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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Illustrator: W. W. Denslow
Release Date: January 6, 2014 [EBook #43936]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ ***
Produced by Douglas L. Alley, III, Chris Curnow, Joseph
Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net
The WONDERFUL
WIZARD
OF
OZ
BY L. Frank Baum
W. W. Denslow.
[Illustration]
Geo. M. Hill Co.
New York.
INTRODUCTION.
Folk lore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood
through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and
instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly
unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more
happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old-time fairy tale, having served for generations, may
now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the
time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the
stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all
the horrible and blood-curdling incident devised by their authors
to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes
morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its
wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
[Illustration]
Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to
being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are
retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.
L. FRANK BAUM.
CHICAGO, APRIL, 1900.
[Illustration]
Copyright 1899
By L. Frank Baum
and W. W. Denslow.
All rights reserved
[Illustration]
LIST OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.--The Cyclone.
CHAPTER II.--The Council with The Munchkins.
CHAPTER III.--How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow.
CHAPTER IV.--The Road Through the Forest.
CHAPTER V.--The Rescue of the Tin Woodman.
CHAPTER VI.--The Cowardly Lion.
CHAPTER VII.--The Journey to The Great Oz.
CHAPTER VIII.--The Deadly Poppy Field.
CHAPTER IX.--The Queen of the Field Mice.
CHAPTER X.--The Guardian of the Gates.
CHAPTER XI.--The Wonderful Emerald City of Oz.
CHAPTER XII.--The Search for the Wicked Witch.
CHAPTER XIII.--How the Four were Reunited.
CHAPTER XIV.--The Winged Monkeys.
CHAPTER XV.--The Discovery of Oz the Terrible.
CHAPTER XVI.--The Magic Art of the Great Humbug.
CHAPTER XVII.--How the Balloon was Launched.
CHAPTER XVIII.--Away to the South.
CHAPTER XIX.--Attacked by the Fighting Trees.
CHAPTER XX.--The Dainty China Country.
CHAPTER XXI.--The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts.
CHAPTER XXII.--The Country of the Quadlings.
CHAPTER XXIII.--The Good Witch grants Dorothy's Wish.
CHAPTER XXIV.--Home Again.
_This book is dedicated to my
good friend & comrade.
My Wife
L.F.B._
Chapter I.
The Cyclone.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle
Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried
by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof,
which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cooking
stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs,
and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner,
and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at
all, and no cellar--except a small hole, dug in the ground, called a
cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great
whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It
was reached by a trap-door in the middle of the floor, from which a
ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see
nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a
house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached the edge of
the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a
gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was
not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until
they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had
been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it
away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.
[Illustration: "_She caught Toto by the ear._"]
When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The
sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from
her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her
cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt,
and never smiled, now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came
to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that
she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's
merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl
with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.
Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and
did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to
his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as
gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little
black dog, with long, silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled
merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day
long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
[Illustration]
To-day, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the
door-step and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than
usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at
the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle
Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves
before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the
air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw
ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife; "I'll go look
after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and
horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of
the danger close at hand.
"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed; "run for the cellar!"
Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the
girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the
trap-door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small,
dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last, and started to follow her
aunt. When she was half way across the room there came a great shriek
from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing
and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
A strange thing then happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through
the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the
exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is
generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of
the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very
top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and
miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but
Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls
around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as
if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,
barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited
to see what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap-door, and fell in; and at first
the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his
ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air
was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole,
caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again; afterward
closing the trap-door so that no more accidents could happen.
Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about
her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she
would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours
passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and
resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last
she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it;
and Toto followed and lay down beside her.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,
Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
[Illustration]
Chapter II.
The Council with
The Munchkins.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy
had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it
was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened;
and Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally.
Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it
dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the
little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran
and opened the door.
The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her
eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.
The cyclone had set the house down, very gently--for a cyclone--in
the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches
of green sward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and
luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and
birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees
and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling
along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to
a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.
While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights,
she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had
ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been
used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about
as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although
they were, so far as looks go, many years older.
[Illustration: "_I am the Witch of the North._"]
Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore
round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with
little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The
hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she
wore a white gown that hung in plaits from her shoulders; over it were
sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. The men
were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well
polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the tops. The men, Dorothy
thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards.
But the little woman was doubtless much older: her face was covered
with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.
When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in
the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid
to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made
a low bow and said, in a sweet voice,
"You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins.
We are so grateful to you for having killed the wicked Witch of the
East, and for setting our people free from bondage."
[Illustration]
Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little
woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she
had killed the wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent,
harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles
from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.
But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy
said, with hesitation,
"You are very kind; but there must be some mistake. I have not killed
anything."
"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh;
"and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing to the
corner of the house; "there are her two toes, still sticking out from
under a block of wood."
Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just
under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were
sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.
"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in
dismay; "the house must have fallen on her. What ever shall we do?"
"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman, calmly.
[Illustration]
"But who was she?" asked Dorothy.
"She was the wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the
little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many
years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set
free, and are grateful to you for the favour."
"Who are the Munchkins?" enquired Dorothy.
"They are the people who live in this land of the East, where the
wicked Witch ruled."
"Are you a Munchkin?" asked Dorothy.
"No; but I am their friend, although I live in the land of the North.
When they saw the Witch of the East was dead the Munchkins sent a swift
messenger to me, and I came at once. I am the Witch of the North."
"Oh, gracious!" cried Dorothy; "are you a real witch?"
"Yes, indeed;" answered the little woman. "But I am a good witch, and
the people love me. I am not as powerful as the wicked Witch was who
ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself."
"But I thought all witches were wicked," said the girl, who was half
frightened at facing a real witch.
"Oh, no; that is a great mistake. There were only four witches in all
the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the
South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them
myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the
West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one
of them, there is but one wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz--the one
who lives in the West."
"But," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "Aunt Em has told me
that the witches were all dead--years and years ago."
"Who is Aunt Em?" inquired the little old woman.
"She is my aunt who lives in Kansas, where I came from."
The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head
bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said,
"I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country
mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?"
"Oh, yes;" replied Dorothy.
"Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I believe
there are no witches left; nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor
magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for
we are cut off from all the rest of the world. Therefore we still
have witches and wizards amongst us."
"Who are the Wizards?" asked Dorothy.
"Oz himself is the Great Wizard," answered the Witch, sinking her
voice to a whisper. "He is more powerful than all the rest of us
together. He lives in the City of Emeralds."
Dorothy was going to ask another question, but just then the Munchkins,
who had been standing silently by, gave a loud shout and pointed to the
corner of the house where the Wicked Witch had been lying.
[Illustration]
"What is it?" asked the little old woman; and looked, and began
to laugh. The feet of the dead Witch had disappeared entirely and
nothing was left but the silver shoes.
"She was so old," explained the Witch of the North, "that she dried
up quickly in the sun. That is the end of her. But the silver shoes
are yours, and you shall have them to wear." She reached down and
picked up the shoes, and after shaking the dust out of them handed
them to Dorothy.
"The Witch of the East was proud of those silver shoes," said one of
the Munchkins; "and there is some charm connected with them; but what
it is we never knew."
Dorothy carried the shoes into the house and placed them on the
table. Then she came out again to the Munchkins and said,
"I am anxious to get back to my Aunt and Uncle, for I am sure they
will worry about me. Can you help me find my way?"
The Munchkins and the Witch first looked at one another, and then at
Dorothy, and then shook their heads.
"At the East, not far from here," said one, "there is a great desert,
and none could live to cross it."
"It is the same at the South," said another, "for I have been there
and seen it. The South is the country of the Quadlings."
"I am told," said the third man, "that it is the same at the West. And
that country, where the Winkies live, is ruled by the wicked Witch of
the West, who would make you her slave if you passed her way."
"The North is my home," said the old lady, "and at its edge is the
same great desert that surrounds this land of Oz. I'm afraid, my
dear, you will have to live with us."
Dorothy began to sob, at this, for she felt lonely among all
these strange people. Her tears seemed to grieve the kind-hearted
Munchkins, for they immediately took out their handkerchiefs and
began to weep also. As for the little old woman, she took off her
cap and balanced the point on the end of her nose, while she counted
"one, two, three" in a solemn voice. At once the cap changed to a
slate, on which was written in big, white chalk marks:
"LET DOROTHY GO TO THE CITY OF EMERALDS."
[Illustration]
The little old woman took the slate from her nose, and, having read
the words on it, asked,
"Is your name Dorothy, my dear?"
"Yes," answered the child, looking up and drying her tears.
"Then you must go to the City of Emeralds. Perhaps Oz will help you."
"Where is this City?" asked Dorothy.
"It is exactly in the center of the country, and is ruled by Oz, the
Great Wizard I told you of."
"Is he a good man?" enquired the girl, anxiously.
"He is a good Wizard. Whether he is a man or not I cannot tell, for I
have never seen him."
"How can I get there?" asked Dorothy.
"You must walk. It is a long journey, through a country that is
sometimes pleasant and sometimes dark and terrible. However, I will
use all the magic arts I know of to keep you from harm."
"Won't you go with me?" pleaded the girl, who had begun to look upon
the little old woman as her only friend.
"No, I cannot do that," she replied; "but I will give you my kiss,
and no one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch
of the North."
She came close to Dorothy and kissed her gently on the forehead.
Where her lips touched the girl they left a round, shining mark, as
Dorothy found out soon after.
"The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick," said the
Witch; "so you cannot miss it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of
him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-bye, my dear."
[Illustration]
The three Munchkins bowed low to her and wished her a pleasant
journey, after which they walked away through the trees. The Witch
gave Dorothy a friendly little nod, whirled around on her left heel
three times, and straightway disappeared, much to the surprise of
little Toto, who barked after her loudly enough when she had gone,
because he had been afraid even to growl while she stood by.
But Dorothy, knowing her to be a witch, had expected her to disappear
in just that way, and was not surprised in the least.
Chapter III
How Dorothy saved
the Scarecrow.
[Illustration]
When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry. So she went
to the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with
butter. She gave some to Toto, and taking a pail from the shelf
she carried it down to the little brook and filled it with clear,
sparkling water. Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the
birds sitting there. Dorothy went to get him, and saw such delicious
fruit hanging from the branches that she gathered some of it, finding
it just what she wanted to help out her breakfast.
Then she went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto
to a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready
for the journey to the City of Emeralds.
Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and
was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks
of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with
many washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself
carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink
sunbonnet on her head. She took a little basket and filled it with
bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she
looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.
"They surely will never do for a long journey, Toto," she said. And
Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged
his tail to show he knew what she meant.
At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that
had belonged to the Witch of the East.
"I wonder if they will fit me," she said to Toto. "They would be just
the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out."
She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones,
which fitted her as well as if they had been made for her.
Finally she picked up her basket.
"Come along, Toto," she said, "we will go to the Emerald City and ask
the great Oz how to get back to Kansas again."
She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the
pocket of her dress. And so, with Toto trotting along soberly behind
her, she started on her journey.
There were several roads near by, but it did not take her long to
find the one paved with yellow brick. Within a short time she was
walking briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling
merrily on the hard, yellow roadbed. The sun shone bright and the
birds sang sweet and Dorothy did not feel nearly as bad as you might
think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her
own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.
[Illustration]
She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country
was about her. There were neat fences at the sides of the road,
painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and
vegetables in abundance. Evidently the Munchkins were good farmers
and able to raise large crops. Once in a while she would pass a
house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she
went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the
wicked witch and setting them free from bondage. The houses of the
Munchkins were odd looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big
dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this country of the
East blue was the favorite color.
Towards evening, when Dorothy was tired with her long walk and began
to wonder where she should pass the night, she came to a house rather
larger than the rest. On the green lawn before it many men and women
were dancing. Five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible and
the people were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was
loaded with delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other
good things to eat.
The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to
pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest
Munchkins in the land, and his friends were gathered with him to
celebrate their freedom from the bondage of the wicked witch.
Dorothy ate a hearty supper and was waited upon by the rich Munchkin
himself, whose name was Boq. Then she sat down upon a settee and
watched the people dance.
When Boq saw her silver shoes he said,
"You must be a great sorceress."
"Why?" asked the girl.
"Because you wear silver shoes and have killed the wicked witch.
Besides, you have white in your frock, and only witches and
sorceresses wear white."
[Illustration: "_You must be a great sorceress._"]
"My dress is blue and white checked," said Dorothy, smoothing out the
wrinkles in it.
"It is kind of you to wear that," said Boq. "Blue is the color of
the Munchkins, and white is the witch color; so we know you are a
friendly witch."
Dorothy did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed
to think her a witch, and she knew very well she was only an ordinary
little girl who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.
When she had tired watching the dancing, Boq led her into the house,
where he gave her a room with a pretty bed in it. The sheets were
made of blue cloth, and Dorothy slept soundly in them till morning,
with Toto curled up on the blue rug beside her.
She ate a hearty breakfast, and watched a wee Munchkin baby, who
played with Toto and pulled his tail and crowed and laughed in a way
that greatly amused Dorothy. Toto was a fine curiosity to all the
people, for they had never seen a dog before.
"How far is it to the Emerald City?" the girl asked.
[Illustration]
"I do not know," answered Boq, gravely, "for I have never been there.
It is better for people to keep away from Oz, unless they have
business with him. But it is a long way to the Emerald City, and it
will take you many days. The country here is rich and pleasant, but
you must pass through rough and dangerous places before you reach the
end of your journey."
This worried Dorothy a little, but she knew that only the great Oz
could help her get to Kansas again, so she bravely resolved not to
turn back.
She bade her friends good-bye, and again started along the road of
yellow brick. When she had gone several miles she thought she would
stop to rest, and so climbed to the top of the fence beside the road
and sat down. There was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not
far away she saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds
from the ripe corn.
Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully at the
Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes,
nose and mouth painted on it to represent a face. An old, pointed
blue hat, that had belonged to some Munchkin, was perched on this
head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and
faded, which had also been stuffed with straw. On the feet were some
old boots with blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and
the figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the pole
stuck up its back.
[Illustration: "_Dorothy gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow._"]
While Dorothy was looking earnestly into the queer, painted face of
the Scarecrow, she was surprised to see one of the eyes slowly wink
at her. She thought she must have been mistaken, at first, for none of
the scarecrows in Kansas ever wink; but presently the figure nodded its
head to her in a friendly way. Then she climbed down from the fence and
walked up to it, while Toto ran around the pole and barked.
"Good day," said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice.
"Did you speak?" asked the girl, in wonder.
"Certainly," answered the Scarecrow; "how do you do?"
"I'm pretty well, thank you," replied Dorothy, politely; "how do you
do?"
"I'm not feeling well," said the Scarecrow, with a smile, "for it is
very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows."
"Can't you get down?" asked Dorothy.
"No, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you will please take away
the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you."
Dorothy reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole; for,
being stuffed with straw, it was quite light.
"Thank you very much," said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down
on the ground. "I feel like a new man."
Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed
man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.
"Who are you?" asked the Scarecrow, when he had stretched himself and
yawned, "and where are you going?"
"My name is Dorothy," said the girl, "and I am going to the Emerald
City, to ask the great Oz to send me back to Kansas."
"Where is the Emerald City?" he enquired; "and who is Oz?"
"Why, don't you know?" she returned, in surprise.
"No, indeed; I don't know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have
no brains at all," he answered, sadly.
[Illustration]
"Oh," said Dorothy; "I'm awfully sorry for you."
"Do you think," he asked, "If I go to the Emerald City with you, that
the great Oz would give me some brains?"
"I cannot tell," she returned; "but you may come with me, if you
like. If Oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off
than you are now."
"That is true," said the Scarecrow. "You see," he continued,
confidentially, "I don't mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed,
because I cannot get hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a
pin into me, it doesn't matter, for I cant feel it. But I do not want
people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw
instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know anything?"
"I understand how you feel," said the little girl, who was truly
sorry for him. "If you will come with me I'll ask Oz to do all he can
for you."
"Thank you," he answered, gratefully.
They walked back to the road, Dorothy helped him over the fence, and
they started along the path of yellow brick for the Emerald City.
Toto did not like this addition to the party, at first. He smelled
around the stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of
rats in the straw, and he often growled in an unfriendly way at the
Scarecrow.
"Don't mind Toto," said Dorothy, to her new friend; "he never bites."
"Oh, I'm not afraid," replied the Scarecrow, "he can't hurt the
straw. Do let me carry that basket for you. I shall not mind it,
for I can't get tired. I'll tell you a secret," he continued, as he
walked along; "there is only one thing in the world I am afraid of."
"What is that?" asked Dorothy; "the Munchkin farmer who made you?"
"No," answered the Scarecrow; "it's a lighted match."
Chapter IV.
The Road through
the Forest.
[Illustration]
After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so
difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow brick,
which were here very uneven. Sometimes, indeed, they were broken or
missing altogether, leaving holes that Toto jumped across and Dorothy
walked around. As for the Scarecrow, having no brains he walked
straight ahead, and so stepped into the holes and fell at full length
on the hard bricks. It never hurt him, however, and Dorothy would
pick him up and set him upon his feet again, while he joined her in
laughing merrily at his own mishap.
[Illustration]
The farms were not nearly so well cared for here as they were farther
back. There were fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, and the farther
they went the more dismal and lonesome the country became.
At noon they sat down by the roadside, near a little brook, and
Dorothy opened her basket and got out some bread. She offered a piece
to the Scarecrow, but he refused.
"I am never hungry," he said; "and it is a lucky thing I am not. For
my mouth is only painted, and if I should cut a hole in it so I could
eat, the straw I am stuffed with would come out, and that would spoil
the shape of my head."
Dorothy saw at once that this was true, so she only nodded and went
on eating her bread.
"Tell me something about yourself, and the country you came from,"
said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner. So she told
him all about Kansas, and how gray everything was there, and how
the cyclone had carried her to this queer land of Oz. The Scarecrow
listened carefully, and said,
"I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful
country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas."
[Illustration: "_'I was only made yesterday,' said the Scarecrow._"]
"That is because you have no brains," answered the girl. "No matter
how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood
would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so
beautiful. There is no place like home."
The Scarecrow sighed.
"Of course I cannot understand it," he said. "If your heads were
stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the
beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is
fortunate for Kansas that you have brains."
"Won't you tell me a story, while we are resting?" asked the child.
The Scarecrow looked at her reproachfully, and answered,
"My life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was
only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before
that time is all unknown to me. Luckily, when the farmer made my
head, one of the first things he did was to paint my ears, so that I
heard what was going on. There was another Munchkin with him, and the
first thing I heard was the farmer saying,
"'How do you like those ears?'
"'They aren't straight,' answered the other.
"'Never mind,' said the farmer; 'they are ears just the same,' which
was true enough.
"'Now I'll make the eyes,' said the farmer. So he painted my right
eye, and as soon as it was finished I found myself looking at him and
at everything around me with a great deal of curiosity, for this was
my first glimpse of the world.
"'That's a rather pretty eye,' remarked the Munchkin who was watching
the farmer; 'blue paint is just the color for eyes.'
"'I think I'll make the other a little bigger,' said the farmer; and
when the second eye was done I could see much better than before.
Then he made my nose and my mouth; but I did not speak, because
at that time I didn't know what a mouth was for. I had the fun of
watching them make my body and my arms and legs; and when they
fastened on my head, at last, I felt very proud, for I thought I was
just as good a man as anyone.
"'This fellow will scare the crows fast enough,' said the farmer; 'he
looks just like a man.'
"'Why, he is a man,' said the other, and I quite agreed with him. The
farmer carried me under his arm to the cornfield, and set me up on a
tall stick, where you found me. He and his friend soon after walked
away and left me alone.
