tiger leaped back again under the awful hammer and -returned with two generals clinging to their necks. They repeated -this daring passage twelve times, when all the officers had been -carried beneath the giant’s legs and landed safely on the -further side. By that time the beasts were very tired, and panted -so hard that their tongues hung out of their great mouths.</p> -<p>“But what is to become of the private?” asked -Ozma.</p> -<p>“Oh, leave him there to guard the chariot,” said the -Lion. “I’m tired out, and won’t pass under that -mallet again.”</p> -<p>The officers at once protested that they must have the private -with them, else there would be no one for them to command. But -neither the Lion or the Tiger would go after him, and so the -Scarecrow sent the Sawhorse.</p> -<p>Either the wooden horse was careless, or it failed to properly -time the descent of the hammer, for the mighty weapon caught it -squarely upon its head, and thumped it against the ground so -powerfully that the private flew off its back high into the air, -and landed upon one of the giant’s cast-iron arms. Here he -clung desperately while the arm rose and fell with each one of the -rapid strokes.</p> -<p>The Scarecrow dashed in to rescue his Sawhorse, and had his left -foot smashed by the hammer before he could pull the creature out of -danger. They then found that the Sawhorse had been badly dazed by -the blow; for while the hard wooden knot of which his head was -formed could not be crushed by the hammer, both his ears were -broken off and he would be unable to hear a sound until some new -ones were made for him. Also his left knee was cracked, and had to -be bound up with a string.</p> -<p>Billina having fluttered under the hammer, it now remained only -to rescue the private who was riding upon the iron giant’s -arm, high in the air.</p> -<p>The Scarecrow lay flat upon the ground and called to the man to -jump down upon his body, which was soft because it was stuffed with -straw. This the private managed to do, waiting until a time when he -was nearest the ground and then letting himself drop upon the -Scarecrow. He accomplished the feat without breaking any bones, and -the Scarecrow declared he was not injured in the least.</p> -<p>Therefore, the Tin Woodman having by this time fitted new ears -to the Sawhorse, the entire party proceeded upon its way, leaving -the giant to pound the path behind them.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_11" name="Ch_11"></a>11. The Nome King</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>By and by, when they drew near to the mountain that blocked -their path and which was the furthermost edge of the Kingdom of Ev, -the way grew dark and gloomy for the reason that the high peaks on -either side shut out the sunshine. And it was very silent, too, as -there were no birds to sing or squirrels to chatter, the trees -being left far behind them and only the bare rocks remaining.</p> -<p>Ozma and Dorothy were a little awed by the silence, and all the -others were quiet and grave except the Sawhorse, which, as it -trotted along with the Scarecrow upon his back, hummed a queer -song, of which this was the chorus:</p> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>“Would a wooden horse in a woodland go?</p> -<p class="i2">Aye, aye! I sigh, he would, although</p> -<p>Had he not had a wooden head</p> -<p class="i2">He’d mount the mountain top instead.”</p> -</div> -</div> -<p>But no one paid any attention to this because they were now -close to the Nome King’s dominions, and his splendid -underground palace could not be very far away.</p> -<p>Suddenly they heard a shout of jeering laughter, and stopped -short. They would have to stop in a minute, anyway, for the huge -mountain barred their further progress and the path ran close up to -a wall of rock and ended.</p> -<p>“Who was that laughing?” asked Ozma.</p> -<p>There was no reply, but in the gloom they could see strange -forms flit across the face of the rock. Whatever the creations -might be they seemed very like the rock itself, for they were the -color of rocks and their shapes were as rough and rugged as if they -had been broken away from the side of the mountain. They kept close -to the steep cliff facing our friends, and glided up and down, and -this way and that, with a lack of regularity that was quite -confusing. And they seemed not to need places to rest their feet, -but clung to the surface of the rock as a fly does to a -window-pane, and were never still for a moment.</p> -<p>“Do not mind them,” said Tiktok, as Dorothy shrank -back. “They are on-ly the Nomes.”</p> -<p>“And what are Nomes?” asked the girl, half -frightened.</p> -<p>“They are rock fair-ies, and serve the Nome King,” -replied the machine. “But they will do us no harm. You must -call for the King, be-cause with-out him you can ne-ver find the -en-trance to the pal-ace.”</p> -<p>“YOU call,” said Dorothy to Ozma.</p> -<p>Just then the Nomes laughed again, and the sound was so weird -and disheartening that the twenty-six officers commanded the -private to “right-about-face!” and they all started to -run as fast as they could.</p> -<p>The Tin Woodman at once pursued his army and cried -“halt!” and when they had stopped their flight he -asked: “Where are you going?”</p> -<p>“I—I find I’ve forgotten the brush for my -whiskers,” said a general, trembling with fear. “S-s-so -we are g-going back after it!”</p> -<p>“That is impossible,” replied the Tin Woodman. -“For the giant with the hammer would kill you all if you -tried to pass him.”</p> -<p>“Oh! I’d forgotten the giant,” said the -general, turning pale.</p> -<p>“You seem to forget a good many things,” remarked -the Tin Woodman. “I hope you won’t forget that you are -brave men.”</p> -<p>“Never!” cried the general, slapping his -gold-embroidered chest.</p> -<p>“Never!” cried all the other officers, indignantly -slapping their chests.</p> -<p>“For my part,” said the private, meekly, “I -must obey my officers; so when I am told to run, I run; and when I -am told to fight, I fight.”</p> -<p>“That is right,” agreed the Tin Woodman. “And -now you must all come back to Ozma, and obey HER orders. And if you -try to run away again I will have her reduce all the twenty-six -officers to privates, and make the private your general.”</p> -<p>This terrible threat so frightened them that they at once -returned to where Ozma was standing beside the Cowardly Lion.</p> -<p>Then Ozma cried out in a loud voice:</p> -<p>“I demand that the Nome King appear to us!”</p> -<p>There was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the -mountain laughed in derision.</p> -<p>“You must not command the Nome King,” said Tiktok, -“for you do not rule him, as you do your own -peo-ple.”</p> -<p>So Ozma called again, saying:</p> -<p>“I request the Nome King to appear to us.”</p> -<p>Only the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes -continued to flit here and there upon the rocky cliff.</p> -<p>“Try en-treat-y,” said Tiktok to Ozma. “If he -will not come at your re-quest, then the Nome King may list-en to -your plead-ing.”</p> -<p>Ozma looked around her proudly.</p> -<p>“Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome -King?” she asked. “Shall Ozma of Oz humble herself to a -creature who lives in an underground kingdom?”</p> -<p>“No!” they all shouted, with big voices; and the -Scarecrow added:</p> -<p>“If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole, -like a fox, and conquer his stubbornness. But our sweet little -ruler must always maintain her dignity, just as I maintain -mine.”</p> -<p>“I’m not afraid to plead with him,” said -Dorothy. “I’m only a little girl from Kansas, and -we’ve got more dignity at home than we know what to do with. -I’LL call the Nome King.”</p> -<p>“Do,” said the Hungry Tiger; “and if he makes -hash of you I’ll willingly eat you for breakfast tomorrow -morning.”</p> -<p>So Dorothy stepped forward and said:</p> -<p>“PLEASE Mr. Nome King, come here and see us.”</p> -<p>The Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the -mountain, and in a flash they had all vanished from sight and were -silent.</p> -<p>Then a door in the rock opened, and a voice cried:</p> -<p>“Enter!”</p> -<p>“Isn’t it a trick?” asked the Tin Woodman.</p> -<p>“Never mind,” replied Ozma. “We came here to -rescue the poor Queen of Ev and her ten children, and we must run -some risks to do so.”</p> -<p>“The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured,” said -Tiktok. “You can trust him to do what is right.”</p> -<p>So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed -through the arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which -was lighted by jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind -them. There was no one to escort them, or to show them the way, but -all the party pressed through the passage until they came to a -round, domed cavern that was grandly furnished.</p> -<p>In the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid -boulder of rock, rude and rugged in shape but glittering with great -rubies and diamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface. And -upon the throne sat the Nome King.</p> -<p>This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat -man clothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the -rock throne in which he was seated. His bushy hair and flowing -beard were also colored like the rocks, and so was his face. He -wore no crown of any sort, and his only ornament was a broad, -jewel-studded belt that encircled his fat little body. As for his -features, they seemed kindly and good humored, and his eyes were -turned merrily upon his visitors as Ozma and Dorothy stood before -him with their followers ranged in close order behind them.</p> -<p>“Why, he looks just like Santa Claus—only he -isn’t the same color!” whispered Dorothy to her friend; -but the Nome King heard the speech, and it made him laugh -aloud.</p> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>“‘He had a red face and a round little belly</p> -<p class="i2">That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of -jelly!’”</p> -</div> -</div> -<p>quoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see -that he really did shake like jelly when he laughed.</p> -<p>Both Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King -so jolly, and a minute later he waved his right hand and the girls -each found a cushioned stool at her side.</p> -<p>“Sit down, my dears,” said the King, “and tell -me why you have come all this way to see me, and what I can do to -make you happy.”</p> -<p>While they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and -taking a glowing red coal out of his pocket he placed it in the -bowl of the pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled -in rings above his head. Dorothy thought this made the little -monarch look more like Santa Claus than ever; but Ozma now began -speaking, and every one listened intently to her words.</p> -<p>“Your Majesty,” said she, “I am the ruler of -the Land of Oz, and I have come here to ask you to release the good -Queen of Ev and her ten children, whom you have enchanted and hold -as your prisoners.”</p> -<p>“Oh, no; you are mistaken about that,” replied the -King. “They are not my prisoners, but my slaves, whom I -purchased from the King of Ev.”</p> -<p>“But that was wrong,” said Ozma.</p> -<p>“According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no -wrong,” answered the monarch, eying a ring of smoke he had -just blown from his mouth; “so that he had a perfect right to -sell his family to me in exchange for a long life.”</p> -<p>“You cheated him, though,” declared Dorothy; -“for the King of Ev did not have a long life. He jumped into -the sea and was drowned.”</p> -<p>“That was not my fault,” said the Nome King, -crossing his legs and smiling contentedly. “I gave him the -long life, all right; but he destroyed it.”</p> -<p>“Then how could it be a long life?” asked -Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Easily enough,” was the reply. “Now suppose, -my dear, that I gave you a pretty doll in exchange for a lock of -your hair, and that after you had received the doll you smashed it -into pieces and destroyed it. Could you say that I had not given -you a pretty doll?”</p> -<p>“No,” answered Dorothy.</p> -<p>“And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the -lock of hair, just because you had smashed the doll?”</p> -<p>“No,” said Dorothy, again.</p> -<p>“Of course not,” the Nome King returned. “Nor -will I give up the Queen and her children because the King of Ev -destroyed his long life by jumping into the sea. They belong to me -and I shall keep them.”</p> -<p>“But you are treating them cruelly,” said Ozma, who -was much distressed by the King’s refusal.</p> -<p>“In what way?” he asked.</p> -<p>“By making them your slaves,” said she.