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clear:both; font-variant:normal; } - .toc dt.scc { text-align:center; clear:both; font-variant:small-caps; } - .toc dt span.lj { text-align:left; display:block; float:left; } - .toc dt.jr { font-style:normal; } - .toc dt a span.cn, .toc dt span.cn, dt span.cn { width:3.5em; text-align:right; margin-right:.7em; float:left; } - dt .large {font-weight:bold; } - div.bcat dl dd { margin-left:4em; max-width:21em; } - div.bcat dl dt { text-indent:-2em; margin-left:2em; } - -.clear { clear:both; } -.htab { margin-left:8em; } - /* MAXWIDTH FOR JUVENILE BOOKS */ - p, blockquote, li, dd, dt, div.bcat, pre { text-align:justify; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - p, li, dd, dt, div.bcat, pre.internal dl { max-width:25em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - blockquote { max-width:23em; } - - - div.verse { max-width:25em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - div.bq { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; max-width:23em; } -/* book advertisements */ - p.bkad {font-size:125%; font-weight:bold; margin-top:2em; max-width:20em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - p.bkpr {font-size:90%; } - p.bkrv { } - dl.blist dt { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } - dl.blist, dl.biblio { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; max-width:25em; } - dl.int dt.center { text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - </style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Kabumpo in Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Kabumpo in Oz - -Author: Ruth Plumly Thompson - -Illustrator: John R. Neill - -Release Date: December 18, 2016 [EBook #53765] -Last Updated: November 4, 2017 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KABUMPO IN OZ *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Eric Lehtonen, Stephen -Hutcheson, University of Miami and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Kabumpo in Oz" width="500" height="731" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_001.jpg" alt="This Book Belongs to" width="500" height="525" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_003.jpg" alt="PRINCESS DOROTHY" width="500" height="605" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_006.jpg" alt="Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant swayed along grandly after the Prince—Page 18" width="568" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant swayed along grandly after the Prince</span>—<i>Page 18</i></p> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<h1>KABUMPO -<br />IN OZ</h1> -<p class="center"><span class="smaller">BY</span> -<br />RUTH PLUMLY THOMPSON -<br /><span class="small"><i>Founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories</i></span> -<br /><span class="smaller">BY</span> -<br />L. FRANK BAUM -<br /><span class="small">“Royal Historian of Oz”</span></p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_007.jpg" alt="Publisher logo" width="300" height="136" /> -</div> -<p class="center"><span class="smaller">Illustrated by</span> -<br /><span class="small">JOHN R. NEILL</span></p> -<p class="center">The Reilly & Lee Co. -<br /><span class="small">Chicago</span></p> -</div> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i> -<br />Copyright, 1922 -<br />By -<br />The Reilly & Lee Co.</span></p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_009.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="198" /> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">Dear Children:</p> -<p>Do you like Elephants? Do you believe in Giants? And do you -love all the jolly people of the Wonderful Land of Oz?</p> -<p>Well, then you’ll want to hear about the latest happenings in -that delightful Kingdom. All are set forth in true Oz fashion in -“Kabumpo in Oz,” the fifteenth Oz book.</p> -<p>Kabumpo is an Elegant Elephant. He is very old and wise, and -has a kindly heart, as have all the Oz folks. In the new book you’ll -meet Prince Pompa, and Peg Amy, a charming Wooden Doll. -There are new countries, strange adventures and the most surprising -Box of Magic you have ever heard of. Ruggedo, the wicked -old Gnome King, does a lot of mischief with this before Princess -Ozma can stop him.</p> -<p>Of course Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Scraps, Glinda the Good, -Tik-Tok, and other old friends all are alive and busy in the new -book. I am just back from the Emerald City with the best of Oz -wishes for everybody, <i>but especially for you</i>.</p> -<p><span class="jr"><span class="sc">Ruth Plumly Thompson.</span></span></p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0"><span class="small">Philadelphia,</span></p> -<p class="t"><span class="small">Spring of 1922.</span></p> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_010.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="361" /> -</div> -<p class="tbcenter">This book is dedicated with -<br />all of my heart -<br /><span class="sc">To Janet</span> -<br />My littlest sister but biggest assistor -<br /><span class="jr"><span class="sc">Ruth Plumly Thompson</span></span></p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_011.jpg" alt="LIST OF CHAPTERS" width="600" height="239" /> -</div> -<h2>LIST OF CHAPTERS</h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt class="jr">Page</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">1 </span><a href="#c1">The Exploding Birthday Cake</a> 15</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">2 </span><a href="#c2">Picking a Proper Princess</a> 30</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">3 </span><a href="#c3">Kabumpo and Pompa Disappear</a> 44</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">4 </span><a href="#c4">The Curious Cottabus Appears</a> 50</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">5 </span><a href="#c5">In the City of The Figure Heads</a> 62</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">6 </span><a href="#c6">Ruggedo’s History In Six Rocks</a> 78</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">7 </span><a href="#c7">Sir Hokus And The Giants</a> 95</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">8 </span><a href="#c8">Woe in the Emerald City</a> 105</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">9 </span><a href="#c9">Mixed Magic Makes Mischief</a> 114</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">10 </span><a href="#c10">Peg and Wag to the Rescue</a> 132</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">11 </span><a href="#c11">The King of the Illumi Nation</a> 145</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">12 </span><a href="#c12">The Delicious Sea of Soup</a> 160</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">13 </span><a href="#c13">On the Road to Ev</a> 174</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">14 </span><a href="#c14">Terror in Ozma’s Palace</a> 188</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">15 </span><a href="#c15">The Sand Man Takes a Hand</a> 205</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">16 </span><a href="#c16">Kabumpo Vanquishes The Twigs</a> 211</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">17 </span><a href="#c17">Meeting the Runaway Country</a> 226</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">18 </span><a href="#c18">Prince Pompadore Proposes</a> 240</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">19 </span><a href="#c19">Ozma Takes Things in Hand</a> 255</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">20 </span><a href="#c20">The Proper Princess is Found</a> 267</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">21 </span><a href="#c21">How It All Came About</a> 281</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">22 </span><a href="#c22">Ruggedo’s Last Rock</a> 292</dt> -</dl> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_012.jpg" alt="Princess Ozma, of Oz" width="500" height="770" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_013.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="481" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c1"><span class="smaller">Chapter 1</span> -<br />The Exploding Birthday Cake</h2> -<p>“The cake, you chattering Chittimong! Where is the -cake? Stirem, Friem, Hashem, <i>where</i> is the -cake?” cried Eejabo, chief footman in the palace of -Pumperdink, bouncing into the royal pantry.</p> -<p>The three cooks, too astonished for speech, and with -staring eyes, pointed to the center table. The great, -gorgeous birthday cake was gone, though not two seconds -before it had been placed on the table by Hashem -himself.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div> -<p>“It was my m-m-asterpiece,” sobbed Hashem, tearing -off his cap and throwing his apron over his head.</p> -<p>“Help! Robbers! Thieves!” cried Stirem and -Friem, running to the window.</p> -<p>Here <i>was</i> a howdedo. The trumpets blowing for the -celebration to begin and the best part of the celebration -gone!</p> -<p>“We’ll all be dipped for this!” wailed Eejabo, flinging -open the second best china closet so violently that -three silver cups and a pewter mug tumbled out. Just -then there was a scream from Hashem, who had -removed the apron from his head. “Look!” he shrieked. -“There it is!”</p> -<p>Back to the table rushed the other three, Stirem and -Friem rubbing their eyes and Eejabo his head where -the cups had bumped him severely. Upon the table -stood the royal cake, as pink and perfect as ever.</p> -<p>“It was there all the time, mince my eyebrows!” -spluttered Hashem in an injured voice. “Called me a -Chittimong, did you?” Grasping a big wooden spoon -he ran angrily at Eejabo.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div> -<p>“Was it gone or wasn’t it?” cried Eejabo, appealing -to the others and hastily catching up a bread knife to -defend himself. Instantly there arose a babble.</p> -<p>“It was!”</p> -<p>“It wasn’t!”</p> -<p>“Was!” Rap, bang, <i>clatter</i>. In a minute they were -in a furious argument, not only with words but with -spoons, forks and bowls. And dear knows what would -have become of the cake had not a bell rung loudly -and the second footman poked his head through the -door.</p> -<p>“The cake! Where is the cake?” he wheezed importantly.</p> -<p>So Eejabo, dodging three cups and a salt cellar, -seized the great silver platter and dashed into the great -banquet hall. One pink coat tail was missing and his -wig was somewhat elevated over the left ear from the -lump raised by the pewter mug, but he summoned -what dignity he could and joined the grand procession -of footmen who were bearing gold and silver dishes -filled with goodies for the birthday feast of Prince -Pompadore of Pumperdink.</p> -<p>The royal guests were already assembled and just as -Eejabo entered, the pages blew a shrill blast upon their -silver trumpets and the Prime Pumper stepped forward -to announce their Majesties.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<p>“Oyez! Oyez!” shouted the Prime Pumper, pounding -on the floor with his silver staff, while the guests -politely inclined their heads just as if they had not -heard the same announcement dozens of times before:</p> -<p>“Oyez! Oyez!</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Pompus the Proud</p> -<p class="t0">And Pozy Pink,</p> -<p class="t0">King and Queen</p> -<p class="t0">Of Pumperdink—</p> -<p class="t0">Way for the King</p> -<p class="t0">And clear the floor,</p> -<p class="t0">Way for our good</p> -<p class="t0">Prince Pompadore.</p> -<p class="t0">Way for the Elegant</p> -<p class="t0">Elephant—Way</p> -<p class="t0">For the King and</p> -<p class="t0">The Queen and the</p> -<p class="t0">Prince, I say!”</p> -</div> -<p>So everybody <i>wayed</i>, which is to say they bowed, and -down the center of the room swept Pompus, very fat -and gorgeous in his purple robes and jeweled crown, -and Pozy Pink, very stately and queenlike in her -ermine cloak, and Prince Pompadore very straight and -handsome! In fact, they looked exactly as a good old-fashioned -royal family should.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_017.jpg" alt="Pumperdink" width="500" height="777" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div> -<p>But Kabumpo, who swayed along grandly after the -Prince—few royal families could boast of so royal and -elegant an elephant! He was huge and gray. On his -head he wore jeweled bands and a jeweled court robe -billowed out majestically as he walked. His little eyes -twinkled merrily and his big ears flapped so sociably, -that just to look at him put one in a good humor. -Kabumpo was the only elephant in Pumperdink, or in -any Kingdom near Pumperdink, so no wonder he was -a prime favorite at Court. He had been given to the -King at Pompa’s christening by a friendly stranger -and since then had enjoyed every luxury and advantage. -He was not only treated as a member of the royal -family, but was always addressed as <i>Sir</i> by all of the -palace servants.</p> -<p>“He lends an air of elegance to our Court,” the King -was fond of saying, and the Elegant Elephant he -surely had become. Now an Elegant Elephant at -Court might seem strange in a regular up-to-date -country, but Pumperdink is not at all regular nor up -to date. It is a cozy, old-fashioned Kingdom, ’way up -in the northern part of the Gilliken country of Oz; old-fashioned -enough to wear knee breeches and have a -King and cozy enough to still enjoy birthday parties -and candy pulls.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div> -<p>If Pompus, the King, was a bit proud who could -blame him? His Queen was the loveliest, his son the -most charming and his elephant the most elegant and -unusual for twenty Kingdoms round about. And -Pompus, for all his pride, had a very simple way of -ruling. When the Pumperdinkians did right they -were rewarded; when they did wrong they were -dipped.</p> -<p>In the very center of the courtyard there is a great -stone well with a huge stone bucket. Into this Pumperdink -well all offenders and law breakers were lowered. -Its waters were dark blue and as the color stuck to one -for several days the inhabitants of Pumperdink were -careful to behave well, so that the Chief Dipper, who -turned the wheel that raised and lowered the bucket, -often had days at a time with nothing to do. This time -he spent in writing poetry, and as Prince Pompadore -took the place of honor at the head of the table the -Chief Dipper rose from his humble place at the foot -and with a moist flourish burst forth:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Oh, Pompadore of Pumperdink,</p> -<p class="t0">Of all perfection you’re the pink;</p> -<p class="t2">Your praises now I utter!</p> -<p class="t0">Your eyes are clear as apple sauce,</p> -<p class="t0">Your head the best I’ve come across;</p> -<p class="t2">Your heart is soft as butter.”</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div> -<p>“Very good,” said the King, and the Chief Dipper -sat down, blushing with pride and confusion. Prince -Pompadore bowed and the rest of the party clapped -tremendously.</p> -<p>“Sounds like a dipper full of nonsense to me,” -wheezed Kabumpo, who stood directly back of Prince -Pompadore’s throne, leisurely consuming a bale of -hay placed on the floor beside him. It may surprise -you to know that all the animals in Oz can talk, but -such is the case, and Pumperdink being in the fairy -country of Oz, Kabumpo could talk as well as any man -and better than most.</p> -<p>“Eyes like apple sauce—heart of butter! Ho-ho, kerrumph!” -The Elegant Elephant laughed so hard he -shook all over; then slyly reaching over the Prime -Pumper’s shoulder, he snatched his glass of pink lemonade -and emptied it down his great throat, setting the -tumbler back before the old fellow turned his head.</p> -<p>“Did you call, Sir?” asked Eejabo, hurrying over. -He had mistaken Kabumpo’s laugh for a command.</p> -<p>“Yes; why did you not give his Excellency lemonade?” -demanded the Elegant Elephant sternly.</p> -<p>“I did; he must have drunk it, Sir!” stuttered -Eejabo.</p> -<p>“Drunk it!” cried the Prime Pumper, pounding on -the table indignantly. “I never had any!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div> -<p>“Fetch him a glass at once,” rumbled Kabumpo, -waving his trunk, and Eejabo, too wise to argue with -a member of the royal family, brought another glass -of lemonade. But no sooner had he done so than the -mischievous elephant stole that, next the Prime Pumper’s -plate and roll, and all so quickly, no one but Prince -Pompadore knew what was happening and poor -Eejabo was kept running backwards and forwards till -his wig stood on end with confusion and rage.</p> -<p>All of this was very amusing to the Prince, and -helped him to listen pleasantly to the fifteen long -birthday speeches addressed to him by members of -the Royal Guard. But if the speeches were dull, the -dinner was not. The fiddlers fiddled so merrily, and -the chief cook Hashem had so outdone himself in the -preparation of new and delicious dainties, that by ice-cream-and-cake -time everyone was in a high good -humor.</p> -<p>“The cake, my good Eejabo! Fetch forth the cake!” -commanded King Pompus, beaming fondly upon his -son. Nervously Eejabo stepped to the side table and -lighted the eighteen tall birthday candles. A cake -that had disappeared once might easily do so again, -and Eejabo was anxious to have it cut and out of the -way—out of <i>his</i> way at least.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<p>Hashem, looking through a tiny crack in the door, -almost burst with pride as his gorgeous pink masterpiece -was set down before the Prince.</p> -<p>“Many happy returns of your eighteenth birthday!” -cried the Courtiers, jumping to their feet and waving -their napkins enthusiastically.</p> -<p>“Thank you! Thank you!” chuckled Pompadore, -bowing low. “I feel that this is but one of many more -to come!” Which may sound strange, but Pumperdink -being in Oz, one may have as many eighteenth -birthdays as one cares to have. This was Pompa’s -tenth and while the courtiers drank his health the -Prince made ready to blow out the birthday candles.</p> -<p>“That’s right, blow ’em all out at once!” cried the -King. So Pompa puffed out his cheeks and blew with -all his might. But not a candle flickered. Then he -tried again. Indeed, he puffed and blew until he was -a regular royal purple, but nary a candle flame so -much as wavered.</p> -<p>“Stubbornest candles I ever saw!” blustered King -Pompus. Then <i>he</i> puffed out his cheeks and blew like -a porpoise; so did Queen Pozy and the Prime Pumper; -so did everybody. They blew until every dish upon -the table skipped and they all sank back exhausted in -their chairs, but the candles burned as merrily as ever.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div> -<p>Then Kabumpo took a hand—or rather a trunk. -He had been watching the proceedings with his -twinkling little eyes. Now he took a tremendous -breath, pointed his trunk straight at the cake and -blew with all his strength.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_023.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="408" /> -</div> -<p>Every candle went out—but <i>stars</i>! As they did, the -great pink cake exploded with such force that half the -Courtiers were flung under the table and the rest -knocked unconscious by flying fragments of icing, -tumblers and plates.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div> -<p>“<i>Treason!</i>” screamed Pompus, the first to recover -from the shock. “Who dared put gunpowder in the -cake?” Brushing the icing from his nose, he glared -around angrily. The first person to catch his eye was -Hashem, the cook, who stood trembling in the doorway.</p> -<p>“<i>Dip him!</i>” shouted the King furiously. And the -Chief Dipper, only too glad of an excuse to escape, -seized poor Hashem. “<i>And him!</i>” ordered the King, -as Eejabo tried to sidle out of the room. “<i>And them!</i>” -as all the other footmen started to run. Forming his -victims in a line the Chief Dipper marched them -sternly from the banquet hall.</p> -<p>“Oyez! Oyez Everybody shall be dipped!” mumbled -the Prime Pumper, feebly raising his head.</p> -<p>“Oh, no! Oh, no! Nothing of the sort!” snapped -the King, fanning poor Queen Pozy Pink with a plate. -She had fainted dead away.</p> -<p>“What is the meaning of this outrage?” shouted -Pompus, his anger rising again.</p> -<p>“How should I know?” wheezed Kabumpo, dragging -Prince Pompadore from beneath the table and -pouring a jug of cream over his head.</p> -<p>“Something hit me,” moaned the Prince, opening -his eyes.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<p>“Of course it did!” said Kabumpo. “The cake hit -you. Made a great hit with us all—that cake!” The -Elegant Elephant looked ruefully at his silk robe of -state, which was hopelessly smeared with icing; then -put his trunk to his head, for something hard had -struck him between the eyes. He felt about the floor -and found a round shiny object which he was about to -show the King when Pompus pounced upon a tall -scroll sitting upright in his tumbler. In the confusion -of the moment it had escaped his attention.</p> -<p>“Perhaps this will explain,” spluttered the King, -breaking the seal. Queen Pozy Pink opened her eyes -with a sigh, and the Courtiers, crawling out from -beneath the table, looked up anxiously, for everyone -was still dazed from the tremendous explosion. Pompus -read the scroll to himself with popping eyes and -then began to dance up and down in a frenzy.</p> -<p>“What is it? What is it?” cried the Queen, trying -to read over his shoulder. Then she gave a well-bred -scream and fainted away in the arms of General -Quakes, who had come up behind her.</p> -<p>By this time the Prime Pumper had recovered sufficiently -to remember that reading scrolls and court -papers was his business. Somewhat unsteadily he -walked over and took the scroll from the King.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_28">28</div> -<p>“Oyez! Oyez!” he faltered, pounding on the table.</p> -<p>“Oh, never mind that!” rumbled Kabumpo, flagging -his ears. “Let’s hear what it says!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_026.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="452" /> -</div> -<p>“Know ye,” began the old man in a high, shaky -voice, “know ye that unless ye Prince of ye ancient -and honorable Kingdom of Pumperdink wed ye Proper -Fairy Princess in ye proper span of time ye Kingdom -of Pumperdink shall disappear forever and <i>even longer</i> -from ye Gilliken country of Oz. -<span class="jr"><i>J. G.</i>”</span></p> -<p>“What?” screamed Pompadore, bounding to his feet. -“Me? But I don’t <i>want</i> to marry!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div> -<p>“You’ll have to,” groaned the King, with a wave at -the scroll. The Courtiers sat staring at one another -in dazed disbelief. From the courtyard came the -splash and splutter of the luckless footmen and the -dismal creaking of the stone bucket.</p> -<p>“Oh!” wailed Pompa, throwing up his hands. “This -is the worst eighteenth birthday I’ve ever had. I’ll -never have another as long as I live!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_027.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="505" height="400" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_028.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="539" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c2"><span class="smaller">Chapter 2</span> -<br />Picking a Proper Princess</h2> -<p>“What shall we do first?” groaned the King, -holding his head with both hands. “Let me -think!”</p> -<p>“Right,” said Kabumpo. “Think by all means.”</p> -<p>So the great hall was cleared and the King, with the -mysterious scroll spread out before him, thought and -thought and <i>thought</i>. But he did not make much -<span class="pb" id="Page_31">31</span> -headway, for, as he explained over and over to Queen -Pozy, who—with Pompadore, the Elegant Elephant -and the Prime Pumper—had remained to help him, -“How is one to know where to find the Proper Princess, -and how is one to know the proper time for -Pompa to wed her?”</p> -<p>Who was J.G.? How did the scroll get in the cake?</p> -<p>The more the King thought about these questions, -the more wrinkled his forehead became.</p> -<p>“Why! We’re liable to wake up any morning and -find ourselves gone,” he announced gloomily. “How -does it feel to disappear, I wonder?”</p> -<p>“I suppose it would give one rather a gone feeling, -but I don’t believe it would hurt—much!” volunteered -Kabumpo, glancing uneasily over his shoulder.</p> -<p>“Perhaps not, but it would not get us anywhere. My -idea is to marry the Prince at once to a Proper Princess,” -put in the Prime Pumper, “and avoid all this -disappearing.”</p> -<p>“You’re in a great hurry to marry me off, aren’t -you,” said Pompadore sulkily. “For my part, I don’t -want to marry at all!”</p> -<p>“Well, that’s very selfish of you, Pompa,” said the -King in a grieved voice. “Do you want your poor old -father to disappear?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div> -<p>“Not only your poor old father,” choked the Prime -Pumper, rolling up his eyes. “How about me?”</p> -<p>“Oh, you—<i>you</i> can disappear any time you want,” -said the Prince unfeelingly.</p> -<p>“It all started with that wretched cake,” sighed the -Queen. “I am positive the scroll flew out of the cake -when it exploded.”</p> -<p>“Of course it did!” cried Pompus. “Let us send for -the cook and question him.”</p> -<p>So Hashem, very wet and blue from his dip, was -brought before the King.</p> -<p>“A fine cook you are!” roared Pompus, “mixing gun -powder and scrolls in a birthday cake.”</p> -<p>“But I didn’t,” wailed Hashem, falling on his knees. -“Only eggs, your Highness—very best eggs—sugar, -flour, spice and—”</p> -<p>“Bombshells!” cried the King angrily.</p> -<p>“The cake disappeared <i>before</i> the party, your -Majesty!” cried Eejabo.</p> -<p>Everyone jumped at the sudden interruption, and -Eejabo, who had crept in unnoticed, stepped before -the throne.</p> -<p>“Disappeared,” continued Eejabo hoarsely, dripping -blue water all over the royal rugs. “One minute -there it was on the pantry table. Next minute—<i>gone!</i>” -croaked Eejabo, flinging up his hands and -shrugging his shoulders.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<p>“Then, before a fellow could turn around, it was -back. ’Tweren’t our fault if magic got mixed into it, -and here we have been dipped for nothing!”</p> -<p>“Well, why didn’t you say so before!” asked the -King in exasperation.</p> -<p>“Fine chance I had to say anything!” sniffed -Eejabo, wringing out his lace ruffles.</p> -<p>“Eh—rr—you may have the day off, my good man,” -said Pompus, with an apologetic cough—“And <i>you</i> -also,” with a wave at Hashem. Very stiffly the two -walked to the door.</p> -<p>“It’s an off day for us, all right,” said Eejabo ungraciously, -and without so much as a bow the two disappeared.</p> -<p>“I fear you were a bit hasty, my love,” murmured -Queen Pozy, looking after them with a troubled little -frown.</p> -<p>“Well, who wouldn’t be!” cried Pompus, ruffling -up his hair. “Here we are liable to disappear any -minute and all you do is to stand around and criticize -me. <i>Begone!</i>” he puffed angrily, as a page stuck his -head in the door.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_34">34</div> -<p>“No use shouting at people to begone,” said the Elegant -Elephant testily. “We’ll all begone soon -enough.”</p> -<p>At this Queen Pozy began to weep into her silk -handkerchief, which sight so affected Prince Pompadore -that he rushed forward and embraced her tenderly.</p> -<p>“I’ll marry!” cried the Prince impulsively. “I’ll do -anything! The trouble is there aren’t any Fairy Princesses -around here!”</p> -<p>“There must be,” said the King.</p> -<p>“There is—There are!” screamed the Prime -Pumper, bouncing up suddenly. “Oyez, Oyez! Has -your Majesty forgotten Faleero, royal Princess of Follensby -forest?”</p> -<p>“Why, of course!” The King snapped his fingers -joyfully. “Everyone says Faleero is a Fairy Princess. -She must be the proper one!”</p> -<p>“Fa—<i>leero</i>!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, sitting -down with a terrific thud. “That awful old creature! -You ought to be ashamed of yourself!”</p> -<p>“Silence!” thundered the King.</p> -<p>“Nonsense!” trumpeted Kabumpo. “She’s a thousand -years old and as ugly as a stone Lukoogoo. Don’t -you marry her, Pompa.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div> -<p>“I command him to marry her!” cried the King -opening his eyes very wide and bending forward.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_033.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="419" /> -</div> -<p>“Faleero?” gasped the Prince, scarcely believing -his ears. No wonder Pompadore was shocked. -Faleero, although a Princess in her own right and of -royal fairy descent, was so unattractive that in all her -thousand years of life no one had wished to marry -her. She lived in a small hut in the great forest kingdom -next to Pumperdink and did nothing all day but -gather faggots. Her face was long and lean, her hair -thin and black and her nose so large that it made you -think of a cauliflower.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div> -<p>“Ugh!” groaned Prince Pompadore, falling back on -Kabumpo for support.</p> -<p>“Well, she’s a Princess and a fairy—the only one in -any Kingdom. I don’t see why you want to be so -fussy!” said the King fretfully.</p> -<p>“Shall I tell her Royal Highness of the great good -fortune that has befallen her?” asked the Prime -Pumper, starting for the door.</p> -<p>“Do so at once,” snapped Pompus. Just then he -gave a scream of fright and pain, for a round shiny -object had flown through the air and struck him on -the head. “What was that?”</p> -<p>The Prime Pumper looked suspiciously at the Elegant -Elephant. Kabumpo glared back.</p> -<p>“A—a warning!” stuttered the Prime Pumper, -afraid to say that Kabumpo had flung the offending -missile. “A warning, your Majesty!”</p> -<p>“It’s nothing of the kind,” said the King angrily. -“You’re getting old, Pumper and stupid. It’s—why -it’s a door knob! Who <i>dares</i> to hit me with a door -knob?”</p> -<p>“It hit me once,” mumbled Kabumpo, shifting uneasily -from one foot to the other three. “How does it -strike you?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>“As an outrageous piece of impertinence!” spluttered -Pompus, turning as red as a turkey cock.</p> -<p>“Perhaps it has something to do with the scroll,” -suggested Queen Pozy, taking it from the King. -“See! It is gold and all the door knobs in the palace -are ivory. And look! Here are some initials!”</p> -<p>Sure enough! It was gold and in the very centre -were the initials P. A.</p> -<p>Just at this interesting juncture the page, who had -been poking his head in the door every few minutes, -gathered his courage together and rushed up to the -King.</p> -<p>“Pardon, Most High Highness, but General Quakes -bade me say that this mirror was found under the window,” -stuttered the page, and before Pompus had an -opportunity to cry “Begone!” or “Dip him!” the little -fellow made a dash for the door and disappeared.</p> -<p>“It grows more puzzling every minute,” wailed the -King, looking from the door knob to the mirror and -from the mirror to the scroll.</p> -<p>“If you take my advice you’ll have this marriage -performed at once,” said the Prime Pumper in a trembling -voice.</p> -<p>“I believe I will!” sighed Pompus, rubbing the -bump on his head. “Go and fetch the Princess Faleero -and you, Pompa, prepare for your wedding.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div> -<p>“But Father!” began the Prince.</p> -<p>“Not another word or you’ll be dipped!” rumbled -the King of Pumperdink. “I’m not going to have my -kingdom disappearing if I can help it!”</p> -<p>“You mean if <i>I</i> can help it,” muttered Pompadore -gloomily.</p> -<p>“This is ridiculous!” stormed the Elegant Elephant, -as the Prime Pumper rushed importantly out of the -room. “Don’t you know that this country of ours is -only a small part of the great Kingdom of Oz? There -must be hundreds of Princesses for Pompadore to -choose from. Why should he not wed Ozma, the princess -of us all? Haven’t you read any Oz history? -Have you never heard of the wonderful Emerald City? -Let Pompadore start out at once. I, myself, will -accompany him, and if Ozma refuses to marry him—well”—the -Elegant Elephant drew himself up—“I -will carry her off—that’s all!”</p> -<p>“It’s a long way to the Emerald City,” mused Queen -Pozy, “but still—”</p> -<p>“Yes, and what is to become of us in the meantime -pray? While you are wandering all over Oz we can -disappear I suppose! No Sir! Not one step do you go -out of Pumperdink. Faleero is the Proper Princess -and Pompadore shall marry her!” said Pompus.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div> -<p>“You’re talking through your crown,” wheezed -Kabumpo. “How about the door knob and mirror? -They came out of the cake as well as the scroll. What -are you going to do about them? Let’s have a look at -that mirror.”</p> -<p>“Just a common gold mirror,” fumed Pompus, holding -it up for the Elegant Elephant to see.</p> -<p>“What’s the matter?” as Kabumpo gave a snort.</p> -<p>On the face of the mirror, as Kabumpo looked in, -two words appeared:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">Elegant Elephant.</p> -</div> -<p>And when Pompus snatched the mirror, above his -reflection stood the words:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">Fat Old King.</p> -</div> -<p>Then Queen Pozy peeped into the mirror, which -promptly flashed:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">Lovely Queen.</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div> -<p>“Why, it’s telling the truth!” screamed Pompa, -looking over his mother’s shoulder. At this the words -“Charming Prince” formed quickly in the glass.</p> -<p>The Prince grinned at his father, who was now -quite beside himself with rage.</p> -<p>“You think I’m fat and old, do you!” snorted the -King, flinging the gold mirror face down on the table. -“This is a nice day, I must say! Scrolls, door knobs, -mirrors and insults!”</p> -<p>“But what can P. A. stand for?” mused Queen Pozy -thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“Plain enough,” chuckled Kabumpo, maliciously. -“It stands for perfectly awful!”</p> -<p>“Who’s perfectly awful?” asked Pompus suspiciously.</p> -<p>“Why, Faleero,” sniffed the Elegant Elephant. -“That’s plain enough to everybody!”</p> -<p>“Dip him!” shrieked Pompus. “I’ve had enough of -this! <i>Dip him</i>—do you hear?”</p> -<p>“That,” yawned Kabumpo, straightening his silk -robe, “is impossible!” And, considering his size it -was. But just that minute the Prime Pumper returned -and in his interest to hear what the Princess -Faleero had said the King forgot about dipping Kabumpo.</p> -<p>The courier from the Princess stepped forward.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div> -<p>“Her Highness,” puffed the Prime Pumper, who -had run all the way, “Her Highness accepts Prince -Pompadore with pleasure and will marry him to-morrow -morning.”</p> -<p>Prince Pompadore gave a dismal groan.</p> -<p>“Fine!” cried the King, rubbing his hands together. -“Let everything be made ready for the ceremony, and -in the meantime”—Pompus glared about fiercely—“I -forbid anyone’s disappearing. I am still the King! -Set a guard around the castle, Pumper, to watch for -any signs of disappearance, and if so much as a fence -paling disappears”—he drew himself up—“notify me -<i>at once</i>!” Then turning to the throne Pompus gave -his arm to Queen Pozy and together they started for -the garden.</p> -<p>“Do you mean to say you are going to pay no attention -to the mirror or door knob?” cried Kabumpo, -planting himself in the King’s path.</p> -<p>“Go away,” said Pompus crossly.</p> -<p>“Oyez! Oyez! Way for their Majesties!” cried the -Prime Pumper, running ahead with his silver staff, -and the royal couple swept out of the banquet hall.</p> -<p>“Never mind, Kabumpo,” said the Prince, flinging -his arm affectionately around the Elegant Elephant’s -trunk, “I dare say Faleero has her good points—and -we cannot let the old Kingdom disappear, you know!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_040.jpg" alt="“Flinging his arms affectionately around the Elegant Elephant’s trunk”" width="500" height="746" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">Flinging his arms affectionately around the Elegant Elephant’s trunk</span>”</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div> -<p>“Fiddlesticks!” choked Kabumpo. “She’ll make a -door mat of you, Pompa—Prince Pompadormat—that’s -what you’ll be! Let’s run away!” he proposed, -his little eyes twinkling anxiously.</p> -<p>“I couldn’t do that and let the Kingdom disappear, -it wouldn’t be right,” sighed the Prince, and sadly he -followed his parents into the royal gardens.</p> -<p>“The King’s a Gooch!” gulped the Elegant Elephant -unhappily. Then, all at once he flung up his -trunk. “Somebody’s going to disappear around here,” -he wheezed darkly, “that’s certain!” With a mighty -rustling of his silk robe, Kabumpo hurried off to his -own royal quarters in the palace.</p> -<p>Left alone, Prince Pompa threw himself down at -the foot of the throne, and gazed sadly into space.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_44">44</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_042.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="532" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c3"><span class="smaller">Chapter 3</span> -<br />Kabumpo and Pompa Disappear</h2> -<p>Once in his own apartment, Kabumpo pulled the -bell rope furiously.</p> -<p>“My pearls and my purple plush robe! Bring them -at once!” he puffed when his personal attendant appeared -in the doorway.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_45">45</div> -<p>“Yes, Sir! Are you going out, Sir?” murmured the -little Pumperdinkian, hastening to a great chest in the -corner of the big marble room, to get out of the robe.</p> -<p>“Not unless disappearing is going out,” said Kabumpo -more mildly, for he was quite fond of this little -man who waited on him. “But I’m liable to disappear -any minute. So are you. So is everybody, and I, for -my part, wish to do the thing well and disappear with -as much elegance as possible. Have you heard about -the magic scroll, Spezzle?”</p> -<p>“Yes, Sir!” quavered Spezzle, mounting a ladder to -adjust the Elegant Elephant’s pearls and gorgeous -robe of state. “Yes, Sir, and my head’s going round -and round like—”</p> -<p>“Like what?” asked Kabumpo, looking approvingly -at his reflection in the long mirror.</p> -<p>“I can’t rightly say, Sir,” sighed Spezzle. “This -disappearing has me that mixed up I don’t know what -I’m doing.”