"I did not like to be deserted this way; so I tried to walk after
them, but my feet would not touch the ground, and I was forced to
stay on that pole. It was a lonely life to lead, for I had nothing to
think of, having been made such a little while before. Many crows and
other birds flew into the cornfield, but as soon as they saw me they
flew away again, thinking I was a Munchkin; and this pleased me and
made me feel that I was quite an important person. By and by an old
crow flew near me, and after looking at me carefully he perched upon
my shoulder and said,
[Illustration]
"'I wonder if that farmer thought to fool me in this clumsy manner.
Any crow of sense could see that you are only stuffed with straw.'
Then he hopped down at my feet and ate all the corn he wanted. The
other birds, seeing he was not harmed by me, came to eat the corn
too, so in a short time there was a great flock of them about me."
"I felt sad at this, for it showed I was not such a good Scarecrow
after all; but the old crow comforted me, saying: 'If you only had
brains in your head you would be as good a man as any of them, and a
better man than some of them. Brains are the only things worth having
in this world, no matter whether one is a crow or a man.'
"After the crows had gone I thought this over, and decided I would
try hard to get some brains. By good luck, you came along and pulled
me off the stake, and from what you say I am sure the great Oz will
give me brains as soon as we get to the Emerald City."
"I hope so," said Dorothy, earnestly, "since you seem anxious to have
them."
"Oh yes; I am anxious," returned the Scarecrow. "It is such an
uncomfortable feeling to know one is a fool."
[Illustration]
"Well," said the girl, "let us go." And she handed the basket to the
Scarecrow.
There were no fences at all by the road side now, and the land was
rough and untilled. Towards evening they came to a great forest,
where the trees grew so big and close together that their branches
met over the road of yellow brick. It was almost dark under the
trees, for the branches shut out the daylight; but the travellers did
not stop, and went on into the forest.
"If this road goes in, it must come out," said the Scarecrow, "and as
the Emerald City is at the other end of the road, we must go wherever
it leads us."
"Anyone would know that," said Dorothy.
"Certainly; that is why I know it," returned the Scarecrow. "If it
required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it."
After an hour or so the light faded away, and they found themselves
stumbling along in the darkness. Dorothy could not see at all,
but Toto could, for some dogs see very well in the dark; and the
Scarecrow declared he could see as well as by day. So she took hold
of his arm, and managed to get along fairly well.
"If you see any house, or any place where we can pass the night," she
said, "you must tell me; for it is very uncomfortable walking in the
dark."
Soon after the Scarecrow stopped.
"I see a little cottage at the right of us," he said, "built of logs
and branches. Shall we go there?"
"Yes, indeed;" answered the child. "I am all tired out."
So the Scarecrow led her through the trees until they reached the
cottage, and Dorothy entered and found a bed of dried leaves in one
corner. She lay down at once, and with Toto beside her soon fell
into a sound sleep. The Scarecrow, who was never tired, stood up in
another corner and waited patiently until morning came.
[Illustration]
Chapter V.
The Rescue of
the Tin Woodman
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
When Dorothy awoke the sun was shining through the trees and Toto
had long been out chasing birds and squirrels. She sat up and looked
around her. There was the Scarecrow, still standing patiently in his
corner, waiting for her.
"We must go and search for water," she said to him.
"Why do you want water?" he asked.
"To wash my face clean after the dust of the road, and to drink, so
the dry bread will not stick in my throat."
"It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh," said the Scarecrow,
thoughtfully; "for you must sleep, and eat and drink. However, you
have brains, and it is worth a lot of bother to be able to think
properly."
They left the cottage and walked through the trees until they found a
little spring of clear water, where Dorothy drank and bathed and ate
her breakfast. She saw there was not much bread left in the basket,
and the girl was thankful the Scarecrow did not have to eat anything,
for there was scarcely enough for herself and Toto for the day.
When she had finished her meal, and was about to go back to the road
of yellow brick, she was startled to hear a deep groan near by.
"What was that?" she asked, timidly.
"I cannot imagine," replied the Scarecrow; "but we can go and see."
Just then another groan reached their ears, and the sound seemed to
come from behind them. They turned and walked through the forest a
few steps, when Dorothy discovered something shining in a ray of
sunshine that fell between the trees. She ran to the place, and then
stopped short, with a cry of surprise.
One of the big trees had been partly chopped through, and standing
beside it, with an uplifted axe in his hands, was a man made entirely
of tin. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he
stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.
Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow, while
Toto barked sharply and made a snap at the tin legs, which hurt his
teeth.
"Did you groan?" asked Dorothy.
"Yes," answered the tin man; "I did. I've been groaning for more than
a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me."
"What can I do for you?" she enquired, softly, for she was moved by
the sad voice in which the man spoke.
[Illustration]
"Get an oil-can and oil my joints," he answered. "They are rusted so
badly that I cannot move them at all; if I am well oiled I shall soon
be all right again. You will find an oil-can on a shelf in my cottage."
Dorothy at once ran back to the cottage and found the oil-can, and
then she returned and asked, anxiously,
"Where are your joints?"
"Oil my neck, first," replied the Tin Woodman. So she oiled it, and
as it was quite badly rusted the Scarecrow took hold of the tin head
and moved it gently from side to side until it worked freely, and
then the man could turn it himself.
"Now oil the joints in my arms," he said. And Dorothy oiled them and
the Scarecrow bent them carefully until they were quite free from
rust and as good as new.
The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe,
which he leaned against the tree.
"This is a great comfort," he said. "I have been holding that axe in
the air ever since I rusted, and I'm glad to be able to put it down
at last. Now, if you will oil the joints of my legs, I shall be all
right once more."
So they oiled his legs until he could move them freely; and he
thanked them again and again for his release, for he seemed a very
polite creature, and very grateful.
"I might have stood there always if you had not come along," he said;
"so you have certainly saved my life. How did you happen to be here?"
"We are on our way to the Emerald City, to see the great Oz," she
answered, "and we stopped at your cottage to pass the night."
"Why do you wish to see Oz?" he asked.
"I want him to send me back to Kansas; and the Scarecrow wants him to
put a few brains into his head," she replied.
The Tin Woodman appeared to think deeply for a moment. Then he said:
"Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?"
"Why, I guess so," Dorothy answered; "it would be as easy as to give
the Scarecrow brains."
[Illustration: "_'This is a great comfort,' said the Tin Woodman._"]
"True," the Tin Woodman returned. "So, if you will allow me to join
your party, I will also go to the Emerald City and ask Oz to help me."
"Come along," said the Scarecrow, heartily; and Dorothy added
that she would be pleased to have his company. So the Tin Woodman
shouldered his axe and they all passed through the forest until they
came to the road that was paved with yellow brick.
The Tin Woodman had asked Dorothy to put the oil-can in her basket.
"For," he said, "if I should get caught in the rain, and rust again,
I would need the oil-can badly."
It was a bit of good luck to have their new comrade join the party,
for soon after they had begun their journey again they came to a place
where the trees and branches grew so thick over the road that the
travellers could not pass. But the Tin Woodman set to work with his axe
and chopped so well that soon he cleared a passage for the entire party.
Dorothy was thinking so earnestly as they walked along that she did
not notice when the Scarecrow stumbled into a hole and rolled over to
the side of the road. Indeed, he was obliged to call to her to help
him up again.
"Why didn't you walk around the hole?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"I don't know enough," replied the Scarecrow, cheerfully. "My head is
stuffed with straw, you know, and that is why I am going to Oz to ask
him for some brains."
"Oh, I see;" said the Tin Woodman. "But, after all, brains are not
the best things in the world."
"Have you any?" enquired the Scarecrow.
"No, my head is quite empty," answered the Woodman; "but once I had
brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much
rather have a heart."
"And why is that?" asked the Scarecrow.
"I will tell you my story, and then you will know."
So, while they were walking through the forest, the Tin Woodman told
the following story:
"I was born the son of a woodman who chopped down trees in the
forest and sold the wood for a living. When I grew up I too became a
wood-chopper, and after my father died I took care of my old mother
as long as she lived. Then I made up my mind that instead of living
alone I would marry, so that I might not become lonely.
[Illustration]
"There was one of the Munchkin girls who was so beautiful that I
soon grew to love her with all my heart. She, on her part, promised
to marry me as soon as I could earn enough money to build a better
house for her; so I set to work harder than ever. But the girl lived
with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone, for she was
so lazy she wished the girl to remain with her and do the cooking
and the housework. So the old woman went to the wicked Witch of the
East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the
marriage. Thereupon the wicked Witch enchanted my axe, and when I was
chopping away at my best one day, for I was anxious to get the new
house and my wife as soon as possible, the axe slipped all at once
and cut off my left leg.
"This at first seemed a great misfortune, for I knew a one-legged man
could not do very well as a wood-chopper. So I went to a tin-smith
and had him make me a new leg out of tin. The leg worked very well,
once I was used to it; but my action angered the wicked Witch of
the East, for she had promised the old woman I should not marry the
pretty Munchkin girl. When I began chopping again my axe slipped and
cut off my right leg. Again I went to the tinner, and again he made
me a leg out of tin. After this the enchanted axe cut off my arms,
one after the other; but, nothing daunted, I had them replaced with
tin ones. The wicked Witch then made the axe slip and cut off my
head, and at first I thought that was the end of me. But the tinner
happened to come along, and he made me a new head out of tin.
"I thought I had beaten the wicked Witch then, and I worked harder than
ever; but I little knew how cruel my enemy could be. She thought of a
new way to kill my love for the beautiful Munchkin maiden, and made my
axe slip again, so that it cut right through my body, splitting me
into two halves. Once more the tinner came to my help and made me a
body of tin, fastening my tin arms and legs and head to it, by means of
joints, so that I could move around as well as ever. But, alas! I had
now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the Munchkin girl, and did
not care whether I married her or not. I suppose she is still living
with the old woman, waiting for me to come after her.
[Illustration]
"My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud of it
and it did not matter now if my axe slipped, for it could not cut me.
There was only one danger--that my joints would rust; but I kept an
oil-can in my cottage and took care to oil myself whenever I needed
it. However, there came a day when I forgot to do this, and, being
caught in a rainstorm, before I thought of the danger my joints had
rusted, and I was left to stand in the woods until you came to help
me. It was a terrible thing to undergo, but during the year I stood
there I had time to think that the greatest loss I had known was
the loss of my heart. While I was in love I was the happiest man on
earth; but no one can love who has not a heart, and so I am resolved
to ask Oz to give me one. If he does, I will go back to the Munchkin
maiden and marry her."
Both Dorothy and the Scarecrow had been greatly interested in the
story of the Tin Woodman, and now they knew why he was so anxious to
get a new heart.
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead
of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he
had one."
"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do
not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world."
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of
her two friends was right, and she decided if she could only get back
to Kansas and Aunt Em it did not matter so much whether the Woodman
had no brains and the Scarecrow no heart, or each got what he wanted.
[Illustration]
What worried her most was that the bread was nearly gone, and another
meal for herself and Toto would empty the basket. To be sure neither
the Woodman nor the Scarecrow ever ate anything, but she was not made
of tin nor straw, and could not live unless she was fed.
Chapter VI.
The Cowardly
Lion.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: "_You ought to be ashamed of yourself!_"]
[Illustration]
All this time Dorothy and her companions had been walking through the
thick woods. The road was still paved with yellow brick, but these
were much covered by dried branches and dead leaves from the trees,
and the walking was not at all good.
There were few birds in this part of the forest, for birds love the
open country where there is plenty of sunshine; but now and then
there came a deep growl from some wild animal hidden among the trees.
These sounds made the little girl's heart beat fast, for she did not
know what made them; but Toto knew, and he walked close to Dorothy's
side, and did not even bark in return.
"How long will it be," the child asked of the Tin Woodman, "before we
are out of the forest?"
"I cannot tell," was the answer, "for I have never been to the
Emerald City. But my father went there once, when I was a boy, and
he said it was a long journey through a dangerous country, although
nearer to the city where Oz dwells the country is beautiful. But I
am not afraid so long as I have my oil-can, and nothing can hurt the
Scarecrow, while you bear upon your forehead the mark of the good
Witch's kiss, and that will protect you from harm."
"But Toto!" said the girl, anxiously; "what will protect him?"
"We must protect him ourselves, if he is in danger," replied the Tin
Woodman.
Just as he spoke there came from the forest a terrible roar, and the
next moment a great Lion bounded into the road. With one blow of his
paw he sent the Scarecrow spinning over and over to the edge of the
road, and then he struck at the Tin Woodman with his sharp claws.
But, to the Lion's surprise, he could make no impression on the tin,
although the Woodman fell over in the road and lay still.
Little Toto, now that he had an enemy to face, ran barking toward the
Lion, and the great beast had opened his mouth to bite the dog, when
Dorothy, fearing Toto would be killed, and heedless of danger, rushed
forward and slapped the Lion upon his nose as hard as she could,
while she cried out:
"Don't you dare to bite Toto! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a
big beast like you, to bite a poor little dog!"
"I didn't bite him," said the Lion, as he rubbed his nose with his
paw where Dorothy had hit it.
"No, but you tried to," she retorted. "You are nothing but a big
coward."
"I know it," said the Lion, hanging his head in shame; "I've always
known it. But how can I help it?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. To think of your striking a stuffed man,
like the poor Scarecrow!"
"Is he stuffed?" asked the Lion, in surprise, as he watched her pick
up the Scarecrow and set him upon his feet, while she patted him into
shape again.
"Of course he's stuffed," replied Dorothy, who was still angry.
"That's why he went over so easily," remarked the Lion. "It astonished
me to see him whirl around so. Is the other one stuffed, also?"
"No," said Dorothy, "he's made of tin." And she helped the Woodman up
again.
"That's why he nearly blunted my claws," said the Lion. "When they
scratched against the tin it made a cold shiver run down my back.
What is that little animal you are so tender of?"
"He is my dog, Toto," answered Dorothy.
"Is he made of tin, or stuffed?" asked the Lion.
"Neither. He's a--a--a meat dog," said the girl.
"Oh. He's a curious animal, and seems remarkably small, now that I
look at him. No one would think of biting such a little thing except
a coward like me," continued the Lion, sadly.
"What makes you a coward?" asked Dorothy, looking at the great beast
in wonder, for he was as big as a small horse.
[Illustration]
"It's a mystery," replied the Lion. "I suppose I was born that
way. All the other animals in the forest naturally expect me to be
brave, for the Lion is everywhere thought to be the King of Beasts.
I learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was
frightened and got out of my way. Whenever I've met a man I've been
awfully scared; but I just roared at him, and he has always run away
as fast as he could go. If the elephants and the tigers and the bears
had ever tried to fight me, I should have run myself--I'm such a
coward; but just as soon as they hear me roar they all try to get
away from me, and of course I let them go."
"But that isn't right. The King of Beasts shouldn't be a coward,"
said the Scarecrow.
"I know it," returned the Lion, wiping a tear from his eye with the
tip of his tail; "it is my great sorrow, and makes my life very
unhappy. But whenever there is danger my heart begins to beat fast."
"Perhaps you have heart disease," said the Tin Woodman.
"It may be," said the Lion.
"If you have," continued the Tin Woodman, "you ought to be glad, for
it proves you have a heart. For my part, I have no heart; so I cannot
have heart disease."
"Perhaps," said the Lion, thoughtfully, "if I had no heart I should
not be a coward."
"Have you brains?" asked the Scarecrow.
"I suppose so. I've never looked to see," replied the Lion.
"I am going to the great Oz to ask him to give me some," remarked the
Scarecrow, "for my head is stuffed with straw."
"And I am going to ask him to give me a heart," said the Woodman.
"And I am going to ask him to send Toto and me back to Kansas," added
Dorothy.
"Do you think Oz could give me courage?" asked the cowardly Lion.
"Just as easily as he could give me brains," said the Scarecrow.
"Or give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"Or send me back to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"Then, if you don't mind, I'll go with you," said the Lion, "for my
life is simply unbearable without a bit of courage."
"You will be very welcome," answered Dorothy, "for you will help to
keep away the other wild beasts. It seems to me they must be more
cowardly than you are if they allow you to scare them so easily."
"They really are," said the Lion; "but that doesn't make me any braver,
and as long as I know myself to be a coward I shall be unhappy."
So once more the little company set off upon the journey, the Lion
walking with stately strides at Dorothy's side. Toto did not approve
this new comrade at first, for he could not forget how nearly he
had been crushed between the Lion's great jaws; but after a time he
became more at ease, and presently Toto and the Cowardly Lion had
grown to be good friends.
During the rest of that day there was no other adventure to mar the
peace of their journey. Once, indeed, the Tin Woodman stepped upon a
beetle that was crawling along the road, and killed the poor little
thing. This made the Tin Woodman very unhappy, for he was always
careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he walked along he
wept several tears of sorrow and regret. These tears ran slowly down
his face and over the hinges of his jaw, and there they rusted.
When Dorothy presently asked him a question the Tin Woodman could
not open his mouth, for his jaws were tightly rusted together. He
became greatly frightened at this and made many motions to Dorothy to
relieve him, but she could not understand. The Lion was also puzzled
to know what was wrong. But the Scarecrow seized the oil-can from
Dorothy's basket and oiled the Woodman's jaws, so that after a few
moments he could talk as well as before.
[Illustration]
"This will serve me a lesson," said he, "to look where I step. For if
I should kill another bug or beetle I should surely cry again, and
crying rusts my jaw so that I cannot speak."
Thereafter he walked very carefully, with his eyes on the road,
and when he saw a tiny ant toiling by he would step over it, so as
not to harm it. The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and
therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.
"You people with hearts," he said, "have something to guide you,
and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very
careful. When Oz gives me a heart of course I needn't mind so much."
Chapter VII.
The Journey to
The Great Oz.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
They were obliged to camp out that night under a large tree in the
forest, for there were no houses near. The tree made a good, thick
covering to protect them from the dew, and the Tin Woodman chopped a
great pile of wood with his axe and Dorothy built a splendid fire that
warmed her and made her feel less lonely. She and Toto ate the last of
their bread, and now she did not know what they would do for breakfast.
"If you wish," said the Lion, "I will go into the forest and kill a
deer for you. You can roast it by the fire, since your tastes are so
peculiar that you prefer cooked food, and then you will have a very
good breakfast."
"Don't! please don't," begged the Tin Woodman. "I should certainly
weep if you killed a poor deer, and then my jaws would rust again."
[Illustration]
But the Lion went away into the forest and found his own supper, and no
one ever knew what it was, for he didn't mention it. And the Scarecrow
found a tree full of nuts and filled Dorothy's basket with them, so
that she would not be hungry for a long time. She thought this was very
kind and thoughtful of the Scarecrow, but she laughed heartily at the
awkward way in which the poor creature picked up the nuts. His padded
hands were so clumsy and the nuts were so small that he dropped almost
as many as he put in the basket. But the Scarecrow did not mind how
long it took him to fill the basket, for it enabled him to keep away
from the fire, as he feared a spark might get into his straw and burn
him up. So he kept a good distance away from the flames, and only came
near to cover Dorothy with dry leaves when she lay down to sleep. These
kept her very snug and warm and she slept soundly until morning.
When it was daylight the girl bathed her face in a little rippling
brook and soon after they all started toward the Emerald City.
This was to be an eventful day for the travellers. They had hardly
been walking an hour when they saw before them a great ditch that
crossed the road and divided the forest as far as they could see on
either side. It was a very wide ditch, and when they crept up to the
edge and looked into it they could see it was also very deep, and
there were many big, jagged rocks at the bottom. The sides were so
steep that none of them could climb down, and for a moment it seemed
that their journey must end.