</p> -<p>“Cruelty,” remarked the monarch, puffing out -wreathes of smoke and watching them float into the air, “is a -thing I can’t abide. So, as slaves must work hard, and the -Queen of Ev and her children were delicate and tender, I -transformed them all into articles of ornament and bric-a-brac and -scattered them around the various rooms of my palace. Instead of -being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my apartments, and I -really think I have treated them with great kindness.”</p> -<p>“But what a dreadful fate is theirs!” exclaimed -Ozma, earnestly. “And the Kingdom of Ev is in great need of -its royal family to govern it. If you will liberate them, and -restore them to their proper forms, I will give you ten ornaments -to replace each one you lose.”</p> -<p>The Nome King looked grave.</p> -<p>“Suppose I refuse?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Then,” said Ozma, firmly, “I am here with my -friends and my army to conquer your kingdom and oblige you to obey -my wishes.”</p> -<p>The Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he -coughed; and he coughed until his face turned from grayish-brown to -bright red. And then he wiped his eyes with a rock-colored -handkerchief and grew grave again.</p> -<p>“You are as brave as you are pretty, my dear,” he -said to Ozma. “But you have little idea of the extent of the -task you have undertaken. Come with me for a moment.”</p> -<p>He arose and took Ozma’s hand, leading her to a little -door at one side of the room. This he opened and they stepped out -upon a balcony, from whence they obtained a wonderful view of the -Underground World.</p> -<p>A vast cave extended for miles and miles under the mountain, and -in every direction were furnaces and forges glowing brightly and -Nomes hammering upon precious metals or polishing gleaming jewels. -All around the walls of the cave were thousands of doors of silver -and gold, built into the solid rock, and these extended in rows far -away into the distance, as far as Ozma’s eyes could follow -them.</p> -<p>While the little maid from Oz gazed wonderingly upon this scene -the Nome King uttered a shrill whistle, and at once all the silver -and gold doors flew open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers marched -out from every one. So great were their numbers that they quickly -filled the immense underground cavern and forced the busy workmen -to abandon their tasks.</p> -<p>Although this tremendous army consisted of rock-colored Nomes, -all squat and fat, they were clothed in glittering armor of -polished steel, inlaid with beautiful gems. Upon his brow each wore -a brilliant electric light, and they bore sharp spears and swords -and battle-axes of solid bronze. It was evident they were perfectly -trained, for they stood in straight rows, rank after rank, with -their weapons held erect and true, as if awaiting but the word of -command to level them upon their foes.</p> -<p>“This,” said the Nome King, “is but a small -part of my army. No ruler upon Earth has ever dared to fight me, -and no ruler ever will, for I am too powerful to oppose.”</p> -<p>He whistled again, and at once the martial array filed through -the silver and gold doorways and disappeared, after which the -workmen again resumed their labors at the furnaces.</p> -<p>Then, sad and discouraged, Ozma of Oz turned to her friends, and -the Nome King calmly reseated himself on his rock throne.</p> -<p>“It would be foolish for us to fight,” the girl said -to the Tin Woodman. “For our brave Twenty-Seven would be -quickly destroyed. I’m sure I do not know how to act in this -emergency.”</p> -<p>“Ask the King where his kitchen is,” suggested the -Tiger. “I’m hungry as a bear.”</p> -<p>“I might pounce upon the King and tear him in -pieces,” remarked the Cowardly Lion.</p> -<p>“Try it,” said the monarch, lighting his pipe with -another hot coal which he took from his pocket.</p> -<p>The Lion crouched low and tried to spring upon the Nome King; -but he hopped only a little way into the air and came down again in -the same place, not being able to approach the throne by even an -inch.</p> -<p>“It seems to me,” said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, -“that our best plan is to wheedle his Majesty into giving up -his slaves, since he is too great a magician to oppose.”</p> -<p>“This is the most sensible thing any of you have -suggested,” declared the Nome King. “It is folly to -threaten me, but I’m so kind-hearted that I cannot stand -coaxing or wheedling. If you really wish to accomplish anything by -your journey, my dear Ozma, you must coax me.”</p> -<p>“Very well,” said Ozma, more cheerfully. “Let -us be friends, and talk this over in a friendly manner.”</p> -<p>“To be sure,” agreed the King, his eyes twinkling -merrily.</p> -<p>“I am very anxious,” she continued, “to -liberate the Queen of Ev and her children who are now ornaments and -bric-a-brac in your Majesty’s palace, and to restore them to -their people. Tell me, sir, how this may be -accomplished.”</p> -<p>The king remained thoughtful for a moment, after which he -asked:</p> -<p>“Are you willing to take a few chances and risks yourself, -in order to set free the people of Ev?”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed!” answered Ozma, eagerly.</p> -<p>“Then,” said the Nome King, “I will make you -this offer: You shall go alone and unattended into my palace and -examine carefully all that the rooms contain. Then you shall have -permission to touch eleven different objects, pronouncing at the -time the word ‘Ev,’ and if any one of them, or more -than one, proves to be the transformation of the Queen of Ev or any -of her ten children, then they will instantly be restored to their -true forms and may leave my palace and my kingdom in your company, -without any objection whatever. It is possible for you, in this -way, to free the entire eleven; but if you do not guess all the -objects correctly, and some of the slaves remain transformed, then -each one of your friends and followers may, in turn, enter the -palace and have the same privileges I grant you.”</p> -<p>“Oh, thank you! thank you for this kind offer!” said -Ozma, eagerly.</p> -<p>“I make but one condition,” added the Nome King, his -eyes twinkling.</p> -<p>“What is it?” she enquired.</p> -<p>“If none of the eleven objects you touch proves to be the -transformation of any of the royal family of Ev, then, instead of -freeing them, you will yourself become enchanted, and transformed -into an article of bric-a-brac or an ornament. This is only fair -and just, and is the risk you declared you were willing to -take.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_12" name="Ch_12"></a>12. The Eleven Guesses</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Hearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became -silent and thoughtful, and all her friends looked at her -uneasily.</p> -<p>“Don’t you do it!” exclaimed Dorothy. -“If you guess wrong, you will be enslaved -yourself.”</p> -<p>“But I shall have eleven guesses,” answered Ozma. -“Surely I ought to guess one object in eleven correctly; and, -if I do, I shall rescue one of the royal family and be safe myself. -Then the rest of you may attempt it, and soon we shall free all -those who are enslaved.”</p> -<p>“What if we fail?” enquired the Scarecrow. -“I’d look nice as a piece of bric-a-brac, -wouldn’t I?”</p> -<p>“We must not fail!” cried Ozma, courageously. -“Having come all this distance to free these poor people, it -would be weak and cowardly in us to abandon the adventure. -Therefore I will accept the Nome King’s offer, and go at once -into the royal palace.”</p> -<p>“Come along, then, my dear,” said the King, climbing -down from his throne with some difficulty, because he was so fat; -“I’ll show you the way.”</p> -<p>He approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand. Instantly -an opening appeared, through which Ozma, after a smiling farewell -to her friends, boldly passed.</p> -<p>She found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and -grand than anything she had ever beheld. The ceilings were composed -of great arches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and -floors were of polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors. -Thick velvet carpets were on the floor and heavy silken draperies -covered the arches leading to the various rooms of the palace. The -furniture was made of rare old woods richly carved and covered with -delicate satins, and the entire palace was lighted by a mysterious -rosy glow that seemed to come from no particular place but flooded -each apartment with its soft and pleasing radiance.</p> -<p>Ozma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all -she saw. The lovely palace had no other occupant, for the Nome King -had left her at the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all -the magnificent rooms there appeared to be no other person.</p> -<p>Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, -were clustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out -of all sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles. There -were vases, and figures of men and animals, and graven platters and -bowls, and mosaics of precious gems, and many other things. -Pictures, too, were on the walls, and the underground palace was -quite a museum of rare and curious and costly objects.</p> -<p>After her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to -wonder which of all the numerous ornaments they contained were the -transformations of the royal family of Ev. There was nothing to -guide her, for everything seemed without a spark of life. So she -must guess blindly; and for the first time the girl came to realize -how dangerous was her task, and how likely she was to lose her own -freedom in striving to free others from the bondage of the Nome -King. No wonder the cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his -visitors, when he knew how easily they might be entrapped.</p> -<p>But Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it. -She looked at a silver candelabra that had ten branches, and -thought: “This may be the Queen of Ev and her ten -children.” So she touched it and uttered aloud the word -“Ev,” as the Nome King had instructed her to do when -she guessed. But the candelabra remained as it was before.</p> -<p>Then she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb, -thinking it might be one of the children she sought. But again she -was unsuccessful. Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven, -eight, nine and ten she made, and still not one of them was -right!</p> -<p>The girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy -light; for now but one guess remained, and her own fate depended -upon the result.</p> -<p>She resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms -once more, gazing earnestly upon the various ornaments and trying -to decide which she would touch. Finally, in despair, she decided -to leave it entirely to chance. She faced the doorway of a room, -shut her eyes tightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy -draperies, she advanced blindly with her right arm outstretched -before her.</p> -<p>Slowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact -with an object upon a small round table. She did not know what it -was, but in a low voice she pronounced the word -“Ev.”</p> -<p>The rooms were quite empty of life after that. The Nome King had -gained a new ornament. For upon the edge of the table rested a -pretty grasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single -emerald. It was all that remained of Ozma of Oz.</p> -<p>In the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly -looked up and smiled.</p> -<p>“Next!” he said, in his pleasant voice.</p> -<p>Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been -sitting in anxious silence, each gave a start of dismay and stared -into one another’s eyes.</p> -<p>“Has she failed?” asked Tiktok.</p> -<p>“So it seems,” answered the little monarch, -cheerfully. “But that is no reason one of you should not -succeed. The next may have twelve guesses, instead of eleven, for -there are now twelve persons transformed into ornaments. Well, -well! Which of you goes next?”</p> -<p>“I’ll go,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Not so,” replied the Tin Woodman. “As -commander of Ozma’s army, it is my privilege to follow her -and attempt her rescue.”</p> -<p>“Away you go, then,” said the Scarecrow. “But -be careful, old friend.”</p> -<p>“I will,” promised the Tin Woodman; and then he -followed the Nome King to the entrance to the palace and the rock -closed behind him.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_13" name="Ch_13"></a>13. The Nome King Laughs</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>In a moment the King returned to his throne and relighted his -pipe, and the rest of the little band of adventurers settled -themselves for another long wait. They were greatly disheartened by -the failure of their girl Ruler, and the knowledge that she was now -an ornament in the Nome King’s palace—a dreadful, -creepy place in spite of all its magnificence. Without their little -leader they did not know what to do next, and each one, down to the -trembling private of the army, began to fear he would soon be more -ornamental than useful.