</p> -<p>“Well, don’t start by losing your head,” chuckled -Kabumpo. “There—that will do very well.” He -lifted the little man down from the ladder.</p> -<p>“Good-bye, Spezzle. If you should disappear before -I should see you again, try to do it in style.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Sir!” gulped Spezzle. Then taking out a -bright red handkerchief he blew his nose violently and -rushed out of the room.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<p>Kabumpo walked up and down before the mirror, -surveying himself from all angles. A very gorgeous -appearance he presented, in his purple plush robe of -state, all embroidered in silver, and his head bands -of shining pearls. In the left side of his robe there -was a deep pocket. Into this the Elegant Elephant -slipped all the jewels he possessed, taking them from -a drawer in the chest.</p> -<p>“I must get that gold door knob,” he rumbled -thoughtfully. “And the mirror.” Noiselessly (for all -his tremendous size, Kabumpo could move without a -sound) he made his way back to the banquet hall and -loomed up suddenly behind the Prime Pumper. The -old fellow was staring with popping eyes into the gold -mirror.</p> -<p>“Ho, Ho!” roared Kabumpo. “Ho, Ho! Kerumph!”</p> -<p>No wonder! Above the shocked reflection of the -foolish statesman stood the words “Old Goose!”</p> -<p>“A truthful mirror, indeed,” wheezed the Elegant -Elephant.</p> -<p>“Heh? What?” stuttered the Prime Pumper, slapping -the mirror down on the table in a hurry. -“Where’d you come from? What are you all dressed -up for?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_47">47</div> -<p>“For my disappearance,” said Kabumpo, sweeping -the door knob and mirror into his pocket. “I’m getting -ready to disappear. How do I look?”</p> -<p>Before the Prime Pumper had time to answer, the -Elegant Elephant was gone.</p> -<p>Back in his own room, Kabumpo paced impatiently -up and down, waiting for night. “I do not see how -she could refuse us,” he mumbled every now and then -to himself.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_045.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="580" height="500" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div> -<p>That was an anxious afternoon and evening in the -palace of Pumperdink. Every few minutes the Courtiers -felt themselves nervously to see if they were still -there. The servants went about on tip-toe, looking -fearfully over their shoulders for the first signs of disappearance. -As it grew darker the gates and windows -were securely barred and not a candle was -lighted. “The less the castle shows, the less likely it -is to disappear,” reasoned the King.</p> -<p>The darkness suited Kabumpo. He waited until -everyone in the palace had retired, and a full hour -longer. Then he stepped softly down the passage to -the Prince’s apartment. Pompadore, without undressing -had flung himself upon a couch and fallen into an -uneasy slumber.</p> -<p>Without making a sound, Kabumpo took the Prince’s -crown from a dressing cabinet, slipped it carefully -into the pocket of his robe, and then carefully lifted -the sleeping Prince in his curling trunk and started -cautiously down the great hall. Setting him gently -on the floor as he reached the palace doors, he pushed -back the golden bolts and stepped out into the garden.</p> -<p>The voices of the watchmen calling to each other -from the great wall came faintly through the darkness, -but the Elegant Elephant hurried to a secret -unguarded entrance known only to himself and Pompadore -and passed like a great shadow through the -swinging gates. Once outside, he swung the sleeping -Prince to his broad back and ran swiftly and silently -through the night.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<p>“What are we doing?” murmured the Prince drowsily -in his sleep.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_047.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="395" /> -</div> -<p>“Disappearing,” chuckled Kabumpo under his -breath. “Disappearing from Pumperdink, my lad.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_048.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="535" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c4"><span class="smaller">Chapter 4</span> -<br />The Curious Cottabus Appears</h2> -<p>“Ouch!” Prince Pompadore stirred uneasily and -rolled over. “Ouch!” he groaned again, giving -his pillow a fretful thump. “Ouch!” This time his -eyes flew wide open, for his knuckles were tingling -with pain.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div> -<p>“A rock!” gasped the Prince, sitting up indignantly. -“A rock under my head! No wonder it aches! Great -Gillikens! Where am I?” He stared about wildly. -There was not a familiar object in sight. Indeed he -was in a dim, deep forest, and from the distance came -the sound of someone sawing wood.</p> -<p>“Oh! Oh! I know!” muttered the Prince, rubbing -his head miserably. “It’s that wretched scroll. I’ve -disappeared and this is the place I’ve disappeared to.” -Stiffly he got to his feet and started to walk in the -direction of the sawing, but had only gone a few steps -before he gave a cry of joy, for there, leaning up -against a tree, snoring like twenty wood-cutters at -work, was Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Wake up!” cried Pompadore, pounding him with -all his might. “Wake up, Kabumpo. We’ve disappeared!”</p> -<p>“Have we?” yawned the Elegant Elephant, opening -one eye. “You don’t say? Hah, Hoh, Hum!” With -a tremendous yawn he opened the other eye and began -to chuckle and shake all over.</p> -<p>“We stole a march on ’em, Pompa. I’d like to see -the King’s face when he finds us gone. Old Pumper -will be Oyezing all over the palace. He’ll think we’ve -disappeared by magic.”</p> -<p>“Well, didn’t we?” asked Pompadore in amazement.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div> -<p>“Not unless you call <i>me</i> magic. I carried you off in -the night. Did you suppose old Kabumpo was going -to stand quietly by while they married you to a faggotty -old fairy like Faleero? Not much,” wheezed the -Elegant Elephant. “I have other plans for you, little -one!”</p> -<p>“But this is terrible!” cried the Prince, catching -hold of a tree. “Here you have left my poor old -father, my lovely mother, and the whole Kingdom of -Pumperdink to disappear. We’ll have to go right -straight back—right straight back to Pumperdink. -Do you hear?”</p> -<p>“Do have a little sense!” Kabumpo shook himself -crossly. “You can’t save them by going back. The -thing to do is to go forward, find the Proper Princess -and marry her. No scroll magic takes effect for seven -days, anyway!”</p> -<p>“How do you know?” asked Pompa anxiously.</p> -<p>“Read it in a witch book,” answered Kabumpo -promptly. “Now, that gives us plenty of time to go to -the Emerald City and present ourselves to the lovely -ruler of Oz. There’s a Proper Princess for you, -Pompa!”</p> -<p>“But suppose she refuses me,” said the Prince uncertainly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_53">53</div> -<p>“You’re very handsome, Pompa, my boy.” The Elegant -Elephant gave the Prince a playful poke with -his trunk. “I’ve brought all my jewels as gifts and -the magic mirror and door knob as well. If she -refuses you and the worst comes to the worst”—Kabumpo -cleared his throat gravely—“well—just -leave it to me!”</p> -<p>After a bit more coaxing and after eating the breakfast -Kabumpo had thoughtfully brought along, Pompa -allowed the Elegant Elephant to lift him on his head -and off they set at Kabumpo’s best speed for the -Emerald City of Oz.</p> -<p>Neither the Prince nor the Elegant Elephant had -ever been out of Pumperdink, but Kabumpo had found -an old map of Oz in the palace library. According to -this map, the Emerald City lay directly to the South of -their own country. “So all we have to do is to keep -going South,” chuckled Kabumpo softly. Pompadore -nodded, but he was trying to recall the exact words of -the mysterious scroll:</p> -<p>“Know Ye, that unless ye Prince of ye ancient and -honorable Kingdom of Pumperdink shall wed ye -Proper Fairy Princess in ye proper span of time ye -Kingdom of Pumperdink shall disappear forever and -even longer from ye Gilliken Country of Oz. <i>J. G.</i>”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<p>Pompadore repeated the words solemnly; then fell -a-thinking of all he had heard of Ozma of Oz, the loveliest -little fairy imaginable.</p> -<p>“She wouldn’t want one of her Kingdom to disappear,” -reflected Pompadore sagely. Now, as it happened, -Ozma did not even know of the existence of -Pumperdink. Oz is so large and inhabited by so many -strange and singular peoples that although fourteen -books of history have been written about it, only half -the story has been told. There are no Oz railway or -steamship lines and traveling is tedious and slow, -owing to the magic nature of the land itself, its many -mountains and fairy forests, so that Pumperdink, like -many of the small Kingdoms on the outskirts of Oz, -has never been explored by Ozma.</p> -<p>Oz itself is a huge oblong country divided into four -parts, the North being the purple Gilliken country, the -East the blue Munchkin country, the South the red -lands of the Quadlings, and the West the pleasant yellow -country of the Winkies. In the very center of Oz, -as almost every boy and girl knows, is the wonderful -Emerald City, and in its gorgeous green palace lives -Ozma, the lovely little Fairy Princess, whom Kabumpo -wanted Pompadore to marry.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div> -<p>“Do you know,” mused the Prince, after they had -traveled some time through the dim forest, “I believe -that gold mirror has a lot to do with all this. I believe -it was put in the cake to help me find the Proper Princess.”</p> -<p>“Where would you find a more Proper Princess than -Ozma?” puffed Kabumpo indignantly. “Ozma is the -one—depend upon it!”</p> -<p>“Just the same,” said Pompa firmly, “I’m going to -try every Princess we meet!”</p> -<p>“Do you expect to find ’em running wild in the -woods?” snorted Kabumpo, who didn’t like to be contradicted.</p> -<p>“You never can tell.” The Prince of Pumperdink -settled back comfortably. Now that they were really -started, he was finding traveling extremely interesting. -“I should have done this long ago,” murmured -the Prince to himself. “Every Prince should go on a -journey of adventure.”</p> -<p>“How long will it take us to reach the Emerald -City?” he asked presently.</p> -<p>“Two days, if nothing happens,” answered Kabumpo. -“Say—what’s that?” He stopped short and -spread his ears till they looked like sails. The underbrush -at the right was crackling from the springs of -some large animal, and next minute a hoarse voice -roared:</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“I want to know</p> -<p class="t">The which and what,</p> -<p class="t0">The where and how and why?</p> -<p class="t">A curious, luxurious</p> -<p class="t0">Old Cottabus am I!</p> -</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">I want to know the</p> -<p class="t">When and who,</p> -<p class="t0">The whatfor and whyso, Sir!</p> -<p class="t">So please attend, there is no end</p> -<p class="t0">To things I want to know, Sir!”</p> -</div> -<p>“Aha!” exulted the voice triumphantly. “There you -are!” And a great round head was thrust out, almost -in Kabumpo’s face. “Oh! I’m going to enjoy this. -Don’t move!”</p> -<p>Kabumpo was too astonished to move, and the next -instant the Cottabus had flounced out of the bushes -and settled itself directly in front of the two travelers. -It was large as a pony, but shaped like a great overfed -cat. Its eyes bulged unpleasantly and the end of its -tail ended in a large fan.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_055.jpg" alt="The Cottabus was as large as a pony, but shaped like a great overfed cat" width="575" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The Cottabus was as large as a pony, but shaped like a great overfed cat</span></p> -</div> -<p>“Well,” grunted Kabumpo after the strange creature -had regarded them for a full minute without -blinking.</p> -<p>“Well, what?” it asked, beginning to fan itself -sulkily. “You act as if you had never seen a Cottabus -before.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div> -<p>“We never have,” admitted Pompa, peering over -Kabumpo’s head and secretly wishing he had brought -along his jeweled sword.</p> -<p>“Why haven’t you?” asked the Cottabus, rolling up -its eyes. “How frightfully ignorant!” It closed its -fan tail with a snap and looked up at them disapprovingly. -“Will you kindly tell me who you are, where -you came from, when you came, what you are going -for, how you are going to get it, why you are going -and what you are going to do when you do get it!”</p> -<p>“I don’t see why we should tell you all that,” grumbled -Kabumpo. “It's none of your affair.”</p> -<p>“Wrong!” shrieked the creature hysterically. “It -is the business of a Cottabus to find out everything. I -live on other people’s affairs, and unless”—here it -paused, took a large handkerchief out of a pocket in its -fur and began to wipe its eyes—“unless a Cottabus -asks fifty questions a day it curls up in its porch rocker -and d-d-dies, and this is my fifth questionless day.”</p> -<p>“Curl up and die, then,” said Kabumpo gruffly. -But the kind-hearted Prince felt sorry for the foolish -creature.</p> -<p>“If we answer your questions, will you answer -ours?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div> -<p>“I’ll try,” sniffed the Curious Cottabus, and leaning -over it dragged a rocking chair out of the bushes and -seated itself comfortably.</p> -<p>“Well, then,” began Pompa, “this is the Elegant -Elephant and I am a Prince. We came from Pumperdink -because our Kingdom was threatened with disappearance -unless I marry a Proper Princess.”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_058.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="405" /> -</div> -<p>“Yes,” murmured the Cottabus, rocking violently. -“Yes, yes!”</p> -<p>“And we are going to the Emerald City to ask Princess -Ozma for her hand,” continued the Prince.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<p>“How do you know she is the one? When did this -happen? Who brought the message? What are you -going to do if Ozma refuses you?” asked the Cottabus, -leaning forward breathlessly.</p> -<p>“Are you going to stand talking to this ridiculous -creature all day?” grumbled Kabumpo. But Pompadore, -perhaps because he was so young, felt flattered -that even a curious old Cottabus should take such an -interest in his affairs. So beginning at the very beginning -he told the whole story of his birthday party.</p> -<p>“Yes, yes,” gulped the Cottabus wildly each time -the Prince paused for breath. “Yes, yes,” fluttering -its fan excitedly. When Pompadore had finished the -Cottabus leaned back, closed its eyes and put both -paws on the arms of the rocker. “I never heard anything -more curious in my life,” said the curious one. -“This will keep me amused for three days!”</p> -<p>“Of course—that’s what we’re here for—to amuse -you!” said Kabumpo scornfully. “Let's be going, -Pompa!”</p> -<p>“Perhaps the Curious Cottabus can tell us something -of the country ahead. Are there any Princesses -living ’round here?” the Prince asked eagerly.</p> -<p>“Never heard of any,” said the Cottabus, opening its -eyes. “Can you multiply—add—divide and subtract? -Are you good at fractions, Prince?”</p> -<p>“Not very,” admitted Pompadore, looking mystified.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div> -<p>“Then you won’t make much headway,” sighed the -Cottabus, shaking its head solemnly. “Now, don’t ask -me why,” it added lugubriously, dragging its rocker -back into the brush, and while Kabumpo and Pompa -stared in amazement it wriggled away into the bushes.</p> -<p>“Come on,” cried Kabumpo with a contemptuous -grunt, but he had only gone a few steps when the -Curious Cottabus stuck its head out of an opening in -the trees just ahead. “When are you coming back?” -it asked, twitching its nose anxiously.</p> -<p>“Never!” trumpeted Kabumpo, increasing his -speed. Again the Cottabus disappeared, only to reappear -at the first turn in the road.</p> -<p>“Did you say the door knob hit you on the head?” -it asked pleadingly.</p> -<p>Kabumpo gave a snort of anger and rushed along so -fast that Pompa had to hang on for dear life.</p> -<p>“Guess we’ve left him behind this time,” spluttered -the Elegant Elephant, after he had run almost a mile.</p> -<p>But at that minute there was a wheeze from the -underbrush and the head of the Cottabus was thrust -out. Its tongue was hanging out and it was panting -with exhaustion. “How old are you?” it gasped rolling -its eyes pitifully. “Who was your grandfather on -your father’s side, and was he bald?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div> -<p>“Kerumberty Bumpus!” raged the Elegant Elephant, -flouncing to the other side of the road.</p> -<p>“But why was the door knob in the cake?” gulped -the Cottabus, two tears trickling off its nose.</p> -<p>“How should we know,” said Pompa coldly.</p> -<p>“Then just tell me the date of your birth,” wailed -the Cottabus, two tears trickling off its nose.</p> -<p>“No! No!” screamed Kabumpo, and this time he -ran so fast that the tearful voice of the Cottabus became -fainter and fainter and finally died away altogether.</p> -<p>“Provokingest creature I’ve ever met,” grumbled -the Elegant Elephant, and this time Pompa agreed -with him.</p> -<p>“Isn’t it almost lunch time?” asked the Prince. He -was beginning to feel terribly hungry.</p> -<p>“And aren’t there any villages or cities between here -and the Emerald City?” Pompa spoke again.</p> -<p>“Don’t know,” wheezed Kabumpo, swinging ahead.</p> -<p>“Oh! There’s a flag!” cried Pompa suddenly. “It’s -flying above the tree tops just ahead.”</p> -<p>And so it was—a huge, flapping black flag covered -with hundreds of figures and signs.</p> -<p>“Hurry up, Kabumpo,” urged the Prince. “This -looks interesting.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_062.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="536" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c5"><span class="smaller">Chapter 5</span> -<br />In The City of The Figure Heads</h2> -<p>“It reminds me of something disagreeable,” answered -Kabumpo, as he eyed the flag. Nevertheless -he quickened his steps and in a moment they came -to a clearing in the forest, surrounded by a tall black -picket fence. The only thing visible above the fence -was the strange black flag, and as the forest on either -side was too dense to penetrate and there seemed to -be no way around, Kabumpo thumped loudly on the -center gate.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div> -<p>It was flung open at once, so suddenly that -Kabumpo, who had his head pressed against the bars, -fell on his knees and shot Pompadore clear over his -head. Altogether it was a very undignified entrance.</p> -<p>“Oh! Oh! Now we shall have some fun!” screamed -a high, thin voice, and immediately the cry was taken -up by hundreds of other voices. A perfect swarm of -strange creatures surrounded the two travelers. The -Elegant Elephant took one look, put back his ears and -snatched Pompa from the paving stones.</p> -<p>“Stop that!” he rumbled threateningly. “Who are -you anyway?” The crowd paid no attention to the -Elegant Elephant’s question, but continued to dance -up and down and scream with glee. Clutching Kabumpo’s -ear, Pompa peered down with many misgivings. -They were entirely surrounded by thin, spry -little people, who had figures instead of heads, and the -fours, eights, sevens and ciphers bobbing up and down -made it terribly confusing.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div> -<p>“Let’s go!” said Pompa, who was growing dizzier -every minute. But the Figure Heads were wedged so -closely around them Kabumpo could not move and -they were shouting so lustily that the Elegant Elephant’s -voice was drowned in the hubbub. Finally, -Kabumpo’s eyes began to snap angrily and, taking a -deep breath, he threw up his trunk and trumpeted like -fifty ferry-boat whistles. The effect was immediate -and astonishing. Half of the Figure Heads fell on -their faces, and the other half fell on their backs and -stared vacantly up at the sky.</p> -<p>“Conduct us to your Ruler!” roared Kabumpo, in -the dead silence that followed.</p> -<p>“How’d you know we had a Ruler?” asked a Seven, -getting cautiously to its feet.</p> -<p>“Most countries have,” said the Elegant Elephant -shortly.</p> -<p>“He’s got no right to order us around,” said a Six, -sitting up and jerking its thumb at Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Yes—but!” Seven frowned at Six and put his -hands over his ears. “This way,” he said gruffly, and -Kabumpo, stepping carefully, for many of the Figure -Heads were still on their backs, followed Seven.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div> -<p>If the inhabitants of this strange city were queer, -their city was even more so. The air was dry and -choky and the houses were dull, oblong affairs, set in -rows and rows with never a garden in sight. Each -street had a large signpost on the corner, but they -were not like the signs one usually sees in cities. -For these were <i>plus</i> and <i>minus</i> signs with here and -there a <i>long division</i> sign.</p> -<p>“I suppose everything in this street’s divided up,” -mumbled Pompadore, looking up at a division sign -curiously.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_065.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="412" /> -</div> -<p>“Hope they don’t subtract any of our belongings,” -whispered Kabumpo, as they turned into Minus Alley. -“Look, Pompa, at the houses. Ever see anything like -’em before?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div> -<p>“They remind me of something disagreeable,” -mused the Prince. “Why, they’re <i>books</i>, Kabumpo, -great big arithmetic books!” Pompa pointed at one.</p> -<p>“You mean they are shaped like books,” said the -Elegant Elephant. “I never saw books with windows -and doors!”</p> -<p>“A lot you know!” said Seven, looking back scornfully, -but Kabumpo was too interested to care. Out of -the windows of the big book houses leaped hundreds -of the little Figure Heads, and they laughed and -jeered at Pompa and Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Ho! Ho!” yelled one, leaning out so far it nearly -fell on its Eight. “Wait till the Count sees ’em. He’ll -make an example of ’em!”</p> -<p>“What an awful country,” whispered Pompadore, -ducking just in time, as a Four snatched at his hair -from an open window. But just then they turned a -corner and entered a large gloomy court. Sitting on a -square and solid wood throne, surrounded by a guard -of Figure Heads, sat the Giant Ruler of this strange -city.</p> -<p>“What have you got there, Seven?” roared the -Ruler.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div> -<p>“I am the Elegant Elephant and this is the Prince -of Pumperdink,” announced Kabumpo before Seven -could answer. Pompadore, himself, could say nothing -for he had never before been addressed by a wooden -Ruler in his life. And that is exactly what the King -of the Figure Heads was—an ordinary school ruler, -twice as large as a man, with arms and legs and a great -square head set atop of his thin flat body.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_067.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="424" /> -</div> -<p>“I don’t care a rap <i>who</i> you are. I want to know -<i>what</i> you are?” said the Ruler.</p> -<p>“We are travelers,” spoke up Pompa, swallowing -hard—“travelers in search of a Proper Princess.”</p> -<p>“Well, you won’t find any here,” grunted the Ruler -shortly. “We don’t believe in ’em!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<p>“Would you mind telling me the name of your Kingdom,” -asked Pompa, somewhat cast down by these -words.</p> -<p>“You have no heads,” announced the Ruler calmly, -“or you would have known that this is Rith Metic. <i>I</i>,” -he hammered himself upon the wooden chest—“I am -its Ruler and every inch a King—King of the Figure -Heads,” he added, glaring around as if he expected -someone to contradict him.</p> -<p>“All right! All right!” wheezed Kabumpo, bowing -his head twice. “I knew twelve inches made a foot -rule, but I never knew they made a King Rule. But -could you give us some luncheon and allow us to pass -peaceably through your Kingdom?”</p> -<p>“Pass through!” exclaimed the King, standing up -indignantly. “We don’t pass anyone through here. -You’ve got to work your way through. Pass through, -indeed! And when you’ve worked your way through -we’ll put you in a problem and make an example of -you.”</p> -<p>“They’ll make a very good example, your Majesty,” -said a tall thin individual standing next to the Ruler. -He eyed the two cunningly. “If a thin Prince sets out -on a fat elephant to find a Proper Princess, how many -yards of fringe will the elephant lose from his robe and -how bald will the Prince be at the end of the journey? -I don’t believe anyone could figure that out,” he murmured -gleefully.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div> -<p>“It might be done by subtraction,” said the King, -looking at the two critically.</p> -<p>“Great hay stacks!” rumbled Kabumpo, glaring -over his shoulder to see if he had lost any fringe so far. -“What have we gotten into?”</p> -<p>“Bald!” gulped Pompa, rubbing his head. “Do you -mean to say you take poor innocent travelers and -make them into arithmetic problems?”</p> -<p>“Why not?” said the thin one, who looked exactly -like a giant lead pencil. “And please address me as -Count, after this—Count It Up is my name. What’s -the matter with living in a problem, my boy? Life is -a problem, after all, and you will get used to it in time. -I’ll try to assign you to a comfortable book and you’ll -find book-keeping a lot more simple than house-keeping. -This way, please!”</p> -<p>“Please go,” yawned the Ruler, waving his hand. -“The Count will take you in charge now.” And so -dazed was the Elegant Elephant by all this strange -reasoning that he tamely followed the lead pencil person.</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” shouted the Ruler hoarsely. “Start -them on simple additions,” he said as they moved off.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div> -<p>The street ahead was filled with Figure Heads and -as Kabumpo paused they began forming themselves -into sums. The first row sat down, the next knelt -behind them, the third stood up, the fourth nimbly -leaped upon the shoulders of the third, and so on, -until a long addition confronted the travelers.</p> -<p>“Now,” said Count It Up in his blunt way, “as you -haven’t figures for heads, let us see if you have heads -for figures.” Kabumpo pushed back his pearl headdress -and drops of perspiration began to run down his -trunk. Prince Pompa, lying flat on Kabumpo’s head, -started to add up the first line of figures.</p> -<p>“Eighty-three,” he announced anxiously.</p> -<p>“Say three and eight to carry,” snapped Count It -Up. “Here, Three!” A Three stepped out of the -crowd and placed itself under the line. “I’ve got to be -carried!” cried Eight, looking sulkily at Pompa.</p> -<p>“Carried!” snorted Kabumpo, snatching Eight into -the air. “Well, I’ll attend to you. You do the adding, -Pompa, and I’ll do the carrying.”</p> -<p>He landed the Eight head down at the bottom of the -line of Figure Heads and swung his trunk carelessly -while he waited for his next victim. So, slowly and -painfully, Pompa counted up the long lines and Kabumpo -carried and if they made the slightest mistake -the Figure Heads shouted with scorn and danced -about till the confusion was terrible. When an example -was finished, the Figure Heads in it marched -away but another would immediately form lines ahead -so that it took them a whole hour to go two blocks.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_071.jpg" alt="Slowly and Painfully Pompa Counted up the Long Lines" width="500" height="707" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Slowly and Painfully Pompa Counted up the Long Lines</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div> -<p>“Oh!” groaned Pompa at last, “We’ll never get -through this, Kabumpo. Look at those awful fractions -ahead! Can’t I skip fractions?” he asked looking -pleadingly at Count It Up.</p> -<p>“Certainly not!” said the pencilly man stroking his -shiny hair, which was straight and black and grew up -into a sharp point. “You shall skip nothing!”</p> -<p>“That gives me an idea,” whispered Kabumpo huskily. -“Why shouldn’t we skip altogether? We’re -bigger than they are. Why—”</p> -<p>“How are you getting on?” At the sound of that -hoarse, familiar voice both the Prince and Kabumpo -jumped.</p> -<p>“You don’t mind me asking, I hope?” Clinging to -the high picket fence and looking anxiously through -the bars was the Curious Cottabus.</p> -<p>“Have you found the Greatest Common Divisor -yet?”</p> -<p>“Who’s he?” asked the Elegant Elephant suspiciously.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<p>“Isn’t there any way out of Rith Metic but this?” -wailed Pompa, looking at the Cottabus pleadingly. -He was too tired to mind being questioned.</p> -<p>The curious beast was delighted to have this new -opportunity to talk to the travelers.</p> -<p>“Will you answer a few questions if I tell you?” -asked the Cottabus, raising itself with great difficulty -and looking over the palings.</p> -<p>“Yes—yes—anything,” promised Pompa.</p> -<p>“Do you care for strawberry tarts?” asked the Cottabus, -twitching its nose very rapidly.</p> -<p>“Of course,” said the Prince. “Oh! Do hurry. Count -It Up will be back in a moment!” He had run ahead to -arrange a new problem and the rest of the Figure -Heads paid no attention to the queer creature clinging -to the palings.</p> -<p>“Are you going to invite the Scarecrow to your wedding?” -gulped the Cottabus.</p> -<p>“I don’t know any Scarecrow,” said Pompa, “so -how could I?”</p> -<p>“Are you fond of that old elephant?” The Cottabus -waved at Kabumpo, who stamped first one foot then -another and fairly snorted with rage.</p> -<p>“All right,” sighed the Curious Cottabus, “that -makes my fifty questions.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<p>Hanging on to the fence with one paw it waved the -other backward and forward as it chanted:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“How many tics in Rith Metic?</p> -<p class="t0">Tell me that and tell me quick!</p> -<p class="t0">But if you can’t it’s not my fault,</p> -<p class="t0">So simply turn a wintersault!”</p> -</div> -<p>The head of the Cottabus disappeared.</p> -<p>“Now isn’t that provoking,” gulped the Prince. -“After it promised to help us, too!”</p> -<p>“I meant summersault,” wheezed the Cottabus, reappearing -suddenly—</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“And if you can’t it’s not your fault,</p> -<p class="t0">So simply turn a summersault!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">it recited dolefully, and losing its balance fell off the -fence and landed with a thud on the ground below.</p> -<p>“Here! Hurry along!” scolded Count It Up, prodding -Kabumpo with a sharp pencil. “The next is a -nice little problem in fractions.”</p> -<p>“I wonder if it meant anything?” mused Pompadore, -as Kabumpo approached the new problem. “’If -you can’t its not your fault, so simply turn a summersault.’ -Anyway it wouldn’t hurt to try. Stop a minute, -Kabumpo!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div> -<p>Sliding down the Elegant Elephant’s trunk, the -Prince put his head on the ground and very carefully -and deliberately turned a somersault. At his first -motion Count It Up gave a deafening scream, fell on -his head and broke off his point, while the Figure -Heads began to run in every direction.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_077.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="320" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div> -<p>“Do it again! Do it again!” cried Kabumpo joyfully. -So Pompa turned another somersault and -another, and another, and <i>another</i>, till not a Figure -Head was in sight. Even the Figure Heads at the windows -of the houses tumbled out and dashed madly -around the corner. Before they could return, Kabumpo -snatched up Pompa and tore through the deserted -streets of Rith Metic till he came to the black -iron gate at the other end of the city. Butting it open -with his head, the Elegant Elephant dashed through -and never stopped running till he was miles away from -there.</p> -<p>“Have to rest a bit and eat some leaves,” puffed -Kabumpo, at last slowing down. “Whe—w!”</p> -<p>“Wish I could eat leaves,” sighed the Prince, as -Kabumpo began lunching off the tree tops. “But, -never mind, we’re out of Rith Metic! Wasn’t it lucky -that Cottabus followed us? I never would have -thought of getting out of sums by somersaulting. -Would you?”</p> -<p>“Only sensible thing it ever said, probably,” answered -the Elegant Elephant, with his mouth full of -leaves. “There’s a lot more to be learned by traveling -than by studying, my boy. Somersaults for -sums—let’s always remember that!”</p> -<p>Pompa did not answer. He slid down Kabumpo’s -trunk and began hunting anxiously around for something -to eat. Not far away he found a large nut tree -and, gathering a handful of nuts, he sat down and -began to crack them on a white marble slab near by. -Next instant Kabumpo heard a thud and a muffled cry.</p> -<p>The Prince of Pumperdink had vanished, as if by -magic.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div> -<p>“Where are you?” screamed the Elegant Elephant, -pounding through the brush. “Pompa! Pompa! -He’s disappeared,” gasped Kabumpo, rushing over to -the marble slab. There was not a sign of the Royal -Prince of Pumperdink anywhere, but carved carefully -on the white stone were these words:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">Please Knock Before You Fall In.</p> -</div> -<p>“Fall in!” snorted Kabumpo, his eyes rolling wildly. -“Great Gooch!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_080.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="519" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c6"><span class="smaller">Chapter 6</span> -<br />Ruggedo’s History In Six Rocks</h2> -<p>On the same night that Prince Pompa and Kabumpo -had disappeared from Pumperdink, a little -gray gnome crouched in a deep chamber, tunneled -under the Emerald City, laboriously carving letters on -a big rock. It was Ruggedo, the old Gnome King, -carving and grumbling and grumbling and carving, -and pausing every few minutes to light his pipe with -a hot coal which he kept in his pocket for that purpose. -A big emerald lamp cast a green glow over the -strange cavern and made the gnome look like a bad -green goblin, which he was.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<p>“Wag!” screamed the gnome, suddenly throwing -down his chisel. “Where are you, you long-eared villain?” -There was a slight stir at the back of the cave -and a rabbit, of about the same size as the gnome, shuffled -slowly forward.</p> -<p>“What you want?” he asked, rubbing one eye with -his paw.</p> -<p>“Bring me a cup of melted mud, idiot!” roared the -gnome, pounding on the rock. “And serve it to me -on my throne at once!”</p> -<p>“Now, see here,” the rabbit twitched his nose rapidly, -“I’ll get you a cup of melted mud, but don’t you -call me an idiot. I don’t mind working for one, nor -digging for one and listening to his foolishness, but -nobody can call me an idiot—not even a make-believe -King!”</p> -<p>“Oh, you make me tired!” fumed the gnome.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div> -<p>“Then go to sleep,” advised the rabbit with a yawn. -“What’s the use of trying to pretend you’re a King, -Rug? Ho, ho! King over one wooden doll, six rocks -and twenty-seven sofa cushions! You may have been -a King once, but now you’re just a plain gnome and -nothing else, and if you go and sit quietly in your plain -rocking chair I’ll bring you a cup of plain mud.”</p> -<p>With a chuckle, the rabbit retired, and Ruggedo, -spluttering with fury, flounced into a doll’s broken -rocker that was set in the exact center of the cave.</p> -<p>“Here I give that rabbit everything I steal and he -won’t even allow me the little luxury of calling him an -idiot or of pulling his ears. How can I pretend to be -a King without an ear to pull?” grumbled the gnome.</p> -<p>“What are you grinning at?” Bouncing out of his -chair, Ruggedo flew at a merry-faced wooden doll who -sat propped up against the wall and shook her till her -head turned round backwards and her arms and legs -flew every which way. Then he hurled her violently -into a corner. Quite out of breath he sank back in his -chair and stared angrily about.</p> -<p>When Wag returned the gnome snatched the tin cup -of melted mud and tossed it down with one gulp. Then, -flinging the cup at the doll, he went back to work.</p> -<p>The rabbit shook his head mournfully and, picking -up the wooden doll, straightened her out and placed -her on a cushion. Then, yawning again, he lit a candle -and started for the passage at the back of the cave.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<p>“How are you getting on?” he asked, pausing to -look over the gnome’s shoulder with a grin.</p> -<p>“Fine!” answered Ruggedo, forgetting to scowl. -“I’m up to the sixth rock and expect to finish to-night.”</p> -<p>“Who do you think will read it?” asked the rabbit, -putting back both ears and stroking his whiskers. -Then he gave a great spring, just escaped the chisel -Ruggedo had flung at his head, and pattered away into -the darkness. For several minutes the gnome danced -up and down with fury. Then, as there was no one -to pinch or shake, he started to work harder than ever -on the sixth rock of his history. There were six of -the great stones set in a row on one side of the cavern -and the carving on them had taken the old gnome -King the best part of two years. The letters were -crooked and roughly chiseled, but quite readable. On -the first rock he had carved:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">History of Ruggedo in Six Rocks</p> -<p class="center">Ruggedo the Rough—King of the Gnomes</p> -<p class="pnindent">One time Metal Monarch, at other times a -Limoneag, a goose, a nut, and now a common -gnome by order of -<span class="jr"><i>Ozma of Oz.</i></span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>The second rock told of Ruggedo’s magnificent -Kingdom under the mountains of Ev, of the thousands -of gnomes he had ruled and the great treasure of precious -gems he had possessed, in those good old days -before he was banished from his dominions.