"What shall we do?" asked Dorothy, despairingly.
"I haven't the faintest idea," said the Tin Woodman; and the Lion
shook his shaggy mane and looked thoughtful. But the Scarecrow said:
"We cannot fly, that is certain; neither can we climb down into this
great ditch. Therefore, if we cannot jump over it, we must stop where
we are."
"I think I could jump over it," said the Cowardly Lion, after
measuring the distance carefully in his mind.
"Then we are all right," answered the Scarecrow, "for you can carry
us all over on your back, one at a time."
"Well, I'll try it," said the Lion. "Who will go first?"
"I will," declared the Scarecrow; "for, if you found that you could
not jump over the gulf, Dorothy would be killed, or the Tin Woodman
badly dented on the rocks below. But if I am on your back it will not
matter so much, for the fall would not hurt me at all."
[Illustration]
"I am terribly afraid of falling, myself," said the Cowardly Lion,
"but I suppose there is nothing to do but try it. So get on my back
and we will make the attempt."
The Scarecrow sat upon the Lion's back, and the big beast walked to
the edge of the gulf and crouched down.
"Why don't you run and jump?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Because that isn't the way we Lions do these things," he replied.
Then giving a great spring, he shot through the air and landed safely
on the other side. They were all greatly pleased to see how easily he
did it, and after the Scarecrow had got down from his back the Lion
sprang across the ditch again.
Dorothy thought she would go next; so she took Toto in her arms and
climbed on the Lion's back, holding tightly to his mane with one
hand. The next moment it seemed as if she was flying through the air;
and then, before she had time to think about it, she was safe on the
other side. The Lion went back a third time and got the Tin Woodman,
and then they all sat down for a few moments to give the beast a
chance to rest, for his great leaps had made his breath short, and he
panted like a big dog that has been running too long.
[Illustration]
They found the forest very thick on this side, and it looked dark
and gloomy. After the Lion had rested they started along the road
of yellow brick, silently wondering, each in his own mind, if ever
they would come to the end of the woods and reach the bright sunshine
again. To add to their discomfort, they soon heard strange noises in
the depths of the forest, and the Lion whispered to them that it was
in this part of the country that the Kalidahs lived.
"What are the Kalidahs?" asked the girl.
"They are monstrous beasts with bodies like bears and heads like
tigers," replied the Lion; "and with claws so long and sharp that
they could tear me in two as easily as I could kill Toto. I'm
terribly afraid of the Kalidahs."
"I'm not surprised that you are," returned Dorothy "They must be
dreadful beasts."
The Lion was about to reply when suddenly they came to another gulf
across the road; but this one was so broad and deep that the Lion
knew at once he could not leap across it.
So they sat down to consider what they should do, and after serious
thought the Scarecrow said,
"Here is a great tree, standing close to the ditch. If the Tin
Woodman can chop it down, so that it will fall to the other side, we
can walk across it easily."
"That is a first rate idea," said the Lion. "One would almost suspect
you had brains in your head, instead of straw."
The Woodman set to work at once, and so sharp was his axe that the
tree was soon chopped nearly through. Then the Lion put his strong
front legs against the tree and pushed with all his might, and slowly
the big tree tipped and fell with a crash across the ditch, with its
top branches on the other side.
They had just started to cross this queer bridge when a sharp growl
made them all look up, and to their horror they saw running toward
them two great beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers.
"They are the Kalidahs!" said the Cowardly Lion, beginning to tremble.
"Quick!" cried the Scarecrow, "let us cross over."
[Illustration: "_The tree fell with a crash into the gulf._"]
So Dorothy went first, holding Toto in her arms; the Tin Woodman
followed, and the Scarecrow came next. The Lion, although he was
certainly afraid, turned to face the Kalidahs, and then he gave so
loud and terrible a roar that Dorothy screamed and the Scarecrow fell
over backwards, while even the fierce beasts stopped short and looked
at him in surprise.
But, seeing they were bigger than the Lion, and remembering that
there were two of them and only one of him, the Kalidahs again rushed
forward, and the Lion crossed over the tree and turned to see what
they would do next. Without stopping an instant the fierce beasts
also began to cross the tree, and the Lion said to Dorothy,
"We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp
claws. But stand close behind me, and I will fight them as long as I
am alive."
"Wait a minute!" called the Scarecrow. He had been thinking what was
best to be done, and now he asked the Woodman to chop away the end
of the tree that rested on their side of the ditch. The Tin Woodman
began to use his axe at once, and, just as the two Kalidahs were
nearly across, the tree fell with a crash into the gulf, carrying the
ugly, snarling brutes with it, and both were dashed to pieces on the
sharp rocks at the bottom.
"Well," said the Cowardly Lion, drawing a long breath of relief, "I
see we are going to live a little while longer, and I am glad of it,
for it must be a very uncomfortable thing not to be alive. Those
creatures frightened me so badly that my heart is beating yet."
"Ah." said the Tin Woodman, sadly, "I wish I had a heart to beat."
[Illustration]
This adventure made the travellers more anxious than ever to get out of
the forest, and they walked so fast that Dorothy became tired, and had
to ride on the Lion's back. To their great joy the trees became thinner
the further they advanced, and in the afternoon they suddenly came upon
a broad river, flowing swiftly just before them. On the other side of
the water they could see the road of yellow brick running through a
beautiful country, with green meadows dotted with bright flowers and
all the road bordered with trees hanging full of delicious fruits. They
were greatly pleased to see this delightful country before them.
"How shall we cross the river?" asked Dorothy.
"That is easily done," replied the Scarecrow. "The Tin Woodman must
build us a raft, so we can float to the other side."
So the Woodman took his axe and began to chop down small trees to make
a raft, and while he was busy at this the Scarecrow found on the river
bank a tree full of fine fruit. This pleased Dorothy, who had eaten
nothing but nuts all day, and she made a hearty meal of the ripe fruit.
But it takes time to make a raft, even when one is as industrious and
untiring as the Tin Woodman, and when night came the work was not done.
So they found a cozy place under the trees where they slept well until
the morning; and Dorothy dreamed of the Emerald City, and of the good
Wizard Oz, who would soon send her back to her own home again.
[Illustration]
Chapter VIII.
The Deadly
Poppy Field.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Our little party of travellers awakened next morning refreshed and
full of hope, and Dorothy breakfasted like a princess off peaches and
plums from the trees beside the river.
Behind them was the dark forest they had passed safely through,
although they had suffered many discouragements; but before them was a
lovely, sunny country that seemed to beckon them on to the Emerald City.
To be sure, the broad river now cut them off from this beautiful
land; but the raft was nearly done, and after the Tin Woodman had cut
a few more logs and fastened them together with wooden pins, they
were ready to start. Dorothy sat down in the middle of the raft and
held Toto in her arms. When the Cowardly Lion stepped upon the raft
it tipped badly, for he was big and heavy; but the Scarecrow and the
Tin Woodman stood upon the other end to steady it, and they had long
poles in their hands to push the raft through the water.
They got along quite well at first, but when they reached the middle
of the river the swift current swept the raft down stream, farther
and farther away from the road of yellow brick; and the water grew so
deep that the long poles would not touch the bottom.
"This is bad," said the Tin Woodman, "for if we cannot get to the
land we shall be carried into the country of the wicked Witch of the
West, and she will enchant us and make us her slaves."
"And then I should get no brains," said the Scarecrow.
"And I should get no courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
[Illustration]
"And I should get no heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"And I should never get back to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"We must certainly get to the Emerald City if we can," the Scarecrow
continued, and he pushed so hard on his long pole that it stuck fast
in the mud at the bottom of the river, and before he could pull it
out again, or let go, the raft was swept away and the poor Scarecrow
left clinging to the pole in the middle of the river.
"Good bye!" he called after them, and they were very sorry to leave
him; indeed, the Tin Woodman began to cry, but fortunately remembered
that he might rust, and so dried his tears on Dorothy's apron.
Of course this was a bad thing for the Scarecrow.
"I am now worse off than when I first met Dorothy," he thought.
"Then, I was stuck on a pole in a cornfield, where I could make
believe scare the crows, at any rate; but surely there is no use for
a Scarecrow stuck on a pole in the middle of a river. I am afraid I
shall never have any brains, after all!"
[Illustration]
Down the stream the raft floated, and the poor Scarecrow was left far
behind. Then the Lion said:
"Something must be done to save us. I think I can swim to the shore
and pull the raft after me, if you will only hold fast to the tip of
my tail."
[Illustration]
So he sprang into the water and the Tin Woodman caught fast hold
of his tail, when the Lion began to swim with all his might toward
the shore. It was hard work, although he was so big; but by and by
they were drawn out of the current, and then Dorothy took the Tin
Woodman's long pole and helped push the raft to the land.
They were all tired out when they reached the shore at last and
stepped off upon the pretty green grass, and they also knew that the
stream had carried them a long way past the road of yellow brick that
led to the Emerald City.
"What shall we do now?" asked the Tin Woodman, as the Lion lay down
on the grass to let the sun dry him.
"We must get back to the road, in some way," said Dorothy.
"The best plan will be to walk along the river bank until we come to
the road again," remarked the Lion.
So, when they were rested, Dorothy picked up her basket and they
started along the grassy bank, back to the road from which the river
had carried them. It was a lovely country, with plenty of flowers
and fruit trees and sunshine to cheer them, and had they not felt so
sorry for the poor Scarecrow they could have been very happy.
They walked along as fast as they could, Dorothy only stopping once to
pick a beautiful flower; and after a time the Tin Woodman cried out,
"Look!"
Then they all looked at the river and saw the Scarecrow perched upon
his pole in the middle of the water, looking very lonely and sad.
"What can we do to save him?" asked Dorothy.
The Lion and the Woodman both shook their heads, for they did not
know. So they sat down upon the bank and gazed wistfully at the
Scarecrow until a Stork flew by, which, seeing them, stopped to rest
at the water's edge.
"Who are you, and where are you going?" asked the Stork.
"I am Dorothy," answered the girl; "and these are my friends, the Tin
Woodman and the Cowardly Lion; and we are going to the Emerald City."
"This isn't the road," said the Stork, as she twisted her long neck
and looked sharply at the queer party.
"I know it," returned Dorothy, "but we have lost the Scarecrow, and
are wondering how we shall get him again."
"Where is he?" asked the Stork.
"Over there in the river," answered the girl.
"If he wasn't so big and heavy I would get him for you," remarked the
Stork.
"He isn't heavy a bit," said Dorothy, eagerly, "for he is stuffed
with straw; and if you will bring him back to us we shall thank you
ever and ever so much."
"Well, I'll try," said the Stork; "but if I find he is too heavy to
carry I shall have to drop him in the river again."
So the big bird flew into the air and over the water till she came to
where the Scarecrow was perched upon his pole. Then the Stork with
her great claws grabbed the Scarecrow by the arm and carried him up
into the air and back to the bank, where Dorothy and the Lion and the
Tin Woodman and Toto were sitting.
When the Scarecrow found himself among his friends again he was so
happy that he hugged them all, even the Lion and Toto; and as they
walked along he sang "Tol-de-ri-de-oh!" at every step, he felt so gay.
"I was afraid I should have to stay in the river forever," he said,
"but the kind Stork saved me, and if I ever get any brains I shall
find the Stork again and do it some kindness in return."
"That's all right," said the Stork, who was flying along beside them.
"I always like to help anyone in trouble. But I must go now, for
my babies are waiting in the nest for me. I hope you will find the
Emerald City and that Oz will help you."
"Thank you," replied Dorothy, and then the kind Stork flew into the
air and was soon out of sight.
[Illustration: "_The Stork carried him up into the air._"]
They walked along listening to the singing of the bright-colored
birds and looking at the lovely flowers which now became so thick that
the ground was carpeted with them. There were big yellow and white and
blue and purple blossoms, besides great clusters of scarlet poppies,
which were so brilliant in color they almost dazzled Dorothy's eyes.
"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked, as she breathed in the spicy
scent of the flowers.
"I suppose so," answered the Scarecrow. "When I have brains I shall
probably like them better."
"If I only had a heart I should love them," added the Tin Woodman.
"I always did like flowers," said the Lion; "they seem so helpless
and frail. But there are none in the forest so bright as these."
They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet poppies, and
fewer and fewer of the other flowers; and soon they found themselves
in the midst of a great meadow of poppies. Now it is well known
that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so
powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeper
is not carried away from the scent of the flowers he sleeps on and on
forever. But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from
the bright red flowers that were everywhere about; so presently her
eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to sleep.
But the Tin Woodman would not let her do this.
"We must hurry and get back to the road of yellow brick before dark,"
he said; and the Scarecrow agreed with him. So they kept walking
until Dorothy could stand no longer. Her eyes closed in spite of
herself and she forgot where she was and fell among the poppies, fast
asleep.
"What shall we do?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"If we leave her here she will die," said the Lion. "The smell of the
flowers is killing us all. I myself can scarcely keep my eyes open
and the dog is asleep already."
It was true; Toto had fallen down beside his little mistress. But
the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not
troubled by the scent of the flowers.
[Illustration]
"Run fast," said the Scarecrow to the Lion, "and get out of this
deadly flower-bed as soon as you can. We will bring the little girl
with us, but if you should fall asleep you are too big to be carried."
So the Lion aroused himself and bounded forward as fast as he could
go. In a moment he was out of sight.
"Let us make a chair with our hands, and carry her," said the
Scarecrow. So they picked up Toto and put the dog in Dorothy's lap, and
then they made a chair with their hands for the seat and their arms for
the arms and carried the sleeping girl between them through the flowers.
On and on they walked, and it seemed that the great carpet of deadly
flowers that surrounded them would never end. They followed the bend
of the river, and at last came upon their friend the Lion, lying
fast asleep among the poppies. The flowers had been too strong for
the huge beast and he had given up, at last, and fallen only a short
distance from the end of the poppy-bed, where the sweet grass spread
in beautiful green fields before them.
"We can do nothing for him," said the Tin Woodman, sadly; "for he is
much too heavy to lift. We must leave him here to sleep on forever,
and perhaps he will dream that he has found courage at last."
"I'm sorry," said the Scarecrow; "the Lion was a very good comrade
for one so cowardly. But let us go on."
They carried the sleeping girl to a pretty spot beside the river,
far enough from the poppy field to prevent her breathing any more of
the poison of the flowers, and here they laid her gently on the soft
grass and waited for the fresh breeze to waken her.
[Illustration]
Chapter IX.
The Queen of the
Field Mice.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
"We cannot be far from the road of yellow brick, now," remarked the
Scarecrow, as he stood beside the girl, "for we have come nearly as
far as the river carried us away."
The Tin Woodman was about to reply when he heard a low growl, and
turning his head (which worked beautifully on hinges) he saw a
strange beast come bounding over the grass towards them. It was,
indeed, a great, yellow wildcat, and the Woodman thought it must be
chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its head and its
mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth, while its red
eyes glowed like balls of fire. As it came nearer the Tin Woodman
saw that running before the beast was a little gray field-mouse, and
although he had no heart he knew it was wrong for the wildcat to try
to kill such a pretty, harmless creature.
So the Woodman raised his axe, and as the wildcat ran by he gave it a
quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body, and it
rolled over at his feet in two pieces.
The field-mouse, now that it was freed from its enemy, stopped short;
and coming slowly up to the Woodman it said, in a squeaky little voice,
"Oh, thank you! Thank you ever so much for saving my life."
"Don't speak of it, I beg of you," replied the Woodman. "I have no
heart, you know, so I am careful to help all those who may need a
friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse."
"Only a mouse!" cried the little animal, indignantly; "why, I am a
Queen--the Queen of all the field-mice!"
"Oh, indeed," said the Woodman, making a bow.
"Therefore you have done a great deed, as well as a brave one, in
saving my life," added the Queen.
At that moment several mice were seen running up as fast as their
little legs could carry them, and when they saw their Queen they
exclaimed,
[Illustration: "_Permit me to introduce to you her Majesty, the
Queen._"]
"Oh, your Majesty, we thought you would be killed! How did you manage
to escape the great Wildcat?" and they all bowed so low to the
little Queen that they almost stood upon their heads.
"This funny tin man," she answered, "killed the Wildcat and saved my
life. So hereafter you must all serve him, and obey his slightest wish."
"We will!" cried all the mice, in a shrill chorus. And then they
scampered in all directions, for Toto had awakened from his sleep,
and seeing all these mice around him he gave one bark of delight and
jumped right into the middle of the group. Toto had always loved to
chase mice when he lived in Kansas, and he saw no harm in it.
But the Tin Woodman caught the dog in his arms and held him tight,
while he called to the mice: "Come back! come back! Toto shall not
hurt you."
At this the Queen of the Mice stuck her head out from a clump of
grass and asked, in a timid voice,
"Are you sure he will not bite us?"
"I will not let him," said the Woodman; "so do not be afraid."
[Illustration]
One by one the mice came creeping back, and Toto did not bark again,
although he tried to get out of the Woodman's arms, and would have
bitten him had he not known very well he was made of tin. Finally one
of the biggest mice spoke.
"Is there anything we can do," it asked, "to repay you for saving the
life of our Queen?"
"Nothing that I know of," answered the Woodman; but the Scarecrow,
who had been trying to think, but could not because his head was
stuffed with straw, said, quickly,
"Oh, yes; you can save our friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep
in the poppy bed."
"A Lion!" cried the little Queen; "why, he would eat us all up."
"Oh, no;" declared the Scarecrow; "this Lion is a coward."
"Really?" asked the Mouse.
"He says so himself," answered the Scarecrow, "and he would never
hurt anyone who is our friend. If you will help us to save him I
promise that he shall treat you all with kindness."
"Very well," said the Queen, "we will trust you. But what shall we do?"
"Are there many of these mice which call you Queen and are willing to
obey you?"
"Oh, yes; there are thousands," she replied.
"Then send for them all to come here as soon as possible, and let
each one bring a long piece of string."
The Queen turned to the mice that attended her and told them to go at
once and get all her people. As soon as they heard her orders they
ran away in every direction as fast as possible.
"Now," said the Scarecrow to the Tin Woodman, "you must go to those
trees by the river-side and make a truck that will carry the Lion."
So the Woodman went at once to the trees and began to work; and he
soon made a truck out of the limbs of trees, from which he chopped
away all the leaves and branches. He fastened it together with
wooden pegs and made the four wheels out of short pieces of a big
tree-trunk. So fast and so well did he work that by the time the mice
began to arrive the truck was all ready for them.
They came from all directions, and there were thousands of them: big
mice and little mice and middle-sized mice; and each one brought a
piece of string in his mouth. It was about this time that Dorothy woke
from her long sleep and opened her eyes. She was greatly astonished
to find herself lying upon the grass, with thousands of mice standing
around and looking at her timidly. But the Scarecrow told her about
everything, and turning to the dignified little Mouse, he said,
"Permit me to introduce to you her Majesty, the Queen."
Dorothy nodded gravely and the Queen made a courtesy, after which she
became quite friendly with the little girl.
The Scarecrow and the Woodman now began to fasten the mice to the
truck, using the strings they had brought. One end of a string was
tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end to the truck.
Of course the truck was a thousand times bigger than any of the mice
who were to draw it; but when all the mice had been harnessed they
were able to pull it quite easily. Even the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman could sit on it, and were drawn swiftly by their queer little
horses to the place where the Lion lay asleep.
[Illustration]
After a great deal of hard work, for the Lion was heavy, they managed
to get him up on the truck. Then the Queen hurriedly gave her people
the order to start, for she feared if the mice stayed among the
poppies too long they also would fall asleep.