</p> -<p>Suddenly the Nome King began laughing.</p> -<p>“Ha, ha, ha! He, he, he! Ho, ho, ho!”</p> -<p>“What’s happened?” asked the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Why, your friend, the Tin Woodman, has become the -funniest thing you can imagine,” replied the King, wiping the -tears of merriment from his eyes. “No one would ever believe -he could make such an amusing ornament. Next!”</p> -<p>They gazed at each other with sinking hearts. One of the -generals began to weep dolefully.</p> -<p>“What are you crying for?” asked the Scarecrow, -indignant at such a display of weakness.</p> -<p>“He owed me six weeks back pay,” said the general, -“and I hate to lose him.”</p> -<p>“Then you shall go and find him,” declared the -Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Me!” cried the general, greatly alarmed.</p> -<p>“Certainly. It is your duty to follow your commander. -March!”</p> -<p>“I won’t,” said the general. “I’d -like to, of course; but I just simply WON’T.”</p> -<p>The Scarecrow looked enquiringly at the Nome King.</p> -<p>“Never mind,” said the jolly monarch. “If he -doesn’t care to enter the palace and make his guesses -I’ll throw him into one of my fiery furnaces.”</p> -<p>“I’ll go!—of course I’m going,” -yelled the general, as quick as scat. “Where is the -entrance—where is it? Let me go at once!”</p> -<p>So the Nome King escorted him into the palace, and again -returned to await the result. What the general did, no one can -tell; but it was not long before the King called for the next -victim, and a colonel was forced to try his fortune.</p> -<p>Thus, one after another, all of the twenty-six officers filed -into the palace and made their guesses— and became -ornaments.</p> -<p>Meantime the King ordered refreshments to be served to those -waiting, and at his command a rudely shaped Nome entered, bearing a -tray. This Nome was not unlike the others that Dorothy had seen, -but he wore a heavy gold chain around his neck to show that he was -the Chief Steward of the Nome King, and he assumed an air of much -importance, and even told his majesty not to eat too much cake late -at night, or he would be ill.</p> -<p>Dorothy, however, was hungry, and she was not afraid of being -ill; so she ate several cakes and found them good, and also she -drank a cup of excellent coffee made of a richly flavored clay, -browned in the furnaces and then ground fine, and found it most -refreshing and not at all muddy.</p> -<p>Of all the party which had started upon this adventure, the -little Kansas girl was now left alone with the Scarecrow, Tiktok, -and the private for counsellors and companions. Of course the -Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were still there, but they, -having also eaten some of the cakes, had gone to sleep at one side -of the cave, while upon the other side stood the Sawhorse, -motionless and silent, as became a mere thing of wood. Billina had -quietly walked around and picked up the crumbs of cake which had -been scattered, and now, as it was long after bed-time, she tried -to find some dark place in which to go to sleep.</p> -<p>Presently the hen espied a hollow underneath the King’s -rocky throne, and crept into it unnoticed. She could still hear the -chattering of those around her, but it was almost dark underneath -the throne, so that soon she had fallen fast asleep.</p> -<p>“Next!” called the King, and the private, whose turn -it was to enter the fatal palace, shook hands with Dorothy and the -Scarecrow and bade them a sorrowful good-bye, and passed through -the rocky portal.</p> -<p>They waited a long time, for the private was in no hurry to -become an ornament and made his guesses very slowly. The Nome King, -who seemed to know, by some magical power, all that took place in -his beautiful rooms of his palace, grew impatient finally and -declared he would sit up no longer.</p> -<p>“I love ornaments,” said he, “but I can wait -until tomorrow to get more of them; so, as soon as that stupid -private is transformed, we will all go to bed and leave the job to -be finished in the morning.”</p> -<p>“Is it so very late?” asked Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Why, it is after midnight,” said the King, -“and that strikes me as being late enough. There is neither -night nor day in my kingdom, because it is under the earth’s -surface, where the sun does not shine. But we have to sleep, just -the same as the up-stairs people do, and for my part I’m -going to bed in a few minutes.”</p> -<p>Indeed, it was not long after this that the private made his -last guess. Of course he guessed wrongly, and of course he at once -became an ornament. So the King was greatly pleased, and clapped -his hands to summon his Chief Steward.</p> -<p>“Show these guests to some of the sleeping -apartments,” he commanded, “and be quick about it, too, -for I’m dreadfully sleepy myself.”</p> -<p>“You’ve no business to sit up so late,” -replied the Steward, gruffly. “You’ll be as cross as a -griffin tomorrow morning.”</p> -<p>His Majesty made no answer to this remark, and the Chief Steward -led Dorothy through another doorway into a long hall, from which -several plain but comfortable sleeping rooms opened. The little -girl was given the first room, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok the -next—although they never slept—and the Lion and the -Tiger the third. The Sawhorse hobbled after the Steward into a -fourth room, to stand stiffly in the center of it until morning. -Each night was rather a bore to the Scarecrow, Tiktok and the -Sawhorse; but they had learned from experience to pass the time -patiently and quietly, since all their friends who were made of -flesh had to sleep and did not like to be disturbed.</p> -<p>When the Chief Steward had left them alone the Scarecrow -remarked, sadly:</p> -<p>“I am in great sorrow over the loss of my old comrade, the -Tin Woodman. We have had many dangerous adventures together, and -escaped them all, and now it grieves me to know he has become an -ornament, and is lost to me forever.”</p> -<p>“He was al-ways an or-na-ment to so-ci-e-ty,” said -Tiktok.</p> -<p>“True; but now the Nome King laughs at him, and calls him -the funniest ornament in all the palace. It will hurt my poor -friend’s pride to be laughed at,” continued the -Scarecrow, sadly.</p> -<p>“We will make rath-er ab-surd or-na-ments, our-selves, -to-mor-row,” observed the machine, in his monotonous -voice.</p> -<p>Just then Dorothy ran into their room, in a state of great -anxiety, crying:</p> -<p>“Where’s Billina? Have you seen Billina? Is she -here?”</p> -<p>“No,” answered the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Then what has become of her?” asked the girl.</p> -<p>“Why, I thought she was with you,” said the -Scarecrow. “Yet I do not remember seeing the yellow hen since -she picked up the crumbs of cake.”</p> -<p>“We must have left her in the room where the King’s -throne is,” decided Dorothy, and at once she turned and ran -down the hall to the door through which they had entered. But it -was fast closed and locked on the other side, and the heavy slab of -rock proved to be so thick that no sound could pass through it. So -Dorothy was forced to return to her chamber.</p> -<p>The Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console -the girl for the loss of her feathered friend.</p> -<p>“The yellow hen is well able to take care of -herself,” said he; “so don’t worry about her, but -try to get all the sleep you can. It has been a long and weary day, -and you need rest.”</p> -<p>“I’ll prob’ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when -I become an orn’ment,” said Dorothy, sleepily. But she -lay down upon her couch, nevertheless, and in spite of all her -worries was soon in the land of dreams.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_14" name="Ch_14"></a>14. Dorothy Tries to be -Brave</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Meantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room, -where he said to the King:</p> -<p>“You are a fool to waste so much time upon these -people.”</p> -<p>“What!” cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice -that it awoke Billina, who was asleep under his throne. “How -dare you call me a fool?”</p> -<p>“Because I like to speak the truth,” said the -Steward. “Why didn’t you enchant them all at once, -instead of allowing them to go one by one into the palace and guess -which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her children?”</p> -<p>“Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way,” -returned the King, “and it serves to keep me amused for a -long time.”</p> -<p>“But suppose some of them happen to guess aright,” -persisted the Steward; “then you would lose your old -ornaments and these new ones, too.”</p> -<p>“There is no chance of their guessing aright,” -replied the monarch, with a laugh. “How could they know that -the Queen of Ev and her family are all ornaments of a royal purple -color?”</p> -<p>“But there are no other purple ornaments in the -palace,” said the Steward.</p> -<p>“There are many other colors, however, and the purple ones -are scattered throughout the rooms, and are of many different -shapes and sizes. Take my word for it, Steward, they will never -think of choosing the purple ornaments.”</p> -<p>Billina, squatting under the throne, had listened carefully to -all this talk, and now chuckled softly to herself as she heard the -King disclose his secret.</p> -<p>“Still, you are acting foolishly by running the -chance,” continued the Steward, roughly; “and it is -still more foolish of you to transform all those people from Oz -into green ornaments.”</p> -<p>“I did that because they came from the Emerald -City,” replied the King; “and I had no green ornaments -in my collection until now. I think they will look quite pretty, -mixed with the others. Don’t you?”</p> -<p>The Steward gave an angry grunt.</p> -<p>“Have your own way, since you are the King,” he -growled. “But if you come to grief through your carelessness, -remember that I told you so. If I wore the magic belt which enables -you to work all your transformations, and gives you so much other -power, I am sure I would make a much wiser and better King than you -are.”</p> -<p>“Oh, cease your tiresome chatter!” commanded the -King, getting angry again. “Because you are my Chief Steward -you have an idea you can scold me as much as you please. But the -very next time you become impudent, I will send you to work in the -furnaces, and get another Nome to fill your place. Now follow me to -my chamber, for I am going to bed. And see that I am wakened early -tomorrow morning. I want to enjoy the fun of transforming the rest -of these people into ornaments.”</p> -<p>“What color will you make the Kansas girl?” asked -the Steward.</p> -<p>“Gray, I think,” said his Majesty.</p> -<p>“And the Scarecrow and the machine man?”</p> -<p>“Oh, they shall be of solid gold, because they are so ugly -in real life.”</p> -<p>Then the voices died away, and Billina knew that the King and -his Steward had left the room. She fixed up some of her tail -feathers that were not straight, and then tucked her head under her -wing again and went to sleep.</p> -<p>In the morning Dorothy and the Lion and Tiger were given their -breakfast in their rooms, and afterward joined the King in his -throne room. The Tiger complained bitterly that he was half -starved, and begged to go into the palace and become an ornament, -so that he would no longer suffer the pangs of hunger.</p> -<p>“Haven’t you had your breakfast?” asked the -Nome King.</p> -<p>“Oh, I had just a bite,” replied the beast. -“But what good is a bite, to a hungry tiger?”</p> -<p>“He ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter full of -fried sausages, eleven loaves of bread and twenty-one mince -pies,” said the Steward.</p> -<p>“What more do you want?” demanded the King.</p> -<p>“A fat baby. I want a fat baby,” said the Hungry -Tiger. “A nice, plump, juicy, tender, fat baby. But, of -course, if I had one, my conscience would not allow me to eat it. -So I’ll have to be an ornament and forget my -hunger.”</p> -<p>“Impossible!” exclaimed the King. “I’ll -have no clumsy beasts enter my palace, to overturn and break all my -pretty nick-nacks. When the rest of your friends are transformed -you can return to the upper world, and go about your -business.”</p> -<p>“As for that, we have no business, when our friends are -gone,” said the Lion. “So we do not care much what -becomes of us.”</p> -<p>Dorothy begged to be allowed to go first into the palace, but -Tiktok firmly maintained that the slave should face danger before -the mistress. The Scarecrow agreed with him in that, so the Nome -King opened the door for the machine man, who tramped into the -palace to meet his fate. Then his Majesty returned to his throne -and puffed his pipe so contentedly that a small cloud of smoke -formed above his head.