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+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum**
+#6 in our L. Frank Baum series
+#5 in the Oz series
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+
+Ozma of Oz
+
+by L. Frank Baum
+
+April, 1996 [Etext #486]
+
+
+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum**
+*****This file should be named ozmoz10.txt or ozmoz10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, ozmoz11.txt.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ozmoz10a.txt.
+
+
+This etext was created by John N White, and was proofed by
+Dennis Amundson, Fargo, North Dakota.  Etext was scanned in
+from an unabridged edition of the text.
+
+
+
+
+
+Ozma of Oz
+
+A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of
+Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin
+Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and
+the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good
+People too Numerous to Mention
+Faithfully Recorded Herein
+
+by L. Frank Baum
+The Author of The Wizard of Oz,
+The Land of Oz, etc.
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+--Author's Note--
+1.  The Girl in the Chicken Coop
+2.  The Yellow Hen
+3.  Letters in the Sand
+4.  Tiktok, the Machine Man
+5.  Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail
+6.  The Heads of Langwidere
+7.  Ozma of Oz to the Rescue
+8.  The Hungry Tiger
+9.  The Royal Family of Ev
+10.  The Giant with the Hammer
+11.  The Nome King
+12.  The Eleven Guesses
+13.  The Nome King Laughs
+14.  Dorothy Tries to be Brave
+15.  Billina Frightens the Nome King
+16.  Purple, Green and Gold
+17.  The Scarecrow Wins the Fight
+18.  The Fate of the Tin Woodman
+19.  The King of Ev
+20.  The Emerald City
+21.  Dorothy's Magic Belt
+
+
+
+
+Author's Note
+
+
+My friends the children are responsible for this new "Oz Book," as
+they were for the last one, which was called The Land of Oz.  Their
+sweet little letters plead to know "more about Dorothy"; and they ask:
+"What became of the Cowardly Lion?" and "What did Ozma do
+afterward?"--meaning, of course, after she became the Ruler of Oz.
+And some of them suggest plots to me, saying: "Please have Dorothy go
+to the Land of Oz again"; or, "Why don't you make Ozma and Dorothy
+meet, and have a good time together?"  Indeed, could I do all that my
+little friends ask, I would be obliged to write dozens of books to
+satisfy their demands.  And I wish I could, for I enjoy writing these
+stories just as much as the children say they enjoy reading them.
+
+Well, here is "more about Dorothy," and about our old friends the
+Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and about the Cowardly Lion, and Ozma,
+and all the rest of them; and here, likewise, is a good deal about
+some new folks that are queer and unusual.  One little friend, who
+read this story before it was printed, said to me: "Billina is REAL
+OZZY, Mr. Baum, and so are Tiktok and the Hungry Tiger."
+
+If this judgment is unbiased and correct, and the little folks find
+this new story "real Ozzy," I shall be very glad indeed that I wrote
+it.  But perhaps I shall get some more of those very welcome letters
+from my readers, telling me just how they like "Ozma of Oz."  I hope
+so, anyway.
+
+
+L.  FRANK BAUM.
+
+MACATAWA, 1907.
+
+
+
+1.  The Girl in the Chicken Coop
+
+
+The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples
+across its surface.  Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples
+until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became
+billows.  The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the
+tops of houses.  Some of them, indeed, rolled as high as the tops of
+tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs between the great
+billows were like deep valleys.
+
+All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean,
+which the mischievous wind caused without any good reason whatever,
+resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is liable to
+cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage.
+
+At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out upon
+the waters.  When the waves began to tumble and toss and to grow
+bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped
+sidewise--first one way and then the other--and was jostled around so
+roughly that even the sailor-men had to hold fast to the ropes and
+railings to keep themselves from being swept away by the wind or
+pitched headlong into the sea.
+
+And the clouds were so thick in the sky that the sunlight couldn't get
+through them; so that the day grew dark as night, which added to the
+terrors of the storm.
+
+The Captain of the ship was not afraid, because he had seen storms
+before, and had sailed his ship through them in safety; but he knew
+that his passengers would be in danger if they tried to stay on deck,
+so he put them all into the cabin and told them to stay there until
+after the storm was over, and to keep brave hearts and not be scared,
+and all would be well with them.
+
+Now, among these passengers was a little Kansas girl named Dorothy
+Gale, who was going with her Uncle Henry to Australia, to visit some
+relatives they had never before seen.  Uncle Henry, you must know, was
+not very well, because he had been working so hard on his Kansas farm
+that his health had given way and left him weak and nervous.  So he
+left Aunt Em at home to watch after the hired men and to take care of
+the farm, while he traveled far away to Australia to visit his cousins
+and have a good rest.
+
+Dorothy was eager to go with him on this journey, and Uncle Henry
+thought she would be good company and help cheer him up; so he decided
+to take her along.  The little girl was quite an experienced traveller,
+for she had once been carried by a cyclone as far away from home as
+the marvelous Land of Oz, and she had met with a good many adventures
+in that strange country before she managed to get back to Kansas
+again.  So she wasn't easily frightened, whatever happened, and when
+the wind began to howl and whistle, and the waves began to tumble and
+toss, our little girl didn't mind the uproar the least bit.
+
+"Of course we'll have to stay in the cabin," she said to Uncle
+Henry and the other passengers, "and keep as quiet as possible
+until the storm is over.  For the Captain says if we go on deck
+we may be blown overboard."
+
+No one wanted to risk such an accident as that, you may be sure;
+so all the passengers stayed huddled up in the dark cabin,
+listening to the shrieking of the storm and the creaking of the
+masts and rigging and trying to keep from bumping into one another
+when the ship tipped sidewise.
+
+Dorothy had almost fallen asleep when she was aroused with a start to
+find that Uncle Henry was missing.  She couldn't imagine where he had
+gone, and as he was not very strong she began to worry about him, and
+to fear he might have been careless enough to go on deck.  In that
+case he would be in great danger unless he instantly came down again.
+
+The fact was that Uncle Henry had gone to lie down in his little
+sleeping-berth, but Dorothy did not know that.  She only remembered
+that Aunt Em had cautioned her to take good care of her uncle, so at
+once she decided to go on deck and find him, in spite of the fact that
+the tempest was now worse than ever, and the ship was plunging in a
+really dreadful manner.  Indeed, the little girl found it was as much
+as she could do to mount the stairs to the deck, and as soon as she
+got there the wind struck her so fiercely that it almost tore away the
+skirts of her dress.  Yet Dorothy felt a sort of joyous excitement in
+defying the storm, and while she held fast to the railing she peered
+around through the gloom and thought she saw the dim form of a man
+clinging to a mast not far away from her.  This might be her uncle, so
+she called as loudly as she could:
+
+"Uncle Henry!  Uncle Henry!"
+
+But the wind screeched and howled so madly that she scarce heard
+her own voice, and the man certainly failed to hear her, for he
+did not move.
+
+Dorothy decided she must go to him; so she made a dash forward, during
+a lull in the storm, to where a big square chicken-coop had been
+lashed to the deck with ropes.  She reached this place in safety, but
+no sooner had she seized fast hold of the slats of the big box in
+which the chickens were kept than the wind, as if enraged because the
+little girl dared to resist its power, suddenly redoubled its fury.
+With a scream like that of an angry giant it tore away the ropes that
+held the coop and lifted it high into the air, with Dorothy still
+clinging to the slats.  Around and over it whirled, this way and that,
+and a few moments later the chicken-coop dropped far away into the
+sea, where the big waves caught it and slid it up-hill to a foaming
+crest and then down-hill into a deep valley, as if it were nothing
+more than a plaything to keep them amused.
+
+Dorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she didn't lose her
+presence of mind even for a second.  She kept tight hold of the stout
+slats and as soon as she could get the water out of her eyes she saw
+that the wind had ripped the cover from the coop, and the poor
+chickens were fluttering away in every direction, being blown by the
+wind until they looked like feather dusters without handles.  The
+bottom of the coop was made of thick boards, so Dorothy found she was
+clinging to a sort of raft, with sides of slats, which readily bore up
+her weight.  After coughing the water out of her throat and getting
+her breath again, she managed to climb over the slats and stand upon
+the firm wooden bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.
+
+"Why, I've got a ship of my own!" she thought, more amused than
+frightened at her sudden change of condition; and then, as the coop
+climbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked eagerly around for the
+ship from which she had been blown.
+
+It was far, far away, by this time.  Perhaps no one on board had yet
+missed her, or knew of her strange adventure.  Down into a valley
+between the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed another
+crest the ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long way off.
+Soon it had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and then Dorothy gave a
+sigh of regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began to wonder what
+was going to happen to her next.
+
+Just now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with nothing to
+keep her afloat but a miserable wooden hen-coop that had a plank
+bottom and slatted sides, through which the water constantly splashed
+and wetted her through to the skin!  And there was nothing to eat when
+she became hungry--as she was sure to do before long--and no fresh
+water to drink and no dry clothes to put on.
+
+"Well, I declare!" she exclaimed, with a laugh.  "You're in a pretty
+fix, Dorothy Gale, I can tell you! and I haven't the least idea how
+you're going to get out of it!"
+
+As if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and the
+gray clouds overhead changed to inky blackness.  But the wind, as if
+satisfied at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped blowing this
+ocean and hurried away to another part of the world to blow something
+else; so that the waves, not being joggled any more, began to quiet
+down and behave themselves.
+
+It was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided; otherwise,
+brave though she was, I fear she might have perished.  Many children,
+in her place, would have wept and given way to despair; but because
+Dorothy had encountered so many adventures and come safely through
+them it did not occur to her at this time to be especially afraid.
+She was wet and uncomfortable, it is true; but, after sighing that one
+sigh I told you of, she managed to recall some of her customary
+cheerfulness and decided to patiently await whatever her fate might be.
+
+By and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky overhead,
+with a silver moon shining sweetly in the middle of it and little
+stars winking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their way.  The coop
+did not toss around any more, but rode the waves more gently--almost
+like a cradle rocking--so that the floor upon which Dorothy stood was
+no longer swept by water coming through the slats.  Seeing this, and
+being quite exhausted by the excitement of the past few hours, the
+little girl decided that sleep would be the best thing to restore her
+strength and the easiest way in which she could pass the time.  The
+floor was damp and she was herself wringing wet, but fortunately this
+was a warm climate and she did not feel at all cold.
+
+So she sat down in a corner of the coop, leaned her back against the
+slats, nodded at the friendly stars before she closed her eyes, and
+was asleep in half a minute.
+
+
+
+2.  The Yellow Hen
+
+
+A strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that day
+had dawned and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky.  She had
+been dreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in the
+old barn-yard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around her;
+and at first, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she really
+imagined she was there.
+
+"Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut!  Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut!"
+
+Ah; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her.  Surely it
+was a hen cackling!  But her wide-open eyes first saw, through the
+slats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now calm and placid,
+and her thoughts flew back to the past night, so full of danger and
+discomfort.  Also she began to remember that she was a waif of the
+storm, adrift upon a treacherous and unknown sea.
+
+"Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-w-w--kut!"
+
+"What's that?" cried Dorothy, starting to her feet.
+
+"Why, I've just laid an egg, that's all," replied a small, but sharp
+and distinct voice, and looking around her the little girl discovered
+a yellow hen squatting in the opposite corner of the coop.
+
+"Dear me!" she exclaimed, in surprise; "have YOU been here all
+night, too?"
+
+"Of course," answered the hen, fluttering her wings and yawning.
+"When the coop blew away from the ship I clung fast to this corner,
+with claws and beak, for I knew if I fell into the water I'd surely be
+drowned.  Indeed, I nearly drowned, as it was, with all that water
+washing over me.  I never was so wet before in my life!"
+
+"Yes," agreed Dorothy, "it was pretty wet, for a time, I know.  But do
+you feel comfor'ble now?"
+
+"Not very.  The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it has your
+dress, and I feel better since I laid my morning egg.  But what's to
+become of us, I should like to know, afloat on this big pond?"
+
+"I'd like to know that, too," said Dorothy.  "But, tell me; how does
+it happen that you are able to talk?  I thought hens could only cluck
+and cackle."
+
+"Why, as for that," answered the yellow hen thoughtfully, "I've
+clucked and cackled all my life, and never spoken a word before this
+morning, that I can remember.  But when you asked a question, a minute
+ago, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to answer you.  So
+I spoke, and I seem to keep on speaking, just as you and other human
+beings do.  Strange, isn't it?"
+
+"Very," replied Dorothy.  "If we were in the Land of Oz, I wouldn't
+think it so queer, because many of the animals can talk in that fairy
+country.  But out here in the ocean must be a good long way from Oz."
+
+"How is my grammar?" asked the yellow hen, anxiously.  "Do I speak
+quite properly, in your judgment?"
+
+"Yes," said Dorothy, "you do very well, for a beginner."
+
+"I'm glad to know that," continued the yellow hen, in a confidential
+tone; "because, if one is going to talk, it's best to talk correctly.
+The red rooster has often said that my cluck and my cackle were quite
+perfect; and now it's a comfort to know I am talking properly."
+
+"I'm beginning to get hungry," remarked Dorothy.  "It's breakfast
+time; but there's no breakfast."
+
+"You may have my egg," said the yellow hen.  "I don't care for it,
+you know."
+
+"Don't you want to hatch it?" asked the little girl, in surprise.
+
+"No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I've a nice snug nest,
+in some quiet place, with a baker's dozen of eggs under me.  That's
+thirteen, you know, and it's a lucky number for hens.  So you may as
+well eat this egg."
+
+"Oh, I couldn't POSS'BLY eat it, unless it was cooked," exclaimed
+Dorothy.  "But I'm much obliged for your kindness, just the same."
+
+"Don't mention it, my dear," answered the hen, calmly, and began
+preening her feathers.
+
+For a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea.  She was
+still thinking of the egg, though; so presently she asked:
+
+"Why do you lay eggs, when you don't expect to hatch them?"
+
+"It's a habit I have," replied the yellow hen.  "It has always been my
+pride to lay a fresh egg every morning, except when I'm moulting.  I
+never feel like having my morning cackle till the egg is properly
+laid, and without the chance to cackle I would not be happy."
+
+"It's strange," said the girl, reflectively; "but as I'm not a hen I
+can't be 'spected to understand that."
+
+"Certainly not, my dear."
+
+Then Dorothy fell silent again.  The yellow hen was some company, and
+a bit of comfort, too; but it was dreadfully lonely out on the big
+ocean, nevertheless.
+
+After a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat of the
+coop, which was a little above Dorothy's head when she was sitting
+upon the bottom, as she had been doing for some moments past.
+
+"Why, we are not far from land!" exclaimed the hen.
+
+"Where?  Where is it?" cried Dorothy, jumping up in great excitement.
+
+"Over there a little way," answered the hen, nodding her head in a
+certain direction.  "We seem to be drifting toward it, so that
+before noon we ought to find ourselves upon dry land again."
+
+"I shall like that!" said Dorothy, with a little sigh, for her feet
+and legs were still wetted now and then by the sea-water that came
+through the open slats.
+
+"So shall I," answered her companion.  "There is nothing in the world
+so miserable as a wet hen."
+
+The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it grew
+more distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by the
+little girl in the floating hen-coop.  Next to the water was a broad
+beach of white sand and gravel, and farther back were several rocky
+hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees that marked
+the edge of a forest.  But there were no houses to be seen, nor any
+sign of people who might inhabit this unknown land.
+
+"I hope we shall find something to eat," said Dorothy, looking eagerly
+at the pretty beach toward which they drifted.  "It's long past
+breakfast time, now."
+
+"I'm a trifle hungry, myself," declared the yellow hen.
+
+"Why don't you eat the egg?" asked the child.  "You don't need to have
+your food cooked, as I do."
+
+"Do you take me for a cannibal?" cried the hen, indignantly.  "I do
+not know what I have said or done that leads you to insult me!"
+
+"I beg your pardon, I'm sure Mrs.--Mrs.--by the way, may I inquire
+your name, ma'am?" asked the little girl.
+
+"My name is Bill," said the yellow hen, somewhat gruffly.
+
+"Bill!  Why, that's a boy's name."
+
+"What difference does that make?"
+
+"You're a lady hen, aren't you?"
+
+"Of course.  But when I was first hatched out no one could tell
+whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little boy at the
+farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of me because I
+was the only yellow chicken in the whole brood.  When I grew up, and
+he found that I didn't crow and fight, as all the roosters do, he did
+not think to change my name, and every creature in the barn-yard, as
+well as the people in the house, knew me as 'Bill.'  So Bill I've
+always been called, and Bill is my name."
+
+"But it's all wrong, you know," declared Dorothy, earnestly; "and, if
+you don't mind, I shall call you 'Billina.'  Putting the 'eena' on the
+end makes it a girl's name, you see."
+
+"Oh, I don't mind it in the least," returned the yellow hen.  "It
+doesn't matter at all what you call me, so long as I know the name
+means ME."
+
+"Very well, Billina.  MY name is Dorothy Gale--just Dorothy to my
+friends and Miss Gale to strangers.  You may call me Dorothy, if you
+like.  We're getting very near the shore.  Do you suppose it is too
+deep for me to wade the rest of the way?"
+
+"Wait a few minutes longer.  The sunshine is warm and pleasant, and we
+are in no hurry."
+
+"But my feet are all wet and soggy," said the girl.  "My dress is dry
+enough, but I won't feel real comfor'ble till I get my feet dried."
+
+She waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big
+wooden coop grated gently on the sandy beach and the dangerous voyage
+was over.
+
+It did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may be
+sure.  The yellow hen flew to the sands at once, but Dorothy had to
+climb over the high slats.  Still, for a country girl, that was not
+much of a feat, and as soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew off
+her wet shoes and stockings and spread them upon the sun-warmed beach
+to dry.
+
+Then she sat down and watched Billina, who was pick-pecking away with
+her sharp bill in the sand and gravel, which she scratched up and
+turned over with her strong claws.
+
+"What are you doing?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Getting my breakfast, of course," murmured the hen, busily pecking away.
+
+"What do you find?" inquired the girl, curiously.
+
+"Oh, some fat red ants, and some sand-bugs, and once in a while a tiny
+crab.  They are very sweet and nice, I assure you."
+
+"How dreadful!" exclaimed Dorothy, in a shocked voice.
+
+"What is dreadful?" asked the hen, lifting her head to gaze with one
+bright eye at her companion.
+
+"Why, eating live things, and horrid bugs, and crawly ants.  You ought
+to be 'SHAMED of yourself!"
+
+"Goodness me!" returned the hen, in a puzzled tone; "how queer you
+are, Dorothy!  Live things are much fresher and more wholesome than
+dead ones, and you humans eat all sorts of dead creatures."
+
+"We don't!" said Dorothy.
+
+"You do, indeed," answered Billina.  "You eat lambs and sheep and cows
+and pigs and even chickens."
+
+"But we cook 'em," said Dorothy, triumphantly.
+
+"What difference does that make?"
+
+"A good deal," said the girl, in a graver tone.  "I can't just 'splain
+the diff'rence, but it's there.  And, anyhow, we never eat such
+dreadful things as BUGS."
+
+"But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs," retorted the yellow hen,
+with an odd cackle.  "So you are just as bad as we chickens are."
+
+This made Dorothy thoughtful.  What Billina said was true enough, and
+it almost took away her appetite for breakfast.  As for the yellow
+hen, she continued to peck away at the sand busily, and seemed quite
+contented with her bill-of-fare.
+
+Finally, down near the water's edge, Billina stuck her bill deep into
+the sand, and then drew back and shivered.
+
+"Ow!" she cried.  "I struck metal, that time, and it nearly broke
+my beak."
+
+"It prob'bly was a rock," said Dorothy, carelessly.
+
+"Nonsense.  I know a rock from metal, I guess," said the hen.
+"There's a different feel to it."
+
+"But there couldn't be any metal on this wild, deserted seashore,"
+persisted the girl.  "Where's the place?  I'll dig it up, and prove to
+you I'm right,"
+
+Billina showed her the place where she had "stubbed her bill," as she
+expressed it, and Dorothy dug away the sand until she felt something
+hard.  Then, thrusting in her hand, she pulled the thing out, and
+discovered it to be a large sized golden key--rather old, but still
+bright and of perfect shape.
+
+"What did I tell you?" cried the hen, with a cackle of triumph.  "Can
+I tell metal when I bump into it, or is the thing a rock?"
+
+"It's metal, sure enough," answered the child, gazing thoughtfully at
+the curious thing she had found.  "I think it is pure gold, and it must
+have lain hidden in the sand for a long time.  How do you suppose it came
+there, Billina?  And what do you suppose this mysterious key unlocks?"
+
+"I can't say," replied the hen.  "You ought to know more about locks
+and keys than I do."
+
+Dorothy glanced around.  There was no sign of any house in that part
+of the country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a lock and
+every lock must have a purpose.  Perhaps the key had been lost by
+somebody who lived far away, but had wandered on this very shore.
+
+Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her dress
+and then slowly drew on her shoes and stockings, which the sun had
+fully dried.
+
+"I b'lieve, Billina," she said, "I'll have a look 'round, and see if I
+can find some breakfast."
+
+
+
+3.  Letters in the Sand
+
+
+Walking a little way back from the water's edge, toward the grove of
+trees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of white sand that seemed to
+have queer signs marked upon its surface, just as one would write upon
+sand with a stick.
+
+"What does it say?" she asked the yellow hen, who trotted along beside
+her in a rather dignified fashion.
+
+"How should I know?" returned the hen.  "I cannot read."
+
+"Oh!  Can't you?"
+
+"Certainly not; I've never been to school, you know."
+
+"Well, I have," admitted Dorothy; "but the letters are big and far
+apart, and it's hard to spell out the words."
+
+But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered that
+these words were written in the sand:
+
+
+"BEWARE THE WHEELERS!"
+
+
+"That's rather strange," declared the hen, when Dorothy had read aloud
+the words.  "What do you suppose the Wheelers are?"
+
+"Folks that wheel, I guess.  They must have wheelbarrows, or baby-cabs
+or hand-carts," said Dorothy.
+
+"Perhaps they're automobiles," suggested the yellow hen.  "There is no
+need to beware of baby-cabs and wheelbarrows; but automobiles are
+dangerous things.  Several of my friends have been run over by them."
+
+"It can't be auto'biles," replied the girl, "for this is a new, wild
+country, without even trolley-cars or tel'phones.  The people here
+haven't been discovered yet, I'm sure; that is, if there ARE any
+people.  So I don't b'lieve there CAN be any auto'biles, Billina."
+
+"Perhaps not," admitted the yellow hen.  "Where are you going now?"
+
+"Over to those trees, to see if I can find some fruit or nuts,"
+answered Dorothy.
+
+She tramped across the sand, skirting the foot of one of the little
+rocky hills that stood near, and soon reached the edge of the forest.
+
+At first she was greatly disappointed, because the nearer trees were
+all punita, or cotton-wood or eucalyptus, and bore no fruit or nuts at
+all.  But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the little girl
+came upon two trees that promised to furnish her with plenty of food.
+
+One was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters on
+all the limbs, and upon the biggest and ripest boxes the word "Lunch"
+could be read, in neat raised letters.  This tree seemed to bear all
+the year around, for there were lunch-box blossoms on some of the
+branches, and on others tiny little lunch-boxes that were as yet quite
+green, and evidently not fit to eat until they had grown bigger.
+
+The leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented a
+very pleasing appearance to the hungry little girl.
+
+But the tree next to the lunch-box tree was even more wonderful, for
+it bore quantities of tin dinner-pails, which were so full and heavy
+that the stout branches bent underneath their weight.  Some were small
+and dark-brown in color; those larger were of a dull tin color; but
+the really ripe ones were pails of bright tin that shone and glistened
+beautifully in the rays of sunshine that touched them.
+
+Dorothy was delighted, and even the yellow hen acknowledged that she
+was surprised.
+
+The little girl stood on tip-toe and picked one of the nicest and
+biggest lunch-boxes, and then she sat down upon the ground and eagerly
+opened it.  Inside she found, nicely wrapped in white papers, a ham
+sandwich, a piece of sponge-cake, a pickle, a slice of new cheese and
+an apple.  Each thing had a separate stem, and so had to be picked off
+the side of the box; but Dorothy found them all to be delicious, and
+she ate every bit of luncheon in the box before she had finished.
+
+"A lunch isn't zactly breakfast," she said to Billina, who sat beside
+her curiously watching.  "But when one is hungry one can eat even
+supper in the morning, and not complain."
+
+"I hope your lunch-box was perfectly ripe," observed the yellow hen,
+in a anxious tone.  "So much sickness is caused by eating green things."
+
+"Oh, I'm sure it was ripe," declared Dorothy, "all, that is, 'cept the
+pickle, and a pickle just HAS to be green, Billina.  But everything
+tasted perfectly splendid, and I'd rather have it than a church
+picnic.  And now I think I'll pick a dinner-pail, to have when I get
+hungry again, and then we'll start out and 'splore the country, and
+see where we are."
+
+"Haven't you any idea what country this is?" inquired Billina.
+
+"None at all.  But listen: I'm quite sure it's a fairy country, or
+such things as lunch-boxes and dinner-pails wouldn't be growing upon
+trees.  Besides, Billina, being a hen, you wouldn't be able to talk in
+any civ'lized country, like Kansas, where no fairies live at all."
+
+"Perhaps we're in the Land of Oz," said the hen, thoughtfully.
+
+"No, that can't be," answered the little girl; because I've been to
+the Land of Oz, and it's all surrounded by a horrid desert that no one
+can cross."
+
+"Then how did you get away from there again?" asked Billina.
+
+"I had a pair of silver shoes, that carried me through the air; but I
+lost them," said Dorothy.
+
+"Ah, indeed," remarked the yellow hen, in a tone of unbelief.
+
+"Anyhow," resumed the girl, "there is no seashore near the Land of Oz,
+so this must surely be some other fairy country."
+
+While she was speaking she selected a bright and pretty dinner-pail
+that seemed to have a stout handle, and picked it from its branch.
+Then, accompanied by the yellow hen, she walked out of the shadow of
+the trees toward the sea-shore.
+
+They were part way across the sands when Billina suddenly cried, in a
+voice of terror:
+
+"What's that?"
+
+Dorothy turned quickly around, and saw coming out of a path that led
+from between the trees the most peculiar person her eyes had ever beheld.
+
+It had the form of a man, except that it walked, or rather rolled,
+upon all fours, and its legs were the same length as its arms, giving
+them the appearance of the four legs of a beast.  Yet it was no beast
+that Dorothy had discovered, for the person was clothed most
+gorgeously in embroidered garments of many colors, and wore a straw
+hat perched jauntily upon the side of its head.  But it differed from
+human beings in this respect, that instead of hands and feet there
+grew at the end of its arms and legs round wheels, and by means of
+these wheels it rolled very swiftly over the level ground.  Afterward
+Dorothy found that these odd wheels were of the same hard substance
+that our finger-nails and toe-nails are composed of, and she also
+learned that creatures of this strange race were born in this queer
+fashion.  But when our little girl first caught sight of the first
+individual of a race that was destined to cause her a lot of trouble,
+she had an idea that the brilliantly-clothed personage was on
+roller-skates, which were attached to his hands as well as to his feet.
+
+"Run!" screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in great fright.
+"It's a Wheeler!"
+
+"A Wheeler?" exclaimed Dorothy.  "What can that be?"
+
+"Don't you remember the warning in the sand: 'Beware the Wheelers'?
+Run, I tell you--run!"
+
+So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came after
+her in full chase.
+
+Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great
+procession of Wheelers emerging from the forest--dozens and dozens of
+them--all clad in splendid, tight-fitting garments and all rolling
+swiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange cries.
+
+"They're sure to catch us!" panted the girl, who was still carrying the
+heavy dinner-pail she had picked.  "I can't run much farther, Billina."
+
+"Climb up this hill,--quick!" said the hen; and Dorothy found she was
+very near to the heap of loose and jagged rocks they had passed on
+their way to the forest.  The yellow hen was even now fluttering among
+the rocks, and Dorothy followed as best she could, half climbing and
+half tumbling up the rough and rugged steep.
+
+She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill a
+moment after her; but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the
+creature stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.
+
+Dorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling, henny way.
+
+"Don't hurry, my dear," cried Billina.  "They can't follow us among
+these rocks, so we're safe enough now."
+
+Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for she was
+all out of breath.
+
+The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, but it
+was evident that their wheels would not roll upon the rough and jagged
+rocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow Dorothy and the hen
+to where they had taken refuge.  But they circled all around the
+little hill, so the child and Billina were fast prisoners and could
+not come down without being captured.
+
+Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a
+threatening manner, and it seemed they were able to speak as well as
+to make their dreadful outcries, for several of them shouted:
+
+"We'll get you in time, never fear!  And when we do get you, we'll
+tear you into little bits!"
+
+"Why are you so cruel to me?" asked Dorothy.  "I'm a stranger in your
+country, and have done you no harm."
+
+"No harm!" cried one who seemed to be their leader.  "Did you not pick
+our lunch-boxes and dinner-pails?  Have you not a stolen dinner-pail
+still in your hand?"
+
+"I only picked one of each," she answered.  "I was hungry, and I
+didn't know the trees were yours."
+
+"That is no excuse," retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most
+gorgeous suit.  "It is the law here that whoever picks a dinner-pail
+without our permission must die immediately."
+
+"Don't you believe him," said Billina.  "I'm sure the trees do not
+belong to these awful creatures.  They are fit for any mischief, and
+it's my opinion they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn't
+picked a dinner-pail."
+
+"I think so, too," agreed Dorothy.  "But what shall we do now?"
+
+"Stay where we are," advised the yellow hen.  "We are safe from the
+Wheelers until we starve to death, anyhow; and before that time comes
+a good many things can happen."
+
+
+
+4.  Tiktok the Machine Man
+
+
+After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back into the
+forest, leaving only three of their number to guard the hill.  These
+curled themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go to sleep on the
+sands; but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled by this trick, so
+they remained in security among the rocks and paid no attention to
+their cunning enemies.
+
+Finally the hen, fluttering over the mound, exclaimed: "Why,
+here's a path!"
+
+So Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there, sure
+enough, was a smooth path cut between the rocks.  It seemed to wind
+around the mound from top to bottom, like a cork-screw, twisting here
+and there between the rough boulders but always remaining level and
+easy to walk upon.
+
+Indeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll up
+this path; but when she followed it to the foot of the mound she found
+that several big pieces of rock had been placed directly across the
+end of the way, thus preventing any one outside from seeing it and
+also preventing the Wheelers from using it to climb up the mound.
+
+Then Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she came
+to the very top of the hill, where a solitary round rock stood that
+was bigger than any of the others surrounding it.  The path came to an
+end just beside this great rock, and for a moment it puzzled the girl
+to know why the path had been made at all.  But the hen, who had been
+gravely following her around and was now perched upon a point of rock
+behind Dorothy, suddenly remarked:
+
+"It looks something like a door, doesn't it?"
+
+"What looks like a door?" enquired the child.
+
+"Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you," replied Billina, whose
+little round eyes were very sharp and seemed to see everything.  "It
+runs up one side and down the other, and across the top and the bottom."
+
+"What does?"
+
+"Why, the crack.  So I think it must be a door of rock, although I do
+not see any hinges."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Dorothy, now observing for the first time the crack in
+the rock.  "And isn't this a key-hole, Billina?" pointing to a round,
+deep hole at one side of the door.
+
+"Of course.  If we only had the key, now, we could unlock it and see
+what is there," replied the yellow hen.  "May be it's a treasure
+chamber full of diamonds and rubies, or heaps of shining gold, or--"
+
+"That reminds me," said Dorothy, "of the golden key I picked up on the
+shore.  Do you think that it would fit this key-hole, Billina?"
+
+"Try it and see," suggested the hen.
+
+So Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the golden
+key.  And when she had put it into the hole of the rock, and turned
+it, a sudden sharp snap was heard; then, with a solemn creak that made
+the shivers run down the child's back, the face of the rock fell outward,
+like a door on hinges, and revealed a small dark chamber just inside.
+
+"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy, shrinking back as far as the narrow
+path would let her.
+
+For, standing within the narrow chamber of rock, was the form of a
+man--or, at least, it seemed like a man, in the dim light.  He was
+only about as tall as Dorothy herself, and his body was round as a
+ball and made out of burnished copper.  Also his head and limbs were
+copper, and these were jointed or hinged to his body in a peculiar
+way, with metal caps over the joints, like the armor worn by knights
+in days of old.  He stood perfectly still, and where the light struck
+upon his form it glittered as if made of pure gold.
+
+"Don't be frightened," called Billina, from her perch.  "It isn't alive."
+
+"I see it isn't," replied the girl, drawing a long breath.
+
+"It is only made out of copper, like the old kettle in the barn-yard
+at home," continued the hen, turning her head first to one side and
+then to the other, so that both her little round eyes could examine
+the object.
+
+"Once," said Dorothy, "I knew a man made out of tin, who was a woodman
+named Nick Chopper.  But he was as alive as we are, 'cause he was born
+a real man, and got his tin body a little at a time--first a leg and
+then a finger and then an ear--for the reason that he had so many
+accidents with his axe, and cut himself up in a very careless manner."
+
+"Oh," said the hen, with a sniff, as if she did not believe the story.
+
+"But this copper man," continued Dorothy, looking at it with big eyes,
+"is not alive at all, and I wonder what it was made for, and why it
+was locked up in this queer place."
+
+"That is a mystery," remarked the hen, twisting her head to arrange
+her wing-feathers with her bill.
+
+Dorothy stepped inside the little room to get a back view of the
+copper man, and in this way discovered a printed card that hung
+between his shoulders, it being suspended from a small copper peg at
+the back of his neck.  She unfastened this card and returned to the
+path, where the light was better, and sat herself down upon a slab of
+rock to read the printing.
+
+"What does it say?" asked the hen, curiously.
+
+Dorothy read the card aloud, spelling out the big words with some
+difficulty; and this is what she read:
+
+
++----------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                                                                |
+|                       SMITH & TINKER'S                         |
+|          Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,               |
+|              Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking                 |
+|                       MECHANICAL MAN                           |
+|        Fitted with our Special Clock-Work Attachment.          |
+|        Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.     |
+|        Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev.     |
+| All infringements will be promptly Prosecuted according to Law.|
+|                                                                |
++----------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+"How queer!" said the yellow hen.  "Do you think that is all true,
+my dear?"
+
+"I don't know," answered Dorothy, who had more to read.  "Listen to
+this, Billina:"
+
+
++--------------------------------------------------+
+|                                                  |
+|           DIRECTIONS FOR USING:                  |
+| For THINKING:--Wind the Clock-work Man under his |
+|       left arm, (marked No. 1.)                  |
+| For SPEAKING:--Wind the Clock-work Man under his |
+|       right arm, (marked No. 2.)                 |
+| For WALKING and ACTION:--Wind Clock-work in the  |
+|       middle of his back, (marked No. 3.)        |
+| N. B.--This Mechanism is guaranteed to work      |
+|       perfectly for a thousand years.            |
+|                                                  |
++--------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+"Well, I declare!" gasped the yellow hen, in amazement; "if the copper
+man can do half of these things he is a very wonderful machine.  But I
+suppose it is all humbug, like so many other patented articles."
+
+"We might wind him up," suggested Dorothy, "and see what he'll do."
+
+"Where is the key to the clock-work?" asked Billina.
+
+"Hanging on the peg where I found the card."
+
+"Then," said the hen, "let us try him, and find out if he will go.  He
+is warranted for a thousand years, it seems; but we do not know how
+long he has been standing inside this rock."
+
+Dorothy had already taken the clock key from the peg.
+
+"Which shall I wind up first?" she asked, looking again at the
+directions on the card.
+
+"Number One, I should think," returned Billina.  "That makes him
+think, doesn't it?"
+
+"Yes," said Dorothy, and wound up Number One, under the left arm.
+
+"He doesn't seem any different," remarked the hen, critically.
+
+"Why, of course not; he is only thinking, now," said Dorothy.
+
+"I wonder what he is thinking about."
+
+"I'll wind up his talk, and then perhaps he can tell us," said the girl.
+
+So she wound up Number Two, and immediately the clock-work man said,
+without moving any part of his body except his lips:
+
+"Good morn-ing, lit-tle girl.  Good morn-ing, Mrs. Hen."
+
+The words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and they were uttered
+all in the same tone, without any change of expression whatever; but
+both Dorothy and Billina understood them perfectly.
+
+"Good morning, sir," they answered, politely.
+
+"Thank you for res-cu-ing me," continued the machine, in the same
+monotonous voice, which seemed to be worked by a bellows inside of
+him, like the little toy lambs and cats the children squeeze so that
+they will make a noise.
+
+"Don't mention it," answered Dorothy.  And then, being very curious,
+she asked: "How did you come to be locked up in this place?"
+
+"It is a long sto-ry," replied the copper man; "but I will tell it to
+you brief-ly.  I was pur-chased from Smith & Tin-ker, my
+man-u-fac-tur-ers, by a cru-el King of Ev, named Ev-ol-do, who used to
+beat all his serv-ants un-til they died.  How-ev-er, he was not a-ble
+to kill me, be-cause I was not a-live, and one must first live in
+or-der to die.  So that all his beat-ing did me no harm, and mere-ly
+kept my cop-per bod-y well pol-ished.
+
+"This cru-el king had a love-ly wife and ten beau-ti-ful
+chil-dren--five boys and five girls--but in a fit of an-ger he sold
+them all to the Nome King, who by means of his mag-ic arts changed
+them all in-to oth-er forms and put them in his un-der-ground pal-ace
+to or-na-ment the rooms.
+
+"Af-ter-ward the King of Ev re-gret-ted his wick-ed ac-tion, and tried
+to get his wife and chil-dren a-way from the Nome King, but with-out
+a-vail.  So, in de-spair, he locked me up in this rock, threw the key
+in-to the o-cean, and then jumped in af-ter it and was drowned."
+
+"How very dreadful!" exclaimed Dorothy.
+
+"It is, in-deed," said the machine.  "When I found my-self
+im-pris-oned I shout-ed for help un-til my voice ran down; and then I
+walked back and forth in this lit-tle room un-til my ac-tion ran down;
+and then I stood still and thought un-til my thoughts ran down.
+Af-ter that I re-mem-ber noth-ing un-til you wound me up a-gain."
+
+"It's a very wonderful story," said Dorothy, "and proves that the Land
+of Ev is really a fairy land, as I thought it was."
+
+"Of course it is," answered the copper man.  "I do not sup-pose such a
+per-fect ma-chine as I am could be made in an-y place but a fair-y land."
+
+"I've never seen one in Kansas," said Dorothy.
+
+"But where did you get the key to un-lock this door?" asked the
+clock-work voice.
+
+"I found it on the shore, where it was prob'ly washed up by the
+waves," she answered.  "And now, sir, if you don't mind, I'll wind up
+your action."
+
+"That will please me ve-ry much," said the machine.
+
+So she wound up Number Three, and at once the copper man in a somewhat
+stiff and jerky fashion walked out of the rocky cavern, took off his
+copper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before Dorothy.
+Said he:
+
+"From this time forth I am your o-be-di-ent ser-vant.  What-ev-er you
+com-mand, that I will do will-ing-ly--if you keep me wound up."
+
+"What is your name?" she asked.
+
+"Tik-tok," he replied.  "My for-mer mas-ter gave me that name be-cause
+my clock-work al-ways ticks when it is wound up."
+
+"I can hear it now," said the yellow hen.
+
+"So can I," said Dorothy.  And then she added, with some anxiety: "You
+don't strike, do you?"
+
+"No," answered Tiktok; "and there is no a-larm con-nec-ted with
+my ma-chin-er-y.  I can tell the time, though, by speak-ing,
+and as I nev-er sleep I can wak-en you at an-y hour you wish
+to get up in the morn-ing."
+
+"That's nice," said the little girl; "only I never wish to get up in
+the morning."
+
+"You can sleep until I lay my egg," said the yellow hen.  "Then, when
+I cackle, Tiktok will know it is time to waken you."
+
+"Do you lay your egg very early?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"About eight o'clock," said Billina.  "And everybody ought to be up by
+that time, I'm sure."
+
+
+
+5.  Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail
+
+
+"Now Tiktok," said Dorothy, "the first thing to be done is to find a
+way for us to escape from these rocks.  The Wheelers are down below,
+you know, and threaten to kill us."
+
+"There is no rea-son to be a-fraid of the Wheel-ers," said Tiktok, the
+words coming more slowly than before.
+
+"Why not?" she asked.
+
+"Be-cause they are ag-g-g--gr-gr-r-r-"
+
+He gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands
+frantically until suddenly he became motionless, with one arm in the
+air and the other held stiffly before him with all the copper fingers
+of the hand spread out like a fan.
+
+"Dear me!" said Dorothy, in a frightened tone.  "What can the matter be?"
+
+"He's run down, I suppose," said the hen, calmly.  "You couldn't have
+wound him up very tight."
+
+"I didn't know how much to wind him," replied the girl; "but I'll try
+to do better next time."
+
+She ran around the copper man to take the key from the peg at the back
+of his neck, but it was not there.
+
+"It's gone!" cried Dorothy, in dismay.
+
+"What's gone?" asked Billina.
+
+"The key."
+
+"It probably fell off when he made that low bow to you," returned the
+hen.  "Look around, and see if you cannot find it again."
+
+Dorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl
+discovered the clock-key, which had fallen into a crack of the rock.