[Illustration]
At first the little creatures, many though they were, could hardly stir
the heavily loaded truck; but the Woodman and the Scarecrow both pushed
from behind, and they got along better. Soon they rolled the Lion out
of the poppy bed to the green fields, where he could breathe the sweet,
fresh air again, instead of the poisonous scent of the flowers.
Dorothy came to meet them and thanked the little mice warmly for
saving her companion from death. She had grown so fond of the big
Lion she was glad he had been rescued.
Then the mice were unharnessed from the truck and scampered away
through the grass to their homes. The Queen of the Mice was the last
to leave.
"If ever you need us again," she said, "come out into the field and
call, and we shall hear you and come to your assistance. Good bye!"
"Good bye!" they all answered, and away the Queen ran, while Dorothy
held Toto tightly lest he should run after her and frighten her.
After this they sat down beside the Lion until he should awaken; and
the Scarecrow brought Dorothy some fruit from a tree near by, which
she ate for her dinner.
[Illustration]
Chapter X.
The Guardian
of the Gate.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
It was some time before the Cowardly Lion awakened, for he had lain
among the poppies a long while, breathing in their deadly fragrance;
but when he did open his eyes and roll off the truck he was very glad
to find himself still alive.
"I ran as fast as I could," he said, sitting down and yawning; "but
the flowers were too strong for me. How did you get me out?"
Then they told him of the field-mice, and how they had generously
saved him from death; and the Cowardly Lion laughed, and said,
"I have always thought myself very big and terrible; yet such small
things as flowers came near to killing me, and such small animals as
mice have saved my life. How strange it all is! But, comrades, what
shall we do now?"
"We must journey on until we find the road of yellow brick again,"
said Dorothy; "and then we can keep on to the Emerald City."
So, the Lion being fully refreshed, and feeling quite himself again,
they all started upon the journey, greatly enjoying the walk through
the soft, fresh grass; and it was not long before they reached the
road of yellow brick and turned again toward the Emerald City where
the great Oz dwelt.
[Illustration]
The road was smooth and well paved, now, and the country about was
beautiful; so that the travelers rejoiced in leaving the forest far
behind, and with it the many dangers they had met in its gloomy
shades. Once more they could see fences built beside the road; but
these were painted green, and when they came to a small house, in
which a farmer evidently lived, that also was painted green. They
passed by several of these houses during the afternoon, and sometimes
people came to the doors and looked at them as if they would like to
ask questions; but no one came near them nor spoke to them because of
the great Lion, of which they were much afraid. The people were all
dressed in clothing of a lovely emerald green color and wore peaked
hats like those of the Munchkins.
[Illustration]
"This must be the Land of Oz," said Dorothy, "and we are surely
getting near the Emerald City."
"Yes," answered the Scarecrow; "everything is green here, while in
the country of the Munchkins blue was the favorite color. But the
people do not seem to be as friendly as the Munchkins and I'm afraid
we shall be unable to find a place to pass the night."
"I should like something to eat besides fruit," said the girl, "and
I'm sure Toto is nearly starved. Let us stop at the next house and
talk to the people."
So, when they came to a good sized farm house, Dorothy walked boldly
up to the door and knocked. A woman opened it just far enough to look
out, and said,
"What do you want, child, and why is that great Lion with you?"
"We wish to pass the night with you, if you will allow us," answered
Dorothy; "and the Lion is my friend and comrade, and would not hurt
you for the world."
"Is he tame?" asked the woman, opening the door a little wider.
"Oh, yes;" said the girl, "and he is a great coward, too; so that he
will be more afraid of you than you are of him."
"Well," said the woman, after thinking it over and taking another
peep at the Lion, "if that is the case you may come in, and I will
give you some supper and a place to sleep."
So they all entered the house, where there were, besides the woman,
two children and a man. The man had hurt his leg, and was lying on the
couch in a corner. They seemed greatly surprised to see so strange a
company, and while the woman was busy laying the table the man asked,
"Where are you all going?"
"To the Emerald City," said Dorothy, "to see the Great Oz."
"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed the man. "Are you sure that Oz will see you?"
"Why not?" she replied.
"Why, it is said that he never lets any one come into his presence. I
have been to the Emerald City many times, and it is a beautiful and
wonderful place; but I have never been permitted to see the Great Oz,
nor do I know of any living person who has seen him."
"Does he never go out?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Never. He sits day after day in the great throne room of his palace,
and even those who wait upon him do not see him face to face."
"What is he like?" asked the girl.
"That is hard to tell," said the man, thoughtfully. "You see, Oz is a
great Wizard, and can take on any form he wishes. So that some say he
looks like a bird; and some say he looks like an elephant; and some
say he looks like a cat. To others he appears as a beautiful fairy,
or a brownie, or in any other form that pleases him. But who the real
Oz is, when he is in his own form, no living person can tell."
"That is very strange," said Dorothy; "but we must try, in some way,
to see him, or we shall have made our journey for nothing."
[Illustration]
"Why do you wish to see the terrible Oz?" asked the man.
"I want him to give me some brains," said the Scarecrow, eagerly.
"Oh, Oz could do that easily enough," declared the man. "He has more
brains than he needs."
"And I want him to give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"That will not trouble him," continued the man, "for Oz has a large
collection of hearts, of all sizes and shapes."
"And I want him to give me courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
"Oz keeps a great pot of courage in his throne room," said the man,
"which he has covered with a golden plate, to keep it from running
over. He will be glad to give you some."
"And I want him to send me back to Kansas," said Dorothy.
"Where is Kansas?" asked the man, in surprise.
"I don't know," replied Dorothy, sorrowfully; "but it is my home, and
I'm sure it's somewhere."
"Very likely. Well, Oz can do anything; so I suppose he will find
Kansas for you. But first you must get to see him, and that will be
a hard task; for the great Wizard does not like to see anyone, and
he usually has his own way. But what do you want?" he continued,
speaking to Toto. Toto only wagged his tail; for, strange to say, he
could not speak.
[Illustration: "_The Lion ate some of the porridge._"]
The woman now called to them that supper was ready, so they gathered
around the table and Dorothy ate some delicious porridge and a dish of
scrambled eggs and a plate of nice white bread, and enjoyed her meal.
The Lion ate some of the porridge, but did not care for it, saying it
was made from oats and oats were food for horses, not for lions. The
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman ate nothing at all. Toto ate a little of
everything, and was glad to get a good supper again.
The woman now gave Dorothy a bed to sleep in, and Toto lay down beside
her, while the Lion guarded the door of her room so she might not be
disturbed. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman stood up in a corner and
kept quiet all night, although of course they could not sleep.
The next morning, as soon as the sun was up, they started on their
way, and soon saw a beautiful green glow in the sky just before them.
"That must be the Emerald City," said Dorothy.
As they walked on, the green glow became brighter and brighter, and it
seemed that at last they were nearing the end of their travels. Yet it
was afternoon before they came to the great wall that surrounded the
City. It was high, and thick, and of a bright green color.
In front of them, and at the end of the road of yellow brick, was a big
gate, all studded with emeralds that glittered so in the sun that even
the painted eyes of the Scarecrow were dazzled by their brilliancy.
There was a bell beside the gate, and Dorothy pushed the button and
heard a silvery tinkle sound within. Then the big gate swung slowly
open, and they all passed through and found themselves in a high
arched room, the walls of which glistened with countless emeralds.
Before them stood a little man about the same size as the Munchkins.
He was clothed all in green, from his head to his feet, and even his
skin was of a greenish tint. At his side was a large green box.
When he saw Dorothy and her companions the man asked,
"What do you wish in the Emerald City?"
"We came here to see the Great Oz," said Dorothy.
The man was so surprised at this answer that he sat down to think it
over.
"It has been many years since anyone asked me to see Oz," he said,
shaking his head in perplexity. "He is powerful and terrible, and if
you come on an idle or foolish errand to bother the wise reflections of
the Great Wizard, he might be angry and destroy you all in an instant."
[Illustration]
"But it is not a foolish errand, nor an idle one," replied the
Scarecrow; "it is important. And we have been told that Oz is a good
Wizard."
"So he is," said the green man; "and he rules the Emerald City wisely
and well. But to those who are not honest, or who approach him from
curiosity, he is most terrible, and few have ever dared ask to see
his face. I am the Guardian of the Gates, and since you demand to see
the Great Oz I must take you to his palace. But first you must put on
the spectacles."
"Why?" asked Dorothy.
"Because if you did not wear spectacles the brightness and glory of
the Emerald City would blind you. Even those who live in the City
must wear spectacles night and day. They are all locked on, for Oz
so ordered it when the City was first built, and I have the only key
that will unlock them."
[Illustration]
He opened the big box, and Dorothy saw that it was filled with
spectacles of every size and shape. All of them had green glasses
in them. The Guardian of the gates found a pair that would just fit
Dorothy and put them over her eyes. There were two golden bands
fastened to them that passed around the back of her head, where they
were locked together by a little key that was at the end of a chain the
Guardian of the Gates wore around his neck. When they were on, Dorothy
could not take them off had she wished, but of course she did not want
to be blinded by the glare of the Emerald City, so she said nothing.
Then the green man fitted spectacles for the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman and the Lion, and even on little Toto; and all were locked
fast with the key.
Then the Guardian of the Gates put on his own glasses and told them
he was ready to show them to the palace. Taking a big golden key from
a peg on the wall he opened another gate, and they all followed him
through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City.
Chapter XI.
The Wonderful
Emerald City of Oz.
[Illustration]
Even with eyes protected by the green spectacles Dorothy and her
friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City.
The streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble
and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds. They walked over a
pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined
together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the
brightness of the sun. The window panes were of green glass; even the
sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were green.
There were many people, men, women and children, walking about, and
these were all dressed in green clothes and had greenish skins. They
looked at Dorothy and her strangely assorted company with wondering
eyes, and the children all ran away and hid behind their mothers when
they saw the Lion; but no one spoke to them. Many shops stood in the
street, and Dorothy saw that everything in them was green. Green
candy and green pop-corn were offered for sale, as well as green
shoes, green hats and green clothes of all sorts. At one place a man
was selling green lemonade, and when the children bought it Dorothy
could see that they paid for it with green pennies.
There seemed to be no horses nor animals of any kind; the men carried
things around in little green carts, which they pushed before them.
Everyone seemed happy and contented and prosperous.
The Guardian of the Gates led them through the streets until they
came to a big building, exactly in the middle of the City, which was
the Palace of Oz, the Great Wizard. There was a soldier before the
door, dressed in a green uniform and wearing a long green beard.
"Here are strangers," said the Guardian of the Gates to him, "and
they demand to see the Great Oz."
"Step inside," answered the soldier, "and I will carry your message
to him."
So they passed through the Palace gates and were led into a big room
with a green carpet and lovely green furniture set with emeralds.
The soldier made them all wipe their feet upon a green mat before
entering this room, and when they were seated he said, politely,
"Please make yourselves comfortable while I go to the door of the
Throne Room and tell Oz you are here."
They had to wait a long time before the soldier returned. When, at
last, he came back, Dorothy asked,
"Have you seen Oz?"
[Illustration]
"Oh, no;" returned the soldier; "I have never seen him. But I spoke
to him as he sat behind his screen, and gave him your message. He
says he will grant you an audience, if you so desire; but each one
of you must enter his presence alone, and he will admit but one each
day. Therefore, as you must remain in the Palace for several days, I
will have you shown to rooms where you may rest in comfort after your
journey."
"Thank you," replied the girl; "that is very kind of Oz."
The soldier now blew upon a green whistle, and at once a young girl,
dressed in a pretty green silk gown, entered the room. She had
lovely green hair and green eyes, and she bowed low before Dorothy as
she said,
"Follow me and I will show you your room."
So Dorothy said good-bye to all her friends except Toto, and taking
the dog in her arms followed the green girl through seven passages
and up three flights of stairs until they came to a room at the front
of the Palace. It was the sweetest little room in the world, with
a soft, comfortable bed that had sheets of green silk and a green
velvet counterpane. There was a tiny fountain in the middle of the
room, that shot a spray of green perfume into the air, to fall back
into a beautifully carved green marble basin. Beautiful green flowers
stood in the windows, and there was a shelf with a row of little
green books. When Dorothy had time to open these books she found them
full of queer green pictures that made her laugh, they were so funny.
In a wardrobe were many green dresses, made of silk and satin and
velvet; and all of them fitted Dorothy exactly.
"Make yourself perfectly at home," said the green girl, "and if you
wish for anything ring the bell. Oz will send for you to-morrow
morning."
She left Dorothy alone and went back to the others. These she also
led to rooms, and each one of them found himself lodged in a very
pleasant part of the Palace. Of course this politeness was wasted on
the Scarecrow; for when he found himself alone in his room he stood
stupidly in one spot, just within the doorway, to wait till morning.
It would not rest him to lie down, and he could not close his eyes;
so he remained all night staring at a little spider which was weaving
its web in a corner of the room, just as if it were not one of the
most wonderful rooms in the world. The Tin Woodman lay down on his
bed from force of habit, for he remembered when he was made of flesh;
but not being able to sleep he passed the night moving his joints up
and down to make sure they kept in good working order. The Lion would
have preferred a bed of dried leaves in the forest, and did not like
being shut up in a room; but he had too much sense to let this worry
him, so he sprang upon the bed and rolled himself up like a cat and
purred himself asleep in a minute.
The next morning, after breakfast, the green maiden came to fetch
Dorothy, and she dressed her in one of the prettiest gowns--made of
green brocaded satin. Dorothy put on a green silk apron and tied a
green ribbon around Toto's neck, and they started for the Throne Room
of the Great Oz.
[Illustration]
First they came to a great hall in which were many ladies and
gentlemen of the court, all dressed in rich costumes. These people
had nothing to do but talk to each other, but they always came to
wait outside the Throne Room every morning, although they were never
permitted to see Oz. As Dorothy entered they looked at her curiously,
and one of them whispered,
"Are you really going to look upon the face of Oz the Terrible?"
"Of course," answered the girl, "if he will see me."
"Oh, he will see you," said the soldier who had taken her message
to the Wizard, "although he does not like to have people ask to see
him. Indeed, at first he was angry, and said I should send you back
where you came from. Then he asked me what you looked like, and when
I mentioned your silver shoes he was very much interested. At last I
told him about the mark upon your forehead, and he decided he would
admit you to his presence."
Just then a bell rang, and the green girl said to Dorothy,
"That is the signal. You must go into the Throne Room alone."
She opened a little door and Dorothy walked boldly through and found
herself in a wonderful place. It was a big, round room with a high
arched roof, and the walls and ceiling and floor were covered with
large emeralds set closely together. In the center of the roof was a
great light, as bright as the sun, which made the emeralds sparkle in
a wonderful manner.
But what interested Dorothy most was the big throne of green marble
that stood in the middle of the room. It was shaped like a chair
and sparkled with gems, as did everything else. In the center of the
chair was an enormous Head, without body to support it or any arms or
legs whatever. There was no hair upon this head, but it had eyes and
nose and mouth, and was bigger than the head of the biggest giant.
As Dorothy gazed upon this in wonder and fear the eyes turned slowly
and looked at her sharply and steadily. Then the mouth moved, and
Dorothy heard a voice say:
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you seek me?"
It was not such an awful voice as she had expected to come from the
big Head; so she took courage and answered,
"I am Dorothy, the Small and Meek. I have come to you for help."
The eyes looked at her thoughtfully for a full minute. Then said the
voice:
"Where did you get the silver shoes?"
"I got them from the wicked Witch of the East, when my house fell on
her and killed her," she replied.
"Where did you get the mark upon your forehead?" continued the voice.
"That is where the good Witch of the North kissed me when she bade me
good-bye and sent me to you," said the girl.
Again the eyes looked at her sharply, and they saw she was telling
the truth. Then Oz asked,
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Send me back to Kansas, where my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are," she
answered, earnestly. "I don't like your country, although it is so
beautiful. And I am sure Aunt Em will be dreadfully worried over my
being away so long."
The eyes winked three times, and then they turned up to the ceiling and
down to the floor and rolled around so queerly that they seemed to see
every part of the room. And at last they looked at Dorothy again.
"Why should I do this for you?" asked Oz.
"Because you are strong and I am weak; because you are a Great Wizard
and I am only a helpless little girl," she answered.
"But you were strong enough to kill the wicked Witch of the East,"
said Oz.
"That just happened," returned Dorothy, simply; "I could not help it."
"Well," said the Head, "I will give you my answer. You have no right
to expect me to send you back to Kansas unless you do something for
me in return. In this country everyone must pay for everything he
gets. If you wish me to use my magic power to send you home again you
must do something for me first. Help me and I will help you."
"What must I do?" asked the girl.
"Kill the wicked Witch of the West," answered Oz.
"But I cannot!" exclaimed Dorothy, greatly surprised.
"You killed the Witch of the East and you wear the silver shoes,
which bear a powerful charm. There is now but one Wicked Witch left
in all this land, and when you can tell me she is dead I will send
you back to Kansas--but not before."
The little girl began to weep, she was so much disappointed; and the
eyes winked again and looked upon her anxiously, as if the Great Oz
felt that she could help him if she would.
"I never killed anything, willingly," she sobbed; "and even if I wanted
to, how could I kill the Wicked Witch? If you, who are Great and
Terrible, cannot kill her yourself, how do you expect me to do it?"
[Illustration]
"I do not know," said the Head; "but that is my answer, and until the
Wicked Witch dies you will not see your Uncle and Aunt again. Remember
that the Witch is Wicked--tremendously Wicked--and ought to be killed.
Now go, and do not ask to see me again until you have done your task."
Sorrowfully Dorothy left the Throne Room and went back where the
Lion and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were waiting to hear what
Oz had said to her.
"There is no hope for me," she said, sadly, "for Oz will not send me
home until I have killed the Wicked Witch of the West; and that I can
never do."
Her friends were sorry, but could do nothing to help her; so she went
to her own room and lay down on the bed and cried herself to sleep.
The next morning the soldier with the green whiskers came to the
Scarecrow and said,
"Come with me, for Oz has sent for you."
So the Scarecrow followed him and was admitted into the great Throne
Room, where he saw, sitting in the emerald throne, a most lovely
lady. She was dressed in green silk gauze and wore upon her flowing
green locks a crown of jewels. Growing from her shoulders were wings,
gorgeous in color and so light that they fluttered if the slightest
breath of air reached them.
When the Scarecrow had bowed, as prettily as his straw stuffing would
let him, before this beautiful creature, she looked upon him sweetly,
and said,
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you seek me?"
Now the Scarecrow, who had expected to see the great Head Dorothy had
told him of, was much astonished; but he answered her bravely.
"I am only a Scarecrow, stuffed with straw. Therefore I have no
brains, and I come to you praying that you will put brains in my head
instead of straw, so that I may become as much a man as any other in
your dominions."
"Why should I do this for you?" asked the lady.
"Because you are wise and powerful, and no one else can help me,"
answered the Scarecrow.
"I never grant favors without some return," said Oz; "but this much I
will promise. If you will kill for me the Wicked Witch of the West I
will bestow upon you a great many brains, and such good brains that
you will be the wisest man in all the Land of Oz."
"I thought you asked Dorothy to kill the Witch," said, the Scarecrow,
in surprise.
[Illustration]
"So I did. I don't care who kills her. But until she is dead I will
not grant your wish. Now go, and do not seek me again until you have
earned the brains you so greatly desire."
The Scarecrow went sorrowfully back to his friends and told them what
Oz had said; and Dorothy was surprised to find that the great Wizard
was not a Head, as she had seen him, but a lovely lady.
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "she needs a heart as much as the
Tin Woodman."