</p> -<p>Bye and bye he said:</p> -<p>“I’m sorry there are so few of you left. Very soon, -now, my fun will be over, and then for amusement I shall have -nothing to do but admire my new ornaments.”</p> -<p>“It seems to me,” said Dorothy, “that you are -not so honest as you pretend to be.”</p> -<p>“How’s that?” asked the King.</p> -<p>“Why, you made us think it would be easy to guess what -ornaments the people of Ev were changed into.”</p> -<p>“It IS easy,” declared the monarch, “if one is -a good guesser. But it appears that the members of your party are -all poor guessers.”</p> -<p>“What is Tiktok doing now?” asked the girl, -uneasily.</p> -<p>“Nothing,” replied the King, with a frown. “He -is standing perfectly still, in the middle of a room.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I expect he’s run down,” said Dorothy. -“I forgot to wind him up this morning. How many guesses has -he made?”</p> -<p>“All that he is allowed except one,” answered the -King. “Suppose you go in and wind him up, and then you can -stay there and make your own guesses.”</p> -<p>“All right,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“It is my turn next,” declared the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Why, you don’t want to go away and leave me all -alone, do you?” asked the girl. “Besides, if I go now I -can wind up Tiktok, so that he can make his last guess.”</p> -<p>“Very well, then,” said the Scarecrow, with a sigh. -“Run along, little Dorothy, and may good luck go with -you!”</p> -<p>So Dorothy, trying to be brave in spite of her fears, passed -through the doorway into the gorgeous rooms of the palace. The -stillness of the place awed her, at first, and the child drew short -breaths, and pressed her hand to her heart, and looked all around -with wondering eyes.</p> -<p>Yes, it was a beautiful place; but enchantments lurked in every -nook and corner, and she had not yet grown accustomed to the -wizardries of these fairy countries, so different from the quiet -and sensible common-places of her own native land.</p> -<p>Slowly she passed through several rooms until she came upon -Tiktok, standing motionless. It really seemed, then, that she had -found a friend in this mysterious palace, so she hastened to wind -up the machine man’s action and speech and thoughts.</p> -<p>“Thank you, Dor-oth-y,” were his first words. -“I have now one more guess to make.”</p> -<p>“Oh, be very careful, Tiktok; won’t you?” -cried the girl.</p> -<p>“Yes. But the Nome King has us in his power, and he has -set a trap for us. I fear we are all lost.” he answered.</p> -<p>“I fear so, too,” said Dorothy, sadly.</p> -<p>“If Smith & Tin-ker had giv-en me a guess-ing -clock-work at-tach-ment,” continued Tiktok, “I might -have de-fied the Nome King. But my thoughts are plain and sim-ple, -and are not of much use in this case.”</p> -<p>“Do the best you can,” said Dorothy, encouragingly, -“and if you fail I will watch and see what shape you are -changed into.”</p> -<p>So Tiktok touched a yellow glass vase that had daisies painted -on one side, and he spoke at the same time the word -“Ev.”</p> -<p>In a flash the machine man had disappeared, and although the -girl looked quickly in every direction, she could not tell which of -the many ornaments the room contained had a moment before been her -faithful friend and servant.</p> -<p>So all she could do was to accept the hopeless task set her, and -make her guesses and abide by the result.</p> -<p>“It can’t hurt very much,” she thought, -“for I haven’t heard any of them scream or cry -out—not even the poor officers. Dear me! I wonder if Uncle -Henry or Aunt Em will ever know I have become an orn’ment in -the Nome King’s palace, and must stand forever and ever in -one place and look pretty—‘cept when I’m moved to -be dusted. It isn’t the way I thought I’d turn out, at -all; but I s’pose it can’t be helped.”</p> -<p>She walked through all the rooms once more, and examined with -care all the objects they contained; but there were so many, they -bewildered her, and she decided, after all, as Ozma had done, that -it could be only guess work at the best, and that the chances were -much against her guessing aright.</p> -<p>Timidly she touched an alabaster bowl and said: -“Ev.”</p> -<p>“That’s one failure, anyhow,” she thought. -“But how am I to know which thing is enchanted, and which is -not?”</p> -<p>Next she touched the image of a purple kitten that stood on the -corner of a mantel, and as she pronounced the word “Ev” -the kitten disappeared, and a pretty, fair-haired boy stood beside -her. At the same time a bell rang somewhere in the distance, and as -Dorothy started back, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the -little one exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Where am I? And who are you? And what has happened to -me?”</p> -<p>“Well, I declare!” said Dorothy. “I’ve -really done it.”</p> -<p>“Done what?” asked the boy.</p> -<p>“Saved myself from being an ornament,” replied the -girl, with a laugh, “and saved you from being forever a -purple kitten.”</p> -<p>“A purple kitten?” he repeated. “There IS no -such thing.”</p> -<p>“I know,” she answered. “But there was, a -minute ago. Don’t you remember standing on a corner of the -mantel?”</p> -<p>“Of course not. I am a Prince of Ev, and my name is -Evring,” the little one announced, proudly. “But my -father, the King, sold my mother and all her children to the cruel -ruler of the Nomes, and after that I remember nothing at -all.”</p> -<p>“A purple kitten can’t be ’spected to -remember, Evring,” said Dorothy. “But now you are -yourself again, and I’m going to try to save some of your -brothers and sisters, and perhaps your mother, as well. So come -with me.”</p> -<p>She seized the child’s hand and eagerly hurried here and -there, trying to decide which object to choose next. The third -guess was another failure, and so was the fourth and the fifth.</p> -<p>Little Evring could not imagine what she was doing, but he -trotted along beside her very willingly, for he liked the new -companion he had found.</p> -<p>Dorothy’s further quest proved unsuccessful; but after her -first disappointment was over, the little girl was filled with joy -and thankfulness to think that after all she had been able to save -one member of the royal family of Ev, and could restore the little -Prince to his sorrowing country. Now she might return to the -terrible Nome King in safety, carrying with her the prize she had -won in the person of the fair-haired boy.</p> -<p>So she retraced her steps until she found the entrance to the -palace, and as she approached, the massive doors of rock opened of -their own accord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the -portals and enter the throne room.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_15" name="Ch_15"></a>15. Billina Frightens the Nome -King</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Now when Dorothy had entered the palace to make her guesses and -the Scarecrow was left with the Nome King, the two sat in moody -silence for several minutes. Then the monarch exclaimed, in a tone -of satisfaction:</p> -<p>“Very good!”</p> -<p>“Who is very good?” asked the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“The machine man. He won’t need to be wound up any -more, for he has now become a very neat ornament. Very neat, -indeed.”</p> -<p>“How about Dorothy?” the Scarecrow enquired.</p> -<p>“Oh, she will begin to guess, pretty soon,” said the -King, cheerfully. “And then she will join my collection, and -it will be your turn.”</p> -<p>The good Scarecrow was much distressed by the thought that his -little friend was about to suffer the fate of Ozma and the rest of -their party; but while he sat in gloomy reverie a shrill voice -suddenly cried:</p> -<p>“Kut, kut, kut—ka-daw-kutt! Kut, kut, -kut—ka-daw-kutt!”</p> -<p>The Nome King nearly jumped off his seat, he was so -startled.</p> -<p>“Good gracious! What’s that?” he yelled.</p> -<p>“Why, it’s Billina,” said the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“What do you mean by making a noise like that?” -shouted the King, angrily, as the yellow hen came from under the -throne and strutted proudly about the room.</p> -<p>“I’ve got a right to cackle, I guess,” replied -Billina. “I’ve just laid my egg.”</p> -<p>“What! Laid an egg! In my throne room! How dare you do -such a thing?” asked the King, in a voice of fury.</p> -<p>“I lay eggs wherever I happen to be,” said the hen, -ruffling her feathers and then shaking them into place.</p> -<p>“But—thunder-ation! Don’t you know that eggs -are poison?” roared the King, while his rock-colored eyes -stuck out in great terror.</p> -<p>“Poison! well, I declare,” said Billina, -indignantly. “I’ll have you know all my eggs are -warranted strictly fresh and up to date. Poison, indeed!”</p> -<p>“You don’t understand,” retorted the little -monarch, nervously. “Eggs belong only to the outside -world—to the world on the earth’s surface, where you -came from. Here, in my underground kingdom, they are rank poison, -as I said, and we Nomes can’t bear them around.”</p> -<p>“Well, you’ll have to bear this one around,” -declared Billina; “for I’ve laid it.”</p> -<p>“Where?” asked the King.</p> -<p>“Under your throne,” said the hen.</p> -<p>The King jumped three feet into the air, so anxious was he to -get away from the throne.</p> -<p>“Take it away! Take it away at once!” he -shouted.</p> -<p>“I can’t,” said Billina. “I -haven’t any hands.”</p> -<p>“I’ll take the egg,” said the Scarecrow. -“I’m making a collection of Billina’s eggs. -There’s one in my pocket now, that she laid -yesterday.”</p> -<p>Hearing this, the monarch hastened to put a good distance -between himself and the Scarecrow, who was about to reach under the -throne for the egg when the hen suddenly cried:</p> -<p>“Stop!”</p> -<p>“What’s wrong?” asked the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Don’t take the egg unless the King will allow me to -enter the palace and guess as the others have done,” said -Billina.</p> -<p>“Pshaw!” returned the King. “You’re only -a hen. How could you guess my enchantments?”</p> -<p>“I can try, I suppose,” said Billina. “And, if -I fail, you will have another ornament.”</p> -<p>“A pretty ornament you’d make, wouldn’t -you?” growled the King. “But you shall have your way. -It will properly punish you for daring to lay an egg in my -presence. After the Scarecrow is enchanted you shall follow him -into the palace. But how will you touch the objects?”</p> -<p>“With my claws,” said the hen; “and I can -speak the word ‘Ev’ as plainly as anyone. Also I must -have the right to guess the enchantments of my friends, and to -release them if I succeed.”</p> -<p>“Very well,” said the King. “You have my -promise.”</p> -<p>“Then,” said Billina to the Scarecrow, “you -may get the egg.”</p> -<p>He knelt down and reached underneath the throne and found the -egg, which he placed in another pocket of his jacket, fearing that -if both eggs were in one pocket they would knock together and get -broken.</p> -<p>Just then a bell above the throne rang briskly, and the King -gave another nervous jump.</p> -<p>“Well, well!” said he, with a rueful face; -“the girl has actually done it.”</p> -<p>“Done what?” asked the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“She has made one guess that is right, and broken one of -my neatest enchantments. By ricketty, it’s too bad! I never -thought she would do it.”</p> -<p>“Do I understand that she will now return to us in -safety?” enquired the Scarecrow, joyfully wrinkling his -painted face into a broad smile.</p> -<p>“Of course,” said the King, fretfully pacing up and -down the room. “I always keep my promises, no matter how -foolish they are. But I shall make an ornament of the yellow hen to -replace the one I have just lost.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps you will, and perhaps you won’t,” -murmured Billina, calmly. “I may surprise you by guessing -right.”</p> -<p>“Guessing right?” snapped the King. “How could -you guess right, where your betters have failed, you stupid -fowl?”</p> -<p>Billina did not care to answer this question, and a moment later -the doors flew open and Dorothy entered, leading the little Prince -Evring by the hand.</p> -<p>The Scarecrow welcomed the girl with a close embrace, and he -would have embraced Evring, too, in his delight. But the little -Prince was shy, and shrank away from the painted Scarecrow because -he did not yet know his many excellent qualities.</p> -<p>But there was little time for the friends to talk, because the -Scarecrow must now enter the palace. Dorothy’s success had -greatly encouraged him, and they both hoped he would manage to make -at least one correct guess.</p> -<p>However, he proved as unfortunate as the others except Dorothy, -and although he took a good deal of time to select his objects, not -one did the poor Scarecrow guess aright.</p> -<p>So he became a solid gold card-receiver, and the beautiful but -terrible palace awaited its next visitor.