</p> -<p>The third rock told of his transformation of the -Queen of Ev and her children into ornaments for his -palace and of their rescue by a party from Oz, through -the cleverness of Billina, a yellow hen. It told of the -loss of his Magic Belt which was captured at this same -time by Dorothy, a little girl from Kansas.</p> -<p>The fourth rock related how Ruggedo had tried to -conquer Oz and recover his belt; how all of his plans -failed and how he tumbled into the Fountain of Oblivion -and forgot all about his campaign.</p> -<p>The fifth rock had taken Ruggedo the longest to -carve, for it gave the story of his banishment by the -Great Jinn Titihoochoo. You have probably read this -story yourself. How Tik Tok, Betsy Bobbin, Shaggyman -and Polychrome, trying to find Shaggy’s brother, -hidden in the Gnome King’s metal forest, were thrown -down a long tube to the other side of the world, and -how the owner of the tube sent Quox, the dragon, to -punish Ruggedo by banishment from his Kingdom and -how Kaliko was made King of the Gnomes.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>The sixth rock told of Ruggedo’s last attempt to capture -Oz. Meeting Kiki Aru, a Highup boy who knew -a magic transformation word, Ruggedo suggested that -they change themselves to Limoneags—queer beasts -with lion heads, monkey tails and eagle wings—get all -the beasts of Oz to help and march on the Emerald -City. But this plan failed, too. Kiki lost his temper -and changed Ruggedo to a goose, the Wizard of -Oz discovered the magic word and changed both the -conspirators to nuts. Later on they were changed back -to their normal shapes, but again Ruggedo was -plunged into the Fountain of Oblivion and again forgot -his wicked plans. This ended the rock history, except -for a short sentence stating that Ruggedo now lived in -the Emerald City.</p> -<p>But the magic of the Fountain of Oblivion had soon -worn off and it was not long before Ruggedo began to -remember his past wickedness. That is why he decided -to carve his life story in rock, so that it would -be handy should he ever fall into the forgetful fountain -again. And it had taken six rocks to tell all of -his adventures. He had not carved these stories just -as they had happened, nor ever called himself wicked, -but he had told most of the facts, leaving out the parts -most unflattering to himself. And now it was finished—his -whole history in six rocks. Throwing down his -chisel for the last time, Ruggedo straightened up and -regarded his work with glowing pride.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div> -<p>“I don’t believe there’s another history like this in -all Oz,” puffed the gnome, tugging at his silver beard.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_086.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="418" /> -</div> -<p>“It’s a good thing,” chuckled Wag, who had come -back to eat a carrot. “Oz would not be a very happy -place if there were many folks like you.”</p> -<p>He seated himself quietly on the first rock of Ruggedo’s -history, and began nibbling his carrot.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div> -<p>“Get up! How dare you sit on my history?” Ruggedo -stamped his foot and started threateningly toward -Wag.</p> -<p>“All right,” said the rabbit, “it’s too hard, anyway.”</p> -<p>“Of course it’s hard,” stormed Ruggedo. “I’ve had -a hard life; hard as those rocks. Everybody’s been -against me from the very start, and all because I’m so -little,” he finished bitterly.</p> -<p>“No, because you are so wicked,” said the rabbit -calmly. “Now, don’t throw your pipe at me, for you -know it’s the truth.”</p> -<p>Ruggedo glared at the rabbit for a minute, then -rushed over to the wooden doll, and began shaking her -furiously. He always vented his rage on the wooden -doll.</p> -<p>“Stop that,” screamed Wag, “or I’ll leave upon the -spot. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You old -scrabble-scratch.”</p> -<p>“She’s not alive,” snapped Ruggedo sulkily.</p> -<p>“How do you know?” retorted the rabbit. “Anyway, -she’s a jolly creature. I’m not going to have her -banged around. Here you’ve taken her away from her -little mother, and she hasn’t even anyone to rock her -to sleep.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<p>“I’ll rock her to sleep,” screamed Ruggedo, maliciously. -And flinging the doll on the floor he began -hurling small rocks at the helpless little figure.</p> -<p>Scrambling to his feet, Wag rescued the wooden doll -again, and Ruggedo, who really was afraid the rabbit -would leave him, subsided into his rocking chair. Then -reaching up to a small shelf over his head, he pulled -down an accordion. At the first doleful wheeze Wag -gave a great hop, dropped Peg and disappeared into -his room in the farthest corner of the cave.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_088.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="424" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div> -<p>After his last attempt to capture Oz, the gnome had -been given a small cottage to live in, just outside the -Emerald City. But Ruggedo could not bear life above -ground. The sunlight hurt his eyes, and the contented, -happy faces of the people hurt his feelings, for -he was exactly what Wag had called him—an old -scrabble-scratch. So, while he pretended to live in the -little cottage, according to Ozma’s orders, he really -spent most of his time in this deep, dark cave. He -entered it by a secret passage, opening from his cellar.</p> -<p>Digging the long passage had been the hardest work -Ruggedo had ever done in his bad little life. While -toiling one day, he had bumped into the underground -burrow of Wag, a wandering rabbit of Oz, and after a -deal of bargaining, the rabbit had agreed to help him. -Wag was to receive a ruby a month for his services, -for the gnome still had a large bag of precious stones, -which he had brought from the old Kingdom. After -the bargain with Wag was made, the passage progressed -rapidly, for the rabbit was an expert digger.</p> -<p>It was Ruggedo’s idea to tunnel himself out a secret -chamber, directly under Ozma’s palace, and there -establish a kingdom of his own. But when they had -almost reached the spot, the earth began to crumble -away, and a few strokes of Ruggedo’s spade revealed -a great dark cavern, already tunneled by someone -else. It was huge and the exact shape of the royal -palace. This Ruggedo discovered by careful measurement, -and also that it was directly beneath the gorgeous -green edifice, so that the footsteps of the -servants could be heard faintly, pattering to and fro.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div> -<p>This dark, underground retreat suited the former -Gnome King exactly and, without stopping to wonder -to whom it had belonged, Ruggedo gleefully took possession. -For almost two years he had lived here without -anyone suspecting it, but so far his kingdom had -not progressed very well. Wag had tried to coax some -of his rabbit relations to serve the old gnome as subjects, -but Ruggedo, besides his terrible temper, had a -mean habit of pulling their ears, so that the whole -crew had deserted the first week. He had pulled -Wag’s ears once, but the rabbit tore out a pawful of -his whiskers, and bit him so severely in the leg that -Ruggedo had never dared to try it again.</p> -<p>Wag had stayed partly because Ruggedo amused -him and partly because of the bribes, for every day, -in fear of losing his only retainer, Ruggedo brought -Wag something from the Emerald City—something -he had stolen! In return, Wag waited on the bad little -gnome and listened to his grumblings against everybody -in Oz. All the furnishings of this strange cave -had been stolen from various houses in the Emerald -City. The twenty-seven brocade cushions had been -taken, one at a time from the palace; the green emerald -lamp also. Every day Ruggedo ran innocently -about the city, pretending to visit this one and that, -and every day cups, spoons, and candlesticks disappeared.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div> -<p>The doll’s rocker, which Ruggedo insisted upon calling -his throne, had been taken from Betsy Bobbin, a -little girl who lived with Ozma in the palace. He had -lugged it through the secret passage with great difficulty. -The wooden doll had been stolen from Trot, -another of Ozma’s companions. She was Trot’s favorite -doll, for she had been carved out of wood by Captain -Bill, an old one-legged sailor, who was one of the -most celebrated characters in all Oz. He had carved -her for Trot one day when they were on a picnic in the -Winkie Country, from the wood of a small yellow tree, -and as Captain Bill had old-fashioned notions, Peg was -a very old-fashioned doll. But she had splendid joints -and could sit down and stand up. Her face was -painted and as pleasant as laughing blue eyes, a -turned-up nose, and a smiling mouth could make it. -Trot had dressed her in a funny, old-fashioned dress, -with pantalettes, and then, thinking Peg too short a -name, the little girl had added Amy, because she was -so amiable, she confided laughingly to the old sailor. -Captain Bill had wagged his head understandingly, -and Peg Amy had straightway become the most popular -doll in the palace; that is, until she disappeared, -for Ruggedo had found her one day in the garden and, -chuckling wickedly, had carried her off to his cave.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div> -<p>How Trot would have felt if she had seen her poor -doll being shaken and scolded by the old Gnome King! -But Trot never knew. She hunted and hunted for her -doll, and finally gave up in despair. Fortunately, Peg -was well made, or she would have been shaken to bits, -but her joints held bravely, and nothing—not even -the terrible scolding of the bad old gnome—could -change her pleasant expression.</p> -<p>Being the sole subject of so wicked a King, however, -was wearing even for a wooden doll, and Peg was -beginning to show signs of wear. Her nose was badly -chipped, one pantalette was missing, and both sleeves -had been jerked from her dress by the furious old -gnome. If the rabbit was around, Ruggedo did not -shake Peg as hard as he wanted to, but when the rabbit -was gone, he pretended she was his old steward, Kaliko, -and scolded and flung her about to his heart’s -content.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_091.jpg" alt="Ruggedo scolded and flung Peg about furiously" width="545" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Ruggedo scolded and flung Peg about furiously</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<p>When not carving his history or shaking Peg, Ruggedo -had spent most of his time digging new tunnels -and chambers, so that leading off from the main cavern -was a perfect network of underground passages. In -the back of Ruggedo’s head was a notion that some -day he would conquer the Emerald City, regain his -magic powers and then, after changing all the inhabitants -to mouldy muffins, return to his dominions and -oust Kaliko from his throne. Just how this was to -be done, he had not decided, but the secret passages -would be useful. So meanwhile he dug secret -passages.</p> -<p>Above ground the little rascal went about so meekly -and pretended to be so delighted with his life among -the inhabitants of the Emerald City, that Ozma really -thought he had reformed. Wag, to whom he confided -his plans, would shake his head gloomily and often -planned to leave the services of the wicked old gnome. -There was no real harm in Wag, but the rabbit had a -weakness for collecting, and the spoons, cups and odds -and ends that Ruggedo brought him from the Emerald -City filled him with delight. He felt that they were -not gotten honestly, but his work for Ruggedo was -honest and hard, “and it’s not my fault if the old -scrabble-scratch steals ’em,” Wag would mumble to -himself. In his heart he knew that he was doing -wrong to stay with Ruggedo, but like all foolish creatures -he could not make up his mind to go. So this -very night, while the old gnome sat playing the accordion -and howling doleful snatches of the Gnome National -Air, Wag was gloating over his treasures. They -quite filled his little dug-out room. There were two -emerald plates, a gold pencil, a dozen china cups and -saucers, twenty thimbles stolen from the work baskets -of the good dames of Oz, scraps of silk, pictures -and almost everything you could imagine.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_92">92</div> -<p>“I’ll soon have enough to marry and go to house-keeping -on,” murmured the rabbit, clasping his paws -and twitching his nose very fast. He picked up a -pair of purple wool socks that had once belonged to a -little girl’s doll and regarded them rapturously. Out -of all the articles Ruggedo had given him, Wag considered -these purple socks the most valuable, perhaps -because they exactly fitted him and were the only -things he could really use. The squeaking of the accordion -stopped at last and, supposing his wicked little -master had retired for the night, Wag prepared to -enjoy himself. Draping a green silk scarf over his -shoulders, he strutted before the mirror, pretending he -was a Courtier of Oz. Then, throwing down the scarf, -he sat down on the floor and had just drawn on one -of the socks when a loud shrill scream from Ruggedo -made his ears stand straight on end in amazement.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div> -<p>“What now?” coughed the rabbit, seizing the candle. -Ruggedo was on his knees before the rocking -chair.</p> -<p>“As I was sitting here, playing and singing,” spluttered -the old gnome, “I noticed a little ring in one of -the rocks on the floor!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_095.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="412" /> -</div> -<p>“Well, what of it?” sniffed Wag, leaning down to -pull up his sock.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_94">94</div> -<p>“What of it?” shrieked the gnome. “What of it, -you poor, puny earth worm! Look!” Leaning over -Ruggedo’s shoulder and dropping hot candle grease -down the gnome’s neck, Wag peered into a square -opening in the floor. There lay a small gold box. -Studded in gems on the lid were these words:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">Glegg’s Box of Mixed Magic.</p> -</div> -<p>“Mixed magic!” stuttered Wag, dropping the candle. -“Oh, my socks and soup spoons!”</p> -<p>Ruggedo said nothing, but his little red eyes blazed -maliciously. Reaching down, he lifted out the box -and, clasping it to his fat little stomach, shook his fist -at the high domed ceiling of the cave.</p> -<p>“Now!” hissed Ruggedo triumphantly. “Now we -shall see what mixed magic will do to the Emerald -City of Oz!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_097.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="484" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c7"><span class="smaller">Chapter 7</span> -<br />Sir Hokus And The Giants</h2> -<p>“Oh!” sighed Sir Hokus of Pokes and Oz, stretching -his armored legs to the fire. “How I yearn to -slay a giant! How it would refresh me! Hast any real -giants in Oz, Dorothy?”</p> -<p>“Don’t you remember the candy giant?” laughed -the little girl, looking up from the handkerchief she -was making for Ozma.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div> -<p>“Not to my taste,” said the Knight, “though his vest -buttons were vastly nourishing.”</p> -<p>“Well, there’s Mr. Yoop—he’s a real blood-and-bone -giant. There are plenty of giants, I guess, if we -knew just where to find them!” said the little girl, -biting off her thread.</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Find ’em—bind ’em,</p> -<p class="t0">Get behind ’em!</p> -<p class="t0">Hokus Pokus</p> -<p class="t0">He don’t mind ’em!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">screamed the Patch Work Girl, bounding out of her -chair. “But why can’t you stay peaceably at home, -old Iron Sides, and be jolly like the rest of us?”</p> -<p>“You don’t understand, Scraps,” put in Dorothy -gravely. “Sir Hokus is a Knight and it is a true -Knight’s duty to slay giants and dragons and go on -quests!”</p> -<p>“<i>That</i> it is, my Lady Patches!” boomed Sir Hokus, -puffing out his chest. “I’ve rusted here in idleness -long enough. To-morrow, with Ozma’s permission, I -shall start on a giant quest.”</p> -<p>“I’d go with you, only I’ve promised to help Ozma -count the royal emeralds,” said the Scarecrow, who -had ridden over from his Corn-Ear residence to spend -a week with his old friends in the Emerald City.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Giants, Sir, are bluff and rude</p> -<p class="t0">And might mistake a man for food!</p> -</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">Hokus Pokus, be discreet,</p> -<p class="t0">Or you will soon be giant meat!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">chuckled the Patch Work Girl, crooking her finger -under the Knight’s nose.</p> -<p>“Nonsense!” blustered Sir Hokus, waving Scraps -aside. Rising from his green arm chair, he strode up -and down the room, his armor clanking at every step. -Straightway the company began to tell about wild -giants they had read of or known. Trot and Betsy -Bobbin held hands as they sat together on the sofa, and -Toto, Dorothy’s small dog, crept closer to his little -mistress, the bristles on his back rising higher as each -story was finished. “Giant stories are all very well, -but why tell ’em at night?” shivered Toto, peering -nervously at the long shadows in the corners of the -room.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div> -<p>It was the evening after Ruggedo’s strange discovery -of the mixed magic and in the royal palace Ozma -and most of the Courtiers had retired. But a few of -Princess Dorothy’s special friends had gathered in the -cozy sitting-room of her apartment to talk about old -times. They were very unusual and interesting -friends, not at all the sort one would expect to find in -a royal palace, even in Fairyland. Dorothy, herself, -before she had become a Princess of Oz, had been a -little girl from Kansas but, after several visits to this -delightful country, she had preferred to make Oz her -home.</p> -<p>Trot and Betsy Bobbin also had come from the -United States by way of shipwrecks, so to speak, and -had been invited to remain by Ozma, the little fairy -Princess who ruled Oz, and now each of these girls -had a cozy little apartment in the royal palace. Toto -had come with Dorothy, but the rest of the company -were of more or less magic extraction.</p> -<p>The Scarecrow, a stuffed straw person, with a marvelous -set of mixed brains given to him by the Wizard -of Oz, was Dorothy’s favorite. In fact she had discovered -him herself upon a Munchkin farm, lifted him -down from his bean pole and brought him to the -Emerald City. Tik Tok was a wonderful man made -entirely of copper, who could talk, think and act as -well as the next fellow when properly wound. You -would have been amazed to hear the giant story he -was ticking off at this very minute. As for Scraps, -she had been made by a magician’s wife out of old -pieces of patch-work and magically brought to life. -Her bright patches, yarn hair and silver suspender -button eyes gave Scraps so comical an expression that -just to look at her tickled one’s funny bone. Her head -was full of nonsense rhymes and she was so amusing -and cheerful that Ozma insisted upon her living with -the rest of the celebrities in the Emerald City.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_101.jpg" alt="Just to Look at Scraps Tickled One’s Funny Bone" width="500" height="682" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Just to Look at Scraps Tickled One’s Funny Bone</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div> -<p>Sir Hokus of Pokes was a comparative new-comer -in the capital city of Oz. Yet the Knight was so old -that it would give me lumbago just to try to count up -his birthdays. He dated back to King Arthur, in fact, -and had been wished into the Land of Oz centuries -before by an enemy sorcerer. Dorothy had found and -rescued him, with the Cowardly Lion’s help, from -Pokes, the dullest Kingdom in Oz. As there were no -other Knights in the Emerald City, Sir Hokus was -much stared at and admired. Even the Soldier with -the Green Whiskers, the one and only soldier and -entire army of Oz—yes, even the soldier with the -Green Whiskers saluted Sir Hokus when he passed. -Ozma, herself, felt more secure since the Knight had -come to live in the palace. He was well versed in -adventure and always courageous and courteous, -withal.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<p>But, while I’ve been telling you all this, Tik Tok -had finished his story of a three-legged giant who -lived in Ev.</p> -<p>“And where is Ev?” puffed Sir Hokus, planting -himself before Tik Tok.</p> -<p>“Ev,” began Tik Tok in his precise fashion, “is to -the north-west of here on the oth-er side of the -im—” There was a whirr and a click and the copper -man stood motionless and soundless, his round eyes -fixed solemnly on the Knight.</p> -<p>“Pass-able des-ert,” finished the Scarecrow, jumping -up and kindly winding all of Tik Tok’s keys as if -nothing had happened.</p> -<p>“Pass-able des-ert,” continued the Copper Man.</p> -<p>“That’s where the old Gnome King used to live,” -piped Betsy Bobbin, bouncing up and down upon the -sofa, “under the mountains of Ev, and he threw us -down a tube and tried to melt you in a crucible, -didn’t he, Tik Tok?”</p> -<p>“He was a ve-ry bad per-son,” said the Copper Man.</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Ruggedo was a wicked King,</p> -<p class="t0">’Tho’ now he’s good as pie,</p> -<p class="t0">But none the less, I must confess,</p> -<p class="t0">He has a wicked eye!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">burst out Scraps, who was tired of sitting still listening -to giant stories.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div> -<p>But Sir Hokus could not be got off the subject of -giants. “To Ev!” thundered the Knight, raising his -sword. “To-morrow I’m off to Ev to conquer this -terrible monster. Large as a mountain, you say, Tik -Tok? Well, what care I for mountains? I, Sir Hokus -of Pokes, will slay him!”</p> -<p>“Hurrah for the giant killer!” giggled Scraps, -turning a somersault and nearly falling in the fire.</p> -<p>“Let’s go to bed!” said Dorothy uneasily. She had -for the last few minutes been hearing strange rumbles. -Of course it could not be giants; still the conversation, -she concluded, had better be finished by sunlight.</p> -<p>But it never was, for at that moment there was a -deafening crash. The lights went out; the whole -castle shivered; furniture fell every which way. Down -clattered Sir Hokus, falling with a terrible clangor -on top of the Copper Man. Down rolled the little girls -and the Scarecrow and Scraps. Down tumbled -everybody.</p> -<p>“Cyclone!” gasped Dorothy, who had experienced -several in Kansas.</p> -<p>“Giants!” stuttered Betsy Bobbin, clutching Trot.</p> -<p>The Wizard of Oz tried to reassure the agitated -company. He told them there was no cause for alarm, -and that they would soon find out what was the trouble. -The soothing words of the Wizard were scarcely -heard.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_103">103</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_105.jpg" alt="The Smiling Little Wizard of Oz" width="500" height="685" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The Smiling Little Wizard of Oz</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<p>What the others said was lost in the noise that followed. -Thumps—bangs—crashes—screams came -from every room in the rocking palace.</p> -<p>“We’re flying! The whole castle’s flying up in the -air!” screamed Dorothy. Then she subsided, as an -emerald clock and three pictures came thumping -down on her head.</p> -<p>What had happened? No one could say. Dorothy, -Betsy Bobbin and Trot had fainted dead away. The -Scarecrow and Sir Hokus were tangled up on the -floor, clasped in each other’s arms.</p> -<p>The confusion was terrific. Only the Wizard was -still calm and smiling.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_109.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="491" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c8"><span class="smaller">Chapter 8</span> -<br />Woe In The Emerald City</h2> -<p>The Soldier with the Green Whiskers finished his -breakfast slowly, combed his beard, pinned on all -of his medals and solemnly issued forth from his little -house at the garden gates.</p> -<p>“Forward march!” snapped the soldier. He had to -give himself orders, being the only man, general or -private in the army. And forward march he did. It -was his custom to report to Ozma every morning to -receive his orders for the day. When he had gone -through the little patch of trees that separated his -cottage from the palace, the Soldier with the Green -Whiskers gave a great leap.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div> -<p>“Halt! Break ranks!” roared the Grand Army of -Oz, clutching his beard in terror. “Great Goloshes!” -He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yes, the gorgeous -emerald-studded palace had disappeared, -leaving not so much as a gold brick to tell where it -had stood. Trembling in every knee, the Grand Army -of Oz approached. A great black hole, the exact shape -of the palace, yawned at his feet. He took one look -down that awful cavity, then shot through the palace -gardens like a green comet.</p> -<p>Like Paul Revere he had gone to give the alarm, -and Paul Revere himself never made better time. He -thumped on windows and banged on doors and dashed -through the sleeping city like a whirlwind. In five -minutes there was not a man, woman or child who did -not know of the terrible calamity. They rushed to the -palace gardens in a panic. Some stared up in the air; -others peered down the dark hole; still others ran -about wildly trying to discover some trace of the -missing castle.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div> -<p>“What shall we do?” they wailed dismally. For to -have their lovely little Queen and the Wizard and all -the most important people in Oz disappear at once -was simply terrifying. They were a gentle and kindly -folk, used to obeying orders, and now there was no one -to tell them what to do.</p> -<p>At last Unk Nunkie, an old Munchkin who had -taken up residence in the Emerald City, pushed -through the crowd. Unk was a man of few words, -but a wise old chap for all that, so they made way for -him respectfully. First Unk Nunkie stroked his -beard; then pointing with his long lean finger toward -the south he snapped out one word—“GLINDA!”</p> -<p>Of course! They must tell Glinda. Why had they -not thought of it themselves? Glinda would know just -what to do and how to do it. Three cheers for Unk -Nunkie! Glinda, you know, is the good Sorceress of -Oz, who knows more magic than anyone in the Kingdom, -but who only practices it for the people’s good. -Indeed, Glinda and the Wizard of Oz are the only -ones permitted to practice magic, for so much harm -had come of it that Ozma made a law forbidding -sorcery in all of its branches. But even in a fairy -country people do not always obey the laws and everyone -felt that magic was at the bottom of this disaster.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_108">108</div> -<p>So away to fetch Glinda dashed the Grand Army, -his green whiskers streaming behind him. Fortunately -the royal stables had not disappeared with the -palace, so the gallant army sprang upon the back of -the Saw Horse, and without stopping to explain to the -other royal beasts, bade it carry him to Glinda as fast -as it could gallop. Being made of wood with gold shod -feet and magically brought to life, the Saw Horse can -run faster than any animal in Oz. It never tired or -needed food and when it understood that the palace -and its dear little Mistress had disappeared it fairly -flew; for the Saw Horse loved Ozma with all its saw -dust and was devoted as only a wooden beast can be.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_110.jpg" alt="The Grand Army sprang upon the back of the Saw Horse" width="593" height="799" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The Grand Army sprang upon the back of the Saw Horse</span></p> -</div> -<p>In an hour they had reached Glinda’s shining marble -palace in the southern part of the Quadling country, -and as soon as the lovely Sorceress had heard the soldier’s -story, she hurried to the magic Book of Records. -This is the most valuable book in Oz and it is kept -padlocked with many golden chains to a gold table, -for in this great volume appear all the events happening -in and out of the world.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div> -<p>Now, Glinda had been so occupied trying to discover -the cause of frowns that she had not referred to the -book for several days and naturally there were many -pages to go over. There were hundreds of entries -concerning automobile accidents in the United States -and elsewhere. These Glinda passed over hurriedly, -till she came to three sentences printed in red, for Oz -news always appeared in the book in red letters. The -first sentence did not seem important. It merely stated -that the Prince of Pumperdink was journeying toward -the Emerald City. The other two entries seemed -serious.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_113.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="330" /> -</div> -<p>“Glegg’s box of Mixed Magic has been discovered,” -said the second, and “Ruggedo has something on his -<i>mind</i>,” stated the third. Glinda pored over the book -for a long time to see whether any more information -would be given but not another red sentence appeared. -With a sigh, Glinda turned to the Soldier with the -Green Whiskers.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_110">110</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_114.jpg" alt="“Ruggedo Has Something on His Mind,” Read Glinda" width="500" height="678" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">“Ruggedo Has Something on His Mind,” Read Glinda</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_111">111</div> -<p>“The old Gnome King must be mixed up in this,” -she said anxiously, “and as he was last seen in the -Emerald City, I will return with you at once.” So -Glinda and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers flew -back to the Emerald City drawn in Glinda’s chariot -by swift flying swans and the little Saw Horse trotted -back by himself. When they reached the gardens a -great crowd had gathered by the Fountain of Oblivion -and a tall green grocer was speaking excitedly.</p> -<p>“What is it?” asked Glinda, shuddering as she -passed the dreadful hole where Ozma’s lovely palace -had once stood. Everyone started explaining at once -so that Glinda was obliged to clap her hands for -silence.</p> -<p>“Foot print!” Unk Nunkie stood upon his tip toes -and whispered it in Glinda’s ear and when she looked -where Unk pointed she saw a huge, shallow cave-in -that crushed the flower beds for as far as she could -see.</p> -<p>“Foot print!” gasped Glinda in amazement.</p> -<p>“Uh huh!” Unk Nunkie wagged his head determinedly -and then, pulling his hat down over his eyes, -spoke his last word on the subject: “<i>GIANT!</i>”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div> -<p>“A giant foot print! Why so it is!” cried Glinda.</p> -<p>“What shall we do? What shall we do?” cried the -frightened inhabitants of the Emerald City, wringing -their hands.</p> -<p>“First, find Ruggedo,” ordered Glinda, suddenly -remembering the mysterious entry in the Book of -Records. So, away to the little cottage hurried the -crowd. They searched it from cellar to garret, but -of course found no trace of the wicked little gnome. -As no one knew about the secret passage in Ruggedo’s -cellar, they never thought of searching underground.</p> -<p>Meanwhile Glinda sank down on one of the golden -garden benches and tried to think. The Comfortable -Camel stumbled broken-heartedly across the lawn and -dropping on its knees begged the Sorceress in a tearful -voice to save Sir Hokus of Pokes. The Camel and the -Doubtful Dromedary had been discovered by the -Knight on his last adventure and were deeply attached -to him. Soon all the palace pets came and stood in a -dejected row before Glinda—Betsy’s mule, Hank, -hee-hawing dismally and the Hungry Tiger threatening -to eat everyone in sight if any harm came to the -three little girls.</p> -<p>“I doubt if we’ll ever see them again,” groaned the -Doubtful Dromedary, leaning up against a tree.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_113">113</div> -<p>“Oh Doubty—how <i>can</i> you?” wailed the Camel, -tears streaming down its nose.</p> -<p>“Please do be quiet,” begged Glinda, “or I’ll forget -all the magic I know. Let me see, now—how does -one catch a marauding giant who has run off with a -castle?”</p> -<p>On her fingers Glinda counted up all the giants in -the four countries of Oz. No! It could not be an Oz -giant; there was none large enough. It must be a -giant from some strange country.</p> -<p>When the crowd returned with the news that -Ruggedo had disappeared Glinda felt more uneasy -still. But hiding her anxiety she bade the people -return to their homes and continue their work and -play as usual. Then, promising to return that evening -with a plan to save the castle, and charging the Soldier -with the Green Whiskers to keep a strict watch in the -garden, Glinda stepped into her chariot and flew back -to the South. All that day, in her palace in the Quadling -country, Glinda bent over her encyclopedia on -giants, and far into the night the lights burned from -her high turret-chamber, as she consulted book after -book of magic.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_114">114</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_118.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="473" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c9"><span class="smaller">Chapter 9</span> -<br />Mixed Magic Makes Mischief</h2> -<p>The Book of Records had been perfectly correct in -stating that Ruggedo had something on his mind. -<i>He had!</i> To understand the mysterious disappearance -of Ozma’s palace, we must go back to the old Ex-King -of the Gnomes. The whole of the night after he had -found Glegg’s box of Mixed Magic, Ruggedo had -spent trying to open the box. But pry and poke as he -would it stubbornly refused to give up its secrets.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_115">115</div> -<p>“Better come to bed,” advised Wag, twitching his -nose nervously. “Mixed Magic isn’t safe, you know. -It might explode.”</p> -<p>“Idiot!” grumbled Ruggedo. “I don’t know who -Glegg is or was, but I’m going to find out what kind of -magic he mixes. I’m going to open this box if it takes -me a century.”</p> -<p>“All right,” quavered Wag, retiring backward and -holding up his paw. “All right, but remember I -warned you! Don’t meddle with magic, that’s my -motto!”</p> -<p>“I don’t care a harebell what your motto is,” -sneered the gnome, continuing to hammer on the gold -lid.</p> -<p>When he reached his room, Wag shut the door and -sank dejectedly upon the edge of the bed.</p> -<p>“There’s no manner of use trying to stop him,” -sighed the rabbit, “so I’ve got to get out of here before -he gets me into trouble. I’ll go to-morrow!” resolved -Wag, pulling his long ear nervously. With this good -resolution, the little rabbit drooped off asleep.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_116">116</div> -<p>Very cautiously he opened the door of his little rock-room -next morning. Ruggedo was sound asleep on -the floor, his head on the magic box, and Peg Amy, -with her wooden arms and legs flung out in every direction, -lay sprawled in a corner.</p> -<p>“Been shaking you again, the old scrabble-scratch!” -whispered the rabbit indignantly, “just ’cause he -couldn’t open that box. Well, never mind, Peg, I’m -leaving to-day and as surely as I’ve ears and whiskers -you shall go too!” Picking up the poor wooden doll -Wag tucked her under his arm. Was it imagination, -or did the little wooden face break into a sunny smile? -It seemed so to Wag and, with a real thrill of pleasure, -he tip-toed back to his room and began tossing his -treasures into one of the bed sheets. He seated Peg -in his own small rocking chair and from time to time -he nodded to her reassuringly.</p> -<p>“We’ll soon be out now, my dear,” he chuckled, -quite as if Peg had been alive. She often did seem -alive to Wag. “Then we’ll see what Ozma has to say -to this Mixed Magic,” continued the bunny, wiggling -his ears indignantly. And so occupied was he collecting -his treasures that he did not hear Ruggedo’s call -and next minute the angry gnome himself stood in the -doorway.</p> -<p>“What does this mean?” he cried furiously, pointing -to the tied up sheet. Then he stamped his foot so hard -that Peg Amy fell over sideways in the chair and all -the ornaments in the room skipped as if alive.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_117">117</div> -<p>The rabbit whirled ’round in a hurry.</p> -<p>“It means I’m leaving you for good, you wicked little -monster!” shrilled Wag, his whiskers trembling -with agitation and his ears sticking straight out -behind. “<i>Leaving</i>—do you hear?”</p> -<p>Then he snatched Peg Amy in one paw and his -treasures in the other and tried to brush past Ruggedo. -But the gnome was too quick for him. Springing out -of the room, he slammed the door and locked it. Wag -could hear him rolling up rocks for further security.</p> -<p>“Thought you’d steal a march on old Ruggedo; -thought you’d tell Ozma all his plans and get a nice -little reward! Well, <i>think again</i>!” shouted the gnome -through the keyhole.</p> -<p>Wag had plenty of time to think, for Ruggedo never -came near the rabbit’s room all day. At every sound -poor Wag leaped into the air, for he felt sure each -blow could only mean the opening of the dreaded -magic box. To reassure himself he held long conversations -with the wooden doll and Peg’s calm cheerfulness -steadied him a lot.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_118">118</div> -<p>“I might dig my way out but it would take so long! -My ear tips! How provoking it is!” exclaimed Wag. -“But perhaps he’ll relent by nightfall!” Slowly the -day dragged on but nothing came from the big rock -room but thumps, grumbles and bangs.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_122.