On the next morning the soldier with the green whiskers came to the
Tin Woodman and said,
"Oz has sent for you. Follow me,"
So the Tin Woodman followed him and came to the great Throne Room. He
did not know whether he would find Oz a lovely lady or a Head, but
he hoped it would be the lovely lady. "For," he said to himself, "if
it is the Head, I am sure I shall not be given a heart, since a head
has no heart of its own and therefore cannot feel for me. But if it
is the lovely lady I shall beg hard for a heart, for all ladies are
themselves said to be kindly hearted."
But when the Woodman entered the great Throne Room he saw neither
the Head nor the Lady, for Oz had taken the shape of a most terrible
Beast. It was nearly as big as an elephant, and the green throne
seemed hardly strong enough to hold its weight. The Beast had a head
like that of a rhinoceros, only there were five eyes in its face.
There were five long arms growing out of its body and it also had
five long, slim legs. Thick, woolly hair covered every part of it,
and a more dreadful looking monster could not be imagined. It was
fortunate the Tin Woodman had no heart at that moment, for it would
have beat loud and fast from terror. But being only tin, the Woodman
was not at all afraid, although he was much disappointed.
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible," spake the Beast, in a voice that
was one great roar. "Who are you, and why do you seek me?"
[Illustration: "_The Eyes looked at her thoughtfully._"]
"I am a Woodman, and made of tin. Therefore I have no heart, and cannot
love. I pray you to give me a heart that I may be as other men are."
"Why should I do this?" demanded the Beast.
"Because I ask it, and you alone can grant my request," answered the
Woodman.
Oz gave a low growl at this, but said, gruffly,
"If you indeed desire a heart, you must earn it."
"How?" asked the Woodman.
"Help Dorothy to kill the Wicked Witch of the West," replied the
Beast. "When the Witch is dead, come to me, and I will then give you
the biggest and kindest and most loving heart in all the Land of Oz."
So the Tin Woodman was forced to return sorrowfully to his friends
and tell them of the terrible Beast he had seen. They all wondered
greatly at the many forms the great Wizard could take upon himself,
and the Lion said,
[Illustration]
"If he is a beast when I go to see him, I shall roar my loudest, and
so frighten him that he will grant all I ask. And if he is the lovely
lady, I shall pretend to spring upon her, and so compel her to do my
bidding. And if he is the great Head, he will be at my mercy; for I
will roll this head all about the room until he promises to give us
what we desire. So be of good cheer my friends for all will yet be
well."
The next morning the soldier with the green whiskers led the Lion to
the great Throne Room and bade him enter the presence of Oz.
The Lion at once passed through the door, and glancing around saw, to
his surprise, that before the throne was a Ball of Fire, so fierce
and glowing he could scarcely bear to gaze upon it. His first thought
was that Oz had by accident caught on fire and was burning up; but,
when he tried to go nearer, the heat was so intense that it singed
his whiskers, and he crept back tremblingly to a spot nearer the door.
Then a low, quiet voice came from the Ball of Fire, and these were
the words it spoke:
[Illustration]
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you seek
me?" And the Lion answered,
"I am a Cowardly Lion, afraid of everything. I come to you to beg
that you give me courage, so that in reality I may become the King of
Beasts, as men call me."
"Why should I give you courage?" demanded Oz.
"Because of all Wizards you are the greatest, and alone have power to
grant my request," answered the Lion.
The Ball of Fire burned fiercely for a time, and the voice said,
"Bring me proof that the Wicked Witch is dead, and that moment I will
give you courage. But so long as the Witch lives you must remain a
coward."
The Lion was angry at this speech, but could say nothing in reply,
and while he stood silently gazing at the Ball of Fire it became
so furiously hot that he turned tail and rushed from the room. He
was glad to find his friends waiting for him, and told them of his
terrible interview with the Wizard.
"What shall we do now?" asked Dorothy, sadly.
"There is only one thing we can do," returned the Lion, "and that
is to go to the land of the Winkies, seek out the Wicked Witch, and
destroy her."
"But suppose we cannot?" said the girl.
"Then I shall never have courage," declared the Lion.
"And I shall never have brains," added the Scarecrow.
"And I shall never have a heart," spoke the Tin Woodman.
"And I shall never see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry," said Dorothy,
beginning to cry.
"Be careful!" cried the green girl, "the tears will fall on your
green silk gown, and spot it."
So Dorothy dried her eyes and said,
"I suppose we must try it; but I am sure I do not want to kill
anybody, even to see Aunt Em again."
"I will go with you; but I'm too much of a coward to kill the Witch,"
said the Lion.
"I will go too," declared the Scarecrow; "but I shall not be of much
help to you, I am such a fool."
"I haven't the heart to harm even a Witch," remarked the Tin Woodman;
"but if you go I certainly shall go with you."
Therefore it was decided to start upon their journey the next
morning, and the Woodman sharpened his axe on a green grindstone and
had all his joints properly oiled. The Scarecrow stuffed himself with
fresh straw and Dorothy put new paint on his eyes that he might see
better. The green girl, who was very kind to them, filled Dorothy's
basket with good things to eat, and fastened a little bell around
Toto's neck with a green ribbon.
They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight, when
they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived in the
back yard of the palace, and the cackling of a hen that had laid a
green egg.
[Illustration: "_The Soldier with the green whiskers led them through
the streets._"]
Chapter XII.
The Search for the
Wicked Witch.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The soldier with the green whiskers led them through the streets of
the Emerald City until they reached the room where the Guardian of the
Gates lived. This officer unlocked their spectacles to put them back in
his great box, and then he politely opened the gate for our friends.
"Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?" asked Dorothy.
"There is no road," answered the Guardian of the Gates; "no one ever
wishes to go that way."
"How, then, are we to find her?" enquired the girl.
[Illustration]
"That will be easy," replied the man; "for when she knows you are in
the Country of the Winkies she will find you, and make you all her
slaves."
"Perhaps not," said the Scarecrow, "for we mean to destroy her."
[Illustration]
"Oh, that is different," said the Guardian of the Gates. "No one has
ever destroyed her before, so I naturally thought she would make
slaves of you, as she has of all the rest. But take care; for she is
wicked and fierce, and may not allow you to destroy her. Keep to the
West, where the sun sets, and you cannot fail to find her."
They thanked him and bade him good-bye, and turned toward the West,
walking over fields of soft grass dotted here and there with daisies
and buttercups. Dorothy still wore the pretty silk dress she had
put on in the palace, but now, to her surprise, she found it was no
longer green, but pure white. The ribbon around Toto's neck had also
lost its green color and was as white as Dorothy's dress.
The Emerald City was soon left far behind. As they advanced the
ground became rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor houses
in this country of the West, and the ground was untilled.
In the afternoon the sun shone hot in their faces, for there were no
trees to offer them shade; so that before night Dorothy and Toto and
the Lion were tired, and lay down upon the grass and fell asleep,
with the Woodman and the Scarecrow keeping watch.
Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as
powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere. So, as she sat in
the door of her castle, she happened to look around and saw Dorothy
lying asleep, with her friends all about her. They were a long
distance off, but the Wicked Witch was angry to find them in her
country; so she blew upon a silver whistle that hung around her neck.
At once there came running to her from all directions a pack of great
wolves. They had long legs and fierce eyes and sharp teeth.
"Go to those people," said the Witch, "and tear them to pieces."
"Are you not going to make them your slaves?" asked the leader of the
wolves.
"No," she answered, "one is of tin, and one of straw; one is a girl
and another a Lion. None of them is fit to work, so you may tear them
into small pieces."
"Very well," said the wolf, and he dashed away at full speed,
followed by the others.
It was lucky the Scarecrow and the Woodman were wide awake and heard
the wolves coming.
"This is my fight," said the Woodman; "so get behind me and I will
meet them as they come."
He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp, and as the leader
of the wolves came on the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the
wolf's head from its body, so that it immediately died. As soon as he
could raise his axe another wolf came up, and he also fell under the
sharp edge of the Tin Woodman's weapon. There were forty wolves, and
forty times a wolf was killed; so that at last they all lay dead in a
heap before the Woodman.
Then he put down his axe and sat beside the Scarecrow, who said,
"It was a good fight, friend."
They waited until Dorothy awoke the next morning. The little girl was
quite frightened when she saw the great pile of shaggy wolves, but
the Tin Woodman told her all. She thanked him for saving them and sat
down to breakfast, after which they started again upon their journey.
[Illustration]
Now this same morning the Wicked Witch came to the door of her castle
and looked out with her one eye that could see afar off. She saw all
her wolves lying dead, and the strangers still travelling through her
country. This made her angrier than before, and she blew her silver
whistle twice.
Straightway a great flock of wild crows came flying toward her,
enough to darken the sky. And the Wicked Witch said to the King Crow,
"Fly at once to the strangers; peck out their eyes and tear them to
pieces."
The wild crows flew in one great flock toward Dorothy and her
companions. When the little girl saw them coming she was afraid. But
the Scarecrow said,
"This is my battle; so lie down beside me and you will not be harmed."
So they all lay upon the ground except the Scarecrow, and he stood
up and stretched out his arms. And when the crows saw him they were
frightened, as these birds always are by scarecrows, and did not dare
to come any nearer. But the King Crow said,
"It is only a stuffed man. I will peck his eyes out."
The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and
twisted its neck until it died. And then another crow flew at him,
and the Scarecrow twisted its neck also. There were forty crows, and
forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were
lying dead beside him. Then he called to his companions to rise, and
again they went upon their journey.
When the Wicked Witch looked out again and saw all her crows lying in
a heap, she got into a terrible rage, and blew three times upon her
silver whistle.
[Illustration]
Forthwith there was heard a great buzzing in the air, and a swarm
of black bees came flying towards her. "Go to the strangers and
sting them to death!" commanded the Witch, and the bees turned and
flew rapidly until they came to where Dorothy and her friends were
walking. But the Woodman had seen them coming and the Scarecrow had
decided what to do.
"Take out my straw and scatter it over the little girl and the dog
and the lion," he said to the Woodman, "and the bees cannot sting
them." This the Woodman did, and as Dorothy lay close beside the Lion
and held Toto in her arms, the straw covered them entirely.
The bees came and found no one but the Woodman to sting, so they
flew at him and broke off all their stings against the tin, without
hurting the Woodman at all. And as bees cannot live when their stings
are broken that was the end of the black bees, and they lay scattered
thick about the Woodman, like little heaps of fine coal.
Then Dorothy and the Lion got up, and the girl helped the Tin Woodman
put the straw back into the Scarecrow again, until he was as good as
ever. So they started upon their journey once more.
The Wicked Witch was so angry when she saw her black bees in little
heaps like fine coal that she stamped her foot and tore her hair and
gnashed her teeth. And then she called a dozen of her slaves, who
were the Winkies, and gave them sharp spears, telling them to go to
the strangers and destroy them.
The Winkies were not a brave people, but they had to do as they were
told; so they marched away until they came near to Dorothy. Then the
Lion gave a great roar and sprang toward them, and the poor Winkies
were so frightened that they ran back as fast as they could.
When they returned to the castle the Wicked Witch beat them well
with a strap, and sent them back to their work, after which she sat
down to think what she should do next. She could not understand how
all her plans to destroy these strangers had failed; but she was a
powerful Witch, as well as a wicked one, and she soon made up her
mind how to act.
[Illustration]
There was, in her cupboard, a Golden Cap, with a circle of diamonds and
rubies running round it. This Golden Cap had a charm. Whoever owned
it could call three times upon the Winged Monkeys, who would obey
any order they were given. But no person could command these strange
creatures more than three times. Twice already the Wicked Witch had
used the charm of the Cap. Once was when she had made the Winkies her
slaves, and set herself to rule over their country. The Winged Monkeys
had helped her do this. The second time was when she had fought against
the Great Oz himself, and driven him out of the land of the West. The
Winged Monkeys had also helped her in doing this. Only once more could
she use this Golden Cap, for which reason she did not like to do so
until all her other powers were exhausted. But now that her fierce
wolves and her wild crows and her stinging bees were gone, and her
slaves had been scared away by the Cowardly Lion, she saw there was
only one way left to destroy Dorothy and her friends.
[Illustration]
So the Wicked Witch took the Golden Cap from her cupboard and placed
it upon her head.
Then she stood upon her left foot and said, slowly, "Ep-pe, pep-pe,
kak-ke!"
Next she stood upon her right foot and said, "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!"
After this she stood upon both feet and cried in a loud voice,
"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!"
Now the charm began to work. The sky was darkened, and a low
rumbling sound was heard in the air. There was a rushing of many
wings; a great chattering and laughing; and the sun came out of the
dark sky to show the Wicked Witch surrounded by a crowd of monkeys,
each with a pair of immense and powerful wings on his shoulders.
One, much bigger than the others, seemed to be their leader. He flew
close to the Witch and said,
"You have called us for the third and last time. What do you command?"
"Go to the strangers who are within my land and destroy them all
except the Lion," said the Wicked Witch. "Bring that beast to me, for
I have a mind to harness him like a horse, and make him work."
"Your commands shall be obeyed," said the leader; and then, with a
great deal of chattering and noise, the Winged Monkeys flew away to
the place where Dorothy and her friends were walking.
[Illustration]
Some of the Monkeys seized the Tin Woodman and carried him through
the air until they were over a country thickly covered with sharp
rocks. Here they dropped the poor Woodman, who fell a great distance
to the rocks, where he lay so battered and dented that he could
neither move nor groan.
Others of the Monkeys caught the Scarecrow, and with their long
fingers pulled all of the straw out of his clothes and head. They
made his hat and boots and clothes into a small bundle and threw it
into the top branches of a tall tree.
The remaining Monkeys threw pieces of stout rope around the Lion
and wound many coils about his body and head and legs, until he was
unable to bite or scratch or struggle in any way. Then they lifted
him up and flew away with him to the Witch's castle, where he was
placed in a small yard with a high iron fence around it, so that he
could not escape.
But Dorothy they did not harm at all. She stood, with Toto in her
arms, watching the sad fate of her comrades and thinking it would
soon be her turn. The leader of the Winged Monkeys flew up to her,
his long, hairy arms stretched out and his ugly face grinning
terribly; but he saw the mark of the Good Witch's kiss upon her
forehead and stopped short, motioning the others not to touch her.
[Illustration: "_The Monkeys wound many coils about his body._"]
"We dare not harm this little girl," he said to them, "for she is
protected by the Power of Good, and that is greater than the Power
of Evil. All we can do is to carry her to the castle of the Wicked
Witch and leave her there."
So, carefully and gently, they lifted Dorothy in their arms and
carried her swiftly through the air until they came to the castle,
where they set her down upon the front door step. Then the leader
said to the Witch,
"We have obeyed you as far as we were able. The Tin Woodman and the
Scarecrow are destroyed, and the Lion is tied up in your yard. The
little girl we dare not harm, nor the dog she carries in her arms. Your
power over our band is now ended, and you will never see us again."
Then all the Winged Monkeys, with much laughing and chattering and
noise, flew into the air and were soon out of sight.
[Illustration]
The Wicked Witch was both surprised and worried when she saw the mark
on Dorothy's forehead, for she knew well that neither the Winged
Monkeys nor she, herself, dare hurt the girl in any way. She looked
down at Dorothy's feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble
with fear, for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them. At
first the Witch was tempted to run away from Dorothy; but she happened
to look into the child's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them
was, and that the little girl did not know of the wonderful power the
Silver Shoes gave her. So the Wicked Witch laughed to herself, and
thought, "I can still make her my slave, for she does not know how to
use her power." Then she said to Dorothy, harshly and severely,
"Come with me; and see that you mind everything I tell you, for if
you do not I will make an end of you, as I did of the Tin Woodman and
the Scarecrow."
Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle
until they came to the kitchen, where the Witch bade her clean the pots
and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.
Dorothy went to work meekly, with her mind made up to work as hard as
she could; for she was glad the Wicked Witch had decided not to kill
her.
With Dorothy hard at work the Witch thought she would go into the
court-yard and harness the Cowardly Lion like a horse; it would amuse
her, she was sure, to make him draw her chariot whenever she wished
to go to drive. But as she opened the gate the Lion gave a loud roar
and bounded at her so fiercely that the Witch was afraid, and ran out
and shut the gate again.
"If I cannot harness you," said the Witch to the Lion, speaking
through the bars of the gate, "I can starve you. You shall have
nothing to eat until you do as I wish."
So after that she took no food to the imprisoned Lion; but every day
she came to the gate at noon and asked,
"Are you ready to be harnessed like a horse?"
And the Lion would answer,
"No. If you come in this yard I will bite you."
The reason the Lion did not have to do as the Witch wished was that
every night, while the woman was asleep Dorothy carried him food from
the cupboard. After he had eaten he would lie down on his bed of straw,
and Dorothy would lie beside him and put her head on his soft, shaggy
mane, while they talked of their troubles and tried to plan some way to
escape. But they could find no way to get out of the castle, for it was
constantly guarded by the yellow Winkies, who were the slaves of the
Wicked Witch and too afraid of her not to do as she told them.
The girl had to work hard during the day, and often the Witch
threatened to beat her with the same old umbrella she always carried in
her hand. But, in truth, she did not dare to strike Dorothy, because of
the mark upon her forehead. The child did not know this, and was full
of fear for herself and Toto. Once the Witch struck Toto a blow with
her umbrella and the brave little dog flew at her and bit her leg, in
return. The Witch did not bleed where she was bitten, for she was so
wicked that the blood in her had dried up many years before.
Dorothy's life became very sad as she grew to understand that it
would be harder than ever to get back to Kansas and Aunt Em again.
Sometimes she would cry bitterly for hours, with Toto sitting at her
feet and looking into her face, whining dismally to show how sorry he
was for his little mistress. Toto did not really care whether he was
in Kansas or the Land of Oz so long as Dorothy was with him; but he
knew the little girl was unhappy, and that made him unhappy too.
Now the Wicked Witch had a great longing to have for her own the
Silver Shoes which the girl always wore. Her Bees and her Crows and
her Wolves were lying in heaps and drying up, and she had used up
all the power of the Golden Cap; but if she could only get hold of
the Silver Shoes they would give her more power than all the other
things she had lost. She watched Dorothy carefully, to see if she
ever took off her shoes, thinking she might steal them. But the child
was so proud of her pretty shoes that she never took them off except
at night and when she took her bath. The Witch was too much afraid
of the dark to dare go in Dorothy's room at night to take the shoes,
and her dread of water was greater than her fear of the dark, so she
never came near when Dorothy was bathing. Indeed, the old Witch never
touched water, nor ever let water touch her in any way.
But the wicked creature was very cunning, and she finally thought of
a trick that would give her what she wanted. She placed a bar of iron
in the middle of the kitchen floor, and then by her magic arts made
the iron invisible to human eyes. So that when Dorothy walked across
the floor she stumbled over the bar, not being able to see it, and
fell at full length. She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of
the Silver Shoes came off, and before she could reach it the Witch
had snatched it away and put it on her own skinny foot.
The wicked woman was greatly pleased with the success of her trick,
for as long as she had one of the shoes she owned half the power of
their charm, and Dorothy could not use it against her, even had she
known how to do so.
[Illustration]
The little girl, seeing she had lost one of her pretty shoes, grew
angry, and said to the Witch,
"Give me back my shoe!"
"I will not," retorted the Witch, "for it is now my shoe, and not
yours."
"You are a wicked creature!" cried Dorothy. "You have no right to
take my shoe from me."
"I shall keep it, just the same," said the Witch, laughing at her,
"and some day I shall get the other one from you, too."
This made Dorothy so very angry that she picked up the bucket of
water that stood near and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her from
head to foot.
Instantly the wicked woman gave a loud cry of fear; and then, as
Dorothy looked at her in wonder, the Witch began to shrink and fall
away.
"See what you have done!" she screamed. "In a minute I shall melt
away."