</p> -<p>“It’s all over,” remarked the King, with a -sigh of satisfaction; “and it has been a very amusing -performance, except for the one good guess the Kansas girl made. I -am richer by a great many pretty ornaments.”</p> -<p>“It is my turn, now,” said Billina, briskly.</p> -<p>“Oh, I’d forgotten you,” said the King. -“But you needn’t go if you don’t wish to. I will -be generous, and let you off.”</p> -<p>“No you won’t,” replied the hen. “I -insist upon having my guesses, as you promised.”</p> -<p>“Then go ahead, you absurd feathered fool!” grumbled -the King, and he caused the opening that led to the palace to -appear once more.</p> -<p>“Don’t go, Billina,” said Dorothy, earnestly. -“It isn’t easy to guess those orn’ments, and only -luck saved me from being one myself. Stay with me and we’ll -go back to the Land of Ev together. I’m sure this little -Prince will give us a home.”</p> -<p>“Indeed I will,” said Evring, with much dignity.</p> -<p>“Don’t worry, my dear,” cried Billina, with a -cluck that was meant for a laugh. “I may not be human, but -I’m no fool, if I AM a chicken.”</p> -<p>“Oh, Billina!” said Dorothy, “you -haven’t been a chicken in a long time. Not since -you—you’ve been—grown up.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps that’s true,” answered Billina, -thoughtfully. “But if a Kansas farmer sold me to some one, -what would he call me?—a hen or a chicken!”</p> -<p>“You are not a Kansas farmer, Billina,” replied the -girl, “and you said—”</p> -<p>“Never mind that, Dorothy. I’m going. I won’t -say good-bye, because I’m coming back. Keep up your courage, -for I’ll see you a little later.”</p> -<p>Then Billina gave several loud “cluck-clucks” that -seemed to make the fat little King MORE nervous than ever, and -marched through the entrance into the enchanted palace.</p> -<p>“I hope I’ve seen the last of THAT bird,” -declared the monarch, seating himself again in his throne and -mopping the perspiration from his forehead with his rock-colored -handkerchief. “Hens are bothersome enough at their best, but -when they can talk they’re simply dreadful.”</p> -<p>“Billina’s my friend,” said Dorothy quietly. -“She may not always be ‘zactly polite; but she MEANS -well, I’m sure.”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_16" name="Ch_16"></a>16. Purple, Green, and Gold</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>The yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast -importance, walked slowly over the rich velvet carpets of the -splendid palace, examining everything she met with her sharp little -eyes.</p> -<p>Billina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the -Nome King’s secret and knew how to tell the objects that were -transformations from those that had never been alive. She was very -sure that her guesses would be correct, but before she began to -make them she was curious to behold all the magnificence of this -underground palace, which was perhaps one of the most splendid and -beautiful places in any fairyland.</p> -<p>As she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments; -and although some were small and hidden in queer places, Billina -spied them all, and found the entire ten scattered about the -various rooms. The green ornaments she did not bother to count, for -she thought she could find them all when the time came.</p> -<p>Finally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed -its splendor, the yellow hen returned to one of the rooms where she -had noticed a large purple footstool. She placed a claw upon this -and said “Ev,” and at once the footstool vanished and a -lovely lady, tall and slender and most beautifully robed, stood -before her.</p> -<p>The lady’s eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, -for she could not remember her transformation, nor imagine what had -restored her to life.</p> -<p>“Good morning, ma’am,” said Billina, in her -sharp voice. “You’re looking quite well, considering -your age.”</p> -<p>“Who speaks?” demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing -herself up proudly.</p> -<p>“Why, my name’s Bill, by rights,” answered the -hen, who was now perched upon the back of a chair; “although -Dorothy has put scollops on it and made it Billina. But the name -doesn’t matter. I’ve saved you from the Nome King, and -you are a slave no longer.”</p> -<p>“Then I thank you for the gracious favor,” said the -Queen, with a graceful courtesy. “But, my children—tell -me, I beg of you—where are my children?” and she -clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.</p> -<p>“Don’t worry,” advised Billina, pecking at a -tiny bug that was crawling over the chair back. “Just at -present they are out of mischief and perfectly safe, for they -can’t even wiggle.”</p> -<p>“What mean you, O kindly stranger?” asked the Queen, -striving to repress her anxiety.</p> -<p>“They’re enchanted,” said Billina, “just -as you have been—all, that is, except the little fellow -Dorothy picked out. And the chances are that they have been good -boys and girls for some time, because they couldn’t help -it.”</p> -<p>“Oh, my poor darlings!” cried the Queen, with a sob -of anguish.</p> -<p>“Not at all,” returned the hen. “Don’t -let their condition make you unhappy, ma’am, because -I’ll soon have them crowding ’round to bother and worry -you as naturally as ever. Come with me, if you please, and -I’ll show you how pretty they look.”</p> -<p>She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the -Queen following. As she passed a low table a small green -grasshopper caught her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it -and snapped it up in her sharp bill. For grasshoppers are a -favorite food with hens, and they usually must be caught quickly, -before they can hop away. It might easily have been the end of Ozma -of Oz, had she been a real grasshopper instead of an emerald one. -But Billina found the grasshopper hard and lifeless, and suspecting -it was not good to eat she quickly dropped it instead of letting it -slide down her throat.</p> -<p>“I might have known better,” she muttered to -herself, “for where there is no grass there can be no live -grasshoppers. This is probably one of the King’s -transformations.”</p> -<p>A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and -while the Queen watched her curiously the hen broke the Nome -King’s enchantment and a sweet-faced girl, whose golden hair -fell in a cloud over her shoulders, stood beside them.</p> -<p>“Evanna!” cried the Queen, “my own -Evanna!” and she clasped the girl to her bosom and covered -her face with kisses.</p> -<p>“That’s all right,” said Billina, contentedly. -“Am I a good guesser, Mr. Nome King? Well, I -guess!”</p> -<p>Then she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as -Evrose, and afterwards a boy named Evardo, who was older than his -brother Evring. Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen -exclaiming and embracing for some time, until five Princesses and -four Princes, all looking very much alike except for the difference -in size, stood in a row beside their happy mother.</p> -<p>The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and -Evedna, while the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and -Evroland. Of these Evardo was the eldest and would inherit his -father’s throne and be crowned King of Ev when he returned to -his own country. He was a grave and quiet youth, and would -doubtless rule his people wisely and with justice.</p> -<p>Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their -proper forms, now began to select the green ornaments which were -the transformations of the people of Oz. She had little trouble in -finding these, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well -as the private, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully -congratulating her upon their release. The thirty-seven people who -were now alive in the rooms of the palace knew very well that they -owed their freedom to the cleverness of the yellow hen, and they -were earnest in thanking her for saving them from the magic of the -Nome King.</p> -<p>“Now,” said Billina, “I must find Ozma. She is -sure to be here, somewhere, and of course she is green, being from -Oz. So look around, you stupid soldiers, and help me in my -search.”</p> -<p>For a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was -green. But the Queen, who had kissed all her nine children once -more and could now find time to take an interest in what was going -on, said to the hen:</p> -<p>“Mayhap, my gentle friend, it is the grasshopper whom you -seek.”</p> -<p>“Of course it’s the grasshopper!” exclaimed -Billina. “I declare, I’m nearly as stupid as these -brave soldiers. Wait here for me, and I’ll go back and get -it.”</p> -<p>So she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper, -and presently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and dainty as ever, entered and -approached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princess -greets another.</p> -<p>“But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin -Woodman?” asked the girl Ruler, when these courtesies had -been exchanged.</p> -<p>“I’ll hunt them up,” replied Billina. -“The Scarecrow is solid gold, and so is Tiktok; but I -don’t exactly know what the Tin Woodman is, because the Nome -King said he had been transformed into something funny.”</p> -<p>Ozma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the -Scarecrow and the machine man, being ornaments of shining gold, -were discovered and restored to their accustomed forms. But, search -as they might, in no place could they find a funny ornament that -might be the transformation of the Tin Woodman.</p> -<p>“Only one thing can be done,” said Ozma, at last, -“and that is to return to the Nome King and oblige him to -tell us what has become of our friend.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps he won’t,” suggested Billina.</p> -<p>“He must,” returned Ozma, firmly. “The King -has not treated us honestly, for under the mask of fairness and -good nature he entrapped us all, and we would have been forever -enchanted had not our wise and clever friend, the yellow hen, found -a way to save us.”</p> -<p>“The King is a villain,” declared the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“His laugh is worse than another man’s frown,” -said the private, with a shudder.</p> -<p>“I thought he was hon-est, but I was mis-tak-en,” -remarked Tiktok. “My thoughts are us-u-al-ly cor-rect, but it -is Smith & Tin-ker’s fault if they some-times go wrong or -do not work prop-er-ly.”</p> -<p>“Smith & Tinker made a very good job of you,” -said Ozma, kindly. “I do not think they should be blamed if -you are not quite perfect.”</p> -<p>“Thank you,” replied Tiktok.</p> -<p>“Then,” said Billina, in her brisk little voice, -“let us all go back to the Nome King, and see what he has to -say for himself.”</p> -<p>So they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the -Queen and her train of little Princes and Princesses following. -Then came Tiktok, and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his -straw-stuffed shoulder. The twenty-seven officers and the private -brought up the rear.</p> -<p>As they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but -then they all stopped and stared into the domed cavern with faces -of astonishment and dismay. For the room was filled with the -mail-clad warriors of the Nome King, rank after rank standing in -orderly array. The electric lights upon their brows gleamed -brightly, their battle-axes were poised as if to strike down their -foes; yet they remained motionless as statues, awaiting the word of -command.</p> -<p>And in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon -his throne of rock. But he neither smiled nor laughed. Instead, his -face was distorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_17" name="Ch_17"></a>17. The Scarecrow Wins the -Fight</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>After Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down -to await the success or failure of her mission, and the Nome King -occupied his throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a -cheerful and contented mood.</p> -<p>Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an -enchantment was broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of -annoyance and exclaimed, “Rocketty-ricketts!”</p> -<p>When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, -“Smudge and blazes!” and at a third ring he screamed in -a fury, “Hippikaloric!” which must be a dreadful word -because we don’t know what it means.</p> -<p>After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the -King was now so violently enraged that he could not utter a word, -but hopped out of his throne and all around the room in a mad -frenzy, so that he reminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.