+
+At once she wound up Tiktok's voice, taking care to give the key as
+many turns as it would go around.  She found this quite a task, as you
+may imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock, but the machine
+man's first words were to assure Dorothy that he would now run for at
+least twenty-four hours.
+
+"You did not wind me much, at first," he calmly said, "and I told
+you that long sto-ry a-bout King Ev-ol-do; so it is no won-der that
+I ran down."
+
+She next rewound the action clock-work, and then Billina advised her to
+carry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would not get lost again.
+
+"And now," said Dorothy, when all this was accomplished, "tell me what
+you were going to say about the Wheelers."
+
+"Why, they are noth-ing to be fright-en'd at," said the machine.
+"They try to make folks be-lieve that they are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but
+as a mat-ter of fact the Wheel-ers are harm-less e-nough to an-y one
+that dares to fight them.  They might try to hurt a lit-tle girl like
+you, per-haps, be-cause they are ver-y mis-chiev-ous.  But if I had a
+club they would run a-way as soon as they saw me."
+
+"Haven't you a club?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"No," said Tiktok.
+
+"And you won't find such a thing among these rocks, either," declared
+the yellow hen.
+
+"Then what shall we do?" asked the girl.
+
+"Wind up my think-works tight-ly, and I will try to think of some
+oth-er plan," said Tiktok.
+
+So Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he was thinking
+she decided to eat her dinner.  Billina was already pecking away at
+the cracks in the rocks, to find something to eat, so Dorothy sat down
+and opened her tin dinner-pail.
+
+In the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice
+lemonade.  It was covered by a cup, which might also, when removed, be
+used to drink the lemonade from.  Within the pail were three slices of
+turkey, two slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad, four slices of
+bread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and nine large
+strawberries, and some nuts and raisins.  Singularly enough, the nuts
+in this dinner-pail grew already cracked, so that Dorothy had no
+trouble in picking out their meats to eat.
+
+She spread the feast upon the rock beside her and began her dinner,
+first offering some of it to Tiktok, who declined because, as he said,
+he was merely a machine.  Afterward she offered to share with Billina,
+but the hen murmured something about "dead things" and said she
+preferred her bugs and ants.
+
+"Do the lunch-box trees and the dinner-pail trees belong to the
+Wheelers?" the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in eating her meal.
+
+"Of course not," he answered.  "They be-long to the roy-al fam-il-y of
+Ev, on-ly of course there is no roy-al fam-il-y just now be-cause King
+Ev-ol-do jumped in-to the sea and his wife and ten chil-dren have been
+trans-formed by the Nome King.  So there is no one to rule the Land of
+Ev, that I can think of.  Per-haps it is for this rea-son that the
+Wheel-ers claim the trees for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and
+din-ners to eat them-selves.  But they be-long to the King, and you will
+find the roy-al "E" stamped up-on the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner pail."
+
+Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal mark
+upon it, as Tiktok had said.
+
+"Are the Wheelers the only folks living in the Land of Ev?" enquired
+the girl.
+
+"No; they on-ly in-hab-it a small por-tion of it just back of the
+woods," replied the machine.  "But they have al-ways been
+mis-chiev-ous and im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter, King Ev-ol-do,
+used to car-ry a whip with him, when he walked out, to keep the
+crea-tures in or-der.  When I was first made the Wheel-ers tried to
+run o-ver me, and butt me with their heads; but they soon found I was
+built of too sol-id a ma-ter-i-al for them to in-jure."
+
+"You seem very durable," said Dorothy.  "Who made you?"
+
+"The firm of Smith & Tin-ker, in the town of Evna, where the roy-al
+pal-ace stands," answered Tiktok.
+
+"Did they make many of you?" asked the child.
+
+"No; I am the on-ly au-to-mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they ev-er
+com-plet-ed," he replied.  "They were ver-y won-der-ful in-ven-tors,
+were my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in all they did."
+
+"I am sure of that," said Dorothy.  "Do they live in the town of
+Evna now?"
+
+"They are both gone," replied the machine.  "Mr. Smith was an art-ist,
+as well as an in-vent-or, and he paint-ed a pic-ture of a riv-er
+which was so nat-ur-al that, as he was reach-ing a-cross it to paint
+some flow-ers on the op-po-site bank, he fell in-to the wa-ter
+and was drowned."
+
+"Oh, I'm sorry for that!" exclaimed the little girl.
+
+"Mis-ter Tin-ker," continued Tiktok, "made a lad-der so tall that he
+could rest the end of it a-gainst the moon, while he stood on the
+high-est rung and picked the lit-tle stars to set in the points of the
+king's crown.  But when he got to the moon Mis-ter Tin-ker found it
+such a love-ly place that he de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up
+the lad-der af-ter him and we have nev-er seen him since."
+
+"He must have been a great loss to this country," said Dorothy, who
+was by this time eating her custard pie.
+
+"He was," acknowledged Tiktok.  "Also he is a great loss to me.  For
+if I should get out of or-der I do not know of an-y one a-ble to
+re-pair me, be-cause I am so com-pli-cat-ed.  You have no i-de-a how
+full of ma-chin-er-y I am."
+
+"I can imagine it," said Dorothy, readily.
+
+"And now," continued the machine, "I must stop talk-ing and be-gin
+think-ing a-gain of a way to es-cape from this rock."  So he turned
+half way around, in order to think without being disturbed.
+
+"The best thinker I ever knew," said Dorothy to the yellow hen,
+"was a scarecrow."
+
+"Nonsense!" snapped Billina.
+
+"It is true," declared Dorothy.  "I met him in the Land of Oz,
+and he traveled with me to the city of the great Wizard of Oz,
+so as to get some brains, for his head was only stuffed with straw.
+But it seemed to me that he thought just as well before he got his
+brains as he did afterward."
+
+"Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the Land of Oz?"
+enquired Billina, who seemed a little cross--perhaps because bugs
+were scarce.
+
+"What rubbish?" asked the child, who was now finishing her
+nuts and raisins.
+
+"Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk, and a tin
+woodman who is alive, and a scarecrow who can think."
+
+"They are all there," said Dorothy, "for I have seen them."
+
+"I don't believe it!" cried the hen, with a toss of her head.
+
+"That's 'cause you're so ign'rant," replied the girl, who was a little
+offended at her friend Billina's speech.
+
+"In the Land of Oz," remarked Tiktok, turning toward them, "an-y-thing
+is pos-si-ble.  For it is a won-der-ful fair-y coun-try."
+
+"There, Billina! what did I say?" cried Dorothy.  And then she turned
+to the machine and asked in an eager tone: "Do you know the Land of
+Oz, Tiktok?"
+
+"No; but I have heard a-bout it," said the cop-per man.  "For it is
+on-ly sep-a-ra-ted from this Land of Ev by a broad des-ert."
+
+Dorothy clapped her hands together delightedly.
+
+"I'm glad of that!" she exclaimed.  "It makes me quite happy to be so
+near my old friends.  The scarecrow I told you of, Billina, is the
+King of the Land of Oz."
+
+"Par-don me.  He is not the king now," said Tiktok.
+
+"He was when I left there," declared Dorothy.
+
+"I know," said Tiktok, "but there was a rev-o-lu-tion in the Land of
+Oz, and the Scare-crow was de-posed by a sol-dier wo-man named
+Gen-er-al Jin-jur.  And then Jin-jur was de-posed by a lit-tle girl
+named Oz-ma, who was the right-ful heir to the throne and now rules
+the land un-der the ti-tle of Oz-ma of Oz."
+
+"That is news to me," said Dorothy, thoughtfully.  "But I s'pose
+lots of things have happened since I left the Land of Oz.  I wonder
+what has become of the Scarecrow, and of the Tin Woodman, and the
+Cowardly Lion.  And I wonder who this girl Ozma is, for I never heard
+of her before."
+
+But Tiktok did not reply to this.  He had turned around again to
+resume his thinking.
+
+Dorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as not to
+be wasteful of good things, and the yellow hen forgot her dignity far
+enough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which she ate rather
+greedily, although she had so lately pretended to despise the things
+that Dorothy preferred as food.
+
+By this time Tiktok approached them with his stiff bow.
+
+"Be kind e-nough to fol-low me," he said, "and I will lead you a-way
+from here to the town of Ev-na, where you will be more com-for-ta-ble,
+and al-so I will pro-tect you from the Wheel-ers."
+
+"All right," answered Dorothy, promptly.  "I'm ready!"
+
+
+
+6.  The Heads of Langwidere
+
+
+They walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going
+first, Dorothy following him, and the yellow hen trotting along last
+of all.
+
+At the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed aside
+with ease the rocks that encumbered the way.  Then he turned to
+Dorothy and said:
+
+"Let me car-ry your din-ner-pail."
+
+She placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers closed
+firmly over the stout handle.
+
+Then the little procession marched out upon the level sands.
+
+As soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw them,
+they began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly toward the
+little group, as if to capture them or bar their way.  But when the
+foremost had approached near enough, Tiktok swung the tin dinner-pail
+and struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head with the queer
+weapon.  Perhaps it did not hurt very much, but it made a great noise,
+and the Wheeler uttered a howl and tumbled over upon its side.  The
+next minute it scrambled to its wheels and rolled away as fast as it
+could go, screeching with fear at the same time.
+
+"I told you they were harm-less," began Tiktok; but before he could
+say more another Wheeler was upon them.  Crack! went the dinner-pail
+against its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen feet away; and that
+was enough for this Wheeler, also.  It rolled away after the first
+one, and the third did not wait to be pounded with the pail, but
+joined its fellows as quickly as its wheels would whirl.
+
+The yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch upon
+Tiktok's shoulder, she said:
+
+"Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of, too.  Now we
+are free from those ugly creatures."
+
+But just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest, and
+relying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely upon
+Tiktok.  Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her tight, and
+the machine embraced the form of the little girl with his left arm,
+the better to protect her.  Then the Wheelers were upon them.
+
+Rattlety, bang! bang! went the dinner-pail in every direction, and
+it made so much clatter bumping against the heads of the Wheelers that
+they were much more frightened than hurt and fled in a great panic.
+All, that is, except their leader.  This Wheeler had stumbled against
+another and fallen flat upon his back, and before he could get his
+wheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had fastened his copper fingers
+into the neck of the gorgeous jacket of his foe and held him fast.
+
+"Tell your peo-ple to go a-way," commanded the machine.
+
+The leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so Tiktok
+shook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the Wheeler's teeth
+rattled together with a noise like hailstones on a window pane.  Then,
+as soon as the creature could get its breath, it shouted to the others
+to roll away, which they immediately did.
+
+"Now," said Tiktok, "you shall come with us and tell me what
+I want to know."
+
+"You'll be sorry for treating me in this way," whined the Wheeler.
+"I'm a terribly fierce person."
+
+"As for that," answered Tiktok, "I am only a ma-chine, and can-not
+feel sor-row or joy, no mat-ter what hap-pens.  But you are wrong to
+think your-self ter-ri-ble or fierce."
+
+"Why so?" asked the Wheeler.
+
+"Be-cause no one else thinks as you do.  Your wheels make you
+help-less to in-jure an-y one.  For you have no fists and can not
+scratch or e-ven pull hair.  Nor have you an-y feet to kick with.
+All you can do is to yell and shout, and that does not hurt an-y
+one at all."
+
+The Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy's great surprise.
+
+"Now I and my people are ruined forever!" he sobbed; "for you have
+discovered our secret.  Being so helpless, our only hope is to make
+people afraid of us, by pretending we are very fierce and terrible,
+and writing in the sand warnings to Beware the Wheelers.  Until now we
+have frightened everyone, but since you have discovered our weakness
+our enemies will fall upon us and make us very miserable and unhappy."
+
+"Oh, no," exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see this beautifully
+dressed Wheeler so miserable; "Tiktok will keep your secret, and so
+will Billina and I.  Only, you must promise not to try to frighten
+children any more, if they come near to you."
+
+"I won't--indeed I won't!" promised the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and
+becoming more cheerful.  "I'm not really bad, you know; but we have to
+pretend to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking us."
+
+"That is not ex-act-ly true," said Tiktok, starting to walk toward the
+path through the forest, and still holding fast to his prisoner, who
+rolled slowly along beside him.  "You and your peo-ple are full of
+mis-chief, and like to both-er those who fear you.  And you are of-ten
+im-pu-dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too.  But if you will try to cure
+those faults I will not tell any-one how help-less you are."
+
+"I'll try, of course," replied the Wheeler, eagerly.  "And thank you,
+Mr. Tiktok, for your kindness."
+
+"I am on-ly a ma-chine," said Tiktok.  "I can not be kind an-y more
+than I can be sor-ry or glad.  I can on-ly do what I am wound up to do."
+
+"Are you wound up to keep my secret?" asked the Wheeler, anxiously.
+
+"Yes; if you be-have your-self.  But tell me: who rules the Land of Ev
+now?" asked the machine.
+
+"There is no ruler," was the answer, "because every member of the
+royal family is imprisoned by the Nome King.  But the Princess
+Langwidere, who is a niece of our late King Evoldo, lives in a part of
+the royal palace and takes as much money out of the royal treasury as
+she can spend.  The Princess Langwidere is not exactly a ruler, you
+see, because she doesn't rule; but she is the nearest approach to a
+ruler we have at present."
+
+"I do not re-mem-ber her," said Tiktok.  "What does she look like?"
+
+"That I cannot say," replied the Wheeler, "although I have seen her
+twenty times.  For the Princess Langwidere is a different person every
+time I see her, and the only way her subjects can recognize her at all
+is by means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain
+attached to her left wrist.  When we see the key we know we are
+beholding the Princess."
+
+"That is strange," said Dorothy, in astonishment.  "Do you mean to say
+that so many different princesses are one and the same person?"
+
+"Not exactly," answered the Wheeler.  "There is, of course, but one
+princess; but she appears to us in many forms, which are all more or
+less beautiful."
+
+"She must be a witch," exclaimed the girl.
+
+"I do not think so," declared the Wheeler.  "But there is some mystery
+connected with her, nevertheless.  She is a very vain creature, and
+lives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire
+herself whichever way she looks."
+
+No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of the
+forest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before them--a
+beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and green fields, with
+pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads
+that led in every direction.
+
+In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends
+were standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace, which
+glittered brightly against their background of blue sky.  The palace
+was surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery.
+Several tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were pleasant
+walks bordered by rows of white marble statuary.
+
+All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or admire
+until they had advanced along the road to a position quite near to the
+palace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights when her little
+party entered the grounds and approached the big front door of the
+king's own apartments.  To their disappointment they found the door
+tightly closed.  A sign was tacked to the panel which read as follows:
+
+
++----------------------------+
+|                            |
+|       OWNER ABSENT.        |
+|                            |
+| Please Knock at the Third  |
+| Door in the Left Wing.     |
+|                            |
++----------------------------+
+
+
+"Now," said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler, "you must show us the way
+to the Left Wing."
+
+"Very well," agreed the prisoner, "it is around here at the right."
+
+"How can the left wing be at the right?" demanded Dorothy, who feared
+the Wheeler was fooling them.
+
+"Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn down, so the
+one on the right is the only one left.  It is a trick of the Princess
+Langwidere to prevent visitors from annoying her."
+
+Then the captive led them around to the wing, after which the machine
+man, having no further use for the Wheeler, permitted him to depart
+and rejoin his fellows.  He immediately rolled away at a great pace
+and was soon lost to sight.
+
+Tiktok now counted the doors in the wing and knocked loudly upon the
+third one.
+
+It was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay ribbons, who
+bowed respectfully and asked:
+
+"What do you wish, good people?"
+
+"Are you the Princess Langwidere?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"No, miss; I am her servant," replied the maid.
+
+"May I see the Princess, please?"
+
+"I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant you an audience,"
+said the maid.  "Step in, please, and take a seat in the drawing-room."
+
+So Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine.  But as the
+yellow hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried "Shoo!"
+and flapped her apron in Billina's face.
+
+"Shoo, yourself!" retorted the hen, drawing back in anger and ruffling
+up her feathers.  "Haven't you any better manners than that?"
+
+"Oh, do you talk?" enquired the maid, evidently surprised.
+
+"Can't you hear me?" snapped Billina.  "Drop that apron, and get out of
+the doorway, so that I may enter with my friends!"
+
+"The Princess won't like it," said the maid, hesitating.
+
+"I don't care whether she likes it or not," replied Billina, and
+fluttering her wings with a loud noise she flew straight at the maid's
+face.  The little servant at once ducked her head, and the hen reached
+Dorothy's side in safety.
+
+"Very well," sighed the maid; "if you are all ruined because of this
+obstinate hen, don't blame me for it.  It isn't safe to annoy the
+Princess Langwidere."
+
+"Tell her we are waiting, if you please," Dorothy requested, with
+dignity.  "Billina is my friend, and must go wherever I go."
+
+Without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished
+drawing-room, lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in through
+beautiful stained-glass windows.
+
+"Remain here," she said.  "What names shall I give the Princess?"
+
+"I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas," replied the child; "and this gentleman
+is a machine named Tiktok, and the yellow hen is my friend Billina."
+
+The little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several passages
+and mounting two marble stairways before she came to the apartments
+occupied by her mistress.
+
+Princess Langwidere's sitting-room was paneled with great mirrors,
+which reached from the ceiling to the floor; also the ceiling was
+composed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished silver that
+reflected every object upon it.  So when Langwidere sat in her easy
+chair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her form was
+mirrored hundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and floor, and
+whichever way the lady turned her head she could see and admire her
+own features.  This she loved to do, and just as the maid entered she
+was saying to herself:
+
+"This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite attractive.  I
+must wear it more often than I have done of late, although it may not
+be the best of my collection."
+
+"You have company, Your Highness," announced the maid, bowing low.
+
+"Who is it?" asked Langwidere, yawning.
+
+"Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Mr. Tiktok and Billina," answered the maid.
+
+"What a queer lot of names!" murmured the Princess, beginning to
+be a little interested.  "What are they like?  Is Dorothy Gale of
+Kansas pretty?"
+
+"She might be called so," the maid replied.
+
+"And is Mr. Tiktok attractive?" continued the Princess.
+
+"That I cannot say, Your Highness.  But he seems very bright.  Will
+Your Gracious Highness see them?"
+
+"Oh, I may as well, Nanda.  But I am tired admiring this head, and if
+my visitor has any claim to beauty I must take care that she does not
+surpass me.  So I will go to my cabinet and change to No. 17, which I
+think is my best appearance.  Don't you?"
+
+"Your No. 17 is exceedingly beautiful," answered Nanda, with another bow.
+
+Again the Princess yawned.  Then she said:
+
+"Help me to rise."
+
+So the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere was the
+stronger of the two; and then the Princess slowly walked across the
+silver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every step upon
+Nanda's arm.
+
+Now I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had thirty
+heads--as many as there are days in the month.  But of course she
+could only wear one of them at a time, because she had but one neck.
+These heads were kept in what she called her "cabinet," which was a
+beautiful dressing-room that lay just between Langwidere's
+sleeping-chamber and the mirrored sitting-room.  Each head was in a
+separate cupboard lined with velvet.  The cupboards ran all around the
+sides of the dressing-room, and had elaborately carved doors with gold
+numbers on the outside and jeweled-framed mirrors on the inside of them.
+
+When the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she went
+to her cabinet, opened one of the velvet-lined cupboards, and took the
+head it contained from its golden shelf.  Then, by the aid of the
+mirror inside the open door, she put on the head--as neat and straight
+as could be--and afterward called her maids to robe her for the day.
+She always wore a simple white costume, that suited all the heads.
+For, being able to change her face whenever she liked, the Princess
+had no interest in wearing a variety of gowns, as have other ladies
+who are compelled to wear the same face constantly.
+
+Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed alike
+but all being of exceeding loveliness.  There were heads with golden
+hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none with gray
+hair.  The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of brown and of
+black; but there were no red eyes among them, and all were bright and
+handsome.  The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse and Oriental,
+representing all types of beauty; and the mouths were of assorted
+sizes and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the heads smiled.  As
+for dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, wherever they might be
+most charming, and one or two heads had freckles upon the faces to
+contrast the better with the brilliancy of their complexions.
+
+One key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these
+treasures--a curious key carved from a single blood-red ruby--and this
+was fastened to a strong but slender chain which the Princess wore
+around her left wrist.
+
+When Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of cupboard
+No. 17, the Princess unlocked the door with her ruby key and after
+handing head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the maid, she took
+No. 17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck.  It had black hair
+and dark eyes and a lovely pearl-and-white complexion, and when
+Langwidere wore it she knew she was remarkably beautiful in appearance.
+
+There was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went with it
+(and which was hidden somewhere under the glossy black hair) was
+fiery, harsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led the Princess
+to do unpleasant things which she regretted when she came to wear her
+other heads.
+
+But she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests in
+the drawing-room with a feeling of certainty that she would surprise
+them with her beauty.
+
+However, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors were
+merely a small girl in a gingham dress, a copper man that would only
+go when wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting contentedly in
+Langwidere's best work-basket, where there was a china egg used for
+darning stockings.  (It may surprise you to learn that a princess ever
+does such a common thing as darn stockings.  But, if you will stop to
+think, you will realize that a princess is sure to wear holes in her
+stockings, the same as other people; only it isn't considered quite
+polite to mention the matter.)
+
+"Oh!" said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of No. 17.  "I
+thought some one of importance had called."
+
+"Then you were right," declared Dorothy.  "I'm a good deal of
+'portance myself, and when Billina lays an egg she has the proudest
+cackle you ever heard.  As for Tiktok, he's the--"
+
+"Stop--Stop!" commanded the Princess, with an angry flash of her
+splendid eyes.  "How dare you annoy me with your senseless chatter?"
+
+"Why, you horrid thing!" said Dorothy, who was not accustomed to being
+treated so rudely.
+
+The Princess looked at her more closely.
+
+"Tell me," she resumed, "are you of royal blood?"
+
+"Better than that, ma'am," said Dorothy.  "I came from Kansas."
+
+"Huh!" cried the Princess, scornfully.  "You are a foolish child, and
+I cannot allow you to annoy me.  Run away, you little goose, and
+bother some one else."
+
+Dorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no words to
+reply.  But she rose from her chair, and was about to leave the room
+when the Princess, who had been scanning the girl's face, stopped her
+by saying, more gently:
+
+"Come nearer to me."
+
+Dorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the
+Princess while Langwidere examined her face with careful attention.
+
+"You are rather attractive," said the lady, presently.  "Not at all
+beautiful, you understand, but you have a certain style of prettiness
+that is different from that of any of my thirty heads.  So I believe
+I'll take your head and give you No. 26 for it."
+
+"Well, I b'lieve you won't!" exclaimed Dorothy.
+
+"It will do you no good to refuse," continued the Princess; "for I
+need your head for my collection, and in the Land of Ev my will is
+law.  I never have cared much for No. 26, and you will find that it is
+very little worn.  Besides, it will do you just as well as the one
+you're wearing, for all practical purposes."
+
+"I don't know anything about your No. 26, and I don't want to," said
+Dorothy, firmly.  "I'm not used to taking cast-off things, so I'll
+just keep my own head."
+
+"You refuse?" cried the Princess, with a frown.
+
+"Of course I do," was the reply.
+
+"Then," said Langwidere, "I shall lock you up in a tower until you
+decide to obey me.  Nanda," turning to her maid, "call my army."
+
+Nanda rang a silver bell, and at once a big fat colonel in a bright
+red uniform entered the room, followed by ten lean soldiers, who all
+looked sad and discouraged and saluted the princess in a very
+melancholy fashion.
+
+"Carry that girl to the North Tower and lock her up!" cried the
+Princess, pointing to Dorothy.
+
+"To hear is to obey," answered the big red colonel, and caught the
+child by her arm.  But at that moment Tiktok raised his dinner-pail
+and pounded it so forcibly against the colonel's head that the big
+officer sat down upon the floor with a sudden bump, looking both dazed
+and very much astonished.
+
+"Help!" he shouted, and the ten lean soldiers sprang to assist
+their leader.
+
+There was great excitement for the next few moments, and Tiktok had
+knocked down seven of the army, who were sprawling in every direction
+upon the carpet, when suddenly the machine paused, with the
+dinner-pail raised for another blow, and remained perfectly motionless.
+
+"My ac-tion has run down," he called to Dorothy.  "Wind me up, quick."
+
+She tried to obey, but the big colonel had by this time managed to get
+upon his feet again, so he grabbed fast hold of the girl and she was
+helpless to escape.
+
+"This is too bad," said the machine.  "I ought to have run six hours
+lon-ger, at least, but I sup-pose my long walk and my fight with the
+Wheel-ers made me run down fast-er than us-u-al."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped," said Dorothy, with a sigh.
+
+"Will you exchange heads with me?" demanded the Princess.
+
+"No, indeed!" cried Dorothy.
+
+"Then lock her up," said Langwidere to her soldiers, and they led
+Dorothy to a high tower at the north of the palace and locked her
+securely within.
+
+The soldiers afterward tried to lift Tiktok, but they found the
+machine so solid and heavy that they could not stir it.  So they left
+him standing in the center of the drawing-room.
+
+"People will think I have a new statue," said Langwidere, "so it won't
+matter in the least, and Nanda can keep him well polished."
+
+"What shall we do with the hen?" asked the colonel, who had just
+discovered Billina in the work-basket.
+
+"Put her in the chicken-house," answered the Princess.  "Someday I'll
+have her fried for breakfast."
+
+"She looks rather tough, Your Highness," said Nanda, doubtfully.
+
+"That is a base slander!" cried Billina, struggling frantically in the
+colonel's arms.  "But the breed of chickens I come from is said to be
+poison to all princesses."
+
+"Then," remarked Langwidere, "I will not fry the hen, but keep her to
+lay eggs; and if she doesn't do her duty I'll have her drowned in the
+horse trough."
+
+
+
+7.  Ozma of Oz to the Rescue
+
+
+Nanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper, and she slept
+upon a hard stone couch with a single pillow and a silken coverlet.
+
+In the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the tower
+to see if there was any way to escape.  The room was not so very high
+up, when compared with our modern buildings, but it was far enough
+above the trees and farm houses to give her a good view of the
+surrounding country.
+
+To the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the ocean
+beyond that.  There was even a dark speck upon the shore that she
+thought might be the chicken-coop in which she had arrived at this
+singular country.
+
+Then she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley lying
+between two rocky mountains, and a third mountain that shut off the
+valley at the further end.
+
+Westward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from the
+palace, and the girl could see miles and miles of sandy desert that
+stretched further than her eyes could reach.  It was this desert, she
+thought, with much interest, that alone separated her from the
+wonderful Land of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that she had been
+told no one had ever been able to cross this dangerous waste but
+herself.  Once a cyclone had carried her across it, and a magical pair
+of silver shoes had carried her back again.  But now she had neither a
+cyclone nor silver shoes to assist her, and her condition was sad
+indeed.  For she had become the prisoner of a disagreeable princess
+who insisted that she must exchange her head for another one that she
+was not used to, and which might not fit her at all.
+
+Really, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old friends in
+the Land of Oz.  Thoughtfully she gazed from her narrow window.  On
+all the desert not a living thing was stirring.
+
+Wait, though!  Something surely WAS stirring on the desert--something
+her eyes had not observed at first.  Now it seemed like a cloud; now
+it seemed like a spot of silver; now it seemed to be a mass of rainbow
+colors that moved swiftly toward her.
+
+What COULD it be, she wondered?
+
+Then, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the vision
+drew near enough to Dorothy to make out what it was.
+
+A broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, while
+advancing across the carpet was a wonderful procession that made the
+girl open her eyes in amazement as she gazed.
+
+First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion and an
+immense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted along as
+gracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses.  And
+standing upright within the chariot was a beautiful girl clothed in
+flowing robes of silver gauze and wearing a jeweled diadem upon her
+dainty head.  She held in one hand the satin ribbons that guided her
+astonishing team, and in the other an ivory wand that separated at the
+top into two prongs, the prongs being tipped by the letters "O" and
+"Z", made of glistening diamonds set closely together.
+
+The girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself, and at once
+the prisoner in the tower guessed that the lovely driver of the chariot
+must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so lately heard from Tiktok.
+
+Following close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend the
+Scarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden Saw-Horse, which pranced and
+trotted as naturally as any meat horse could have done.
+
+And then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his funnel-shaped
+cap tipped carelessly over his left ear, his gleaming axe over his
+right shoulder, and his whole body sparkling as brightly as it had
+ever done in the old days when first she knew him.
+
+The Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company of
+twenty-seven soldiers, of whom some were lean and some fat, some short
+and some tall; but all the twenty-seven were dressed in handsome
+uniforms of various designs and colors, no two being alike
+in any respect.
+
+Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so that
+there was always just enough of it for the procession to walk upon, in
+order that their feet might not come in contact with the deadly,
+life-destroying sands of the desert.
+
+Dorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her heart
+beat high with hope and joy as she realized she was soon to be rescued
+and allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of Oz--the Scarecrow,
+the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.
+
+Indeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as she
+recognized those in the procession, for she well knew the courage and
+loyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others who
+came from their marvelous country would prove to be pleasant and
+reliable acquaintances.
+
+As soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the procession,
+from the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the last soldier, had reached
+the grassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet rolled itself
+together and entirely disappeared.
+
+Then the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad roadway
+leading up to the palace, and the others followed, while Dorothy still
+gazed from her tower window in eager excitement.
+
+They came quite close to the front door of the palace and then halted,
+the Scarecrow dismounting from his Saw-Horse to approach the sign
+fastened to the door, that he might read what it said.
+
+Dorothy, just above him, could keep silent no longer.
+
+"Here I am!" she shouted, as loudly as she could.  "Here's Dorothy!"
+
+"Dorothy who?" asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head to look upward
+until he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over backward.
+
+"Dorothy Gale, of course.  Your friend from Kansas," she answered.
+
+"Why, hello, Dorothy!" said the Scarecrow.  "What in the world are you
+doing up there?"
+
+"Nothing," she called down, "because there's nothing to do.  Save me,
+my friend--save me!"
+
+"You seem to be quite safe now," replied the Scarecrow.
+
+"But I'm a prisoner.  I'm locked in, so that I can't get out,"
+she pleaded.
+
+"That's all right," said the Scarecrow.  "You might be worse off,
+little Dorothy.  Just consider the matter.  You can't get drowned, or
+be run over by a Wheeler, or fall out of an apple-tree.  Some folks
+would think they were lucky to be up there."
+
+"Well, I don't," declared the girl, "and I want to get down
+immed'i'tly and see you and the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion."
+
+"Very well," said the Scarecrow, nodding.  "It shall be just as you
+say, little friend.  Who locked you up?"
+
+"The princess Langwidere, who is a horrid creature," she answered.
+
+At this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the conversation,
+called to Dorothy from her chariot, asking:
+
+"Why did the Princess lock you up, my dear?"
+
+"Because," exclaimed Dorothy, "I wouldn't let her have my head for her
+collection, and take an old, cast-off head in exchange for it."
+
+"I do not blame you," exclaimed Ozma, promptly.  "I will see the
+Princess at once, and oblige her to liberate you."
+
+"Oh, thank you very, very much!" cried Dorothy, who as soon as she
+heard the sweet voice of the girlish Ruler of Oz knew that she would
+soon learn to love her dearly.
+
+Ozma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing, upon
+which the Tin Woodman boldly proceeded to knock.
+
+As soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand her
+ivory wand, stepped into the hall and made her way at once to the
+drawing-room, followed by all her company, except the Lion and the
+Tiger.  And the twenty-seven soldiers made such a noise and a clatter
+that the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to her mistress,
+whereupon the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger by this rude
+invasion of her palace, came running into the drawing-room without any
+assistance whatever.
+
+There she stood before the slight and delicate form of the little girl
+from Oz and cried out;--
+
+"How dare you enter my palace unbidden?  Leave this room at once, or I
+will bind you and all your people in chains, and throw you into my
+darkest dungeons!"
+
+"What a dangerous lady!" murmured the Scarecrow, in a soft voice.
+
+"She seems a little nervous," replied the Tin Woodman.
+
+But Ozma only smiled at the angry Princess.
+
+"Sit down, please," she said, quietly.  "I have traveled a long way to
+see you, and you must listen to what I have to say."
+
+"Must!" screamed the Princess, her black eyes flashing with fury--for
+she still wore her No. 17 head.  "Must, to ME!"
+
+"To be sure," said Ozma.  "I am Ruler of the Land of Oz, and I am
+powerful enough to destroy all your kingdom, if I so wish.  Yet I did
+not come here to do harm, but rather to free the royal family of Ev
+from the thrall of the Nome King, the news having reached me that he
+is holding the Queen and her children prisoners."
+
+Hearing these words, Langwidere suddenly became quiet.
+
+"I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal children,"
+said she, eagerly.  "For if they were restored to their proper forms
+and station they could rule the Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that
+would save me a lot of worry and trouble.  At present there are at
+least ten minutes every day that I must devote to affairs of state,
+and I would like to be able to spend my whole time in admiring my
+beautiful heads."
+
+"Then we will presently discuss this matter," said Ozma, "and try to find
+a way to liberate your aunt and cousins.  But first you must liberate
+another prisoner--the little girl you have locked up in your tower."
+
+"Of course," said Langwidere, readily.  "I had forgotten all about
+her.  That was yesterday, you know, and a Princess cannot be expected
+to remember today what she did yesterday.  Come with me, and I will
+release the prisoner at once."
+
+So Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to the
+room in the tower.
+
+While they were gone Ozma's followers remained in the drawing-room,
+and the Scarecrow was leaning against a form that he had mistaken for
+a copper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said suddenly in his ear:
+
+"Get off my foot, please.  You are scratch-ing my pol-ish."
+
+"Oh, excuse me!" he replied, hastily drawing back.  "Are you alive?"
+
+"No," said Tiktok, "I am on-ly a ma-chine.  But I can think and speak
+and act, when I am pro-per-ly wound up.  Just now my ac-tion is run
+down, and Dor-o-thy has the key to it."
+
+"That's all right," replied the Scarecrow.  "Dorothy will soon be free,
+and then she'll attend to your works.  But it must be a great
+misfortune not to be alive.  I'm sorry for you."
+
+"Why?" asked Tiktok.
+
+"Because you have no brains, as I have," said the Scarecrow.
+
+"Oh, yes, I have," returned Tiktok.  "I am fit-ted with Smith &
+Tin-ker's Im-proved Com-bi-na-tion Steel Brains.  They are what make
+me think.  What sort of brains are you fit-ted with?"
+
+"I don't know," admitted the Scarecrow.  "They were given to me by the
+great Wizard of Oz, and I didn't get a chance to examine them before
+he put them in.  But they work splendidly and my conscience is very
+active.  Have you a conscience?"
+
+"No," said Tiktok.
+
+"And no heart, I suppose?" added the Tin Woodman, who had been
+listening with interest to this conversation.
+
+"No," said Tiktok.
+
+"Then," continued the Tin Woodman, "I regret to say that you are
+greatly inferior to my friend the Scarecrow, and to myself.  For we
+are both alive, and he has brains which do not need to be wound up,
+while I have an excellent heart that is continually beating in my bosom."
+
+"I con-grat-u-late you," replied Tiktok.  "I can-not help be-ing your
+in-fer-i-or for I am a mere ma-chine.  When I am wound up I do my
+du-ty by go-ing just as my ma-chin-er-y is made to go.  You have no
+i-de-a how full of ma-chin-er-y I am."
+
+"I can guess," said the Scarecrow, looking at the machine man
+curiously.  "Some day I'd like to take you apart and see just how you
+are made."
+
+"Do not do that, I beg of you," said Tiktok; "for you could not put me
+to-geth-er a-gain, and my use-ful-ness would be de-stroyed."
+
+"Oh! are you useful?" asked the Scarecrow, surprised.
+
+"Ve-ry," said Tiktok.
+
+"In that case," the Scarecrow kindly promised, "I won't fool with your
+interior at all.  For I am a poor mechanic, and might mix you up."
+
+"Thank you," said Tiktok.
+
+Just then Ozma re-entered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand and
+followed closely by the Princess Langwidere.
+
+
+
+8.  The Hungry Tiger
+
+
+The first thing Dorothy did was to rush into the embrace of the
+Scarecrow, whose painted face beamed with delight as he pressed her
+form to his straw-padded bosom.  Then the Tin Woodman embraced
+her--very gently, for he knew his tin arms might hurt her if he
+squeezed too roughly.
+
+These greetings having been exchanged, Dorothy took the key to Tiktok
+from her pocket and wound up the machine man's action, so that he
+could bow properly when introduced to the rest of the company.  While
+doing this she told them how useful Tiktok had been to her, and both
+the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman shook hands with the machine once
+more and thanked him for protecting their friend.
+
+Then Dorothy asked: "Where is Billina?"
+
+"I don't know," said the Scarecrow.  "Who is Billina?"
+
+"She's a yellow hen who is another friend of mine," answered the girl,
+anxiously.  "I wonder what has become of her?"
+
+"She is in the chicken house, in the back yard," said the Princess.
+"My drawing-room is no place for hens."
+
+Without waiting to hear more Dorothy ran to get Billina, and just
+outside the door she came upon the Cowardly Lion, still hitched to the
+chariot beside the great Tiger.  The Cowardly Lion had a big bow of
+blue ribbon fastened to the long hair between his ears, and the Tiger
+wore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in front of the bushy end.
+
+In an instant Dorothy was hugging the huge Lion joyfully.
+
+"I'm SO glad to see you again!" she cried.
+
+"I am also glad to see you, Dorothy," said the Lion.  "We've had some
+fine adventures together, haven't we?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," she replied.  "How are you?"
+
+"As cowardly as ever," the beast answered in a meek voice.  "Every
+little thing scares me and makes my heart beat fast.  But let me
+introduce to you a new friend of mine, the Hungry Tiger."
+
+"Oh!  Are you hungry?" she asked, turning to the other beast, who was
+just then yawning so widely that he displayed two rows of terrible
+teeth and a mouth big enough to startle anyone.
+
+"Dreadfully hungry," answered the Tiger, snapping his jaws together
+with a fierce click.
+
+"Then why don't you eat something?" she asked.
+
+"It's no use," said the Tiger sadly.  "I've tried that, but I always
+get hungry again."
+
+"Why, it is the same with me," said Dorothy.  "Yet I keep on eating."
+
+"But you eat harmless things, so it doesn't matter," replied the
+Tiger.  "For my part, I'm a savage beast, and have an appetite for all
+sorts of poor little living creatures, from a chipmunk to fat babies."
+
+"How dreadful!" said Dorothy.
+
+"Isn't it, though?" returned the Hungry Tiger, licking his lips with
+his long red tongue.  "Fat babies!  Don't they sound delicious?  But
+I've never eaten any, because my conscience tells me it is wrong.  If
+I had no conscience I would probably eat the babies and then get
+hungry again, which would mean that I had sacrificed the poor babies
+for nothing.  No; hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die.  But I'll
+not have any cruel deeds on my conscience to be sorry for."
+
+"I think you are a very good tiger," said Dorothy, patting the huge
+head of the beast.
+
+"In that you are mistaken," was the reply.  "I am a good beast,
+perhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger.  For it is the nature of
+tigers to be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to eat harmless
+living creatures I am acting as no good tiger has ever before acted.
+That is why I left the forest and joined my friend the Cowardly Lion."
+
+"But the Lion is not really cowardly," said Dorothy.  "I have seen him
+act as bravely as can be."
+
+"All a mistake, my dear," protested the Lion gravely.  "To others I
+may have seemed brave, at times, but I have never been in any danger
+that I was not afraid."
+
+"Nor I," said Dorothy, truthfully. "But I must go and set free
+Billina, and then I will see you again."
+
+She ran around to the back yard of the palace and soon found the chicken
+house, being guided to it by a loud cackling and crowing and a distracting
+hubbub of sounds such as chickens make when they are excited.
+
+Something seemed to be wrong in the chicken house, and when Dorothy
+looked through the slats in the door she saw a group of hens and
+roosters huddled in one corner and watching what appeared to be a
+whirling ball of feathers.  It bounded here and there about the
+chicken house, and at first Dorothy could not tell what it was, while
+the screeching of the chickens nearly deafened her.
+
+But suddenly the bunch of feathers stopped whirling, and then, to her
+amazement, the girl saw Billina crouching upon the prostrate form of a
+speckled rooster.  For an instant they both remained motionless, and
+then the yellow hen shook her wings to settle the feathers and walked
+toward the door with a strut of proud defiance and a cluck of victory,
+while the speckled rooster limped away to the group of other chickens,
+trailing his crumpled plumage in the dust as he went.
+
+"Why, Billina!" cried Dorothy, in a shocked voice; "have you
+been fighting?"
+
+"I really think I have," retorted Billina.  "Do you think I'd let that
+speckled villain of a rooster lord it over ME, and claim to run this
+chicken house, as long as I'm able to peck and scratch?  Not if my
+name is Bill!"
+
+"It isn't Bill, it's Billina; and you're talking slang, which is very
+undig'n'fied," said Dorothy, reprovingly.  "Come here, Billina, and
+I'll let you out; for Ozma of Oz is here, and has set us free."
+
+So the yellow hen came to the door, which Dorothy unlatched for her to
+pass through, and the other chickens silently watched them from their
+corner without offering to approach nearer.
+
+The girl lifted her friend in her arms and exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Billina! how dreadful you look.  You've lost a lot of feathers,
+and one of your eyes is nearly pecked out, and your comb is bleeding!"
+
+"That's nothing," said Billina.  "Just look at the speckled rooster!