"I'm very sorry, indeed," said Dorothy, who was truly frightened to
see the Witch actually melting away like brown sugar before her very
eyes.
"Didn't you know water would be the end of me?" asked the Witch, in a
wailing, despairing voice.
"Of course not," answered Dorothy; "how should I?"
"Well, in a few minutes I shall be all melted, and you will have the
castle to yourself. I have been wicked in my day, but I never thought
a little girl like you would ever be able to melt me and end my
wicked deeds. Look out--here I go!"
With these words the Witch fell down in a brown, melted, shapeless
mass and began to spread over the clean boards of the kitchen floor.
Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing, Dorothy drew
another bucket of water and threw it over the mess. She then swept
it all out the door. After picking out the silver shoe, which was
all that was left of the old woman, she cleaned and dried it with a
cloth, and put it on her foot again. Then, being at last free to do
as she chose, she ran out to the court-yard to tell the Lion that the
Wicked Witch of the West had come to an end, and that they were no
longer prisoners in a strange land.
[Illustration]
Chapter XIII.
The Rescue
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch
had been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at once unlocked
the gate of his prison and set him free. They went in together to
the castle, where Dorothy's first act was to call all the Winkies
together and tell them that they were no longer slaves.
There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had
been made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who
had always treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day as
a holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time in feasting and
dancing.
"If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with
us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."
"Don't you suppose we could rescue them?" asked the girl, anxiously.
"We can try," answered the Lion.
So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they would help
to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be
delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free
from bondage. So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as if
they knew the most, and they all started away. They travelled that
day and part of the next until they came to the rocky plain where the
Tin Woodman lay, all battered and bent. His axe was near him, but the
blade was rusted and the handle broken off short.
The Winkies lifted him tenderly in their arms, and carried him back
to the yellow castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears by the way
at the sad plight of her old friend, and the Lion looking sober and
sorry. When they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies,
"Are any of your people tinsmiths?"
"Oh, yes; some of us are very good tinsmiths," they told her.
"Then bring them to me," she said. And when the tinsmiths came,
bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she enquired,
[Illustration: "_The Tinsmiths worked for three days and four
nights._"]
"Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend
him back into shape again, and solder him together where he is
broken?"
The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over carefully and then answered
that they thought they could mend him so he would be as good as ever.
So they set to work in one of the big yellow rooms of the castle and
worked for three days and four nights, hammering and twisting and
bending and soldering and polishing and pounding at the legs and body
and head of the Tin Woodman, until at last he was straightened out into
his old form, and his joints worked as well as ever. To be sure, there
were several patches on him, but the tinsmiths did a good job, and as
the Woodman was not a vain man he did not mind the patches at all.
When, at last, he walked into Dorothy's room and thanked her for
rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, and
Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her
apron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same time her own
tears fell thick and fast at the joy of meeting her old friend again,
and these tears did not need to be wiped away. As for the Lion, he
wiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tail that it became quite
wet, and he was obliged to go out into the court-yard and hold it in
the sun till it dried.
"If we only had the Scarecrow with us again," said the Tin Woodman,
when Dorothy had finished telling him everything that had happened,
"I should be quite happy."
"We must try to find him," said the girl.
So she called the Winkies to help her, and they walked all that day
and part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the branches
of which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow's clothes.
It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no one
could climb it; but the Woodman said at once,
"I'll chop it down, and then we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."
Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodman himself,
another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made an axe-handle
of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe, instead of the
old broken handle. Others polished the blade until all the rust was
removed and it glistened like burnished silver.
As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop, and in a
short time the tree fell over with a crash, when the Scarecrow's
clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.
Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to the
castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and, behold!
here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and over
again for saving him.
Now they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent a few happy days
at the Yellow Castle, where they found everything they needed to make
them comfortable. But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said,
"We must go back to Oz, and claim his promise."
"Yes," said the Woodman, "at last I shall get my heart."
"And I shall get my brains," added the Scarecrow, joyfully.
"And I shall get my courage," said the Lion, thoughtfully.
"And I shall get back to Kansas," cried Dorothy, clapping her hands.
"Oh, let us start for the Emerald City to-morrow!"
[Illustration]
This they decided to do. The next day they called the Winkies together
and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have them go, and
they had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that they begged him to stay
and rule over them and the Yellow Land of the West. Finding they were
determined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and the Lion each a golden
collar; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet, studded
with diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walking
stick, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman they offered
a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.
Every one of the travellers made the Winkies a pretty speech in
return, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.
Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with food for
the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried it on her own
head and found that it fitted her exactly. She did not know anything
about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty, so
she made up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket.
Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for the
Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good
wishes to carry with them.
Chapter XIV.
The Winged
Monkeys
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
You will remember there was no road--not even a pathway--between
the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the four
travellers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, and
so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harder
to find their way back through the big fields of buttercups and
yellow daisies than it was being carried. They knew, of course, they
must go straight east, toward the rising sun; and they started off
in the right way. But at noon, when the sun was over their heads,
they did not know which was east and which was west, and that was
the reason they were lost in the great fields. They kept on walking,
however, and at night the moon came out and shone brightly. So they
lay down among the sweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly
until morning--all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started on, as
if they were quite sure which way they were going.
"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "we shall sometime come to
some place, I am sure."
But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before them
but the yellow fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it again
in time to reach the Emerald City I shall never get my brains."
"Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I can
scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a very
long journey."
"You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't the
courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."
[Illustration]
Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at her
companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found that
for the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterfly
that flew past his head; so he put out his tongue and panted and
looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do next.
"Suppose we call the Field Mice," she suggested. "They could probably
tell us the way to the Emerald City."
"To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow; "why didn't we think of
that before?"
Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her neck
since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In a few minutes
they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small grey
mice came running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself, who
asked, in her squeaky little voice,
"What can I do for my friends?"
"We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us where the
Emerald City is?"
[Illustration]
"Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off, for you
have had it at your backs all this time." Then she noticed Dorothy's
Golden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use the charm of the Cap, and
call the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Oz
in less than an hour."
"I didn't know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, in surprise.
"What is it?"
"It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of the Mice;
"but if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away,
for they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us."
"Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl, anxiously.
"Oh, no; they must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!" And she
scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written upon
the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read the
directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
"What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what she
was doing.
"Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time on her
right foot.
"Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman, calmly.
[Illustration: "_The Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew
away with her._"]
"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on both
feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great
chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys
flew up to them. The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked,
"What is your command?"
"We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we have
lost our way."
"We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had he spoken
than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away
with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, and
one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog
tried hard to bite him.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at first,
for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated them
before; but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode through
the air quite cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the pretty
gardens and woods far below them.
Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggest
Monkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of their
hands and were careful not to hurt her.
"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.
"That is a long story," answered the King, with a laugh; "but as we
have a long journey before us I will pass the time by telling you
about it, if you wish."
"I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
"Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happily in
the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit,
and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps
some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to
pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and
throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were
careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the
day. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds
to rule over this land.
"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who
was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the
people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her name
was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great
blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that
she could find no one to love in return, since all the men were much
too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last,
however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond
his years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man
she would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace
and used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and
lovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala,
as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all the
land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him
dearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
"My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which
lived in the forest near Gayalette's palace, and the old fellow loved
a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding,
my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala
walking beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink
silk and purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what
he could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala,
carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of the
river, and then dropped him into the water.
"'Swim out, my fine fellow,'" cried my grandfather, "'and see if the
water has spotted your clothes.'" Quelala was much too wise not to
swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He
laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore.
But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and
velvet all ruined by the river.
[Illustration]
"The princess was very angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She
had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first
that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had
treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded
hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings
tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette
finally spared them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever
after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This
Cap had been made for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to
have cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and
all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is
how it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the
Golden Cap, whomsoever he may be."
"And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatly
interested in the story.
"Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," replied the
Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride
could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest
after he had married her and ordered us to always keep where she
could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to
do, for we were all afraid of her.
"This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the
hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the
Winkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West.
Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to
lay your wishes upon us."
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the
green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered
at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey was
over. The strange creatures set the travellers down carefully before
the gate of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew
swiftly away, followed by all his band.
"That was a good ride," said the little girl.
"Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles." replied the Lion. "How
lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"
[Illustration]
Chapter XV.
The Discovery of
OZ, The Terrible.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The four travellers walked up to the great gate of the Emerald City
and rang the bell. After ringing several times it was opened by the
same Guardian of the Gate they had met before.
"What! are you back again?" he asked, in surprise.
"Do you not see us?" answered the Scarecrow.
"But I thought you had gone to visit the Wicked Witch of the West."
"We did visit her," said the Scarecrow.
"And she let you go again?" asked the man, in wonder.
"She could not help it, for she is melted," explained the Scarecrow.
"Melted! Well, that is good news, indeed," said the man. "Who melted
her?"
"It was Dorothy," said the Lion, gravely.
"Good gracious!" exclaimed the man, and he bowed very low indeed
before her.
Then he led them into his little room and locked the spectacles
from the great box on all their eyes, just as he had done before.
Afterward they passed on through the gate into the Emerald City, and
when the people heard from the Guardian of the Gate that they had
melted the Wicked Witch of the West they all gathered around the
travellers and followed them in a great crowd to the Palace of Oz.
The soldier with the green whiskers was still on guard before the
door, but he let them in at once and they were again met by the
beautiful green girl, who showed each of them to their old rooms at
once, so they might rest until the Great Oz was ready to receive them.
The soldier had the news carried straight to Oz that Dorothy and the
other travellers had come back again, after destroying the Wicked
Witch; but Oz made no reply. They thought the Great Wizard would send
for them at once, but he did not. They had no word from him the next
day, nor the next, nor the next. The waiting was tiresome and wearing,
and at last they grew vexed that Oz should treat them in so poor a
fashion, after sending them to undergo hardships and slavery. So the
Scarecrow at last asked the green girl to take another message to Oz,
saying if he did not let them in to see him at once they would call the
Winged Monkeys to help them, and find out whether he kept his promises
or not. When the Wizard was given this message he was so frightened
that he sent word for them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes
after nine o'clock the next morning. He had once met the Winged Monkeys
in the Land of the West, and he did not wish to meet them again.
The four travellers passed a sleepless night, each thinking of the
gift Oz had promised to bestow upon him. Dorothy fell asleep only
once, and then she dreamed she was in Kansas, where Aunt Em was
telling her how glad she was to have her little girl at home again.
Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning the green whiskered soldier
came to them, and four minutes later they all went into the Throne
Room of the Great Oz.
Of course each one of them expected to see the Wizard in the shape
he had taken before, and all were greatly surprised when they looked
about and saw no one at all in the room. They kept close to the door
and closer to one another, for the stillness of the empty room was
more dreadful than any of the forms they had seen Oz take.
[Illustration]
Presently they heard a Voice, seeming to come from somewhere near
the top of the great dome, and it said, solemnly.
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?"
They looked again in every part of the room, and then, seeing no one,
Dorothy asked,
"Where are you?"
"I am everywhere," answered the Voice, "but to the eyes of common
mortals I am invisible. I will now seat myself upon my throne, that
you may converse with me." Indeed, the Voice seemed just then to come
straight from the throne itself; so they walked toward it and stood
in a row while Dorothy said:
"We have come to claim our promise, O Oz."
"What promise?" asked Oz.
"You promised to send me back to Kansas when the Wicked Witch was
destroyed," said the girl.
"And you promised to give me brains," said the Scarecrow.
"And you promised to give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman.
"And you promised to give me courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
"Is the Wicked Witch really destroyed?" asked the Voice, and Dorothy
thought it trembled a little.
"Yes," she answered, "I melted her with a bucket of water."
"Dear me," said the Voice; "how sudden! Well, come to me to-morrow,
for I must have time to think it over."
"You've had plenty of time already," said the Tin Woodman, angrily.
"We shan't wait a day longer," said the Scarecrow.
"You must keep your promises to us!" exclaimed Dorothy.
The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the Wizard, so
he gave a large, loud roar, which was so fierce and dreadful that
Toto jumped away from him in alarm and tipped over the screen that
stood in a corner. As it fell with a crash they looked that way,
and the next moment all of them were filled with wonder. For they
saw, standing in just the spot the screen had hidden, a little, old
man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face, who seemed to be as much
surprised as they were. The Tin Woodman, raising his axe, rushed
toward the little man and cried out,
[Illustration]
"Who are you?"
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible," said the little man, in a
trembling voice, "but don't strike me--please don't!--and I'll do
anything you want me to."
Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay.
"I thought Oz was a great Head," said Dorothy.
"And I thought Oz was a lovely Lady," said the Scarecrow.
"And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast," said the Tin Woodman.
"And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire," exclaimed the Lion.
"No; you are all wrong," said the little man, meekly. "I have been
making believe."
"Making believe!" cried Dorothy. "Are you not a great Wizard?"
"Hush, my dear," he said; "don't speak so loud, or you will be
overheard--and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard."
"And aren't you?" she asked.
"Not a bit of it, my dear; I'm just a common man."
"You're more than that," said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone;
"you're a humbug."
"Exactly so!" declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as
if it pleased him; "I am a humbug."
"But this is terrible," said the Tin Woodman; "how shall I ever get
my heart?"
"Or I my courage?" asked the Lion.
"Or I my brains?" wailed the Scarecrow, wiping the the tears from his
eyes with his coat-sleeve.
[Illustration: "_Exactly so! I am a humbug._"]
"My dear friends," said Oz, "I pray you not to speak of these
little things. Think of me, and the terrible trouble I'm in at being
found out."
"Doesn't anyone else know you're a humbug?" asked Dorothy.
"No one knows it but you four--and myself," replied Oz. "I have
fooled everyone so long that I thought I should never be found out.
It was a great mistake my ever letting you into the Throne Room.
Usually I will not see even my subjects, and so they believe I am
something terrible."
"But, I don't understand," said Dorothy, in bewilderment. "How was it
that you appeared to me as a great Head?"
"That was one of my tricks," answered Oz. "Step this way, please, and
I will tell you all about it."
He led the way to a small chamber in the rear of the Throne Room,
and they all followed him. He pointed to one corner, in which lay
the Great Head, made out of many thicknesses of paper, and with a
carefully painted face.
"This I hung from the ceiling by a wire," said Oz; "I stood behind the
screen and pulled a thread, to make the eyes move and the mouth open."
"But how about the voice?" she enquired.
"Oh, I am a ventriloquist," said the little man, "and I can throw
the sound of my voice wherever I wish; so that you thought it was
coming out of the Head. Here are the other things I used to deceive
you." He showed the Scarecrow the dress and the mask he had worn when
he seemed to be the lovely Lady; and the Tin Woodman saw that his
Terrible Beast was nothing but a lot of skins, sewn together, with
slats to keep their sides out. As for the Ball of Fire, the false
Wizard had hung that also from the ceiling. It was really a ball of
cotton, but when oil was poured upon it the ball burned fiercely.
"Really," said the Scarecrow, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself
for being such a humbug."
"I am--I certainly am," answered the little man, sorrowfully; "but it
was the only thing I could do. Sit down, please, there are plenty of
chairs; and I will tell you my story."
So they sat down and listened while he told the following tale:
"I was born in Omaha--"
"Why, that isn't very far from Kansas!" cried Dorothy.
"No; but it's farther from here," he said, shaking his head at her,
sadly. "When I grew up I became a ventriloquist, and at that I was
very well trained by a great master. I can imitate any kind of a
bird or beast." Here he mewed so like a kitten that Toto pricked up
his ears and looked everywhere to see where she was. "After a time,"
continued Oz, "I tired of that, and became a balloonist."
"What is that?" asked Dorothy.
"A man who goes up in a balloon on circus day, so as to draw a crowd
of people together and get them to pay to see the circus," he explained.
[Illustration]
"Oh," she said; "I know."
"Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so
that I couldn't come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so
far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles
away. For a day and a night I travelled through the air, and on the
morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over
a strange and beautiful country.
"It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit. But I found myself
in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me come from the clouds,
thought I was a great Wizard. Of course I let them think so, because
they were afraid of me, and promised to do anything I wished them to.
"Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered them to
build this City, and my palace; and they did it all willingly and well.
Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would
call it the Emerald City, and to make the name fit better I put green
spectacles on all the people, so that everything they saw was green."
"But isn't everything here green?" asked Dorothy.
"No more than in any other city," replied Oz; "but when you wear
green spectacles, why of course everything you see looks green to
you. The Emerald City was built a great many years ago, for I was a
young man when the balloon brought me here, and I am a very old man
now. But my people have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that
most of them think it really is an Emerald City, and it certainly is
a beautiful place, abounding in jewels and precious metals, and every
good thing that is needed to make one happy. I have been good to the
people, and they like me; but ever since this Palace was built I have
shut myself up and would not see any of them.
"One of my greatest fears was the Witches, for while I had no magical
powers at all I soon found out that the Witches were really able to
do wonderful things. There were four of them in this country, and
they ruled the people who live in the North and South and East and
West. Fortunately, the Witches of the North and South were good, and
I knew they would do me no harm; but the Witches of the East and West
were terribly wicked, and had they not thought I was more powerful
than they themselves, they would surely have destroyed me. As it was,
I lived in deadly fear of them for many years; so you can imagine how
pleased I was when I heard your house had fallen on the Wicked Witch
of the East. When you came to me I was willing to promise anything if
you would only do away with the other Witch; but, now that you have
melted her, I am ashamed to say that I cannot keep my promises."
"I think you are a very bad man," said Dorothy.
"Oh, no, my dear; I'm really a very good man; but I'm a very bad
Wizard, I must admit."
"Can't you give me brains?" asked the Scarecrow.
"You don't need them. You are learning something every day. A baby
has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing
that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more
experience you are sure to get."
"That may all be true," said the Scarecrow, "but I shall be very
unhappy unless you give me brains."
The false wizard looked at him carefully.
"Well," he said, with a sigh, "I'm not much of a magician, as I said;
but if you will come to me to-morrow morning, I will stuff your head
with brains. I cannot tell you how to use them, however; you must
find that out for yourself."
[Illustration]
"Oh, thank you--thank you!" cried the Scarecrow. "I'll find a way to
use them, never fear!"
"But how about my courage?" asked the Lion, anxiously.
"You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need
is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not
afraid when it faces danger. True courage is in facing danger when
you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty."
"Perhaps I have, but I'm scared just the same," said the Lion. "I
shall really be very unhappy unless you give me the sort of courage
that makes one forget he is afraid."
"Very well; I will give you that sort of courage to-morrow," replied Oz.
"How about my heart?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"Why, as for that," answered Oz, "I think you are wrong to want a
heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in
luck not to have a heart."
"That must be a matter of opinion," said the Tin Woodman. "For my
part, I will bear all the unhappiness without a murmur, if you will
give me the heart."
[Illustration]
"Very well," answered Oz, meekly. "Come to me to-morrow and you shall
have a heart. I have played Wizard for so many years that I may as
well continue the part a little longer."
"And now," said Dorothy, "how am I to get back to Kansas?"
"We shall have to think about that," replied the little man, "Give
me two or three days to consider the matter and I'll try to find a
way to carry you over the desert. In the meantime you shall all be
treated as my guests, and while you live in the Palace my people
will wait upon you and obey your slightest wish. There is only one
thing I ask in return for my help--such as it is. You must keep my
secret and tell no one I am a humbug."
They agreed to say nothing of what they had learned, and went back to
their rooms in high spirits. Even Dorothy had hope that "The Great
and Terrible Humbug," as she called him, would find a way to send her
back to Kansas, and if he did that she was willing to forgive him
everything.
[Illustration]
Chapter XVI.