</p> -<p>The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the -bell, for it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one -more ornament into a living person. Dorothy was also amazed at -Billina’s success, for she could not imagine how the yellow -hen was able to guess correctly from all the bewildering number of -articles clustered in the rooms of the palace. But after she had -counted ten, and the bell continued to ring, she knew that not only -the royal family of Ev, but Ozma and her followers also, were being -restored to their natural forms, and she was so delighted that the -antics of the angry King only made her laugh merrily.</p> -<p>Perhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was -before, but the girl’s laughter nearly drove him frantic, and -he roared at her like a savage beast. Then, as he found that all -his enchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every -one set free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon -the balcony and gave the shrill whistle that summoned his -warriors.</p> -<p>At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great -numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room, -led by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had -nearly filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big -underground cavern below, and then stood still until they were told -what to do next.</p> -<p>Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the -warriors entered, and now she stood holding little Prince -Evring’s hand while the great Lion crouched upon one side and -the enormous Tiger crouched on the other side.</p> -<p>“Seize that girl!” shouted the King to his captain, -and a group of warriors sprang forward to obey. But both the Lion -and Tiger snarled so fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth -so threateningly, that the men drew back in alarm.</p> -<p>“Don’t mind them!” cried the Nome King; -“they cannot leap beyond the places where they now -stand.”</p> -<p>“But they can bite those who attempt to touch the -girl,” said the captain.</p> -<p>“I’ll fix that,” answered the King. -“I’ll enchant them again, so that they can’t open -their jaws.”</p> -<p>He stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the -Sawhorse ran up behind him and gave the fat monarch a powerful kick -with both his wooden hind legs.</p> -<p>“Ow! Murder! Treason!” yelled the King, who had been -hurled against several of his warriors and was considerably -bruised. “Who did that?”</p> -<p>“I did,” growled the Sawhorse, viciously. “You -let Dorothy alone, or I’ll kick you again.”</p> -<p>“We’ll see about that,” replied the King, and -at once he waved his hand toward the Sawhorse and muttered a -magical word. “Aha!” he continued; “NOW let us -see you move, you wooden mule!”</p> -<p>But in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so -quickly toward the King, that the fat little man could not get out -of his way. Thump—BANG! came the wooden heels, right against -his round body, and the King flew into the air and fell upon the -head of his captain, who let him drop flat upon the ground.</p> -<p>“Well, well!” said the King, sitting up and looking -surprised. “Why didn’t my magic belt work, I -wonder?”</p> -<p>“The creature is made of wood,” replied the captain. -“Your magic will not work on wood, you know.”</p> -<p>“Ah, I’d forgotten that,” said the King, -getting up and limping to his throne. “Very well, let the -girl alone. She can’t escape us, anyway.”</p> -<p>The warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents, -now formed their ranks again, and the Sawhorse pranced across the -room to Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.</p> -<p>At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and -the people of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view. They -paused, astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome -King, seated in their midst.</p> -<p>“Surrender!” cried the King, in a loud voice. -“You are my prisoners.”</p> -<p>“Go ’long!” answered Billina, from the -Scarecrow’s shoulder. “You promised me that if I -guessed correctly my friends and I might depart in safety. And you -always keep your promises.”</p> -<p>“I said you might leave the palace in safety,” -retorted the King; “and so you may, but you cannot leave my -dominions. You are my prisoners, and I will hurl you all into my -underground dungeons, where the volcanic fires glow and the molten -lava flows in every direction, and the air is hotter than blue -blazes.”</p> -<p>“That will be the end of me, all right,” said the -Scarecrow, sorrowfully. “One small blaze, blue or green, is -enough to reduce me to an ash-heap.”</p> -<p>“Do you surrender?” demanded the King.</p> -<p>Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow’s ear that -made him smile and put his hands in his jacket pockets.</p> -<p>“No!” returned Ozma, boldly answering the King. Then -she said to her army:</p> -<p>“Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and -yourselves, unto death!”</p> -<p>“Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma,” replied one of her -generals; “but I find that I and my brother officers all -suffer from heart disease, and the slightest excitement might kill -us. If we fight we may get excited. Would it not be well for us to -avoid this grave danger?”</p> -<p>“Soldiers should not have heart disease,” said -Ozma.</p> -<p>“Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that -way,” declared another general, twirling his moustache -thoughtfully. “If your Royal Highness desires, we will order -our private to attack yonder warriors.”</p> -<p>“Do so,” replied Ozma.</p> -<p>“For-ward—march!” cried all the generals, with -one voice. “For-ward—march!” yelled the colonels. -“For-ward—march!” shouted the majors. -“For-ward—march!” commanded the captains.</p> -<p>And at that the private leveled his spear and dashed furiously -upon the foe.</p> -<p>The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden -onslaught that he forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that -the ten men in the first row, who stood in front of the -private’s spear, fell over like so many toy soldiers. The -spear could not go through their steel armor, however, so the -warriors scrambled to their feet again, and by that time the -private had knocked over another row of them.</p> -<p>Then the captain brought down his battle-axe with such a strong -blow that the private’s spear was shattered and knocked from -his grasp, and he was helpless to fight any longer.</p> -<p>The Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his -warriors to the front ranks, so he could see what was going on; but -as he faced Ozma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to -action by the valor of the private, drew one of Billina’s -eggs from his right jacket pocket and hurled it straight at the -little monarch’s head.</p> -<p>It struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed -and scattered, as eggs will, and covered his face and hair and -beard with its sticky contents.</p> -<p>“Help, help!” screamed the King, clawing with his -fingers at the egg, in a struggle to remove it.</p> -<p>“An egg! an egg! Run for your lives!” shouted the -captain of the Nomes, in a voice of horror.</p> -<p>And how they DID run! The warriors fairly tumbled over one -another in their efforts to escape the fatal poison of that awful -egg, and those who could not rush down the winding stair fell off -the balcony into the great cavern beneath, knocking over those who -stood below them.</p> -<p>Even while the King was still yelling for help his throne room -became emptied of every one of his warriors, and before the monarch -had managed to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow -threw the second egg against his right eye, where it smashed and -blinded him entirely. The King was unable to flee because he could -not see which way to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted -and screamed in abject fear.</p> -<p>While this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and -perching herself upon the Lion’s back the hen whispered -eagerly to the girl:</p> -<p>“Get his belt! Get the Nome King’s jeweled belt! It -unbuckles in the back. Quick, Dorothy—quick!”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_18" name="Ch_18"></a>18. The Fate of the Tin -Woodman</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Dorothy obeyed. She ran at once behind the Nome King, who was -still trying to free his eyes from the egg, and in a twinkling she -had unbuckled his splendid jeweled belt and carried it away with -her to her place beside the Tiger and Lion, where, because she did -not know what else to do with it, she fastened it around her own -slim waist.</p> -<p>Just then the Chief Steward rushed in with a sponge and a bowl -of water, and began mopping away the broken eggs from his -master’s face. In a few minutes, and while all the party -stood looking on, the King regained the use of his eyes, and the -first thing he did was to glare wickedly upon the Scarecrow and -exclaim:</p> -<p>“I’ll make you suffer for this, you hay-stuffed -dummy! Don’t you know eggs are poison to Nomes?”</p> -<p>“Really,” said the Scarecrow, “they -DON’T seem to agree with you, although I wonder -why.”</p> -<p>“They were strictly fresh and above suspicion,” said -Billina. “You ought to be glad to get them.”</p> -<p>“I’ll transform you all into scorpions!” cried -the King, angrily, and began waving his arms and muttering magic -words.</p> -<p>But none of the people became scorpions, so the King stopped and -looked at them in surprise.</p> -<p>“What’s wrong?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Why, you are not wearing your magic belt,” replied -the Chief Steward, after looking the King over carefully. -“Where is it? What have you done with it?”</p> -<p>The Nome King clapped his hand to his waist, and his rock -colored face turned white as chalk.</p> -<p>“It’s gone,” he cried, helplessly. -“It’s gone, and I am ruined!”</p> -<p>Dorothy now stepped forward and said:</p> -<p>“Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your -people back to the land of the living. Billina has saved you from -your troubles, and now we will leave this drea’ful place, and -return to Ev as soon as poss’ble.”</p> -<p>While the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic -belt, and a great cheer went up from all her friends, which was led -by the voices of the Scarecrow and the private. But the Nome King -did not join them. He crept back onto his throne like a whipped -dog, and lay there bitterly bemoaning his defeat.</p> -<p>“But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin -Woodman,” said Ozma to Dorothy, “and without him I do -not wish to go away.”</p> -<p>“Nor I,” replied Dorothy, quickly. -“Wasn’t he in the palace?”</p> -<p>“He must be there,” said Billina; “but I had -no clue to guide me in guessing the Tin Woodman, so I must have -missed him.”</p> -<p>“We will go back into the rooms,” said Dorothy. -“This magic belt, I am sure, will help us to find our dear -old friend.”</p> -<p>So she re-entered the palace, the doors of which still stood -open, and everyone followed her except the Nome King, the Queen of -Ev and Prince Evring. The mother had taken the little Prince in her -lap and was fondling and kissing him lovingly, for he was her -youngest born.</p> -<p>But the others went with Dorothy, and when she came to the -middle of the first room the girl waved her hand, as she had seen -the King do, and commanded the Tin Woodman, whatever form he might -then have, to resume his proper shape. No result followed this -attempt, so Dorothy went into another room and repeated it, and so -through all the rooms of the palace. Yet the Tin Woodman did not -appear to them, nor could they imagine which among the thousands of -ornaments was their transformed friend.</p> -<p>Sadly they returned to the throne room, where the King, seeing -that they had met with failure, jeered at Dorothy, saying:</p> -<p>“You do not know how to use my belt, so it is of no use to -you. Give it back to me and I will let you go free—you and -all the people who came with you. As for the royal family of Ev, -they are my slaves, and shall remain here.”</p> -<p>“I shall keep the belt,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“But how can you escape, without my consent?” asked -the King.</p> -<p>“Easily enough,” answered the girl. “All we -need to do is to walk out the way that we came in.”</p> -<p>“Oh, that’s all, is it?” sneered the King. -“Well, where is the passage through which you entered this -room?”</p> -<p>They all looked around, but could not discover the place, for it -had long since been closed. Dorothy, however, would not be -dismayed. She waved her hand toward the seemingly solid wall of the -cavern and said:</p> -<p>“I command the passage to open!”</p> -<p>Instantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and the -passage lay plainly before them.</p> -<p>The King was amazed, and all the others overjoyed.</p> -<p>“Why, then, if the belt obeys you, were we unable to -discover the Tin Woodman?” asked Ozma.