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="402" /> -</div> -<p>“It is fortunate that you do not eat, Peg, dear,” -sighed the rabbit late in the afternoon, nibbling disconsolately -on a stale biscuit he had found under his -bureau. “Shall you care very much if I starve? I -probably shall, you know. Of course no one in Oz can -die, but starving forever is not comfortable either.” At -this the wooden doll seemed to shake her head, as much -as to say: “You won’t starve, Wag dear; just be -patient a little longer.” Not that she really said this, -mind you, but Wag knew from her smile that this is -what she was thinking.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_119">119</div> -<p>It was hot and stuffy in the little rock chamber and -the faint light that filtered down from the hole in the -ceiling was far from cheerful. At last night came, and -that was worse. Wag lit his only candle but it was -already partly burned down and soon with a dismal -sputter it went out and left the two sitting in the dark. -Peg Amy stared cheerfully ahead but the rabbit, worn -out by his long day of fright and worry, fell into a -heavy slumber.</p> -<p>Meanwhile Ruggedo had worked on the magic box -and every minute he became more impatient. All his -poundings failed to make even a dent on the gold lid -and even jumping on it brought no result. The little -gnome had eaten nothing since morning and by nightfall -he was stamping around the box in a perfect fury. -His eyes snapped and twinkled like live coals and his -wispy white hair fairly crackled with rage. Hidden -in this box were magic secrets that would doubtless -enable him to capture the Whole of Oz but, <i>klumping -kaloogas</i>, how was he to get at ’em? He finally gave -the gold box such a vindictive kick that he almost -crushed his curly toes; then holding onto one foot, he -hopped about on the other till he fell over exhausted.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_120">120</div> -<p>For several minutes he lay perfectly still; then -jumping up he seized the box and flung it with all his -gnome might against the rock wall.</p> -<p>“Take that!” screamed Ruggedo furiously. There -was a bright flash; then the box righted itself slowly -and sailed straight back into Ruggedo’s hands and, -more wonderful still, <i>it was open</i>! With his eyes almost -popping from his head, the gnome sat down on -the floor, the box in his lap.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_124.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="398" /> -</div> -<p>In the first tray were four golden flasks and each -one was carefully labeled. The first was marked, -“Flying Fluid”; “Vanishing Cream” was in the second. -The third flask held “Glegg’s Instantaneous Expanding -Extract,” and in the fourth was “Spike’s Hair -Strengthener.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_121">121</div> -<p>Ruggedo rubbed his hands gleefully and lifted out -the top tray. In the next compartment was a tiny -copper kettle, a lamp and a package marked “Triple -Trick Tea.” So anxious was Ruggedo to know what -was in the last compartment that he scarcely glanced -at Glegg’s tea set. Quickly he peered into the bottom -of the casket. There were two boxes. Taking up the -first Ruggedo read, “Glegg’s Question Box. Shake -three times after each question.”</p> -<p>“Great Grampus!” spluttered the gnome, “this is -a find!” He was growing more excited every minute -and his hands shook so he could hardly read the label -on the last box. Finally he made it out: “Re-animating -Rays, guaranteed to reawaken any person who has -lost the power of life through sorcery, witchcraft or -enchantment,” said the label.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_128.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="410" /> -</div> -<p>Well, did anyone ever hear anything more magic -than that? Ruggedo glanced from one to the other of -the little gold flasks and boxes. There were so many -he hardly knew which to use first. “Flying Fluid and -Vanishing Cream,” mused the gnome. Well, they -might help after he had captured Oz, but he felt it -would take more powerful magic than Flying Fluid -and Vanishing Cream to capture the fairy Kingdom. -Next he picked up the bottle labeled “Spike’s Hair -Strengthener.” Anything that strengthened would -be helpful, so, with one eye on the last bottle, Ruggedo -absently rubbed some of the hair strengthener on his -head. He stopped rubbing in a hurry and put his -finger in his mouth with a howl of pain. Then he -jumped up in alarm and ran to a small mirror hanging -on the wall. Every hair on his head had become an -iron spike and the result was so terrible that it frightened -even the old gnome. He flung the bottle angrily -on the ground. But stop! He could butt his enemies -with the sharp spikes! Comforting himself with this -cheerful thought, Ruggedo returned to the magic -box.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div> -<p>“Instantaneous Expanding Extract,” muttered the -gnome, turning the bottle over carefully. “That ought -to make me <i>larger</i>—and if I were larger—if I were -larger!” He snapped his fingers and began hopping -up and down. He was about to empty the bottle over -his head when he suddenly reflected that it might be -safer to try this powerful extract on someone else. -But on whom?</p> -<p>Ruggedo glanced quickly around the cave and then -remembered the wooden doll. He would try a little -on Peg Amy and see how it worked. Turning the key -he stepped softly into Wag’s room. Without wakening -the rabbit, Ruggedo dragged out the wooden doll. -Propping her up against the wall, the gnome uncorked -the bottle of expanding fluid and dropped two drops -on Peg Amy’s head. Peg was about ten inches high, -but no sooner had the expanding fluid touched her -than she shot up four feet and with such force that she -lost her balance and came crashing down on top of -Ruggedo, almost crushing him flat.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_124">124</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_130.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="495" /> -</div> -<p>“Get off, you great log of wood!” screamed the -gnome, struggling furiously. But this Peg Amy was -powerless to do and it was only after a frightful -struggle that Ruggedo managed to drag himself out. -He started to shake Peg but as she was now four -times his size he soon gave that up.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_125">125</div> -<p>“Well, anyway it works,” sighed the gnome, rubbing -his nose and the middle of his back. “I wonder -how it would act on a live person? I’ll try a little on -that silly rabbit,” he concluded, tip-toeing back into -Wag’s room. Now Wag’s apartment was about seven -feet square—plenty large enough for a regular rabbit—but -two drops of the expanding fluid—and, <i>stars</i>! -Wag was no longer a regular rabbit but a six-foot -funny bunny, stretching from one end of the room to -the other. He expanded without even waking up. -Ruggedo had to squeeze past him in order to get out -and, chuckling with satisfaction, the gnome hurried -back to his box of magic. His mind was now made up. -He would take Glegg’s Mixed Magic under his arm, -go above ground and with the Expanding Fluid -change himself into a giant. Then conquering Oz -would be a simple matter.</p> -<p>It was all going to be so easy and amusing that -Ruggedo felt he had plenty of time to examine the -rest of the bottles and boxes. He rubbed some of the -Vanishing Cream on a sofa cushion and it instantly -disappeared. The box of Re-animating Rays, guaranteed -to reawaken anyone from enchantment, interested -the old gnome immensely, but how could he try -them when there was no bewitched person about—at -least none that he knew of? Then his eye fell on the -Question Box. Why not try that? So, “How shall I -use the Re-animating Rays?” asked Ruggedo, shaking -the box three times. Nothing happened at first. Then, -by the light from his emerald lamp, the gnome saw a -sentence forming on the lid.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div> -<p>“Try them on Peg,” said the box shortly. Without -thinking of consequences or wondering what the -Question Box meant by suggesting Peg, the curious -gnome opened the box of rays and held it over the -huge wooden doll. For as long as it would take to -count ten Peg lay perfectly still. Then, with a creak -and jerk, she sprang to her feet.</p> -<p>“How perfectly pomiferous!” cried Peg Amy, with -an awkward jump. “I’m alive! Why, I’m alive all -over!” She moved one arm, then the other and -turned her head stiffly from side to side. “I can -walk!” cried Peg. “I can walk; I can skip; I can -run!” Here Peg began running around the cave, her -joints squeaking merrily at every step.</p> -<p>At Peg’s first move Ruggedo had jumped back of a -rock, his every spike standing on end. Too late he -realized his mistake. This huge wooden creature clattering -around the cave was positively dangerous. -Why, she might easily pound him to bits. Why on -earth had he meddled with the magic rays and why -under the earth should a wooden doll come to life? -He waited till Peg had run to the farthest end of the -cave; then he dashed to the magic casket and scrambled -the bottles, the Trick Tea Set and the flasks back -into place and started for the door that led to the -secret passage as fast as his crooked little legs would -carry him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_127">127</div> -<p>But he was not fast enough, for Peg heard and like -a flash was after him.</p> -<p>“Stop! Go away!” screamed Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“Why, it’s the old gnome!” cried the Wooden Doll -in surprise. “The wicked old gnome who used to -shake me all the time. Why, how small he is! I could -pick him up with one hand!” She made a snatch at -Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“Go away!” shrieked Ruggedo, ducking behind a -rock. “Go away—there’s a dear girl,” he added coaxingly. -“I didn’t shake you much—not too much, you -know!”</p> -<p>Peg Amy put a wooden finger to her forehead and -regarded him attentively.</p> -<p>“I remember,” she murmured thoughtfully. “You -found a magic box, and you’re going to harm Ozma -and try to conquer Oz. I must get that box!”</p> -<p>Reaching around the rock she seized Ruggedo by -the arm.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div> -<p>In a panic, he jerked away. “Help! Help!” cried -the gnome King, darting off toward the other end of -the cave. “Help! Help!”</p> -<p>In his little rock room Wag stirred uneasily. Then, -as Ruggedo’s cries grew louder, he bounced erect and -almost cracked his skull on the low ceiling. Hardly -knowing what he was doing he rushed at the door only -to knock himself almost senseless against the top, for -of course he did not realize he had expanded into a -giant rabbit. But as the cries from the other room -became louder and louder he got up and rubbing his -head in a dazed fashion he somehow crowded himself -through the door and hopped into the cave. When he -saw Peg Amy chasing Ruggedo, Wag fell back against -the wall.</p> -<p>“My wocks and hoop soons!” stuttered the rabbit. -“She is alive! And he’s shrunk!”</p> -<p>Wag’s voice rose triumphantly. “I’m going to -pound his curly toes off!” he shouted. With this he -joined merrily in the chase.</p> -<p>“I’ll catch him!” he called, “I’ll catch him, Peg, my -dear, and make him pay for all the shakings he has -given you. I’ll pound his curly toes off!”</p> -<p>“Oh, Wag! Don’t do that,” cried the Wooden Doll, -stopping short. “I didn’t mind the shakings and -gnomes don’t know any better!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_129">129</div> -<p>“Neither do rabbits!” cried Wag stubbornly, bounding -after Ruggedo. “I’ll pound his curly toes off, I -tell you!”</p> -<p>The old gnome was sputtering like a firecracker. -What chance had he now with two after him? Then -suddenly he had an idea. Without stopping, he fumbled -in the box which he still clutched under one arm -and pulled out the bottle of Expanding Fluid. Uncorking -the bottle he poured its contents over his -head—<i>every single drop</i>!</p> -<p>This is what happened: First he shot out sideways, -till Peg and Wag were almost crushed against the -wall. With a hoarse scream Wag dragged Peg Amy -back into his room, which was now barely large -enough to hold them. They were just in time, for -Ruggedo was still spreading. Soon there was not an -inch of space left to expand in. Then he shot up and -grew up and grew and grew and groaned and grew -till there wasn’t any more room to grow in. So, he -burst through the top of the cave, with a noise like -fifty boilers exploding.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_130">130</div> -<p>No wonder Dorothy thought it was a cyclone! For -what was on the top of the cave but the royal palace -of Oz? The next instant it was impaled fast on the -spikes of Ruggedo’s giant head and shooting up with -him toward the clouds. And that wretched gnome -never stopped growing till he was three-quarters of a -mile high!</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_131.jpg" alt="The royal palace of Oz impaled fast on the spikes of Ruggedo’s giant head" width="590" height="801" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The royal palace of Oz impaled fast on the spikes of Ruggedo’s giant head</span></p> -</div> -<p>If the people in the palace were frightened, Ruggedo -was more frightened still. Being a giant was a -new experience for him and having a castle jammed -on his head was worse still. The first thing he tried -to do, when he stopped growing, was to lift the castle -off, but his spikes were driven fast into the foundations -and it fitted closer than his scalp.</p> -<p>In a panic Ruggedo began to run, and when a giant -runs he gets somewhere. Each step carried him a half -mile and shook the country below like an earthquake -and rattled the people in the castle above like pennies -in a Christmas bank. Shaking with terror and hardly -knowing why, the gnome made for his old Kingdom, -and in an hour had reached the little country of -Oogaboo, which is in the very northwestern corner of -Oz, opposite his old dominions.</p> -<p>The Deadly Desert is so narrow at this point that -with one jump Ruggedo was across and, puffing like -a volcano about to erupt, he sank down on the highest -mountain in Ev. Fortunately he had not stepped on -any cities in his flight, although he had crushed several -forests and about a hundred fences.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_131">131</div> -<p>“Oh, Oh, My head!” groaned Ruggedo, rocking to -and fro. He seemed to have forgotten all about conquering -Oz. He was full of twinges and growing pains. -Ozma’s castle was giving him a thundering headache, -and there he sat, a fearsome figure in the bright moonlight, -moaning and groaning instead of conquering.</p> -<p>The Book of Records had been right indeed when it -stated that Ruggedo had something on his mind. -Ozma’s castle itself sat squarely upon that mischievous -mind—and every moment it seemed to grow -heavier.</p> -<p>No wonder there had been confusion in the castle! -Every time Ruggedo shook his aching head Ozma and -her guests were tossed about like leaves in a storm. -Mixed magic had made mischief indeed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_132">132</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_138.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="473" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c10"><span class="smaller">Chapter 10</span> -<br />Peg and Wag To The Rescue</h2> -<p>For a long time after the terrific bang following -Ruggedo’s final expansion, Wag and Peg Amy had -been too stunned to even move. Crowded together in -the little rock room, they lay perfectly breathless.</p> -<p>“Umpthing sappened,” quavered the rabbit at last.</p> -<p>“That sounds rather queer, but I think I know what -you mean,” said Peg, sitting up cautiously.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div> -<p>“Something has happened. Ruggedo’s been blown -up, I guess.”</p> -<p>“Mixed Magic!” groaned Wag gloomily. “I knew -it would explode. Say, Peg, what makes this room so -small?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” sighed the doll in a puzzled voice, -for neither Peg nor Wag realized how much they had -grown. “But let’s go above ground and see what has -become of Ruggedo.” One at a time and with great -difficulty they got through the door.</p> -<p>“Why, there are the stars!” cried Peg Amy, clasping -her wooden hands rapturously. “Real stars!” -The top of the cave had gone off with the old gnome -King and the two stood looking up at the lovely skies -of Oz.</p> -<p>“It doesn’t seem so high as it used to,” said the -rabbit, looking at the walls. “Why, I believe I could -jump out if I took a good run and carry you, too. -Come ashort, Peg!”</p> -<p>“Aren’t you mixed, Wag dear? Don’t you mean -come along?” asked Peg, smoothing down her torn -dress.</p> -<p>“Well, now that you mention it, my head does feel -queer,” admitted the rabbit, twitching his nose, “bort -of sackwards!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_134">134</div> -<p>“Sort of backwards,” corrected Peg gently. “Well, -never mind. I know what you mean. But do let’s try -to find that awful box of magic. You know Ruggedo -brought me to life, Wag, with something in that box!”</p> -<p>“Only good thing he ever did,” said Wag, shaking -his head. “But I think you were alive before,” he -added solemnly. “You always seemed alive to me.”</p> -<p>“I think so, too,” whispered Peg excitedly. “I -can’t remember just how, or where, but Oh! Wag! I -know I’ve been alive before. I remember dancing.”</p> -<p>Peg took a few awkward steps and Wag looked on -dubiously, too polite to criticize her efforts. He didn’t -even laugh when Peg Amy fell down. Peg laughed -herself, however, as merrily as possible. “It’s going -to be such fun being alive,” she said, picking herself -up gaily, “such fun, Wag dear. Why, there’s Glegg’s -box!” She pounced upon the little shining gold casket. -“Ruggedo didn’t take it after all!”</p> -<p>“Is it shut?” asked Wag, clapping both paws to his -ears. “Look out for explosions, say I.”</p> -<p>“No, but I’ll soon close it,” said Peg and, shutting -Glegg’s box, she slipped it into pocket of her dress. -It was about half the size of this book you are reading -and as Peg’s pockets were big and old fashioned, it -fitted quite nicely.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_135">135</div> -<p>“Come ashort,” said Wag again, looking around -uneasily, for he was anxious to get out of the gnome’s -cave. So Peg seated herself carefully on his back and -clasped her wooden arms around his neck. Then Wag -ran back a few steps, gave a great jump and sailed -up, up and out of the cave.</p> -<p>“Ten penny tea cups!” shrieked the Soldier with -the Green Whiskers, falling over backwards. “What -next?” For Wag with Peg on his back had leaped -straight over his head.</p> -<p>Picking himself up, and with every whisker in his -beard prickling straight on end, the Grand Army of -Oz backed toward the royal stable. When he had -backed half the distance he turned and ran for his -life. But he need not have been afraid.</p> -<p>“What a funny little man,” chuckled Wag. “Why, -he’s no bigger than we are. He’s no—!” Then suddenly -Wag clutched his ears. “Oh!” he screamed, -beginning to hop up and down, “I forgot all my -treasures—my olden goop soons. Oh! Oh! My urple -sool wocks! I’ve forgotten my urple sool wocks!”</p> -<p>“Your what?” cried Peg Amy, clutching him by the -fur. “Now Wag, dear, you’re all mixed up. Perhaps -it’s ’cause your ears are crossed. There, now, do stop -wiggling your whiskers and turn out your toes!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div> -<p>But Wag continued to wiggle his whiskers and turn -in his toes and roar for his urple sool wocks.</p> -<p>“Stop!” screamed Peg at last, with both hands over -her wooden ears. “I know what you mean! Your -purple wool socks!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_142.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="394" /> -</div> -<p>“Yes,” sobbed the rabbit, slumping down on a rock -and holding his head in both paws.</p> -<p>“Well, don’t you think”—the Wooden Doll shook -her head jerkily—“Don’t you think it’s just as well? -Ruggedo stole all those things and you wouldn’t want -stolen soup spoons, now would you?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_137">137</div> -<p>Wag took a long breath and regarded Peg uncertainly. -Then something in her pleasant wooden face -seemed to brace him up.</p> -<p>“No!” he sighed solemnly—“I s’pose not. I ought -to have left Rug long ago.”</p> -<p>“But then you couldn’t have helped me,” said Peg -brightly. “Let’s don’t think about it any more. -You’ve been awfully good to me, Wag.”</p> -<p>“Have I?” said Wag more cheerfully. “Well, -you’re a good sort, Peg—a regular Princess!” he finished, -puffing out his chest, “and anything you say -goes.”</p> -<p>“Princess?” laughed the Wooden Doll, pleased nevertheless. -“I’m a funny Princess, in this old dress. -Did you ever hear of a wooden Princess, Wag?”</p> -<p>“You look like a Princess to me,” said the rabbit -stoutly. “Dresses don’t matter.”</p> -<p>This speech so tickled the Wooden Doll that she -gave Wag a good hug and began dancing again. -“Being alive is such fun!” she called gaily over her -shoulder, “and you are so wonderful!”</p> -<p>Wag’s chest expanded at least three inches and his -whiskers trembled with emotion. “Hop on my back -Peg and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” he -puffed magnificently.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div> -<p>But the Wooden Doll had suddenly grown sober. -“Wherever is the castle?” she cried anxiously. She -remembered exactly where it had stood when she was -an unalive doll and now not a tower or turret of the -castle was to be seen. “Oh!” groaned Peg Amy, -“Ruggedo has done something dreadful with his -Mixed Magic!”</p> -<p>Wag rubbed his eyes and looked all around. “Why, -it’s gone!” he cried, waving his paws. “What shall we -do? If only we weren’t so small!”</p> -<p>“We’ve got the magic box,” said Peg hopefully, -“and somehow I don’t feel as small as I used to feel; -do you?”</p> -<p>“Well, I feel pretty queer, myself,” said the rabbit, -twitching his nose. “Maybe it’s because I’m hungry. -There’s a kitchen garden over there near the royal -stables and I think if I had some carrots I’d feel -better.”</p> -<p>“Of course you would!” cried Peg, jumping up. “I -forgot you had to eat.” So, very cautiously they stole -into the royal cook’s garden. Wag had often helped -himself to carrots from this garden before, but now -sitting on his haunches he stared around in dazed -surprise.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_139">139</div> -<p>“Everything’s different!” wailed the rabbit dismally. -“You’re the same and I’m the same but -everything else is all mixed up. Look at this carrot. -Why, it’s no bigger than a blade of grass.” Wag held -up a carrot in disgust. “Why, it will take fifty of -these to give me even a taste and the lettuce—look at -it! Everything’s shrunk, even the houses!” cried the -big funny bunny, looking around. “My wocks and -hoop soons, sheverything’s hunk!”</p> -<p>Peg Amy had followed Wag’s gaze and now she -jumped up in great excitement. “I see it now!” cried -Peg. “It’s us, Wag. Everything’s the same but we -are different. Some of that Mixed Magic has made us -grow. We’re bigger and everything else is the same. -I am as tall as the little girl who used to play with me -and you are even bigger and I’m glad, because now we -can help find the castle and Ruggedo and try to make -everything right again.”</p> -<p>Peg clasped her wooden hands. “Aren’t you glad -too, Wag?”</p> -<p>The rabbit shook his head. “It’s going to take an -awful lot to fill me up,” he said doubtfully. “I’ll have -to eat about six times as much as I used to.”</p> -<p>“Well, you’re six times as large; isn’t that any -comfort?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_140">140</div> -<p>“My head doesn’t feel right,” insisted Wag. “As -soon as I talk fast the words all come wrong.”</p> -<p>“Maybe it didn’t grow as fast as the rest of you,” -laughed the Wooden Doll. “But don’t you care, Wag. -I know what you mean and I think you’re just splendid! -Now hurry and finish your carrots so we can -decide what to do.</p> -<p>“If Mixed Magic caused all this trouble,” added -Peg half to herself, “Mixed Magic’s got to fix it. I’m -going to look at that box.” Wag, nibbling industriously, -had not heard Peg’s last speech or he would -doubtless have taken to his heels.</p> -<p>Sitting unconcernedly in a cabbage bed, the Wooden -Doll took the gold box from her pocket. Fortunately -she had not snapped the magic snap and it opened -quite easily. Her fingers were stiff and clumsy and -the moon was the only light she had to see by, but it -did not take Peg Amy long to realize the importance -of Glegg’s magic.</p> -<p>“I wonder if he rubbed this on the castle,” she murmured, -holding up the bottle of Vanishing Cream. -“And how would one bring it back? Let me see, -now.” One after the other, she took out the bottles -and boxes and the tiny tea set. The Re-animating -Rays she passed over, without realizing they were -responsible for bringing her to life, but the Question -Box, Peg pounced upon with eager curiosity.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_141">141</div> -<p>“Oh, if it only would answer questions!” fluttered -Peg. Then, holding the box close to her mouth, she -whispered, “Where is Ruggedo?”</p> -<p>“Who are you talking to?” asked Wag, looking up -in alarm. “Now don’t <i>you</i> get mixed up, Peg!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_147.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="390" /> -</div> -<p>“It’s a Question Box,” said the Wooden Doll, “but -it’s not working very well.” She shook it vigorously -and held it up so that the light streaming down from -the stable window fell directly on it. In silver letters -on the lid of the box was one word—Ev!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_142">142</div> -<p>“Ev—Ruggedo’s in Ev!” cried Peg Amy, rushing -over to the rabbit. “Can you take me to Ev, Wag -dear?”</p> -<p>“Of course,” said Wag, nibbling faster and faster at -his carrots. “I’ll take you anywhere, Peg.”</p> -<p>“Then it’s going to be all right; I know it,” chuckled -the Wooden Doll, and putting all the magic appliances -back into the box she closed the lid with a snap. And -this time the magic catch caught.</p> -<p>“Is it far to Ev?” asked Peg Amy, looking thoughtfully -at the place where the castle had once been.</p> -<p>“Quite a long journey,” said Wag, “but we’ll go a -hopping. Ev is near Ruggedo’s old home and it’s -across the Deadly Desert, but we’ll get there somehow. -Trust me. And when I do!” spluttered Wag, thumping -his hind feet determinedly, “I’ll pound his curly -toes off—the wicked little monster!”</p> -<p>“Did you ask the Question Box where the castle -was?” he inquired hastily, for he saw Peg was going -to tell him he must not pound Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“Why, no! How silly of me!” Peg felt in her -pocket and brought out the gold box. She tried to -open it as she had done before but it was no use. She -pulled and tugged and shook it. Then Wag tried.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div> -<p>“There’s a secret to it,” puffed the rabbit at last. -“Took Rug a whole night and day to discover it. -Can’t you remember how you opened it before, Peg?”</p> -<p>The Wooden Doll shook her head sadly.</p> -<p>“Well, never mind,” said Wag comfortingly. “Once -we find Ruggedo we can make him tell. We’d better -start right off, because if any of the people around -here saw us they might try to capture us and put us -in a circus. We are rather unusual, you know.” The -rabbit regarded Peg Amy complacently. “One doesn’t -see six-foot rabbits and live dolls every day, even -in Oz!”</p> -<p>“No,” agreed Peg Amy slowly, “I s’pose not!”</p> -<p>The moon, looking down on the strange pair, -ducked behind a cloud to hide her smile, for the giant -funny bunny, strutting about pompously, and old-fashioned -wooden Peg, in her torn frock, were enough -to make anyone smile.</p> -<p>“You think of everything,” sighed Peg, looking -affectionately at Wag.</p> -<p>“Who wouldn’t for a girl like you? You’re a Princess, -Peg—a regular Princess.” The rabbit said it -with conviction and again Peg happily smoothed her -dress.</p> -<p>“Hop on,” chuckled Wag, “and then I’ll hop off.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_144">144</div> -<p>Seating herself on his back and holding tight to one -of his long ears, Peg announced herself ready. Then -away through the night shot the giant bunny—away -toward the western country of the Winkies—and each -hop carried him twelve feet forward and sent up great -spurts of dust behind.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_150.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="329" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_145">145</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_151.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="488" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c11"><span class="smaller">Chapter 11</span> -<br />The King of The Illumi Nation</h2> -<p>While Ruggedo was working all this mischief in -the Emerald City, Pompadore and the Elegant -Elephant had fallen into strange company. After the -Prince’s disappearance, Kabumpo stared long and -anxiously at the white marble stone with its mysterious -inscription, “Knock before you fall in.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_146">146</div> -<p>What would happen if he knocked, as the sign directed? -Something upsetting, the Elegant Elephant -was sure, else why had Pompa called for help?</p> -<p>Kabumpo groaned, for he was a luxurious beast and -hated discomfort of any sort. As for falling <i>in</i>—the -very thought of it made him shudder in every pound. -But selfish and luxurious though he was, the Elegant -Elephant loved Pompa with all his heart. After all, -he had run off with the Prince and was responsible for -his safety. If Pompa had fallen in he must fall in too. -With a resigned sigh, Kabumpo felt in his pocket to -see that his treasures were safe, straightened his robe -and, taking one last long breath, rapped sharply on -the marble stone with his trunk. Without a sound, -the stone swung inward, and as Kabumpo was standing -on it he shot headlong into a great black opening. -There was a terrific rush of air and the slab swung -back, catching as it did so the fluttering edge of the -Elegant Elephant’s robe of state. This halted his fall -for about a second and then with a spluttering tear -the silk fringe ripped loose and down plunged the -Elegant Elephant, trunk over heels.</p> -<p>After the third somersault, Kabumpo, right side up, -fortunately, struck a soft inclined slide, down which -he shot like a scenic railway train.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div> -<p>“Great Grump!” coughed Kabumpo, holding his -jeweled headpiece with his trunk. “Great—” Before -he reached the second grump, his head struck the top -of the passage with terrific force, and that was the last -he remembered about his fall. How long he lay in an -unconscious state the Elegant Elephant never knew. -After what seemed several ages he became aware of a -confused murmur. Footsteps seemed to be pattering -all around him, but he was still too stunned to be -curious.</p> -<p>“Nothing will make me get up,” thought Kabumpo -dully. “I’m going to lie here forever and—ever—and -ever—and—” Just as he reached this drowsy conclusion, -something red hot fell down his neck and a -voice louder than all the rest shouted in his ear. -“<i>What are you?</i>”</p> -<p>“Ouch!” screamed Kabumpo, now thoroughly -aroused. He opened one eye and rolled over on his -side. A tall, curious creature was bending over him. -Its head was on fire and as Kabumpo blinked angrily -another red hot shower spattered into his ear. With -a trumpet of rage Kabumpo lunged to his feet. The -hot-headed person fell over backwards and a crowd of -similar creatures pattered off into the corner and -regarded Kabumpo uneasily. They were as tall as -Pompa but very thin and tube-like in shape and their -heads appeared to be a mass of flickering flames.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_148">148</div> -<p>“Like giant candles,” reflected the Elegant Elephant, -his curiosity getting the better of his anger. -He glanced about hurriedly. He was in a huge white -tiled chamber and the only lights came from the heads -of its singular occupants. A little distance away -Prince Pompadore sat rubbing first his knees and then -his head.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_154.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="406" /> -</div> -<p>“It’s another faller,” said one of the giant Candlemen -to the other. “Two fallers in one day! This is -exciting—an ‘Ouch’ it calls itself!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_149">149</div> -<p>“I don’t care what it calls itself,” answered the second -Candleman crossly. “I call it mighty rude. How -dare you blow out our king?” shouted the hot-headed -fellow, shaking his fist at the Elegant Elephant. -“Here, some of you, light him up!”</p> -<p>“Blow out your King?” gasped Kabumpo in amazement. -Sure enough, he had. There at his feet lay -the King of the Candles, stiff and lifeless and with -never a head to bless himself with. While the Elegant -Elephant stared at the long candlestick figure a fat -little Candleman rushed forward and lit with his own -head the small black wick sticking out of the King’s -collar.</p> -<p>Instantly the ruddy flame face of the King appeared, -his eyes snapping dangerously. Jumping to -his feet he advanced toward Pompadore. “Is this -your Ouch?” spluttered the King, jerking his thumb -at Kabumpo. “You must take him away at once. I -never was so put out in my life. Me, the hand-dipped -King of the whole Illumi Nation, to be blown out by -a bumpy creature without any headlight. Where’s -<i>your</i> headlight?” he demanded fiercely, leaning over -the Prince and dropping hot tallow down his neck.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_150">150</div> -<p>Pompa jumped up in a hurry and backed toward -Kabumpo. “Be careful how you talk to him,” roared -the Elegant Elephant, swaying backwards and forward -like a big ship. “He’s a Prince—the Prince of -Pumperdink!” Kabumpo tossed his trunk threateningly.</p> -<p>“A Prince?” spluttered the King, changing his -tone instantly. “Well, that’s different. A Prince can -fall in on us any time and welcome but an Ouch! Why -bring this great clumsy Ouch along?” He rolled his -eyes mournfully at Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“He’s not an Ouch,” explained Pompa, who was -gradually recovering from the shock of his fall. “He -is Kabumpo, an Elegant Elephant, and he blew you -out by mistake. Didn’t you, Kabumpo?”</p> -<p>“Purely an accident—nothing intentional, I assure -you,” chuckled Kabumpo. He was beginning to enjoy -himself. “If there’s any more trouble I’ll blow ’em all -out,” he reflected comfortably, “for they’re nothing -but great big candles.”</p> -<p>Seeing their King in friendly conversation with the -strangers, the other Candlemen came closer—too -close for comfort, in fact. They were always leaning -over and dropping hot tallow on a body and the heat -from their flaming heads was simply suffocating.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_151">151</div> -<p>“Sing the National Air for them,” said the Candle -King carelessly and the Candlemen, in their queer -crackling voices, sang the following song, swaying -rhythmically to the tune:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Flicker, flicker, Candlemen,</p> -<p class="t0">Cheer our King and cheer again!</p> -<p class="t0">Neat as wax and always bright,</p> -<p class="t0">Cheer’s the King of candle light!</p> -</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">Kindle lightly—dwindle slightly,</p> -<p class="t0">Here we burn both day and nightly,</p> -<p class="t0">Here we have good times to burn</p> -<p class="t0">Till each one goes out in turn.”</p> -</div> -<p>“Thank you,” said Pompa, mopping his head with -his silk handkerchief.</p> -<p>“Thank you very much,” Kabumpo groaned plaintively, -for the great elephant was nearly stifled.</p> -<p>“How is it you are so tall and thin?” asked Pompa -after an awkward pause.</p> -<p>“How is it you are so short and lumpy and unevenly -dipped?” responded King Cheer promptly. “If I -were in your place,” he gave Kabumpo a contemptuous -glance, “I’d have myself redipped. Where are -your wicks? And how can you walk about without -being lighted?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_152">152</div> -<p>“We’re not fireworks,” puffed Kabumpo indignantly -and then he gave a shrill scream. Ten Candlemen -tottered and went out, falling to the ground with -a great clatter. Then Pompa leaped several feet in -the air and his scream put out five more.</p> -<p>“Stop!” cried King Cheer angrily. “Stand where -you are!” But Kabumpo and Pompa neither stopped -nor stood where they were. The Elegant Elephant -rushed over to the Prince and threw his heavy robe -over his head. And just in time, for Pompa’s golden -locks were a mass of flames. Then the Prince tore off -his velvet jacket and clapped it to Kabumpo’s tail, -which also was blazing merrily.</p> -<p>“Great Grump!” rumbled the Elegant Elephant -furiously, when he had extinguished Pompa and -Pompa had extinguished him. “I’ll put you all out -for this!” He raised his trunk and pointed it straight -at the Candlemen, who cowered in the far corner.</p> -<p>“I was only trying to light you up,” wailed a little -fellow, holding out his hands pleadingly. “I thought -that was your wick.” He pointed a trembling finger -at Kabumpo’s tail and another at Pompa’s head.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_159.jpg" alt="“I was only trying to light you up,” wailed the Candleman" width="590" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">“I was only trying to light you up,” wailed the Candleman</span></p> -</div> -<p>“Wick!” snorted Kabumpo in a rage—while the -Prince ran his hand sorrowfully through his one luxuriant -pompadour, of which nothing but a short stubble -remained—“Wick! What would we be doing -with wicks?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_153">153</div> -<p>“I don’t think he meant any harm,” put in Pompadore, -whose kind heart was touched by the little Candleman’s -terror. “And it wouldn’t help us any.”</p> -<p>“Thought it was my Wick,” shrilled Kabumpo, glaring -over his shoulder at his poor scorched tail. “He’s -a wick-ed little wretch. He’s ruined your looks.”</p> -<p>“I know!” Pompa sighed dismally. “No one will -want to marry me now. It’s all coming true, Kabumpo, -just as Count It Up said. Remember? ‘If a -thin Prince sets out on a fat elephant to find a Proper -Princess, how many yards of fringe will the elephant -lose from his robe and how bald will the Prince be at -the end of the journey?’ And we’ve scarcely begun!”</p> -<p>“Great hay stacks!” whistled Kabumpo, his little -eyes twinkling. “So I have lost every bit of fringe -from my robe and my tail and half the back of my -robe besides. This is nice, I must say.”</p> -<p>“We only tried to give you a warm welcome,” said -the King timidly.</p> -<p>“Warm welcome! Well I should think you did,” -sniffed Kabumpo. “How do we get out of here?”</p> -<p>“Oh, that’s very simple,” said the King, cheering -up. “Tommy, go for the Snuffer.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_154">154</div> -<p>Before Kabumpo or Pompa realized what this would -mean a little Candleman named Tommy Tallow had -returned with a tall black candle person. He stepped -to the side wall, quickly jerked a rope and down over -Kabumpo dropped a great brass snuffer and over the -Prince another.</p> -<p>“That ought to put the cross old things out,” -Pompa heard the King say just before his snuffer -reached the floor.</p> -<p>“This is terrible,” fumed the poor Prince, thumping -on the sides of the huge brass dome. “I might as -well have stayed at home and disappeared comfortably. -My poor old father and my mother! I wonder -where they are now?”</p> -<p>Sunk in gloomy reflection, Pompadore leaned -against the side of the snuffer. And one cannot blame -him for feeling dismal. The fall down the deep passage, -the shock of losing his hair and now imprisonment -under a stifling brass dome were enough to extinguish -the hopes of the stoutest hearted adventurer.</p> -<p>“I shall never find a Proper Princess!” wailed -Pompa, tying and untying his handkerchief. But -just then there was a creak from without and the great -dome lifted as suddenly as it had fallen—so suddenly -in fact that Pompa fell flat on his back. There stood -Kabumpo winding up the long rope with his trunk -and grumbling furiously all the while.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_155">155</div> -<p>“Takes more than a snuffer to keep me down,” -wheezed the Elegant Elephant, hurrying over and -jerking the Prince to his feet. “Three humps of my -shoulders and off she goes! What makes it so dark?”</p> -<p>“The Candlemen have all gone,” sighed Pompa, -brushing his hand wearily across his forehead. “All -except that one.”</p> -<p>In a distant corner sat Tommy Tallow and the light -from his head was the only light in the great chamber. -He was reading a book with tin leaves and looked up -in surprise when he saw the Elegant Elephant and -Pompadore approaching. Then he started to sputter -and ran toward a bell rope at the side of the chamber.</p> -<p>“Stop!” shouted Kabumpo, “or I’ll blow off your -head!” At that the little Candleman trembled so -violently that his flame head almost went out.</p> -<p>“Now suppose you show us the way out,” snapped -the Elegant Elephant, stamping one big foot until the -floor trembled.</p> -<p>“You could burn out!” gasped Tommy faintly. -“That’s what we do!”</p> -<p>“Don’t say out,” whispered Pompa anxiously. “We -want to go away from here,” he explained earnestly. -“Back on the top of the ground, you know.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_156">156</div> -<p>“Oh!” whistled Tommy Tallow, his face lighting -up. “That’s easy—this way, please!” He almost ran -to a big door at one side of the room and tugging it -open, waved them through.</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” he called, slamming the door quickly -behind them.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_164.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="425" /> -</div> -<p>Kabumpo and the Prince found themselves in a -wide dim hallway. It slanted up gradually and there -were tall candle guards stationed about a hundred -yards apart all of the way.</p> -<p>“Are you going to a birthday party or a wedding?” -asked the first guard, as they passed him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_157">157</div> -<p>“Wedding,” sniffed Kabumpo. “Why?”</p> -<p>“Well, hardly any of the candles go out of here unless -they’re needed for a birthday or a wedding,” -explained the guard, shifting his big feet. “You’re -mighty poorly made though. What kind of candles do -you call yourselves?”</p> -<p>“Roman,” chuckled Kabumpo with a wink. “We -roam around,” he added ponderously.</p> -<p>“Do all the candles used above ground come from -here?” asked Pompa curiously.</p> -<p>“Certainly,” replied the guard. “All candles come -from Illumi—and they don’t like to leave either because -as soon as they strike the upper air they shrink -down to ordinary cake and candlestick size. Distressing, -isn’t it?”</p> -<p>“I suppose it must be,” smiled Pompadore. “Good-bye!” -The guard touched his flame hat and Kabumpo -quickened his pace.</p> -<p>“I want air,” rumbled the great elephant, panting -along as fast as he could go. “I’ve seen and felt about -all I care to see and feel of the Illumi Nation.”</p> -<p>“So have I!” The Prince of Pumperdink touched -his scorched locks and sighed deeply. “I’m afraid -Ozma will never marry me now, and Pumperdink will -disappear forever!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_158">158</div> -<p>“Don’t be a Gooch!” snapped the Elegant Elephant -shortly. “Our adventures have only begun.”</p> -<p>They passed the rest of the guards without further -conversation, and after about two hours came to the -end of the long tiled passageway and stepped upon -firm ground again.</p> -<p>Kabumpo was terribly out of breath, for the whole -way had been up hill. For a full minute he stood -sniffing the fresh night air. Then, turning around, he -looked for the opening through which they had come. -Not a sign of the passage anywhere!</p> -<p>“That’s curious,” puffed the Elegant Elephant. -“But never mind. We don’t want to go back anyway.”</p> -<p>“I should say not,” gasped the Prince wearily. -“Where are we now, Kabumpo?”</p> -<p>“Still in the Gilliken country, I think, but headed -in the right direction. All we have to do is to keep -going South,” said the Elegant Elephant cheerfully.</p> -<p>“But we’ve had nothing to eat since morning,” objected -Pompadore.</p> -<p>“That’s so,” agreed Kabumpo, scratching his head -thoughtfully, “and not a house in sight!”</p> -<p>“But I smell something cooking,” insisted the -Prince, sniffing hungrily.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_159">159</div> -<p>“So do I,” said the Elegant Elephant, lifting his -trunk, “and it smells like soup. Let’s follow our noses, -Pompa, my boy.”</p> -<p>“Yours is the longest,” laughed the Prince, as Kabumpo -swung him upon the elephant’s back. So, -guided by the fragrant whiffs that came floating -toward them, Kabumpo set out through the trees.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_167.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="397" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_160">160</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_168.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="502" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c12"><span class="smaller">Chapter 12</span> -<br />The Delicious Sea of Soup</h2> -<p>“Strange that we don’t see any houses,” puffed -Kabumpo, swinging along rapidly.</p> -<p>“I hear water,” answered Pompa, peering out over -Kabumpo’s head, “and there it is!”</p> -<p>Rippling silver under the rays of the moon, which -shone brightly, lay a great inland sea. The trees had -thinned out, and a smooth, sandy beach stretched down -<span class="pb" id="Page_161">161</span> -to the shore. A slight mist hung in the air and all -around was the delicious fragrance of vegetable soup.</p> -<p>“Somebody’s making soup,” sighed the Prince, -“but who, and where?”</p> -<p>“Never mind, Pompa,” wheezed the Elegant Elephant, -walking down to the water’s edge, “perhaps -you can catch some fish, and while you cook them I’ll -go back and eat some leaves.”</p> -<p>With a jerk of his trunk, Kabumpo pulled a length -of the heavy silver thread from his torn robe and -handed it up to Pompa. Fastening a jeweled pin to -one end, the Prince cast his line far out into the waves. -At the first tug he drew it in.</p> -<p>“What is it?” asked the Elegant Elephant, as -Pompa pulled the dripping line over his trunk.</p> -<p>“Oh, how delicious! How wonderful!” exclaimed -the once fastidious Prince of Pumperdink.</p> -<p>Kabumpo could hear him munching away with -relish.</p> -<p>“What is it?” he asked again.</p> -<p>“A carrot! A lovely, red, delightful, tender carrot!”</p> -<p>“Carrot! Who ever heard of a sea carrot?” grunted -Kabumpo. “I’m afraid you’re not yourself, my boy. -Let me see it.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_162">162</div> -<p>Snaps and crunches, as Pompa consumed his strange -catch, were the only answer, and in real alarm the -Elegant Elephant moved away from the shore, and in -doing so bumped against a white sign, stuck in the -sand.</p> -<p>“Please Don’t Fall In,” directed the sign politely, -“<i>It Spoils The Soup</i>.”</p> -<p>“Soup!” sputtered Kabumpo. Then another sign -caught his eye: “<i>Soup Sea—Salted To Taste—Help -Yourself</i>.”</p> -<p>“Come down—come down here directly!” cried the -Elegant Elephant, snatching the Prince from his back. -“Here’s the soup—a whole sea full. Now all you need -is a bowl.”</p> -<p>Swallowing convulsively the last bit of carrot, -Pompa stood staring out over the tossing, smoking -soup sea. Every now and then a bone or a vegetable -would bob out of the waves, and the poor hungry -Prince of Pumperdink thought he had never seen a -more lovely sight in his life.</p> -<p>“We’ll probably be awarded a china medal for -this,” chuckled the Elegant Elephant. “Won’t old -Pumper’s eyes stick out when we tell him about it? -But now for a bowl!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_163">163</div> -<p>Swinging his trunk gently, Kabumpo walked up the -white beach, and had not gone more than a dozen steps -before he came to a cluster of huge shells. He turned -one over curiously. “Why, it’s a soup bowl,” whistled -the Elegant Elephant. He rushed back with it to -Pompadore, who still stood dreamily surveying the -soup.</p> -<p>“I never thought I’d be so thrilled by a common -soup bowl,” thought Kabumpo, staring at the Prince -in amusement. He stepped out on a rock and dipped -up a bowl of the hot liquid.</p> -<p>“Here! Drink!” commanded the Elegant Elephant, -handing the bowl to the Prince. “Drink to the Proper -Princess and the future Queen of Pumperdink.”</p> -<p>“Don’t go,” begged the Prince between gulps, “I -shall want two—three—several!”</p> -<p>Kabumpo laughed good naturedly. “This is the -pleasantest thing that has happened to us. Here! -Have another!”</p> -<p>Then both Pompa and the Elegant Elephant gasped, -for out of the bubbling waves arose the most curious -figure that they had ever seen—the most curious and -the jolliest. He was made entirely of soup bones, and -his head was a monster cabbage, with a soup bowl set -jauntily on the side for a cap. For a cabbage head he -sang very well and this was the song to which he kept -time by waving a silver ladle:</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_164">164</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Ho! I am the King of the Soup Sea,</p> -<p class="t">Yes, I am the King of the Deep;</p> -<p class="t0">My crown is a bowl and my sceptre a ladle,</p> -<p class="t0">I fell in the soup when I fell from the cradle,</p> -<p class="t">And find it exceedingly cheap!</p> -</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">I stir it up nightly, and pepper it rightly—</p> -<p class="t">A liquid perfection you’ll find.</p> -<p class="t0">And here is a roll, sirs,</p> -<p class="t0">So fill up your bowl, sirs,</p> -<p class="t">And think of me after you’ve dined.”</p> -</div> -<p>When he came to “dined,” the Soup King gave a -playful leap and disappeared backward into the -waves.</p> -<p>Pompa rubbed his eyes and looked at Kabumpo to -see whether he had been dreaming.</p> -<p>“Oh!” cried Kabumpo, his eyes as round as little -saucers. Floating gently toward them were two -large, crisp, buttered rolls.</p> -<p>“The most charming King I’ve ever met,” chuckled -Kabumpo, scooping up the rolls and handing them to -Pompa.</p> -<p>Pompa, staring dreamily ahead, first took a drink of -soup, then a nibble of roll, too happy for speech. Four -times the Elegant Elephant refilled the bowl. Then, -his stomach full for the first time since they had left -Pumperdink, the Prince stretched himself out on the -sands.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_165">165</div> -<p>“Now,” puffed the Elegant Elephant ceremoniously, -“if you think you’ve had quite enough, I’ll -snatch a few bites myself.” Chuckling softly he made -his way back to some young trees, and dined luxuriously -off their tops.</p> -<p>When he returned to the beach, Pompa was fast -asleep, and for a few moments Kabumpo was inclined -to sleep himself. “But then,” he reflected, “Ozma -may require a lot of coaxing before she consents to -marry Pompa, and two of our precious seven days are -gone. It is plainly my duty to save Pumperdink. -Besides, when Pompa is married he will be King of -Oz! Then I, the Elegant Elephant, will be the biggest -figure at Court.”</p> -<p>Kabumpo threw up his trunk and trumpeted softly -to the stars. Then, giving himself a big shake and a -little stretch, he lifted the sleeping Prince to his -back and started on again. In about two hours he had -circled the Soup Sea and, guiding himself by a particularly -bright and twinkling star, ran swiftly and -steadily toward the South.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_166">166</div> -<p>As the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky, -Kabumpo passed through a quaint little Gilliken village. -He snatched a bag of rolls from a doorstep and -stuck them into his pocket, but he did not stop, and -so fast asleep was the little village that except for a -few wideawake roosters, no one knew how important -a person had passed through.</p> -<p>The sky grew pinker and pinker. You have no idea -how pink the morning skies in Oz can be. Just as the -sun got out of bed, the Elegant Elephant came to the -wonderful Emerald City itself, shining and fairylike -as a dream under the lovely colors of sunrise. Kabumpo -paused and took a deep breath. Even he was -impressed, and it took a good bit to impress him. He -reached back and touched Pompa with his trunk.</p> -<p>“Wake up, my boy,” whispered Kabumpo in a trembling -voice. “Wake up and put on your crown, for -we have come to the city of your Proper Princess.”</p> -<p>Pompa sat up and rubbed his eyes in amazement. -Without a word, he took the crown Kabumpo handed -up to him, and set it on his scorched, golden head. -Accustomed as Pompa was to grandeur, for Pumperdink -is very magnificent in its funny old-fashioned -way, he could not help but gasp at Ozma’s fair city. -The lovely green parks, the houses studded with -countless emeralds, the shining marble streets, filled -the Prince with wonder.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_167">167</div> -<p>“I don’t believe she’ll ever marry me,” he stuttered, -beginning to feel quite frightened at his boldness.</p> -<p>“Nonsense,” wheezed Kabumpo faintly. He was -beginning to have misgivings himself. “Sit up now! -Look your best, and I’ll carry you straight into the -palace gardens.”</p> -<p>No one was awake. Even the Soldier with the -Green Whiskers lay snoring against a tree, so that -Kabumpo stole unobserved into the Royal Gardens.</p> -<p>“I don’t see the palace,” whispered Pompa anxiously. -“Wouldn’t it show above the trees?”</p> -<p>“It ought to,” said Kabumpo, wrinkling up his forehead. -“But look! Who is that?”</p> -<p>Pompa’s heart almost stopped, and even Kabumpo’s -gave a queer jump. On a golden bench, just ahead, -sat the loveliest person either had seen in all of their -eighteenth birthdays.</p> -<p>“Ozma,” gasped the Elegant Elephant, as soon as -he had breath enough to whisper. “What luck! You -must ask her at once.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div> -<p>“Not now,” begged the Prince of Pumperdink, as -Kabumpo unceremoniously helped him to the ground. -His knees shook, his tongue stuck to the roof of his -mouth. He had never proposed to a Fairy Princess -before in his whole life. Then all at once he had an -idea. Slipping his hand into the Elegant Elephant’s -pocket, he drew out the magic mirror. “I’ll see if -she’s a princess,” stuttered Pompa.</p> -<p>The elephant shook his head angrily but was afraid -to speak again lest he disturb the quiet figure on the -bench.</p> -<p>“And I’ll not propose unless she is the one,” said -Pompa, tip-toeing toward the bench. Without making -a sound he suddenly held the mirror before the startled -and lovely lady.</p> -<p>“Glinda, good Sorceress of Oz,” flashed the mirror -promptly.</p> -<p>“Great gooseberries!” cried Glinda, springing to her -feet in alarm and swinging around on Pompa. “Where -did you come from?” After studying a whole day and -night in her magic books, Glinda had returned to the -Emerald City to try to perfect her plan for rescuing -Ozma.</p> -<p>“From Pumperdink, your Highness,” puffed Kabumpo, -lunging forward anxiously. He, too, had seen -the words in the mirror and the fear of offending a -Sorceress made him quake in his skin—which was -loose enough to quake in, dear knows!</p> -<p>“A thousand pardons!” cried the Prince, dropping -on one knee and taking off his crown. “We were -seeking Princess Ozma, the Fairy Ruler of Oz.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_169">169</div> -<p>Glinda looked from Kabumpo to the Prince and -controlled a desire to laugh. The Elegant Elephant’s -torn and scorched robe hung in rags from his shoulders -and his jeweled headpiece was dangling over one ear. -Pompa’s clothes were equally shabby and his almost -bald head with a lock sticking up here and there gave -him a singular and comical appearance.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_179.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="392" /> -</div> -<p>“Pumperdink?” mused Glinda, tapping her foot -thoughtfully. Then, like a flash she remembered the -entry in the Book of Records—“The Prince of Pumperdink -is journeying toward the Emerald City.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_170">170</div> -<p>“Why did you want to see Ozma?” asked Glinda -anxiously. Perhaps these two strangers could throw -some light on the mysterious disappearance of the -Royal Palace.</p> -<p>“Our country was threatened with disappearance -and I thought—”</p> -<p>“He thought Ozma might help us,” finished the -Elegant Elephant breathlessly. He did not believe in -telling strange Sorceresses about everything. Now if -Glinda had not been so occupied with the disappearance -of the palace and all the dearest people in Oz, -she might have been more curious about the disappearance -of Pumperdink. As it was she just shook -her head sadly. “I’m afraid Ozma cannot help you,” -she said, “for Ozma herself has disappeared—Ozma -and everyone in the palace.”</p> -<p>“Disappeared!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, -sitting down with a thud. “Great Grump! The -thing’s getting to be a habit!”</p> -<p>What was to become of Pompa now? Would he -never be King, nor he, Kabumpo, ever be known as -the most Elegant Elephant in Oz? Had they made -the long journey in vain?</p> -<p>“Where? When?” gasped Prince Pompadore.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_171">171</div> -<p>“Night before last,” explained Glinda. “I’ve been -consulting my magic books ever since but have only -been able to discover one fact.”</p> -<p>“What is that?” asked Kabumpo faintly.</p> -<p>“That they are in Ev,” said Glinda, “and that a -giant carried them off. I came here early this morning -to see whether I could discover anything new. -Would you care to see where the castle stood?”</p> -<p>“Did he carry the castle off, too?” shuddered -Pompa. Glinda nodded gloomily and led them over -to the great hole in the center of the gardens.</p> -<p>For a minute she stood watching them. Then, -glancing at a golden sun dial set in the center of a -lovely flower bed, she murmured half to herself, “I -must be off!” Next instant she clapped her hands and -down swept a shining chariot drawn by white swans.</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” called Glinda, springing in lightly. -“I’m off to Ev to try my magic against the giant’s. -Wait here and when I’ve helped Ozma perhaps I can -help you!”</p> -<p>“Can’t we help? Can’t we go?” cried Pompa, running -a few steps after the chariot, but Glinda, already -high in the air, did not hear him and in the wink of -an eye the chariot and its lovely occupant had melted -into the pink morning clouds.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_172">172</div> -<p>“Now what shall we do?” groaned the Prince, letting -his arms drop heavily at his sides.</p> -<p>“Do!” snorted Kabumpo. “The thing for you to do -is to act like a Prince instead of a Gooch! There are -other ways of getting to Ev than by chariot.”</p> -<p>The thought of Kabumpo in Glinda’s chariot made -Pompa smile in spite of himself.</p> -<p>“There! That’s better,” said the Elegant Elephant -more pleasantly.</p> -<p>“Now, what’s to hinder us from going to Ev and -rescuing Princess Ozma? She couldn’t help marrying -you if you saved her from a giant, could she?”</p> -<p>“But could I save her—that’s the question,” muttered -the Prince, looking uneasily at the yawning -cavity where the castle had stood. “This giant must -be a terrible fellow!”</p> -<p>“Pooh!” said Kabumpo airily. “Who’s afraid of -giants? I’ll wind my trunk around his leg and pull -him to earth. Then you can dispatch the villain. We -must get you a sword, though,” he added softly.</p> -<p>“All right! I’ll do it!” cried the Prince, throwing -out his chest. The very thought of killing a giant -made him feel about ten feet high. “Do you know the -way to Ev, Kabumpo? We’ll have to hurry, because -unless I marry Ozma before the seven days are up my -poor old father and mother and all of Pumperdink will -disappear forever.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_173">173</div> -<p>You see, even Pompa had now got it into his head -that Ozma was the Proper Princess mentioned in the -scroll.</p> -<p>“We’ll start at once,” sighed the Elegant Elephant -a bit ruefully. “I’ve had no sleep and precious little -to eat but when you are King of Oz you can reward -old Kabumpo as he deserves.”</p> -<p>“Everything I have will be yours,” cried the -Prince, giving the elephant, or as much of him as he -could grasp, a sudden hug. Then each took a long -drink from one of the bubbling fountains and, munching -the rolls Kabumpo had picked up in the Gilliken -village, the two adventurers stole out of the gardens.</p> -<p>As they reached the gates, Kabumpo paused and -his little eyes twinkled with delight. There lay the -Soldier with the Green Whiskers, snoring tremendously -and beside him was a long, sharp sword with -an emerald handle. “Just what we need,” chuckled -Kabumpo, snatching it up in his trunk. Then out -through the gates and swiftly through the still sleeping -city swept the Elegant Elephant and the Prince -of Pumperdink, off to rescue Princess Ozma, a prisoner -in Ev!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_174">174</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_184.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="481" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c13"><span class="smaller">Chapter 13</span> -<br />On The Road To Ev</h2> -<p>In their journey to Ev, Peg and Wag had a night’s -start of Kabumpo and Prince Pompadore, but -towards morning Wag’s ears began to droop with -sleep.</p> -<p>“Gotta natch a sap, Peg,” Wag muttered thickly, as -they halted on a little hill.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div> -<p>“Natch a sap? What’s that?” asked the Wooden -Doll anxiously. Wag made no answer—just flopped -on his side and in a minute was asleep and snoring -tremendously.</p> -<p>“Oh!” whispered Peg, pulling herself gently from -beneath the sleeping rabbit. “He meant snatch a -nap.”</p> -<p>She laughed softly and seated herself under a small -tree. The birds were beginning to waken and their -singing filled Peg Amy with delight. “How wonderful -it all is,” she murmured, gazing up at the little -ruffly pink clouds. “How wonderful it is to be alive!”</p> -<p>“Hello! Mr. Robin!” she called gaily, as a bird flew -to a low bush beside her. “Are your children quite -well?”</p> -<p>The robin swung backward and forward on his -swaying branch; then burst into his best morning song.</p> -<p>“Oh!” cried Peg Amy, clasping her wooden hands, -“I’ve heard that before! But how could I?” she reasoned, -“I’m only a Wooden Doll and this is the first -morning I have been alive. But then, how did I know -it was a robin?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_176">176</div> -<p>Peg rubbed her wooden forehead in perplexity, for -it was all very puzzling indeed. Below their little -hill stretched the lovely land of the Winkies, with its -great green forests and little yellow villages. The -wind sent the leaves dancing above Peg’s head and the -early sunbeams made lovely patterns on the grass.</p> -<p>“I’ve seen it before!” gasped the Wooden Doll -breathlessly. “The trees, the birds, the houses and -everything!” Springing to her feet she ran awkwardly -from bush to tree, touching the leaves and -bending over the flowers as if they were old friends. -Had it not been for the squeaking of her wooden -joints, Peg would almost have forgotten she was a -Wooden Doll, for at the sight of the lovely green -growing things something warm and sunny seemed -to waken in her stiff wooden breast. “I’ve been alive -before,” said Peg Amy over and over.</p> -<p>Suddenly, through the still morning air, came a -loud, shrill laugh. Peg, who had been standing with -her cheek pressed closely against a small tree, swung -around quickly—so quickly in fact that she fell over -and lay in a ridiculously bent double position before -the new-comers.</p> -<p>It was Kabumpo and the Prince of Pumperdink. -Traveling by the same road Wag had chosen but much -more rapidly, the Elegant Elephant had come at sunrise -to the little hill. He had been watching Peg for -some time, and when he saw her dance awkwardly -over to the tree, he could no longer restrain himself.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_177">177</div> -<p>“Get out your mirror!” roared Kabumpo, shaking -all over with mirth. “Here is your Proper Princess, -Pompa, my boy—as royal a maiden as the country -boasts. Ho, ho! Kerumph!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_187.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="408" /> -</div> -<p>“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Pompa, looking -down curiously at the comical figure of Peg Amy.</p> -<p>“But she’s so funny!” gasped Kabumpo, the tears -rolling down his big cheeks.</p> -<p>“Who’s funny?” demanded an angry voice and Wag, -who had been awakened by Kabumpo’s loud roars, -hopped up, his ears quivering with rage.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_178">178</div> -<p>“I’ll pull your long nose for you!” cried Wag, advancing -threateningly. “Don’t you dare make fun of -Peg. What are you, anyway?”</p> -<p>“Great Grump!” choked Kabumpo, without answering -Wag’s inquiry. “What kind of a rabbit is this?”</p> -<p>“A clawing, chawing, scratching kind—as you’ll -soon find out!” Wag drew himself up into a ball and -prepared to launch himself at Kabumpo’s head, when -Peg straightened up and caught him by the ear.</p> -<p>“Don’t, Wag, please,” she begged. “He couldn’t -help laughing. I am funny. You know I am!” she -sighed a bit ruefully.</p> -<p>“You’re not funny to me,” blustered Wag, still -glaring at Kabumpo. “Who does he think he is?”</p> -<p>“I?” sniffed Kabumpo, spreading out his ears complacently, -“I am the Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink. -Notice my pearls; gaze upon my robe.”</p> -<p>“You don’t look very elegant to me,” snorted Wag. -“You look more like a tramp. Says he’s a lelegant -nelephant from Dumperpink,” he whispered scornfully -to Peg.</p> -<p>“And what’s that you’ve got on your back?” he -called, with a wave of his paw at Pompa. “A dunce?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_179">179</div> -<p>“Dunce!” screamed Kabumpo furiously. “This is -the Prince of Pumperdink, you good-for-nothing -lettuce-eater! What do you mean by laughing at -royalty?”</p> -<p>“Royalty! Oh, ha, ha, ha!” roared Wag, rolling -over and over in the grass. “But he’s so funny!” He -paused to take another look at the Prince. At this -Kabumpo lunged forward, his eyes snapping angrily.</p> -<p>“Stop!” begged the Prince, tugging Kabumpo by -the ear. “You were rude to his friend that—er—doll, -so you must expect him to be rude to me. It’s all -your fault,” he added reproachfully.</p> -<p>“Are you a Prince?” asked Peg Amy, staring up at -Pompa with her round, painted eyes.</p> -<p>“Of course he’s a Prince. Didn’t I say so before? -Who is that hoppy creature?”</p> -<p>“That’s Wag—such a dear fellow.” Peg smiled -confidently at Kabumpo and he was suddenly ashamed -of himself for laughing at her.</p> -<p>“Well, he needn’t get waggish with me,” grumbled -the Elegant Elephant in a lower voice.</p> -<p>“Oh, don’t quarrel!” begged Peg. “It’s such a -lovely morning and you both look so interesting.”</p> -<p>Kabumpo eyed the big Wooden Doll attentively. It -was smart of her to think him interesting. He cleared -his throat gruffly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_180">180</div> -<p>“You’re not as funny as you look,” he admitted -grandly, which was the nearest to an apology he had -ever come. “But what are you doing here and why -are you alive?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” explained Peg apologetically. “It -just happened last night.”</p> -<p>“It did? Well, where are you going?”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_190.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="347" /> -</div> -<p>Wag still looked cross and his nose was twitching -violently, but Peg politely answered Kabumpo’s -question.</p> -<p>“We’re on our way to Ev to try to help Ozma,” -said the Wooden Doll, folding her hands quaintly.</p> -<p>“Why so are <i>we</i>!” cried Pompa, sliding down Kabumpo’s -trunk in a hurry.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_181">181</div> -<p>“How do <i>you</i> expect to help her?” grunted Kabumpo, -looking at Wag and Peg contemptuously.</p> -<p>“Don’t mind him,” begged Pompa, running up to -Peg Amy. “Tell me everything you know about -Ozma. Is she pretty?”</p> -<p>“Beautiful,” breathed Peg, looking up at the sky. -“Beautiful and lovely and good. That’s why I want -to help her.”</p> -<p>“Then I sha’n’t mind marrying her at all,” said -Pompa, with a great sigh of relief.</p> -<p>“Gooch!” roared Kabumpo angrily—“Telling -everything you know!”</p> -<p>“Do you mean to say you think Ozma would marry -<i>you</i>?” gasped Wag, sitting up with a jerk. “Oh, my -wocks and hoop soons!” His ears crossed and uncrossed -and with a final gurgle of disbelief Wag fell -back on the grass.</p> -<p>“Well, is there anything so strange in that?” asked -Pompa in a hurt voice. “I’ve <i>got</i> to marry her,” he -added, desperately appealing to Peg Amy. And -while Kabumpo stood sulkily swinging his trunk the -Prince told Peg the whole story of the magic scroll.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_182">182</div> -<p>“I said you looked interesting,” breathed Peg, as -Pompa paused for breath. “Did you hear that, Wag? -Unless he marries a Proper Princess in a proper time -his whole Kingdom will disappear—his Kingdom and -everyone in it!”</p> -<p>“But how do you know Ozma is the Proper Princess?” -asked Wag, chewing a blade of grass. “The -scroll didn’t say Ozma, did it?”</p> -<p>“Kabumpo thinks Ozma is the Proper Princess,” -explained Pompadore, nodding toward the Elegant -Elephant, “and he’s usually right!”</p> -<p>“Humph!” sniffed Wag. “Well, maybe you are a -Prince. You’re not really bad looking if you had -some fur on your head,” he remarked more amiably. -“What happened? Somebody pull it out?”</p> -<p>“Oh, Wag!” murmured Peg Amy, in a shocked -voice.</p> -<p>“Burned off,” sighed Pompa, and proceeded to tell -of their fall into the Illumi Nation. He even told them -about the Soup Sea and of their meeting with Glinda, -the Good.</p> -<p>“Don’t you care,” said the big Wooden Doll, as -Pompa mournfully rubbed his scorched head. “It -will soon grow again and I don’t see how Ozma could -help loving you—you’re so tall, and so polite.” This -kind little speech affected Pompa so deeply that he -dropped on one knee and raised Peg’s wooden hand to -his lips.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_183">183</div> -<p>“The creature has a lot of sense,” mumbled Kabumpo, -with his mouth full of leaves.</p> -<p>“Creature!” exclaimed Wag, sitting up straight -and opening his eyes wide. “Her name is Peg Amy, -Mr. Nelegant Lelephant.”</p> -<p>“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo hastily. “But -you’ll have to admit she’s curious.”</p> -<p>“Of course she is,” said Wag complacently. “That’s -why I like her. She wasn’t cut out to be a beauty, -but to be companionable, and she is. When you’ve -known Peg as long as I have”—Wag paused impressively—“you’ll -be proud to carry her on your -back, Mr. Long Nose!”</p> -<p>“I’ve only known her a few minutes and I adore -her!” said Pompa heartily. “Mistress Peg and I are -good friends already.” Peg curtseyed awkwardly. -“I’ve done this before,” she reflected curiously to -herself.</p> -<p>“Shall we tell them about Ruggedo?” Peg asked -aloud, turning to Wag.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_184">184</div> -<p>“Yes, do!” begged Pompa. “Tell us something -about yourselves. I never saw so large a rabbit in my -life as Wag and as for <i>you</i>!”—Pompa paused, for -Wag was eying him resentfully—“you are the largest, -most delightful doll I have ever met, the only -alive one, I might say. How did you know about -Ozma’s disappearance and how were you going to -help her?”</p> -<p>“Mixed Magic!” whispered Wag, crossing his ears -and his eyes as well. “Mixed Magic!”</p> -<p>“Magic?” gulped Kabumpo, swallowing a branch -of sticky leaves whole. “Have <i>you</i> any magic?”</p> -<p>“A whole box full,” sighed Peg Amy, patting her -pocket softly.</p> -<p>“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” -shrilled Wag, pointing a trembling paw. “In that box -is the magic that made us grow. In that box is the -magic that caused Ozma’s castle to disappear—!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_191.jpg" alt="“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” shrilled Wag" width="583" height="799" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” shrilled Wag</span></p> -</div> -<p>“Great Grump!” whistled Kabumpo. “How fortunate -we fell in with them, Pompa.” He held out his -trunk. “Give me the box, my good girl, and you shall -be fittingly rewarded when Pompa is King of Oz.”</p> -<p>“That’s a long time to wait,” chuckled Wag, tickled -by Kabumpo’s outrageous impudence. “No, Peg and -I will just keep the box, thank you.”</p> -<p>“Of course you will,” said Prince Pompadore, -frowning at Kabumpo. “But as we are both bound -on the same errand, let us travel together. Kabumpo -and I are going to kill the giant who ran off with the -castle.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_185">185</div> -<p>The Prince held up his long sword. “And if you -can help us, I shall thank you from the bottom of my -heart.” Pompa stretched out his hand impulsively.</p> -<p>“Well, that’s more like,” said Wag, pulling his ear -thoughtfully. “And four heads are better than two!”</p> -<p>“Of course we’ll help you!” cried Peg Amy. “The -trouble is, we don’t know ourselves how to open the -magic box, but we do know that Ruggedo is in Ev and -when we get there we will make him open the box -and undo all this mischief.”</p> -<p>“You mentioned him before,” said Kabumpo, holding -up his trunk. “Who is Ruggedo and what has he -to do with Ozma?”</p> -<p>“Ruggedo is a wicked little gnome,” explained Peg -Amy gravely. “He used to be King of the Gnomes -but he was banished from his Kingdom and Ozma -gave him a little cottage in the Emerald City. He -pretended to live there, but instead he tunneled a cave -right underneath the palace. Wag helped him dig.” -Peg waved her hand at the rabbit. “And he was the -only one who would stay with him. Then Ruggedo -stole me. I was only a small, unalive doll, belonging -to Trot, a little girl who lives with Ozma. Ruggedo -stole me just to shake,” continued Peg shuddering.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_186">186</div> -<p>“That’s why I’m going to pound his curly toes -off!” screamed Wag, beginning to hop about at the -very thought of Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“But how did you come to be so large and alive?” -asked Kabumpo, who was growing more interested.</p> -<p>“Well, one night”—Peg dropped her voice to a -whisper—“One night Ruggedo found this box of -Mixed Magic hidden in the cave and then—”</p> -<p>“Then,” screamed Wag hoarsely, “in some way we -don’t understand, Peg and I grew big, Peg came -alive, the top blew off the cave—and depend upon it, -whatever’s happened to Ozma and her palace happened -from something in that box. It’s all Ruggedo’s -fault. When I catch him”—Wag began to wiggle his -nose and paw his whiskers—“my wocks and hoop -soons! I’ll pound his curly toes off!”</p> -<p>“And I’ll help you!” cried Kabumpo heartily. He -could not help but admire such spirit. “Come on—let’s -start. You may ride on my back with Pompa if -you care to,” finished the Elegant Elephant with a -sidelong glance at Peg.</p> -<p>“Oh, thank you,” smiled the Wooden Doll, “but -Wag will carry me.”</p> -<p>“I always carry Peg,” said Wag jealously. “I’ve -known her the longest.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_187">187</div> -<p>“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo, lifting Pompa up, -“but if she ever <i>wants</i> to ride on my back she may.”</p> -<p>“Humph!” grunted Wag, as the Wooden Doll settled -herself on his shoulders. “Isn’t he generous!”</p> -<p>Peg pulled down one of Wag’s long ears. “It was -kindly meant,” whispered the Wooden Doll merrily.</p> -<p>“Ready?” puffed Kabumpo, backing out into the -road. “We’ve no time to lose, for if we lose time we -lose our Kingdom too. Forward for Pumperdink!”</p> -<p>“All right!” cried Wag, giving a great leap. “Follow -me!” And off hopped the giant bunny so fast -that Kabumpo had to stretch his legs even to keep -him in sight.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_197.