The Magic Art of
the Great Humbug.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends:
"Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last. When I
return I shall be as other men are."
"I have always liked you as you were," said Dorothy, simply.
"It is kind of you to like a Scarecrow," he replied. "But surely you
will think more of me when you hear the splendid thoughts my new brain
is going to turn out." Then he said good-bye to them all in a cheerful
voice and went to the Throne Room, where he rapped upon the door.
"Come in," said Oz.
The Scarecrow went in and found the little man sitting down by the
window, engaged in deep thought.
"I have come for my brains," remarked the Scarecrow, a little uneasily.
"Oh, yes; sit down in that chair, please," replied Oz. "You must
excuse me for taking your head off, but I shall have to do it in
order to put your brains in their proper place."
"That's all right," said the Scarecrow. "You are quite welcome to
take my head off, as long as it will be a better one when you put it
on again."
So the Wizard unfastened his head and emptied out the straw. Then he
entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which he mixed
with a great many pins and needles. Having shaken them together
thoroughly, he filled the top of the Scarecrow's head with the mixture
and stuffed the rest of the space with straw, to hold it in place. When
he had fastened the Scarecrow's head on his body again he said to him,
"Hereafter you will be a great man, for I have given you a lot of
bran-new brains."
The Scarecrow was both pleased and proud at the fulfillment of his
greatest wish, and having thanked Oz warmly he went back to his friends.
Dorothy looked at him curiously. His head was quite bulging out at
the top with brains.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
[Illustration: "_'I feel wise, indeed,' said the Scarecrow._"]
"I feel wise, indeed," he answered, earnestly. "When I get used to my
brains I shall know everything."
"Why are those needles and pins sticking out of your head?" asked the
Tin Woodman.
"That is proof that he is sharp," remarked the Lion.
"Well, I must go to Oz and get my heart," said the Woodman. So he
walked to the Throne Room and knocked at the door.
"Come in," called Oz, and the Woodman entered and said,
"I have come for my heart."
"Very well," answered the little man. "But I shall have to cut a hole
in your breast, so I can put your heart in the right place. I hope it
won't hurt you."
"Oh, no;" answered the Woodman. "I shall not feel it at all."
[Illustration]
So Oz brought a pair of tinners' shears and cut a small, square hole
in the left side of the Tin Woodman's breast. Then, going to a chest
of drawers, he took out a pretty heart, made entirely of silk and
stuffed with sawdust.
"Isn't it a beauty?" he asked.
"It is, indeed!" replied the Woodman, who was greatly pleased. "But
is it a kind heart?"
"Oh, very!" answered Oz. He put the heart in the Woodman's breast and
then replaced the square of tin, soldering it neatly together where
it had been cut.
"There," said he; "now you have a heart that any man might be proud
of. I'm sorry I had to put a patch on your breast, but it really
couldn't be helped."
"Never mind the patch," exclaimed the happy Woodman. "I am very
grateful to you, and shall never forget your kindness."
[Illustration]
"Don't speak of it," replied Oz.
Then the Tin Woodman went back to his friends, who wished him every
joy on account of his good fortune.
The Lion now walked to the Throne Room and knocked at the door.
"Come in," said Oz.
"I have come for my courage," announced the Lion, entering the room.
"Very well," answered the little man; "I will get it for you."
He went to a cupboard and reaching up to a high shelf took down
a square green bottle, the contents of which he poured into a
green-gold dish, beautifully carved. Placing this before the Cowardly
Lion, who sniffed at it as if he did not like it, the Wizard said,
"Drink."
"What is it?" asked the Lion.
"Well," answered Oz, "if it were inside of you, it would be courage.
You know, of course, that courage is always inside one; so that
this really cannot be called courage until you have swallowed it.
Therefore I advise you to drink it as soon as possible."
The Lion hesitated no longer, but drank till the dish was empty.
"How do you feel now?" asked Oz.
"Full of courage," replied the Lion, who went joyfully back to his
friends to tell them of his good fortune.
Oz, left to himself, smiled to think of his success in giving the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion exactly what they thought
they wanted. "How can I help being a humbug," he said, "when all
these people make me do things that everybody knows can't be done? It
was easy to make the Scarecrow and the Lion and the Woodman happy,
because they imagined I could do anything. But it will take more than
imagination to carry Dorothy back to Kansas, and I'm sure I don't
know how it can be done."
Chapter XVII.
How the Balloon
was Launched.
[Illustration]
For three days Dorothy heard nothing from Oz. These were sad days
for the little girl, although her friends were all quite happy and
contented. The Scarecrow told them there were wonderful thoughts in
his head; but he would not say what they were because he knew no one
could understand them but himself. When the Tin Woodman walked about
he felt his heart rattling around in his breast; and he told Dorothy
he had discovered it to be a kinder and more tender heart than the
one he had owned when he was made of flesh. The Lion declared he was
afraid of nothing on earth, and would gladly face an army of men or a
dozen of the fierce Kalidahs.
Thus each of the little party was satisfied except Dorothy, who
longed more than ever to get back to Kansas.
On the fourth day, to her great joy, Oz sent for her, and when she
entered the Throne Room he said, pleasantly:
"Sit down, my dear; I think I have found the way to get you out of
this country."
"And back to Kansas?" she asked, eagerly.
"Well, I'm not sure about Kansas," said Oz; "for I haven't the
faintest notion which way it lies. But the first thing to do is to
cross the desert, and then it should be easy to find your way home."
"How can I cross the desert?" she enquired.
"Well, I'll tell you what I think," said the little man. "You see,
when I came to this country it was in a balloon. You also came
through the air, being carried by a cyclone. So I believe the best
way to get across the desert will be through the air. Now, it is
quite beyond my powers to make a cyclone; but I've been thinking the
matter over, and I believe I can make a balloon."
"How?" asked Dorothy.
"A balloon," said Oz, "is made of silk, which is coated with glue to
keep the gas in it. I have plenty of silk in the Palace, so it will
be no trouble for us to make the balloon. But in all this country
there is no gas to fill the balloon with, to make it float."
"If it won't float," remarked Dorothy, "it will be of no use to us."
"True," answered Oz. "But there is another way to make it float,
which is to fill it with hot air. Hot air isn't as good as gas, for
if the air should get cold the balloon would come down in the desert,
and we should be lost."
"We!" exclaimed the girl; "are you going with me?"
"Yes, of course," replied Oz. "I am tired of being such a humbug. If I
should go out of this Palace my people would soon discover I am not a
Wizard, and then they would be vexed with me for having deceived them.
So I have to stay shut up in these rooms all day, and it gets tiresome.
I'd much rather go back to Kansas with you and be in a circus again."
[Illustration]
"I shall be glad to have your company," said Dorothy.
"Thank you," he answered. "Now, if you will help me sew the silk
together, we will begin to work on our balloon."
So Dorothy took a needle and thread, and as fast as Oz cut the strips
of silk into proper shape the girl sewed them neatly together. First
there was a strip of light green silk, then a strip of dark green and
then a strip of emerald green; for Oz had a fancy to make the balloon
in different shades of the color about them. It took three days to
sew all the strips together, but when it was finished they had a big
bag of green silk more than twenty feet long.
Then Oz painted it on the inside with a coat of thin glue, to make it
air-tight, after which he announced that the balloon was ready.
"But we must have a basket to ride in," he said. So he sent the
soldier with the green whiskers for a big clothes basket, which he
fastened with many ropes to the bottom of the balloon.
When it was all ready, Oz sent word to his people that he was going
to make a visit to a great brother Wizard who lived in the clouds.
The news spread rapidly throughout the city and everyone came to see
the wonderful sight.
Oz ordered the balloon carried out in front of the Palace, and the
people gazed upon it with much curiosity. The Tin Woodman had chopped a
big pile of wood, and now he made a fire of it, and Oz held the bottom
of the balloon over the fire so that the hot air that arose from it
would be caught in the silken bag. Gradually the balloon swelled out
and rose into the air, until finally the basket just touched the ground.
Then Oz got into the basket and said to all the people in a loud voice:
"I am now going away to make a visit. While I am gone the Scarecrow
will rule over you. I command you to obey him as you would me."
The balloon was by this time tugging hard at the rope that held it to
the ground, for the air within it was hot, and this made it so much
lighter in weight than the air without that it pulled hard to rise
into the sky.
"Come, Dorothy!" cried the Wizard; "hurry up, or the balloon will fly
away."
"I can't find Toto anywhere," replied Dorothy, who did not wish to
leave her little dog behind. Toto had run into the crowd to bark at
a kitten, and Dorothy at last found him. She picked him up and ran
toward the balloon.
[Illustration]
She was within a few steps of it, and Oz was holding out his hands
to help her into the basket, when, crack! went the ropes, and the
balloon rose into the air without her.
[Illustration]
"Come back!" she screamed; "I want to go, too!"
"I can't come back, my dear," called Oz from the basket. "Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" shouted everyone, and all eyes were turned upward to
where the Wizard was riding in the basket, rising every moment
farther and farther into the sky.
And that was the last any of them ever saw of Oz, the Wonderful Wizard,
though he may have reached Omaha safely, and be there now, for all we
know. But the people remembered him lovingly, and said to one another,
"Oz was always our friend. When he was here he built for us this
beautiful Emerald City, and now he is gone he has left the Wise
Scarecrow to rule over us."
Still, for many days they grieved over the loss of the Wonderful
Wizard, and would not be comforted.
Chapter XVIII.
Away to the
South.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Dorothy wept bitterly at the passing of her hope to get home to
Kansas again; but when she thought it all over she was glad she had
not gone up in a balloon. And she also felt sorry at losing Oz, and
so did her companions.
The Tin Woodman came to her and said,
"Truly I should be ungrateful if I failed to mourn for the man who gave
me my lovely heart. I should like to cry a little because Oz is gone,
if you will kindly wipe away my tears, so that I shall not rust."
[Illustration]
"With pleasure," she answered, and brought a towel at once. Then
the Tin Woodman wept for several minutes, and she watched the tears
carefully and wiped them away with the towel. When he had finished
he thanked her kindly and oiled himself thoroughly with his jewelled
oil-can, to guard against mishap.
The Scarecrow was now the ruler of the Emerald City, and although
he was not a Wizard the people were proud of him. "For," they said,
"there is not another city in all the world that is ruled by a
stuffed man." And, so far as they knew, they were quite right.
The morning after the balloon had gone up with Oz the four travellers
met in the Throne Room and talked matters over. The Scarecrow sat in
the big throne and the others stood respectfully before him.
"We are not so unlucky," said the new ruler; "for this Palace and
the Emerald City belong to us, and we can do just as we please. When
I remember that a short time ago I was up on a pole in a farmer's
cornfield, and that I am now the ruler of this beautiful City, I am
quite satisfied with my lot."
"I also," said the Tin Woodman, "am well pleased with my new heart;
and, really, that was the only thing I wished in all the world."
"For my part, I am content in knowing I am as brave as any beast that
ever lived, if not braver," said the Lion, modestly,
[Illustration: "_The Scarecrow sat on the big throne._"]
"If Dorothy would only be contented to live in the Emerald City,"
continued the Scarecrow, "we might all be happy together."
"But I don't want to live here," cried Dorothy. "I want to go to
Kansas, and live with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry."
"Well, then, what can be done?" enquired the Woodman.
The Scarecrow decided to think, and he thought so hard that the pins
and needles began to stick out of his brains. Finally he said:
"Why not call the Winged Monkeys, and asked them to carry you over
the desert?"
"I never thought of that!" said Dorothy, joyfully. "It's just the
thing. I'll go at once for the Golden Cap."
When she brought it into the Throne Room she spoke the magic words,
and soon the band of Winged Monkeys flew in through an open window
and stood beside her.
"This is the second time you have called us," said the Monkey King,
bowing before the little girl. "What do you wish?"
"I want you to fly with me to Kansas," said Dorothy.
But the Monkey King shook his head.
"That cannot be done," he said. "We belong to this country alone, and
cannot leave it. There has never been a Winged Monkey in Kansas yet,
and I suppose there never will be, for they don't belong there. We
shall be glad to serve you in any way in our power, but we cannot
cross the desert. Good-bye."
And with another bow the Monkey King spread his wings and flew away
through the window, followed by all his band.
Dorothy was almost ready to cry with disappointment.
"I have wasted the charm of the Golden Cap to no purpose," she said,
"for the Winged Monkeys cannot help me."
"It is certainly too bad!" said the tender hearted Woodman.
The Scarecrow was thinking again, and his head bulged out so horribly
that Dorothy feared it would burst.
"Let us call in the soldier with the green whiskers," he said, "and
ask his advice."
[Illustration]
So the soldier was summoned and entered the Throne Room timidly, for
while Oz was alive he never was allowed to come further than the door.
"This little girl," said the Scarecrow to the soldier, "wishes to
cross the desert. How can she do so?"
"I cannot tell," answered the soldier; "for nobody has ever crossed
the desert, unless it is Oz himself."
"Is there no one who can help me?" asked Dorothy, earnestly.
"Glinda might," he suggested.
"Who is Glinda?" enquired the Scarecrow.
"The Witch of the South. She is the most powerful of all the Witches,
and rules over the Quadlings. Besides, her castle stands on the edge
of the desert, so she may know a way to cross it."
"Glinda is a good Witch, isn't she?" asked the child.
"The Quadlings think she is good," said the soldier, "and she is kind
to everyone. I have heard that Glinda is a beautiful woman, who knows
how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived."
"How can I get to her castle?" asked Dorothy.
"The road is straight to the South," he answered, "but it is said to be
full of dangers to travellers. There are wild beasts in the woods, and
a race of queer men who do not like strangers to cross their country.
For this reason none of the Quadlings ever come to the Emerald City."
The soldier then left them and the Scarecrow said,
"It seems, in spite of dangers, that the best thing Dorothy can do is
to travel to the Land of the South and ask Glinda to help her. For,
of course, if Dorothy stays here she will never get back to Kansas."
"You must have been thinking again," remarked the Tin Woodman.
"I have," said the Scarecrow.
"I shall go with Dorothy," declared the Lion, "for I am tired of your
city and long for the woods and the country again. I am really a wild
beast, you know. Besides, Dorothy will need someone to protect her."
"That is true," agreed the Woodman. "My axe may be of service to her;
so I, also, will go with her to the Land of the South."
"When shall we start?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Are you going?" they asked, in surprise.
"Certainly. If it wasn't for Dorothy I should never have had brains.
She lifted me from the pole in the cornfield and brought me to the
Emerald City. So my good luck is all due to her, and I shall never
leave her until she starts back to Kansas for good and all."
"Thank you," said Dorothy, gratefully. "You are all very kind to me.
But I should like to start as soon as possible."
"We shall go to-morrow morning," returned the Scarecrow. "So now let
us all get ready, for it will be a long journey."
[Illustration]
Chapter XIX.
Attacked by the
Fighting Trees.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The next morning Dorothy kissed the pretty green girl good-bye, and
they all shook hands with the soldier with the green whiskers, who
had walked with them as far as the gate. When the Guardian of the
Gate saw them again he wondered greatly that they could leave the
beautiful City to get into new trouble. But he at once unlocked their
spectacles, which he put back into the green box, and gave them many
good wishes to carry with them.
"You are now our ruler," he said to the Scarecrow; "so you must come
back to us as soon as possible."
"I certainly shall if I am able," the Scarecrow replied; "but I must
help Dorothy to get home, first."
As Dorothy bade the good-natured Guardian a last farewell she said,
"I have been very kindly treated in your lovely City, and everyone
has been good to me. I cannot tell you how grateful I am."
"Don't try, my dear," he answered. "We should like to keep you with
us, but if it is your wish to return to Kansas I hope you will find a
way." He then opened the gate of the outer wall and they walked forth
and started upon their journey.
The sun shone brightly as our friends turned their faces toward the
Land of the South. They were all in the best of spirits, and laughed
and chatted together. Dorothy was once more filled with the hope of
getting home, and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were glad to be
of use to her. As for the Lion, he sniffed the fresh air with delight
and whisked his tail from side to side in pure joy at being in the
country again, while Toto ran around them and chased the moths and
butterflies, barking merrily all the time.
"City life does not agree with me at all," remarked the Lion, as they
walked along at a brisk pace. "I have lost much flesh since I lived
there, and now I am anxious for a chance to show the other beasts how
courageous I have grown."
[Illustration: "_The branches bent down and twined around him._"]
They now turned and took a last look at the Emerald City. All they
could see was a mass of towers and steeples behind the green walls,
and high up above everything the spires and dome of the Palace of Oz.
"Oz was not such a bad Wizard, after all," said the Tin Woodman, as
he felt his heart rattling around in his breast.
"He knew how to give me brains, and very good brains, too," said the
Scarecrow.
"If Oz had taken a dose of the same courage he gave me," added the
Lion, "he would have been a brave man."
Dorothy said nothing. Oz had not kept the promise he made her, but he
had done his best, so she forgave him. As he said, he was a good man,
even if he was a bad Wizard.
The first day's journey was through the green fields and bright
flowers that stretched about the Emerald City on every side. They
slept that night on the grass, with nothing but the stars over them;
and they rested very well indeed.
In the morning they travelled on until they came to a thick wood. There
was no way of going around it, for it seemed to extend to the right and
left as far as they could see; and, besides, they did not dare change
the direction of their journey for fear of getting lost. So they looked
for the place where it would be easiest to get into the forest.
The Scarecrow, who was in the lead, finally discovered a big tree
with such wide spreading-branches that there was room for the party
to pass underneath. So he walked forward to the tree, but just as he
came under the first branches they bent down and twined around him,
and the next minute he was raised from the ground and flung headlong
among his fellow travellers.
This did not hurt the Scarecrow, but it surprised him, and he looked
rather dizzy when Dorothy picked him up.
"Here is another space between the trees," called the Lion.
[Illustration]
"Let me try it first," said the Scarecrow, "for it doesn't hurt me to
get thrown about." He walked up to another tree, as he spoke, but its
branches immediately seized him and tossed him back again.
"This is strange," exclaimed Dorothy; "what shall we do?"
"The trees seem to have made up their minds to fight us, and stop our
journey," remarked the Lion.
"I believe I will try it myself," said the Woodman, and shouldering
his axe he marched up to the first tree that had handled the
Scarecrow so roughly. When a big branch bent down to seize him the
Woodman chopped at it so fiercely that he cut it in two. At once
the tree began shaking all its branches as if in pain, and the Tin
Woodman passed safely under it.
"Come on!" he shouted to the others; "be quick!"
They all ran forward and passed under the tree without injury, except
Toto, who was caught by a small branch and shaken until he howled. But
the Woodman promptly chopped off the branch and set the little dog free.
The other trees of the forest did nothing to keep them back, so they
made up their minds that only the first row of trees could bend down
their branches, and that probably these were the policemen of the
forest, and given this wonderful power in order to keep strangers out
of it.
The four travellers walked with ease through the trees until they came
to the further edge of the wood. Then, to their surprise, they found
before them a high wall, which seemed to be made of white china. It was
smooth, like the surface of a dish, and higher than their heads.
"What shall we do now?" asked Dorothy.
"I will make a ladder," said the Tin Woodman, "for we certainly must
climb over the wall."
Chapter XX.
The Dainty
China Country.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
While the Woodman was making a ladder from wood which he found in the
forest Dorothy lay down and slept, for she was tired by the long walk.
The Lion also curled himself up to sleep and Toto lay beside him.
The Scarecrow watched the Woodman while he worked, and said to him:
"I cannot think why this wall is here, nor what it is made of."
"Rest your brains and do not worry about the wall," replied the
Woodman; "when we have climbed over it we shall know what is on the
other side."