+Didn't I do him up brown?"
+
+Dorothy shook her head.
+
+"I don't 'prove of this, at all," she said, carrying Billina away
+toward the palace.  "It isn't a good thing for you to 'sociate with
+those common chickens.  They would soon spoil your good manners, and
+you wouldn't be respec'able any more."
+
+"I didn't ask to associate with them," replied Billina.  "It is that
+cross old Princess who is to blame.  But I was raised in the United
+States, and I won't allow any one-horse chicken of the Land of Ev to run
+over me and put on airs, as long as I can lift a claw in self-defense."
+
+"Very well, Billina," said Dorothy.  "We won't talk about it any more."
+
+Soon they came to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to whom the
+girl introduced the Yellow Hen.
+
+"Glad to meet any friend of Dorothy's," said the Lion, politely.  "To
+judge by your present appearance, you are not a coward, as I am."
+
+"Your present appearance makes my mouth water," said the Tiger,
+looking at Billina greedily.  "My, my! how good you would taste if I
+could only crunch you between my jaws.  But don't worry.  You would only
+appease my appetite for a moment; so it isn't worth while to eat you."
+
+"Thank you," said the hen, nestling closer in Dorothy's arms.
+
+"Besides, it wouldn't be right," continued the Tiger, looking steadily
+at Billina and clicking his jaws together.
+
+"Of course not," cried Dorothy, hastily.  "Billina is my friend, and
+you mustn't ever eat her under any circ'mstances."
+
+"I'll try to remember that," said the Tiger; "but I'm a little
+absent-minded, at times."
+
+Then Dorothy carried her pet into the drawing-room of the palace,
+where Tiktok, being invited to do so by Ozma, had seated himself
+between the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.  Opposite to them sat Ozma
+herself and the Princess Langwidere, and beside them there was a
+vacant chair for Dorothy.
+
+Around this important group was ranged the Army of Oz, and as Dorothy
+looked at the handsome uniforms of the Twenty-Seven she said:
+
+"Why, they seem to be all officers."
+
+"They are, all except one," answered the Tin Woodman.  "I have in my
+Army eight Generals, six Colonels, seven Majors and five Captains,
+besides one private for them to command.  I'd like to promote the
+private, for I believe no private should ever be in public life; and
+I've also noticed that officers usually fight better and are more
+reliable than common soldiers.  Besides, the officers are more
+important looking, and lend dignity to our army."
+
+"No doubt you are right," said Dorothy, seating herself beside Ozma.
+
+"And now," announced the girlish Ruler of Oz, "we will hold a solemn
+conference to decide the best manner of liberating the royal family of
+this fair Land of Ev from their long imprisonment."
+
+
+
+9.  The Royal Family of Ev
+
+
+The Tin Woodman was the first to address the meeting.
+
+"To begin with," said he, "word came to our noble and illustrious
+Ruler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten children--five boys and five
+girls--of the former King of Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by
+the Nome King and are held prisoners in his underground palace.  Also
+that there was no one in Ev powerful enough to release them.
+Naturally our Ozma wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the
+poor prisoners; but for a long time she could find no way to cross the
+great desert between the two countries.  Finally she went to a
+friendly sorceress of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the
+story and at once presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would
+continually unroll beneath our feet and so make a comfortable path for
+us to cross the desert.  As soon as she had received the carpet our
+gracious Ruler ordered me to assemble our army, which I did.  You
+behold in these bold warriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of
+Oz; and, if we are obliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as
+well as the private, will battle fiercely unto death."
+
+Then Tiktok spoke.
+
+"Why should you fight the Nome King?" he asked.  "He has done no wrong."
+
+"No wrong!" cried Dorothy.  "Isn't it wrong to imprison a queen mother
+and her ten children?"
+
+"They were sold to the Nome King by King Ev-ol-do," replied Tiktok.
+"It was the King of Ev who did wrong, and when he re-al-ized what he
+had done he jumped in-to the sea and drowned him-self."
+
+"This is news to me," said Ozma, thoughtfully.  "I had supposed the
+Nome King was all to blame in the matter.  But, in any case, he must
+be made to liberate the prisoners."
+
+"My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man," declared the Princess
+Langwidere.  "If he had drowned himself before he sold his family, no
+one would have cared.  But he sold them to the powerful Nome King in
+exchange for a long life, and afterward destroyed the life by jumping
+into the sea."
+
+"Then," said Ozma, "he did not get the long life, and the Nome King
+must give up the prisoners.  Where are they confined?"
+
+"No one knows, exactly," replied the Princess.  "For the king, whose
+name is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a splendid palace underneath the
+great mountain which is at the north end of this kingdom, and he has
+transformed the queen and her children into ornaments and bric-a-brac
+with which to decorate his rooms."
+
+"I'd like to know," said Dorothy, "who this Nome King is?"
+
+"I will tell you," replied Ozma.  "He is said to be the Ruler of the
+Underground World, and commands the rocks and all that the rocks
+contain.  Under his rule are many thousands of the Nomes, who are
+queerly shaped but powerful sprites that labor at the furnaces and
+forges of their king, making gold and silver and other metals which
+they conceal in the crevices of the rocks, so that those living upon
+the earth's surface can only find them with great difficulty.  Also
+they make diamonds and rubies and emeralds, which they hide in the
+ground; so that the kingdom of the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all
+we have of precious stones and silver and gold is what we take from
+the earth and rocks where the Nome King has hidden them."
+
+"I understand," said Dorothy, nodding her little head wisely.
+
+"For the reason that we often steal his treasures," continued Ozma,
+"the Ruler of the Underground World is not fond of those who live upon
+the earth's surface, and never appears among us.  If we wish to see
+King Roquat of the Rocks, we must visit his own country, where he is
+all powerful, and therefore it will be a dangerous undertaking."
+
+"But, for the sake of the poor prisoners," said Dorothy, "we ought to
+do it."
+
+"We shall do it," replied the Scarecrow, "although it requires a lot
+of courage for me to go near to the furnaces of the Nome King.  For I
+am only stuffed with straw, and a single spark of fire might destroy
+me entirely."
+
+"The furnaces may also melt my tin," said the Tin Woodman;
+"but I am going."
+
+"I can't bear heat," remarked the Princess Langwidere, yawning lazily,
+"so I shall stay at home.  But I wish you may have success in your
+undertaking, for I am heartily tired of ruling this stupid kingdom,
+and I need more leisure in which to admire my beautiful heads."
+
+"We do not need you," said Ozma.  "For, if with the aid of my brave
+followers I cannot accomplish my purpose, then it would be useless for
+you to undertake the journey."
+
+"Quite true," sighed the Princess.  "So, if you'll excuse me, I will
+now retire to my cabinet.  I've worn this head quite awhile, and I
+want to change it for another."
+
+When she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to see
+her go) Ozma said to Tiktok:
+
+"Will you join our party?"
+
+"I am the slave of the girl Dor-oth-y, who rescued me from pris-on,"
+replied the machine.  "Where she goes I will go."
+
+"Oh, I am going with my friends, of course," said Dorothy, quickly.
+"I wouldn't miss the fun for anything.  Will you go, too, Billina?"
+
+"To be sure," said Billina in a careless tone.  She was smoothing down
+the feathers of her back and not paying much attention.
+
+"Heat is just in her line," remarked the Scarecrow.  "If she is nicely
+roasted, she will be better than ever."
+
+"Then" said Ozma, "we will arrange to start for the Kingdom of the
+Nomes at daybreak tomorrow.  And, in the meantime, we will rest and
+prepare ourselves for the journey."
+
+Although Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests, the
+palace servants waited upon the strangers from Oz and did everything
+in their power to make the party comfortable.  There were many vacant
+rooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of twenty-seven was easily
+provided for and liberally feasted.
+
+The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the
+chariot and allowed to roam at will throughout the palace, where they
+nearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no harm at
+all.  At one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda crouching in
+terror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing before her.
+
+"You certainly look delicious," the beast was saying.  "Will you
+kindly give me permission to eat you?"
+
+"No, no, no!" cried the maid in reply.
+
+"Then," said the Tiger, yawning frightfully, "please to get me about
+thirty pounds of tenderloin steak, cooked rare, with a peck of boiled
+potatoes on the side, and five gallons of ice-cream for dessert."
+
+"I--I'll do the best I can!" said Nanda, and she ran away as fast as
+she could go.
+
+"Are you so very hungry?" asked Dorothy, in wonder.
+
+"You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite," replied the Tiger,
+sadly.  "It seems to fill my whole body, from the end of my throat to
+the tip of my tail.  I am very sure the appetite doesn't fit me, and
+is too large for the size of my body.  Some day, when I meet a dentist
+with a pair of forceps, I'm going to have it pulled."
+
+"What, your tooth?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"No, my appetite," said the Hungry Tiger.
+
+The little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the Scarecrow
+and the Tin Woodman, who related to her all that had taken place in
+the Land of Oz since Dorothy had left it.  She was much interested in
+the story of Ozma, who had been, when a baby, stolen by a wicked old
+witch and transformed into a boy.  She did not know that she had ever
+been a girl until she was restored to her natural form by a kind
+sorceress.  Then it was found that she was the only child of the
+former Ruler of Oz, and was entitled to rule in his place.  Ozma had
+many adventures, however, before she regained her father's throne, and
+in these she was accompanied by a pumpkin-headed man, a highly
+magnified and thoroughly educated Woggle-Bug, and a wonderful sawhorse
+that had been brought to life by means of a magic powder.  The
+Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman had also assisted her; but the Cowardly
+Lion, who ruled the great forest as the King of Beasts, knew nothing
+of Ozma until after she became the reigning princess of Oz.  Then he
+journeyed to the Emerald City to see her, and on hearing she was about
+to visit the Land of Ev to set free the royal family of that country,
+the Cowardly Lion begged to go with her, and brought along his friend,
+the Hungry Tiger, as well.
+
+Having heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own adventures,
+and then went out with her friends to find the Sawhorse, which Ozma
+had caused to be shod with plates of gold, so that its legs would not
+wear out.
+
+They came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the garden
+gate, but when Dorothy was introduced to him he bowed politely and
+blinked his eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged his tail, which
+was only the branch of a tree.
+
+"What a remarkable thing, to be alive!" exclaimed Dorothy.
+
+"I quiet agree with you," replied the Sawhorse, in a rough but not
+unpleasant voice.  "A creature like me has no business to live, as we
+all know.  But it was the magic powder that did it, so I cannot justly
+be blamed."
+
+"Of course not," said Dorothy.  "And you seem to be of some use,
+'cause I noticed the Scarecrow riding upon your back."
+
+"Oh, yes; I'm of use," returned the Sawhorse; "and I never tire, never
+have to be fed, or cared for in any way."
+
+"Are you intel'gent?" asked the girl.
+
+"Not very," said the creature.  "It would be foolish to waste
+intelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so many professors need it.
+But I know enough to obey my masters, and to gid-dup, or whoa, when
+I'm told to.  So I'm pretty well satisfied."
+
+That night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bed-chamber next to that
+occupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina perched upon the foot of the bed
+and tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly in that
+position as did Dorothy upon her soft cushions.
+
+But before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon the
+adventurers were eating a hasty breakfast in the great dining-room of
+the palace.  Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on a raised
+platform, with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow on her
+left.  The Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but Ozma placed him near
+her so that she might ask his advice about the journey while she ate.
+
+Lower down the table were the twenty-seven warriors of Oz, and at the
+end of the room the Lion and the Tiger were eating out of a kettle
+that had been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered around to
+pick up any scraps that might be scattered.
+
+It did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and the
+Tiger were harnessed to the chariot and the party was ready to start
+for the Nome King's Palace.
+
+First rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot and
+holding Billina fast in her arms.  Then came the Scarecrow on the
+Sawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side just
+behind him.  After these tramped the Army, looking brave and handsome
+in their splendid uniforms.  The generals commanded the colonels and
+the colonels commanded the majors and the majors commanded the
+captains and the captains commanded the private, who marched with an
+air of proud importance because it required so many officers to give
+him his orders.
+
+And so the magnificent procession left the palace and started along
+the road just as day was breaking, and by the time the sun came out
+they had made good progress toward the valley that led to the Nome
+King's domain.
+
+
+
+10.  The Giant with the Hammer
+
+
+The road led for a time through a pretty farm country, and then past a
+picnic grove that was very inviting.  But the procession continued to
+steadily advance until Billina cried in an abrupt and commanding manner:
+
+"Wait--wait!"
+
+Ozma stopped her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow's Sawhorse
+nearly ran into it, and the ranks of the army tumbled over one another
+before they could come to a halt.  Immediately the yellow hen struggled
+from Dorothy's arms and flew into a clump of bushes by the roadside.
+
+"What's the matter?" called the Tin Woodman, anxiously.
+
+"Why, Billina wants to lay her egg, that's all," said Dorothy.
+
+"Lay her egg!" repeated the Tin Woodman, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; she lays one every morning, about this time; and it's quite
+fresh," said the girl.
+
+"But does your foolish old hen suppose that this entire cavalcade,
+which is bound on an important adventure, is going to stand still
+while she lays her egg?" enquired the Tin Woodman, earnestly.
+
+"What else can we do?" asked the girl.  "It's a habit of Billina's and
+she can't break herself of it."
+
+"Then she must hurry up," said the Tin Woodman, impatiently.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed the Scarecrow.  "If she hurries she may lay
+scrambled eggs."
+
+"That's nonsense," said Dorothy.  "But Billina won't be long, I'm sure."
+
+So they stood and waited, although all were restless and anxious to
+proceed.  And by and by the yellow hen came from the bushes saying:
+
+"Kut-kut, kut, ka-daw-kutt!  Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kut!"
+
+"What is she doing--singing her lay?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"For-ward--march!" shouted the Tin Woodman, waving his axe, and the
+procession started just as Dorothy had once more grabbed Billina in
+her arms.
+
+"Isn't anyone going to get my egg?" cried the hen, in great excitement.
+
+"I'll get it," said the Scarecrow; and at his command the Sawhorse
+pranced into the bushes.  The straw man soon found the egg, which he
+placed in his jacket pocket.  The cavalcade, having moved rapidly on,
+was even then far in advance; but it did not take the Sawhorse long to
+catch up with it, and presently the Scarecrow was riding in his
+accustomed place behind Ozma's chariot.
+
+"What shall I do with the egg?" he asked Dorothy.
+
+"I do not know," the girl answered.  "Perhaps the Hungry Tiger would
+like it."
+
+"It would not be enough to fill one of my back teeth," remarked the
+Tiger.  "A bushel of them, hard boiled, might take a little of the
+edge off my appetite; but one egg isn't good for anything at all, that
+I know of."
+
+"No; it wouldn't even make a sponge cake," said the Scarecrow,
+thoughtfully.  "The Tin Woodman might carry it with his axe and hatch
+it; but after all I may as well keep it myself for a souvenir."  So he
+left it in his pocket.
+
+They had now reached that part of the valley that lay between the two
+high mountains which Dorothy had seen from her tower window.  At the
+far end was the third great mountain, which blocked the valley and was
+the northern edge of the Land of Ev.  It was underneath this mountain
+that the Nome King's palace was said to be; but it would be some time
+before they reached that place.
+
+The path was becoming rocky and difficult for the wheels of the
+chariot to pass over, and presently a deep gulf appeared at their feet
+which was too wide for them to leap.  So Ozma took a small square of
+green cloth from her pocket and threw it upon the ground.  At once it
+became the magic carpet, and unrolled itself far enough for all the
+cavalcade to walk upon.  The chariot now advanced, and the green
+carpet unrolled before it, crossing the gulf on a level with its
+banks, so that all passed over in safety.
+
+"That's easy enough," said the Scarecrow.  "I wonder what will
+happen next."
+
+He was not long in making the discovery, for the sides of the mountain
+came closer together until finally there was but a narrow path between
+them, along which Ozma and her party were forced to pass in single file.
+
+They now heard a low and deep "thump!--thump!--thump!" which echoed
+throughout the valley and seemed to grow louder as they advanced.
+Then, turning a corner of rock, they saw before them a huge form,
+which towered above the path for more than a hundred feet.  The form
+was that of a gigantic man built out of plates of cast iron, and it
+stood with one foot on either side of the narrow road and swung over
+its right shoulder an immense iron mallet, with which it constantly
+pounded the earth.  These resounding blows explained the thumping
+sounds they had heard, for the mallet was much bigger than a barrel,
+and where it struck the path between the rocky sides of the mountain
+it filled all the space through which our travelers would be obliged
+to pass.
+
+Of course they at once halted, a safe distance away from the terrible
+iron mallet.  The magic carpet would do them no good in this case, for
+it was only meant to protect them from any dangers upon the ground
+beneath their feet, and not from dangers that appeared in the air
+above them.
+
+"Wow!" said the Cowardly Lion, with a shudder.  "It makes me
+dreadfully nervous to see that big hammer pounding so near my head.
+One blow would crush me into a door-mat."
+
+"The ir-on gi-ant is a fine fel-low," said Tiktok, "and works as
+stead-i-ly as a clock.  He was made for the Nome King by Smith &
+Tin-ker, who made me, and his du-ty is to keep folks from find-ing the
+un-der-ground pal-ace.  Is he not a great work of art?"
+
+"Can he think, and speak, as you do?" asked Ozma, regarding the giant
+with wondering eyes.
+
+"No," replied the machine; "he is on-ly made to pound the road, and
+has no think-ing or speak-ing at-tach-ment.  But he pounds ve-ry well,
+I think."
+
+"Too well," observed the Scarecrow.  "He is keeping us from going
+farther.  Is there no way to stop his machinery?"
+
+"On-ly the Nome King, who has the key, can do that," answered Tiktok.
+
+"Then," said Dorothy, anxiously, "what shall we do?"
+
+"Excuse me for a few minutes," said the Scarecrow, "and I will think
+it over."
+
+He retired, then, to a position in the rear, where he turned his
+painted face to the rocks and began to think.
+
+Meantime the giant continued to raise his iron mallet high in the air
+and to strike the path terrific blows that echoed through the
+mountains like the roar of a cannon.  Each time the mallet lifted,
+however, there was a moment when the path beneath the monster was
+free, and perhaps the Scarecrow had noticed this, for when he came
+back to the others he said:
+
+"The matter is a very simple one, after all.  We have but to run under
+the hammer, one at a time, when it is lifted, and pass to the other
+side before it falls again."
+
+"It will require quick work, if we escape the blow," said the Tin
+Woodman, with a shake of his head.  "But it really seems the only
+thing to be done.  Who will make the first attempt?"
+
+They looked at one another hesitatingly for a moment.  Then the
+Cowardly Lion, who was trembling like a leaf in the wind, said to them:
+
+"I suppose the head of the procession must go first--and that's me.
+But I'm terribly afraid of the big hammer!"
+
+"What will become of me?" asked Ozma.  "You might rush under the
+hammer yourself, but the chariot would surely be crushed."
+
+"We must leave the chariot," said the Scarecrow.  "But you two girls
+can ride upon the backs of the Lion and the Tiger."
+
+So this was decided upon, and Ozma, as soon as the Lion was unfastened
+from the chariot, at once mounted the beast's back and said she was ready.
+
+"Cling fast to his mane," advised Dorothy.  "I used to ride him
+myself, and that's the way I held on."
+
+So Ozma clung fast to the mane, and the lion crouched in the path and
+eyed the swinging mallet carefully until he knew just the instant it
+would begin to rise in the air.
+
+Then, before anyone thought he was ready, he made a sudden leap
+straight between the iron giant's legs, and before the mallet struck
+the ground again the Lion and Ozma were safe on the other side.
+
+The Tiger went next.  Dorothy sat upon his back and locked her arms
+around his striped neck, for he had no mane to cling to.  He made the
+leap straight and true as an arrow from a bow, and ere Dorothy
+realized it she was out of danger and standing by Ozma's side.
+
+Now came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, and while they made the dash
+in safety they were within a hair's breadth of being caught by the
+descending hammer.
+
+Tiktok walked up to the very edge of the spot the hammer struck, and
+as it was raised for the next blow he calmly stepped forward and
+escaped its descent.  That was an idea for the Tin Woodman to follow,
+and he also crossed in safety while the great hammer was in the air.
+But when it came to the twenty-six officers and the private, their
+knees were so weak that they could not walk a step.
+
+"In battle we are wonderfully courageous," said one of the generals,
+"and our foes find us very terrible to face.  But war is one thing and
+this is another.  When it comes to being pounded upon the head by an
+iron hammer, and smashed into pancakes, we naturally object."
+
+"Make a run for it," urged the Scarecrow.
+
+"Our knees shake so that we cannot run," answered a captain.  "If we
+should try it we would all certainly be pounded to a jelly."
+
+"Well, well," sighed the Cowardly Lion, "I see, friend Tiger, that we
+must place ourselves in great danger to rescue this bold army.  Come
+with me, and we will do the best we can."
+
+So, Ozma and Dorothy having already dismounted from their backs, the
+Lion and the Tiger leaped back again under the awful hammer and
+returned with two generals clinging to their necks.  They repeated
+this daring passage twelve times, when all the officers had been
+carried beneath the giant's legs and landed safely on the further
+side.  By that time the beasts were very tired, and panted so hard
+that their tongues hung out of their great mouths.
+
+"But what is to become of the private?" asked Ozma.
+
+"Oh, leave him there to guard the chariot," said the Lion.  "I'm tired
+out, and won't pass under that mallet again."
+
+The officers at once protested that they must have the private with them,
+else there would be no one for them to command.  But neither the Lion or
+the Tiger would go after him, and so the Scarecrow sent the Sawhorse.
+
+Either the wooden horse was careless, or it failed to properly time
+the descent of the hammer, for the mighty weapon caught it squarely
+upon its head, and thumped it against the ground so powerfully that
+the private flew off its back high into the air, and landed upon one
+of the giant's cast-iron arms.  Here he clung desperately while the
+arm rose and fell with each one of the rapid strokes.
+
+The Scarecrow dashed in to rescue his Sawhorse, and had his left foot
+smashed by the hammer before he could pull the creature out of danger.
+They then found that the Sawhorse had been badly dazed by the blow;
+for while the hard wooden knot of which his head was formed could not
+be crushed by the hammer, both his ears were broken off and he would
+be unable to hear a sound until some new ones were made for him.  Also
+his left knee was cracked, and had to be bound up with a string.
+
+Billina having fluttered under the hammer, it now remained only to
+rescue the private who was riding upon the iron giant's arm, high in
+the air.
+
+The Scarecrow lay flat upon the ground and called to the man to jump
+down upon his body, which was soft because it was stuffed with straw.
+This the private managed to do, waiting until a time when he was
+nearest the ground and then letting himself drop upon the Scarecrow.
+He accomplished the feat without breaking any bones, and the Scarecrow
+declared he was not injured in the least.
+
+Therefore, the Tin Woodman having by this time fitted new ears to the
+Sawhorse, the entire party proceeded upon its way, leaving the giant
+to pound the path behind them.
+
+
+
+11.  The Nome King
+
+
+By and by, when they drew near to the mountain that blocked their path
+and which was the furthermost edge of the Kingdom of Ev, the way grew
+dark and gloomy for the reason that the high peaks on either side shut
+out the sunshine.  And it was very silent, too, as there were no birds
+to sing or squirrels to chatter, the trees being left far behind them
+and only the bare rocks remaining.
+
+Ozma and Dorothy were a little awed by the silence, and all the others
+were quiet and grave except the Sawhorse, which, as it trotted along
+with the Scarecrow upon his back, hummed a queer song, of which this
+was the chorus:
+
+
+"Would a wooden horse in a woodland go?
+  Aye, aye!  I sigh, he would, although
+Had he not had a wooden head
+  He'd mount the mountain top instead."
+
+
+But no one paid any attention to this because they were now close to
+the Nome King's dominions, and his splendid underground palace could
+not be very far away.
+
+Suddenly they heard a shout of jeering laughter, and stopped short.
+They would have to stop in a minute, anyway, for the huge mountain
+barred their further progress and the path ran close up to a wall of
+rock and ended.
+
+"Who was that laughing?" asked Ozma.
+
+There was no reply, but in the gloom they could see strange forms flit
+across the face of the rock.  Whatever the creations might be they
+seemed very like the rock itself, for they were the color of rocks and
+their shapes were as rough and rugged as if they had been broken away
+from the side of the mountain.  They kept close to the steep cliff
+facing our friends, and glided up and down, and this way and that,
+with a lack of regularity that was quite confusing.  And they seemed
+not to need places to rest their feet, but clung to the surface of the
+rock as a fly does to a window-pane, and were never still for a moment.
+
+"Do not mind them," said Tiktok, as Dorothy shrank back.  "They are
+on-ly the Nomes."
+
+"And what are Nomes?" asked the girl, half frightened.
+
+"They are rock fair-ies, and serve the Nome King," replied the machine.
+"But they will do us no harm.  You must call for the King, be-cause
+with-out him you can ne-ver find the en-trance to the pal-ace."
+
+"YOU call," said Dorothy to Ozma.
+
+Just then the Nomes laughed again, and the sound was so weird and
+disheartening that the twenty-six officers commanded the private to
+"right-about-face!" and they all started to run as fast as they could.
+
+The Tin Woodman at once pursued his army and cried "halt!" and when
+they had stopped their flight he asked: "Where are you going?"
+
+"I--I find I've forgotten the brush for my whiskers," said a general,
+trembling with fear.  "S-s-so we are g-going back after it!"
+
+"That is impossible," replied the Tin Woodman.  "For the giant with
+the hammer would kill you all if you tried to pass him."
+
+"Oh! I'd forgotten the giant," said the general, turning pale.
+
+"You seem to forget a good many things," remarked the Tin Woodman.
+"I hope you won't forget that you are brave men."
+
+"Never!" cried the general, slapping his gold-embroidered chest.
+
+"Never!" cried all the other officers, indignantly slapping their chests.
+
+"For my part," said the private, meekly, "I must obey my officers; so
+when I am told to run, I run; and when I am told to fight, I fight."
+
+"That is right," agreed the Tin Woodman.  "And now you must all come
+back to Ozma, and obey HER orders.  And if you try to run away again I
+will have her reduce all the twenty-six officers to privates, and make
+the private your general."
+
+This terrible threat so frightened them that they at once returned to
+where Ozma was standing beside the Cowardly Lion.
+
+Then Ozma cried out in a loud voice:
+
+"I demand that the Nome King appear to us!"
+
+There was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the mountain
+laughed in derision.
+
+"You must not command the Nome King," said Tiktok, "for you do not
+rule him, as you do your own peo-ple."
+
+So Ozma called again, saying:
+
+"I request the Nome King to appear to us."
+
+Only the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes
+continued to flit here and there upon the rocky cliff.
+
+"Try en-treat-y," said Tiktok to Ozma.  "If he will not come at your
+re-quest, then the Nome King may list-en to your plead-ing."
+
+Ozma looked around her proudly.
+
+"Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome King?" she
+asked.  "Shall Ozma of Oz humble herself to a creature who lives in an
+underground kingdom?"
+
+"No!" they all shouted, with big voices; and the Scarecrow added:
+
+"If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole, like a fox, and
+conquer his stubbornness.  But our sweet little ruler must always
+maintain her dignity, just as I maintain mine."
+
+"I'm not afraid to plead with him," said Dorothy.  "I'm only a little
+girl from Kansas, and we've got more dignity at home than we know what
+to do with.  I'LL call the Nome King."
+
+"Do," said the Hungry Tiger; "and if he makes hash of you I'll
+willingly eat you for breakfast tomorrow morning."
+
+So Dorothy stepped forward and said:
+
+"PLEASE Mr. Nome King, come here and see us."
+
+The Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the mountain,
+and in a flash they had all vanished from sight and were silent.
+
+Then a door in the rock opened, and a voice cried:
+
+"Enter!"
+
+"Isn't it a trick?" asked the Tin Woodman.
+
+"Never mind," replied Ozma.  "We came here to rescue the poor Queen of
+Ev and her ten children, and we must run some risks to do so."
+
+"The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured," said Tiktok.  "You can
+trust him to do what is right."
+
+So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed
+through the arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which
+was lighted by jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind them.
+There was no one to escort them, or to show them the way, but all the
+party pressed through the passage until they came to a round, domed
+cavern that was grandly furnished.
+
+In the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid boulder
+of rock, rude and rugged in shape but glittering with great rubies and
+diamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface.  And upon the
+throne sat the Nome King.
+
+This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat man
+clothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the rock
+throne in which he was seated.  His bushy hair and flowing beard were
+also colored like the rocks, and so was his face.  He wore no crown of
+any sort, and his only ornament was a broad, jewel-studded belt that
+encircled his fat little body.  As for his features, they seemed
+kindly and good humored, and his eyes were turned merrily upon his
+visitors as Ozma and Dorothy stood before him with their followers
+ranged in close order behind them.
+
+"Why, he looks just like Santa Claus--only he isn't the same color!"
+whispered Dorothy to her friend; but the Nome King heard the speech,
+and it made him laugh aloud.
+
+
+"'He had a red face and a round little belly
+  That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!'"
+
+
+quoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see that he
+really did shake like jelly when he laughed.
+
+Both Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King so
+jolly, and a minute later he waved his right hand and the girls each
+found a cushioned stool at her side.
+
+"Sit down, my dears," said the King, "and tell me why you have come
+all this way to see me, and what I can do to make you happy."
+
+While they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and
+taking a glowing red coal out of his pocket he placed it in the bowl
+of the pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled in rings
+above his head.  Dorothy thought this made the little monarch look
+more like Santa Claus than ever; but Ozma now began speaking, and
+every one listened intently to her words.
+
+"Your Majesty," said she, "I am the ruler of the Land of Oz, and I
+have come here to ask you to release the good Queen of Ev and her ten
+children, whom you have enchanted and hold as your prisoners."
+
+"Oh, no; you are mistaken about that," replied the King.  "They are
+not my prisoners, but my slaves, whom I purchased from the King of Ev."
+
+"But that was wrong," said Ozma.
+
+"According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no wrong," answered the
+monarch, eying a ring of smoke he had just blown from his mouth; "so
+that he had a perfect right to sell his family to me in exchange for a
+long life."
+
+"You cheated him, though," declared Dorothy; "for the King of Ev did
+not have a long life.  He jumped into the sea and was drowned."
+
+"That was not my fault," said the Nome King, crossing his legs and
+smiling contentedly.  "I gave him the long life, all right; but he
+destroyed it."
+
+"Then how could it be a long life?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Easily enough," was the reply.  "Now suppose, my dear, that I gave
+you a pretty doll in exchange for a lock of your hair, and that after
+you had received the doll you smashed it into pieces and destroyed it.
+Could you say that I had not given you a pretty doll?"
+
+"No," answered Dorothy.
+
+"And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the lock of hair,
+just because you had smashed the doll?"
+
+"No," said Dorothy, again.
+
+"Of course not," the Nome King returned.  "Nor will I give up the
+Queen and her children because the King of Ev destroyed his long life
+by jumping into the sea.  They belong to me and I shall keep them."
+
+"But you are treating them cruelly," said Ozma, who was much
+distressed by the King's refusal.
+
+"In what way?" he asked.
+
+"By making them your slaves," said she.
+
+"Cruelty," remarked the monarch, puffing out wreathes of smoke and
+watching them float into the air, "is a thing I can't abide.  So, as
+slaves must work hard, and the Queen of Ev and her children were
+delicate and tender, I transformed them all into articles of ornament
+and bric-a-brac and scattered them around the various rooms of my
+palace.  Instead of being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my
+apartments, and I really think I have treated them with great kindness."
+
+"But what a dreadful fate is theirs!" exclaimed Ozma, earnestly.  "And
+the Kingdom of Ev is in great need of its royal family to govern it.
+If you will liberate them, and restore them to their proper forms, I
+will give you ten ornaments to replace each one you lose."
+
+The Nome King looked grave.
+
+"Suppose I refuse?" he asked.
+
+"Then," said Ozma, firmly, "I am here with my friends and my army to
+conquer your kingdom and oblige you to obey my wishes."
+
+The Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he coughed;
+and he coughed until his face turned from grayish-brown to bright red.
+And then he wiped his eyes with a rock-colored handkerchief and grew
+grave again.
+
+"You are as brave as you are pretty, my dear," he said to Ozma.  "But
+you have little idea of the extent of the task you have undertaken.
+Come with me for a moment."
+
+He arose and took Ozma's hand, leading her to a little door at one
+side of the room.  This he opened and they stepped out upon a balcony,
+from whence they obtained a wonderful view of the Underground World.
+
+A vast cave extended for miles and miles under the mountain, and in
+every direction were furnaces and forges glowing brightly and Nomes
+hammering upon precious metals or polishing gleaming jewels.  All
+around the walls of the cave were thousands of doors of silver and
+gold, built into the solid rock, and these extended in rows far away
+into the distance, as far as Ozma's eyes could follow them.
+
+While the little maid from Oz gazed wonderingly upon this scene the
+Nome King uttered a shrill whistle, and at once all the silver and
+gold doors flew open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers marched out from
+every one.  So great were their numbers that they quickly filled the
+immense underground cavern and forced the busy workmen to abandon
+their tasks.
+
+Although this tremendous army consisted of rock-colored Nomes, all
+squat and fat, they were clothed in glittering armor of polished
+steel, inlaid with beautiful gems.  Upon his brow each wore a
+brilliant electric light, and they bore sharp spears and swords and
+battle-axes of solid bronze.  It was evident they were perfectly
+trained, for they stood in straight rows, rank after rank, with their
+weapons held erect and true, as if awaiting but the word of command to
+level them upon their foes.
+
+"This," said the Nome King, "is but a small part of my army.  No ruler
+upon Earth has ever dared to fight me, and no ruler ever will, for I
+am too powerful to oppose."
+
+He whistled again, and at once the martial array filed through the
+silver and gold doorways and disappeared, after which the workmen
+again resumed their labors at the furnaces.
+
+Then, sad and discouraged, Ozma of Oz turned to her friends, and the
+Nome King calmly reseated himself on his rock throne.
+
+"It would be foolish for us to fight," the girl said to the Tin
+Woodman.  "For our brave Twenty-Seven would be quickly destroyed.  I'm
+sure I do not know how to act in this emergency."
+
+"Ask the King where his kitchen is," suggested the Tiger.  "I'm hungry
+as a bear."
+
+"I might pounce upon the King and tear him in pieces," remarked the
+Cowardly Lion.
+
+"Try it," said the monarch, lighting his pipe with another hot coal
+which he took from his pocket.
+
+The Lion crouched low and tried to spring upon the Nome King; but he
+hopped only a little way into the air and came down again in the same
+place, not being able to approach the throne by even an inch.
+
+"It seems to me," said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, "that our best
+plan is to wheedle his Majesty into giving up his slaves, since he is
+too great a magician to oppose."
+
+"This is the most sensible thing any of you have suggested," declared
+the Nome King.  "It is folly to threaten me, but I'm so kind-hearted
+that I cannot stand coaxing or wheedling.  If you really wish to
+accomplish anything by your journey, my dear Ozma, you must coax me."
+
+"Very well," said Ozma, more cheerfully.  "Let us be friends, and talk
+this over in a friendly manner."
+
+"To be sure," agreed the King, his eyes twinkling merrily.
+
+"I am very anxious," she continued, "to liberate the Queen of Ev and
+her children who are now ornaments and bric-a-brac in your Majesty's
+palace, and to restore them to their people.  Tell me, sir, how this
+may be accomplished."
+
+The king remained thoughtful for a moment, after which he asked:
+
+"Are you willing to take a few chances and risks yourself, in order to
+set free the people of Ev?"
+
+"Yes, indeed!" answered Ozma, eagerly.
+
+"Then," said the Nome King, "I will make you this offer: You shall go
+alone and unattended into my palace and examine carefully all that the
+rooms contain.  Then you shall have permission to touch eleven
+different objects, pronouncing at the time the word 'Ev,' and if any
+one of them, or more than one, proves to be the transformation of the
+Queen of Ev or any of her ten children, then they will instantly be
+restored to their true forms and may leave my palace and my kingdom in
+your company, without any objection whatever.  It is possible for you,
+in this way, to free the entire eleven; but if you do not guess all
+the objects correctly, and some of the slaves remain transformed, then
+each one of your friends and followers may, in turn, enter the palace
+and have the same privileges I grant you."
+
+"Oh, thank you! thank you for this kind offer!" said Ozma, eagerly.
+
+"I make but one condition," added the Nome King, his eyes twinkling.
+
+"What is it?" she enquired.
+
+"If none of the eleven objects you touch proves to be the
+transformation of any of the royal family of Ev, then, instead of
+freeing them, you will yourself become enchanted, and transformed into
+an article of bric-a-brac or an ornament.  This is only fair and just,
+and is the risk you declared you were willing to take."
+
+
+
+12.  The Eleven Guesses
+
+
+Hearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became silent
+and thoughtful, and all her friends looked at her uneasily.
+
+"Don't you do it!" exclaimed Dorothy.  "If you guess wrong, you will
+be enslaved yourself."
+
+"But I shall have eleven guesses," answered Ozma.  "Surely I ought to
+guess one object in eleven correctly; and, if I do, I shall rescue one
+of the royal family and be safe myself.  Then the rest of you may
+attempt it, and soon we shall free all those who are enslaved."
+
+"What if we fail?" enquired the Scarecrow.  "I'd look nice as a piece
+of bric-a-brac, wouldn't I?"
+
+"We must not fail!" cried Ozma, courageously.  "Having come all this
+distance to free these poor people, it would be weak and cowardly in
+us to abandon the adventure.  Therefore I will accept the Nome King's
+offer, and go at once into the royal palace."
+
+"Come along, then, my dear," said the King, climbing down from his throne
+with some difficulty, because he was so fat; "I'll show you the way."
+
+He approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand.  Instantly an
+opening appeared, through which Ozma, after a smiling farewell to her
+friends, boldly passed.
+
+She found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and grand
+than anything she had ever beheld.  The ceilings were composed of
+great arches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and
+floors were of polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors.
+Thick velvet carpets were on the floor and heavy silken draperies
+covered the arches leading to the various rooms of the palace.  The
+furniture was made of rare old woods richly carved and covered with
+delicate satins, and the entire palace was lighted by a mysterious
+rosy glow that seemed to come from no particular place but flooded
+each apartment with its soft and pleasing radiance.
+
+Ozma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all she
+saw.  The lovely palace had no other occupant, for the Nome King had
+left her at the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all the
+magnificent rooms there appeared to be no other person.
+
+Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were
+clustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out of all
+sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles.  There were vases,
+and figures of men and animals, and graven platters and bowls, and
+mosaics of precious gems, and many other things.  Pictures, too, were
+on the walls, and the underground palace was quite a museum of rare
+and curious and costly objects.
+
+After her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to wonder
+which of all the numerous ornaments they contained were the
+transformations of the royal family of Ev.  There was nothing to guide
+her, for everything seemed without a spark of life.  So she must guess
+blindly; and for the first time the girl came to realize how dangerous
+was her task, and how likely she was to lose her own freedom in
+striving to free others from the bondage of the Nome King.  No wonder
+the cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his visitors, when he
+knew how easily they might be entrapped.
+
+But Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it.  She
+looked at a silver candelabra that had ten branches, and thought:
+"This may be the Queen of Ev and her ten children." So she touched it
+and uttered aloud the word "Ev," as the Nome King had instructed her
+to do when she guessed.  But the candelabra remained as it was before.
+
+Then she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb, thinking
+it might be one of the children she sought.  But again she was
+unsuccessful.  Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven, eight,
+nine and ten she made, and still not one of them was right!
+
+The girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy light;
+for now but one guess remained, and her own fate depended upon the result.
+
+She resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms once
+more, gazing earnestly upon the various ornaments and trying to decide
+which she would touch.  Finally, in despair, she decided to leave it
+entirely to chance.  She faced the doorway of a room, shut her eyes
+tightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy draperies, she advanced
+blindly with her right arm outstretched before her.
+
+Slowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact with an
+object upon a small round table.  She did not know what it was, but in
+a low voice she pronounced the word "Ev."
+
+The rooms were quite empty of life after that.  The Nome King had
+gained a new ornament.  For upon the edge of the table rested a pretty
+grasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single emerald.
+It was all that remained of Ozma of Oz.
+
+In the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly
+looked up and smiled.
+
+"Next!" he said, in his pleasant voice.
+
+Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been sitting in
+anxious silence, each gave a start of dismay and stared into one
+another's eyes.
+
+"Has she failed?" asked Tiktok.
+
+"So it seems," answered the little monarch, cheerfully.  "But that is
+no reason one of you should not succeed.  The next may have twelve
+guesses, instead of eleven, for there are now twelve persons
+transformed into ornaments.  Well, well!  Which of you goes next?"
+
+"I'll go," said Dorothy.
+
+"Not so," replied the Tin Woodman.  "As commander of Ozma's army, it
+is my privilege to follow her and attempt her rescue."
+
+"Away you go, then," said the Scarecrow.  "But be careful, old friend."
+
+"I will," promised the Tin Woodman; and then he followed the Nome King
+to the entrance to the palace and the rock closed behind him.
+
+
+
+13.  The Nome King Laughs
+
+
+In a moment the King returned to his throne and relighted his pipe,
+and the rest of the little band of adventurers settled themselves for
+another long wait.  They were greatly disheartened by the failure of
+their girl Ruler, and the knowledge that she was now an ornament in
+the Nome King's palace--a dreadful, creepy place in spite of all its
+magnificence.  Without their little leader they did not know what to
+do next, and each one, down to the trembling private of the army,
+began to fear he would soon be more ornamental than useful.