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="557" height="600" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_188">188</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_198.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="482" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c14"><span class="smaller">Chapter 14</span> -<br />Terror In Ozma’s Palace</h2> -<p>Meanwhile strange things had been happening -in Ozma’s palace. For the people inside it had -been a very mean time indeed. During Ruggedo’s run -to the mountains of Ev, they had almost been shaken -out of their wits and when he sat down upon the mountain -top there was not a person nor piece of furniture -standing in the whole palace. Courtiers and servants -who were not knocked senseless lay shaking in their -beds or huddled in corners and under sofas and chairs, -just as they had fallen when the first terrible crash -lifted the palace into the air.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_189">189</div> -<p>Ozma’s four poster bed had collapsed, pinning the -little Fairy Princess under a mass of silk hangings and -curtain poles. Being a fairy, Ozma was unhurt, but -not being able to move, nor to reach her Magic Belt -or even make herself heard, she was forced to lie perfectly -still and wait for help.</p> -<p>In Dorothy’s sitting room there was not a sound but -the ticking of the Copper Man’s machinery. Trot and -Betsy Bobbin had knocked their heads together so -smartly that they were unconscious. Sir Hokus had -been hurled violently against Tik Tok and the poor -Knight had known nothing since. Dorothy lay quietly -beside him, an ugly bruise on her forehead, where the -emerald clock had landed.</p> -<p>“Scraps!” called the Scarecrow, sometime after the -rumble and tumble had ceased, “are you there?”</p> -<p>“No, here!” gasped the Patch Work Girl, sitting up -cautiously. She had bounced all around the room and -finally rolled into a corner quite close to the Scarecrow -himself. She put out her cotton hand as she -spoke and touched him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_190">190</div> -<p>“How fortunate we are unbreakable,” said the -Scarecrow, pressing her cotton fingers convulsively -and trying to peer out through the intense blackness -of the room. “What happened?”</p> -<p>“Earthquake!” shivered Scraps. “And maybe it’s -not over!”</p> -<p>“Must have knocked everybody silly,” said the -Scarecrow huskily.</p> -<p>“Except us,” giggled the Patch Work Girl. “We -couldn’t be knocked silly ’cause we were silly in the -first place.”</p> -<p>“Now, don’t make jokes, please,” begged the Scarecrow. -“This is serious. Besides, I want to think.”</p> -<p>“All right,” said Scraps cheerfully. “I don’t—but -I’m going to feel around and see if I can find the -matches. There used to be some candles on the mantel -and—” As she spoke, Scraps fell headlong over Sir -Hokus of Pokes and as luck would have it her cotton -fingers closed over a small gold match box. Picking -herself up carefully, Scraps struck a match on Sir -Hokus’ armor and looked anxiously around the room.</p> -<p>“They need water,” said the Patch Work Girl, -wrinkling up her patchwork forehead.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_191">191</div> -<p>“So will you if you don’t blow out that match!” -cried the Scarecrow in alarm, for Scraps continued to -hold the match till it burned to the very end. He -jumped up clumsily and puffed out the light just in -time. Scraps promptly lit another and as she did so -the Scarecrow saw a tall blue candle sticking out of -the waste basket.</p> -<p>“Here,” said the Straw Man nervously. “Light -this and stand it on the mantel there.” By the flickering -candle light the Scarecrow and Scraps tried to set -Dorothy’s room to rights. They dragged the mattress -from the bed-room and placed the little girls on it, -side by side. Sir Hokus was too heavy to move, so -they merely loosened his armor and put a sofa cushion -under his head. Then, just as Scraps was going for -some water, the room began to tremble again.</p> -<p>“I told you it wasn’t over,” cried Scraps, flinging -both arms about the Scarecrow’s neck. And as they -rocked to and fro she shouted merrily:</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Shaker! Shaker! Who art thee,</p> -<p class="t0">To shake a castle like a tree?</p> -<p class="t0">Shaker! Shaker! Go away</p> -<p class="t0">And come again some other day!”</p> -</div> -<p>“Now, Scraps,” begged the Scarecrow, steadying the -Patch Work Girl with one hand and catching hold of a -table with the other, “everything depends on us. Do -try to keep your head!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_192">192</div> -<p>“Keep my head!” shrilled Scraps, as the room tilted -over and slid all the furniture sideways. “I’ll be lucky -if I keep my feet. Whoopee! Here we go!” And go -they did with a rush into the farthest corner. Slowly -the room righted itself and everything grew quiet -again.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_202.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="406" /> -</div> -<p>“I know what I’m going to do,” said the Scarecrow -determinedly. “Before anything else happens I’m -going to see what has happened already.”</p> -<p>“How?” asked Scraps, bouncing to her feet.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_193">193</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_203.jpg" alt="Dorothy and Toto" width="450" height="699" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Dorothy and Toto</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_194">194</div> -<p>“The Magic Picture,” gasped the Scarecrow. “You -bring the candle, Scraps, like a good girl. You’re less -liable to take fire than I am. Then we’ll come back -and help Dorothy and the others.”</p> -<p>“Good idea,” said Scraps, taking the candle from -the mantel. Breathlessly the two tip-toed along the -hall to Ozma’s apartment. On the wall in one of -Ozma’s rooms hangs the most magic possession in Oz. -It is a picture representing a country scene, but when -you ask it where a certain person is, immediately he -is shown in the picture and also what he is doing at -the time.</p> -<p>“So,” murmured the Scarecrow, as they gained the -room in safety, “if it tells where other people are, it -ought to tell us where we are ourselves.”</p> -<p>Drawing aside the curtain that covered the picture -the Scarecrow demanded loudly, “Where are we?”</p> -<p>Scraps held the candle so that its flickering rays -fell directly on the picture. Then both jumped in -earnest, for in a flash the face of Ruggedo, the wicked -old gnome King, appeared, on his head a great, green -towering sort of hat.</p> -<p>The Scarecrow seized the candle from Scraps and -held it closer to the picture. He squinted up one eye -and almost rubbed his painted nose off.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_195">195</div> -<p>“Great Kinkajous!” spluttered the Straw Man distractedly. -“That’s a palace on his head—an Emerald -palace—Ozma’s palace!”</p> -<p>“But how?” asked Scraps, her suspender button -eyes almost dropping out. “He’s nothing but a -gnome. He’s—”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_205.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="447" /> -</div> -<p>Before Scraps could finish her sentence the palace -began to tilt forward and they both fell upon their -faces. Then the picture jerked loose and fell with a -clattering slam on their heads, followed by such ornaments -as had not already tumbled down before. -Through it all Scraps held the candle high in air and -fortunately it did not go out, despite the turmoil.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_196">196</div> -<p>In a few moments the palace stopped rocking and a -muffled call from Ozma sent the Scarecrow and Scraps -hurrying to her bedside. After some trouble, for they -were both flimsily made, they managed to free the -little Princess of Oz from the poles and bed curtains.</p> -<p>“Goodness!” sighed Ozma, looking around at the -terrible confusion.</p> -<p>“Not goodness, but badness,” said the Scarecrow, -settling his hat firmly, “and Ruggedo is at the bottom -of it and of us.” He quickly explained to Ozma what -he had seen in the Magic Picture.</p> -<p>Slipping on a silk robe, Ozma followed them into the -next room. When the picture had been rehung, they -all looked again. This time Ozma asked where the -palace was. Immediately the old Gnome King appeared -and there could be no mistake—the palace was -set squarely on his head. The picture did not show -the real size of Ruggedo nor of the palace, but it was -enough.</p> -<p>“He must have sprung into a giant,” gasped Ozma, -scarcely believing her eyes. “Oh, what shall we do?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_197">197</div> -<p>“The first thing to do is to keep him quiet. Every -time he shakes his head it tumbles us about so,” complained -the Scarecrow, plumping up the straw in his -chest. “And we must look after Dorothy and Betsy -and Trot.”</p> -<p>“And Sir Hokus,” added the Patch Work Girl, -flinging out one hand. “He’s yearning to slay a giant. -’Way for the Giant Killer!”</p> -<p>Without waiting for the others Scraps ran back to -Dorothy’s sitting room. Lighting another candle, for -all the lights in the palace were out, Ozma and the -Scarecrow followed.</p> -<p>“Odds Goblins!” gasped the Knight, as they entered. -He was sitting up with one hand to his head.</p> -<p>“Not goblins—giants!” cried the Patch Work Girl, -with a bounce, while Ozma ran for some water to -restore her three little friends.</p> -<p>“Where?” puffed the Knight, lurching to his feet.</p> -<p>“Beneath you,” said the Scarecrow, clutching at a -wisp of straw that stuck out of his head. “Say! Some -one wind up Tik Tok. There’s a lot of thinking to be -done here and his head works very well, even if it has -wheels inside.”</p> -<p>Sir Hokus, though still a bit dizzy, hastened to wind -up all the Copper Man’s keys.</p> -<p>“Thanks,” said Tik Tok immediately. “Give me a -lift up, Ho-kus.” The Knight obligingly helped the -Copper Man to his feet. Then both stared in amazement -at the topsy turvy room. Even in the dim candle -light they could see that something very serious had -occurred.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_198">198</div> -<p>Jack Pumpkinhead picked himself up out of a -corner, looking very much dazed.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_208.jpg" alt="Jack Pumpkinhead" width="400" height="739" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Jack Pumpkinhead</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_199">199</div> -<p>Just then Dorothy opened her eyes, and Betsy and -Trot, spluttering from the water the Patch Work Girl -was pouring on their heads, sat up and wanted to know -what had happened. In a few words Ozma told them -what the magic picture had revealed.</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Ruggedo to a giant’s grown</p> -<p class="t">And set us on his head.</p> -<p class="t0">We’ve made some headway, you’ll admit,</p> -<p class="t">Since we have gone to bed!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">—shouted Scraps, who was growing more and more -excited.</p> -<p>“Rug-ge-do will nev-er re-form,” ticked the Copper -Man sadly.</p> -<p>“But what are we going to do?” wailed Dorothy. -“Suppose he leans over and spills us all out?”</p> -<p>“I shall take my sword,” said Sir Hokus, speaking -very determinedly, and backing toward the window as -he spoke, “climb down, and slay the villain.” He -threw one leg over the sill.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_200">200</div> -<p>“Come back!” cried Ozma. “Dear Sir Hokus, don’t -you realize that if you kill Ruggedo he will fall down -and break us to pieces? Besides, wicked as he is, I -could not have him killed.”</p> -<p>“Yes, we should be all broken up if you did that,” -sighed the Scarecrow. “We must try something else.”</p> -<p>Reluctantly, the Knight dropped back into the -room. “Close the windows,” ordered Ozma with a -little shudder.</p> -<p>“I’ve thought of a plan,” said Tik Tok, in his slow, -painstaking way. “A ve-ry good plan.”</p> -<p>“Tell us what it is,” begged Dorothy. “And Oh, -Tik Tok, hurry!”</p> -<p>“Eggs,” said the Copper Man solemnly.</p> -<p>“Oh!” gasped Dorothy, “I remember. Eggs are the -only things in Oz that Ruggedo is afraid of; for if an -egg touches a gnome he shrivels up and disappears.”</p> -<p>“Then where are the eggs?” demanded Sir Hokus -gloomily. “In faith, this sounds more like an omelet -than a battle. But if we’re to fight with eggs instead -of swords, let us draw them at once.”</p> -<p>“You mean throw them,” corrected Dorothy. But -Tik Tok shook his head violently.</p> -<p>“Not throw them,” said the Copper Man slowly, -“threat-en to throw them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_201">201</div> -<p>“But how can we threaten a giant so far below us?” -asked Ozma.</p> -<p>“Print a sign,” directed Tik Tok calmly, “and -low-er it down to him.”</p> -<p>“Tik Tok,” cried the Scarecrow, rushing forward -and embracing him impulsively, “your patent-action-double-guaranteed -brains are marvels. I couldn’t have -thought up a better plan myself.”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_211.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="356" /> -</div> -<p>Now off ran Scraps to fetch a huge piece of cardboard, -and the Scarecrow for a paint brush, and Sir -Hokus for a piece of rope.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_202">202</div> -<p>“It’s growing lighter,” quavered Trot, looking toward -the windows. The sky was turning gray with -little streaks of pink, and the three girls huddled together -on the mattress gave a sigh of relief; for nothing, -not even a giant, seems so bad by daylight.</p> -<p>“Perhaps someone has already started to help us,” -said Ozma hopefully. “But here’s the sign board. -What shall we write?”</p> -<p>“How shall I begin?” asked the Scarecrow, dipping -the brush into a can of green paint. “Dear Ruggedo?”</p> -<p>“I should say not,” said Dorothy indignantly.</p> -<p>“Then I shall simply say, Sir,” said the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“If you move or turn or shake your head a-gain, ten -thou-sand eggs will be hurl-ed from the pal-ace windows,” -suggested Tik Tok.</p> -<p>As this message met with general approval, the -Scarecrow set it down with many flourishes and -blotches of paint spilled between. Then Ozma painted -her name and the Royal seal of Oz at the end.</p> -<p>Meanwhile, with the help of a pair of field glasses, -Sir Hokus had located Ruggedo’s nose, sticking out -like a huge cliff below the middle window of Dorothy’s -room. So, tying a long rope to each corner of -the sign, and rolling it up so it would go through the -window, the Knight let it down till it dangled directly -in front of Ruggedo’s nose.</p> -<p>At first Ruggedo did not even see the sign, which -was about as large as the tiniest visiting card—compared -to him. But it blew against his face and tickled -his cheek. He tried to brush it away. Then, suddenly -noticing it was dangling from above, he seized it in one -hand and held it close to his left eye. The words -were so small for a giant that Ruggedo had to squint -fearfully before he could make them out at all, but -when he did he gave a bloodcurdling scream, and -began to tremble violently.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_203">203</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_213.jpg" alt="“Ruggedo gave a bloodcurdling scream and began to tremble violently”" width="500" height="672" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">Ruggedo gave a bloodcurdling scream and began to tremble violently</span>”</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_204">204</div> -<p>Up in the palace the entire company fell over and -twenty windows were shaken to bits. Then everything -grew quiet and there was perfect silence; for -Ruggedo, realizing his danger, grew rigid with fright. -Giant drops of perspiration trickled down his forehead. -How long could he keep from moving?</p> -<p>“Well,” said Dorothy after a few minutes had -passed, “I guess that will keep him quiet, but what -next? Shall we let ourselves down with ropes?”</p> -<p>“We have none long enough,” said Sir Hokus.</p> -<p>“Then I’ll fall out and go for help,” said the Scarecrow -brightly, and started toward the window. When -he reached it he paused in astonishment. “Look,” he -cried, waving excitedly to the others, “here comes -someone, walking right over the clouds.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_205">205</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_215.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="519" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c15"><span class="smaller">Chapter 15</span> -<br />The Sand Man Takes a Hand</h2> -<p>Someone was coming toward the palace. A little -gray-cloaked old gentleman—a surprisingly -quick and nimble old gentleman—springing from -cloud to cloud and pausing now and then to straighten -a huge sack he carried over his left shoulder. He was -so busy admiring the lovely sky colors behind him and -waving merrily at the fluffy cloud figures above his -head, that he did not see Ozma’s shining palace until -he was almost upon it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_206">206</div> -<p>“Stars!” murmured the little old gentleman, balancing -perilously on the very edge of a silver cloud. “Another -air castle! How delightful! I shall jump right -through it!”</p> -<p>Gathering himself together he leaped straight toward -the window out of which Dorothy and Ozma and -the others were looking. With a soft thud he struck -the emerald setting just above the window, and down -tumbled his sack, opening as it fell and filling the air -with clouds of silver sand. Down tumbled the little -old gentleman, turning over and over, and finally -landing on a blankety white cloud far below.</p> -<p>All of this Dorothy saw, and was about to ask Ozma -what it could mean when an overpowering drowsiness -stole over her. Before she could speak her eyes closed, -and she sank backward into a big arm chair. Trot -and Betsy Bobbin with two little sighs crumpled down -to the floor. The head of Sir Hokus dropped heavily -on the sill, and not even in Pokes had he snored so -lustily. Ozma slipped gently down beside Betsy and -Trot, and in a moment there was not a person awake -in that whole big palace. Even the little mice in the -kitchen were fast asleep, with heads on their paws.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_207">207</div> -<p>Did I say everyone? Well, not quite everyone had -fallen under the strange spell. Tik Tok, Scraps, and -the Scarecrow, who had never slept in their lives, -were still wide awake, and regarding their companions -with astonishment and alarm. The Tin Woodman -was taking things calmly, oiling up his joints and -polishing his tin jacket with silver polish.</p> -<p>“This is no time to sleep,” cried the Scarecrow, -shaking Sir Hokus. “I say—wake up!” But all -their efforts to arouse their companions were in vain.</p> -<p>“En-chant-ment,” said the Copper Man. “Some—” -With a click and a whirr Tik Tok’s machinery ran -down, and as Scraps and the Scarecrow were too upset -to think of winding him, he stood as silent and dumb -as the rest.</p> -<p>“What shall we do?” cried the Scarecrow, seizing -Scraps’ arm. “Jump out of the window and go for -help, or stay here and guard the palace?”</p> -<p>Scraps looked out of the window. “Stay here,” -shuddered the Patch Work Girl, drawing in her head -quickly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_208">208</div> -<p>“Then,” said the Scarecrow, “let us arm ourselves -and prepare to withstand any attack.” He snatched -up a pair of fire tongs and Scraps grasped the poker. -Falling into step, the two marched from the top to -the bottom of the palace. Everywhere the same sight -met their gaze; rooms turned topsy turvy, and spread -over floors and sofas and chairs the sleeping figures -of Ozma’s once lively Courtiers and servants. The -effect was so distressing that Scraps and the Scarecrow -found themselves whispering and treading about -on tip-toe. After inspecting the whole palace they -returned to Dorothy’s room and placed themselves -disconsolately in the doorway.</p> -<p>“Anyway, Ruggedo is quiet,” sighed the Scarecrow, -“and that is something.”</p> -<p>Scraps started to make a verse, but the silence and -the ghostlike atmosphere of the sleeping palace had -dashed even the spirits of the Patch Work Girl and -she subsided with an indistinct mumble.</p> -<p>Ruggedo was silent for a very good reason. Ruggedo -was asleep, too—asleep sitting up as stiff as a -stone image, for even in his sleep he dreamed of the -dreaded bombardment of eggs.</p> -<p>All this had happened because the little man in gray -had taken Ozma’s palace for an air castle, and who -could blame him for that? Even the Sand Man would -not expect to find a regular palace set among the -clouds. There are plenty of dream castles, to be sure, -and one of the Sand Man’s chief delights is to jump -through them and admire their lovely furniture. But -sure-enough castles—the little fellow could not get -over it. Sitting cross-legged on the white cloud, which -floated close to Ruggedo’s head, he stared and stared.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_209">209</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_219.jpg" alt="The Tin Woodman, oiling up his joints" width="500" height="707" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The Tin Woodman, oiling up his joints</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_210">210</div> -<p>“Well, I never,” chuckled the Sand Man, and turned -a somersault for very amazement. Then, not knowing -what else to do or think, he sensibly decided to hurry -home and tell the whole affair to his wife. His empty -bag he found on a tall treetop, and without one backward -glance he bounded into the air and disappeared. -Really, it was quite lucky the little old gentleman -spilled his bag of sand where he did, for the only safe -giant is a sleeping giant, and while Ozma and her -friends lay dreaming they could not worry.</p> -<p>“Will they sleep forever?” sighed Scraps, after she -and the Scarecrow had sat silently for an hour.</p> -<p>“Seems likely,” said the Scarecrow gloomily. “But -even if they do,” he plucked three straws from his -chest, “we shall stick to our post to the very end.”</p> -<p>The Scarecrow regarded the sleeping figures of the -little girls affectionately.</p> -<p>“To the end of forever?” gulped Scraps, putting -her cotton finger in her mouth. “How long is that?”</p> -<p>“That,” said the Scarecrow resignedly and settling -himself comfortably, “that is what we shall soon see.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_211">211</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_221.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="517" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c16"><span class="smaller">Chapter 16</span> -<br />Kabumpo Vanquishes The Twigs</h2> -<p>“Do you think you were alive before?” asked Kabumpo, -squinting down his long trunk at Peg -Amy. She had begged him to take off his plush robe -and, spreading it on the grass, was beating it briskly -with the branch of a tree.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_212">212</div> -<p>“Yes,” sighed the Wooden Doll, pausing with uplifted -stick and regarding Kabumpo solemnly, “I must -have been alive before ’cause I keep remembering -things.”</p> -<p>“What kind of things?” asked the Elegant Elephant, -rubbing himself lazily against a tree.</p> -<p>“Well, this for instance,” said Peg, holding up a -corner of the purple plush robe. “I once had a dress -of it. I’m sure I had a dress of this stuff.”</p> -<p>“When you were a little doll?” asked Kabumpo -curiously.</p> -<p>“No,” said Peg, giving the robe a few little shakes, -“before that. And I remember this country, too, and -the sun and the wind and the sky. If I’d only been -alive one day I wouldn’t remember them, would I?”</p> -<p>“Queer things happen in Oz,” said Kabumpo comfortably. -“But why bother? You are alive and very -jolly. You are traveling with the most Elegant Elephant -in Oz and in the company of a Prince. Isn’t -that enough?”</p> -<p>Peg Amy did not reply but kept on beating the -plush robe with determined little thumps and staring -off through the trees with a very puzzled expression -in her painted blue eyes. They had traveled swiftly -all morning through the fertile farmlands of the -Winkies and had paused for lunch in this little grove. -Peg, not needing food, and Kabumpo, finding plenty -of tender branches handy, had remained together -while Wag and the Prince sought more nourishing -fare.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_213">213</div> -<p>Many a little Winkie farmer had stared in amazement -as Peg and Pompa passed that morning but so -fast did Kabumpo and Wag travel that before the -Winkies were half sure of what they had seen there -was nothing but a cloud of dust to wonder over and -exclaim about.</p> -<p>“If you had a pair of scissors, I could cut off the -burned part of your robe and make it more tidy,” said -Peg, when she had finished beating the dust out of -Kabumpo’s gorgeous blanket.</p> -<p>“There might be a pair in my pocket,” said the -Elegant Elephant. “Here, let me get them,” he added -hastily. “For suppose she should look into the Magic -Mirror,” he thought suddenly. “It might tell her -something terrible!”</p> -<p>Even in this short time Kabumpo had grown fond -of queer wooden Peg and careless as he was somehow -he did not want to hurt her feelings again. Sure -enough, there was a pair of silver scissors in with the -jewels he had tumbled into his pocket before leaving -Pumperdink. So Peg carefully cut away all the -scorched part of Kabumpo’s robe and pinned under -the rough edges with three beautiful pearl pins.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_214">214</div> -<p>“Now lift me up into that small tree and I’ll drop -it over you,” she laughed gaily. This Kabumpo did -quite easily and after Peg Amy had smoothed and adjusted -the robe, she crept out on the end of the branch -and straightened the Elegant Elephant’s pearl head -dress and brushed all the dust from his forehead with -a handful of damp leaves.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_224.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="412" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div> -<p>“You’re a good girl, Peg,” said Kabumpo, sighing -with contentment. “I don’t care whether you never -were alive before or not, you’ve more sense than some -people who’ve lived for centuries. I’m going to give -that gnome something on my own account. Dared to -shake you, did he? Well, wait till I get through shaking -him!”</p> -<p>“It didn’t hurt,” said Peg reflectively, “but it ruined -all my clothes. Do you think Prince Pompadore -minds having me look so shabby?”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_225.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="399" /> -</div> -<p>Kabumpo shifted about uneasily. “Will this help?” -he asked sheepishly, pulling a lovely pearl necklace -from his pocket. “Ozma doesn’t need everything,” -he muttered to himself.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_216">216</div> -<p>“Oh! How perfectly pomiferous!” cried Peg. “Lift -me down so I can try it on.” In a trice Kabumpo -swung her down from the tree and awkwardly Peg -Amy clasped the chain about her wooden neck. Then -she flung both arms round Kabumpo’s trunk. “You’re -the biggest darling old elephant in Oz!” cried Peg -happily.</p> -<p>Kabumpo blinked. He was accustomed to being -called elegant and magnificent but no one—not even -Pompa—had ever called him an old darling before -and he found he liked it immensely.</p> -<p>While Peg ran to look at her reflection in a small -pool he resolved to get the Wooden Doll a position at -Court, for, in spite of her stiff fingers, Peg was very -deft and clever. “And she shall have a purple plush -dress too,” said Kabumpo grandly.</p> -<p>Just then Pompa and Wag returned in a high good -humor. The Prince had tapped on the door of a small -farm house and the little Winkie lady had been most -hospitable. Not only had she given the Prince all he -could eat, but she had allowed Wag to go into the -garden and pick two dozen of her best cabbages. His -size had greatly astonished her and she had insisted -upon measuring him twice with her yellow tape measure -but finally, without revealing the purpose of their -journey, the two managed to get away. As all were -now refreshed and rested, they decided to start on -again.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_217">217</div> -<p>“We ought to reach Ev by evening,” puffed Wag, -between hops.</p> -<p>“But I wish we could open the Magic Box,” sighed -Peg, holding on to Wag’s ear, “for in that box there’s -Flying Fluid!”</p> -<p>“We’d make a remarkably nice lot of birds,” chuckled -Kabumpo, looking over his shoulder, “now -wouldn’t we?”</p> -<p>“You would,” laughed Pompa. “What else was in -the box, Peg?”</p> -<p>It was hard to talk while they were being jolted -along, but Peg, being of wood, did not feel the bumps -and Pompa, being a Prince, pretended not to, so that -they continued their conversation in jerky sentences.</p> -<p>“There’s Vanishing Cream, a little tea kettle and -some kind of rays and a Question Box,” said Peg, holding -up her wooden hand. “A Question Box that answers -any question you ask it.”</p> -<p>“There is!” exclaimed Kabumpo, stopping short. -“Well, I wish we could ask it whether Pumperdink -has disappeared.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_218">218</div> -<p>“And how to rescue Ozma, and who sent the scroll!” -cried Pompa. “Oh, do let me try to open it, Peg!”</p> -<p>So Peg handed over Glegg’s Magic Box and as they -pounded along the Prince tried to pry it open with -his pearl pen knife. “It would save us such a lot of -trouble,” he murmured, holding it up and screwing -his eye to the keyhole.</p> -<p>“Better let it alone,” advised Wag, wiggling his -ears nervously. “Suppose you should grow as big for -you as I am for me. Suppose you should explode or -vanish!”</p> -<p>“Vanish!” coughed Kabumpo. “Great Grump! -Put it away, Pompa. Wait till we reach Ev and make -that wicked little Ruggedo open it for us. Who is -this Glegg, anyway?”</p> -<p>“A lawless magician, I guess,” said Wag, “or he -wouldn’t have owned a box of Mixed Magic. Ozma -doesn’t allow anyone to practice magic, you know.”</p> -<p>“Why, I’ll bet he was the person who sent the -scroll!” exclaimed the Prince suddenly. “Don’t you -remember, Kabumpo, it was signed J. G.?”</p> -<p>“Not a doubt in the world,” rumbled Kabumpo. -“I’ll throw him up a tree when I catch him and Ruggedo, -too!”</p> -<p>“Oh, please don’t,” begged Peg Amy. “Perhaps -they are sorry.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_219">219</div> -<p>“Not half as sorry as they will be,” wheezed Kabumpo, -plowing ahead through the long grass like a -big ferryboat under full steam.</p> -<p>Wag hopped close behind and Peg kept her eyes -fixed upon Pompa’s back. In spite of his scorched -head, he seemed to Peg the most delightful Prince -imaginable.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_231.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="441" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_220">220</div> -<p>“I’ll brush off his cloak and cut his hair all evenly,” -thought Peg. “Then, perhaps Ozma will say <i>yes</i> when -he tells her his story and asks for her hand. But I -wonder what will become of me,” Peg sighed ever so -softly and looked down with distaste at her wooden -hands and torn old dress. Nothing very exciting could -happen to a shabby Wooden Doll.</p> -<p>“Why, I haven’t even any right to be alive,” she -reflected sadly. “I’m only meant to be funny. Well, -never mind! Perhaps I can help Pompa and maybe -that’s why I was brought to life.”</p> -<p>This thought, and the gleam of the lovely pearls -Kabumpo had given her, so cheered Peg that she -began to hum a queer, squeaky little song. The country -was growing rougher and more hilly every minute. -The sunny farmlands lay far behind them now and as -Peg finished her song they came to the edge of a queer, -dead-looking forest. The trees were dry and without -leaves and there were quantities of stiff bushes and -short stunted little trees standing under the taller -ones.</p> -<p>Peg had an odd feeling that hundreds of eyes were -staring out at them but the forest was so dim that -she couldn’t be sure. There was not a sound but the -crackling of the dead branches under Wag’s and Kabumpo’s -feet.</p> -<p>“I don’t like this,” choked Wag. “My wocks and -hoop soons! What a pleerful chase!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_221">221</div> -<p>“It isn’t very cheerful,” shivered Peg. “Oh, look, -Wag! That big tree has eyes!” At Peg’s remark the -tree doubled up its branches into fists and stepped -right out in front of them. At the same instant all -the other trees and bushes moved closer, with dry -crackling steps.</p> -<p>“Now we have you!” snapped the tallest tree in a -dreadful voice.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_232.jpg" alt="“Now we have you!” snapped the tallest tree in a dreadful voice" width="606" height="799" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">Now we have you!” snapped the tallest tree in a dreadful voice</span></p> -</div> -<p>“Now we have you!” crackled all the other skitter-witchy -creatures, crowding closer.</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Pigs, pigs, we’re the twigs;</p> -<p class="t0">We’ll tweak your ears and snatch your wigs!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">they shouted all together. One taller than the rest -leaned over and seized Wag by the ear with its -twisted fingers.</p> -<p>“Help!” screamed Wag, kicking out with his hind -legs. Immediately Kabumpo began laying about -with his trunk.</p> -<p>“Stand back!” he trumpeted angrily, “or I’ll trample -you to splinters.”</p> -<p>Pompa stood up on Kabumpo’s back and began to -wave his sword threateningly. At this the ugly creatures -grew simply furious. They snatched at the -Prince with their long, claw-like branches, tearing at -his sadly scorched hair and almost upsetting him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_222">222</div> -<p>“Stop! Stop!” cried Peg Amy, waving her wooden -arms frantically. “Don’t hit him. He’s going to be -married. Hit me, I’m only made of wood!”</p> -<p>“Don’t you dare hit her!” shrilled Pompa, slicing off -the branch head of the nearest Twig. “I am a Prince -and she is under my protection. Don’t touch her!”</p> -<p>By this time Kabumpo had cleared himself a space -ahead and Wag a space behind. Every time Kabumpo’s -trunk flew out, a dozen of the queer crackly -Bushmen tumbled over forward and every time Wag’s -heels flew out a dozen crumpled over backward. -Pompa kept his sword whirling and, after several had -lost top branches, the whole crowd fell back and began -grumbling together.</p> -<p>“Now then!” puffed Kabumpo angrily, “let’s make -a dash for it, Wag. Come on; we’ll smash them to -kindling wood!”</p> -<p>“What’s all this commotion?” cried a loud voice. -The Twigs fell back immediately and a bent and -twisted old tree hobbled forward.</p> -<p>“Strangers, your Woodjesty,” whispered a tall -Twig, waving a branch at Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Well, have you pinched them?” asked the King in -a bored voice.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_223">223</div> -<p>“A little,” admitted the tall Twig nervously, “but -they object to it, your Woodjesty.”</p> -<p>“Well, what if they do?” rasped the King tartly. -“Don’t be gormish Faggots. You know I detest gormishness. -It seems to me you might allow my people -a little innocent diversion,” he grumbled, turning to -Pompa, “they don’t get much pleasure!”</p> -<p>“Pleasure!” gasped the Prince, while Kabumpo and -Wag were so astonished that they forgot to fight.</p> -<p>“What does he mean by gormish?” whispered Peg -uneasily to Wag. Before he could answer, the Twigs, -who evidently had decided not to be gormish, made a -rush upon the travelers. But Kabumpo was ready for -them with uplifted trunk. With a furious trumpet he -charged straight into the middle, Wag at his heels, -with the result that the Twigs went crackling and -snapping to the ground in heaps.</p> -<p>“All we need is a match,” grunted Kabumpo, pounding -along unmindful of the scratching and clawing. -“They’re good for nothing but kindling wood.”</p> -<p>“Don’t be gormish,” he screeched scornfully, as he -flung the last Twig out of his way and Wag and he -never stopped till they had put a good mile between -themselves and the disagreeable pinchers.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_224">224</div> -<p>“Are you hurt?” asked Kabumpo, stopping at last -and looking around at Pompa. “If we keep on this -way you won’t be fit to be seen—much less to marry. -Let’s have a look at you.” He lifted the Prince down -carefully and eyed him with consternation. The -Prince had seven long scratches on his cheek and his -velvet cloak was torn to ribbons.</p> -<p>“I declare,” spluttered the Elegant Elephant explosively, -“you’re a perfect fright. I declare, it’s a -grumpy shame!”</p> -<p>“Well, don’t be gormish,” said the Prince, smiling -faintly and wiping his cheek with his handkerchief.</p> -<p>“Let me help,” begged Peg Amy, falling off Wag’s -back. “Ozma won’t mind a few scratches and what -do clothes matter? Anyone would know he was a -Prince,” she added, taking Pompa’s cloak and regarding -it ruefully.</p> -<p>Pompa smiled at Peg’s earnestness and made her -his best bow but Kabumpo still looked anxious. -“Everyone’s not so smart as you, Peg,” he sighed -gloomily. “But come along. The main thing is to -rescue Ozma and after that perhaps she won’t notice -your scratches and torn cloak. She’ll think you got -them fighting the giant,” he finished more hopefully.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_225">225</div> -<p>With a few more of Kabumpo’s jeweled pins Peg -repaired Pompa’s cloak. Then, after tying up Wag’s -ear, which was badly torn, they started off again.</p> -<p>“What worries me,” said Wag, twitching his nose -very fast, “what worries me is crossing the Deadly -Desert. We’re almost to it, you know.”</p> -<p>“Never cross deserts till you come to ’em,” grunted -Kabumpo, with a wink at Peg Amy.</p> -<p>“Oh, all right,” sniffed Wag, “but don’t be gormish. -You know how I detest gormishness!”</p> -<p>While Pompa and Peg were laughing over these last -remarks a most terrible rumble sounded behind them.</p> -<p>“Now what?” trumpeted Kabumpo, turning about.</p> -<p>“Sheverything’s mixed hup!” gulped Wag, putting -back his ears. “Hold on to me, Peg!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_237.