</p> -<p>“I can’t imagine,” said Dorothy.</p> -<p>“See here, girl,” proposed the King, eagerly; -“give me the belt, and I will tell you what shape the Tin -Woodman was changed into, and then you can easily find -him.”</p> -<p>Dorothy hesitated, but Billina cried out:</p> -<p>“Don’t you do it! If the Nome King gets the belt -again he will make every one of us prisoners, for we will be in his -power. Only by keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to -leave this place in safety.”</p> -<p>“I think that is true,” said the Scarecrow. -“But I have another idea, due to my excellent brains. Let -Dorothy transform the King into a goose-egg unless he agrees to go -into the palace and bring out to us the ornament which is our -friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman.”</p> -<p>“A goose-egg!” echoed the horrified King. “How -dreadful!”</p> -<p>“Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us -the ornament we want,” declared Billina, with a joyful -chuckle.</p> -<p>“You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the -magic belt all right,” added the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>The Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did -not want to be a goose-egg. So he went into the palace to get the -ornament which was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they -all awaited his return with considerable impatience, for they were -anxious to leave this underground cavern and see the sunshine once -more. But when the Nome King came back he brought nothing with him -except a puzzled and anxious expression upon his face.</p> -<p>“He’s gone!” he said. “The Tin Woodman -is nowhere in the palace.”</p> -<p>“Are you sure?” asked Ozma, sternly.</p> -<p>“I’m very sure,” answered the King, trembling, -“for I know just what I transformed him into, and exactly -where he stood. But he is not there, and please don’t change -me into a goose-egg, because I’ve done the best I -could.”</p> -<p>They were all silent for a time, and then Dorothy said:</p> -<p>“There is no use punishing the Nome King any more, and -I’m ’fraid we’ll have to go away without our -friend.”</p> -<p>“If he is not here, we cannot rescue him,” agreed -the Scarecrow, sadly. “Poor Nick! I wonder what has become of -him.”</p> -<p>“And he owed me six weeks back pay!” said one of the -generals, wiping the tears from his eyes with his gold-laced coat -sleeve.</p> -<p>Very sorrowfully they determined to return to the upper world -without their former companion, and so Ozma gave the order to begin -the march through the passage.</p> -<p>The army went first, and then the royal family of Ev, and -afterward came Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, the Scarecrow and -Tiktok.</p> -<p>They left the Nome King scowling at them from his throne, and -had no thought of danger until Ozma chanced to look back and saw a -large number of the warriors following them in full chase, with -their swords and spears and axes raised to strike down the -fugitives as soon as they drew near enough.</p> -<p>Evidently the Nome King had made this last attempt to prevent -their escaping him; but it did him no good, for when Dorothy saw -the danger they were in she stopped and waved her hand and -whispered a command to the magic belt.</p> -<p>Instantly the foremost warriors became eggs, which rolled upon -the floor of the cavern in such numbers that those behind could not -advance without stepping upon them. But, when they saw the eggs, -all desire to advance departed from the warriors, and they turned -and fled madly into the cavern, and refused to go back again.</p> -<p>Our friends had no further trouble in reaching the end of the -passage, and soon were standing in the outer air upon the gloomy -path between the two high mountains. But the way to Ev lay plainly -before them, and they fervently hoped that they had seen the last -of the Nome King and of his dreadful palace.</p> -<p>The cavalcade was led by Ozma, mounted on the Cowardly Lion, and -the Queen of Ev, who rode upon the back of the Tiger. The children -of the Queen walked behind her, hand in hand. Dorothy rode the -Sawhorse, while the Scarecrow walked and commanded the army in the -absence of the Tin Woodman.</p> -<p>Presently the way began to lighten and more of the sunshine to -come in between the two mountains. And before long they heard the -“thump! thump! thump!” of the giant’s hammer upon -the road.</p> -<p>“How may we pass the monstrous man of iron?” asked -the Queen, anxious for the safety of her children. But Dorothy -solved the problem by a word to the magic belt.</p> -<p>The giant paused, with his hammer held motionless in the air, -thus allowing the entire party to pass between his cast-iron legs -in safety.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_19" name="Ch_19"></a>19. The King of Ev</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>If there were any shifting, rock-colored Nomes on the mountain -side now, they were silent and respectful, for our adventurers were -not annoyed, as before, by their impudent laughter. Really the -Nomes had nothing to laugh at, since the defeat of their King.</p> -<p>On the other side they found Ozma’s golden chariot, -standing as they had left it. Soon the Lion and the Tiger were -harnessed to the beautiful chariot, in which was enough room for -Ozma and the Queen and six of the royal children.</p> -<p>Little Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse, -which had a long back. The Prince had recovered from his shyness -and had become very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they -were fast friends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode -along. Billina was also perched upon the head of the wooden steed, -which seemed not to mind the added weight in the least, and the boy -was full of wonder that a hen could talk, and say such sensible -things.</p> -<p>When they came to the gulf, Ozma’s magic carpet carried -them all over in safety; and now they began to pass the trees, in -which birds were singing; and the breeze that was wafted to them -from the farms of Ev was spicy with flowers and new-mown hay; and -the sunshine fell full upon them, to warm them and drive away from -their bodies the chill and dampness of the underground kingdom of -the Nomes.</p> -<p>“I would be quite content,” said the Scarecrow to -Tiktok, “were only the Tin Woodman with us. But it breaks my -heart to leave him behind.”</p> -<p>“He was a fine fel-low,” replied Tiktok, -“al-though his ma-ter-i-al was not ve-ry -du-ra-ble.”</p> -<p>“Oh, tin is an excellent material,” the Scarecrow -hastened to say; “and if anything ever happened to poor Nick -Chopper he was always easily soldered. Besides, he did not have to -be wound up, and was not liable to get out of order.”</p> -<p>“I some-times wish,” said Tiktok, “that I was -stuffed with straw, as you are. It is hard to be made of -cop-per.”</p> -<p>“I have no reason to complain of my lot,” replied -the Scarecrow. “A little fresh straw, now and then, makes me -as good as new. But I can never be the polished gentleman that my -poor departed friend, the Tin Woodman, was.”</p> -<p>You may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother -were delighted at seeing again their beloved country; and when the -towers of the palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear -cheering at the sight. Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy, -was so overjoyed that he took a curious tin whistle from his pocket -and blew a shrill blast that made the Sawhorse leap and prance in -sudden alarm.</p> -<p>“What is that?” asked Billina, who had been obliged -to flutter her wings in order to keep her seat upon the head of the -frightened Sawhorse.</p> -<p>“That’s my whistle,” said Prince Evring, -holding it out upon his hand.</p> -<p>It was in the shape of a little fat pig, made of tin and painted -green. The whistle was in the tail of the pig.</p> -<p>“Where did you get it?” asked the yellow hen, -closely examining the toy with her bright eyes.</p> -<p>“Why, I picked it up in the Nome King’s palace, -while Dorothy was making her guesses, and I put it in my -pocket,” answered the little Prince.</p> -<p>Billina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that -served her for a laugh.</p> -<p>“No wonder I couldn’t find the Tin Woodman,” -she said; “and no wonder the magic belt didn’t make him -appear, or the King couldn’t find him, either!”</p> -<p>“What do you mean?” questioned Dorothy.</p> -<p>“Why, the Prince had him in his pocket,” cried -Billina, cackling again.</p> -<p>“I did not!” protested little Evring. “I only -took the whistle.”</p> -<p>“Well, then, watch me,” returned the hen, and -reaching out a claw she touched the whistle and said -“Ev.”</p> -<p>Swish!</p> -<p>“Good afternoon,” said the Tin Woodman, taking off -his funnel cap and bowing to Dorothy and the Prince. “I think -I must have been asleep for the first time since I was made of tin, -for I do not remember our leaving the Nome King.”</p> -<p>“You have been enchanted,” answered the girl, -throwing an arm around her old friend and hugging him tight in her -joy. “But it’s all right, now.”</p> -<p>“I want my whistle!” said the little Prince, -beginning to cry.</p> -<p>“Hush!” cautioned Billina. “The whistle is -lost, but you may have another when you get home.”</p> -<p>The Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his -old comrade, so surprised and delighted was he to see him again, -and Tiktok squeezed the Tin Woodman’s hand so earnestly that -he dented some of his fingers. Then they had to make way for Ozma -to welcome the tin man, and the army caught sight of him and set up -a cheer, and everybody was delighted and happy.</p> -<p>For the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him, -and his sudden recovery after they had thought he was lost to them -forever was indeed a pleasant surprise.</p> -<p>Before long the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a -great crowd of people had gathered to welcome their Queen and her -ten children. There was much shouting and cheering, and the people -threw flowers in their path, and every face wore a happy smile.</p> -<p>They found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber, -where she was admiring one of her handsomest heads—one with -rich chestnut hair, dreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut -nose. She was very glad to be relieved of her duties to the people -of Ev, and the Queen graciously permitted her to retain her rooms -and her cabinet of heads as long as she lived.</p> -<p>Then the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that -overlooked the crowd of subjects gathered below, and said to -them:</p> -<p>“Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth. He is -fifteen years of age, has fifteen silver buckles on his jacket and -is the fifteenth Evardo to rule the land of Ev.”</p> -<p>The people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the -Wheelers, some of whom were present, loudly promised to obey the -new King.</p> -<p>So the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon -Evardo’s head, and threw an ermine robe over his shoulders, -and proclaimed him King; and he bowed gratefully to all his -subjects and then went away to see if he could find any cake in the -royal pantry.</p> -<p>Ozma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and -Billina, were splendidly entertained by the Queen mother, who owed -all her happiness to their kind offices; and that evening the -yellow hen was publicly presented with a beautiful necklace of -pearls and sapphires, as a token of esteem from the new King.</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_20" name="Ch_20"></a>20. The Emerald City</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Dorothy decided to accept Ozma’s invitation to return with -her to the Land of Oz. There was no greater chance of her getting -home from Ev than from Oz, and the little girl was anxious to see -once more the country where she had encountered such wonderful -adventures. By this time Uncle Henry would have reached Australia -in his ship, and had probably given her up for lost; so he -couldn’t worry any more than he did if she stayed away from -him a while longer. So she would go to Oz.</p> -<p>They bade good-bye to the people of Ev, and the King promised -Ozma that he would ever be grateful to her and render the Land of -Oz any service that might lie within his power.</p> -<p>And then they approached the edge of the dangerous desert, and -Ozma threw down the magic carpet, which at once unrolled far enough -for all of them to walk upon it without being crowded.</p> -<p>Tiktok, claiming to be Dorothy’s faithful follower because -he belonged to her, had been permitted to join the party, and -before they started the girl wound up his machinery as far as -possible, and the copper man stepped off as briskly as any one of -them.</p> -<p>Ozma also invited Billina to visit the Land of Oz, and the -yellow hen was glad enough to go where new sights and scenes -awaited her.