+
+Suddenly the Nome King began laughing.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!  He, he, he!  Ho, ho, ho!"
+
+"What's happened?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Why, your friend, the Tin Woodman, has become the funniest thing you
+can imagine," replied the King, wiping the tears of merriment from his
+eyes.  "No one would ever believe he could make such an amusing
+ornament.  Next!"
+
+They gazed at each other with sinking hearts.  One of the generals
+began to weep dolefully.
+
+"What are you crying for?" asked the Scarecrow, indignant at such a
+display of weakness.
+
+"He owed me six weeks back pay," said the general, "and I hate
+to lose him."
+
+"Then you shall go and find him," declared the Scarecrow.
+
+"Me!" cried the general, greatly alarmed.
+
+"Certainly.  It is your duty to follow your commander.  March!"
+
+"I won't," said the general.  "I'd like to, of course; but I just
+simply WON'T."
+
+The Scarecrow looked enquiringly at the Nome King.
+
+"Never mind," said the jolly monarch.  "If he doesn't care to enter the
+palace and make his guesses I'll throw him into one of my fiery furnaces."
+
+"I'll go!--of course I'm going," yelled the general, as quick as scat.
+"Where is the entrance--where is it?  Let me go at once!"
+
+So the Nome King escorted him into the palace, and again returned to
+await the result.  What the general did, no one can tell; but it was
+not long before the King called for the next victim, and a colonel was
+forced to try his fortune.
+
+Thus, one after another, all of the twenty-six officers filed into the
+palace and made their guesses-- and became ornaments.
+
+Meantime the King ordered refreshments to be served to those waiting,
+and at his command a rudely shaped Nome entered, bearing a tray.  This
+Nome was not unlike the others that Dorothy had seen, but he wore a
+heavy gold chain around his neck to show that he was the Chief Steward
+of the Nome King, and he assumed an air of much importance, and even
+told his majesty not to eat too much cake late at night, or he would
+be ill.
+
+Dorothy, however, was hungry, and she was not afraid of being ill; so
+she ate several cakes and found them good, and also she drank a cup of
+excellent coffee made of a richly flavored clay, browned in the
+furnaces and then ground fine, and found it most refreshing and not at
+all muddy.
+
+Of all the party which had started upon this adventure, the little
+Kansas girl was now left alone with the Scarecrow, Tiktok, and the
+private for counsellors and companions.  Of course the Cowardly Lion
+and the Hungry Tiger were still there, but they, having also eaten
+some of the cakes, had gone to sleep at one side of the cave, while
+upon the other side stood the Sawhorse, motionless and silent, as
+became a mere thing of wood.  Billina had quietly walked around and
+picked up the crumbs of cake which had been scattered, and now, as it
+was long after bed-time, she tried to find some dark place in which to
+go to sleep.
+
+Presently the hen espied a hollow underneath the King's rocky throne,
+and crept into it unnoticed.  She could still hear the chattering of
+those around her, but it was almost dark underneath the throne, so
+that soon she had fallen fast asleep.
+
+"Next!" called the King, and the private, whose turn it was to enter
+the fatal palace, shook hands with Dorothy and the Scarecrow and bade
+them a sorrowful good-bye, and passed through the rocky portal.
+
+They waited a long time, for the private was in no hurry to become an
+ornament and made his guesses very slowly.  The Nome King, who seemed
+to know, by some magical power, all that took place in his beautiful
+rooms of his palace, grew impatient finally and declared he would sit
+up no longer.
+
+"I love ornaments," said he, "but I can wait until tomorrow to get
+more of them; so, as soon as that stupid private is transformed, we
+will all go to bed and leave the job to be finished in the morning."
+
+"Is it so very late?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Why, it is after midnight," said the King, "and that strikes me as
+being late enough.  There is neither night nor day in my kingdom,
+because it is under the earth's surface, where the sun does not shine.
+But we have to sleep, just the same as the up-stairs people do, and
+for my part I'm going to bed in a few minutes."
+
+Indeed, it was not long after this that the private made his last
+guess.  Of course he guessed wrongly, and of course he at once became
+an ornament.  So the King was greatly pleased, and clapped his hands
+to summon his Chief Steward.
+
+"Show these guests to some of the sleeping apartments," he commanded,
+"and be quick about it, too, for I'm dreadfully sleepy myself."
+
+"You've no business to sit up so late," replied the Steward, gruffly.
+"You'll be as cross as a griffin tomorrow morning."
+
+His Majesty made no answer to this remark, and the Chief Steward led
+Dorothy through another doorway into a long hall, from which several
+plain but comfortable sleeping rooms opened.  The little girl was
+given the first room, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok the next--although
+they never slept--and the Lion and the Tiger the third.  The Sawhorse
+hobbled after the Steward into a fourth room, to stand stiffly in the
+center of it until morning.  Each night was rather a bore to the
+Scarecrow, Tiktok and the Sawhorse; but they had learned from experience
+to pass the time patiently and quietly, since all their friends who
+were made of flesh had to sleep and did not like to be disturbed.
+
+When the Chief Steward had left them alone the Scarecrow remarked, sadly:
+
+"I am in great sorrow over the loss of my old comrade, the Tin
+Woodman.  We have had many dangerous adventures together, and escaped
+them all, and now it grieves me to know he has become an ornament, and
+is lost to me forever."
+
+"He was al-ways an or-na-ment to so-ci-e-ty," said Tiktok.
+
+"True; but now the Nome King laughs at him, and calls him the funniest
+ornament in all the palace.  It will hurt my poor friend's pride to be
+laughed at," continued the Scarecrow, sadly.
+
+"We will make rath-er ab-surd or-na-ments, our-selves, to-mor-row,"
+observed the machine, in his monotonous voice.
+
+Just then Dorothy ran into their room, in a state of great anxiety, crying:
+
+"Where's Billina?  Have you seen Billina?  Is she here?"
+
+"No," answered the Scarecrow.
+
+"Then what has become of her?" asked the girl.
+
+"Why, I thought she was with you," said the Scarecrow.  "Yet I do not
+remember seeing the yellow hen since she picked up the crumbs of cake."
+
+"We must have left her in the room where the King's throne is,"
+decided Dorothy, and at once she turned and ran down the hall to the
+door through which they had entered.  But it was fast closed and
+locked on the other side, and the heavy slab of rock proved to be so
+thick that no sound could pass through it.  So Dorothy was forced to
+return to her chamber.
+
+The Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console the
+girl for the loss of her feathered friend.
+
+"The yellow hen is well able to take care of herself," said he; "so
+don't worry about her, but try to get all the sleep you can.  It has
+been a long and weary day, and you need rest."
+
+"I'll prob'ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when I become an orn'ment,"
+said Dorothy, sleepily.  But she lay down upon her couch, nevertheless,
+and in spite of all her worries was soon in the land of dreams.
+
+
+
+14.  Dorothy Tries to be Brave
+
+
+Meantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room, where he
+said to the King:
+
+"You are a fool to waste so much time upon these people."
+
+"What!" cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice that it awoke Billina,
+who was asleep under his throne.  "How dare you call me a fool?"
+
+"Because I like to speak the truth," said the Steward.  "Why didn't
+you enchant them all at once, instead of allowing them to go one by
+one into the palace and guess which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and
+her children?"
+
+"Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way," returned the King,
+"and it serves to keep me amused for a long time."
+
+"But suppose some of them happen to guess aright," persisted the Steward;
+"then you would lose your old ornaments and these new ones, too."
+
+"There is no chance of their guessing aright," replied the monarch,
+with a laugh.  "How could they know that the Queen of Ev and her
+family are all ornaments of a royal purple color?"
+
+"But there are no other purple ornaments in the palace," said the Steward.
+
+"There are many other colors, however, and the purple ones are
+scattered throughout the rooms, and are of many different shapes and
+sizes.  Take my word for it, Steward, they will never think of
+choosing the purple ornaments."
+
+Billina, squatting under the throne, had listened carefully to all
+this talk, and now chuckled softly to herself as she heard the King
+disclose his secret.
+
+"Still, you are acting foolishly by running the chance," continued the
+Steward, roughly; "and it is still more foolish of you to transform
+all those people from Oz into green ornaments."
+
+"I did that because they came from the Emerald City," replied the
+King; "and I had no green ornaments in my collection until now.  I
+think they will look quite pretty, mixed with the others.  Don't you?"
+
+The Steward gave an angry grunt.
+
+"Have your own way, since you are the King," he growled.  "But if you
+come to grief through your carelessness, remember that I told you so.
+If I wore the magic belt which enables you to work all your
+transformations, and gives you so much other power, I am sure I would
+make a much wiser and better King than you are."
+
+"Oh, cease your tiresome chatter!" commanded the King, getting angry
+again.  "Because you are my Chief Steward you have an idea you can
+scold me as much as you please.  But the very next time you become
+impudent, I will send you to work in the furnaces, and get another
+Nome to fill your place.  Now follow me to my chamber, for I am going
+to bed.  And see that I am wakened early tomorrow morning.  I want to
+enjoy the fun of transforming the rest of these people into ornaments."
+
+"What color will you make the Kansas girl?" asked the Steward.
+
+"Gray, I think," said his Majesty.
+
+"And the Scarecrow and the machine man?"
+
+"Oh, they shall be of solid gold, because they are so ugly in real life."
+
+Then the voices died away, and Billina knew that the King and his
+Steward had left the room.  She fixed up some of her tail feathers
+that were not straight, and then tucked her head under her wing again
+and went to sleep.
+
+In the morning Dorothy and the Lion and Tiger were given their
+breakfast in their rooms, and afterward joined the King in his throne
+room.  The Tiger complained bitterly that he was half starved, and
+begged to go into the palace and become an ornament, so that he would
+no longer suffer the pangs of hunger.
+
+"Haven't you had your breakfast?" asked the Nome King.
+
+"Oh, I had just a bite," replied the beast.  "But what good is a bite,
+to a hungry tiger?"
+
+"He ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter full of fried sausages,
+eleven loaves of bread and twenty-one mince pies," said the Steward.
+
+"What more do you want?" demanded the King.
+
+"A fat baby.  I want a fat baby," said the Hungry Tiger.  "A nice,
+plump, juicy, tender, fat baby.  But, of course, if I had one, my
+conscience would not allow me to eat it.  So I'll have to be an
+ornament and forget my hunger."
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed the King.  "I'll have no clumsy beasts enter
+my palace, to overturn and break all my pretty nick-nacks.  When the
+rest of your friends are transformed you can return to the upper
+world, and go about your business."
+
+"As for that, we have no business, when our friends are gone," said
+the Lion.  "So we do not care much what becomes of us."
+
+Dorothy begged to be allowed to go first into the palace, but Tiktok
+firmly maintained that the slave should face danger before the
+mistress.  The Scarecrow agreed with him in that, so the Nome King
+opened the door for the machine man, who tramped into the palace to
+meet his fate.  Then his Majesty returned to his throne and puffed his
+pipe so contentedly that a small cloud of smoke formed above his head.
+
+Bye and bye he said:
+
+"I'm sorry there are so few of you left.  Very soon, now, my fun will
+be over, and then for amusement I shall have nothing to do but admire
+my new ornaments."
+
+"It seems to me," said Dorothy, "that you are not so honest as you
+pretend to be."
+
+"How's that?" asked the King.
+
+"Why, you made us think it would be easy to guess what ornaments the
+people of Ev were changed into."
+
+"It IS easy," declared the monarch, "if one is a good guesser.  But it
+appears that the members of your party are all poor guessers."
+
+"What is Tiktok doing now?" asked the girl, uneasily.
+
+"Nothing," replied the King, with a frown.  "He is standing perfectly
+still, in the middle of a room."
+
+"Oh, I expect he's run down," said Dorothy.  "I forgot to wind him up
+this morning.  How many guesses has he made?"
+
+"All that he is allowed except one," answered the King.  "Suppose you go
+in and wind him up, and then you can stay there and make your own guesses."
+
+"All right," said Dorothy.
+
+"It is my turn next," declared the Scarecrow.
+
+"Why, you don't want to go away and leave me all alone, do you?" asked
+the girl.  "Besides, if I go now I can wind up Tiktok, so that he can
+make his last guess."
+
+"Very well, then," said the Scarecrow, with a sigh.  "Run along,
+little Dorothy, and may good luck go with you!"
+
+So Dorothy, trying to be brave in spite of her fears, passed through
+the doorway into the gorgeous rooms of the palace.  The stillness
+of the place awed her, at first, and the child drew short breaths,
+and pressed her hand to her heart, and looked all around with
+wondering eyes.
+
+Yes, it was a beautiful place; but enchantments lurked in every nook
+and corner, and she had not yet grown accustomed to the wizardries of
+these fairy countries, so different from the quiet and sensible
+common-places of her own native land.
+
+Slowly she passed through several rooms until she came upon Tiktok,
+standing motionless.  It really seemed, then, that she had found a
+friend in this mysterious palace, so she hastened to wind up the
+machine man's action and speech and thoughts.
+
+"Thank you, Dor-oth-y," were his first words.  "I have now one more
+guess to make."
+
+"Oh, be very careful, Tiktok; won't you?" cried the girl.
+
+"Yes.  But the Nome King has us in his power, and he has set a trap
+for us.  I fear we are all lost." he answered.
+
+"I fear so, too," said Dorothy, sadly.
+
+"If Smith & Tin-ker had giv-en me a guess-ing clock-work at-tach-ment,"
+continued Tiktok, "I might have de-fied the Nome King.  But my thoughts
+are plain and sim-ple, and are not of much use in this case."
+
+"Do the best you can," said Dorothy, encouragingly, "and if you fail I
+will watch and see what shape you are changed into."
+
+So Tiktok touched a yellow glass vase that had daisies painted on one
+side, and he spoke at the same time the word "Ev."
+
+In a flash the machine man had disappeared, and although the girl
+looked quickly in every direction, she could not tell which of the
+many ornaments the room contained had a moment before been her
+faithful friend and servant.
+
+So all she could do was to accept the hopeless task set her, and make
+her guesses and abide by the result.
+
+"It can't hurt very much," she thought, "for I haven't heard any of
+them scream or cry out--not even the poor officers.  Dear me!  I
+wonder if Uncle Henry or Aunt Em will ever know I have become an
+orn'ment in the Nome King's palace, and must stand forever and ever in
+one place and look pretty--'cept when I'm moved to be dusted.  It isn't
+the way I thought I'd turn out, at all; but I s'pose it can't be helped."
+
+She walked through all the rooms once more, and examined with care all
+the objects they contained; but there were so many, they bewildered
+her, and she decided, after all, as Ozma had done, that it could be
+only guess work at the best, and that the chances were much against
+her guessing aright.
+
+Timidly she touched an alabaster bowl and said: "Ev."
+
+"That's one failure, anyhow," she thought.  "But how am I to know
+which thing is enchanted, and which is not?"
+
+Next she touched the image of a purple kitten that stood on the corner
+of a mantel, and as she pronounced the word "Ev" the kitten
+disappeared, and a pretty, fair-haired boy stood beside her.  At the
+same time a bell rang somewhere in the distance, and as Dorothy started
+back, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the little one exclaimed:
+
+"Where am I?  And who are you?  And what has happened to me?"
+
+"Well, I declare!" said Dorothy.  "I've really done it."
+
+"Done what?" asked the boy.
+
+"Saved myself from being an ornament," replied the girl, with a laugh,
+"and saved you from being forever a purple kitten."
+
+"A purple kitten?" he repeated.  "There IS no such thing."
+
+"I know," she answered.  "But there was, a minute ago.  Don't you
+remember standing on a corner of the mantel?"
+
+"Of course not.  I am a Prince of Ev, and my name is Evring," the
+little one announced, proudly.  "But my father, the King, sold my
+mother and all her children to the cruel ruler of the Nomes, and after
+that I remember nothing at all."
+
+"A purple kitten can't be 'spected to remember, Evring," said Dorothy.
+"But now you are yourself again, and I'm going to try to save some of
+your brothers and sisters, and perhaps your mother, as well.  So come
+with me."
+
+She seized the child's hand and eagerly hurried here and there, trying
+to decide which object to choose next.  The third guess was another
+failure, and so was the fourth and the fifth.
+
+Little Evring could not imagine what she was doing, but he trotted along
+beside her very willingly, for he liked the new companion he had found.
+
+Dorothy's further quest proved unsuccessful; but after her first
+disappointment was over, the little girl was filled with joy and
+thankfulness to think that after all she had been able to save one
+member of the royal family of Ev, and could restore the little Prince
+to his sorrowing country.  Now she might return to the terrible Nome
+King in safety, carrying with her the prize she had won in the person
+of the fair-haired boy.
+
+So she retraced her steps until she found the entrance to the palace,
+and as she approached, the massive doors of rock opened of their own
+accord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the portals and enter
+the throne room.
+
+
+
+15.  Billina Frightens the Nome King
+
+
+Now when Dorothy had entered the palace to make her guesses and the
+Scarecrow was left with the Nome King, the two sat in moody silence for
+several minutes.  Then the monarch exclaimed, in a tone of satisfaction:
+
+"Very good!"
+
+"Who is very good?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"The machine man.  He won't need to be wound up any more, for he has
+now become a very neat ornament.  Very neat, indeed."
+
+"How about Dorothy?" the Scarecrow enquired.
+
+"Oh, she will begin to guess, pretty soon," said the King, cheerfully.
+"And then she will join my collection, and it will be your turn."
+
+The good Scarecrow was much distressed by the thought that his little
+friend was about to suffer the fate of Ozma and the rest of their party;
+but while he sat in gloomy reverie a shrill voice suddenly cried:
+
+"Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kutt!  Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kutt!"
+
+The Nome King nearly jumped off his seat, he was so startled.
+
+"Good gracious!  What's that?" he yelled.
+
+"Why, it's Billina," said the Scarecrow.
+
+"What do you mean by making a noise like that?" shouted the King,
+angrily, as the yellow hen came from under the throne and strutted
+proudly about the room.
+
+"I've got a right to cackle, I guess," replied Billina.  "I've just
+laid my egg."
+
+"What!  Laid an egg!  In my throne room!  How dare you do such a
+thing?" asked the King, in a voice of fury.
+
+"I lay eggs wherever I happen to be," said the hen, ruffling her
+feathers and then shaking them into place.
+
+"But--thunder-ation!  Don't you know that eggs are poison?" roared the
+King, while his rock-colored eyes stuck out in great terror.
+
+"Poison! well, I declare," said Billina, indignantly.  "I'll have
+you know all my eggs are warranted strictly fresh and up to date.
+Poison, indeed!"
+
+"You don't understand," retorted the little monarch, nervously.  "Eggs
+belong only to the outside world--to the world on the earth's surface,
+where you came from.  Here, in my underground kingdom, they are rank
+poison, as I said, and we Nomes can't bear them around."
+
+"Well, you'll have to bear this one around," declared Billina; "for
+I've laid it."
+
+"Where?" asked the King.
+
+"Under your throne," said the hen.
+
+The King jumped three feet into the air, so anxious was he to get away
+from the throne.
+
+"Take it away!  Take it away at once!" he shouted.
+
+"I can't," said Billina.  "I haven't any hands."
+
+"I'll take the egg," said the Scarecrow.  "I'm making a collection of
+Billina's eggs.  There's one in my pocket now, that she laid yesterday."
+
+Hearing this, the monarch hastened to put a good distance between
+himself and the Scarecrow, who was about to reach under the throne for
+the egg when the hen suddenly cried:
+
+"Stop!"
+
+"What's wrong?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Don't take the egg unless the King will allow me to enter the palace
+and guess as the others have done," said Billina.
+
+"Pshaw!" returned the King.  "You're only a hen.  How could you guess
+my enchantments?"
+
+"I can try, I suppose," said Billina.  "And, if I fail, you will have
+another ornament."
+
+"A pretty ornament you'd make, wouldn't you?" growled the King.  "But
+you shall have your way.  It will properly punish you for daring to
+lay an egg in my presence.  After the Scarecrow is enchanted you shall
+follow him into the palace.  But how will you touch the objects?"
+
+"With my claws," said the hen; "and I can speak the word 'Ev' as
+plainly as anyone.  Also I must have the right to guess the
+enchantments of my friends, and to release them if I succeed."
+
+"Very well," said the King.  "You have my promise."
+
+"Then," said Billina to the Scarecrow, "you may get the egg."
+
+He knelt down and reached underneath the throne and found the egg,
+which he placed in another pocket of his jacket, fearing that if both
+eggs were in one pocket they would knock together and get broken.
+
+Just then a bell above the throne rang briskly, and the King gave
+another nervous jump.
+
+"Well, well!" said he, with a rueful face; "the girl has actually done it."
+
+"Done what?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"She has made one guess that is right, and broken one of my neatest
+enchantments.  By ricketty, it's too bad!  I never thought she would
+do it."
+
+"Do I understand that she will now return to us in safety?" enquired
+the Scarecrow, joyfully wrinkling his painted face into a broad smile.
+
+"Of course," said the King, fretfully pacing up and down the room.  "I
+always keep my promises, no matter how foolish they are.  But I shall
+make an ornament of the yellow hen to replace the one I have just lost."
+
+"Perhaps you will, and perhaps you won't," murmured Billina, calmly.
+"I may surprise you by guessing right."
+
+"Guessing right?" snapped the King.  "How could you guess right,
+where your betters have failed, you stupid fowl?"
+
+Billina did not care to answer this question, and a moment later the
+doors flew open and Dorothy entered, leading the little Prince Evring
+by the hand.
+
+The Scarecrow welcomed the girl with a close embrace, and he would
+have embraced Evring, too, in his delight.  But the little Prince was
+shy, and shrank away from the painted Scarecrow because he did not yet
+know his many excellent qualities.
+
+But there was little time for the friends to talk, because the
+Scarecrow must now enter the palace.  Dorothy's success had greatly
+encouraged him, and they both hoped he would manage to make at least
+one correct guess.
+
+However, he proved as unfortunate as the others except Dorothy, and
+although he took a good deal of time to select his objects, not one
+did the poor Scarecrow guess aright.
+
+So he became a solid gold card-receiver, and the beautiful but
+terrible palace awaited its next visitor.
+
+"It's all over," remarked the King, with a sigh of satisfaction; "and
+it has been a very amusing performance, except for the one good guess
+the Kansas girl made.  I am richer by a great many pretty ornaments."
+
+"It is my turn, now," said Billina, briskly.
+
+"Oh, I'd forgotten you," said the King.  "But you needn't go if you
+don't wish to.  I will be generous, and let you off."
+
+"No you won't," replied the hen.  "I insist upon having my guesses, as
+you promised."
+
+"Then go ahead, you absurd feathered fool!" grumbled the King, and he
+caused the opening that led to the palace to appear once more.
+
+"Don't go, Billina," said Dorothy, earnestly.  "It isn't easy to guess
+those orn'ments, and only luck saved me from being one myself.  Stay
+with me and we'll go back to the Land of Ev together.  I'm sure this
+little Prince will give us a home."
+
+"Indeed I will," said Evring, with much dignity.
+
+"Don't worry, my dear," cried Billina, with a cluck that was meant for
+a laugh.  "I may not be human, but I'm no fool, if I AM a chicken."
+
+"Oh, Billina!" said Dorothy, "you haven't been a chicken in a long
+time.  Not since you--you've been--grown up."
+
+"Perhaps that's true," answered Billina, thoughtfully.  "But if a Kansas
+farmer sold me to some one, what would he call me?--a hen or a chicken!"
+
+"You are not a Kansas farmer, Billina," replied the girl, "and you said--"
+
+"Never mind that, Dorothy.  I'm going.  I won't say good-bye, because
+I'm coming back.  Keep up your courage, for I'll see you a little later."
+
+Then Billina gave several loud "cluck-clucks" that seemed to make the
+fat little King MORE nervous than ever, and marched through the
+entrance into the enchanted palace.
+
+"I hope I've seen the last of THAT bird," declared the monarch,
+seating himself again in his throne and mopping the perspiration from
+his forehead with his rock-colored handkerchief.  "Hens are bothersome
+enough at their best, but when they can talk they're simply dreadful."
+
+"Billina's my friend," said Dorothy quietly.  "She may not always be
+'zactly polite; but she MEANS well, I'm sure."
+
+
+
+16.  Purple, Green, and Gold
+
+
+The yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast importance,
+walked slowly over the rich velvet carpets of the splendid palace,
+examining everything she met with her sharp little eyes.
+
+Billina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the Nome
+King's secret and knew how to tell the objects that were
+transformations from those that had never been alive.  She was very
+sure that her guesses would be correct, but before she began to make
+them she was curious to behold all the magnificence of this
+underground palace, which was perhaps one of the most splendid and
+beautiful places in any fairyland.
+
+As she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments; and
+although some were small and hidden in queer places, Billina spied
+them all, and found the entire ten scattered about the various rooms.
+The green ornaments she did not bother to count, for she thought she
+could find them all when the time came.
+
+Finally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed its
+splendor, the yellow hen returned to one of the rooms where she had
+noticed a large purple footstool.  She placed a claw upon this and
+said "Ev," and at once the footstool vanished and a lovely lady, tall
+and slender and most beautifully robed, stood before her.
+
+The lady's eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, for she
+could not remember her transformation, nor imagine what had restored
+her to life.
+
+"Good morning, ma'am," said Billina, in her sharp voice.  "You're
+looking quite well, considering your age."
+
+"Who speaks?" demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing herself up proudly.
+
+"Why, my name's Bill, by rights," answered the hen, who was now
+perched upon the back of a chair; "although Dorothy has put scollops
+on it and made it Billina.  But the name doesn't matter.  I've saved
+you from the Nome King, and you are a slave no longer."
+
+"Then I thank you for the gracious favor," said the Queen, with a
+graceful courtesy.  "But, my children--tell me, I beg of you--where
+are my children?" and she clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.
+
+"Don't worry," advised Billina, pecking at a tiny bug that was
+crawling over the chair back.  "Just at present they are out of
+mischief and perfectly safe, for they can't even wiggle."
+
+"What mean you, O kindly stranger?" asked the Queen, striving to
+repress her anxiety.
+
+"They're enchanted," said Billina, "just as you have been--all, that
+is, except the little fellow Dorothy picked out.  And the chances are
+that they have been good boys and girls for some time, because they
+couldn't help it."
+
+"Oh, my poor darlings!" cried the Queen, with a sob of anguish.
+
+"Not at all," returned the hen.  "Don't let their condition make you
+unhappy, ma'am, because I'll soon have them crowding 'round to bother
+and worry you as naturally as ever.  Come with me, if you please, and
+I'll show you how pretty they look."
+
+She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the Queen
+following.  As she passed a low table a small green grasshopper caught
+her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in
+her sharp bill.  For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and
+they usually must be caught quickly, before they can hop away.  It
+might easily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real
+grasshopper instead of an emerald one.  But Billina found the
+grasshopper hard and lifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat
+she quickly dropped it instead of letting it slide down her throat.
+
+"I might have known better," she muttered to herself, "for where there
+is no grass there can be no live grasshoppers.  This is probably one
+of the King's transformations."
+
+A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and while
+the Queen watched her curiously the hen broke the Nome King's
+enchantment and a sweet-faced girl, whose golden hair fell in a cloud
+over her shoulders, stood beside them.
+
+"Evanna!" cried the Queen, "my own Evanna!" and she clasped the girl
+to her bosom and covered her face with kisses.
+
+"That's all right," said Billina, contentedly.  "Am I a good guesser,
+Mr. Nome King?  Well, I guess!"
+
+Then she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as
+Evrose, and afterwards a boy named Evardo, who was older than his
+brother Evring.  Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen exclaiming
+and embracing for some time, until five Princesses and four Princes,
+all looking very much alike except for the difference in size, stood
+in a row beside their happy mother.
+
+The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and Evedna,
+while the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and Evroland.  Of these
+Evardo was the eldest and would inherit his father's throne and be
+crowned King of Ev when he returned to his own country.  He was a
+grave and quiet youth, and would doubtless rule his people wisely and
+with justice.
+
+Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their proper
+forms, now began to select the green ornaments which were the
+transformations of the people of Oz.  She had little trouble in
+finding these, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well as
+the private, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully
+congratulating her upon their release.  The thirty-seven people who
+were now alive in the rooms of the palace knew very well that they
+owed their freedom to the cleverness of the yellow hen, and they were
+earnest in thanking her for saving them from the magic of the Nome King.
+
+"Now," said Billina, "I must find Ozma.  She is sure to be here,
+somewhere, and of course she is green, being from Oz.  So look around,
+you stupid soldiers, and help me in my search."
+
+For a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was green.
+But the Queen, who had kissed all her nine children once more and
+could now find time to take an interest in what was going on, said to
+the hen:
+
+"Mayhap, my gentle friend, it is the grasshopper whom you seek."
+
+"Of course it's the grasshopper!" exclaimed Billina.  "I declare, I'm
+nearly as stupid as these brave soldiers.  Wait here for me, and I'll
+go back and get it."
+
+So she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper, and
+presently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and dainty as ever, entered and
+approached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princess
+greets another.
+
+"But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman?" asked
+the girl Ruler, when these courtesies had been exchanged.
+
+"I'll hunt them up," replied Billina.  "The Scarecrow is solid gold,
+and so is Tiktok; but I don't exactly know what the Tin Woodman is,
+because the Nome King said he had been transformed into something funny."
+
+Ozma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the Scarecrow and
+the machine man, being ornaments of shining gold, were discovered and
+restored to their accustomed forms.  But, search as they might, in no
+place could they find a funny ornament that might be the
+transformation of the Tin Woodman.
+
+"Only one thing can be done," said Ozma, at last, "and that is to
+return to the Nome King and oblige him to tell us what has become of
+our friend."
+
+"Perhaps he won't," suggested Billina.
+
+"He must," returned Ozma, firmly.  "The King has not treated us
+honestly, for under the mask of fairness and good nature he entrapped
+us all, and we would have been forever enchanted had not our wise and
+clever friend, the yellow hen, found a way to save us."
+
+"The King is a villain," declared the Scarecrow.
+
+"His laugh is worse than another man's frown," said the private, with
+a shudder.
+
+"I thought he was hon-est, but I was mis-tak-en," remarked Tiktok.
+"My thoughts are us-u-al-ly cor-rect, but it is Smith & Tin-ker's
+fault if they some-times go wrong or do not work prop-er-ly."
+
+"Smith & Tinker made a very good job of you," said Ozma, kindly.  "I
+do not think they should be blamed if you are not quite perfect."
+
+"Thank you," replied Tiktok.
+
+"Then," said Billina, in her brisk little voice, "let us all go back
+to the Nome King, and see what he has to say for himself."
+
+So they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the Queen and
+her train of little Princes and Princesses following.  Then came
+Tiktok, and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his straw-stuffed
+shoulder.  The twenty-seven officers and the private brought up the rear.
+
+As they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but then
+they all stopped and stared into the domed cavern with faces of
+astonishment and dismay.  For the room was filled with the mail-clad
+warriors of the Nome King, rank after rank standing in orderly array.
+The electric lights upon their brows gleamed brightly, their
+battle-axes were poised as if to strike down their foes; yet they
+remained motionless as statues, awaiting the word of command.
+
+And in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon his
+throne of rock.  But he neither smiled nor laughed.  Instead, his face
+was distorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.
+
+
+
+17.  The Scarecrow Wins the Fight
+
+
+After Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down to
+await the success or failure of her mission, and the Nome King
+occupied his throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a cheerful
+and contented mood.
+
+Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an enchantment
+was broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of annoyance and
+exclaimed, "Rocketty-ricketts!"
+
+When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, "Smudge and
+blazes!" and at a third ring he screamed in a fury, "Hippikaloric!"
+which must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.
+
+After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the King was
+now so violently enraged that he could not utter a word, but hopped
+out of his throne and all around the room in a mad frenzy, so that he
+reminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.
+
+The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the bell,
+for it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one more
+ornament into a living person.  Dorothy was also amazed at Billina's
+success, for she could not imagine how the yellow hen was able to
+guess correctly from all the bewildering number of articles clustered
+in the rooms of the palace.  But after she had counted ten, and the
+bell continued to ring, she knew that not only the royal family of Ev,
+but Ozma and her followers also, were being restored to their natural
+forms, and she was so delighted that the antics of the angry King only
+made her laugh merrily.
+
+Perhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was
+before, but the girl's laughter nearly drove him frantic, and he
+roared at her like a savage beast.  Then, as he found that all his
+enchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every one set
+free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the balcony
+and gave the shrill whistle that summoned his warriors.
+
+At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great
+numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room, led
+by a stern featured Nome who was their captain.  When they had nearly
+filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern
+below, and then stood still until they were told what to do next.
+
+Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors
+entered, and now she stood holding little Prince Evring's hand while
+the great Lion crouched upon one side and the enormous Tiger crouched
+on the other side.
+
+"Seize that girl!" shouted the King to his captain, and a group of
+warriors sprang forward to obey.  But both the Lion and Tiger snarled
+so fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth so threateningly, that
+the men drew back in alarm.
+
+"Don't mind them!" cried the Nome King; "they cannot leap beyond the
+places where they now stand."
+
+"But they can bite those who attempt to touch the girl," said the captain.
+
+"I'll fix that," answered the King.  "I'll enchant them again, so that
+they can't open their jaws."
+
+He stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the Sawhorse
+ran up behind him and gave the fat monarch a powerful kick with both
+his wooden hind legs.
+
+"Ow!  Murder!  Treason!" yelled the King, who had been hurled against
+several of his warriors and was considerably bruised.  "Who did that?"
+
+"I did," growled the Sawhorse, viciously.  "You let Dorothy alone, or
+I'll kick you again."
+
+"We'll see about that," replied the King, and at once he waved his
+hand toward the Sawhorse and muttered a magical word.  "Aha!" he
+continued; "NOW let us see you move, you wooden mule!"
+
+But in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so quickly
+toward the King, that the fat little man could not get out of his way.
+Thump--BANG! came the wooden heels, right against his round body,
+and the King flew into the air and fell upon the head of his captain,
+who let him drop flat upon the ground.
+
+"Well, well!" said the King, sitting up and looking surprised.  "Why
+didn't my magic belt work, I wonder?"
+
+"The creature is made of wood," replied the captain.  "Your magic will
+not work on wood, you know."
+
+"Ah, I'd forgotten that," said the King, getting up and limping to his
+throne.  "Very well, let the girl alone.  She can't escape us, anyway."
+
+The warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents, now
+formed their ranks again, and the Sawhorse pranced across the room to
+Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.
+
+At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and the
+people of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view.  They
+paused, astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome King,
+seated in their midst.
+
+"Surrender!" cried the King, in a loud voice.  "You are my prisoners."
+
+"Go 'long!" answered Billina, from the Scarecrow's shoulder.  "You
+promised me that if I guessed correctly my friends and I might depart
+in safety.  And you always keep your promises."
+
+"I said you might leave the palace in safety," retorted the King; "and
+so you may, but you cannot leave my dominions.  You are my prisoners,
+and I will hurl you all into my underground dungeons, where the
+volcanic fires glow and the molten lava flows in every direction, and
+the air is hotter than blue blazes."
+
+"That will be the end of me, all right," said the Scarecrow,
+sorrowfully.  "One small blaze, blue or green, is enough to reduce me
+to an ash-heap."
+
+"Do you surrender?" demanded the King.
+
+Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow's ear that made him smile
+and put his hands in his jacket pockets.
+
+"No!" returned Ozma, boldly answering the King.  Then she said to her army:
+
+"Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and yourselves,
+unto death!"
+
+"Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma," replied one of her generals; "but I find
+that I and my brother officers all suffer from heart disease, and the
+slightest excitement might kill us.  If we fight we may get excited.
+Would it not be well for us to avoid this grave danger?"
+
+"Soldiers should not have heart disease," said Ozma.
+
+"Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that way," declared
+another general, twirling his moustache thoughtfully.  "If your Royal
+Highness desires, we will order our private to attack yonder warriors."
+
+"Do so," replied Ozma.
+
+"For-ward--march!" cried all the generals, with one voice.
+"For-ward--march!" yelled the colonels.  "For-ward--march!" shouted
+the majors.  "For-ward--march!" commanded the captains.
+
+And at that the private leveled his spear and dashed furiously upon
+the foe.
+
+The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden onslaught
+that he forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that the ten men
+in the first row, who stood in front of the private's spear, fell over
+like so many toy soldiers.  The spear could not go through their steel
+armor, however, so the warriors scrambled to their feet again, and by
+that time the private had knocked over another row of them.
+
+Then the captain brought down his battle-axe with such a strong blow
+that the private's spear was shattered and knocked from his grasp, and
+he was helpless to fight any longer.
+
+The Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his warriors to
+the front ranks, so he could see what was going on; but as he faced
+Ozma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to action by the
+valor of the private, drew one of Billina's eggs from his right jacket
+pocket and hurled it straight at the little monarch's head.
+
+It struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed and
+scattered, as eggs will, and covered his face and hair and beard with
+its sticky contents.
+
+"Help, help!" screamed the King, clawing with his fingers at the egg,
+in a struggle to remove it.
+
+"An egg! an egg!  Run for your lives!" shouted the captain of the
+Nomes, in a voice of horror.
+
+And how they DID run!  The warriors fairly tumbled over one another in
+their efforts to escape the fatal poison of that awful egg, and those
+who could not rush down the winding stair fell off the balcony into
+the great cavern beneath, knocking over those who stood below them.
+
+Even while the King was still yelling for help his throne room became
+emptied of every one of his warriors, and before the monarch had
+managed to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow threw
+the second egg against his right eye, where it smashed and blinded him
+entirely.  The King was unable to flee because he could not see which
+way to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted and screamed in
+abject fear.
+
+While this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and perching
+herself upon the Lion's back the hen whispered eagerly to the girl:
+
+"Get his belt!  Get the Nome King's jeweled belt!  It unbuckles in the
+back.  Quick, Dorothy--quick!"
+
+
+
+18.  The Fate of the Tin Woodman
+
+
+Dorothy obeyed.  She ran at once behind the Nome King, who was still
+trying to free his eyes from the egg, and in a twinkling she had
+unbuckled his splendid jeweled belt and carried it away with her to
+her place beside the Tiger and Lion, where, because she did not know
+what else to do with it, she fastened it around her own slim waist.
+
+Just then the Chief Steward rushed in with a sponge and a bowl of
+water, and began mopping away the broken eggs from his master's face.
+In a few minutes, and while all the party stood looking on, the King
+regained the use of his eyes, and the first thing he did was to glare
+wickedly upon the Scarecrow and exclaim:
+
+"I'll make you suffer for this, you hay-stuffed dummy!  Don't you know
+eggs are poison to Nomes?"
+
+"Really," said the Scarecrow, "they DON'T seem to agree with you,
+although I wonder why."
+
+"They were strictly fresh and above suspicion," said Billina.  "You
+ought to be glad to get them."
+
+"I'll transform you all into scorpions!" cried the King, angrily, and
+began waving his arms and muttering magic words.
+
+But none of the people became scorpions, so the King stopped and
+looked at them in surprise.
+
+"What's wrong?" he asked.
+
+"Why, you are not wearing your magic belt," replied the Chief Steward,
+after looking the King over carefully.  "Where is it?  What have you
+done with it?"
+
+The Nome King clapped his hand to his waist, and his rock colored face
+turned white as chalk.
+
+"It's gone," he cried, helplessly.  "It's gone, and I am ruined!"
+
+Dorothy now stepped forward and said:
+
+"Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your people back
+to the land of the living.  Billina has saved you from your troubles,
+and now we will leave this drea'ful place, and return to Ev as soon
+as poss'ble."
+
+While the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic belt,
+and a great cheer went up from all her friends, which was led by the
+voices of the Scarecrow and the private.  But the Nome King did not
+join them.  He crept back onto his throne like a whipped dog, and lay
+there bitterly bemoaning his defeat.
+
+"But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin Woodman,"
+said Ozma to Dorothy, "and without him I do not wish to go away."
+
+"Nor I," replied Dorothy, quickly.  "Wasn't he in the palace?"
+
+"He must be there," said Billina; "but I had no clue to guide me in
+guessing the Tin Woodman, so I must have missed him."
+
+"We will go back into the rooms," said Dorothy.  "This magic belt, I
+am sure, will help us to find our dear old friend."
+
+So she re-entered the palace, the doors of which still stood open, and
+everyone followed her except the Nome King, the Queen of Ev and Prince
+Evring.  The mother had taken the little Prince in her lap and was
+fondling and kissing him lovingly, for he was her youngest born.
+
+But the others went with Dorothy, and when she came to the middle of
+the first room the girl waved her hand, as she had seen the King do,
+and commanded the Tin Woodman, whatever form he might then have, to
+resume his proper shape.  No result followed this attempt, so Dorothy
+went into another room and repeated it, and so through all the rooms
+of the palace.  Yet the Tin Woodman did not appear to them, nor could
+they imagine which among the thousands of ornaments was their
+transformed friend.
+
+Sadly they returned to the throne room, where the King, seeing that
+they had met with failure, jeered at Dorothy, saying:
+
+"You do not know how to use my belt, so it is of no use to you.  Give
+it back to me and I will let you go free--you and all the people who
+came with you.  As for the royal family of Ev, they are my slaves, and
+shall remain here."
+
+"I shall keep the belt," said Dorothy.
+
+"But how can you escape, without my consent?"  asked the King.
+
+"Easily enough," answered the girl.  "All we need to do is to walk out
+the way that we came in."