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="469" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_226">226</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_238.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="481" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c17"><span class="smaller">Chapter 17</span> -<br />Meeting The Runaway Country</h2> -<p>Everything was mixed up, indeed. Moving -toward the little party of rescuers was a huge -jagged piece of land, running along on ten tremendous -feet and feeling its way with its long wiggly peninsula. -The feet raised it several yards above the ground.</p> -<p>“If we crouch down maybe it will run over us,” -panted Pompa, sliding down Kabumpo’s trunk.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_227">227</div> -<p>“I don’t want to be run over,” shrilled Wag, beginning -to hop in a frenzied circle.</p> -<p>“Stop!” cried the Land in a loud voice, as Wag and -Kabumpo started to run.</p> -<p>“Better stop,” puffed Kabumpo, his eyes rolling -wildly, “or it’ll probably fall on us.” Trembling in -spite of themselves, they stood still and waited for the -Land to approach.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_239.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="404" /> -</div> -<p>“I’ve often heard of sailors hailing land with joy,” -gulped Wag, “but this—well, how did it get this -way?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_228">228</div> -<p>As the Runaway Country drew nearer, its peninsula -fairly quivered with excitement and as it reached -them it pulled up its front feet and tilted forward to -get a better view. Its eyes were two small blue lakes -and its mouth a broad bubbling river.</p> -<p>“I claim you by right of discovery,” cried the Land -in its loud, river voice and before they could make any -objection it scooped them up neatly and tossed them -on a little hill.</p> -<p>“This is outrageous,” spluttered the Elegant Elephant, -picking Peg out of some bushes. “We’ve been -kidnapped!”</p> -<p>“Let’s jump off!” cried Wag, beginning to hop toward -the edge.</p> -<p>“I wouldn’t do that,” said the Land calmly, “because -I’d only run after you again. You might as well -settle down and grow up with me. I’m not such a bad -little Country,” it added quietly, “just a bit rough -and uncultivated.”</p> -<p>“Well, what’s that got to do with us,” demanded -Kabumpo, staring the Country right in its lake-eyes. -“We’re on an important mission and we haven’t time -for this sort of thing at all.”</p> -<p>“It’s a matter of saving a Princess,” cried Pompa -impulsively. “Couldn’t you, please—”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_229">229</div> -<p>“Let someone else save her,” said the Country indifferently, -beginning to move off sideways like a -crab. “You’re the first savages I’ve found and I’m -going to keep you. Not that you’re what I’d pick out,” -it continued ungraciously. “That wooden girl looks -uncommonly odd and you two beasts are even queerer. -But I’m liberal, I am, and the boy looks all right so -far as I can see.”</p> -<p>“But, look here,” panted Wag, twitching his nose -very fast, “this is all wrong. Land is supposed to -stand still, isn’t it? You’ve no right to discover us. -We don’t want to be discovered. Put us off at once—do -you hear?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I hear,” said the Runaway Country gruffly. -“And I’ve heard about enough. Don’t anger me,” it -shrilled warningly. “Remember, I’m a wild, rough -Country.”</p> -<p>“You’re the wildest Country I ever saw,” groaned -the Elegant Elephant, falling up against a tree. “And -of all ridiculous happenings this is the worst!”</p> -<p>“Never mind,” whispered Peg Amy, standing on her -tip toes to whisper in Kabumpo’s huge ear, “it’s taking -us in the right direction, and maybe, if we were -very polite—?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_230">230</div> -<p>“Go ahead and try it,” wheezed Kabumpo, rolling -his eyes. “I’m too upset.” He hugged the tree again.</p> -<p>So Peg climbed to the top of the little hill and, -waving her wooden arms to attract the Country’s attention, -called cheerfully:</p> -<p>“Yoho, Mr. Land! Where are you going?”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_242.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="424" /> -</div> -<p>At first the Land only blinked his blue lake-eyes -sulkily but, as Peg paid no attention to his ill temper -and began making him pretty compliments on his -mountains and trees, he gradually cheered up.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_231">231</div> -<p>“I’m going to be an island,” he announced finally. -“That’s where I’m going. I’m tired of being a hot, -dry old undiscovered plateau and I don’t intend to -stop till I come to the Nonestic Ocean.”</p> -<p>“Oh!” groaned Wag, falling over backwards. -“We’re going to be cast away on a desert island.”</p> -<p>Peg held up a warning finger. “What made you -want to run away and be an island?” she asked faintly -for, even to Peg, things looked serious.</p> -<p>“Well,” began the Land, giving itself a hitch, “I lay -patiently for years and years waiting to be discovered. -Nobody came—not even one little missionary. I kept -getting lonelier and lonelier. You see how broken up -I am!”</p> -<p>“Yes, we can see that, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“And I’m ambitious,” continued the Country -huskily. “I want to be cultivated and built up like -other Kingdoms. So, one day I made up my mind I -wouldn’t wait any longer but would run off myself -and discover some settlers. As I have ten mountains -and each has a foot there seemed to be no reason why -I shouldn’t run away, so I <i>did</i>—and I <i>have</i>!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_232">232</div> -<p>The Country rolled its lakes triumphantly at the -little party on the hill. “I have found some settlers -and I’m looking to you to develop me into a good, -modern, up-to-Oz Kingdom. I’m a progressive Country -and I expect you to improve and make something -out of me,” it continued earnestly. “There’s gold to be -dug out of my mountains, plenty of good farm land to -be planted and cities to be built, and—”</p> -<p>“What do you think we are?” exploded Kabumpo -indignantly. “Slaves?”</p> -<p>“He’ll get used to it in time,” said the Runaway -Country, paying no attention to Kabumpo, “and he’ll -be useful for drawing logs. Now you,” he turned his -watery eyes full on Peg Amy, “you seem to be the -most sensible one in the party, so I think I shall -bestow myself upon you. Of course you’re not at all -handsome nor regular, but from now on you may consider -yourself a Princess and <i>me</i> as your Kingdom.”</p> -<p>“Thank you! Thank you very much!” said Peg -Amy, hardly knowing what else to say.</p> -<p>“Hurrah for the Princess of Runaway Island!” -cried Wag, standing on his head. “I always knew you -were a Princess, Peg my dear.”</p> -<p>“Oh, hush!” whispered Pompa. “Can’t you see it’s -getting more reasonable? Maybe Peg can persuade -it to stop.”</p> -<p>“If it doesn’t stop soon I’ll tear all its trees out by -the roots,” grumbled Kabumpo under his breath. -“Logging, indeed! Great Grump! Here’s the Deadly -Desert!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_233">233</div> -<p>The air was now so hot and choking that Pompa -flung himself face down on the cool grass. The Runaway -Country did not seem to notice the burning sands -and pattered smoothly along on its ten mountain feet.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_247.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="399" /> -</div> -<p>“Something has to be done, quick,” breathed Peg, -clasping her hands, “for soon we’ll be in Ev.”</p> -<p>Pompa, holding his silk handkerchief before his -face, had come up beside her and they both looked -anxiously for the first signs of the country that held -Ruggedo and the giant who had run off with Ozma’s -palace.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_234">234</div> -<p>“Oh, Mr. Land,” called Peg suddenly.</p> -<p>“Yes, Princess,” answered the Country, without -slackening its speed.</p> -<p>“Have you thought about feeding us?” asked the -Wooden Doll gently. “I don’t see any fruit trees or -vegetables or chickens and settlers must eat, you -know. We ought to have some seeds to plant and -some building materials, oughtn’t we, if we’re going -to make you into an up-to-Oz Country?”</p> -<p>“Pshaw!” said the Runaway Country, stopping -with a jolt, “I never thought of that. Can’t you eat -grass and fish? There’s fine fish in my lakes.”</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t eat at all,” explained Peg pleasantly, -“but Pompa is a Prince and a Prince has to -have meat and vegetables and puddings on Sunday—”</p> -<p>“And I have to have lettuce and carrots and cabbages, -or I won’t work!” cried Wag, thumping with -his hind feet and winking at Kabumpo. “I’ll not dig -a single mountain!”</p> -<p>“And I’ve got to have my ton of hay a day, too!” -trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, “or I’ll not lug a -single log. Pretty poor sort of a Country you are, -expecting us to live on grass as if we were donkeys -and goats.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_235">235</div> -<p>The Runaway Country rolled its lakes helplessly -from one to the other. “I thought settlers always -managed to get a living off the land,” it murmured in -a troubled voice.</p> -<p>“Not us!” rumbled Kabumpo. “Not enough pie in -pioneer to suit this party!”</p> -<p>“Has your Highness anything to suggest?” asked -the Country, looking anxiously at Peg.</p> -<p>“Well,” said the Wooden Doll slowly, “suppose we -stop at the first country we come to and stock up. -We could get a few chickens and seeds and saws and -hammers and things.”</p> -<p>“You’d run away,” said the Runaway Country suspiciously. -“Not but what I trust you, Princess,” he -added hastily, “but them.” He scowled darkly at -Kabumpo and Wag. “I’ll not let them out of my -sight.”</p> -<p>“How our little floating island loves us,” chuckled -Wag, nudging the Elegant Elephant.</p> -<p>“They won’t run away,” said Peg softly. “And if -they did you could easily catch them again.”</p> -<p>“That’s so; I’ll stop wherever you say,” sighed the -Country, starting on again.</p> -<p>“What are you going to do?” whispered Pompa, -catching Peg’s arm.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_236">236</div> -<p>“I don’t know,” said Peg honestly, “but perhaps if -we can make it stop something will turn up. We’re -almost across the desert now and that’s a big help.”</p> -<p>“You’re wonderful!” cried Pompa, eying Peg -gratefully. “How can I ever thank you?”</p> -<p>“Better get your sword ready,” said Peg practically, -“for we may run into that giant any minute now.” -Even Kabumpo and Wag had stopped making jokes -and were straining their eyes toward Ev.</p> -<p>“Let’s all stand together!” gasped Wag breathlessly. -Before Peg or Pompa had time to plan, or -Kabumpo to reply, the Runaway Country stepped off -the desert and swept over the border and into the -Kingdom of Ev, making straight for a tall purple -mountain.</p> -<p>“Do you see anything that looks like a giant, or a -palace?” asked Peg, leaning forward.</p> -<p>“Oh, help!” screamed Wag just then, while Kabumpo -gave an earsplitting trumpet. Peg grasped -Pompa and Pompa clutched Peg and no wonder! -Directly in front of them were the legs and feet of the -most terrible and tremendous giant they had ever -imagined. He was sitting on the mountain itself and -only a part of him was visible, for his head and shoulders -were lost in the clouds.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_248.jpg" alt="Kabumpo gave an ear-splitting trumpet" width="590" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Kabumpo gave an ear-splitting trumpet</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_237">237</div> -<p>“What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” rumbled -the Runaway Country, tilting forward slightly so it -could see. One look was enough. With a frightened -jump, that sent the four travelers hurtling through -the air, it began running backwards and in a moment -was out of sight.</p> -<p>Peg was the first to recover her senses. Being -wood, bumps didn’t bother her. She rose stiffly and -gazed around her. Pompa’s feet were waving feebly -from a small clump of bushes. Kabumpo stood swaying -near by, while Wag lay over on his side with closed -eyes.</p> -<p>“Oh, you poor dears!” murmured Peg, and running -over to the bushes she pulled out the Prince of Pumperdink -and settled him with his back against a tree. -He was much shaken by his high dive from the island, -but pulled himself together and patted Peg’s wooden -hand kindly. By this time Kabumpo had gotten his -bearings and came wabbling over.</p> -<p>“You’ve got a black eye, I see,” wheezed the Elegant -Elephant bitterly.</p> -<p>“Not so very black,” said Peg cheerfully. “Are -you hurt, Kabumpo?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_238">238</div> -<p>The Elegant Elephant felt himself all over with his -trunk. “Well, I’m not used to being flung about like -a bean bag,” he said irritably. Then he lowered his -voice hastily, as he caught another glimpse of those -dreadful giant feet. “I’ll go help Wag,” he whispered, -backing away quickly.</p> -<p>It took some time to rouse the giant rabbit, but -finally he opened his eyes. “I shought I thaw a -giant,” he muttered thickly. “Hush!” warned Kabumpo. -“He’s over there.” He waved his trunk in -the direction of the mountain and began dragging -Wag firmly away.</p> -<p>“C’mon over here,” he called in a loud whisper to -Peg and Pompa. Leaning heavily on Peg Amy the -Prince came. Then he gave a cry of distress. “My -sword!” he gasped, staring around a bit wildly.</p> -<p>“I’ll find it,” said Peg obligingly. “You sit still -and rest.”</p> -<p>“Where’s the Magic Box?” coughed Kabumpo, with -an uneasy glance in the giant’s direction.</p> -<p>Now that they were actually in Ev, the Elegant -Elephant began to doubt the wisdom of his plan for -killing the monster.</p> -<p>“Gone!” wailed Pompa, feeling in his pocket. “I -dropped it when I fell off the Land. What shall we -do, Kabumpo?”</p> -<p>“Don’t be a Gooch,” gulped the Elegant Elephant, -but he said it without spirit.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_239">239</div> -<p>“It’s probably around here somewhere.” Moving -quietly, Kabumpo began to poke about with his trunk.</p> -<p>Just then Peg Amy came flying toward them, her -ragged dress fluttering in the breeze.</p> -<p>“Look!” whispered the Wooden Doll, dropping on -her knees before them.</p> -<p>In her hands was Glegg’s Box of Mixed Magic and -<i>it was open</i>!</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_253.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="350" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_240">240</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_254.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="470" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c18"><span class="smaller">Chapter 18</span> -<br />Prince Pompadore Proposes</h2> -<p>While Peg and Pompa and the Elegant Elephant -eyed the box, Wag, twitching his nose and mumbling -very fast under his breath, backed rapidly away. -He was not going to run the risk of any more explosions. -So anxious was the big rabbit to put a good -distance between himself and Glegg’s Mixed Magic, -that he never realized that he was backing toward the -giant till a sharp thump on the back of the head -brought him up short.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_241">241</div> -<p>Trembling in every hair, Wag looked over his -shoulder. <i>Stars!</i> He had run into the terrible, five-toed -foot of the giant himself. At first Wag was too -terrified to move. But suddenly the hair on the back -of his neck bristled erect. He peered at the giant’s -foot more attentively. His eyes snapped and, seizing -a stout stick that lay near by, he brought it down with -all his might on the giant’s toes.</p> -<p>“It’s Ruggedo!” screamed Wag, hopping up and -down with rage. “And I’ll pound his curly toes off. -I don’t care if he is a giant! I’ll pound his curly toes -off!”</p> -<p>The stick whistled through the air and whacked the -giant’s toes again.</p> -<p>Now of course we have known all along that the -giant was Ruggedo, but it was a great surprise for -the rescuers. Ruggedo was bad enough to deal with -as a gnome—but a giant Ruggedo! <i>Horrors!</i></p> -<p>“Stop him! Stop him!” cried Peg Amy, throwing -up her hands and scattering the contents of the box -of magic in every direction.</p> -<p>“What are you trying to do?” roared Kabumpo, -plunging forward. “Get us all trampled on?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_242">242</div> -<p>A muffled cry came down from the clouds and, as -Kabumpo dragged Wag back by the ear, something -flashed through the air and bounced upon the Elegant -Elephant’s head.</p> -<p>“It’s the Scarecrow!” chattered Wag, wriggling -from beneath Kabumpo’s trunk. Kabumpo opened -his eyes and peered down at the limp bundle at his -feet. As he looked the bundle began to pull itself -together. It sat up awkwardly and began clutching -itself into shape.</p> -<p>“Where’d you come from?” gasped the Elegant Elephant. -Without speaking, the Scarecrow waved his -hand upward and rose unsteadily to his feet. Then, -catching sight of Peg Amy and Pompadore, the Straw -Man bowed politely. Meanwhile Wag, seeing that -Kabumpo’s attention was diverted, began to sidle -back toward Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“Stop!” cried the Scarecrow, running after him. -“Are you crazy? Don’t you know Ozma’s palace is -on his head? Every time he moves everyone in the -palace tumbles about. Was it you who stirred him up -and made him spill me out of the window?”</p> -<p>“I’ll wake him up some more, the wicked old -scrabble-scratch,” muttered Wag, but Kabumpo -jerked him back roughly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_243">243</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_257.jpg" alt="The Scarecrow waved his hand upward" width="500" height="759" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">The Scarecrow waved his hand upward</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_244">244</div> -<p>“Great Grump!” choked the Elegant Elephant, -shaking Wag in his exasperation. “Here we’ve come -all this way to save Princess Ozma and now you want -to upset everything.”</p> -<p>“That’s the way to do it,” said the Scarecrow, rolling -his eyes wildly.</p> -<p>“Please stop it, Wag,” begged Peg Amy, throwing -her wooden arms around the big rabbit’s neck, and as -Pompa added his voice to Peg’s, Wag finally threw -down his stick.</p> -<p>“Who is that beautiful girl?” asked the Scarecrow -of Kabumpo. The Elegant Elephant looked at the -Straw Man sharply, to see that he was not poking fun -at the Wooden Doll. Finding he was quite serious, he -said proudly, “That’s Peg Amy, the best little body -in Oz. She’s under my protection,” he added grandly.</p> -<p>Just then Pompa and Peg came over and Wag, who -had often seen the Scarecrow in the Emerald City, -introduced them all.</p> -<p>“Did I understand you to say you had come to rescue -Ozma?” asked the Scarecrow, who could not keep -his eyes off the Elegant Elephant.</p> -<p>“Did I understand you to say Ozma’s palace was -on Ruggedo’s head?” shuddered Kabumpo, glancing -fearfully in the direction of the mountain.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_245">245</div> -<p>The Scarecrow nodded vigorously and told in a few -words of their terrible journey to Ev and their present -perilous position. How the palace had gotten on Ruggedo’s -head, he admitted was a puzzle to him. Kabumpo -and Pompadore listened with amazement, -especially to the part where they had threatened -Ruggedo with eggs.</p> -<p>“And he’s kept still for two days just on account -of eggs?” gasped the Elegant Elephant incredulously.</p> -<p>“Well, no,” admitted the Scarecrow, wrinkling up -his forehead. “A little man came flying through the -air the first morning and bumped into the palace and -instantly everyone except Scraps and me fell asleep. -Ruggedo was put to sleep, too; we could hear him -snoring.”</p> -<p>“Why, it must have been the Sand Man,” breathed -Peg Amy. “I have heard he lived near here.”</p> -<p>“Are they asleep now?” asked Pompa, clutching -the Scarecrow’s arm. How romantic—thought the -Prince of Pumperdink—to rescue and waken a sleeping -Princess!</p> -<p>But the Scarecrow shook his head. “A few minutes -before I fell out they began to wake up and I’d just -gone to the window to look for Glinda when Ruggedo -gave a howl and ducked his head and here I fell.” -The Scarecrow spread his hands eloquently and smiled -at Peg.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_246">246</div> -<p>“Has Glinda been here?” asked Kabumpo jealously.</p> -<p>“Yes,” said the Scarecrow. “She came this morning -and she’s been trying all sorts of magic to reduce -Ruggedo without harm to the palace.”</p> -<p>“Great Grump! Do you hear that?” Kabumpo -rolled his eyes anxiously toward the Prince. “If -Glinda’s magic takes effect before ours then where’ll -we be? Peg! Peg! Where’s the box of Mixed -Magic?”</p> -<p>“Would you mind telling me,” burst out the Scarecrow, -who had been examining one after another in -the party with a puzzled expression, “would you mind -telling me how you happened to know about the palace -disappearing; how you got across the sandy desert; -how you expect to help us; how he (with a jerk at -Wag) came to be too large; how she (with a jerk of -his thumb at Peg) came to be alive; and—”</p> -<p>“All in good time; all in good time!” trumpeted -Kabumpo testily. “You sound like the Curious Cottabus! -The principal thing to do now is to save Ozma. -Will Ruggedo stay quiet a little longer?”</p> -<p>“If he’s not disturbed,” said the Scarecrow, with a -meaning glance at Wag.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_247">247</div> -<p>“Well, my hocks and woop soons!” cried the rabbit -indignantly. “Isn’t anyone going to punish him? He -shook and shook Peg and he meddled with magic and -blew up into a giant. He’s run off with the palace. -Doesn’t he deserve a pounding?”</p> -<p>“Friend,” said the Scarecrow, “I admire your spirit -but my excellent brains tell me that this is a case -where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of -cure. But have we the ounce of prevention?”</p> -<p>“Here’s the Question Box,” announced Peg, who -had run off at Kabumpo’s first call. “What shall we -ask it first?”</p> -<p>“How to save the lovely Princess of Oz,” spoke up -Pompa, running his hand over his scorched locks. -“Where’s my crown, Kabumpo?”</p> -<p>Kabumpo fished the crown from his pocket and -Pompa set it gravely upon his head as Peg asked the -Question Box:</p> -<p>“How shall we save the lovely Princess of Oz?”</p> -<p>These maneuvers so astonished the Scarecrow that -he lost his balance and fell flat on his nose. When he -recovered Peg was clapping her wooden hands and -Kabumpo was dancing on three legs.</p> -<p>“You’re as good as married, my boy!” cried Kabumpo, -thumping the Prince upon the back.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_248">248</div> -<p>“What is it? What’s happened?” gasped the -Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Why, the Question Box says to pour three drops -of Trick Tea on Ruggedo’s left foot and two on his -right and he will then march back to the Emerald -City, descend into his cave and, after the palace has -settled firmly on its foundations, he will shrink down -to his former size,” read Peg Amy, holding the Question -Box close to her eyes, for the printing was very -small.</p> -<p>“Hurrah!” cried the Scarecrow, throwing up his -hat. “Peggy, put the kettle on and we’ll all have -some tea! But where’d you get all this magic stuff?” -he asked immediately after.</p> -<p>“Out of a box of Mixed Magic,” puffed Kabumpo, -his little eyes twinkling with anticipation as he -watched Peg. First she filled the tiny kettle at a -near-by brook; then she lit the little lamp and dropped -some of the Trick Tea into the kettle. Bright pink -clouds arose from the kettle, as soon as Peg had set it -over the flame, and while they waited for it to boil -Pompa put another question.</p> -<p>“Has Pumperdink disappeared?” asked the Prince, -in a trembling voice.</p> -<p>“N-o,” spelled the Question Box slowly, and Kabumpo -settled back with a great sigh of relief.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_249">249</div> -<p>“I told you everything would be all right if you -followed my advice,” said the Elegant Elephant. -“Stand up now and try to forget your black eye. You -are the Prince of Pumperdink and I am the Elegant -Elephant of Oz.”</p> -<p>“But why all the ceremony?” asked the Scarecrow, -looking mystified.</p> -<p>Kabumpo only chuckled to himself and, as the Trick -Tea was now ready, Peg took the little kettle and -began to tip-toe toward Ruggedo.</p> -<p>“I hope it’s red hot,” grumbled Wag resentfully. -“He’s getting off easy, the old scrabble-scratch! Getting -off! Say, look here!” He gestured violently to -Kabumpo. “If Ruggedo returns to the Emerald City -with the palace on his head, where does Pompa come -in?” He pointed a trembling paw at the Prince, his -nose twitching so fast it made the Scarecrow blink.</p> -<p>“Stop!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, plunging -after Peg Amy. He reached her just in time.</p> -<p>“I’m no better than Pumper,” grunted Kabumpo, -mopping his brow with the tail of his robe. “Suppose, -after all our hardships, I had allowed Ozma and the -palace to get away without giving Pompa a chance to -ask her—”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_250">250</div> -<p>“But we ought to save her as quick as we can,” -ventured Peg. “Couldn’t we hurry back to the Emerald -City again?”</p> -<p>“It might be too late,” wheezed Kabumpo. “Let—me—see!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_266.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="412" /> -</div> -<p>“Hello!” cried the Scarecrow. “Here comes -Glinda.” As he spoke the swan chariot of the good -Sorceress floated down beside the little party.</p> -<p>“Bother!” groaned Kabumpo, as Glinda stepped -out.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_251">251</div> -<p>“Some strangers,” called the Scarecrow, gleefully -running toward Glinda, “some strangers with a box -of Mixed Magic trying to help.”</p> -<p>“If we could have a few words with Ozma,” put in -the Elegant Elephant hastily, “everything would be -all right.”</p> -<p>Glinda looked at Kabumpo gravely. “It’s unlawful -to practice magic. You must know that,” said the -Sorceress sternly.</p> -<p>“But it’s not our magic, your Highness,” explained -Peg Amy, setting down the little kettle. “We found -it, and we’re only trying to help Ozma.”</p> -<p>“Well, in that case,” Glinda could not help smiling -at the Wooden Doll’s quaint appearance, “I shall be -glad to assist you, as all of my magic has proved -useless.”</p> -<p>“Aren’t you the Prince of Pumperdink?” she asked, -nodding toward Pompa. The Prince bowed in his -most princely fashion and assured her that he was -and, after a few hasty explanations, Glinda promised -to bring Ozma down in her chariot.</p> -<p>“Tell her,” trumpeted Kabumpo impressively, as -the chariot rose in the air, “tell her that a young -Prince waits below!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_252">252</div> -<p>While Pompa was still looking after Glinda’s -chariot, Peg Amy came up to him and extended both -her wooden hands.</p> -<p>“I wish you much happiness, Pompa dear,” said the -Wooden Doll in a low voice.</p> -<p>Pompa pressed Peg’s hands gratefully. “If it -hadn’t been for you I’d never have succeeded. You -shall have everything you wish for now, Peg. Why, -where are you going?”</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” called Peg Amy, trying to keep her -voice as cheerful as her painted face, and before anyone -could stop her she began to run toward a little -grove of trees.</p> -<p>“Come back!” cried the Prince, starting after her.</p> -<p>“Come back!” trumpeted Kabumpo in alarm.</p> -<p>“I’ll get her!” coughed Wag, hopping forward jealously. -“I’ve known her the longest.”</p> -<p>Pompa and Kabumpo both started to run, too, but -just at that minute down swooped the chariot and out -jumped Ozma, the lovely little Ruler of Oz.</p> -<p>“At last!” gasped Kabumpo, pushing Pompa forward.</p> -<p>If Ozma was startled by their singular appearance, -she was too polite to say so, and she returned Pompa’s -deep bow with a still deeper curtsey.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_253">253</div> -<p>“Glinda tells me you have come a long, long way -just to help me,” said Ozma anxiously. “Is that so?”</p> -<p>“Princess!” cried Pompa, falling on his knee. “I -know you are worried about your palace and your -Courtiers and your friends. Two drops of that Triple -Trick Tea (he waved at the small kettle) upon Ruggedo’s -right foot and three on his left will set everything -right!”</p> -<p>“But where did you get it—and why?” Ozma -looked doubtfully at the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“Might as well try it,” advised the Scarecrow.</p> -<p>“We will explain everything later,” puffed the Elegant -Elephant. “Trust old Kabumpo, your Highness, -and everything will turn out happily.”</p> -<p>“I believe I will,” smiled Ozma. “Will you try the -Trick Tea, Glinda?”</p> -<p>Glinda took the kettle and poured it exactly as -directed. First Ruggedo gave a gusty sigh that blew -the clouds about in every direction.</p> -<p>“Look out!” warned Glinda.</p> -<p>Next instant they all fluttered down like a pack of -cards, for Ruggedo had taken a step—a giant step -that shook the earth as if it had been a block of -jelly—and when they had picked themselves up Ruggedo -was out of sight, tramping like a giant in a -dream, back toward the Emerald City.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_267.jpg" alt="Ruggedo, tramping like a giant in a dream, back to the Emerald City" width="600" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">Ruggedo, tramping like a giant in a dream, back to the Emerald City</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_254">254</div> -<p>“You wait here!” cried Glinda to Ozma. “And I’ll -follow him!” She sprang into her chariot.</p> -<p>“How do you know he’ll go back?” asked the little -Ruler of Oz, staring with straining eyes for a glimpse -of the giant.</p> -<p>“Because the Question Box said so,” chuckled Kabumpo -triumphantly.</p> -<p>“Good magic!” approved the Scarecrow. “But -where is that charming Peg? I think I’ll run find -her.”</p> -<p>No sooner had the Scarecrow disappeared than -Pompa, swallowing very hard, again approached -Ozma. But Ozma, still looking after Glinda’s vanishing -chariot, was hardly aware of the Prince of Pumperdink.</p> -<p>Poor Pompa dropped on his knee (which had a -large hole in it by this time) and began mumbling -indistinct sentences. Then, as Kabumpo frowned -with disgust, the Prince burst out desperately, “Princess, -will you marry me?”</p> -<p>“Marry you?” gasped the little Ruler of Oz. “Good -gracious, <i>no</i>!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_255">255</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_271.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="491" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c19"><span class="smaller">Chapter 19</span> -<br />Ozma Takes Things In Hand</h2> -<p>Prince Pompadore jumped up quickly.</p> -<p>“I told you she wouldn’t!” he choked, looking -reproachfully at Kabumpo. “I’m not half good -enough.”</p> -<p>“He doesn’t always look so scratched up and -shabby,” wheezed Kabumpo breathlessly. “We’ve -been scorched and pinched and kidnapped. We’ve -been through every kind of hardship to save your -Highness—and <i>now</i>!” The Elegant Elephant slouched -against a tree, the picture of discouragement. He -seemed to have forgotten the jewels that were to have -won the Princess for Pompa and his threat of running -off with her should she refuse him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_256">256</div> -<p>“Why, you don’t even know me,” cried Ozma, dismayed -by even the thought of marrying; for though -the little Ruler of Oz has lived almost a thousand years -she is no older than <i>you</i> are and would no more think -of marrying than Dorothy or Betsy Bobbin or Trot. -Ruling the Kingdom of Oz takes almost all of Ozma’s -time and in any that is left she wants to play and -enjoy herself like any other sensible little girl. For -Ozma is only a little girl fairy after all.</p> -<p>“I’m not going to marry anybody!” she declared -stoutly. Then, because she really was touched by -Pompa’s woebegone appearance, she asked more -kindly, “Why did you want to marry me especially?”</p> -<p>“Because you are the properest Princess in Oz,” -groaned the Prince, leaning disconsolately against -Kabumpo. “Because if we don’t Pumperdink will -disappear and my poor old father and my mother and -everyone.”</p> -<p>“Not to speak of us,” gulped the Elegant Elephant.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_257">257</div> -<p>“But where is Pumperdink, and who said it would -disappear?” asked Ozma in amazement. “And how -did you happen to have this Trick Tea and come to -rescue me?”</p> -<p>“The Prince always rescues the Princess he intends -to marry,” said Kabumpo wearily. “I should think -you’d know that.”</p> -<p>“Well, I’m very grateful, and I’ll do anything I can -except marry you,” exclaimed Ozma, who was beginning -to feel very much interested in this strange -pair.</p> -<p>“Thank you,” said Kabumpo stiffly, for he was -deeply offended. “Thank you, but we must be going. -Come along, Pompa.”</p> -<p>“Don’t be a Gooch!” This time it was Pompa who -spoke. “I’m going to tell her everything!”</p> -<p>And Pompa, being as I have told you before the -most charming Prince in the world, made Ozma a -comfortable throne of green boughs and, throwing -himself at her feet, poured out the whole story of -their adventures, beginning with the birthday party -and the mysterious scroll. He told of their meeting -with Peg Amy and Wag and ended up with the ride -upon the Runaway Country.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_258">258</div> -<p>Kabumpo stood by, swaying sulkily. He was very -much disappointed in the Princess of Oz. He felt that -she had no proper appreciation of his or Pompa’s -importance.</p> -<p>“I’m going to find Peg,” he called finally. “She’s -got more sense than any of you,” he wheezed under -his breath as he swept grandly out of sight.</p> -<p>Ozma put both hands to her head as Pompa finished -his recital and really it was enough to puzzle any -fairy. Scrolls, live Wooden Dolls, a giant rabbit, a -mysterious magician threatening disappearances and -Ruggedo’s wicked use of the box of Mixed Magic.</p> -<p>“Goodness!” cried the little Ruler of Oz. “I wish -the Scarecrow would come back. He’s so clever I’m -sure he could help us; but first you had better bring -me the magic box.”</p> -<p>Pompa rose slowly and, picking up all the little -flasks and boxes that had spilled out when Wag -pounded Ruggedo, he put them back into the casket -and handed it to Ozma. She examined the contents -as curiously as the others had done. The Expanding -Extract was the only thing missing, for Ruggedo had -poured the whole bottle over his head. The Question -Box seemed to Ozma the most wonderful of all of -Glegg’s magic.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_259">259</div> -<p>“Why, all we have to do is to ask this box questions,” -she cried in excitement. “Has my palace -reached the Emerald City?” she asked breathlessly.</p> -<p>“Shake it three times,” said Pompa, as Ozma looked -in vain for her answer.</p> -<p>“Yes,” stated the box after the third shake, and -Ozma sighed with relief.</p> -<p>“I suppose you asked it if I were the Proper Princess -mentioned in the scroll,” she said, a bit shyly.</p> -<p>The Prince shook his head. “Knew without asking,” -said Pompa heavily.</p> -<p>“Do you mean to say you never asked it that?” -gasped Ozma in disbelief. “Why, I am surprised at -you.” And before Pompa could object she shook the -little box briskly. “Who is the Princess that Pompa -must marry?” she demanded anxiously.</p> -<p>“The Princess of Sun Top Mountain,” flashed the -Question Box promptly. Then, as an afterthought, -it added, “Trust the mirror and golden door knob!”</p> -<p>“Now, you see!” cried Ozma, jumping up in delight. -“I wasn’t the Proper Princess at all!”</p> -<p>Pompa smiled faintly, but without enthusiasm. The -thought of hunting another Princess was almost too -much. “I wish I could just take Peg Amy and Wag -and go back to Pumperdink without marrying anybody,” -he choked bitterly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_260">260</div> -<p>“Now, don’t give up,” advised Ozma kindly. “It -was very wrong of Glegg to cause you all this trouble. -I’m going to keep his box of Mixed Magic and take -away all his powers when I find him, but until I do, -you’ll have to follow directions. Oh mercy! What’s -that?”</p> -<p>They both ducked and turned around in a hurry, -as a terrific thumping sounded behind them.</p> -<p>“It’s the Runaway Country again,” cried Pompa, -seizing Ozma’s hands in distress, “and it’s caught all -the others.”</p> -<p>The Scarecrow had climbed a tree, and was waving -to them wildly as the Country galloped nearer. -“Might as well come aboard,” he called genially. -“This is a fast Country—no arguing with it at all.”</p> -<p>Ozma looked helplessly at Pompa, and the Prince -had only time to grasp her more firmly when the -Country scooped them neatly into the air. Down -they tumbled, beside Peg Amy and Wag and the Elegant -Elephant.</p> -<p>“What do you mean by this?” demanded Ozma, as -soon as she regained her breath.</p> -<p>“Don’t you know this lady is the Ruler of all Oz?” -cried Pompa warningly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_261">261</div> -<p>“Peg’s the Ruler of me,” replied the Country -calmly. “I nearly lost her once, but now I’ve caught -her and all the rest, and I am not going to stop until -I’ve reached the Nonestic Ocean—giants or no -giants.”</p> -<p>Ozma had been somewhat prepared for the Runaway -Country by Pompa’s description, but she had -never dreamed it would dare to run off with her. -While Peg Amy began to coax it to stop, she took out -Glegg’s little Question Box.</p> -<p>“How shall I stop this Country?” she whispered -anxiously.</p> -<p>“Spin around six times and cross your fingers,” -directed the Question Box.</p> -<p>This Ozma proceeded to do, much to the agitation -of the Scarecrow, who thought she had taken leave -of her senses. But next instant the Country came to -a jolting halt.</p> -<p>“Peg, Princess Peg!” shrieked the Island. “I am -bewitched, I can’t move a step!”