After a time the ladder was finished. It looked clumsy, but the Tin
Woodman was sure it was strong and would answer their purpose. The
Scarecrow waked Dorothy and the Lion and Toto, and told them that the
ladder was ready. The Scarecrow climbed up the ladder first, but he
was so awkward that Dorothy had to follow close behind and keep him
from falling off. When he got his head over the top of the wall the
Scarecrow said,
"Oh, my!"
"Go on," exclaimed Dorothy.
So the Scarecrow climbed further up and sat down on the top of the
wall, and Dorothy put her head over and cried,
"Oh, my!" just as the Scarecrow had done.
Then Toto came up, and immediately began to bark, but Dorothy made
him be still.
The Lion climbed the ladder next, and the Tin Woodman came last; but
both of them cried, "Oh, my!" as soon as they looked over the wall.
When they were all sitting in a row on the top of the wall they
looked down and saw a strange sight.
[Illustration: "_These people were all made of china._"]
Before them was a great stretch of country having a floor as smooth
and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered
around were many houses made entirely of china and painted in the
brightest colours. These houses were quite small, the biggest of them
reaching only as high as Dorothy's waist. There were also pretty
little barns, with china fences around them, and many cows and sheep
and horses and pigs and chickens, all made of china, were standing
about in groups.
But the strangest of all were the people who lived in this queer
country. There were milk-maids and shepherdesses, with bright-colored
bodices and golden spots all over their gowns; and princesses with
most gorgeous frocks of silver and gold and purple; and shepherds
dressed in knee-breeches with pink and yellow and blue stripes down
them, and golden buckles on their shoes; and princes with jewelled
crowns upon their heads, wearing ermine robes and satin doublets; and
funny clowns in ruffled gowns, with round red spots upon their cheeks
and tall, pointed caps. And, strangest of all, these people were all
made of china, even to their clothes, and were so small that the
tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy's knee.
No one did so much as look at the travellers at first, except one
little purple china dog with an extra-large head, which came to the
wall and barked at them in a tiny voice, afterwards running away again.
"How shall we get down?" asked Dorothy.
They found the ladder so heavy they could not pull it up, so the
Scarecrow fell off the wall and the others jumped down upon him so
that the hard floor would not hurt their feet. Of course they took
pains not to light on his head and get the pins in their feet. When
all were safely down they picked up the Scarecrow, whose body was
quite flattened out, and patted his straw into shape again.
"We must cross this strange place in order to get to the other side,"
said Dorothy; "for it would be unwise for us to go any other way
except due South."
They began walking through the country of the china people, and the
first thing they came to was a china milk-maid milking a china cow.
As they drew near the cow suddenly gave a kick and kicked over the
stool, the pail, and even the milk-maid herself, all falling on the
china ground with a great clatter.
Dorothy was shocked to see that the cow had broken her leg short off,
and that the pail was lying in several small pieces, while the poor
milk-maid had a nick in her left elbow.
"There!" cried the milk-maid, angrily; "see what you have done! My
cow has broken her leg, and I must take her to the mender's shop
and have it glued on again. What do you mean by coming here and
frightening my cow?"
"I'm very sorry," returned Dorothy; "please forgive us."
But the pretty milk-maid was much too vexed to make any answer. She
picked up the leg sulkily and led her cow away, the poor animal
limping on three legs. As she left them the milk-maid cast many
reproachful glances over her shoulder at the clumsy strangers,
holding her nicked elbow close to her side.
[Illustration]
Dorothy was quite grieved at this mishap.
"We must be very careful here," said the kind-hearted Woodman, "or we
may hurt these pretty little people so they will never get over it."
A little farther on Dorothy met a most beautiful dressed young
princess, who stopped short as she saw the strangers and started to
run away.
Dorothy wanted to see more of the Princess, so she ran after her; but
the china girl cried out,
"Don't chase me! don't chase me!"
She had such a frightened little voice that Dorothy stopped and said,
"Why not?"
"Because," answered the princess, also stopping, a safe distance
away, "if I run I may fall down and break myself."
"But couldn't you be mended?" asked the girl.
"Oh, yes; but one is never so pretty after being mended, you know,"
replied the princess.
"I suppose not," said Dorothy.
"Now there is Mr. Joker, one of our clowns," continued the china
lady, "who is always trying to stand upon his head. He has broken
himself so often that he is mended in a hundred places, and doesn't
look at all pretty. Here he comes now, so you can see for yourself."
Indeed, a jolly little Clown now came walking toward them, and
Dorothy could see that in spite of his pretty clothes of red and
yellow and green he was completely covered with cracks, running every
which way and showing plainly that he had been mended in many places.
The Clown put his hands in his pockets, and after puffing out his
cheeks and nodding his head at them saucily he said,
"My lady fair,
Why do you stare
At poor old Mr. Joker?
You're quite as stiff
And prim as if
You'd eaten up a poker!"
"Be quiet, sir!" said the princess; "can't you see these are
strangers, and should be treated with respect?"
"Well, that's respect, I expect," declared the Clown, and immediately
stood upon his head.
"Don't mind Mr. Joker," said the princess to Dorothy; "he is
considerably cracked in his head, and that makes him foolish."
[Illustration]
"Oh, I don't mind him a bit," said Dorothy. "But you are so
beautiful," she continued, "that I am sure I could love you dearly.
Won't you let me carry you back to Kansas and stand you on Aunt Em's
mantle-shelf? I could carry you in my basket."
"That would make me very unhappy," answered the china princess. "You
see, here in our own country we live contentedly, and can talk and
move around as we please. But whenever any of us are taken away
our joints at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look
pretty. Of course that is all that is expected of us when we are on
mantle-shelves and cabinets and drawing-room tables, but our lives
are much pleasanter here in our own country."
"I would not make you unhappy for all the world!" exclaimed Dorothy;
"so I'll just say good-bye."
"Good-bye," replied the princess.
They walked carefully through the china country. The little animals
and all the people scampered out of their way, fearing the strangers
would break them, and after an hour or so the travellers reached the
other side of the country and came to another china wall.
It was not as high as the first, however, and by standing upon the
Lion's back they all managed to scramble to the top. Then the Lion
gathered his legs under him and jumped on the wall; but just as he
jumped he upset a china church with his tail and smashed it all to
pieces.
"That was too bad," said Dorothy, "but really I think we were lucky
in not doing these little people more harm than breaking a cow's leg
and a church. They are all so brittle!"
"They are, indeed," said the Scarecrow, "and I am thankful I am made
of straw and cannot be easily damaged. There are worse things in the
world than being a Scarecrow."
Chapter XXI.
The Lion Becomes
the King of Beasts.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
After climbing down from the china wall the travellers found
themselves in a disagreeable country, full of bogs and marshes and
covered with tall, rank grass. It was difficult to walk far without
falling into muddy holes, for the grass was so thick that it hid them
from sight. However, by carefully picking their way, they got safely
along until they reached solid ground. But here the country seemed
wilder than ever, and after a long and tiresome walk through the
underbrush they entered another forest, where the trees were bigger
and older than any they had ever seen.
"This forest is perfectly delightful," declared the Lion, looking
around him with joy; "never have I seen a more beautiful place."
"It seems gloomy," said the Scarecrow.
"Not a bit of it," answered the Lion; "I should like to live here all
my life. See how soft the dried leaves are under your feet and how
rich and green the moss is that clings to these old trees. Surely no
wild beast could wish a pleasanter home."
"Perhaps there are wild beasts in the forest now," said Dorothy.
"I suppose there are," returned the Lion; "but I do not see any of
them about."
They walked through the forest until it became too dark to go any
farther. Dorothy and Toto and the Lion lay down to sleep, while the
Woodman and the Scarecrow kept watch over them as usual.
When morning came they started again. Before they had gone far they
heard a low rumble, as of the growling of many wild animals. Toto
whimpered a little but none of the others was frightened and they kept
along the well-trodden path until they came to an opening in the wood,
in which were gathered hundreds of beasts of every variety. There were
tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and foxes and all the others
in the natural history, and for a moment Dorothy was afraid. But the
Lion explained that the animals were holding a meeting, and he judged
by their snarling and growling that they were in great trouble.
As he spoke several of the beasts caught sight of him, and at once
the great assemblage hushed as if by magic. The biggest of the tigers
came up to the Lion and bowed, saying,
[Illustration]
"Welcome, O King of Beasts! You have come in good time to fight our
enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once more."
"What is your trouble?" asked the Lion, quietly.
"We are all threatened," answered the tiger, "by a fierce enemy which
has lately come into this forest. It is a most tremendous monster, like
a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as
a tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and as the monster
crawls through the forest he seizes an animal with a leg and drags it
to his mouth, where he eats it as a spider does a fly. Not one of us is
safe while this fierce creature is alive, and we had called a meeting
to decide how to take care of ourselves when you came among us."
The Lion thought for a moment.
"Are there any other lions in this forest?" he asked.
"No; there were some, but the monster has eaten them all. And,
besides, they were none of them nearly so large and brave as you."
"If I put an end to your enemy will you bow down to me and obey me as
King of the Forest?" enquired the Lion.
"We will do that gladly," returned the tiger; and all the other
beasts roared with a mighty roar: "We will!"
"Where is this great spider of yours now?" asked the Lion.
"Yonder, among the oak trees," said the tiger, pointing with his
fore-foot.
"Take good care of these friends of mine," said the Lion, "and I will
go at once to fight the monster."
He bade his comrades good-bye and marched proudly away to do battle
with the enemy.
The great spider was lying asleep when the Lion found him, and it
looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust. Its legs
were quite as long as the tiger had said, and it's body covered with
coarse black hair. It had a great mouth, with a row of sharp teeth
a foot long; but its head was joined to the pudgy body by a neck as
slender as a wasp's waist. This gave the Lion a hint of the best way
to attack the creature, and as he knew it was easier to fight it
asleep than awake, he gave a great spring and landed directly upon
the monster's back. Then, with one blow of his heavy paw, all armed
with sharp claws, he knocked the spider's head from its body. Jumping
down, he watched it until the long legs stopped wiggling, when he
knew it was quite dead.
The Lion went back to the opening where the beasts of the forest were
waiting for him and said, proudly, "You need fear your enemy no longer."
Then the beasts bowed down to the Lion as their King, and he promised
to come back and rule over them as soon as Dorothy was safely on her
way to Kansas.
Chapter XXII.
The Country
of the Quadlings
[Illustration]
[Illustration: "_The Head shot forward and struck the Scarecrow._"]
[Illustration]
The four travellers passed through the rest of the forest in safety,
and when they came out from its gloom saw before them a steep hill,
covered from top to bottom with great pieces of rock.
"That will be a hard climb," said the Scarecrow, "but we must get
over the hill, nevertheless."
So he led the way and the others followed. They had nearly reached
the first rock when they heard a rough voice cry out,
"Keep back!"
"Who are you?" asked the Scarecrow. Then a head showed itself over
the rock and the same voice said,
"This hill belongs to us, and we don't allow anyone to cross it."
"But we must cross it," said the Scarecrow. "We're going to the
country of the Quadlings."
"But you shall not!" replied the voice, and there stepped from behind
the rock the strangest man the travellers had ever seen.
He was quite short and stout and had a big head, which was flat at the
top and supported by a thick neck full of wrinkles. But he had no arms
at all, and, seeing this, the Scarecrow did not fear that so helpless a
creature could prevent them from climbing the hill. So he said,
"I'm sorry not to do as you wish, but we must pass over your hill
whether you like it or not," and he walked boldly forward.
As quick as lightning the man's head shot forward and his neck
stretched out until the top of the head, where it was flat, struck
the Scarecrow in the middle and sent him tumbling, over and over,
down the hill. Almost as quickly as it came the head went back to the
body, and the man laughed harshly as he said,
"It isn't as easy as you think!"
A chorus of boisterous laughter came from the other rocks, and
Dorothy saw hundreds of the armless Hammer-Heads upon the hillside,
one behind every rock.
The Lion became quite angry at the laughter caused by the Scarecrow's
mishap, and giving a loud roar that echoed like thunder he dashed up
the hill.
Again a head shot swiftly out, and the great Lion went rolling down
the hill as if he had been struck by a cannon ball.
Dorothy ran down and helped the Scarecrow to his feet, and the Lion
came up to her, feeling rather bruised and sore, and said,
"It is useless to fight people with shooting heads; no one can
withstand them."
"What can we do, then?" she asked.
"Call the Winged Monkeys," suggested the Tin Woodman; "you have still
the right to command them once more."
"Very well," she answered, and putting on the Golden Cap she uttered
the magic words. The Monkeys were as prompt as ever, and in a few
moments the entire band stood before her.
"What are your commands?" enquired the King of the Monkeys, bowing low.
"Carry us over the hill to the country of the Quadlings," answered
the girl.
"It shall be done," said the King, and at once the Winged Monkeys
caught the four travellers and Toto up in their arms and flew away
with them. As they passed over the hill the Hammer-Heads yelled with
vexation, and shot their heads high in the air; but they could not
reach the Winged Monkeys, which carried Dorothy and her comrades
safely over the hill and set them down in the beautiful country of
the Quadlings.
"This is the last time you can summon us," said the leader to
Dorothy; "so good-bye and good luck to you."
"Good-bye, and thank you very much," returned the girl; and the
Monkeys rose into the air and were out of sight in a twinkling.
The country of the Quadlings seemed rich and happy. There was field
upon field of ripening grain, with well-paved roads running between,
and pretty rippling brooks with strong bridges across them. The fences
and houses and bridges were all painted bright red, just as they had
been painted yellow in the country of the Winkies and blue in the
country of the Munchkins. The Quadlings themselves, who were short and
fat and looked chubby and good natured, were dressed all in red, which
showed bright against the green grass and the yellowing grain.
The Monkeys had set them down near a farm house, and the four
travellers walked up to it and knocked at the door. It was opened by
the farmer's wife, and when Dorothy asked for something to eat the
woman gave them all a good dinner, with three kinds of cake and four
kinds of cookies, and a bowl of milk for Toto.
"How far is it to the Castle of Glinda?" asked the child.
"It is not a great way," answered the farmer's wife. "Take the road
to the South and you will soon reach it."
Thanking the good woman, they started afresh and walked by the fields
and across the pretty bridges until they saw before them a very
beautiful Castle. Before the gates were three young girls, dressed
in handsome red uniforms trimmed with gold braid; and as Dorothy
approached one of them said to her,
"Why have you come to the South Country?"
"To see the Good Witch who rules here," she answered. "Will you take
me to her?"
"Let me have your name and I will ask Glinda if she will receive
you." They told who they were, and the girl soldier went into the
Castle. After a few moments she came back to say that Dorothy and the
others were to be admitted at once.
[Illustration]
Chapter XXIII.
The Good Witch
Grants Dorothy's
Wish.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: "_You must give me the Golden Cap._"]
[Illustration]
Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of
the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and
the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted
himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and
oiled his joints.
When they were all quite presentable they followed the soldier girl
into a big room where the Witch Glinda sat upon a throne of rubies.
She was both beautiful and young to their eyes. Her hair was a rich
red in color and fell in flowing ringlets over her shoulders. Her
dress was pure white; but her eyes were blue, and they looked kindly
upon the little girl.
"What can I do for you, my child?" she asked.
Dorothy told the Witch all her story; how the cyclone had brought
her to the Land of Oz, how she had found her companions, and of the
wonderful adventures they had met with.
"My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for
Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and
that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better
this year than they were last I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."
Glinda leaned forward and kissed the sweet, upturned face of the
loving little girl.
"Bless your dear heart," she said, "I am sure I can tell you of a way
to get back to Kansas." Then she added:
"But, if I do, you must give me the Golden Cap."
"Willingly!" exclaimed Dorothy; "indeed, it is of no use to me now,
and when you have it you can command the Winged Monkeys three times."
"And I think I shall need their service just those three times,"
answered Glinda, smiling.
Dorothy then gave her the Golden Cap, and the Witch said to the
Scarecrow,
"What will you do when Dorothy has left us?"
"I will return to the Emerald City," he replied, "for Oz has made me
its ruler and the people like me. The only thing that worries me is
how to cross the hill of the Hammer-Heads."
"By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys to
carry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for it
would be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler."
"Am I really wonderful?" asked the Scarecrow.
"You are unusual," replied Glinda.
Turning to the Tin Woodman, she asked:
"What will become of you when Dorothy leaves this country?"
He leaned on his axe and thought a moment. Then he said,
"The Winkies were very kind to me, and wanted me to rule over them
after the Wicked Witch died. I am fond of the Winkies, and if I could
get back again to the country of the West I should like nothing
better than to rule over them forever."
"My second command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "will be that
they carry you safely to the land of the Winkies. Your brains may not
be so large to look at as those of the Scarecrow, but you are really
brighter than he is--when you are well polished--and I am sure you
will rule the Winkies wisely and well."
Then the Witch looked at the big, shaggy Lion and asked,
"When Dorothy has returned to her own home, what will become of you?"
"Over the hill of the Hammer-Heads," he answered, "lies a grand old
forest, and all the beasts that live there have made me their King.
If I could only get back to this forest I would pass my life very
happily there."
"My third command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "shall be to
carry you to your forest. Then, having used up the powers of the
Golden Cap, I shall give it to the King of the Monkeys, that he and
his band may thereafter be free for evermore."
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion now thanked the Good
Witch earnestly for her kindness, and Dorothy exclaimed,
[Illustration]
"You are certainly as good as you are beautiful! But you have not yet
told me how to get back to Kansas."
"Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda.
"If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt
Em the very first day you came to this country."
"But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried the
Scarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer's
cornfield."
"And I should not have had my lovely heart," said the Tin Woodman. "I
might have stood and rusted in the forest till the end of the world."
"And I should have lived a coward forever," declared the Lion, "and
no beast in all the forest would have had a good word to say to me."
"This is all true," said Dorothy, "and I am glad I was of use to
these good friends. But now that each of them has had what he most
desired, and each is happy in having a kingdom to rule beside, I
think I should like to go back to Kansas."
"The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. And
one of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you to
any place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made in
the wink of an eye. All you have to do is to knock the heels together
three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."
"If that is so," said the child, joyfully, "I will ask them to carry
me back to Kansas at once."
She threw her arms around the Lion's neck and kissed him, patting
his big head tenderly. Then she kissed the Tin Woodman, who was
weeping in a way most dangerous to his joints. But she hugged the
soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissing
his painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowful
parting from her loving comrades.
Glinda the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the little
girl a good-bye kiss, and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindness
she had shown to her friends and herself.
Dorothy now took Toto up solemnly in her arms, and having said one
last good-bye she clapped the heels of her shoes together three
times, saying,
"Take me home to Aunt Em!"
* * * * *
[Illustration]
Instantly she was whirling through the air, so swiftly that all she
could see or feel was the wind whistling past her ears.
The Silver Shoes took but three steps, and then she stopped so
suddenly that she rolled over upon the grass several times before she
knew where she was.
At length, however, she sat up and looked about her.
"Good gracious!" she cried.
For she was sitting on the broad Kansas prairie, and just before
her was the new farm-house Uncle Henry built after the cyclone had
carried away the old one. Uncle Henry was milking the cows in the
barnyard, and Toto had jumped out of her arms and was running toward
the barn, barking joyously.
Dorothy stood up and found she was in her stocking-feet. For the
Silver Shoes had fallen off in her flight through the air, and were
lost forever in the desert.
[Illustration]
Chapter XXIV.
Home Again.
Aunt Em had just come out of the house to water the cabbages when she
looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her.
"My darling child!" she cried, folding the little girl in her arms and
covering her face with kisses; "where in the world did you come from?"
"From the Land of Oz," said Dorothy, gravely. "And here is Toto, too.
And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!"
[Illustration]
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout.
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