+
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" sneered the King.  "Well, where is the
+passage through which you entered this room?"
+
+They all looked around, but could not discover the place, for it had
+long since been closed.  Dorothy, however, would not be dismayed.  She
+waved her hand toward the seemingly solid wall of the cavern and said:
+
+"I command the passage to open!"
+
+Instantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and the passage
+lay plainly before them.
+
+The King was amazed, and all the others overjoyed.
+
+"Why, then, if the belt obeys you, were we unable to discover the Tin
+Woodman?" asked Ozma.
+
+"I can't imagine," said Dorothy.
+
+"See here, girl," proposed the King, eagerly; "give me the belt, and I
+will tell you what shape the Tin Woodman was changed into, and then
+you can easily find him."
+
+Dorothy hesitated, but Billina cried out:
+
+"Don't you do it!  If the Nome King gets the belt again he will make
+every one of us prisoners, for we will be in his power.  Only by
+keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to leave this place
+in safety."
+
+"I think that is true," said the Scarecrow.  "But I have another idea,
+due to my excellent brains.  Let Dorothy transform the King into a
+goose-egg unless he agrees to go into the palace and bring out to us
+the ornament which is our friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman."
+
+"A goose-egg!" echoed the horrified King.  "How dreadful!"
+
+"Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us the ornament
+we want," declared Billina, with a joyful chuckle.
+
+"You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the magic belt
+all right," added the Scarecrow.
+
+The Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did not
+want to be a goose-egg.  So he went into the palace to get the
+ornament which was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they all
+awaited his return with considerable impatience, for they were anxious
+to leave this underground cavern and see the sunshine once more.  But
+when the Nome King came back he brought nothing with him except a
+puzzled and anxious expression upon his face.
+
+"He's gone!" he said.  "The Tin Woodman is nowhere in the palace."
+
+"Are you sure?" asked Ozma, sternly.
+
+"I'm very sure," answered the King, trembling, "for I know just what I
+transformed him into, and exactly where he stood.  But he is not
+there, and please don't change me into a goose-egg, because I've done
+the best I could."
+
+They were all silent for a time, and then Dorothy said:
+
+"There is no use punishing the Nome King any more, and I'm 'fraid
+we'll have to go away without our friend."
+
+"If he is not here, we cannot rescue him," agreed the Scarecrow,
+sadly.  "Poor Nick!  I wonder what has become of him."
+
+"And he owed me six weeks back pay!" said one of the generals, wiping
+the tears from his eyes with his gold-laced coat sleeve.
+
+Very sorrowfully they determined to return to the upper world without
+their former companion, and so Ozma gave the order to begin the march
+through the passage.
+
+The army went first, and then the royal family of Ev, and afterward
+came Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, the Scarecrow and Tiktok.
+
+They left the Nome King scowling at them from his throne, and had no
+thought of danger until Ozma chanced to look back and saw a large
+number of the warriors following them in full chase, with their swords
+and spears and axes raised to strike down the fugitives as soon as
+they drew near enough.
+
+Evidently the Nome King had made this last attempt to prevent their
+escaping him; but it did him no good, for when Dorothy saw the danger
+they were in she stopped and waved her hand and whispered a command to
+the magic belt.
+
+Instantly the foremost warriors became eggs, which rolled upon the
+floor of the cavern in such numbers that those behind could not
+advance without stepping upon them.  But, when they saw the eggs, all
+desire to advance departed from the warriors, and they turned and fled
+madly into the cavern, and refused to go back again.
+
+Our friends had no further trouble in reaching the end of the passage,
+and soon were standing in the outer air upon the gloomy path between
+the two high mountains.  But the way to Ev lay plainly before them,
+and they fervently hoped that they had seen the last of the Nome King
+and of his dreadful palace.
+
+The cavalcade was led by Ozma, mounted on the Cowardly Lion, and the
+Queen of Ev, who rode upon the back of the Tiger.  The children of the
+Queen walked behind her, hand in hand.  Dorothy rode the Sawhorse,
+while the Scarecrow walked and commanded the army in the absence of
+the Tin Woodman.
+
+Presently the way began to lighten and more of the sunshine to come in
+between the two mountains.  And before long they heard the "thump!
+thump! thump!" of the giant's hammer upon the road.
+
+"How may we pass the monstrous man of iron?" asked the Queen, anxious
+for the safety of her children.  But Dorothy solved the problem by a
+word to the magic belt.
+
+The giant paused, with his hammer held motionless in the air, thus
+allowing the entire party to pass between his cast-iron legs in safety.
+
+
+
+19.  The King of Ev
+
+
+If there were any shifting, rock-colored Nomes on the mountain side
+now, they were silent and respectful, for our adventurers were not
+annoyed, as before, by their impudent laughter.  Really the Nomes had
+nothing to laugh at, since the defeat of their King.
+
+On the other side they found Ozma's golden chariot, standing as they
+had left it.  Soon the Lion and the Tiger were harnessed to the
+beautiful chariot, in which was enough room for Ozma and the Queen and
+six of the royal children.
+
+Little Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse, which
+had a long back.  The Prince had recovered from his shyness and had
+become very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they were fast
+friends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode along.  Billina
+was also perched upon the head of the wooden steed, which seemed not
+to mind the added weight in the least, and the boy was full of wonder
+that a hen could talk, and say such sensible things.
+
+When they came to the gulf, Ozma's magic carpet carried them all over
+in safety; and now they began to pass the trees, in which birds were
+singing; and the breeze that was wafted to them from the farms of Ev
+was spicy with flowers and new-mown hay; and the sunshine fell full
+upon them, to warm them and drive away from their bodies the chill and
+dampness of the underground kingdom of the Nomes.
+
+"I would be quite content," said the Scarecrow to Tiktok, "were only
+the Tin Woodman with us.  But it breaks my heart to leave him behind."
+
+"He was a fine fel-low," replied Tiktok, "al-though his ma-ter-i-al
+was not ve-ry du-ra-ble."
+
+"Oh, tin is an excellent material," the Scarecrow hastened to say;
+"and if anything ever happened to poor Nick Chopper he was always
+easily soldered.  Besides, he did not have to be wound up, and was not
+liable to get out of order."
+
+"I some-times wish," said Tiktok, "that I was stuffed with straw, as
+you are.  It is hard to be made of cop-per."
+
+"I have no reason to complain of my lot," replied the Scarecrow.  "A
+little fresh straw, now and then, makes me as good as new.  But I can
+never be the polished gentleman that my poor departed friend, the Tin
+Woodman, was."
+
+You may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother were
+delighted at seeing again their beloved country; and when the towers
+of the palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear cheering at
+the sight.  Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy, was so
+overjoyed that he took a curious tin whistle from his pocket and blew
+a shrill blast that made the Sawhorse leap and prance in sudden alarm.
+
+"What is that?" asked Billina, who had been obliged to flutter her
+wings in order to keep her seat upon the head of the frightened Sawhorse.
+
+"That's my whistle," said Prince Evring, holding it out upon his hand.
+
+It was in the shape of a little fat pig, made of tin and painted
+green.  The whistle was in the tail of the pig.
+
+"Where did you get it?" asked the yellow hen, closely examining the
+toy with her bright eyes.
+
+"Why, I picked it up in the Nome King's palace, while Dorothy was making
+her guesses, and I put it in my pocket," answered the little Prince.
+
+Billina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that served
+her for a laugh.
+
+"No wonder I couldn't find the Tin Woodman," she said; "and no wonder the
+magic belt didn't make him appear, or the King couldn't find him, either!"
+
+"What do you mean?" questioned Dorothy.
+
+"Why, the Prince had him in his pocket," cried Billina, cackling again.
+
+"I did not!" protested little Evring.  "I only took the whistle."
+
+"Well, then, watch me," returned the hen, and reaching out a claw she
+touched the whistle and said "Ev."
+
+Swish!
+
+"Good afternoon," said the Tin Woodman, taking off his funnel cap and
+bowing to Dorothy and the Prince.  "I think I must have been asleep
+for the first time since I was made of tin, for I do not remember our
+leaving the Nome King."
+
+"You have been enchanted," answered the girl, throwing an arm
+around her old friend and hugging him tight in her joy.
+"But it's all right, now."
+
+"I want my whistle!" said the little Prince, beginning to cry.
+
+"Hush!" cautioned Billina.  "The whistle is lost, but you may have
+another when you get home."
+
+The Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his old
+comrade, so surprised and delighted was he to see him again, and
+Tiktok squeezed the Tin Woodman's hand so earnestly that he dented
+some of his fingers.  Then they had to make way for Ozma to welcome
+the tin man, and the army caught sight of him and set up a cheer, and
+everybody was delighted and happy.
+
+For the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him, and
+his sudden recovery after they had thought he was lost to them forever
+was indeed a pleasant surprise.
+
+Before long the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a great
+crowd of people had gathered to welcome their Queen and her ten
+children.  There was much shouting and cheering, and the people threw
+flowers in their path, and every face wore a happy smile.
+
+They found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber, where she
+was admiring one of her handsomest heads--one with rich chestnut hair,
+dreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut nose.  She was very glad
+to be relieved of her duties to the people of Ev, and the Queen
+graciously permitted her to retain her rooms and her cabinet of heads
+as long as she lived.
+
+Then the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that overlooked
+the crowd of subjects gathered below, and said to them:
+
+"Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth.  He is fifteen
+years of age, has fifteen silver buckles on his jacket and is the
+fifteenth Evardo to rule the land of Ev."
+
+The people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the Wheelers,
+some of whom were present, loudly promised to obey the new King.
+
+So the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon
+Evardo's head, and threw an ermine robe over his shoulders, and
+proclaimed him King; and he bowed gratefully to all his subjects and
+then went away to see if he could find any cake in the royal pantry.
+
+Ozma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and Billina,
+were splendidly entertained by the Queen mother, who owed all her
+happiness to their kind offices; and that evening the yellow hen was
+publicly presented with a beautiful necklace of pearls and sapphires,
+as a token of esteem from the new King.
+
+
+
+20.  The Emerald City
+
+
+Dorothy decided to accept Ozma's invitation to return with her to the
+Land of Oz.  There was no greater chance of her getting home from Ev
+than from Oz, and the little girl was anxious to see once more the
+country where she had encountered such wonderful adventures.  By this
+time Uncle Henry would have reached Australia in his ship, and had
+probably given her up for lost; so he couldn't worry any more than he
+did if she stayed away from him a while longer.  So she would go to Oz.
+
+They bade good-bye to the people of Ev, and the King promised Ozma
+that he would ever be grateful to her and render the Land of Oz any
+service that might lie within his power.
+
+And then they approached the edge of the dangerous desert, and Ozma
+threw down the magic carpet, which at once unrolled far enough for all
+of them to walk upon it without being crowded.
+
+Tiktok, claiming to be Dorothy's faithful follower because he belonged
+to her, had been permitted to join the party, and before they started
+the girl wound up his machinery as far as possible, and the copper man
+stepped off as briskly as any one of them.
+
+Ozma also invited Billina to visit the Land of Oz, and the yellow hen
+was glad enough to go where new sights and scenes awaited her.
+
+They began the trip across the desert early in the morning, and as
+they stopped only long enough for Billina to lay her daily egg, before
+sunset they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of the beautiful
+Land of Oz.  They entered it in the Munchkin territory, and the King
+of the Munchkins met them at the border and welcomed Ozma with great
+respect, being very pleased by her safe return.  For Ozma of Oz ruled
+the King of the Munchkins, the King of the Winkies, the King of the
+Quadlings and the King of the Gillikins just as those kings ruled
+their own people; and this supreme ruler of the Land of Oz lived in a
+great town of her own, called the Emerald City, which was in the exact
+center of the four kingdoms of the Land of Oz.
+
+The Munchkin king entertained them at his palace that night, and in
+the morning they set out for the Emerald City, travelling over a road
+of yellow brick that led straight to the jewel-studded gates.
+Everywhere the people turned out to greet their beloved Ozma, and to
+hail joyfully the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion,
+who were popular favorites.  Dorothy, too, remembered some of the
+people, who had befriended her on the occasion of her first visit to
+Oz, and they were well pleased to see the little Kansas girl again,
+and showered her with compliments and good wishes.
+
+At one place, where they stopped to refresh themselves, Ozma accepted
+a bowl of milk from the hands of a pretty dairy-maid.  Then she looked
+at the girl more closely, and exclaimed:
+
+"Why, it's Jinjur--isn't it!"
+
+"Yes, your Highness," was the reply, as Jinjur dropped a low curtsy.
+And Dorothy looked wonderingly at this lively appearing person, who
+had once assembled an army of women and driven the Scarecrow from the
+throne of the Emerald City, and even fought a battle with the powerful
+army of Glinda the Sorceress.
+
+"I've married a man who owns nine cows," said Jinjur to Ozma, "and now
+I am happy and contented and willing to lead a quiet life and mind my
+own business."
+
+"Where is your husband?" asked Ozma.
+
+"He is in the house, nursing a black eye," replied Jinjur, calmly.
+"The foolish man would insist upon milking the red cow when I wanted
+him to milk the white one; but he will know better next time, I am sure."
+
+Then the party moved on again, and after crossing a broad river on a
+ferry and passing many fine farm houses that were dome shaped and
+painted a pretty green color, they came in sight of a large building
+that was covered with flags and bunting.
+
+"I don't remember that building," said Dorothy.  "What is it?"
+
+"That is the College of Art and Athletic Perfection," replied Ozma.
+"I had it built quite recently, and the Woggle-Bug is its president.
+It keeps him busy, and the young men who attend the college are no
+worse off than they were before.  You see, in this country are a
+number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an
+excellent place for them."
+
+And now they came in sight of the Emerald City, and the people flocked
+out to greet their lovely ruler.  There were several bands and many
+officers and officials of the realm, and a crowd of citizens in their
+holiday attire.
+
+Thus the beautiful Ozma was escorted by a brilliant procession to her
+royal city, and so great was the cheering that she was obliged to
+constantly bow to the right and left to acknowledge the greetings of
+her subjects.
+
+That evening there was a grand reception in the royal palace, attended
+by the most important persons of Oz, and Jack Pumpkinhead, who was a
+little overripe but still active, read an address congratulating Ozma
+of Oz upon the success of her generous mission to rescue the royal
+family of a neighboring kingdom.
+
+Then magnificent gold medals set with precious stones were presented
+to each of the twenty-six officers; and the Tin Woodman was given a
+new axe studded with diamonds; and the Scarecrow received a silver jar
+of complexion powder.  Dorothy was presented with a pretty coronet and
+made a Princess of Oz, and Tiktok received two bracelets set with
+eight rows of very clear and sparkling emeralds.
+
+Afterward they sat down to a splendid feast, and Ozma put Dorothy at
+her right and Billina at her left, where the hen sat upon a golden
+roost and ate from a jeweled platter.  Then were placed the Scarecrow,
+the Tin Woodman and Tiktok, with baskets of lovely flowers before
+them, because they did not require food.  The twenty-six officers were
+at the lower end of the table, and the Lion and the Tiger also had
+seats, and were served on golden platters, that held a half a bushel
+at one time.
+
+The wealthiest and most important citizens of the Emerald City were
+proud to wait upon these famous adventurers, and they were assisted by
+a sprightly little maid named Jellia Jamb, whom the Scarecrow pinched
+upon her rosy cheeks and seemed to know very well.
+
+During the feast Ozma grew thoughtful, and suddenly she asked:
+
+"Where is the private?"
+
+"Oh, he is sweeping out the barracks," replied one of the generals,
+who was busy eating a leg of a turkey.  "But I have ordered him a dish
+of bread and molasses to eat when his work is done."
+
+"Let him be sent for," said the girl ruler.
+
+While they waited for this command to be obeyed, she enquired:
+
+"Have we any other privates in the armies?"
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the Tin Woodman, "I believe there are
+three, altogether."
+
+The private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal Ozma
+very respectfully.
+
+"What is your name, my man?" asked the girl.
+
+"Omby Amby," answered the private.
+
+"Then, Omby Amby," said she, "I promote you to be Captain General of
+all the armies of my kingdom, and especially to be Commander of my
+Body Guard at the royal palace."
+
+"It is very expensive to hold so many offices," said the private,
+hesitating.  "I have no money with which to buy uniforms."
+
+"You shall be supplied from the royal treasury," said Ozma.
+
+Then the private was given a seat at the table, where the other officers
+welcomed him cordially, and the feasting and merriment were resumed.
+
+Suddenly Jellia Jamb exclaimed:
+
+"There is nothing more to eat!  The Hungry Tiger has consumed everything!"
+
+"But that is not the worst of it," declared the Tiger, mournfully.
+"Somewhere or somehow, I've actually lost my appetite!"
+
+
+
+21.  Dorothy's Magic Belt
+
+
+Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the guest
+of the royal Ozma, who delighted to please and interest the little
+Kansas girl.  Many new acquaintances were formed and many old ones
+renewed, and wherever she went Dorothy found herself among friends.
+
+One day, however, as she sat in Ozma's private room, she noticed
+hanging upon the wall a picture which constantly changed in
+appearance, at one time showing a meadow and at another time a forest,
+a lake or a village.
+
+"How curious!" she exclaimed, after watching the shifting scenes for a
+few moments.
+
+"Yes," said Ozma, "that is really a wonderful invention in magic.  If
+I wish to see any part of the world or any person living, I need only
+express the wish and it is shown in the picture."
+
+"May I use it?" asked Dorothy, eagerly.
+
+"Of course, my dear."
+
+"Then I'd like to see the old Kansas farm, and Aunt Em," said the girl.
+
+Instantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture, and
+Aunt Em could be seen quite plainly.  She was engaged in washing
+dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented.  The
+hired men and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the house,
+and the corn and wheat seemed to the child to be in prime condition.
+On the side porch Dorothy's pet dog, Toto, was lying fast asleep in
+the sun, and to her surprise old Speckles was running around with a
+brood of twelve new chickens trailing after her.
+
+"Everything seems all right at home," said Dorothy, with a sigh of
+relief.  "Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is doing."
+
+The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in a
+pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair,
+solemnly smoking his briar pipe.  He looked sad and lonely, and his
+hair was now quite white and his hands and face thin and wasted.
+
+"Oh!" cried Dorothy, in an anxious voice, "I'm sure Uncle Henry isn't
+getting any better, and it's because he is worried about me.  Ozma,
+dear, I must go to him at once!"
+
+"How can you?" asked Ozma.
+
+"I don't know," replied Dorothy; "but let us go to Glinda the Good.
+I'm sure she will help me, and advise me how to get to Uncle Henry."
+
+Ozma readily agreed to this plan and caused the Sawhorse to be
+harnessed to a pretty green and pink phaeton, and the two girls rode
+away to visit the famous sorceress.
+
+Glinda received them graciously, and listened to Dorothy's story
+with attention.
+
+"I have the magic belt, you know," said the little girl.  "If I
+buckled it around my waist and commanded it to take me to Uncle Henry,
+wouldn't it do it?"
+
+"I think so," replied Glinda, with a smile.
+
+"And then," continued Dorothy, "if I ever wanted to come back here
+again, the belt would bring me."
+
+"In that you are wrong," said the sorceress.  "The belt has magical
+powers only while it is in some fairy country, such as the Land of Oz,
+or the Land of Ev.  Indeed, my little friend, were you to wear it and
+wish yourself in Australia, with your uncle, the wish would doubtless
+be fulfilled, because it was made in fairyland.  But you would not
+find the magic belt around you when you arrived at your destination."
+
+"What would become of it?" asked the girl.
+
+"It would be lost, as were your silver shoes when you visited Oz
+before, and no one would ever see it again.  It seems too bad to
+destroy the use of the magic belt in that way, doesn't it?"
+
+"Then," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "I will give the magic
+belt to Ozma, for she can use it in her own country.  And she can wish
+me transported to Uncle Henry without losing the belt."
+
+"That is a wise plan," replied Glinda.
+
+So they rode back to the Emerald City, and on the way it was arranged
+that every Saturday morning Ozma would look at Dorothy in her magic
+picture, wherever the little girl might chance to be.  And, if she saw
+Dorothy make a certain signal, then Ozma would know that the little
+Kansas girl wanted to revisit the Land of Oz, and by means of the Nome
+King's magic belt would wish that she might instantly return.
+
+This having been agreed upon, Dorothy bade good-bye to all her
+friends.  Tiktok wanted to go to Australia; too, but Dorothy knew that
+the machine man would never do for a servant in a civilized country,
+and the chances were that his machinery wouldn't work at all.  So she
+left him in Ozma's care.
+
+Billina, on the contrary, preferred the Land of Oz to any other
+country, and refused to accompany Dorothy.
+
+"The bugs and ants that I find here are the finest flavored in the
+world," declared the yellow hen, "and there are plenty of them.  So
+here I shall end my days; and I must say, Dorothy, my dear, that you
+are very foolish to go back into that stupid, humdrum world again."
+
+"Uncle Henry needs me," said Dorothy, simply; and every one except
+Billina thought it was right that she should go.
+
+All Dorothy's friends of the Land of Oz--both old and new--gathered
+in a group in front of the palace to bid her a sorrowful good-bye
+and to wish her long life and happiness.  After much hand shaking,
+Dorothy kissed Ozma once more, and then handed her the Nome King's
+magic belt, saying:
+
+"Now, dear Princess, when I wave my handkerchief, please wish me with
+Uncle Henry.  I'm aw'fly sorry to leave you--and the Scarecrow--and
+the Tin Woodman--and the Cowardly Lion--and Tiktok--and--and
+everybody--but I do want my Uncle Henry!  So good-bye, all of you."
+
+Then the little girl stood on one of the big emeralds which decorated
+the courtyard, and after looking once again at each of her friends,
+waved her handkerchief.
+
+
+"No," said Dorothy, "I wasn't drowned at all.  And I've come to nurse
+you and take care of you, Uncle Henry, and you must promise to get
+well as soon as poss'ble."
+
+Uncle Henry smiled and cuddled his little niece close in his lap.
+
+"I'm better already, my darling," said he.
+
+
+
+
+
+This is the end of the Project Gutenberg Edition of Ozma of Oz
+
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+<pre>
+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum**
+#6 in our L. Frank Baum series
+#5 in the Oz series
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
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+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+
+Ozma of Oz
+
+by L. Frank Baum
+
+April, 1996 [Etext #486]
+
+
+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum**
+*****This file should be named ozmoz10.txt or ozmoz10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, ozmoz11.txt.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ozmoz10a.txt.
+
+
+This etext was created by John N White, and was proofed by
+Dennis Amundson, Fargo, North Dakota.  Etext was scanned in
+from an unabridged edition of the text.
+
+
+</pre>
+<h1>Ozma of Oz</h1>
+<h3>A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of<br />
+Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin<br />
+Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and<br />
+the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good<br />
+People too Numerous to Mention<br />
+Faithfully Recorded Herein</h3>
+<h2>by L. Frank Baum</h2>
+<h4>The Author of The Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, etc.</h4>
+<hr />
+<h2><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a>Contents</h2>
+<ol start="0">
+<li style="list-style-type: none;"><a href=
+"#AuthorNote">&mdash;Author&rsquo;s Note&mdash;</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_1">The Girl in the Chicken Coop</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_2">The Yellow Hen</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_3">Letters in the Sand</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_4">Tiktok, the Machine Man</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_5">Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_6">The Heads of Langwidere</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_7">Ozma of Oz to the Rescue</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_8">The Hungry Tiger</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_9">The Royal Family of Ev</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_10">The Giant with the Hammer</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_11">The Nome King</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_12">The Eleven Guesses</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_13">The Nome King Laughs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_14">Dorothy Tries to be Brave</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_15">Billina Frightens the Nome King</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_16">Purple, Green and Gold</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_17">The Scarecrow Wins the Fight</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_18">The Fate of the Tin Woodman</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_19">The King of Ev</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_20">The Emerald City</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Ch_21">Dorothy&rsquo;s Magic Belt</a></li>
+</ol>
+<hr />
+<h2><a id="AuthorNote" name="AuthorNote"></a>Author&rsquo;s
+Note</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>My friends the children are responsible for this new &ldquo;Oz
+Book,&rdquo; as they were for the last one, which was called The
+Land of Oz. Their sweet little letters plead to know &ldquo;more
+about Dorothy&rdquo;; and they ask: &ldquo;What became of the
+Cowardly Lion?&rdquo; and &ldquo;What did Ozma do
+afterward?&rdquo;&mdash;meaning, of course, after she became the
+Ruler of Oz. And some of them suggest plots to me, saying:
+&ldquo;Please have Dorothy go to the Land of Oz again&rdquo;; or,
+&ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you make Ozma and Dorothy meet, and have a
+good time together?&rdquo; Indeed, could I do all that my little
+friends ask, I would be obliged to write dozens of books to satisfy
+their demands. And I wish I could, for I enjoy writing these
+stories just as much as the children say they enjoy reading
+them.</p>
+<p>Well, here is &ldquo;more about Dorothy,&rdquo; and about our
+old friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and about the
+Cowardly Lion, and Ozma, and all the rest of them; and here,
+likewise, is a good deal about some new folks that are queer and
+unusual. One little friend, who read this story before it was
+printed, said to me: &ldquo;Billina is REAL OZZY, Mr. Baum, and so
+are Tiktok and the Hungry Tiger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>If this judgment is unbiased and correct, and the little folks
+find this new story &ldquo;real Ozzy,&rdquo; I shall be very glad
+indeed that I wrote it. But perhaps I shall get some more of those
+very welcome letters from my readers, telling me just how they like
+&ldquo;Ozma of Oz.&rdquo; I hope so, anyway.</p>
+<p class="rgt">L. FRANK BAUM.<br />
+MACATAWA, 1907.</p>
+<hr />
+<h2><a id="Ch_1" name="Ch_1"></a>1. The Girl in the Chicken
+Coop</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending
+ripples across its surface. Then the wind pushed the edges of the
+ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until
+they became billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher
+even than the tops of houses. Some of them, indeed, rolled as high
+as the tops of tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs
+between the great billows were like deep valleys.</p>
+<p>All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big
+ocean, which the mischievous wind caused without any good reason
+whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is
+liable to cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage.</p>
+<p>At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out
+upon the waters. When the waves began to tumble and toss and to
+grow bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped
+sidewise&mdash;first one way and then the other&mdash;and was
+jostled around so roughly that even the sailor-men had to hold fast
+to the ropes and railings to keep themselves from being swept away
+by the wind or pitched headlong into the sea.</p>
+<p>And the clouds were so thick in the sky that the sunlight
+couldn&rsquo;t get through them; so that the day grew dark as
+night, which added to the terrors of the storm.</p>
+<p>The Captain of the ship was not afraid, because he had seen
+storms before, and had sailed his ship through them in safety; but
+he knew that his passengers would be in danger if they tried to
+stay on deck, so he put them all into the cabin and told them to
+stay there until after the storm was over, and to keep brave hearts
+and not be scared, and all would be well with them.</p>
+<p>Now, among these passengers was a little Kansas girl named
+Dorothy Gale, who was going with her Uncle Henry to Australia, to
+visit some relatives they had never before seen. Uncle Henry, you
+must know, was not very well, because he had been working so hard
+on his Kansas farm that his health had given way and left him weak
+and nervous. So he left Aunt Em at home to watch after the hired
+men and to take care of the farm, while he traveled far away to
+Australia to visit his cousins and have a good rest.</p>
+<p>Dorothy was eager to go with him on this journey, and Uncle
+Henry thought she would be good company and help cheer him up; so
+he decided to take her along. The little girl was quite an
+experienced traveller, for she had once been carried by a cyclone
+as far away from home as the marvelous Land of Oz, and she had met
+with a good many adventures in that strange country before she
+managed to get back to Kansas again. So she wasn&rsquo;t easily
+frightened, whatever happened, and when the wind began to howl and
+whistle, and the waves began to tumble and toss, our little girl
+didn&rsquo;t mind the uproar the least bit.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course we&rsquo;ll have to stay in the cabin,&rdquo;
+she said to Uncle Henry and the other passengers, &ldquo;and keep
+as quiet as possible until the storm is over. For the Captain says
+if we go on deck we may be blown overboard.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>No one wanted to risk such an accident as that, you may be sure;
+so all the passengers stayed huddled up in the dark cabin,
+listening to the shrieking of the storm and the creaking of the
+masts and rigging and trying to keep from bumping into one another
+when the ship tipped sidewise.</p>
+<p>Dorothy had almost fallen asleep when she was aroused with a
+start to find that Uncle Henry was missing. She couldn&rsquo;t
+imagine where he had gone, and as he was not very strong she began
+to worry about him, and to fear he might have been careless enough
+to go on deck. In that case he would be in great danger unless he
+instantly came down again.</p>
+<p>The fact was that Uncle Henry had gone to lie down in his little
+sleeping-berth, but Dorothy did not know that. She only remembered
+that Aunt Em had cautioned her to take good care of her uncle, so
+at once she decided to go on deck and find him, in spite of the
+fact that the tempest was now worse than ever, and the ship was
+plunging in a really dreadful manner. Indeed, the little girl found
+it was as much as she could do to mount the stairs to the deck, and
+as soon as she got there the wind struck her so fiercely that it
+almost tore away the skirts of her dress. Yet Dorothy felt a sort
+of joyous excitement in defying the storm, and while she held fast
+to the railing she peered around through the gloom and thought she
+saw the dim form of a man clinging to a mast not far away from her.
+This might be her uncle, so she called as loudly as she could:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Uncle Henry! Uncle Henry!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the wind screeched and howled so madly that she scarce heard
+her own voice, and the man certainly failed to hear her, for he did
+not move.</p>
+<p>Dorothy decided she must go to him; so she made a dash forward,
+during a lull in the storm, to where a big square chicken-coop had
+been lashed to the deck with ropes. She reached this place in
+safety, but no sooner had she seized fast hold of the slats of the
+big box in which the chickens were kept than the wind, as if
+enraged because the little girl dared to resist its power, suddenly
+redoubled its fury. With a scream like that of an angry giant it
+tore away the ropes that held the coop and lifted it high into the
+air, with Dorothy still clinging to the slats. Around and over it
+whirled, this way and that, and a few moments later the
+chicken-coop dropped far away into the sea, where the big waves
+caught it and slid it up-hill to a foaming crest and then down-hill
+into a deep valley, as if it were nothing more than a plaything to
+keep them amused.</p>
+<p>Dorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she
+didn&rsquo;t lose her presence of mind even for a second. She kept
+tight hold of the stout slats and as soon as she could get the
+water out of her eyes she saw that the wind had ripped the cover
+from the coop, and the poor chickens were fluttering away in every
+direction, being blown by the wind until they looked like feather
+dusters without handles. The bottom of the coop was made of thick
+boards, so Dorothy found she was clinging to a sort of raft, with
+sides of slats, which readily bore up her weight. After coughing
+the water out of her throat and getting her breath again, she
+managed to climb over the slats and stand upon the firm wooden
+bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I&rsquo;ve got a ship of my own!&rdquo; she thought,
+more amused than frightened at her sudden change of condition; and
+then, as the coop climbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked
+eagerly around for the ship from which she had been blown.</p>
+<p>It was far, far away, by this time. Perhaps no one on board had
+yet missed her, or knew of her strange adventure. Down into a
+valley between the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed
+another crest the ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long
+way off. Soon it had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and then
+Dorothy gave a sigh of regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began
+to wonder what was going to happen to her next.</p>
+<p>Just now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with
+nothing to keep her afloat but a miserable wooden hen-coop that had
+a plank bottom and slatted sides, through which the water
+constantly splashed and wetted her through to the skin! And there
+was nothing to eat when she became hungry&mdash;as she was sure to
+do before long&mdash;and no fresh water to drink and no dry clothes
+to put on.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I declare!&rdquo; she exclaimed, with a laugh.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re in a pretty fix, Dorothy Gale, I can tell you!
+and I haven&rsquo;t the least idea how you&rsquo;re going to get
+out of it!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>As if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and
+the gray clouds overhead changed to inky blackness. But the wind,
+as if satisfied at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped
+blowing this ocean and hurried away to another part of the world to
+blow something else; so that the waves, not being joggled any more,
+began to quiet down and behave themselves.</p>
+<p>It was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided;
+otherwise, brave though she was, I fear she might have perished.
+Many children, in her place, would have wept and given way to
+despair; but because Dorothy had encountered so many adventures and
+come safely through them it did not occur to her at this time to be
+especially afraid. She was wet and uncomfortable, it is true; but,
+after sighing that one sigh I told you of, she managed to recall
+some of her customary cheerfulness and decided to patiently await
+whatever her fate might be.</p>
+<p>By and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky
+overhead, with a silver moon shining sweetly in the middle of it
+and little stars winking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their
+way. The coop did not toss around any more, but rode the waves more
+gently&mdash;almost like a cradle rocking&mdash;so that the floor
+upon which Dorothy stood was no longer swept by water coming
+through the slats. Seeing this, and being quite exhausted by the
+excitement of the past few hours, the little girl decided that
+sleep would be the best thing to restore her strength and the
+easiest way in which she could pass the time. The floor was damp
+and she was herself wringing wet, but fortunately this was a warm
+climate and she did not feel at all cold.</p>
+<p>So she sat down in a corner of the coop, leaned her back against
+the slats, nodded at the friendly stars before she closed her eyes,
+and was asleep in half a minute.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_2" name="Ch_2"></a>2. The Yellow Hen</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>A strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that
+day had dawned and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky. She
+had been dreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in
+the old barn-yard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around
+her; and at first, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she
+really imagined she was there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut! Kut-kut-kut,
+ka-daw-kut!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Ah; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her.
+Surely it was a hen cackling! But her wide-open eyes first saw,
+through the slats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now
+calm and placid, and her thoughts flew back to the past night, so
+full of danger and discomfort. Also she began to remember that she
+was a waif of the storm, adrift upon a treacherous and unknown
+sea.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-w-w&mdash;kut!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; cried Dorothy, starting to her
+feet.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I&rsquo;ve just laid an egg, that&rsquo;s
+all,&rdquo; replied a small, but sharp and distinct voice, and
+looking around her the little girl discovered a yellow hen
+squatting in the opposite corner of the coop.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear me!&rdquo; she exclaimed, in surprise; &ldquo;have
+YOU been here all night, too?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; answered the hen, fluttering her wings
+and yawning. &ldquo;When the coop blew away from the ship I clung
+fast to this corner, with claws and beak, for I knew if I fell into
+the water I&rsquo;d surely be drowned. Indeed, I nearly drowned, as
+it was, with all that water washing over me. I never was so wet
+before in my life!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; agreed Dorothy, &ldquo;it was pretty wet, for
+a time, I know. But do you feel comfor&rsquo;ble now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not very. The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it
+has your dress, and I feel better since I laid my morning egg. But
+what&rsquo;s to become of us, I should like to know, afloat on this
+big pond?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to know that, too,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;But, tell me; how does it happen that you are able to talk?
+I thought hens could only cluck and cackle.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, as for that,&rdquo; answered the yellow hen
+thoughtfully, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve clucked and cackled all my life,
+and never spoken a word before this morning, that I can remember.
+But when you asked a question, a minute ago, it seemed the most
+natural thing in the world to answer you. So I spoke, and I seem to
+keep on speaking, just as you and other human beings do. Strange,
+isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very,&rdquo; replied Dorothy. &ldquo;If we were in the
+Land of Oz, I wouldn&rsquo;t think it so queer, because many of the
+animals can talk in that fairy country. But out here in the ocean
+must be a good long way from Oz.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How is my grammar?&rdquo; asked the yellow hen,
+anxiously. &ldquo;Do I speak quite properly, in your
+judgment?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;you do very well, for a
+beginner.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to know that,&rdquo; continued the yellow
+hen, in a confidential tone; &ldquo;because, if one is going to
+talk, it&rsquo;s best to talk correctly. The red rooster has often
+said that my cluck and my cackle were quite perfect; and now
+it&rsquo;s a comfort to know I am talking properly.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m beginning to get hungry,&rdquo; remarked
+Dorothy. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s breakfast time; but there&rsquo;s no
+breakfast.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You may have my egg,&rdquo; said the yellow hen. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t care for it, you know.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you want to hatch it?&rdquo; asked the little
+girl, in surprise.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I&rsquo;ve
+a nice snug nest, in some quiet place, with a baker&rsquo;s dozen
+of eggs under me. That&rsquo;s thirteen, you know, and it&rsquo;s a
+lucky number for hens. So you may as well eat this egg.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I couldn&rsquo;t POSS&rsquo;BLY eat it, unless it was
+cooked,&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m much obliged
+for your kindness, just the same.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t mention it, my dear,&rdquo; answered the hen,
+calmly, and began preening her feathers.</p>
+<p>For a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea. She
+was still thinking of the egg, though; so presently she asked:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why do you lay eggs, when you don&rsquo;t expect to hatch
+them?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a habit I have,&rdquo; replied the yellow hen.
+&ldquo;It has always been my pride to lay a fresh egg every
+morning, except when I&rsquo;m moulting. I never feel like having
+my morning cackle till the egg is properly laid, and without the
+chance to cackle I would not be happy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s strange,&rdquo; said the girl, reflectively;
+&ldquo;but as I&rsquo;m not a hen I can&rsquo;t be &rsquo;spected
+to understand that.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Certainly not, my dear.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then Dorothy fell silent again. The yellow hen was some company,
+and a bit of comfort, too; but it was dreadfully lonely out on the
+big ocean, nevertheless.</p>
+<p>After a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat
+of the coop, which was a little above Dorothy&rsquo;s head when she
+was sitting upon the bottom, as she had been doing for some moments
+past.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, we are not far from land!&rdquo; exclaimed the
+hen.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where? Where is it?&rdquo; cried Dorothy, jumping up in
+great excitement.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Over there a little way,&rdquo; answered the hen, nodding
+her head in a certain direction. &ldquo;We seem to be drifting
+toward it, so that before noon we ought to find ourselves upon dry
+land again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I shall like that!&rdquo; said Dorothy, with a little
+sigh, for her feet and legs were still wetted now and then by the
+sea-water that came through the open slats.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So shall I,&rdquo; answered her companion. &ldquo;There
+is nothing in the world so miserable as a wet hen.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it
+grew more distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by
+the little girl in the floating hen-coop. Next to the water was a
+broad beach of white sand and gravel, and farther back were several
+rocky hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees
+that marked the edge of a forest. But there were no houses to be
+seen, nor any sign of people who might inhabit this unknown
+land.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I hope we shall find something to eat,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy, looking eagerly at the pretty beach toward which they
+drifted. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s long past breakfast time,
+now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a trifle hungry, myself,&rdquo; declared the
+yellow hen.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you eat the egg?&rdquo; asked the child.
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need to have your food cooked, as I
+do.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you take me for a cannibal?&rdquo; cried the hen,
+indignantly. &ldquo;I do not know what I have said or done that
+leads you to insult me!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I beg your pardon, I&rsquo;m sure
+Mrs.&mdash;Mrs.&mdash;by the way, may I inquire your name,
+ma&rsquo;am?&rdquo; asked the little girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My name is Bill,&rdquo; said the yellow hen, somewhat
+gruffly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Bill! Why, that&rsquo;s a boy&rsquo;s name.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What difference does that make?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a lady hen, aren&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course. But when I was first hatched out no one could
+tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little
+boy at the farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of
+me because I was the only yellow chicken in the whole brood. When I
+grew up, and he found that I didn&rsquo;t crow and fight, as all
+the roosters do, he did not think to change my name, and every
+creature in the barn-yard, as well as the people in the house, knew
+me as &lsquo;Bill.&rsquo; So Bill I&rsquo;ve always been called,
+and Bill is my name.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s all wrong, you know,&rdquo; declared
+Dorothy, earnestly; &ldquo;and, if you don&rsquo;t mind, I shall
+call you &lsquo;Billina.&rsquo; Putting the &lsquo;eena&rsquo; on
+the end makes it a girl&rsquo;s name, you see.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t mind it in the least,&rdquo; returned
+the yellow hen. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter at all what you call
+me, so long as I know the name means ME.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well, Billina. MY name is Dorothy Gale&mdash;just
+Dorothy to my friends and Miss Gale to strangers. You may call me
+Dorothy, if you like. We&rsquo;re getting very near the shore. Do
+you suppose it is too deep for me to wade the rest of the
+way?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wait a few minutes longer. The sunshine is warm and
+pleasant, and we are in no hurry.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But my feet are all wet and soggy,&rdquo; said the girl.
+&ldquo;My dress is dry enough, but I won&rsquo;t feel real
+comfor&rsquo;ble till I get my feet dried.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big
+wooden coop grated gently on the sandy beach and the dangerous
+voyage was over.</p>
+<p>It did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may
+be sure. The yellow hen flew to the sands at once, but Dorothy had
+to climb over the high slats. Still, for a country girl, that was
+not much of a feat, and as soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew
+off her wet shoes and stockings and spread them upon the sun-warmed
+beach to dry.</p>
+<p>Then she sat down and watched Billina, who was pick-pecking away
+with her sharp bill in the sand and gravel, which she scratched up
+and turned over with her strong claws.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What are you doing?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Getting my breakfast, of course,&rdquo; murmured the hen,
+busily pecking away.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you find?&rdquo; inquired the girl,
+curiously.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, some fat red ants, and some sand-bugs, and once in a
+while a tiny crab. They are very sweet and nice, I assure
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How dreadful!&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy, in a shocked
+voice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is dreadful?&rdquo; asked the hen, lifting her head
+to gaze with one bright eye at her companion.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, eating live things, and horrid bugs, and crawly
+ants. You ought to be &rsquo;SHAMED of yourself!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Goodness me!&rdquo; returned the hen, in a puzzled tone;
+&ldquo;how queer you are, Dorothy! Live things are much fresher and
+more wholesome than dead ones, and you humans eat all sorts of dead
+creatures.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t!&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You do, indeed,&rdquo; answered Billina. &ldquo;You eat
+lambs and sheep and cows and pigs and even chickens.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But we cook &rsquo;em,&rdquo; said Dorothy,
+triumphantly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What difference does that make?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A good deal,&rdquo; said the girl, in a graver tone.