</p> -<p>“Then everybody off,” shouted the Scarecrow, jerking -a branch of a tree as if he were a conductor. -“End of the line—everybody off!” And they lost -no time tumbling off the wild little Country.</p> -<p>“It seems too bad to leave it,” said Peg Amy regretfully, -picking herself up.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_262">262</div> -<p>“It threw us off without any feeling or consideration -when it saw Ruggedo,” sniffed Kabumpo. -“Therefore it has no claims on us whatsoever.”</p> -<p>“But couldn’t you do something for it?” asked Peg, -approaching Ozma timidly. “It’s so tired of being a -plateau. Couldn’t you let it be an island, and find -someone to settle on it? I wouldn’t mind going,” she -added generously.</p> -<p>“You shall do nothing of the sort,” cried Kabumpo -angrily. “You’re going back to Pumperdink with -Pompa and me.”</p> -<p>“She’s going with me,” cried Wag. “Aren’t you, -Peg?”</p> -<p>“You seem to be a very popular person,” smiled -Ozma. “While a Country has no right to run away, -and while I never heard of one doing it before, I’ve -no objections to its being an island. It’s running off -with people I object to.” She looked the Country -sternly in its lake-eyes.</p> -<p>“But I can’t move,” screamed the Country, tears -streaming down its hill, “and I’ve got to have somebody -to settle me.”</p> -<p>“Oh! Here’s Glinda,” shouted the Scarecrow, tossing -up his hat. “Now we shall know what’s happened -to Ruggedo.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_263">263</div> -<p>Leaving the Country for a moment, they all ran to -welcome the good Sorceress of Oz. Glinda’s reports -were most satisfactory. Ruggedo had walked straight -back to the Emerald City, stepped into the yawning -cavern, and immediately the palace had settled firmly -upon its old foundations. Then had come a muffled -explosion, and when Glinda and Dorothy ran through -the secret passage, which had been discovered meanwhile -by the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, they -saw Ruggedo, shrunken to his former size, sitting -angrily on his sixth rock of history.</p> -<p>“I have locked him up in the palace,” finished -Glinda, “and I strongly advise your Highness to -punish him severely.”</p> -<p>Ozma sighed. “What would you do?” she asked, -appealing to the Scarecrow. So many things had come -up for her attention and advice in the last few hours -that the little fairy ruler felt positively dizzy.</p> -<p>“Let’s all sit down in a circle and think,” proposed -the Scarecrow cheerfully. This they all did except -Kabumpo, who stood off glumly by himself. Peg was -looking anxiously at Pompadore, for the Elegant Elephant -had told her of Ozma’s refusal, and wondering -sadly what she could do to help, when the Scarecrow -bounced up impulsively.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_264">264</div> -<p>“I have it,” chuckled the Straw Man. “Let’s send -Ruggedo off on the Runaway Country. He deserves -to be banished and, if Ozma makes the Country an -Island, he can do no harm.”</p> -<p>Here Ozma had to stop and explain to Glinda about -the Country that wanted to be an Island, and after a -short consultation they decided to take the Scarecrow’s -advice.</p> -<p>“Just as soon as I reach the Emerald City I’ll put -on my Magic Belt and wish him onto the Island,” -declared Ozma. “And I think we’d better go right -straight back,” she added thoughtfully, “for it’s growing -darker every minute and Dorothy will be anxious -to hear everything that’s happened.”</p> -<p>“Now you”—Ozma tapped Pompadore gently on -the arm—“You must start at once for Sun Top Mountain. -I’m going to ask the Question Box just where -it is.”</p> -<p>Pompa sighed deeply, and when Ozma consulted -the Question Box as to the location of Sun Top Mountain, -it stated that this Kingdom was in the very -Centre of the North Winkie Country. “That’s fine,” -said Ozma, clapping her hands. “I’ll have the Runaway -country carry you over the Deadly Desert, and -as soon as you have married the Princess you must -bring her to see me in the Emerald City.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_265">265</div> -<p>“What’s all this?” demanded Kabumpo, pricking -up his ears.</p> -<p>“The Question Box says I must marry the Princess -of Sun Top Mountain,” said Pompa, getting up -wearily.</p> -<p>“Well, Great Grump, why couldn’t it have said so -before?” asked Kabumpo shrilly.</p> -<p>“You never asked it,” snapped Wag, twitching his -nose. “I told you Ozma wasn’t the Princess mentioned -in the scroll!”</p> -<p>“Now don’t quarrel,” begged Peg Amy, jumping up -hastily. “There’s still plenty of time to save Pumperdink. -Come along, Pompa.”</p> -<p>“That’s right,” said Ozma, smiling approvingly at -Peg. “And when Pompa finds his Princess you must -come and live with me in the Emerald City, for as -Ruggedo was responsible for bringing you to life, I -want to take care of you always.”</p> -<p>Peg Amy dropped a curtsey and promised to come, -but she didn’t feel very cheerful about it. Then, as -Ozma was anxious to get back to the Emerald City, -they all hurried to Runaway Country.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_266">266</div> -<p>“You are to take these travelers across the Deadly -Desert,” said Ozma, addressing the Runaway Country -quite sternly, “and you are to set them down in the -Winkie Country. If you do this I will restore your -moving power again and give you a little gnome for -King. Then you may run off to the Nonestic Ocean -as soon as ever you wish.”</p> -<p>“I want Peg,” pouted the Country, “but if that’s -the best you can do I suppose I’ll have to stand it.” -After a little more grumbling it agreed to Ozma’s -terms. Wearily, Kabumpo, Wag, Peg and Pompa -climbed aboard and then Ozma spun around six times -in the opposite direction and immediately the Country -found itself able to move again.</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” called Ozma, as she and the Scarecrow -jumped into Glinda’s chariot. “Good-bye and good -luck!”</p> -<p>“Good-bye!” called Peg, waving her old torn bonnet.</p> -<p>“Good riddance,” grumbled the Country gruffly and, -turning sideways, began running toward the Deadly -Desert.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_267">267</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_285.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="481" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c20"><span class="smaller">Chapter 20</span> -<br />The Proper Princess Is Found!</h2> -<p>“Is the mirror safe, and have you still got the gold -door knob?” asked Pompa, as the Country swung -out onto the Deadly Desert. “The Question Box said -I was to trust them, you know.”</p> -<p>“And by what right did Ozma take that box?” -wheezed Kabumpo irritably, as he felt in his pocket -to see whether the magic articles were still there.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_268">268</div> -<p>“That’s gratitude for you! We find Glegg’s box of -Mixed Magic and rescue her, and off she goes with all -our magic, leaving us to the tender mercies of a Runaway -Country!”</p> -<p>“You find the box!” shrilled Wag. “Well, I like -that!”</p> -<p>“Oh, what difference does it make?” groaned -Pompa, stretching out upon the ground. They were -all completely exhausted by the day’s adventures and -as cross as three sticks—all except Peg Amy, who -never was cross.</p> -<p>“I shall marry this Princess and save my country, -but I’m going away as soon as the wedding is over and -spend the rest of my life in travel,” announced Pompa -gloomily.</p> -<p>“Don’t blame you,” rumbled the Elegant Elephant -with a sniff.</p> -<p>“Ah, now!” laughed Peg. “That doesn’t sound like -you, Pompa. Why, maybe this Princess will be so -lovely you’ll want to carry her straight back to Pumperdink.”</p> -<p>“I think Princesses are a great bore,” said Wag -with a terrific yawn. “I prefer plain folks like Peg -and the Scarecrow.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_269">269</div> -<p>“You’re all hungry, that’s what’s the matter,” -chuckled the Wooden Doll. “When you’ve had some -supper you’ll be just as anxious to find the Princess of -Sun Top Mountain as you were to find Ozma. Here’s -the Winkie Country now, and there’s a star for good -luck.”</p> -<p>Peg waved toward the green fields with one hand -and toward the clouds with the other. It was dusk -now and just one star twinkled cheerily in the sky.</p> -<p>“I’ll set you down, but I’m not going away,” said -the Runaway Country determinedly, “for if that little -old gnome doesn’t turn up I’m going to catch you all -again.”</p> -<p>“Ozma never forgets. She’ll keep her promise,” -said Peg. “And you must do just as she told you to do -for she has some powerful magic and can send you -right back to where you came from.”</p> -<p>“Can she?” gulped the Country anxiously.</p> -<p>“You might wait a while, though,” suggested -Pompa darkly. “After I’ve seen this new Princess a -Runaway Country might be a very good thing.”</p> -<p>“Well, you can’t expect her to marry you if you -talk that way,” said Peg warningly, as the Country -came to a stop in a huge field of daisies.</p> -<p>“I’ll wait,” it said hopefully, as the four travelers -swung themselves down.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_270">270</div> -<p>“I wonder if we are in the North Central part,” -murmured Peg Amy, looking around anxiously. Now -it happened the Country had crossed the Deadly -Desert slantwise and although none of the party knew -it they were scarcely a mile from Sun Top Mountain.</p> -<p>“I see a garden!” cried Wag, twitching his nose -hungrily. “Come on, Prince, let”s find some supper.” -With head down and dragging his feet, Pompa followed -Wag. Kabumpo began jerking snappishly at -some tree tops and Peg Amy sat down to think.</p> -<p>“I wish,” thought the Wooden Doll, looking up at -the bright star, “I wish I might have asked the box -one little question.” Peg Amy looked so solemn that -Kabumpo stopped eating and regarded her anxiously.</p> -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked the Elegant Elephant -gruffly, for he quite counted on Peg’s cheerfulness.</p> -<p>“I was thinking about it again,” admitted Peg -apologetically. “About being alive before. I’m sure -I was alive before I was a doll, Kabumpo. I think I -was a person, like Pompa,” she continued softly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_271">271</div> -<p>“You’re much better as you are,” said the Elegant -Elephant uneasily, for it had just occurred to him that -the Magic Mirror would tell Peg who she was as well -as the Question Box. But should he let her look in -it? That was the question. Poor, tired old Kabumpo -shifted from one foot to the other as he tried to make -up his mind. Two huge drops of perspiration ran -down his trunk. What good would it do? he reasoned -finally. Suppose it told something awful! It couldn’t -change her and it might make her unhappy. No, he -would not let Peg look in the mirror.</p> -<p>“How would you like to have this pearl bracelet?” -he asked in an embarrassed voice.</p> -<p>“Why, Kabumpo, I’d just adore it!” cried Peg, -springing up in a hurry. “And I’m not going to -worry about being alive any more, for everyone is so -lovely to me I ought to be the happiest person in Oz.”</p> -<p>“You are,” puffed Kabumpo, clumsily slipping the -bracelet on Peg’s wooden arm, “and if we ever get -back to Pumperdink you shall have as many silk -dresses as you want and—” The rest of the sentence -was smothered in a hug.</p> -<p>Peg Amy was growing fonder and fonder of pompous -old Kabumpo and by the time he had recovered -his breath Wag and the Prince came ambling back -together. They had found an orchard and a kitchen -garden and as they were no longer hungry, both were -more cheerful.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_272">272</div> -<p>“Let’s play scop hotch,” suggested Wag amiably. -“I’m tired of hunting Princesses.” There was a smooth -patch of sand under the trees and Wag hopped over -and began marking out the squares with his paw.</p> -<p>“Scop hotch!” laughed Pompa, While Peg gave a -skip of delight.</p> -<p>“Play if you want to,” wheezed Kabumpo, shaking -himself wearily, “I feel about as playful as a stone -lion. Besides, hop scotch isn’t an elephant game.”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_290.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="400" /> -</div> -<p>Peg, Wag and Pompa began to hop scotch for dear -life. Peg often tumbled over, for it is hard to keep -your balance on wooden legs, but it was Peg who won -in the end and Wag crowned her with daisies.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_273">273</div> -<p>“I wish we could go on just as we are,” gasped -Pompa, mopping his face with his silk handkerchief. -“We’re all good chums and, if it weren’t for Pumperdink’s -disappearing, we might travel all over Oz and -have no end of adventures together.”</p> -<p>“Speaking of disappearing,” said Kabumpo, opening -one eye, for he had dozed off during the game, “I -suppose we’d better be starting if we’re to save the -Kingdom at all.”</p> -<p>“Good-bye to pleasure,” sighed Pompa, as Kabumpo -lifted him to his back. “Good-bye to everything!”</p> -<p>“Oh, cheer up,” begged Peg, settling herself on -Wag’s back.</p> -<p>“Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” A large yellow bird -rose suddenly from a near-by bush and flapped its -wings over Pompa’s head. “Hurrah! Hurrah!”</p> -<p>“Shoo! Get away!” grumbled Kabumpo crossly. -“What are you cheering about?”</p> -<p>“She said to,” cawed the bird, darting over Peg -Amy’s head. “Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Let me -teach you how to be cheerful in three chirps. First, -think of what you might have been; next, think of -what you are; then think of what you are going to be. -Do you get it?” The bird put its head on one side and -regarded them anxiously.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_274">274</div> -<p>“He might have been King of Oz, instead of which -he is only a lost Prince, and he’s going to be married -to a mountain top Princess. Do you see anything -cheerful about that?” demanded Kabumpo angrily. -“Clear out! We’ll do our own cheering.”</p> -<p>“Shall I go?” asked the Hurrah Bird, looking very -crestfallen and pointing its claw at Peg Amy.</p> -<p>“Maybe you can tell us the way to Sun Top Mountain,” -said Peg politely.</p> -<p>“You can see it from the other side of the hill,” -replied the Hurrah Bird. “I’ll give you a few hurrahs -for luck. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”</p> -<p>“Oh, go away,” grumbled Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Not till you look at my nest. Did you ever see a -Hurrah Bird’s nest?” he chirped brightly.</p> -<p>“Let’s look at it,” said Pompa, smiling in spite of -himself. The Hurrah Bird preened itself proudly as -they peered through the bushes. Surely it had the -gayest nest ever built, for it was woven of straw of -many colors, and hung all over the near-by branches -were small Oz flags. In the nest three little yellow -chicks were growing up into Hurrahs and they chirped -faintly at the visitors.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_275">275</div> -<p>“Remember,” called the Father Hurrah, as they -bade him good-bye, “you can always be cheerful in -three chirps if you think of what you <i>might</i> have been, -what you <i>are</i>, and what you are going to be. Hurrah! -Hurrah! Hurrah!”</p> -<p>“There’s something in what you’ve said,” chuckled -Wag. “Good-bye!”</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_293.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="403" /> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_276">276</div> -<p>The moon had come up brightly and even Kabumpo -began to feel more like himself. “There’s a lot to be -learned by traveling, eh, Wag?” He winked at the -rabbit, who was just behind him. “Let’s see—somersaults -for sums—never be gormish—and now, how to -be cheerful in three chirps. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” -The Elegant Elephant began to plow swiftly -through the daisy field, so that in almost no time they -reached the top of the little hill and as they did so -Peg gave a little scream of delight. As for the others, -they were simply speechless.</p> -<p>A purple mountain rose steeply ahead, and set like -a crown upon its summit was a glittering gold castle, -the loveliest, laciest gold castle you could imagine, -with a hundred fluttering pennants. All down the -mountain side spread its lovely gardens, its golden -arbors and flower bordered paths.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_294.jpg" alt="At the top of the mountain the loveliest castle you could imagine" width="574" height="800" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">At the top of the mountain the loveliest castle you could imagine</span></p> -</div> -<p>“I’ve seen it before!” cried the Wooden Doll softly, -but no one heard her. Pompa drew a deep breath, for -the castle, shimmering in the moonlight, seemed almost -too beautiful to believe.</p> -<p>“Whe-ew!” whistled Wag, breaking the silence. -“The Princess of Tun Sop Wountain must be wonderful.”</p> -<p>“Shall we start up now?” gasped Kabumpo, swinging -his trunk nervously.</p> -<p>“I don’t believe she’ll ever marry me. Let’s don’t go -at all,” muttered the Prince of Pumperdink in a -shaking voice.</p> -<p>“Oh, come on!” called Wag, who was curious to see -the owner of so grand a castle.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_277">277</div> -<p>“But we mustn’t go, Wag,” gasped Peg Amy. “How -would it look to have a shabby old doll tagging along -when he’s trying to talk to the Princess?”</p> -<p>“If Peg doesn’t go, I’m not going,” declared Pompa -stubbornly.</p> -<p>“You’re just as good as any Princess,” said Kabumpo, -“and I’m not going without you, either.”</p> -<p>As the Elegant Elephant refused to budge and -there seemed no other way out of it, Peg Amy finally -consented and the four adventurers started fearfully -up the winding path, almost expecting the castle to -disappear before they reached the top, so unreal did it -seem in the moonlight. There was no one in the garden -but there were lights in the castle windows. “Just -as if they expected us,” said the Elegant Elephant, as -they reached the tall gates. Pompa opened the gates -and next instant they were standing before the great -castle door.</p> -<p>“Shall we knock?” chattered Wag, his eyes sticking -out with excitement.</p> -<p>“No! Wait a minute,” begged the Prince, who was -becoming more agitated every minute.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_278">278</div> -<p>“Here’s the mirror and the door knob,” quavered -Kabumpo. “Didn’t the Question Box say to trust -them? Why, look here, Pompa, my boy, it fits!” -Clumsily, Kabumpo held up the glittering door knob -he had brought all the way from Pumperdink; then -he slipped it easily on the small gold bar projecting -from the door.</p> -<p>But instead of looking joyful Pompa groaned dismally. -He started to protest but Kabumpo had already -turned the knob and they found themselves in a -glittering gold court room.</p> -<p>“Now for the Princess,” puffed Kabumpo, looking -around with his twinkling little eyes. “Here, take the -mirror, Pompa.” The room was empty, although brilliantly -lighted, and the Prince stood uncertainly in the -very center. Suddenly, with a determined little cry, -Pompa rushed over to Peg Amy, who stood leaning -against a tall gold chair.</p> -<p>“Peg,” choked Pompa, dropping on his knees beside -the Wooden Doll, “I’ll have to find some other -way to save Pumperdink. I’m not going to marry -this Princess and have you taken away from me. -You’re a proper enough Princess for me and we’ll -just go back to Pumperdink and be—”</p> -<p>“The mirror! Look in the mirror!” screamed Wag, -who was sitting beside Peg Amy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_279">279</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_297.jpg" alt="There stood Peg Amy, the Loveliest Little Princess in the world" width="358" height="600" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="sc">There stood Peg Amy, the Loveliest Little Princess in the world</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_280">280</div> -<p>Unconsciously, Pompa had held out the gold mirror -and Peg, leaning over to listen, had looked directly -into it. Above Peg’s pleasant reflection in the mirror -they read these startling and important words:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">This is Peg Amy, Princess of Sun Top Mountain.</p> -</div> -<p>While Pompa stared with round eyes the words -faded out and this new legend formed in the glass:</p> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">This is the Proper Princess.</p> -</div> -<p>“I always knew you were a Princess,” cried Wag, -turning a somersault.</p> -<p>The big rabbit had just come right-side-up, when a -still more amazing thing happened. The wooden body -of Peg melted before their eyes and in its place stood -the loveliest little Princess in the world. And yet, -with all her beauty, she was strangely like the old -Peg. Her eyes had the same merry twinkle and her -mouth the same pleasant curve.</p> -<p>“Oh!” cried Princess Peg, holding her arms out to -her friends. “Now I am the happiest person in Oz!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_281">281</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_299.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="497" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c21"><span class="smaller">Chapter 21</span> -<br />How It All Came About</h2> -<p>Before Pompa had time to rise, a tall, richly -clad old nobleman rushed into the room.</p> -<p>“Peg!” cried the old gentleman, clasping the -Princess in his arms. “You are back! At last the -enchantment is broken!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_282">282</div> -<p>For a moment the two forgot all about Pompa and -the others. Then, gently disengaging herself, Peg -seized the Prince’s hands and drew him to his feet.</p> -<p>“Uncle,” she said breathlessly, holding to Pompa -with one hand and waving with the other at Kabumpo -and Wag, “here are the friends responsible for my -release. This is my Uncle Tozzyfog,” she explained -quickly, and impulsively Uncle Tozzyfog sprang to -his feet and embraced each in turn—even Kabumpo.</p> -<p>“Sit down,” begged the old nobleman, sinking into -a golden chair and mopping his head with a flowered -silk kerchief.</p> -<p>Pompa, who could not take his eyes from this new -and wonderful Peg Amy, dropped into another chair. -Kabumpo leaned limply against a pillar and Wag sat -where he was, his nose twitching faster than ever and -his ears stuck out straight behind him.</p> -<p>“You are probably wondering about the change in -Peg,” began Uncle Tozzyfog, as the Princess perched -on the arm of his chair, “so I’ll try to tell my part of -the story. Three years ago an ugly old peddlar climbed -the path to Sun Top Mountain. He said his name was -Glegg and, forcing his way into the castle, he demanded -the hand of my niece in marriage.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_283">283</div> -<p>Peg shuddered and Uncle Tozzyfog blew his nose -violently at the distressing memory. Then, speaking -rapidly and pausing every few minutes to appeal to -the Princess, he continued the story of Peg’s enchantment. -Naturally the old peddlar had been refused -and thrown out of the castle. That night as Uncle -Tozzyfog prepared to carve the royal roast, there -came an explosion, and when the Courtiers had picked -themselves up Peg Amy was nowhere to be seen, and -only a threatening scroll remained to explain the -mystery. Glegg, who was really a powerful magician, -infuriated by Uncle Tozzyfog’s treatment, had -changed the little Princess into a tree.</p> -<p>“Know ye,” began the scroll quite like the one that -had spoiled Pompa’s birthday, “know ye that unless -ye Princess of Sun Top Mountain consents to wed -J. Glegg she shall remain a tree forever, or until two -shall call and believe her to be a Princess. J. G.”</p> -<p>The whole castle had been plunged into utmost -gloom by this terrible happening, for Peg was the -kindliest, best loved little Princess any Kingdom -could wish for. Lord Tozzyfog and nearly all the -Courtiers set out at once to search for the little tree -and for two years they wandered over Oz, addressing -every hopeful tree as Princess, but never happening -on the right one. Finally they returned in despair and -Sun Top Mountain, once the most cheerful Kingdom -in all Oz, had become the gloomiest. There was no -singing, nor dancing—no happiness of any kind. -Even the flowers had drooped in the absence of their -little Mistress.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_284">284</div> -<p>“Why didn’t you appeal to Ozma?” demanded -Pompa at this point in the story.</p> -<p>“Because in another scroll Glegg warned us that -the day we told Ozma, Peg Amy would cease to even -be a tree,” explained Uncle Tozzyfog hoarsely.</p> -<p>“Then how did she become a doll? Tell me that, -Uncle Fozzytog,” gulped Wag, raising one paw.</p> -<p>“She’ll have to tell you that herself,” confessed -Peg’s uncle, “for that’s all of the story I know.”</p> -<p>So here Peg took up the story herself. The morning -after her transformation into a tree Glegg had appeared -and asked her again to marry him. “I was a -little yellow tree, in the Winkie Country, not far from -the Emerald City,” explained Peg, “and every day -for two months Glegg appeared and gave me the -power of speech long enough to answer his question. -And each time he asked me to marry him but I always -said ‘No!’” The Princess shook her yellow curls -briskly.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_301.jpg" alt="“Every day Glegg returned and asked me to marry him, but I always said ‘No’!” explained Peg" width="583" height="799" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">Every day Glegg returned and asked me to marry him, but I always said ‘No’!” explained Peg</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_285">285</div> -<p>“One afternoon there came a one-legged sailor man -and a little girl.” Even Kabumpo shuddered as Peg -Amy told how Cap’n Bill had cut down the little tree, -pared off all the branches and carved from the trunk -a small wooden doll for Trot.</p> -<p>“It didn’t hurt,” Princess Peg hastened to explain -as she caught Pompa’s sorrowful expression, “and -being a doll was a lot better than being a tree. I could -not move or speak but I knew what was going on and -life in Ozma’s palace was cheerful and interesting. -Only, of course, I longed to tell Ozma or Trot of my -enchantment. I missed dear Uncle Tozzyfog and all -the people of Sun Top Mountain. Then, as you all -know, I was stolen by the old gnome and after Ruggedo -carried me underground I forgot all about being -a Princess and remembered nothing of this.” Peg -glanced lovingly around the room. “I only felt that -I had been alive before. So you!” Peg jumped up -and flung one arm around Wag, “and you,” she flung -the other around Pompa, “saved me by calling me a -Princess and really believing I was one. And you!” -Peg hastened over to Kabumpo, who was rolling his -eyes sadly. “You are the darlingest old elephant in -Oz! See, I still have the necklace and bracelet!” And -sure enough on Peg’s round arm and white neck -gleamed the jewels the Elegant Elephant had generously -given when he thought her only a funny Wooden -Doll.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_286">286</div> -<p>“Oh!” groaned Kabumpo. “Why didn’t I let you -look in the mirror before? No wonder you kept remembering -things.”</p> -<p>“But why did Glegg send the threatening scroll -to Pumperdink three years after he’d enchanted -Peg?” asked Wag, scratching his head.</p> -<p>“Because!” shrilled a piercing voice, and in through -the window bounded a perfectly dreadful old man. It -was Glegg himself!</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_305.jpg" alt="“In through the window bounded a perfectly dreadful old man”" width="500" height="689" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">In through the window bounded a perfectly dreadful old man</span>”</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_287">287</div> -<p>“Because!” screeched the wicked magician, advancing -toward the little party with crooked finger, -“when that meddling old sailor touched Peg with his -knife I lost all power over her; because my Question -Box told me that Pompadore of Pumperdink could -bring about her disenchantment and he has. I made -it interesting for you, didn’t I? There isn’t another -magician in Oz can put scrolls up in cakes and roasts -like I can nor mix magic like mine. Ha! Ha!” Glegg -threw back his head and rocked with enjoyment. -“You have had all the trouble and I shall have all the -reward!”</p> -<p>Everyone was so stunned by this terrible interruption -that no one made a move as Glegg sprang toward -Peg Amy. But before he had reached the Princess -there was a queer sulphurous explosion and the magician -disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. They -rubbed their eyes and as the smoke cleared they saw -Trot, the little girl who had played with Peg Amy -when she was a Wooden Doll.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_288">288</div> -<p>“Ozma,” explained Trot breathlessly, for she had -come on a fast <i>wish</i>.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_306.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="399" /> -</div> -<p>After following the adventures of Pompa and Peg -in the Magic Mirror, and as the magician had tried -to snatch the Princess, Ozma had transported him by -means of her Magic Belt to the Emerald City, and sent -Trot to bring her best wishes to the whole party.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_289">289</div> -<p>“I’m sorry I didn’t make you a prettier dress when -you were my doll,” said Trot, seizing Peg Amy’s hand -impulsively, “but you see I didn’t know you were a -Princess.”</p> -<p>“But you guessed my name,” said Peg softly.</p> -<p>There were so many explanations to be made and -so many things to wonder over and exclaim about, -that it seemed as if they could never stop talking.</p> -<p>Uncle Tozzyfog rang all the bells in the castle tower -and stepping out on a balcony told the people of Sun -Top Mountain of the return of Princess Peg Amy. -Then the servants were summoned and such a feast as -only an Oz cook can prepare was started in the castle -kitchen. The Courtiers came hurrying back, for during -Peg’s absence Uncle Tozzyfog had lived alone in -the castle. Yes, the Courtiers came back and the people -of Sun Top Mountain poured into the castle in -throngs and nearly overwhelmed the rescuers by the -enthusiasm of their thanks.</p> -<p>Kabumpo had never been so admired and complimented -in his whole elegant life. As for Wag, his -speech grew more mixed up every minute. At last, -when the Courtiers and Uncle Tozzyfog had run off to -dress for the grand banquet, and after Trot had been -magically recalled by Ozma to the Emerald City, the -four who had gone through so many adventures together -were left alone.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_290">290</div> -<p>“Well, how about Pumperdink, my boy?” chuckled -Kabumpo, with a wave of his trunk. “Are we going -to let the old Kingdom disappear or not?”</p> -<p>“It is my duty to save my country,” said Pompa -loftily. Then, with a mischievous smile at Peg Amy, -“Don’t you think so, Princess?” Peg Amy looked -merrily at the Elegant Elephant and then took -Pompa’s hand.</p> -<p>“Yes, I do,” said the Princess of Sun Top Mountain.</p> -<p>“Then, you <i>will</i> marry me?” asked Pompa, looking -every inch a Prince in spite of his singed head and -torn clothes.</p> -<p>“We must save Pumperdink, you know,” sighed -Peg softly.</p> -<p>“Three cheers for the Princess of Pumperdink! -May she be as happy as the day is short!” cried Wag -in his impulsive way.</p> -<p>Uncle Tozzyfog was as pleased as Wag when he -heard the news, and Pompa, attired in a royal gold -embroidered robe, was married to Peg Amy upon the -spot, with much pomp and magnificence.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_291">291</div> -<p>Never before was there such rejoicing—a merrier -company or a happier bride. Kabumpo, arrayed in -two gold curtains borrowed for the happy occasion, -had never appeared more elegant and Wag was everywhere -at once and simply overwhelmed with attention.</p> -<p>That same night a messenger was dispatched to -Pumperdink to carry the good news and the next -morning Pompa and Peg set out for the Emerald City, -the Princess riding proudly on Wag and Pompadore -on Kabumpo. Knowing the whole four as you now -do, you will believe me when I say that their journey -was the merriest and most delightful ever recorded -in the merry Kingdom of Oz.</p> -<p>After a short visit with Ozma and another to the -King and Queen of Pumperdink they all returned to -Sun Top Mountain, where they are living happily at -this very minute.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_292">292</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_312.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="500" height="492" /> -</div> -<h2 id="c22"><span class="smaller">Chapter 22</span> -<br />Ruggedo’s Last Rock</h2> -<p>There are only a few more mysteries to clear up -before we leave for a time the jolly Kingdom of -Oz. Ruggedo, much shaken by his terrible experiences -with Glegg’s magic, confessed everything to -Ozma on her return to the Emerald City. You can -imagine the surprise of the little Fairy Ruler on learning -how her palace had come to be impaled upon the -spikes of the wicked old gnome’s gray head.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_293">293</div> -<p>“He will nev-er re-form,” said Tik Tok mournfully, -as Ruggedo finished his recital. The bad little gnome -assured Ozma that he had reformed and begged for -another chance, but this time Ozma knew better, and -putting on her Magic Belt she whispered a few secret -words. Then they all hurried over to the Magic Picture, -for they knew that Ruggedo had been transported -to a safe place at last. The picture showed the -Runaway Country rushing along faster than an express -train and dancing up and down on its highest hill -was the furious old King of the Gnomes. They watched -until the Country plunged joyfully into the Nonestic -Ocean and, when it was almost in the middle, Ozma -stopped it by the magic spinning process and it became -Ruggedo’s Island.</p> -<p>“Well,” sighed Dorothy as they turned from the -picture, “I guess that will be Ruggedo’s last rock!”</p> -<p>“He’s rocked in the cradle of the deep now,” chuckled -the Scarecrow. “And I hope it quiets him down. -They ought to make a good pair—that bad little -Island and that bad little King,” he added reflectively.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_294">294</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_314.jpg" alt="“I guess that will be Ruggedo’s last rock,” said Dorothy" width="370" height="500" /> -<p class="caption">“<span class="sc">I guess that will be Ruggedo’s last rock,” said Dorothy</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_295">295</div> -<p>Then Ozma proposed that they follow the adventures -of Peg and Pompa, having so satisfactorily disposed -of Ruggedo. How she transported Glegg just -in time to save the Princess you already know. But -what happened to Glegg himself is interesting. When -the old magician had asked his Question Box how to -regain control over Peg again it had directed him to -bury his Mixed Magic under the Emerald City and -in two years to send the scroll to Pumperdink. So -Glegg had tunneled out the cave under Ozma’s palace -and left his magic in what he supposed was a very -safe place. It had been a great hardship to do without -it for two years, but he wanted Peg so badly that he -actually did this, never dreaming that Ruggedo had -moved in and discovered his treasures. The Question -Box had told the exact day Peg would be disenchanted -and all that long two years Glegg had waited, hidden -in a forest near Sun Top Mountain.</p> -<p>As he knew nothing of the discovery of his magic -box, no one was more surprised than he to find himself, -just as he was on the point of seizing Peg, transported -to the Emerald City.</p> -<p>While Sir Hokus of Pokes held the struggling -Glegg, Ozma asked the Question Box how to deal with -him. Everybody crowded around the little Fairy -Ruler to hear what the wicked old magician’s fate -was to be.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_296">296</div> -<p>“Give him a taste of his own magic,” directed the -Question Box. “Make him drink a cup of his Triple -Trick Tea.” This Ozma did, although it took fourteen -people to get Glegg to drink it. But, stars! No sooner -had the liquid touched his lips than the miserable old -magician went off with a loud explosion!</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_316.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="397" /> -</div> -<p>The box of Mixed Magic was carefully put away in -Ozma’s gold safe and then the whole company—Ozma, -Dorothy, Sir Hokus, the Scarecrow and all the -celebrities—devoted themselves to setting the topsy -turvy palace to rights, for they knew by the Magic -picture that Pompa and Peg Amy were coming to -visit them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_297">297</div> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Glegg, Glegg, shake a leg</p> -<p class="t0">And never more, Sir, bother Peg!”</p> -</div> -<p class="pnindent">shouted Scraps, as she swept up the black soot Glegg -had left when he exploded. And he never did.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_317.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="473" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/i_319.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width="600" height="346" /> -</div> -<h2 id="tn">Transcriber’s Notes</h2><ul> -<li>Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li> -<li>Generated a cover image, based on graphic elements from the book, and released for free unrestricted use with this eBook.</li> -<li>Relocated some images closer to the corresponding text.</li> -<li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li> -<li>In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)</li> -</ul> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kabumpo in Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KABUMPO IN OZ *** - -***** This file should be named 53765-h.htm or 53765-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/7/6/53765/ - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Eric Lehtonen, Stephen -Hutcheson, University of Miami and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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