</p> -<p>They began the trip across the desert early in the morning, and -as they stopped only long enough for Billina to lay her daily egg, -before sunset they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of the -beautiful Land of Oz. They entered it in the Munchkin territory, -and the King of the Munchkins met them at the border and welcomed -Ozma with great respect, being very pleased by her safe return. For -Ozma of Oz ruled the King of the Munchkins, the King of the -Winkies, the King of the Quadlings and the King of the Gillikins -just as those kings ruled their own people; and this supreme ruler -of the Land of Oz lived in a great town of her own, called the -Emerald City, which was in the exact center of the four kingdoms of -the Land of Oz.</p> -<p>The Munchkin king entertained them at his palace that night, and -in the morning they set out for the Emerald City, travelling over a -road of yellow brick that led straight to the jewel-studded gates. -Everywhere the people turned out to greet their beloved Ozma, and -to hail joyfully the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly -Lion, who were popular favorites. Dorothy, too, remembered some of -the people, who had befriended her on the occasion of her first -visit to Oz, and they were well pleased to see the little Kansas -girl again, and showered her with compliments and good wishes.</p> -<p>At one place, where they stopped to refresh themselves, Ozma -accepted a bowl of milk from the hands of a pretty dairy-maid. Then -she looked at the girl more closely, and exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Why, it’s Jinjur—isn’t it!”</p> -<p>“Yes, your Highness,” was the reply, as Jinjur -dropped a low curtsy. And Dorothy looked wonderingly at this lively -appearing person, who had once assembled an army of women and -driven the Scarecrow from the throne of the Emerald City, and even -fought a battle with the powerful army of Glinda the Sorceress.</p> -<p>“I’ve married a man who owns nine cows,” said -Jinjur to Ozma, “and now I am happy and contented and willing -to lead a quiet life and mind my own business.”</p> -<p>“Where is your husband?” asked Ozma.</p> -<p>“He is in the house, nursing a black eye,” replied -Jinjur, calmly. “The foolish man would insist upon milking -the red cow when I wanted him to milk the white one; but he will -know better next time, I am sure.”</p> -<p>Then the party moved on again, and after crossing a broad river -on a ferry and passing many fine farm houses that were dome shaped -and painted a pretty green color, they came in sight of a large -building that was covered with flags and bunting.</p> -<p>“I don’t remember that building,” said -Dorothy. “What is it?”</p> -<p>“That is the College of Art and Athletic -Perfection,” replied Ozma. “I had it built quite -recently, and the Woggle-Bug is its president. It keeps him busy, -and the young men who attend the college are no worse off than they -were before. You see, in this country are a number of youths who do -not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for -them.”</p> -<p>And now they came in sight of the Emerald City, and the people -flocked out to greet their lovely ruler. There were several bands -and many officers and officials of the realm, and a crowd of -citizens in their holiday attire.</p> -<p>Thus the beautiful Ozma was escorted by a brilliant procession -to her royal city, and so great was the cheering that she was -obliged to constantly bow to the right and left to acknowledge the -greetings of her subjects.</p> -<p>That evening there was a grand reception in the royal palace, -attended by the most important persons of Oz, and Jack Pumpkinhead, -who was a little overripe but still active, read an address -congratulating Ozma of Oz upon the success of her generous mission -to rescue the royal family of a neighboring kingdom.</p> -<p>Then magnificent gold medals set with precious stones were -presented to each of the twenty-six officers; and the Tin Woodman -was given a new axe studded with diamonds; and the Scarecrow -received a silver jar of complexion powder. Dorothy was presented -with a pretty coronet and made a Princess of Oz, and Tiktok -received two bracelets set with eight rows of very clear and -sparkling emeralds.</p> -<p>Afterward they sat down to a splendid feast, and Ozma put -Dorothy at her right and Billina at her left, where the hen sat -upon a golden roost and ate from a jeweled platter. Then were -placed the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and Tiktok, with baskets of -lovely flowers before them, because they did not require food. The -twenty-six officers were at the lower end of the table, and the -Lion and the Tiger also had seats, and were served on golden -platters, that held a half a bushel at one time.</p> -<p>The wealthiest and most important citizens of the Emerald City -were proud to wait upon these famous adventurers, and they were -assisted by a sprightly little maid named Jellia Jamb, whom the -Scarecrow pinched upon her rosy cheeks and seemed to know very -well.</p> -<p>During the feast Ozma grew thoughtful, and suddenly she -asked:</p> -<p>“Where is the private?”</p> -<p>“Oh, he is sweeping out the barracks,” replied one -of the generals, who was busy eating a leg of a turkey. “But -I have ordered him a dish of bread and molasses to eat when his -work is done.”</p> -<p>“Let him be sent for,” said the girl ruler.</p> -<p>While they waited for this command to be obeyed, she -enquired:</p> -<p>“Have we any other privates in the armies?”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes,” replied the Tin Woodman, “I believe -there are three, altogether.”</p> -<p>The private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal -Ozma very respectfully.</p> -<p>“What is your name, my man?” asked the girl.</p> -<p>“Omby Amby,” answered the private.</p> -<p>“Then, Omby Amby,” said she, “I promote you to -be Captain General of all the armies of my kingdom, and especially -to be Commander of my Body Guard at the royal palace.”</p> -<p>“It is very expensive to hold so many offices,” said -the private, hesitating. “I have no money with which to buy -uniforms.”</p> -<p>“You shall be supplied from the royal treasury,” -said Ozma.</p> -<p>Then the private was given a seat at the table, where the other -officers welcomed him cordially, and the feasting and merriment -were resumed.</p> -<p>Suddenly Jellia Jamb exclaimed:</p> -<p>“There is nothing more to eat! The Hungry Tiger has -consumed everything!”</p> -<p>“But that is not the worst of it,” declared the -Tiger, mournfully. “Somewhere or somehow, I’ve actually -lost my appetite!”</p> -<h2><a id="Ch_21" name="Ch_21"></a>21. Dorothy’s Magic -Belt</h2> -<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of -Contents</a></p> -<p>Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the -guest of the royal Ozma, who delighted to please and interest the -little Kansas girl. Many new acquaintances were formed and many old -ones renewed, and wherever she went Dorothy found herself among -friends.</p> -<p>One day, however, as she sat in Ozma’s private room, she -noticed hanging upon the wall a picture which constantly changed in -appearance, at one time showing a meadow and at another time a -forest, a lake or a village.</p> -<p>“How curious!” she exclaimed, after watching the -shifting scenes for a few moments.</p> -<p>“Yes,” said Ozma, “that is really a wonderful -invention in magic. If I wish to see any part of the world or any -person living, I need only express the wish and it is shown in the -picture.”</p> -<p>“May I use it?” asked Dorothy, eagerly.</p> -<p>“Of course, my dear.”</p> -<p>“Then I’d like to see the old Kansas farm, and Aunt -Em,” said the girl.</p> -<p>Instantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture, -and Aunt Em could be seen quite plainly. She was engaged in washing -dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented. -The hired men and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the -house, and the corn and wheat seemed to the child to be in prime -condition. On the side porch Dorothy’s pet dog, Toto, was -lying fast asleep in the sun, and to her surprise old Speckles was -running around with a brood of twelve new chickens trailing after -her.</p> -<p>“Everything seems all right at home,” said Dorothy, -with a sigh of relief. “Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is -doing.”</p> -<p>The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in -a pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair, -solemnly smoking his briar pipe. He looked sad and lonely, and his -hair was now quite white and his hands and face thin and -wasted.</p> -<p>“Oh!” cried Dorothy, in an anxious voice, -“I’m sure Uncle Henry isn’t getting any better, -and it’s because he is worried about me. Ozma, dear, I must -go to him at once!”</p> -<p>“How can you?” asked Ozma.</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” replied Dorothy; “but -let us go to Glinda the Good. I’m sure she will help me, and -advise me how to get to Uncle Henry.”</p> -<p>Ozma readily agreed to this plan and caused the Sawhorse to be -harnessed to a pretty green and pink phaeton, and the two girls -rode away to visit the famous sorceress.</p> -<p>Glinda received them graciously, and listened to Dorothy’s -story with attention.</p> -<p>“I have the magic belt, you know,” said the little -girl. “If I buckled it around my waist and commanded it to -take me to Uncle Henry, wouldn’t it do it?”</p> -<p>“I think so,” replied Glinda, with a smile.</p> -<p>“And then,” continued Dorothy, “if I ever -wanted to come back here again, the belt would bring me.”</p> -<p>“In that you are wrong,” said the sorceress. -“The belt has magical powers only while it is in some fairy -country, such as the Land of Oz, or the Land of Ev. Indeed, my -little friend, were you to wear it and wish yourself in Australia, -with your uncle, the wish would doubtless be fulfilled, because it -was made in fairyland. But you would not find the magic belt around -you when you arrived at your destination.”</p> -<p>“What would become of it?” asked the girl.</p> -<p>“It would be lost, as were your silver shoes when you -visited Oz before, and no one would ever see it again. It seems too -bad to destroy the use of the magic belt in that way, doesn’t -it?”</p> -<p>“Then,” said Dorothy, after a moment’s -thought, “I will give the magic belt to Ozma, for she can use -it in her own country. And she can wish me transported to Uncle -Henry without losing the belt.”</p> -<p>“That is a wise plan,” replied Glinda.</p> -<p>So they rode back to the Emerald City, and on the way it was -arranged that every Saturday morning Ozma would look at Dorothy in -her magic picture, wherever the little girl might chance to be. -And, if she saw Dorothy make a certain signal, then Ozma would know -that the little Kansas girl wanted to revisit the Land of Oz, and -by means of the Nome King’s magic belt would wish that she -might instantly return.</p> -<p>This having been agreed upon, Dorothy bade good-bye to all her -friends. Tiktok wanted to go to Australia; too, but Dorothy knew -that the machine man would never do for a servant in a civilized -country, and the chances were that his machinery wouldn’t -work at all. So she left him in Ozma’s care.</p> -<p>Billina, on the contrary, preferred the Land of Oz to any other -country, and refused to accompany Dorothy.</p> -<p>“The bugs and ants that I find here are the finest -flavored in the world,” declared the yellow hen, “and -there are plenty of them. So here I shall end my days; and I must -say, Dorothy, my dear, that you are very foolish to go back into -that stupid, humdrum world again.”</p> -<p>“Uncle Henry needs me,” said Dorothy, simply; and -every one except Billina thought it was right that she should -go.</p> -<p>All Dorothy’s friends of the Land of Oz—both old and -new—gathered in a group in front of the palace to bid her a -sorrowful good-bye and to wish her long life and happiness. After -much hand shaking, Dorothy kissed Ozma once more, and then handed -her the Nome King’s magic belt, saying:</p> -<p>“Now, dear Princess, when I wave my handkerchief, please -wish me with Uncle Henry. I’m aw’fly sorry to leave -you—and the Scarecrow—and the Tin Woodman—and the -Cowardly Lion—and Tiktok—and—and -everybody—but I do want my Uncle Henry! So good-bye, all of -you.”</p> -<p>Then the little girl stood on one of the big emeralds which -decorated the courtyard, and after looking once again at each of -her friends, waved her handkerchief.</p> -<p>“No,” said Dorothy, “I wasn’t drowned at -all. And I’ve come to nurse you and take care of you, Uncle -Henry, and you must promise to get well as soon as -poss’ble.”</p> -<p>Uncle Henry smiled and cuddled his little niece close in his -lap.</p> -<p>“I’m better already, my darling,” said he.</p> -<hr class="full" /> -<pre> -This is the end of the Project Gutenberg Edition of Ozma of Oz -</pre> -</body> -</html> |