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t just &rsquo;splain the diff&rsquo;rence, but
+it&rsquo;s there. And, anyhow, we never eat such dreadful things as
+BUGS.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs,&rdquo;
+retorted the yellow hen, with an odd cackle. &ldquo;So you are just
+as bad as we chickens are.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This made Dorothy thoughtful. What Billina said was true enough,
+and it almost took away her appetite for breakfast. As for the
+yellow hen, she continued to peck away at the sand busily, and
+seemed quite contented with her bill-of-fare.</p>
+<p>Finally, down near the water&rsquo;s edge, Billina stuck her
+bill deep into the sand, and then drew back and shivered.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ow!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;I struck metal, that time,
+and it nearly broke my beak.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It prob&rsquo;bly was a rock,&rdquo; said Dorothy,
+carelessly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nonsense. I know a rock from metal, I guess,&rdquo; said
+the hen. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a different feel to it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But there couldn&rsquo;t be any metal on this wild,
+deserted seashore,&rdquo; persisted the girl. &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s
+the place? I&rsquo;ll dig it up, and prove to you I&rsquo;m
+right,&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Billina showed her the place where she had &ldquo;stubbed her
+bill,&rdquo; as she expressed it, and Dorothy dug away the sand
+until she felt something hard. Then, thrusting in her hand, she
+pulled the thing out, and discovered it to be a large sized golden
+key&mdash;rather old, but still bright and of perfect shape.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What did I tell you?&rdquo; cried the hen, with a cackle
+of triumph. &ldquo;Can I tell metal when I bump into it, or is the
+thing a rock?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s metal, sure enough,&rdquo; answered the child,
+gazing thoughtfully at the curious thing she had found. &ldquo;I
+think it is pure gold, and it must have lain hidden in the sand for
+a long time. How do you suppose it came there, Billina? And what do
+you suppose this mysterious key unlocks?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say,&rdquo; replied the hen. &ldquo;You
+ought to know more about locks and keys than I do.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy glanced around. There was no sign of any house in that
+part of the country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a
+lock and every lock must have a purpose. Perhaps the key had been
+lost by somebody who lived far away, but had wandered on this very
+shore.</p>
+<p>Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her
+dress and then slowly drew on her shoes and stockings, which the
+sun had fully dried.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I b&rsquo;lieve, Billina,&rdquo; she said,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have a look &rsquo;round, and see if I can find
+some breakfast.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_3" name="Ch_3"></a>3. Letters in the Sand</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Walking a little way back from the water&rsquo;s edge, toward
+the grove of trees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of white sand
+that seemed to have queer signs marked upon its surface, just as
+one would write upon sand with a stick.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What does it say?&rdquo; she asked the yellow hen, who
+trotted along beside her in a rather dignified fashion.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How should I know?&rdquo; returned the hen. &ldquo;I
+cannot read.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! Can&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Certainly not; I&rsquo;ve never been to school, you
+know.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I have,&rdquo; admitted Dorothy; &ldquo;but the
+letters are big and far apart, and it&rsquo;s hard to spell out the
+words.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered
+that these words were written in the sand:</p>
+<p class="cen">&ldquo;BEWARE THE WHEELERS!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s rather strange,&rdquo; declared the hen,
+when Dorothy had read aloud the words. &ldquo;What do you suppose
+the Wheelers are?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Folks that wheel, I guess. They must have wheelbarrows,
+or baby-cabs or hand-carts,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps they&rsquo;re automobiles,&rdquo; suggested the
+yellow hen. &ldquo;There is no need to beware of baby-cabs and
+wheelbarrows; but automobiles are dangerous things. Several of my
+friends have been run over by them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be auto&rsquo;biles,&rdquo; replied the
+girl, &ldquo;for this is a new, wild country, without even
+trolley-cars or tel&rsquo;phones. The people here haven&rsquo;t
+been discovered yet, I&rsquo;m sure; that is, if there ARE any
+people. So I don&rsquo;t b&rsquo;lieve there CAN be any
+auto&rsquo;biles, Billina.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps not,&rdquo; admitted the yellow hen. &ldquo;Where
+are you going now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Over to those trees, to see if I can find some fruit or
+nuts,&rdquo; answered Dorothy.</p>
+<p>She tramped across the sand, skirting the foot of one of the
+little rocky hills that stood near, and soon reached the edge of
+the forest.</p>
+<p>At first she was greatly disappointed, because the nearer trees
+were all punita, or cotton-wood or eucalyptus, and bore no fruit or
+nuts at all. But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the
+little girl came upon two trees that promised to furnish her with
+plenty of food.</p>
+<p>One was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters
+on all the limbs, and upon the biggest and ripest boxes the word
+&ldquo;Lunch&rdquo; could be read, in neat raised letters. This
+tree seemed to bear all the year around, for there were lunch-box
+blossoms on some of the branches, and on others tiny little
+lunch-boxes that were as yet quite green, and evidently not fit to
+eat until they had grown bigger.</p>
+<p>The leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented
+a very pleasing appearance to the hungry little girl.</p>
+<p>But the tree next to the lunch-box tree was even more wonderful,
+for it bore quantities of tin dinner-pails, which were so full and
+heavy that the stout branches bent underneath their weight. Some
+were small and dark-brown in color; those larger were of a dull tin
+color; but the really ripe ones were pails of bright tin that shone
+and glistened beautifully in the rays of sunshine that touched
+them.</p>
+<p>Dorothy was delighted, and even the yellow hen acknowledged that
+she was surprised.</p>
+<p>The little girl stood on tip-toe and picked one of the nicest
+and biggest lunch-boxes, and then she sat down upon the ground and
+eagerly opened it. Inside she found, nicely wrapped in white
+papers, a ham sandwich, a piece of sponge-cake, a pickle, a slice
+of new cheese and an apple. Each thing had a separate stem, and so
+had to be picked off the side of the box; but Dorothy found them
+all to be delicious, and she ate every bit of luncheon in the box
+before she had finished.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A lunch isn&rsquo;t zactly breakfast,&rdquo; she said to
+Billina, who sat beside her curiously watching. &ldquo;But when one
+is hungry one can eat even supper in the morning, and not
+complain.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I hope your lunch-box was perfectly ripe,&rdquo; observed
+the yellow hen, in a anxious tone. &ldquo;So much sickness is
+caused by eating green things.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m sure it was ripe,&rdquo; declared Dorothy,
+&ldquo;all, that is, &rsquo;cept the pickle, and a pickle just HAS
+to be green, Billina. But everything tasted perfectly splendid, and
+I&rsquo;d rather have it than a church picnic. And now I think
+I&rsquo;ll pick a dinner-pail, to have when I get hungry again, and
+then we&rsquo;ll start out and &rsquo;splore the country, and see
+where we are.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you any idea what country this is?&rdquo;
+inquired Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;None at all. But listen: I&rsquo;m quite sure it&rsquo;s
+a fairy country, or such things as lunch-boxes and dinner-pails
+wouldn&rsquo;t be growing upon trees. Besides, Billina, being a
+hen, you wouldn&rsquo;t be able to talk in any civ&rsquo;lized
+country, like Kansas, where no fairies live at all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps we&rsquo;re in the Land of Oz,&rdquo; said the
+hen, thoughtfully.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, that can&rsquo;t be,&rdquo; answered the little girl;
+because I&rsquo;ve been to the Land of Oz, and it&rsquo;s all
+surrounded by a horrid desert that no one can cross.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then how did you get away from there again?&rdquo; asked
+Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I had a pair of silver shoes, that carried me through the
+air; but I lost them,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, indeed,&rdquo; remarked the yellow hen, in a tone of
+unbelief.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Anyhow,&rdquo; resumed the girl, &ldquo;there is no
+seashore near the Land of Oz, so this must surely be some other
+fairy country.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>While she was speaking she selected a bright and pretty
+dinner-pail that seemed to have a stout handle, and picked it from
+its branch. Then, accompanied by the yellow hen, she walked out of
+the shadow of the trees toward the sea-shore.</p>
+<p>They were part way across the sands when Billina suddenly cried,
+in a voice of terror:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy turned quickly around, and saw coming out of a path that
+led from between the trees the most peculiar person her eyes had
+ever beheld.</p>
+<p>It had the form of a man, except that it walked, or rather
+rolled, upon all fours, and its legs were the same length as its
+arms, giving them the appearance of the four legs of a beast. Yet
+it was no beast that Dorothy had discovered, for the person was
+clothed most gorgeously in embroidered garments of many colors, and
+wore a straw hat perched jauntily upon the side of its head. But it
+differed from human beings in this respect, that instead of hands
+and feet there grew at the end of its arms and legs round wheels,
+and by means of these wheels it rolled very swiftly over the level
+ground. Afterward Dorothy found that these odd wheels were of the
+same hard substance that our finger-nails and toe-nails are
+composed of, and she also learned that creatures of this strange
+race were born in this queer fashion. But when our little girl
+first caught sight of the first individual of a race that was
+destined to cause her a lot of trouble, she had an idea that the
+brilliantly-clothed personage was on roller-skates, which were
+attached to his hands as well as to his feet.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Run!&rdquo; screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in
+great fright. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a Wheeler!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A Wheeler?&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy. &ldquo;What can that
+be?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you remember the warning in the sand:
+&lsquo;Beware the Wheelers&rsquo;? Run, I tell
+you&mdash;run!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came
+after her in full chase.</p>
+<p>Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great
+procession of Wheelers emerging from the forest&mdash;dozens and
+dozens of them&mdash;all clad in splendid, tight-fitting garments
+and all rolling swiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange
+cries.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re sure to catch us!&rdquo; panted the girl,
+who was still carrying the heavy dinner-pail she had picked.
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t run much farther, Billina.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Climb up this hill,&mdash;quick!&rdquo; said the hen; and
+Dorothy found she was very near to the heap of loose and jagged
+rocks they had passed on their way to the forest. The yellow hen
+was even now fluttering among the rocks, and Dorothy followed as
+best she could, half climbing and half tumbling up the rough and
+rugged steep.</p>
+<p>She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill
+a moment after her; but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the
+creature stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.</p>
+<p>Dorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling,
+henny way.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t hurry, my dear,&rdquo; cried Billina.
+&ldquo;They can&rsquo;t follow us among these rocks, so we&rsquo;re
+safe enough now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for
+she was all out of breath.</p>
+<p>The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill,
+but it was evident that their wheels would not roll upon the rough
+and jagged rocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow
+Dorothy and the hen to where they had taken refuge. But they
+circled all around the little hill, so the child and Billina were
+fast prisoners and could not come down without being captured.</p>
+<p>Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a
+threatening manner, and it seemed they were able to speak as well
+as to make their dreadful outcries, for several of them
+shouted:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get you in time, never fear! And when we do
+get you, we&rsquo;ll tear you into little bits!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why are you so cruel to me?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a stranger in your country, and have done you no
+harm.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No harm!&rdquo; cried one who seemed to be their leader.
+&ldquo;Did you not pick our lunch-boxes and dinner-pails? Have you
+not a stolen dinner-pail still in your hand?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I only picked one of each,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I
+was hungry, and I didn&rsquo;t know the trees were
+yours.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is no excuse,&rdquo; retorted the leader, who was
+clothed in a most gorgeous suit. &ldquo;It is the law here that
+whoever picks a dinner-pail without our permission must die
+immediately.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you believe him,&rdquo; said Billina.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the trees do not belong to these awful
+creatures. They are fit for any mischief, and it&rsquo;s my opinion
+they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn&rsquo;t picked
+a dinner-pail.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think so, too,&rdquo; agreed Dorothy. &ldquo;But what
+shall we do now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stay where we are,&rdquo; advised the yellow hen.
+&ldquo;We are safe from the Wheelers until we starve to death,
+anyhow; and before that time comes a good many things can
+happen.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_4" name="Ch_4"></a>4. Tiktok the Machine Man</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back
+into the forest, leaving only three of their number to guard the
+hill. These curled themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go
+to sleep on the sands; but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled
+by this trick, so they remained in security among the rocks and
+paid no attention to their cunning enemies.</p>
+<p>Finally the hen, fluttering over the mound, exclaimed:
+&ldquo;Why, here&rsquo;s a path!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there,
+sure enough, was a smooth path cut between the rocks. It seemed to
+wind around the mound from top to bottom, like a cork-screw,
+twisting here and there between the rough boulders but always
+remaining level and easy to walk upon.</p>
+<p>Indeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll
+up this path; but when she followed it to the foot of the mound she
+found that several big pieces of rock had been placed directly
+across the end of the way, thus preventing any one outside from
+seeing it and also preventing the Wheelers from using it to climb
+up the mound.</p>
+<p>Then Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she
+came to the very top of the hill, where a solitary round rock stood
+that was bigger than any of the others surrounding it. The path
+came to an end just beside this great rock, and for a moment it
+puzzled the girl to know why the path had been made at all. But the
+hen, who had been gravely following her around and was now perched
+upon a point of rock behind Dorothy, suddenly remarked:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It looks something like a door, doesn&rsquo;t
+it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What looks like a door?&rdquo; enquired the child.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you,&rdquo;
+replied Billina, whose little round eyes were very sharp and seemed
+to see everything. &ldquo;It runs up one side and down the other,
+and across the top and the bottom.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What does?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, the crack. So I think it must be a door of rock,
+although I do not see any hinges.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; said Dorothy, now observing for the first
+time the crack in the rock. &ldquo;And isn&rsquo;t this a key-hole,
+Billina?&rdquo; pointing to a round, deep hole at one side of the
+door.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course. If we only had the key, now, we could unlock
+it and see what is there,&rdquo; replied the yellow hen. &ldquo;May
+be it&rsquo;s a treasure chamber full of diamonds and rubies, or
+heaps of shining gold, or&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That reminds me,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;of the
+golden key I picked up on the shore. Do you think that it would fit
+this key-hole, Billina?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Try it and see,&rdquo; suggested the hen.</p>
+<p>So Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the
+golden key. And when she had put it into the hole of the rock, and
+turned it, a sudden sharp snap was heard; then, with a solemn creak
+that made the shivers run down the child&rsquo;s back, the face of
+the rock fell outward, like a door on hinges, and revealed a small
+dark chamber just inside.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good gracious!&rdquo; cried Dorothy, shrinking back as
+far as the narrow path would let her.</p>
+<p>For, standing within the narrow chamber of rock, was the form of
+a man&mdash;or, at least, it seemed like a man, in the dim light.
+He was only about as tall as Dorothy herself, and his body was
+round as a ball and made out of burnished copper. Also his head and
+limbs were copper, and these were jointed or hinged to his body in
+a peculiar way, with metal caps over the joints, like the armor
+worn by knights in days of old. He stood perfectly still, and where
+the light struck upon his form it glittered as if made of pure
+gold.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be frightened,&rdquo; called Billina, from
+her perch. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t alive.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I see it isn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied the girl, drawing a
+long breath.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is only made out of copper, like the old kettle in the
+barn-yard at home,&rdquo; continued the hen, turning her head first
+to one side and then to the other, so that both her little round
+eyes could examine the object.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Once,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;I knew a man made out
+of tin, who was a woodman named Nick Chopper. But he was as alive
+as we are, &rsquo;cause he was born a real man, and got his tin
+body a little at a time&mdash;first a leg and then a finger and
+then an ear&mdash;for the reason that he had so many accidents with
+his axe, and cut himself up in a very careless manner.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; said the hen, with a sniff, as if she did not
+believe the story.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But this copper man,&rdquo; continued Dorothy, looking at
+it with big eyes, &ldquo;is not alive at all, and I wonder what it
+was made for, and why it was locked up in this queer
+place.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is a mystery,&rdquo; remarked the hen, twisting her
+head to arrange her wing-feathers with her bill.</p>
+<p>Dorothy stepped inside the little room to get a back view of the
+copper man, and in this way discovered a printed card that hung
+between his shoulders, it being suspended from a small copper peg
+at the back of his neck. She unfastened this card and returned to
+the path, where the light was better, and sat herself down upon a
+slab of rock to read the printing.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What does it say?&rdquo; asked the hen, curiously.</p>
+<p>Dorothy read the card aloud, spelling out the big words with
+some difficulty; and this is what she read:</p>
+<p class="cen" style="border:thin black solid;">SMITH &amp;
+TINKER&rsquo;S<br />
+Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,<br />
+Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking<br />
+MECHANICAL MAN<br />
+Fitted with our Special Clock-Work Attachment.<br />
+Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.<br />
+Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev.<br />
+All infringements will be promptly Prosecuted according to Law</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How queer!&rdquo; said the yellow hen. &ldquo;Do you
+think that is all true, my dear?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; answered Dorothy, who had more
+to read. &ldquo;Listen to this, Billina:&rdquo;</p>
+<p class="cen" style="border:thin black solid;">DIRECTIONS FOR
+USING:<br />
+For THINKING:&mdash;Wind the Clock-work Man under his left
+arm,<br />
+(marked No. 1.)<br />
+For SPEAKING:&mdash;Wind the Clock-work Man under his right
+arm,<br />
+(marked No. 2.)<br />
+For WALKING and ACTION:&mdash;Wind Clock-work in the middle of his
+back,<br />
+(marked No. 3.)<br />
+N. B.&mdash;This Mechanism is guaranteed to work perfectly for a
+thousand years.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I declare!&rdquo; gasped the yellow hen, in
+amazement; &ldquo;if the copper man can do half of these things he
+is a very wonderful machine. But I suppose it is all humbug, like
+so many other patented articles.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We might wind him up,&rdquo; suggested Dorothy,
+&ldquo;and see what he&rsquo;ll do.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where is the key to the clock-work?&rdquo; asked
+Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hanging on the peg where I found the card.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said the hen, &ldquo;let us try him, and
+find out if he will go. He is warranted for a thousand years, it
+seems; but we do not know how long he has been standing inside this
+rock.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy had already taken the clock key from the peg.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Which shall I wind up first?&rdquo; she asked, looking
+again at the directions on the card.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Number One, I should think,&rdquo; returned Billina.
+&ldquo;That makes him think, doesn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Dorothy, and wound up Number One, under
+the left arm.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t seem any different,&rdquo; remarked the
+hen, critically.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, of course not; he is only thinking, now,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I wonder what he is thinking about.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll wind up his talk, and then perhaps he can tell
+us,&rdquo; said the girl.</p>
+<p>So she wound up Number Two, and immediately the clock-work man
+said, without moving any part of his body except his lips:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good morn-ing, lit-tle girl. Good morn-ing, Mrs.
+Hen.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and they were
+uttered all in the same tone, without any change of expression
+whatever; but both Dorothy and Billina understood them
+perfectly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good morning, sir,&rdquo; they answered, politely.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you for res-cu-ing me,&rdquo; continued the
+machine, in the same monotonous voice, which seemed to be worked by
+a bellows inside of him, like the little toy lambs and cats the
+children squeeze so that they will make a noise.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t mention it,&rdquo; answered Dorothy. And
+then, being very curious, she asked: &ldquo;How did you come to be
+locked up in this place?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is a long sto-ry,&rdquo; replied the copper man;
+&ldquo;but I will tell it to you brief-ly. I was pur-chased from
+Smith &amp; Tin-ker, my man-u-fac-tur-ers, by a cru-el King of Ev,
+named Ev-ol-do, who used to beat all his serv-ants un-til they
+died. How-ev-er, he was not a-ble to kill me, be-cause I was not
+a-live, and one must first live in or-der to die. So that all his
+beat-ing did me no harm, and mere-ly kept my cop-per bod-y well
+pol-ished.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This cru-el king had a love-ly wife and ten beau-ti-ful
+chil-dren&mdash;five boys and five girls&mdash;but in a fit of
+an-ger he sold them all to the Nome King, who by means of his
+mag-ic arts changed them all in-to oth-er forms and put them in his
+un-der-ground pal-ace to or-na-ment the rooms.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Af-ter-ward the King of Ev re-gret-ted his wick-ed
+ac-tion, and tried to get his wife and chil-dren a-way from the
+Nome King, but with-out a-vail. So, in de-spair, he locked me up in
+this rock, threw the key in-to the o-cean, and then jumped in
+af-ter it and was drowned.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How very dreadful!&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is, in-deed,&rdquo; said the machine. &ldquo;When I
+found my-self im-pris-oned I shout-ed for help un-til my voice ran
+down; and then I walked back and forth in this lit-tle room un-til
+my ac-tion ran down; and then I stood still and thought un-til my
+thoughts ran down. Af-ter that I re-mem-ber noth-ing un-til you
+wound me up a-gain.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very wonderful story,&rdquo; said Dorothy,
+&ldquo;and proves that the Land of Ev is really a fairy land, as I
+thought it was.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course it is,&rdquo; answered the copper man. &ldquo;I
+do not sup-pose such a per-fect ma-chine as I am could be made in
+an-y place but a fair-y land.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen one in Kansas,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But where did you get the key to un-lock this
+door?&rdquo; asked the clock-work voice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I found it on the shore, where it was prob&rsquo;ly
+washed up by the waves,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;And now, sir,
+if you don&rsquo;t mind, I&rsquo;ll wind up your action.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That will please me ve-ry much,&rdquo; said the
+machine.</p>
+<p>So she wound up Number Three, and at once the copper man in a
+somewhat stiff and jerky fashion walked out of the rocky cavern,
+took off his copper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before
+Dorothy. Said he:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;From this time forth I am your o-be-di-ent ser-vant.
+What-ev-er you com-mand, that I will do will-ing-ly&mdash;if you
+keep me wound up.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is your name?&rdquo; she asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tik-tok,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;My for-mer mas-ter
+gave me that name be-cause my clock-work al-ways ticks when it is
+wound up.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can hear it now,&rdquo; said the yellow hen.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So can I,&rdquo; said Dorothy. And then she added, with
+some anxiety: &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t strike, do you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; answered Tiktok; &ldquo;and there is no a-larm
+con-nec-ted with my ma-chin-er-y. I can tell the time, though, by
+speak-ing, and as I nev-er sleep I can wak-en you at an-y hour you
+wish to get up in the morn-ing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s nice,&rdquo; said the little girl;
+&ldquo;only I never wish to get up in the morning.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You can sleep until I lay my egg,&rdquo; said the yellow
+hen. &ldquo;Then, when I cackle, Tiktok will know it is time to
+waken you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you lay your egg very early?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;About eight o&rsquo;clock,&rdquo; said Billina.
+&ldquo;And everybody ought to be up by that time, I&rsquo;m
+sure.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_5" name="Ch_5"></a>5. Dorothy Opens the Dinner
+Pail</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now Tiktok,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;the first thing
+to be done is to find a way for us to escape from these rocks. The
+Wheelers are down below, you know, and threaten to kill
+us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is no rea-son to be a-fraid of the
+Wheel-ers,&rdquo; said Tiktok, the words coming more slowly than
+before.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; she asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Be-cause they are ag-g-g&mdash;gr-gr-r-r-&ldquo;</p>
+<p>He gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands
+frantically until suddenly he became motionless, with one arm in
+the air and the other held stiffly before him with all the copper
+fingers of the hand spread out like a fan.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear me!&rdquo; said Dorothy, in a frightened tone.
+&ldquo;What can the matter be?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s run down, I suppose,&rdquo; said the hen,
+calmly. &ldquo;You couldn&rsquo;t have wound him up very
+tight.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know how much to wind him,&rdquo; replied
+the girl; &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll try to do better next
+time.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She ran around the copper man to take the key from the peg at
+the back of his neck, but it was not there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone!&rdquo; cried Dorothy, in dismay.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s gone?&rdquo; asked Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The key.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It probably fell off when he made that low bow to
+you,&rdquo; returned the hen. &ldquo;Look around, and see if you
+cannot find it again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl
+discovered the clock-key, which had fallen into a crack of the
+rock.</p>
+<p>At once she wound up Tiktok&rsquo;s voice, taking care to give
+the key as many turns as it would go around. She found this quite a
+task, as you may imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock,
+but the machine man&rsquo;s first words were to assure Dorothy that
+he would now run for at least twenty-four hours.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You did not wind me much, at first,&rdquo; he calmly
+said, &ldquo;and I told you that long sto-ry a-bout King Ev-ol-do;
+so it is no won-der that I ran down.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She next rewound the action clock-work, and then Billina advised
+her to carry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would not get
+lost again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; said Dorothy, when all this was
+accomplished, &ldquo;tell me what you were going to say about the
+Wheelers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, they are noth-ing to be fright-en&rsquo;d at,&rdquo;
+said the machine. &ldquo;They try to make folks be-lieve that they
+are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but as a mat-ter of fact the Wheel-ers are
+harm-less e-nough to an-y one that dares to fight them. They might
+try to hurt a lit-tle girl like you, per-haps, be-cause they are
+ver-y mis-chiev-ous. But if I had a club they would run a-way as
+soon as they saw me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you a club?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And you won&rsquo;t find such a thing among these rocks,
+either,&rdquo; declared the yellow hen.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then what shall we do?&rdquo; asked the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wind up my think-works tight-ly, and I will try to think
+of some oth-er plan,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>So Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he was
+thinking she decided to eat her dinner. Billina was already pecking
+away at the cracks in the rocks, to find something to eat, so
+Dorothy sat down and opened her tin dinner-pail.</p>
+<p>In the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice
+lemonade. It was covered by a cup, which might also, when removed,
+be used to drink the lemonade from. Within the pail were three
+slices of turkey, two slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad,
+four slices of bread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and
+nine large strawberries, and some nuts and raisins. Singularly
+enough, the nuts in this dinner-pail grew already cracked, so that
+Dorothy had no trouble in picking out their meats to eat.</p>
+<p>She spread the feast upon the rock beside her and began her
+dinner, first offering some of it to Tiktok, who declined because,
+as he said, he was merely a machine. Afterward she offered to share
+with Billina, but the hen murmured something about &ldquo;dead
+things&rdquo; and said she preferred her bugs and ants.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do the lunch-box trees and the dinner-pail trees belong
+to the Wheelers?&rdquo; the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in
+eating her meal.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;They be-long to
+the roy-al fam-il-y of Ev, on-ly of course there is no roy-al
+fam-il-y just now be-cause King Ev-ol-do jumped in-to the sea and
+his wife and ten chil-dren have been trans-formed by the Nome King.
+So there is no one to rule the Land of Ev, that I can think of.
+Per-haps it is for this rea-son that the Wheel-ers claim the trees
+for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and din-ners to eat
+them-selves. But they be-long to the King, and you will find the
+roy-al &ldquo;E&rdquo; stamped up-on the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner
+pail.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal
+mark upon it, as Tiktok had said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are the Wheelers the only folks living in the Land of
+Ev?&rdquo; enquired the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No; they on-ly in-hab-it a small por-tion of it just back
+of the woods,&rdquo; replied the machine. &ldquo;But they have
+al-ways been mis-chiev-ous and im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter,
+King Ev-ol-do, used to car-ry a whip with him, when he walked out,
+to keep the crea-tures in or-der. When I was first made the
+Wheel-ers tried to run o-ver me, and butt me with their heads; but
+they soon found I was built of too sol-id a ma-ter-i-al for them to
+in-jure.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You seem very durable,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;Who
+made you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The firm of Smith &amp; Tin-ker, in the town of Evna,
+where the roy-al pal-ace stands,&rdquo; answered Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Did they make many of you?&rdquo; asked the child.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No; I am the on-ly au-to-mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they
+ev-er com-plet-ed,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;They were ver-y
+won-der-ful in-ven-tors, were my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in
+all they did.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am sure of that,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;Do they
+live in the town of Evna now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They are both gone,&rdquo; replied the machine.
+&ldquo;Mr. Smith was an art-ist, as well as an in-vent-or, and he
+paint-ed a pic-ture of a riv-er which was so nat-ur-al that, as he
+was reach-ing a-cross it to paint some flow-ers on the op-po-site
+bank, he fell in-to the wa-ter and was drowned.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m sorry for that!&rdquo; exclaimed the little
+girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Mis-ter Tin-ker,&rdquo; continued Tiktok, &ldquo;made a
+lad-der so tall that he could rest the end of it a-gainst the moon,
+while he stood on the high-est rung and picked the lit-tle stars to
+set in the points of the king&rsquo;s crown. But when he got to the
+moon Mis-ter Tin-ker found it such a love-ly place that he
+de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up the lad-der af-ter him and
+we have nev-er seen him since.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He must have been a great loss to this country,&rdquo;
+said Dorothy, who was by this time eating her custard pie.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He was,&rdquo; acknowledged Tiktok. &ldquo;Also he is a
+great loss to me. For if I should get out of or-der I do not know
+of an-y one a-ble to re-pair me, be-cause I am so com-pli-cat-ed.
+You have no i-de-a how full of ma-chin-er-y I am.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can imagine it,&rdquo; said Dorothy, readily.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; continued the machine, &ldquo;I must stop
+talk-ing and be-gin think-ing a-gain of a way to es-cape from this
+rock.&rdquo; So he turned half way around, in order to think
+without being disturbed.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The best thinker I ever knew,&rdquo; said Dorothy to the
+yellow hen, &ldquo;was a scarecrow.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nonsense!&rdquo; snapped Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; declared Dorothy. &ldquo;I met him in
+the Land of Oz, and he traveled with me to the city of the great
+Wizard of Oz, so as to get some brains, for his head was only
+stuffed with straw. But it seemed to me that he thought just as
+well before he got his brains as he did afterward.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the
+Land of Oz?&rdquo; enquired Billina, who seemed a little
+cross&mdash;perhaps because bugs were scarce.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What rubbish?&rdquo; asked the child, who was now
+finishing her nuts and raisins.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk,
+and a tin woodman who is alive, and a scarecrow who can
+think.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They are all there,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;for I
+have seen them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe it!&rdquo; cried the hen, with a
+toss of her head.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s &rsquo;cause you&rsquo;re so
+ign&rsquo;rant,&rdquo; replied the girl, who was a little offended
+at her friend Billina&rsquo;s speech.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In the Land of Oz,&rdquo; remarked Tiktok, turning toward
+them, &ldquo;an-y-thing is pos-si-ble. For it is a won-der-ful
+fair-y coun-try.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There, Billina! what did I say?&rdquo; cried Dorothy. And
+then she turned to the machine and asked in an eager tone:
+&ldquo;Do you know the Land of Oz, Tiktok?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No; but I have heard a-bout it,&rdquo; said the cop-per
+man. &ldquo;For it is on-ly sep-a-ra-ted from this Land of Ev by a
+broad des-ert.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy clapped her hands together delightedly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad of that!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It
+makes me quite happy to be so near my old friends. The scarecrow I
+told you of, Billina, is the King of the Land of Oz.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Par-don me. He is not the king now,&rdquo; said
+Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He was when I left there,&rdquo; declared Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I know,&rdquo; said Tiktok, &ldquo;but there was a
+rev-o-lu-tion in the Land of Oz, and the Scare-crow was de-posed by
+a sol-dier wo-man named Gen-er-al Jin-jur. And then Jin-jur was
+de-posed by a lit-tle girl named Oz-ma, who was the right-ful heir
+to the throne and now rules the land un-der the ti-tle of Oz-ma of
+Oz.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is news to me,&rdquo; said Dorothy, thoughtfully.
+&ldquo;But I s&rsquo;pose lots of things have happened since I left
+the Land of Oz. I wonder what has become of the Scarecrow, and of
+the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. And I wonder who this girl
+Ozma is, for I never heard of her before.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But Tiktok did not reply to this. He had turned around again to
+resume his thinking.</p>
+<p>Dorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as
+not to be wasteful of good things, and the yellow hen forgot her
+dignity far enough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which
+she ate rather greedily, although she had so lately pretended to
+despise the things that Dorothy preferred as food.</p>
+<p>By this time Tiktok approached them with his stiff bow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Be kind e-nough to fol-low me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and
+I will lead you a-way from here to the town of Ev-na, where you
+will be more com-for-ta-ble, and al-so I will pro-tect you from the
+Wheel-ers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; answered Dorothy, promptly.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready!&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_6" name="Ch_6"></a>6. The Heads of Langwidere</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>They walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going
+first, Dorothy following him, and the yellow hen trotting along
+last of all.</p>
+<p>At the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed
+aside with ease the rocks that encumbered the way. Then he turned
+to Dorothy and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let me car-ry your din-ner-pail.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers
+closed firmly over the stout handle.</p>
+<p>Then the little procession marched out upon the level sands.</p>
+<p>As soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw
+them, they began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly
+toward the little group, as if to capture them or bar their way.
+But when the foremost had approached near enough, Tiktok swung the
+tin dinner-pail and struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head
+with the queer weapon. Perhaps it did not hurt very much, but it
+made a great noise, and the Wheeler uttered a howl and tumbled over
+upon its side. The next minute it scrambled to its wheels and
+rolled away as fast as it could go, screeching with fear at the
+same time.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I told you they were harm-less,&rdquo; began Tiktok; but
+before he could say more another Wheeler was upon them. Crack! went
+the dinner-pail against its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen
+feet away; and that was enough for this Wheeler, also. It rolled
+away after the first one, and the third did not wait to be pounded
+with the pail, but joined its fellows as quickly as its wheels
+would whirl.</p>
+<p>The yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch
+upon Tiktok&rsquo;s shoulder, she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of,
+too. Now we are free from those ugly creatures.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest,
+and relying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely
+upon Tiktok. Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her
+tight, and the machine embraced the form of the little girl with
+his left arm, the better to protect her. Then the Wheelers were
+upon them.</p>
+<p>Rattlety, bang! bang! went the dinner-pail in every direction,
+and it made so much clatter bumping against the heads of the
+Wheelers that they were much more frightened than hurt and fled in
+a great panic. All, that is, except their leader. This Wheeler had
+stumbled against another and fallen flat upon his back, and before
+he could get his wheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had
+fastened his copper fingers into the neck of the gorgeous jacket of
+his foe and held him fast.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tell your peo-ple to go a-way,&rdquo; commanded the
+machine.</p>
+<p>The leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so
+Tiktok shook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the
+Wheeler&rsquo;s teeth rattled together with a noise like hailstones
+on a window pane. Then, as soon as the creature could get its
+breath, it shouted to the others to roll away, which they
+immediately did.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Tiktok, &ldquo;you shall come with us
+and tell me what I want to know.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be sorry for treating me in this way,&rdquo;
+whined the Wheeler. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a terribly fierce
+person.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;As for that,&rdquo; answered Tiktok, &ldquo;I am only a
+ma-chine, and can-not feel sor-row or joy, no mat-ter what
+hap-pens. But you are wrong to think your-self ter-ri-ble or
+fierce.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why so?&rdquo; asked the Wheeler.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Be-cause no one else thinks as you do. Your wheels make
+you help-less to in-jure an-y one. For you have no fists and can
+not scratch or e-ven pull hair. Nor have you an-y feet to kick
+with. All you can do is to yell and shout, and that does not hurt
+an-y one at all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy&rsquo;s
+great surprise.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now I and my people are ruined forever!&rdquo; he sobbed;
+&ldquo;for you have discovered our secret. Being so helpless, our
+only hope is to make people afraid of us, by pretending we are very
+fierce and terrible, and writing in the sand warnings to Beware the
+Wheelers. Until now we have frightened everyone, but since you have
+discovered our weakness our enemies will fall upon us and make us
+very miserable and unhappy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see
+this beautifully dressed Wheeler so miserable; &ldquo;Tiktok will
+keep your secret, and so will Billina and I. Only, you must promise
+not to try to frighten children any more, if they come near to
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t&mdash;indeed I won&rsquo;t!&rdquo; promised
+the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and becoming more cheerful.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really bad, you know; but we have to pretend
+to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking
+us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is not ex-act-ly true,&rdquo; said Tiktok, starting
+to walk toward the path through the forest, and still holding fast
+to his prisoner, who rolled slowly along beside him. &ldquo;You and
+your peo-ple are full of mis-chief, and like to both-er those who
+fear you. And you are of-ten im-pu-dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too.
+But if you will try to cure those faults I will not tell any-one
+how help-less you are.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try, of course,&rdquo; replied the Wheeler,
+eagerly. &ldquo;And thank you, Mr. Tiktok, for your
+kindness.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am on-ly a ma-chine,&rdquo; said Tiktok. &ldquo;I can
+not be kind an-y more than I can be sor-ry or glad. I can on-ly do
+what I am wound up to do.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you wound up to keep my secret?&rdquo; asked the
+Wheeler, anxiously.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; if you be-have your-self. But tell me: who rules the
+Land of Ev now?&rdquo; asked the machine.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is no ruler,&rdquo; was the answer, &ldquo;because
+every member of the royal family is imprisoned by the Nome King.
+But the Princess Langwidere, who is a niece of our late King
+Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal palace and takes as much money
+out of the royal treasury as she can spend. The Princess Langwidere
+is not exactly a ruler, you see, because she doesn&rsquo;t rule;
+but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we have at
+present.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I do not re-mem-ber her,&rdquo; said Tiktok. &ldquo;What
+does she look like?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That I cannot say,&rdquo; replied the Wheeler,
+&ldquo;although I have seen her twenty times. For the Princess
+Langwidere is a different person every time I see her, and the only
+way her subjects can recognize her at all is by means of a
+beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain attached to
+her left wrist. When we see the key we know we are beholding the
+Princess.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is strange,&rdquo; said Dorothy, in astonishment.
+&ldquo;Do you mean to say that so many different princesses are one
+and the same person?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not exactly,&rdquo; answered the Wheeler. &ldquo;There
+is, of course, but one princess; but she appears to us in many
+forms, which are all more or less beautiful.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She must be a witch,&rdquo; exclaimed the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I do not think so,&rdquo; declared the Wheeler.
+&ldquo;But there is some mystery connected with her, nevertheless.
+She is a very vain creature, and lives mostly in a room surrounded
+by mirrors, so that she can admire herself whichever way she
+looks.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of
+the forest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before
+them&mdash;a beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and
+green fields, with pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and
+broad, smooth roads that led in every direction.</p>
+<p>In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our
+friends were standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace,
+which glittered brightly against their background of blue sky. The
+palace was surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and
+shrubbery. Several tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were
+pleasant walks bordered by rows of white marble statuary.</p>
+<p>All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or
+admire until they had advanced along the road to a position quite
+near to the palace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights
+when her little party entered the grounds and approached the big
+front door of the king&rsquo;s own apartments. To their
+disappointment they found the door tightly closed. A sign was
+tacked to the panel which read as follows:</p>
+<p class="cen" style=
+"border:thin black solid;width:60%;margin:auto;">OWNER
+ABSENT.<br />
+<br />
+Please Knock at the Third<br />
+Door in the Left Wing.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler,
+&ldquo;you must show us the way to the Left Wing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; agreed the prisoner, &ldquo;it is
+around here at the right.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How can the left wing be at the right?&rdquo; demanded
+Dorothy, who feared the Wheeler was fooling them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn
+down, so the one on the right is the only one left. It is a trick
+of the Princess Langwidere to prevent visitors from annoying
+her.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the captive led them around to the wing, after which the
+machine man, having no further use for the Wheeler, permitted him
+to depart and rejoin his fellows. He immediately rolled away at a
+great pace and was soon lost to sight.</p>
+<p>Tiktok now counted the doors in the wing and knocked loudly upon
+the third one.</p>
+<p>It was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay
+ribbons, who bowed respectfully and asked:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you wish, good people?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you the Princess Langwidere?&rdquo; asked
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, miss; I am her servant,&rdquo; replied the maid.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;May I see the Princess, please?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant
+you an audience,&rdquo; said the maid. &ldquo;Step in, please, and
+take a seat in the drawing-room.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine. But as
+the yellow hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried
+&ldquo;Shoo!&rdquo; and flapped her apron in Billina&rsquo;s
+face.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Shoo, yourself!&rdquo; retorted the hen, drawing back in
+anger and ruffling up her feathers. &ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you any
+better manners than that?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, do you talk?&rdquo; enquired the maid, evidently
+surprised.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t you hear me?&rdquo; snapped Billina.
+&ldquo;Drop that apron, and get out of the doorway, so that I may
+enter with my friends!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Princess won&rsquo;t like it,&rdquo; said the maid,
+hesitating.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care whether she likes it or not,&rdquo;
+replied Billina, and fluttering her wings with a loud noise she
+flew straight at the maid&rsquo;s face. The little servant at once
+ducked her head, and the hen reached Dorothy&rsquo;s side in
+safety.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; sighed the maid; &ldquo;if you are all
+ruined because of this obstinate hen, don&rsquo;t blame me for it.
+It isn&rsquo;t safe to annoy the Princess Langwidere.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tell her we are waiting, if you please,&rdquo; Dorothy
+requested, with dignity. &ldquo;Billina is my friend, and must go
+wherever I go.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished
+drawing-room, lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in
+through beautiful stained-glass windows.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Remain here,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;What names shall I
+give the Princess?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas,&rdquo; replied the child;
+&ldquo;and this gentleman is a machine named Tiktok, and the yellow
+hen is my friend Billina.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several
+passages and mounting two marble stairways before she came to the
+apartments occupied by her mistress.</p>
+<p>Princess Langwidere&rsquo;s sitting-room was paneled with great
+mirrors, which reached from the ceiling to the floor; also the
+ceiling was composed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished
+silver that reflected every object upon it. So when Langwidere sat
+in her easy chair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her
+form was mirrored hundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and
+floor, and whichever way the lady turned her head she could see and
+admire her own features. This she loved to do, and just as the maid
+entered she was saying to herself:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite
+attractive. I must wear it more often than I have done of late,
+although it may not be the best of my collection.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You have company, Your Highness,&rdquo; announced the
+maid, bowing low.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; asked Langwidere, yawning.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Mr. Tiktok and Billina,&rdquo;
+answered the maid.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What a queer lot of names!&rdquo; murmured the Princess,
+beginning to be a little interested. &ldquo;What are they like? Is
+Dorothy Gale of Kansas pretty?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She might be called so,&rdquo; the maid replied.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And is Mr. Tiktok attractive?&rdquo; continued the
+Princess.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That I cannot say, Your Highness. But he seems very
+bright. Will Your Gracious Highness see them?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I may as well, Nanda. But I am tired admiring this
+head, and if my visitor has any claim to beauty I must take care
+that she does not surpass me. So I will go to my cabinet and change
+to No. 17, which I think is my best appearance. Don&rsquo;t
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Your No. 17 is exceedingly beautiful,&rdquo; answered
+Nanda, with another bow.</p>
+<p>Again the Princess yawned. Then she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Help me to rise.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere
+was the stronger of the two; and then the Princess slowly walked
+across the silver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every
+step upon Nanda&rsquo;s arm.</p>
+<p>Now I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had
+thirty heads&mdash;as many as there are days in the month. But of
+course she could only wear one of them at a time, because she had
+but one neck. These heads were kept in what she called her
+&ldquo;cabinet,&rdquo; which was a beautiful dressing-room that lay
+just between Langwidere&rsquo;s sleeping-chamber and the mirrored
+sitting-room. Each head was in a separate cupboard lined with
+velvet. The cupboards ran all around the sides of the
+dressing-room, and had elaborately carved doors with gold numbers
+on the outside and jeweled-framed mirrors on the inside of
+them.</p>
+<p>When the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she
+went to her cabinet, opened one of the velvet-lined cupboards, and
+took the head it contained from its golden shelf. Then, by the aid
+of the mirror inside the open door, she put on the head&mdash;as
+neat and straight as could be&mdash;and afterward called her maids
+to robe her for the day. She always wore a simple white costume,
+that suited all the heads. For, being able to change her face
+whenever she liked, the Princess had no interest in wearing a
+variety of gowns, as have other ladies who are compelled to wear
+the same face constantly.</p>
+<p>Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed
+alike but all being of exceeding loveliness. There were heads with
+golden hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none
+with gray hair. The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of
+brown and of black; but there were no red eyes among them, and all
+were bright and handsome. The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse
+and Oriental, representing all types of beauty; and the mouths were
+of assorted sizes and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the
+heads smiled. As for dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins,
+wherever they might be most charming, and one or two heads had
+freckles upon the faces to contrast the better with the brilliancy
+of their complexions.</p>
+<p>One key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these
+treasures&mdash;a curious key carved from a single blood-red
+ruby&mdash;and this was fastened to a strong but slender chain
+which the Princess wore around her left wrist.</p>
+<p>When Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of
+cupboard No. 17, the Princess unlocked the door with her ruby key
+and after handing head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the
+maid, she took No. 17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck. It
+had black hair and dark eyes and a lovely pearl-and-white
+complexion, and when Langwidere wore it she knew she was remarkably
+beautiful in appearance.</p>
+<p>There was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went
+with it (and which was hidden somewhere under the glossy black
+hair) was fiery, harsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led
+the Princess to do unpleasant things which she regretted when she
+came to wear her other heads.</p>
+<p>But she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests
+in the drawing-room with a feeling of certainty that she would
+surprise them with her beauty.</p>
+<p>However, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors
+were merely a small girl in a gingham dress, a copper man that
+would only go when wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting
+contentedly in Langwidere&rsquo;s best work-basket, where there was
+a china egg used for darning stockings. (It may surprise you to
+learn that a princess ever does such a common thing as darn
+stockings. But, if you will stop to think, you will realize that a
+princess is sure to wear holes in her stockings, the same as other
+people; only it isn&rsquo;t considered quite polite to mention the
+matter.)</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of
+No. 17. &ldquo;I thought some one of importance had
+called.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then you were right,&rdquo; declared Dorothy.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a good deal of &lsquo;portance myself, and when
+Billina lays an egg she has the proudest cackle you ever heard. As
+for Tiktok, he&rsquo;s the&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stop&mdash;Stop!&rdquo; commanded the Princess, with an
+angry flash of her splendid eyes. &ldquo;How dare you annoy me with
+your senseless chatter?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, you horrid thing!&rdquo; said Dorothy, who was not
+accustomed to being treated so rudely.</p>
+<p>The Princess looked at her more closely.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; she resumed, &ldquo;are you of royal
+blood?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Better than that, ma&rsquo;am,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;I came from Kansas.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Huh!&rdquo; cried the Princess, scornfully. &ldquo;You
+are a foolish child, and I cannot allow you to annoy me. Run away,
+you little goose, and bother some one else.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no
+words to reply. But she rose from her chair, and was about to leave
+the room when the Princess, who had been scanning the girl&rsquo;s
+face, stopped her by saying, more gently:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Come nearer to me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the
+Princess while Langwidere examined her face with careful
+attention.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You are rather attractive,&rdquo; said the lady,
+presently. &ldquo;Not at all beautiful, you understand, but you
+have a certain style of prettiness that is different from that of
+any of my thirty heads. So I believe I&rsquo;ll take your head and
+give you No. 26 for it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I b&rsquo;lieve you won&rsquo;t!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It will do you no good to refuse,&rdquo; continued the
+Princess; &ldquo;for I need your head for my collection, and in the
+Land of Ev my will is law. I never have cared much for No. 26, and
+you will find that it is very little worn. Besides, it will do you
+just as well as the one you&rsquo;re wearing, for all practical
+purposes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know anything about your No. 26, and I
+don&rsquo;t want to,&rdquo; said Dorothy, firmly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m
+not used to taking cast-off things, so I&rsquo;ll just keep my own
+head.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You refuse?&rdquo; cried the Princess, with a frown.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course I do,&rdquo; was the reply.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Langwidere, &ldquo;I shall lock you up
+in a tower until you decide to obey me. Nanda,&rdquo; turning to
+her maid, &ldquo;call my army.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Nanda rang a silver bell, and at once a big fat colonel in a
+bright red uniform entered the room, followed by ten lean soldiers,
+who all looked sad and discouraged and saluted the princess in a
+very melancholy fashion.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Carry that girl to the North Tower and lock her
+up!&rdquo; cried the Princess, pointing to Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To hear is to obey,&rdquo; answered the big red colonel,
+and caught the child by her arm. But at that moment Tiktok raised
+his dinner-pail and pounded it so forcibly against the
+colonel&rsquo;s head that the big officer sat down upon the floor
+with a sudden bump, looking both dazed and very much
+astonished.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Help!&rdquo; he shouted, and the ten lean soldiers sprang
+to assist their leader.</p>
+<p>There was great excitement for the next few moments, and Tiktok
+had knocked down seven of the army, who were sprawling in every
+direction upon the carpet, when suddenly the machine paused, with
+the dinner-pail raised for another blow, and remained perfectly
+motionless.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My ac-tion has run down,&rdquo; he called to Dorothy.
+&ldquo;Wind me up, quick.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She tried to obey, but the big colonel had by this time managed
+to get upon his feet again, so he grabbed fast hold of the girl and
+she was helpless to escape.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This is too bad,&rdquo; said the machine. &ldquo;I ought
+to have run six hours lon-ger, at least, but I sup-pose my long
+walk and my fight with the Wheel-ers made me run down fast-er than
+us-u-al.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, it can&rsquo;t be helped,&rdquo; said Dorothy, with
+a sigh.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Will you exchange heads with me?&rdquo; demanded the
+Princess.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, indeed!&rdquo; cried Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then lock her up,&rdquo; said Langwidere to her soldiers,
+and they led Dorothy to a high tower at the north of the palace and
+locked her securely within.</p>
+<p>The soldiers afterward tried to lift Tiktok, but they found the
+machine so solid and heavy that they could not stir it. So they
+left him standing in the center of the drawing-room.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;People will think I have a new statue,&rdquo; said
+Langwidere, &ldquo;so it won&rsquo;t matter in the least, and Nanda
+can keep him well polished.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What shall we do with the hen?&rdquo; asked the colonel,
+who had just discovered Billina in the work-basket.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Put her in the chicken-house,&rdquo; answered the
+Princess. &ldquo;Someday I&rsquo;ll have her fried for
+breakfast.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She looks rather tough, Your Highness,&rdquo; said Nanda,
+doubtfully.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is a base slander!&rdquo; cried Billina, struggling
+frantically in the colonel&rsquo;s arms. &ldquo;But the breed of
+chickens I come from is said to be poison to all
+princesses.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; remarked Langwidere, &ldquo;I will not fry
+the hen, but keep her to lay eggs; and if she doesn&rsquo;t do her
+duty I&rsquo;ll have her drowned in the horse trough.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_7" name="Ch_7"></a>7. Ozma of Oz to the Rescue</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Nanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper, and she
+slept upon a hard stone couch with a single pillow and a silken
+coverlet.</p>
+<p>In the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the
+tower to see if there was any way to escape. The room was not so
+very high up, when compared with our modern buildings, but it was
+far enough above the trees and farm houses to give her a good view
+of the surrounding country.</p>
+<p>To the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the
+ocean beyond that. There was even a dark speck upon the shore that
+she thought might be the chicken-coop in which she had arrived at
+this singular country.</p>
+<p>Then she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley
+lying between two rocky mountains, and a third mountain that shut
+off the valley at the further end.</p>
+<p>Westward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from
+the palace, and the girl could see miles and miles of sandy desert
+that stretched further than her eyes could reach. It was this
+desert, she thought, with much interest, that alone separated her
+from the wonderful Land of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that
+she had been told no one had ever been able to cross this dangerous
+waste but herself. Once a cyclone had carried her across it, and a
+magical pair of silver shoes had carried her back again. But now
+she had neither a cyclone nor silver shoes to assist her, and her
+condition was sad indeed. For she had become the prisoner of a
+disagreeable princess who insisted that she must exchange her head
+for another one that she was not used to, and which might not fit
+her at all.</p>
+<p>Really, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old
+friends in the Land of Oz. Thoughtfully she gazed from her narrow
+window. On all the desert not a living thing was stirring.</p>
+<p>Wait, though! Something surely WAS stirring on the
+desert&mdash;something her eyes had not observed at first. Now it
+seemed like a cloud; now it seemed like a spot of silver; now it
+seemed to be a mass of rainbow colors that moved swiftly toward
+her.</p>
+<p>What COULD it be, she wondered?</p>
+<p>Then, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the
+vision drew near enough to Dorothy to make out what it was.</p>
+<p>A broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, while
+advancing across the carpet was a wonderful procession that made
+the girl open her eyes in amazement as she gazed.</p>
+<p>First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion
+and an immense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted
+along as gracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses.
+And standing upright within the chariot was a beautiful girl
+clothed in flowing robes of silver gauze and wearing a jeweled
+diadem upon her dainty head. She held in one hand the satin ribbons
+that guided her astonishing team, and in the other an ivory wand
+that separated at the top into two prongs, the prongs being tipped
+by the letters &ldquo;O&rdquo; and &ldquo;Z&rdquo;, made of
+glistening diamonds set closely together.</p>
+<p>The girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself,
+and at once the prisoner in the tower guessed that the lovely
+driver of the chariot must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so
+lately heard from Tiktok.</p>
+<p>Following close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend
+the Scarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden Saw-Horse, which
+pranced and trotted as naturally as any meat horse could have
+done.</p>
+<p>And then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his
+funnel-shaped cap tipped carelessly over his left ear, his gleaming
+axe over his right shoulder, and his whole body sparkling as
+brightly as it had ever done in the old days when first she knew
+him.</p>
+<p>The Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company
+of twenty-seven soldiers, of whom some were lean and some fat, some
+short and some tall; but all the twenty-seven were dressed in
+handsome uniforms of various designs and colors, no two being alike
+in any respect.</p>
+<p>Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so
+that there was always just enough of it for the procession to walk
+upon, in order that their feet might not come in contact with the
+deadly, life-destroying sands of the desert.</p>
+<p>Dorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her
+heart beat high with hope and joy as she realized she was soon to
+be rescued and allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of
+Oz&mdash;the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.</p>
+<p>Indeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as she
+recognized those in the procession, for she well knew the courage
+and loyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others
+who came from their marvelous country would prove to be pleasant
+and reliable acquaintances.</p>
+<p>As soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the
+procession, from the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the last soldier,
+had reached the grassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet
+rolled itself together and entirely disappeared.</p>
+<p>Then the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad
+roadway leading up to the palace, and the others followed, while
+Dorothy still gazed from her tower window in eager excitement.</p>
+<p>They came quite close to the front door of the palace and then
+halted, the Scarecrow dismounting from his Saw-Horse to approach
+the sign fastened to the door, that he might read what it said.</p>
+<p>Dorothy, just above him, could keep silent no longer.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here I am!&rdquo; she shouted, as loudly as she could.
+&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s Dorothy!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dorothy who?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head
+to look upward until he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over
+backward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dorothy Gale, of course. Your friend from Kansas,&rdquo;
+she answered.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, hello, Dorothy!&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;What in the world are you doing up there?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; she called down, &ldquo;because
+there&rsquo;s nothing to do. Save me, my friend&mdash;save
+me!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You seem to be quite safe now,&rdquo; replied the
+Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m a prisoner. I&rsquo;m locked in, so that I
+can&rsquo;t get out,&rdquo; she pleaded.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;You might be worse off, little Dorothy. Just consider the
+matter. You can&rsquo;t get drowned, or be run over by a Wheeler,
+or fall out of an apple-tree. Some folks would think they were
+lucky to be up there.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; declared the girl, &ldquo;and
+I want to get down immed&rsquo;i&rsquo;tly and see you and the Tin
+Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow, nodding. &ldquo;It
+shall be just as you say, little friend. Who locked you
+up?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The princess Langwidere, who is a horrid creature,&rdquo;
+she answered.</p>
+<p>At this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the
+conversation, called to Dorothy from her chariot, asking:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why did the Princess lock you up, my dear?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Because,&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy, &ldquo;I
+wouldn&rsquo;t let her have my head for her collection, and take an
+old, cast-off head in exchange for it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I do not blame you,&rdquo; exclaimed Ozma, promptly.
+&ldquo;I will see the Princess at once, and oblige her to liberate
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, thank you very, very much!&rdquo; cried Dorothy, who
+as soon as she heard the sweet voice of the girlish Ruler of Oz
+knew that she would soon learn to love her dearly.</p>
+<p>Ozma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing,
+upon which the Tin Woodman boldly proceeded to knock.</p>
+<p>As soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand
+her ivory wand, stepped into the hall and made her way at once to
+the drawing-room, followed by all her company, except the Lion and
+the Tiger. And the twenty-seven soldiers made such a noise and a
+clatter that the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to her
+mistress, whereupon the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger
+by this rude invasion of her palace, came running into the
+drawing-room without any assistance whatever.</p>
+<p>There she stood before the slight and delicate form of the
+little girl from Oz and cried out;&mdash;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How dare you enter my palace unbidden? Leave this room at
+once, or I will bind you and all your people in chains, and throw
+you into my darkest dungeons!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What a dangerous lady!&rdquo; murmured the Scarecrow, in
+a soft voice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She seems a little nervous,&rdquo; replied the Tin
+Woodman.</p>
+<p>But Ozma only smiled at the angry Princess.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Sit down, please,&rdquo; she said, quietly. &ldquo;I have
+traveled a long way to see you, and you must listen to what I have
+to say.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Must!&rdquo; screamed the Princess, her black eyes
+flashing with fury&mdash;for she still wore her No. 17 head.
+&ldquo;Must, to ME!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To be sure,&rdquo; said Ozma. &ldquo;I am Ruler of the
+Land of Oz, and I am powerful enough to destroy all your kingdom,
+if I so wish. Yet I did not come here to do harm, but rather to
+free the royal family of Ev from the thrall of the Nome King, the
+news having reached me that he is holding the Queen and her
+children prisoners.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Hearing these words, Langwidere suddenly became quiet.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal
+children,&rdquo; said she, eagerly. &ldquo;For if they were
+restored to their proper forms and station they could rule the
+Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that would save me a lot of worry and
+trouble. At present there are at least ten minutes every day that I
+must devote to affairs of state, and I would like to be able to
+spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful heads.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then we will presently discuss this matter,&rdquo; said
+Ozma, &ldquo;and try to find a way to liberate your aunt and
+cousins. But first you must liberate another prisoner&mdash;the
+little girl you have locked up in your tower.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; said Langwidere, readily. &ldquo;I had
+forgotten all about her. That was yesterday, you know, and a
+Princess cannot be expected to remember today what she did
+yesterday. Come with me, and I will release the prisoner at
+once.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to
+the room in the tower.</p>
+<p>While they were gone Ozma&rsquo;s followers remained in the
+drawing-room, and the Scarecrow was leaning against a form that he
+had mistaken for a copper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said
+suddenly in his ear:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Get off my foot, please. You are scratch-ing my
+pol-ish.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, excuse me!&rdquo; he replied, hastily drawing back.
+&ldquo;Are you alive?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Tiktok, &ldquo;I am on-ly a ma-chine. But
+I can think and speak and act, when I am pro-per-ly wound up. Just
+now my ac-tion is run down, and Dor-o-thy has the key to
+it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; replied the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;Dorothy will soon be free, and then she&rsquo;ll attend to
+your works. But it must be a great misfortune not to be alive.
+I&rsquo;m sorry for you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; asked Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Because you have no brains, as I have,&rdquo; said the
+Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes, I have,&rdquo; returned Tiktok. &ldquo;I am
+fit-ted with Smith &amp; Tin-ker&rsquo;s Im-proved Com-bi-na-tion
+Steel Brains. They are what make me think. What sort of brains are
+you fit-ted with?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; admitted the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;They were given to me by the great Wizard of Oz, and I
+didn&rsquo;t get a chance to examine them before he put them in.
+But they work splendidly and my conscience is very active. Have you
+a conscience?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And no heart, I suppose?&rdquo; added the Tin Woodman,
+who had been listening with interest to this conversation.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; continued the Tin Woodman, &ldquo;I regret
+to say that you are greatly inferior to my friend the Scarecrow,
+and to myself. For we are both alive, and he has brains which do
+not need to be wound up, while I have an excellent heart that is
+continually beating in my bosom.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I con-grat-u-late you,&rdquo; replied Tiktok. &ldquo;I
+can-not help be-ing your in-fer-i-or for I am a mere ma-chine. When
+I am wound up I do my du-ty by go-ing just as my ma-chin-er-y is
+made to go. You have no i-de-a how full of ma-chin-er-y I
+am.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can guess,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow, looking at the
+machine man curiously. &ldquo;Some day I&rsquo;d like to take you
+apart and see just how you are made.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do not do that, I beg of you,&rdquo; said Tiktok;
+&ldquo;for you could not put me to-geth-er a-gain, and my
+use-ful-ness would be de-stroyed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! are you useful?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow,
+surprised.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ve-ry,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In that case,&rdquo; the Scarecrow kindly promised,
+&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t fool with your interior at all. For I am a
+poor mechanic, and might mix you up.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; said Tiktok.</p>
+<p>Just then Ozma re-entered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand
+and followed closely by the Princess Langwidere.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_8" name="Ch_8"></a>8. The Hungry Tiger</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>The first thing Dorothy did was to rush into the embrace of the
+Scarecrow, whose painted face beamed with delight as he pressed her
+form to his straw-padded bosom. Then the Tin Woodman embraced
+her&mdash;very gently, for he knew his tin arms might hurt her if
+he squeezed too roughly.</p>
+<p>These greetings having been exchanged, Dorothy took the key to
+Tiktok from her pocket and wound up the machine man&rsquo;s action,
+so that he could bow properly when introduced to the rest of the
+company. While doing this she told them how useful Tiktok had been
+to her, and both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman shook hands with
+the machine once more and thanked him for protecting their
+friend.</p>
+<p>Then Dorothy asked: &ldquo;Where is Billina?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow. &ldquo;Who
+is Billina?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She&rsquo;s a yellow hen who is another friend of
+mine,&rdquo; answered the girl, anxiously. &ldquo;I wonder what has
+become of her?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She is in the chicken house, in the back yard,&rdquo;
+said the Princess. &ldquo;My drawing-room is no place for
+hens.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Without waiting to hear more Dorothy ran to get Billina, and
+just outside the door she came upon the Cowardly Lion, still
+hitched to the chariot beside the great Tiger. The Cowardly Lion
+had a big bow of blue ribbon fastened to the long hair between his
+ears, and the Tiger wore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in
+front of the bushy end.</p>
+<p>In an instant Dorothy was hugging the huge Lion joyfully.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m SO glad to see you again!&rdquo; she cried.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am also glad to see you, Dorothy,&rdquo; said the Lion.
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some fine adventures together, haven&rsquo;t
+we?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, indeed,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;How are
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;As cowardly as ever,&rdquo; the beast answered in a meek
+voice. &ldquo;Every little thing scares me and makes my heart beat
+fast. But let me introduce to you a new friend of mine, the Hungry
+Tiger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! Are you hungry?&rdquo; she asked, turning to the
+other beast, who was just then yawning so widely that he displayed
+two rows of terrible teeth and a mouth big enough to startle
+anyone.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dreadfully hungry,&rdquo; answered the Tiger, snapping
+his jaws together with a fierce click.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then why don&rsquo;t you eat something?&rdquo; she
+asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no use,&rdquo; said the Tiger sadly.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried that, but I always get hungry
+again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, it is the same with me,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;Yet I keep on eating.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But you eat harmless things, so it doesn&rsquo;t
+matter,&rdquo; replied the Tiger. &ldquo;For my part, I&rsquo;m a
+savage beast, and have an appetite for all sorts of poor little
+living creatures, from a chipmunk to fat babies.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How dreadful!&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it, though?&rdquo; returned the Hungry Tiger,
+licking his lips with his long red tongue. &ldquo;Fat babies!
+Don&rsquo;t they sound delicious? But I&rsquo;ve never eaten any,
+because my conscience tells me it is wrong. If I had no conscience
+I would probably eat the babies and then get hungry again, which
+would mean that I had sacrificed the poor babies for nothing. No;
+hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die. But I&rsquo;ll not have
+any cruel deeds on my conscience to be sorry for.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think you are a very good tiger,&rdquo; said Dorothy,
+patting the huge head of the beast.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In that you are mistaken,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;I
+am a good beast, perhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger. For it is
+the nature of tigers to be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to
+eat harmless living creatures I am acting as no good tiger has ever
+before acted. That is why I left the forest and joined my friend
+the Cowardly Lion.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But the Lion is not really cowardly,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;I have seen him act as bravely as can be.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All a mistake, my dear,&rdquo; protested the Lion
+gravely. &ldquo;To others I may have seemed brave, at times, but I
+have never been in any danger that I was not afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nor I,&rdquo; said Dorothy, truthfully. &ldquo;But I must
+go and set free Billina, and then I will see you again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She ran around to the back yard of the palace and soon found the
+chicken house, being guided to it by a loud cackling and crowing
+and a distracting hubbub of sounds such as chickens make when they
+are excited.</p>
+<p>Something seemed to be wrong in the chicken house, and when
+Dorothy looked through the slats in the door she saw a group of
+hens and roosters huddled in one corner and watching what appeared
+to be a whirling ball of feathers. It bounded here and there about
+the chicken house, and at first Dorothy could not tell what it was,
+while the screeching of the chickens nearly deafened her.</p>
+<p>But suddenly the bunch of feathers stopped whirling, and then,
+to her amazement, the girl saw Billina crouching upon the prostrate
+form of a speckled rooster. For an instant they both remained
+motionless, and then the yellow hen shook her wings to settle the
+feathers and walked toward the door with a strut of proud defiance
+and a cluck of victory, while the speckled rooster limped away to
+the group of other chickens, trailing his crumpled plumage in the
+dust as he went.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, Billina!&rdquo; cried Dorothy, in a shocked voice;
+&ldquo;have you been fighting?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I really think I have,&rdquo; retorted Billina. &ldquo;Do
+you think I&rsquo;d let that speckled villain of a rooster lord it
+over ME, and claim to run this chicken house, as long as I&rsquo;m
+able to peck and scratch? Not if my name is Bill!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t Bill, it&rsquo;s Billina; and you&rsquo;re
+talking slang, which is very undig&rsquo;n&rsquo;fied,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy, reprovingly. &ldquo;Come here, Billina, and I&rsquo;ll let
+you out; for Ozma of Oz is here, and has set us free.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the yellow hen came to the door, which Dorothy unlatched for
+her to pass through, and the other chickens silently watched them
+from their corner without offering to approach nearer.</p>
+<p>The girl lifted her friend in her arms and exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Billina! how dreadful you look. You&rsquo;ve lost a
+lot of feathers, and one of your eyes is nearly pecked out, and
+your comb is bleeding!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s nothing,&rdquo; said Billina. &ldquo;Just
+look at the speckled rooster! Didn&rsquo;t I do him up
+brown?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy shook her head.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t &rsquo;prove of this, at all,&rdquo; she
+said, carrying Billina away toward the palace. &ldquo;It
+isn&rsquo;t a good thing for you to &rsquo;sociate with those
+common chickens. They would soon spoil your good manners, and you
+wouldn&rsquo;t be respec&rsquo;able any more.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t ask to associate with them,&rdquo; replied
+Billina. &ldquo;It is that cross old Princess who is to blame. But
+I was raised in the United States, and I won&rsquo;t allow any
+one-horse chicken of the Land of Ev to run over me and put on airs,
+as long as I can lift a claw in self-defense.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well, Billina,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;We
+won&rsquo;t talk about it any more.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Soon they came to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to whom
+the girl introduced the Yellow Hen.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Glad to meet any friend of Dorothy&rsquo;s,&rdquo; said
+the Lion, politely. &ldquo;To judge by your present appearance, you
+are not a coward, as I am.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Your present appearance makes my mouth water,&rdquo; said
+the Tiger, looking at Billina greedily. &ldquo;My, my! how good you
+would taste if I could only crunch you between my jaws. But
+don&rsquo;t worry. You would only appease my appetite for a moment;
+so it isn&rsquo;t worth while to eat you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; said the hen, nestling closer in
+Dorothy&rsquo;s arms.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Besides, it wouldn&rsquo;t be right,&rdquo; continued the
+Tiger, looking steadily at Billina and clicking his jaws
+together.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; cried Dorothy, hastily.
+&ldquo;Billina is my friend, and you mustn&rsquo;t ever eat her
+under any circ&rsquo;mstances.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try to remember that,&rdquo; said the Tiger;
+&ldquo;but I&rsquo;m a little absent-minded, at times.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then Dorothy carried her pet into the drawing-room of the
+palace, where Tiktok, being invited to do so by Ozma, had seated
+himself between the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. Opposite to them
+sat Ozma herself and the Princess Langwidere, and beside them there
+was a vacant chair for Dorothy.</p>
+<p>Around this important group was ranged the Army of Oz, and as
+Dorothy looked at the handsome uniforms of the Twenty-Seven she
+said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, they seem to be all officers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They are, all except one,&rdquo; answered the Tin
+Woodman. &ldquo;I have in my Army eight Generals, six Colonels,
+seven Majors and five Captains, besides one private for them to
+command. I&rsquo;d like to promote the private, for I believe no
+private should ever be in public life; and I&rsquo;ve also noticed
+that officers usually fight better and are more reliable than
+common soldiers. Besides, the officers are more important looking,
+and lend dignity to our army.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No doubt you are right,&rdquo; said Dorothy, seating
+herself beside Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; announced the girlish Ruler of Oz,
+&ldquo;we will hold a solemn conference to decide the best manner
+of liberating the royal family of this fair Land of Ev from their
+long imprisonment.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_9" name="Ch_9"></a>9. The Royal Family of Ev</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>The Tin Woodman was the first to address the meeting.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To begin with,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;word came to our
+noble and illustrious Ruler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten
+children&mdash;five boys and five girls&mdash;of the former King of
+Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by the Nome King and are
+held prisoners in his underground palace. Also that there was no
+one in Ev powerful enough to release them. Naturally our Ozma
+wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the poor prisoners;
+but for a long time she could find no way to cross the great desert
+between the two countries. Finally she went to a friendly sorceress
+of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the story and at once
+presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would continually unroll
+beneath our feet and so make a comfortable path for us to cross the
+desert. As soon as she had received the carpet our gracious Ruler
+ordered me to assemble our army, which I did. You behold in these
+bold warriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of Oz; and, if we
+are obliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as well as the
+private, will battle fiercely unto death.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then Tiktok spoke.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why should you fight the Nome King?&rdquo; he asked.
+&ldquo;He has done no wrong.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No wrong!&rdquo; cried Dorothy. &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it
+wrong to imprison a queen mother and her ten children?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They were sold to the Nome King by King Ev-ol-do,&rdquo;
+replied Tiktok. &ldquo;It was the King of Ev who did wrong, and
+when he re-al-ized what he had done he jumped in-to the sea and
+drowned him-self.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This is news to me,&rdquo; said Ozma, thoughtfully.
+&ldquo;I had supposed the Nome King was all to blame in the matter.
+But, in any case, he must be made to liberate the
+prisoners.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man,&rdquo; declared
+the Princess Langwidere. &ldquo;If he had drowned himself before he
+sold his family, no one would have cared. But he sold them to the
+powerful Nome King in exchange for a long life, and afterward
+destroyed the life by jumping into the sea.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Ozma, &ldquo;he did not get the long
+life, and the Nome King must give up the prisoners. Where are they
+confined?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No one knows, exactly,&rdquo; replied the Princess.
+&ldquo;For the king, whose name is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a
+splendid palace underneath the great mountain which is at the north
+end of this kingdom, and he has transformed the queen and her
+children into ornaments and bric-a-brac with which to decorate his
+rooms.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to know,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;who
+this Nome King is?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I will tell you,&rdquo; replied Ozma. &ldquo;He is said
+to be the Ruler of the Underground World, and commands the rocks
+and all that the rocks contain. Under his rule are many thousands
+of the Nomes, who are queerly shaped but powerful sprites that
+labor at the furnaces and forges of their king, making gold and
+silver and other metals which they conceal in the crevices of the
+rocks, so that those living upon the earth&rsquo;s surface can only
+find them with great difficulty. Also they make diamonds and rubies
+and emeralds, which they hide in the ground; so that the kingdom of
+the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all we have of precious stones
+and silver and gold is what we take from the earth and rocks where
+the Nome King has hidden them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; said Dorothy, nodding her little
+head wisely.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For the reason that we often steal his treasures,&rdquo;
+continued Ozma, &ldquo;the Ruler of the Underground World is not
+fond of those who live upon the earth&rsquo;s surface, and never
+appears among us. If we wish to see King Roquat of the Rocks, we
+must visit his own country, where he is all powerful, and therefore
+it will be a dangerous undertaking.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But, for the sake of the poor prisoners,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy, &ldquo;we ought to do it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We shall do it,&rdquo; replied the Scarecrow,
+&ldquo;although it requires a lot of courage for me to go near to
+the furnaces of the Nome King. For I am only stuffed with straw,
+and a single spark of fire might destroy me entirely.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The furnaces may also melt my tin,&rdquo; said the Tin
+Woodman; &ldquo;but I am going.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t bear heat,&rdquo; remarked the Princess
+Langwidere, yawning lazily, &ldquo;so I shall stay at home. But I
+wish you may have success in your undertaking, for I am heartily
+tired of ruling this stupid kingdom, and I need more leisure in
+which to admire my beautiful heads.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We do not need you,&rdquo; said Ozma. &ldquo;For, if with
+the aid of my brave followers I cannot accomplish my purpose, then
+it would be useless for you to undertake the journey.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Quite true,&rdquo; sighed the Princess. &ldquo;So, if
+you&rsquo;ll excuse me, I will now retire to my cabinet. I&rsquo;ve
+worn this head quite awhile, and I want to change it for
+another.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to
+see her go) Ozma said to Tiktok:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Will you join our party?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am the slave of the girl Dor-oth-y, who rescued me from
+pris-on,&rdquo; replied the machine. &ldquo;Where she goes I will
+go.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I am going with my friends, of course,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy, quickly. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t miss the fun for
+anything. Will you go, too, Billina?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To be sure,&rdquo; said Billina in a careless tone. She
+was smoothing down the feathers of her back and not paying much
+attention.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Heat is just in her line,&rdquo; remarked the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;If she is nicely roasted, she will be better than
+ever.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then&rdquo; said Ozma, &ldquo;we will arrange to start
+for the Kingdom of the Nomes at daybreak tomorrow. And, in the
+meantime, we will rest and prepare ourselves for the
+journey.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Although Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests,
+the palace servants waited upon the strangers from Oz and did
+everything in their power to make the party comfortable. There were
+many vacant rooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of
+twenty-seven was easily provided for and liberally feasted.</p>
+<p>The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the
+chariot and allowed to roam at will throughout the palace, where
+they nearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no
+harm at all. At one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda
+crouching in terror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing
+before her.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You certainly look delicious,&rdquo; the beast was
+saying. &ldquo;Will you kindly give me permission to eat
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, no, no!&rdquo; cried the maid in reply.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said the Tiger, yawning frightfully,
+&ldquo;please to get me about thirty pounds of tenderloin steak,
+cooked rare, with a peck of boiled potatoes on the side, and five
+gallons of ice-cream for dessert.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&mdash;I&rsquo;ll do the best I can!&rdquo; said Nanda,
+and she ran away as fast as she could go.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you so very hungry?&rdquo; asked Dorothy, in
+wonder.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite,&rdquo;
+replied the Tiger, sadly. &ldquo;It seems to fill my whole body,
+from the end of my throat to the tip of my tail. I am very sure the
+appetite doesn&rsquo;t fit me, and is too large for the size of my
+body. Some day, when I meet a dentist with a pair of forceps,
+I&rsquo;m going to have it pulled.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What, your tooth?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, my appetite,&rdquo; said the Hungry Tiger.</p>
+<p>The little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the
+Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who related to her all that had
+taken place in the Land of Oz since Dorothy had left it. She was
+much interested in the story of Ozma, who had been, when a baby,
+stolen by a wicked old witch and transformed into a boy. She did
+not know that she had ever been a girl until she was restored to
+her natural form by a kind sorceress. Then it was found that she
+was the only child of the former Ruler of Oz, and was entitled to
+rule in his place. Ozma had many adventures, however, before she
+regained her father&rsquo;s throne, and in these she was
+accompanied by a pumpkin-headed man, a highly magnified and
+thoroughly educated Woggle-Bug, and a wonderful sawhorse that had
+been brought to life by means of a magic powder. The Scarecrow and
+the Tin Woodman had also assisted her; but the Cowardly Lion, who
+ruled the great forest as the King of Beasts, knew nothing of Ozma
+until after she became the reigning princess of Oz. Then he
+journeyed to the Emerald City to see her, and on hearing she was
+about to visit the Land of Ev to set free the royal family of that
+country, the Cowardly Lion begged to go with her, and brought along
+his friend, the Hungry Tiger, as well.</p>
+<p>Having heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own
+adventures, and then went out with her friends to find the
+Sawhorse, which Ozma had caused to be shod with plates of gold, so
+that its legs would not wear out.</p>
+<p>They came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the
+garden gate, but when Dorothy was introduced to him he bowed
+politely and blinked his eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged
+his tail, which was only the branch of a tree.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What a remarkable thing, to be alive!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I quiet agree with you,&rdquo; replied the Sawhorse, in a
+rough but not unpleasant voice. &ldquo;A creature like me has no
+business to live, as we all know. But it was the magic powder that
+did it, so I cannot justly be blamed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;And you seem
+to be of some use, &lsquo;cause I noticed the Scarecrow riding upon
+your back.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes; I&rsquo;m of use,&rdquo; returned the Sawhorse;
+&ldquo;and I never tire, never have to be fed, or cared for in any
+way.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you intel&rsquo;gent?&rdquo; asked the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not very,&rdquo; said the creature. &ldquo;It would be
+foolish to waste intelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so many
+professors need it. But I know enough to obey my masters, and to
+gid-dup, or whoa, when I&rsquo;m told to. So I&rsquo;m pretty well
+satisfied.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>That night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bed-chamber next
+to that occupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina perched upon the foot
+of the bed and tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly
+in that position as did Dorothy upon her soft cushions.</p>
+<p>But before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon
+the adventurers were eating a hasty breakfast in the great
+dining-room of the palace. Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on
+a raised platform, with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow
+on her left. The Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but Ozma placed
+him near her so that she might ask his advice about the journey
+while she ate.</p>
+<p>Lower down the table were the twenty-seven warriors of Oz, and
+at the end of the room the Lion and the Tiger were eating out of a
+kettle that had been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered
+around to pick up any scraps that might be scattered.</p>
+<p>It did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and
+the Tiger were harnessed to the chariot and the party was ready to
+start for the Nome King&rsquo;s Palace.</p>
+<p>First rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot
+and holding Billina fast in her arms. Then came the Scarecrow on
+the Sawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side
+just behind him. After these tramped the Army, looking brave and
+handsome in their splendid uniforms. The generals commanded the
+colonels and the colonels commanded the majors and the majors
+commanded the captains and the captains commanded the private, who
+marched with an air of proud importance because it required so many
+officers to give him his orders.</p>
+<p>And so the magnificent procession left the palace and started
+along the road just as day was breaking, and by the time the sun
+came out they had made good progress toward the valley that led to
+the Nome King&rsquo;s domain.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_10" name="Ch_10"></a>10. The Giant with the
+Hammer</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>The road led for a time through a pretty farm country, and then
+past a picnic grove that was very inviting. But the procession
+continued to steadily advance until Billina cried in an abrupt and
+commanding manner:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wait&mdash;wait!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Ozma stopped her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow&rsquo;s
+Sawhorse nearly ran into it, and the ranks of the army tumbled over
+one another before they could come to a halt. Immediately the
+yellow hen struggled from Dorothy&rsquo;s arms and flew into a
+clump of bushes by the roadside.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo; called the Tin Woodman,
+anxiously.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, Billina wants to lay her egg, that&rsquo;s
+all,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Lay her egg!&rdquo; repeated the Tin Woodman, in
+astonishment.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; she lays one every morning, about this time; and
+it&rsquo;s quite fresh,&rdquo; said the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But does your foolish old hen suppose that this entire
+cavalcade, which is bound on an important adventure, is going to
+stand still while she lays her egg?&rdquo; enquired the Tin
+Woodman, earnestly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What else can we do?&rdquo; asked the girl.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a habit of Billina&rsquo;s and she can&rsquo;t
+break herself of it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then she must hurry up,&rdquo; said the Tin Woodman,
+impatiently.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; exclaimed the Scarecrow. &ldquo;If she
+hurries she may lay scrambled eggs.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s nonsense,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;But
+Billina won&rsquo;t be long, I&rsquo;m sure.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So they stood and waited, although all were restless and anxious
+to proceed. And by and by the yellow hen came from the bushes
+saying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Kut-kut, kut, ka-daw-kutt! Kut, kut,
+kut&mdash;ka-daw-kut!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is she doing&mdash;singing her lay?&rdquo; asked the
+Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For-ward&mdash;march!&rdquo; shouted the Tin Woodman,
+waving his axe, and the procession started just as Dorothy had once
+more grabbed Billina in her arms.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t anyone going to get my egg?&rdquo; cried the
+hen, in great excitement.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get it,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow; and at his
+command the Sawhorse pranced into the bushes. The straw man soon
+found the egg, which he placed in his jacket pocket. The cavalcade,
+having moved rapidly on, was even then far in advance; but it did
+not take the Sawhorse long to catch up with it, and presently the
+Scarecrow was riding in his accustomed place behind Ozma&rsquo;s
+chariot.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What shall I do with the egg?&rdquo; he asked
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I do not know,&rdquo; the girl answered. &ldquo;Perhaps
+the Hungry Tiger would like it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It would not be enough to fill one of my back
+teeth,&rdquo; remarked the Tiger. &ldquo;A bushel of them, hard
+boiled, might take a little of the edge off my appetite; but one
+egg isn&rsquo;t good for anything at all, that I know
+of.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No; it wouldn&rsquo;t even make a sponge cake,&rdquo;
+said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. &ldquo;The Tin Woodman might
+carry it with his axe and hatch it; but after all I may as well
+keep it myself for a souvenir.&rdquo; So he left it in his
+pocket.</p>
+<p>They had now reached that part of the valley that lay between
+the two high mountains which Dorothy had seen from her tower
+window. At the far end was the third great mountain, which blocked
+the valley and was the northern edge of the Land of Ev. It was
+underneath this mountain that the Nome King&rsquo;s palace was said
+to be; but it would be some time before they reached that
+place.</p>
+<p>The path was becoming rocky and difficult for the wheels of the
+chariot to pass over, and presently a deep gulf appeared at their
+feet which was too wide for them to leap. So Ozma took a small
+square of green cloth from her pocket and threw it upon the ground.
+At once it became the magic carpet, and unrolled itself far enough
+for all the cavalcade to walk upon. The chariot now advanced, and
+the green carpet unrolled before it, crossing the gulf on a level
+with its banks, so that all passed over in safety.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s easy enough,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;I wonder what will happen next.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He was not long in making the discovery, for the sides of the
+mountain came closer together until finally there was but a narrow
+path between them, along which Ozma and her party were forced to
+pass in single file.</p>
+<p>They now heard a low and deep
+&ldquo;thump!&mdash;thump!&mdash;thump!&rdquo; which echoed
+throughout the valley and seemed to grow louder as they advanced.
+Then, turning a corner of rock, they saw before them a huge form,
+which towered above the path for more than a hundred feet. The form
+was that of a gigantic man built out of plates of cast iron, and it
+stood with one foot on either side of the narrow road and swung
+over its right shoulder an immense iron mallet, with which it
+constantly pounded the earth. These resounding blows explained the
+thumping sounds they had heard, for the mallet was much bigger than
+a barrel, and where it struck the path between the rocky sides of
+the mountain it filled all the space through which our travelers
+would be obliged to pass.</p>
+<p>Of course they at once halted, a safe distance away from the
+terrible iron mallet. The magic carpet would do them no good in
+this case, for it was only meant to protect them from any dangers
+upon the ground beneath their feet, and not from dangers that
+appeared in the air above them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wow!&rdquo; said the Cowardly Lion, with a shudder.
+&ldquo;It makes me dreadfully nervous to see that big hammer
+pounding so near my head. One blow would crush me into a
+door-mat.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The ir-on gi-ant is a fine fel-low,&rdquo; said Tiktok,
+&ldquo;and works as stead-i-ly as a clock. He was made for the Nome
+King by Smith &amp; Tin-ker, who made me, and his du-ty is to keep
+folks from find-ing the un-der-ground pal-ace. Is he not a great
+work of art?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Can he think, and speak, as you do?&rdquo; asked Ozma,
+regarding the giant with wondering eyes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the machine; &ldquo;he is on-ly made
+to pound the road, and has no think-ing or speak-ing at-tach-ment.
+But he pounds ve-ry well, I think.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Too well,&rdquo; observed the Scarecrow. &ldquo;He is
+keeping us from going farther. Is there no way to stop his
+machinery?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;On-ly the Nome King, who has the key, can do that,&rdquo;
+answered Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Dorothy, anxiously, &ldquo;what shall
+we do?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Excuse me for a few minutes,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow,
+&ldquo;and I will think it over.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He retired, then, to a position in the rear, where he turned his
+painted face to the rocks and began to think.</p>
+<p>Meantime the giant continued to raise his iron mallet high in
+the air and to strike the path terrific blows that echoed through
+the mountains like the roar of a cannon. Each time the mallet
+lifted, however, there was a moment when the path beneath the
+monster was free, and perhaps the Scarecrow had noticed this, for
+when he came back to the others he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The matter is a very simple one, after all. We have but
+to run under the hammer, one at a time, when it is lifted, and pass
+to the other side before it falls again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It will require quick work, if we escape the blow,&rdquo;
+said the Tin Woodman, with a shake of his head. &ldquo;But it
+really seems the only thing to be done. Who will make the first
+attempt?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>They looked at one another hesitatingly for a moment. Then the
+Cowardly Lion, who was trembling like a leaf in the wind, said to
+them:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I suppose the head of the procession must go
+first&mdash;and that&rsquo;s me. But I&rsquo;m terribly afraid of
+the big hammer!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What will become of me?&rdquo; asked Ozma. &ldquo;You
+might rush under the hammer yourself, but the chariot would surely
+be crushed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We must leave the chariot,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;But you two girls can ride upon the backs of the Lion and
+the Tiger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So this was decided upon, and Ozma, as soon as the Lion was
+unfastened from the chariot, at once mounted the beast&rsquo;s back
+and said she was ready.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Cling fast to his mane,&rdquo; advised Dorothy. &ldquo;I
+used to ride him myself, and that&rsquo;s the way I held
+on.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Ozma clung fast to the mane, and the lion crouched in the
+path and eyed the swinging mallet carefully until he knew just the
+instant it would begin to rise in the air.</p>
+<p>Then, before anyone thought he was ready, he made a sudden leap
+straight between the iron giant&rsquo;s legs, and before the mallet
+struck the ground again the Lion and Ozma were safe on the other
+side.</p>
+<p>The Tiger went next. Dorothy sat upon his back and locked her
+arms around his striped neck, for he had no mane to cling to. He
+made the leap straight and true as an arrow from a bow, and ere
+Dorothy realized it she was out of danger and standing by
+Ozma&rsquo;s side.</p>
+<p>Now came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, and while they made the
+dash in safety they were within a hair&rsquo;s breadth of being
+caught by the descending hammer.</p>
+<p>Tiktok walked up to the very edge of the spot the hammer struck,
+and as it was raised for the next blow he calmly stepped forward
+and escaped its descent. That was an idea for the Tin Woodman to
+follow, and he also crossed in safety while the great hammer was in
+the air. But when it came to the twenty-six officers and the
+private, their knees were so weak that they could not walk a
+step.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In battle we are wonderfully courageous,&rdquo; said one
+of the generals, &ldquo;and our foes find us very terrible to face.
+But war is one thing and this is another. When it comes to being
+pounded upon the head by an iron hammer, and smashed into pancakes,
+we naturally object.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Make a run for it,&rdquo; urged the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Our knees shake so that we cannot run,&rdquo; answered a
+captain. &ldquo;If we should try it we would all certainly be
+pounded to a jelly.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; sighed the Cowardly Lion, &ldquo;I
+see, friend Tiger, that we must place ourselves in great danger to
+rescue this bold army. Come with me, and we will do the best we
+can.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So, Ozma and Dorothy having already dismounted from their backs,
+the Lion and the Tiger leaped back again under the awful hammer and
+returned with two generals clinging to their necks. They repeated
+this daring passage twelve times, when all the officers had been
+carried beneath the giant&rsquo;s legs and landed safely on the
+further side. By that time the beasts were very tired, and panted
+so hard that their tongues hung out of their great mouths.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But what is to become of the private?&rdquo; asked
+Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, leave him there to guard the chariot,&rdquo; said the
+Lion. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired out, and won&rsquo;t pass under that
+mallet again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The officers at once protested that they must have the private
+with them, else there would be no one for them to command. But
+neither the Lion or the Tiger would go after him, and so the
+Scarecrow sent the Sawhorse.</p>
+<p>Either the wooden horse was careless, or it failed to properly
+time the descent of the hammer, for the mighty weapon caught it
+squarely upon its head, and thumped it against the ground so
+powerfully that the private flew off its back high into the air,
+and landed upon one of the giant&rsquo;s cast-iron arms. Here he
+clung desperately while the arm rose and fell with each one of the
+rapid strokes.</p>
+<p>The Scarecrow dashed in to rescue his Sawhorse, and had his left
+foot smashed by the hammer before he could pull the creature out of
+danger. They then found that the Sawhorse had been badly dazed by
+the blow; for while the hard wooden knot of which his head was
+formed could not be crushed by the hammer, both his ears were
+broken off and he would be unable to hear a sound until some new
+ones were made for him. Also his left knee was cracked, and had to
+be bound up with a string.</p>
+<p>Billina having fluttered under the hammer, it now remained only
+to rescue the private who was riding upon the iron giant&rsquo;s
+arm, high in the air.</p>
+<p>The Scarecrow lay flat upon the ground and called to the man to
+jump down upon his body, which was soft because it was stuffed with
+straw. This the private managed to do, waiting until a time when he
+was nearest the ground and then letting himself drop upon the
+Scarecrow. He accomplished the feat without breaking any bones, and
+the Scarecrow declared he was not injured in the least.</p>
+<p>Therefore, the Tin Woodman having by this time fitted new ears
+to the Sawhorse, the entire party proceeded upon its way, leaving
+the giant to pound the path behind them.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_11" name="Ch_11"></a>11. The Nome King</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>By and by, when they drew near to the mountain that blocked
+their path and which was the furthermost edge of the Kingdom of Ev,
+the way grew dark and gloomy for the reason that the high peaks on
+either side shut out the sunshine. And it was very silent, too, as
+there were no birds to sing or squirrels to chatter, the trees
+being left far behind them and only the bare rocks remaining.</p>
+<p>Ozma and Dorothy were a little awed by the silence, and all the
+others were quiet and grave except the Sawhorse, which, as it
+trotted along with the Scarecrow upon his back, hummed a queer
+song, of which this was the chorus:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>&ldquo;Would a wooden horse in a woodland go?</p>
+<p class="i2">Aye, aye! I sigh, he would, although</p>
+<p>Had he not had a wooden head</p>
+<p class="i2">He&rsquo;d mount the mountain top instead.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>But no one paid any attention to this because they were now
+close to the Nome King&rsquo;s dominions, and his splendid
+underground palace could not be very far away.</p>
+<p>Suddenly they heard a shout of jeering laughter, and stopped
+short. They would have to stop in a minute, anyway, for the huge
+mountain barred their further progress and the path ran close up to
+a wall of rock and ended.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who was that laughing?&rdquo; asked Ozma.</p>
+<p>There was no reply, but in the gloom they could see strange
+forms flit across the face of the rock. Whatever the creations
+might be they seemed very like the rock itself, for they were the
+color of rocks and their shapes were as rough and rugged as if they
+had been broken away from the side of the mountain. They kept close
+to the steep cliff facing our friends, and glided up and down, and
+this way and that, with a lack of regularity that was quite
+confusing. And they seemed not to need places to rest their feet,
+but clung to the surface of the rock as a fly does to a
+window-pane, and were never still for a moment.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do not mind them,&rdquo; said Tiktok, as Dorothy shrank
+back. &ldquo;They are on-ly the Nomes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And what are Nomes?&rdquo; asked the girl, half
+frightened.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They are rock fair-ies, and serve the Nome King,&rdquo;
+replied the machine. &ldquo;But they will do us no harm. You must
+call for the King, be-cause with-out him you can ne-ver find the
+en-trance to the pal-ace.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;YOU call,&rdquo; said Dorothy to Ozma.</p>
+<p>Just then the Nomes laughed again, and the sound was so weird
+and disheartening that the twenty-six officers commanded the
+private to &ldquo;right-about-face!&rdquo; and they all started to
+run as fast as they could.</p>
+<p>The Tin Woodman at once pursued his army and cried
+&ldquo;halt!&rdquo; and when they had stopped their flight he
+asked: &ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&mdash;I find I&rsquo;ve forgotten the brush for my
+whiskers,&rdquo; said a general, trembling with fear. &ldquo;S-s-so
+we are g-going back after it!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is impossible,&rdquo; replied the Tin Woodman.
+&ldquo;For the giant with the hammer would kill you all if you
+tried to pass him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! I&rsquo;d forgotten the giant,&rdquo; said the
+general, turning pale.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You seem to forget a good many things,&rdquo; remarked
+the Tin Woodman. &ldquo;I hope you won&rsquo;t forget that you are
+brave men.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never!&rdquo; cried the general, slapping his
+gold-embroidered chest.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never!&rdquo; cried all the other officers, indignantly
+slapping their chests.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For my part,&rdquo; said the private, meekly, &ldquo;I
+must obey my officers; so when I am told to run, I run; and when I
+am told to fight, I fight.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is right,&rdquo; agreed the Tin Woodman. &ldquo;And
+now you must all come back to Ozma, and obey HER orders. And if you
+try to run away again I will have her reduce all the twenty-six
+officers to privates, and make the private your general.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This terrible threat so frightened them that they at once
+returned to where Ozma was standing beside the Cowardly Lion.</p>
+<p>Then Ozma cried out in a loud voice:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I demand that the Nome King appear to us!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>There was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the
+mountain laughed in derision.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You must not command the Nome King,&rdquo; said Tiktok,
+&ldquo;for you do not rule him, as you do your own
+peo-ple.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Ozma called again, saying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I request the Nome King to appear to us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Only the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes
+continued to flit here and there upon the rocky cliff.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Try en-treat-y,&rdquo; said Tiktok to Ozma. &ldquo;If he
+will not come at your re-quest, then the Nome King may list-en to
+your plead-ing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Ozma looked around her proudly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome
+King?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Shall Ozma of Oz humble herself to a
+creature who lives in an underground kingdom?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No!&rdquo; they all shouted, with big voices; and the
+Scarecrow added:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole,
+like a fox, and conquer his stubbornness. But our sweet little
+ruler must always maintain her dignity, just as I maintain
+mine.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not afraid to plead with him,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m only a little girl from Kansas, and
+we&rsquo;ve got more dignity at home than we know what to do with.
+I&rsquo;LL call the Nome King.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do,&rdquo; said the Hungry Tiger; &ldquo;and if he makes
+hash of you I&rsquo;ll willingly eat you for breakfast tomorrow
+morning.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Dorothy stepped forward and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;PLEASE Mr. Nome King, come here and see us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the
+mountain, and in a flash they had all vanished from sight and were
+silent.</p>
+<p>Then a door in the rock opened, and a voice cried:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Enter!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it a trick?&rdquo; asked the Tin Woodman.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; replied Ozma. &ldquo;We came here to
+rescue the poor Queen of Ev and her ten children, and we must run
+some risks to do so.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured,&rdquo; said
+Tiktok. &ldquo;You can trust him to do what is right.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed
+through the arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which
+was lighted by jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind
+them. There was no one to escort them, or to show them the way, but
+all the party pressed through the passage until they came to a
+round, domed cavern that was grandly furnished.</p>
+<p>In the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid
+boulder of rock, rude and rugged in shape but glittering with great
+rubies and diamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface. And
+upon the throne sat the Nome King.</p>
+<p>This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat
+man clothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the
+rock throne in which he was seated. His bushy hair and flowing
+beard were also colored like the rocks, and so was his face. He
+wore no crown of any sort, and his only ornament was a broad,
+jewel-studded belt that encircled his fat little body. As for his
+features, they seemed kindly and good humored, and his eyes were
+turned merrily upon his visitors as Ozma and Dorothy stood before
+him with their followers ranged in close order behind them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, he looks just like Santa Claus&mdash;only he
+isn&rsquo;t the same color!&rdquo; whispered Dorothy to her friend;
+but the Nome King heard the speech, and it made him laugh
+aloud.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;He had a red face and a round little belly</p>
+<p class="i2">That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of
+jelly!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>quoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see
+that he really did shake like jelly when he laughed.</p>
+<p>Both Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King
+so jolly, and a minute later he waved his right hand and the girls
+each found a cushioned stool at her side.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Sit down, my dears,&rdquo; said the King, &ldquo;and tell
+me why you have come all this way to see me, and what I can do to
+make you happy.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>While they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and
+taking a glowing red coal out of his pocket he placed it in the
+bowl of the pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled
+in rings above his head. Dorothy thought this made the little
+monarch look more like Santa Claus than ever; but Ozma now began
+speaking, and every one listened intently to her words.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Your Majesty,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;I am the ruler of
+the Land of Oz, and I have come here to ask you to release the good
+Queen of Ev and her ten children, whom you have enchanted and hold
+as your prisoners.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, no; you are mistaken about that,&rdquo; replied the
+King. &ldquo;They are not my prisoners, but my slaves, whom I
+purchased from the King of Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But that was wrong,&rdquo; said Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no
+wrong,&rdquo; answered the monarch, eying a ring of smoke he had
+just blown from his mouth; &ldquo;so that he had a perfect right to
+sell his family to me in exchange for a long life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You cheated him, though,&rdquo; declared Dorothy;
+&ldquo;for the King of Ev did not have a long life. He jumped into
+the sea and was drowned.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That was not my fault,&rdquo; said the Nome King,
+crossing his legs and smiling contentedly. &ldquo;I gave him the
+long life, all right; but he destroyed it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then how could it be a long life?&rdquo; asked
+Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Easily enough,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;Now suppose,
+my dear, that I gave you a pretty doll in exchange for a lock of
+your hair, and that after you had received the doll you smashed it
+into pieces and destroyed it. Could you say that I had not given
+you a pretty doll?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; answered Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the
+lock of hair, just because you had smashed the doll?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Dorothy, again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; the Nome King returned. &ldquo;Nor
+will I give up the Queen and her children because the King of Ev
+destroyed his long life by jumping into the sea. They belong to me
+and I shall keep them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But you are treating them cruelly,&rdquo; said Ozma, who
+was much distressed by the King&rsquo;s refusal.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In what way?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;By making them your slaves,&rdquo; said she.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Cruelty,&rdquo; remarked the monarch, puffing out
+wreathes of smoke and watching them float into the air, &ldquo;is a
+thing I can&rsquo;t abide. So, as slaves must work hard, and the
+Queen of Ev and her children were delicate and tender, I
+transformed them all into articles of ornament and bric-a-brac and
+scattered them around the various rooms of my palace. Instead of
+being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my apartments, and I
+really think I have treated them with great kindness.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But what a dreadful fate is theirs!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Ozma, earnestly. &ldquo;And the Kingdom of Ev is in great need of
+its royal family to govern it. If you will liberate them, and
+restore them to their proper forms, I will give you ten ornaments
+to replace each one you lose.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Nome King looked grave.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Suppose I refuse?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Ozma, firmly, &ldquo;I am here with my
+friends and my army to conquer your kingdom and oblige you to obey
+my wishes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he
+coughed; and he coughed until his face turned from grayish-brown to
+bright red. And then he wiped his eyes with a rock-colored
+handkerchief and grew grave again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You are as brave as you are pretty, my dear,&rdquo; he
+said to Ozma. &ldquo;But you have little idea of the extent of the
+task you have undertaken. Come with me for a moment.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He arose and took Ozma&rsquo;s hand, leading her to a little
+door at one side of the room. This he opened and they stepped out
+upon a balcony, from whence they obtained a wonderful view of the
+Underground World.</p>
+<p>A vast cave extended for miles and miles under the mountain, and
+in every direction were furnaces and forges glowing brightly and
+Nomes hammering upon precious metals or polishing gleaming jewels.
+All around the walls of the cave were thousands of doors of silver
+and gold, built into the solid rock, and these extended in rows far
+away into the distance, as far as Ozma&rsquo;s eyes could follow
+them.</p>
+<p>While the little maid from Oz gazed wonderingly upon this scene
+the Nome King uttered a shrill whistle, and at once all the silver
+and gold doors flew open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers marched
+out from every one. So great were their numbers that they quickly
+filled the immense underground cavern and forced the busy workmen
+to abandon their tasks.</p>
+<p>Although this tremendous army consisted of rock-colored Nomes,
+all squat and fat, they were clothed in glittering armor of
+polished steel, inlaid with beautiful gems. Upon his brow each wore
+a brilliant electric light, and they bore sharp spears and swords
+and battle-axes of solid bronze. It was evident they were perfectly
+trained, for they stood in straight rows, rank after rank, with
+their weapons held erect and true, as if awaiting but the word of
+command to level them upon their foes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This,&rdquo; said the Nome King, &ldquo;is but a small
+part of my army. No ruler upon Earth has ever dared to fight me,
+and no ruler ever will, for I am too powerful to oppose.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He whistled again, and at once the martial array filed through
+the silver and gold doorways and disappeared, after which the
+workmen again resumed their labors at the furnaces.</p>
+<p>Then, sad and discouraged, Ozma of Oz turned to her friends, and
+the Nome King calmly reseated himself on his rock throne.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It would be foolish for us to fight,&rdquo; the girl said
+to the Tin Woodman. &ldquo;For our brave Twenty-Seven would be
+quickly destroyed. I&rsquo;m sure I do not know how to act in this
+emergency.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ask the King where his kitchen is,&rdquo; suggested the
+Tiger. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hungry as a bear.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I might pounce upon the King and tear him in
+pieces,&rdquo; remarked the Cowardly Lion.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Try it,&rdquo; said the monarch, lighting his pipe with
+another hot coal which he took from his pocket.</p>
+<p>The Lion crouched low and tried to spring upon the Nome King;
+but he hopped only a little way into the air and came down again in
+the same place, not being able to approach the throne by even an
+inch.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully,
+&ldquo;that our best plan is to wheedle his Majesty into giving up
+his slaves, since he is too great a magician to oppose.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This is the most sensible thing any of you have
+suggested,&rdquo; declared the Nome King. &ldquo;It is folly to
+threaten me, but I&rsquo;m so kind-hearted that I cannot stand
+coaxing or wheedling. If you really wish to accomplish anything by
+your journey, my dear Ozma, you must coax me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; said Ozma, more cheerfully. &ldquo;Let
+us be friends, and talk this over in a friendly manner.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To be sure,&rdquo; agreed the King, his eyes twinkling
+merrily.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am very anxious,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;to
+liberate the Queen of Ev and her children who are now ornaments and
+bric-a-brac in your Majesty&rsquo;s palace, and to restore them to
+their people. Tell me, sir, how this may be
+accomplished.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The king remained thoughtful for a moment, after which he
+asked:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you willing to take a few chances and risks yourself,
+in order to set free the people of Ev?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, indeed!&rdquo; answered Ozma, eagerly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said the Nome King, &ldquo;I will make you
+this offer: You shall go alone and unattended into my palace and
+examine carefully all that the rooms contain. Then you shall have
+permission to touch eleven different objects, pronouncing at the
+time the word &lsquo;Ev,&rsquo; and if any one of them, or more
+than one, proves to be the transformation of the Queen of Ev or any
+of her ten children, then they will instantly be restored to their
+true forms and may leave my palace and my kingdom in your company,
+without any objection whatever. It is possible for you, in this
+way, to free the entire eleven; but if you do not guess all the
+objects correctly, and some of the slaves remain transformed, then
+each one of your friends and followers may, in turn, enter the
+palace and have the same privileges I grant you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, thank you! thank you for this kind offer!&rdquo; said
+Ozma, eagerly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I make but one condition,&rdquo; added the Nome King, his
+eyes twinkling.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; she enquired.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If none of the eleven objects you touch proves to be the
+transformation of any of the royal family of Ev, then, instead of
+freeing them, you will yourself become enchanted, and transformed
+into an article of bric-a-brac or an ornament. This is only fair
+and just, and is the risk you declared you were willing to
+take.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_12" name="Ch_12"></a>12. The Eleven Guesses</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Hearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became
+silent and thoughtful, and all her friends looked at her
+uneasily.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you do it!&rdquo; exclaimed Dorothy.
+&ldquo;If you guess wrong, you will be enslaved
+yourself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But I shall have eleven guesses,&rdquo; answered Ozma.
+&ldquo;Surely I ought to guess one object in eleven correctly; and,
+if I do, I shall rescue one of the royal family and be safe myself.
+Then the rest of you may attempt it, and soon we shall free all
+those who are enslaved.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What if we fail?&rdquo; enquired the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d look nice as a piece of bric-a-brac,
+wouldn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We must not fail!&rdquo; cried Ozma, courageously.
+&ldquo;Having come all this distance to free these poor people, it
+would be weak and cowardly in us to abandon the adventure.
+Therefore I will accept the Nome King&rsquo;s offer, and go at once
+into the royal palace.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Come along, then, my dear,&rdquo; said the King, climbing
+down from his throne with some difficulty, because he was so fat;
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you the way.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand. Instantly
+an opening appeared, through which Ozma, after a smiling farewell
+to her friends, boldly passed.</p>
+<p>She found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and
+grand than anything she had ever beheld. The ceilings were composed
+of great arches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and
+floors were of polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors.
+Thick velvet carpets were on the floor and heavy silken draperies
+covered the arches leading to the various rooms of the palace. The
+furniture was made of rare old woods richly carved and covered with
+delicate satins, and the entire palace was lighted by a mysterious
+rosy glow that seemed to come from no particular place but flooded
+each apartment with its soft and pleasing radiance.</p>
+<p>Ozma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all
+she saw. The lovely palace had no other occupant, for the Nome King
+had left her at the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all
+the magnificent rooms there appeared to be no other person.</p>
+<p>Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables,
+were clustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out
+of all sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles. There
+were vases, and figures of men and animals, and graven platters and
+bowls, and mosaics of precious gems, and many other things.
+Pictures, too, were on the walls, and the underground palace was
+quite a museum of rare and curious and costly objects.</p>
+<p>After her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to
+wonder which of all the numerous ornaments they contained were the
+transformations of the royal family of Ev. There was nothing to
+guide her, for everything seemed without a spark of life. So she
+must guess blindly; and for the first time the girl came to realize
+how dangerous was her task, and how likely she was to lose her own
+freedom in striving to free others from the bondage of the Nome
+King. No wonder the cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his
+visitors, when he knew how easily they might be entrapped.</p>
+<p>But Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it.
+She looked at a silver candelabra that had ten branches, and
+thought: &ldquo;This may be the Queen of Ev and her ten
+children.&rdquo; So she touched it and uttered aloud the word
+&ldquo;Ev,&rdquo; as the Nome King had instructed her to do when
+she guessed. But the candelabra remained as it was before.</p>
+<p>Then she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb,
+thinking it might be one of the children she sought. But again she
+was unsuccessful. Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven,
+eight, nine and ten she made, and still not one of them was
+right!</p>
+<p>The girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy
+light; for now but one guess remained, and her own fate depended
+upon the result.</p>
+<p>She resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms
+once more, gazing earnestly upon the various ornaments and trying
+to decide which she would touch. Finally, in despair, she decided
+to leave it entirely to chance. She faced the doorway of a room,
+shut her eyes tightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy
+draperies, she advanced blindly with her right arm outstretched
+before her.</p>
+<p>Slowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact
+with an object upon a small round table. She did not know what it
+was, but in a low voice she pronounced the word
+&ldquo;Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The rooms were quite empty of life after that. The Nome King had
+gained a new ornament. For upon the edge of the table rested a
+pretty grasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single
+emerald. It was all that remained of Ozma of Oz.</p>
+<p>In the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly
+looked up and smiled.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Next!&rdquo; he said, in his pleasant voice.</p>
+<p>Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been
+sitting in anxious silence, each gave a start of dismay and stared
+into one another&rsquo;s eyes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Has she failed?&rdquo; asked Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So it seems,&rdquo; answered the little monarch,
+cheerfully. &ldquo;But that is no reason one of you should not
+succeed. The next may have twelve guesses, instead of eleven, for
+there are now twelve persons transformed into ornaments. Well,
+well! Which of you goes next?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; replied the Tin Woodman. &ldquo;As
+commander of Ozma&rsquo;s army, it is my privilege to follow her
+and attempt her rescue.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Away you go, then,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow. &ldquo;But
+be careful, old friend.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I will,&rdquo; promised the Tin Woodman; and then he
+followed the Nome King to the entrance to the palace and the rock
+closed behind him.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_13" name="Ch_13"></a>13. The Nome King Laughs</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>In a moment the King returned to his throne and relighted his
+pipe, and the rest of the little band of adventurers settled
+themselves for another long wait. They were greatly disheartened by
+the failure of their girl Ruler, and the knowledge that she was now
+an ornament in the Nome King&rsquo;s palace&mdash;a dreadful,
+creepy place in spite of all its magnificence. Without their little
+leader they did not know what to do next, and each one, down to the
+trembling private of the army, began to fear he would soon be more
+ornamental than useful.</p>
+<p>Suddenly the Nome King began laughing.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ha, ha, ha! He, he, he! Ho, ho, ho!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s happened?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, your friend, the Tin Woodman, has become the
+funniest thing you can imagine,&rdquo; replied the King, wiping the
+tears of merriment from his eyes. &ldquo;No one would ever believe
+he could make such an amusing ornament. Next!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>They gazed at each other with sinking hearts. One of the
+generals began to weep dolefully.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What are you crying for?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow,
+indignant at such a display of weakness.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He owed me six weeks back pay,&rdquo; said the general,
+&ldquo;and I hate to lose him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then you shall go and find him,&rdquo; declared the
+Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Me!&rdquo; cried the general, greatly alarmed.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Certainly. It is your duty to follow your commander.
+March!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the general. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d
+like to, of course; but I just simply WON&rsquo;T.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Scarecrow looked enquiringly at the Nome King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; said the jolly monarch. &ldquo;If he
+doesn&rsquo;t care to enter the palace and make his guesses
+I&rsquo;ll throw him into one of my fiery furnaces.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go!&mdash;of course I&rsquo;m going,&rdquo;
+yelled the general, as quick as scat. &ldquo;Where is the
+entrance&mdash;where is it? Let me go at once!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the Nome King escorted him into the palace, and again
+returned to await the result. What the general did, no one can
+tell; but it was not long before the King called for the next
+victim, and a colonel was forced to try his fortune.</p>
+<p>Thus, one after another, all of the twenty-six officers filed
+into the palace and made their guesses&mdash; and became
+ornaments.</p>
+<p>Meantime the King ordered refreshments to be served to those
+waiting, and at his command a rudely shaped Nome entered, bearing a
+tray. This Nome was not unlike the others that Dorothy had seen,
+but he wore a heavy gold chain around his neck to show that he was
+the Chief Steward of the Nome King, and he assumed an air of much
+importance, and even told his majesty not to eat too much cake late
+at night, or he would be ill.</p>
+<p>Dorothy, however, was hungry, and she was not afraid of being
+ill; so she ate several cakes and found them good, and also she
+drank a cup of excellent coffee made of a richly flavored clay,
+browned in the furnaces and then ground fine, and found it most
+refreshing and not at all muddy.</p>
+<p>Of all the party which had started upon this adventure, the
+little Kansas girl was now left alone with the Scarecrow, Tiktok,
+and the private for counsellors and companions. Of course the
+Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were still there, but they,
+having also eaten some of the cakes, had gone to sleep at one side
+of the cave, while upon the other side stood the Sawhorse,
+motionless and silent, as became a mere thing of wood. Billina had
+quietly walked around and picked up the crumbs of cake which had
+been scattered, and now, as it was long after bed-time, she tried
+to find some dark place in which to go to sleep.</p>
+<p>Presently the hen espied a hollow underneath the King&rsquo;s
+rocky throne, and crept into it unnoticed. She could still hear the
+chattering of those around her, but it was almost dark underneath
+the throne, so that soon she had fallen fast asleep.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Next!&rdquo; called the King, and the private, whose turn
+it was to enter the fatal palace, shook hands with Dorothy and the
+Scarecrow and bade them a sorrowful good-bye, and passed through
+the rocky portal.</p>
+<p>They waited a long time, for the private was in no hurry to
+become an ornament and made his guesses very slowly. The Nome King,
+who seemed to know, by some magical power, all that took place in
+his beautiful rooms of his palace, grew impatient finally and
+declared he would sit up no longer.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I love ornaments,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;but I can wait
+until tomorrow to get more of them; so, as soon as that stupid
+private is transformed, we will all go to bed and leave the job to
+be finished in the morning.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Is it so very late?&rdquo; asked Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, it is after midnight,&rdquo; said the King,
+&ldquo;and that strikes me as being late enough. There is neither
+night nor day in my kingdom, because it is under the earth&rsquo;s
+surface, where the sun does not shine. But we have to sleep, just
+the same as the up-stairs people do, and for my part I&rsquo;m
+going to bed in a few minutes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Indeed, it was not long after this that the private made his
+last guess. Of course he guessed wrongly, and of course he at once
+became an ornament. So the King was greatly pleased, and clapped
+his hands to summon his Chief Steward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Show these guests to some of the sleeping
+apartments,&rdquo; he commanded, &ldquo;and be quick about it, too,
+for I&rsquo;m dreadfully sleepy myself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve no business to sit up so late,&rdquo;
+replied the Steward, gruffly. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be as cross as a
+griffin tomorrow morning.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>His Majesty made no answer to this remark, and the Chief Steward
+led Dorothy through another doorway into a long hall, from which
+several plain but comfortable sleeping rooms opened. The little
+girl was given the first room, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok the
+next&mdash;although they never slept&mdash;and the Lion and the
+Tiger the third. The Sawhorse hobbled after the Steward into a
+fourth room, to stand stiffly in the center of it until morning.
+Each night was rather a bore to the Scarecrow, Tiktok and the
+Sawhorse; but they had learned from experience to pass the time
+patiently and quietly, since all their friends who were made of
+flesh had to sleep and did not like to be disturbed.</p>
+<p>When the Chief Steward had left them alone the Scarecrow
+remarked, sadly:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am in great sorrow over the loss of my old comrade, the
+Tin Woodman. We have had many dangerous adventures together, and
+escaped them all, and now it grieves me to know he has become an
+ornament, and is lost to me forever.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He was al-ways an or-na-ment to so-ci-e-ty,&rdquo; said
+Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;True; but now the Nome King laughs at him, and calls him
+the funniest ornament in all the palace. It will hurt my poor
+friend&rsquo;s pride to be laughed at,&rdquo; continued the
+Scarecrow, sadly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We will make rath-er ab-surd or-na-ments, our-selves,
+to-mor-row,&rdquo; observed the machine, in his monotonous
+voice.</p>
+<p>Just then Dorothy ran into their room, in a state of great
+anxiety, crying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s Billina? Have you seen Billina? Is she
+here?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; answered the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then what has become of her?&rdquo; asked the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I thought she was with you,&rdquo; said the
+Scarecrow. &ldquo;Yet I do not remember seeing the yellow hen since
+she picked up the crumbs of cake.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We must have left her in the room where the King&rsquo;s
+throne is,&rdquo; decided Dorothy, and at once she turned and ran
+down the hall to the door through which they had entered. But it
+was fast closed and locked on the other side, and the heavy slab of
+rock proved to be so thick that no sound could pass through it. So
+Dorothy was forced to return to her chamber.</p>
+<p>The Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console
+the girl for the loss of her feathered friend.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The yellow hen is well able to take care of
+herself,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;so don&rsquo;t worry about her, but
+try to get all the sleep you can. It has been a long and weary day,
+and you need rest.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll prob&rsquo;ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when
+I become an orn&rsquo;ment,&rdquo; said Dorothy, sleepily. But she
+lay down upon her couch, nevertheless, and in spite of all her
+worries was soon in the land of dreams.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_14" name="Ch_14"></a>14. Dorothy Tries to be
+Brave</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Meantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room,
+where he said to the King:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You are a fool to waste so much time upon these
+people.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What!&rdquo; cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice
+that it awoke Billina, who was asleep under his throne. &ldquo;How
+dare you call me a fool?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Because I like to speak the truth,&rdquo; said the
+Steward. &ldquo;Why didn&rsquo;t you enchant them all at once,
+instead of allowing them to go one by one into the palace and guess
+which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her children?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way,&rdquo;
+returned the King, &ldquo;and it serves to keep me amused for a
+long time.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But suppose some of them happen to guess aright,&rdquo;
+persisted the Steward; &ldquo;then you would lose your old
+ornaments and these new ones, too.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is no chance of their guessing aright,&rdquo;
+replied the monarch, with a laugh. &ldquo;How could they know that
+the Queen of Ev and her family are all ornaments of a royal purple
+color?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But there are no other purple ornaments in the
+palace,&rdquo; said the Steward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There are many other colors, however, and the purple ones
+are scattered throughout the rooms, and are of many different
+shapes and sizes. Take my word for it, Steward, they will never
+think of choosing the purple ornaments.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Billina, squatting under the throne, had listened carefully to
+all this talk, and now chuckled softly to herself as she heard the
+King disclose his secret.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Still, you are acting foolishly by running the
+chance,&rdquo; continued the Steward, roughly; &ldquo;and it is
+still more foolish of you to transform all those people from Oz
+into green ornaments.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I did that because they came from the Emerald
+City,&rdquo; replied the King; &ldquo;and I had no green ornaments
+in my collection until now. I think they will look quite pretty,
+mixed with the others. Don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Steward gave an angry grunt.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Have your own way, since you are the King,&rdquo; he
+growled. &ldquo;But if you come to grief through your carelessness,
+remember that I told you so. If I wore the magic belt which enables
+you to work all your transformations, and gives you so much other
+power, I am sure I would make a much wiser and better King than you
+are.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, cease your tiresome chatter!&rdquo; commanded the
+King, getting angry again. &ldquo;Because you are my Chief Steward
+you have an idea you can scold me as much as you please. But the
+very next time you become impudent, I will send you to work in the
+furnaces, and get another Nome to fill your place. Now follow me to
+my chamber, for I am going to bed. And see that I am wakened early
+tomorrow morning. I want to enjoy the fun of transforming the rest
+of these people into ornaments.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What color will you make the Kansas girl?&rdquo; asked
+the Steward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Gray, I think,&rdquo; said his Majesty.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And the Scarecrow and the machine man?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, they shall be of solid gold, because they are so ugly
+in real life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the voices died away, and Billina knew that the King and
+his Steward had left the room. She fixed up some of her tail
+feathers that were not straight, and then tucked her head under her
+wing again and went to sleep.</p>
+<p>In the morning Dorothy and the Lion and Tiger were given their
+breakfast in their rooms, and afterward joined the King in his
+throne room. The Tiger complained bitterly that he was half
+starved, and begged to go into the palace and become an ornament,
+so that he would no longer suffer the pangs of hunger.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you had your breakfast?&rdquo; asked the
+Nome King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I had just a bite,&rdquo; replied the beast.
+&ldquo;But what good is a bite, to a hungry tiger?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter full of
+fried sausages, eleven loaves of bread and twenty-one mince
+pies,&rdquo; said the Steward.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What more do you want?&rdquo; demanded the King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A fat baby. I want a fat baby,&rdquo; said the Hungry
+Tiger. &ldquo;A nice, plump, juicy, tender, fat baby. But, of
+course, if I had one, my conscience would not allow me to eat it.
+So I&rsquo;ll have to be an ornament and forget my
+hunger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Impossible!&rdquo; exclaimed the King. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll
+have no clumsy beasts enter my palace, to overturn and break all my
+pretty nick-nacks. When the rest of your friends are transformed
+you can return to the upper world, and go about your
+business.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;As for that, we have no business, when our friends are
+gone,&rdquo; said the Lion. &ldquo;So we do not care much what
+becomes of us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy begged to be allowed to go first into the palace, but
+Tiktok firmly maintained that the slave should face danger before
+the mistress. The Scarecrow agreed with him in that, so the Nome
+King opened the door for the machine man, who tramped into the
+palace to meet his fate. Then his Majesty returned to his throne
+and puffed his pipe so contentedly that a small cloud of smoke
+formed above his head.</p>
+<p>Bye and bye he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry there are so few of you left. Very soon,
+now, my fun will be over, and then for amusement I shall have
+nothing to do but admire my new ornaments.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;that you are
+not so honest as you pretend to be.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; asked the King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, you made us think it would be easy to guess what
+ornaments the people of Ev were changed into.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It IS easy,&rdquo; declared the monarch, &ldquo;if one is
+a good guesser. But it appears that the members of your party are
+all poor guessers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is Tiktok doing now?&rdquo; asked the girl,
+uneasily.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; replied the King, with a frown. &ldquo;He
+is standing perfectly still, in the middle of a room.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I expect he&rsquo;s run down,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;I forgot to wind him up this morning. How many guesses has
+he made?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All that he is allowed except one,&rdquo; answered the
+King. &ldquo;Suppose you go in and wind him up, and then you can
+stay there and make your own guesses.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is my turn next,&rdquo; declared the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, you don&rsquo;t want to go away and leave me all
+alone, do you?&rdquo; asked the girl. &ldquo;Besides, if I go now I
+can wind up Tiktok, so that he can make his last guess.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow, with a sigh.
+&ldquo;Run along, little Dorothy, and may good luck go with
+you!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Dorothy, trying to be brave in spite of her fears, passed
+through the doorway into the gorgeous rooms of the palace. The
+stillness of the place awed her, at first, and the child drew short
+breaths, and pressed her hand to her heart, and looked all around
+with wondering eyes.</p>
+<p>Yes, it was a beautiful place; but enchantments lurked in every
+nook and corner, and she had not yet grown accustomed to the
+wizardries of these fairy countries, so different from the quiet
+and sensible common-places of her own native land.</p>
+<p>Slowly she passed through several rooms until she came upon
+Tiktok, standing motionless. It really seemed, then, that she had
+found a friend in this mysterious palace, so she hastened to wind
+up the machine man&rsquo;s action and speech and thoughts.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you, Dor-oth-y,&rdquo; were his first words.
+&ldquo;I have now one more guess to make.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, be very careful, Tiktok; won&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+cried the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes. But the Nome King has us in his power, and he has
+set a trap for us. I fear we are all lost.&rdquo; he answered.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I fear so, too,&rdquo; said Dorothy, sadly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If Smith &amp; Tin-ker had giv-en me a guess-ing
+clock-work at-tach-ment,&rdquo; continued Tiktok, &ldquo;I might
+have de-fied the Nome King. But my thoughts are plain and sim-ple,
+and are not of much use in this case.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do the best you can,&rdquo; said Dorothy, encouragingly,
+&ldquo;and if you fail I will watch and see what shape you are
+changed into.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So Tiktok touched a yellow glass vase that had daisies painted
+on one side, and he spoke at the same time the word
+&ldquo;Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In a flash the machine man had disappeared, and although the
+girl looked quickly in every direction, she could not tell which of
+the many ornaments the room contained had a moment before been her
+faithful friend and servant.</p>
+<p>So all she could do was to accept the hopeless task set her, and
+make her guesses and abide by the result.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It can&rsquo;t hurt very much,&rdquo; she thought,
+&ldquo;for I haven&rsquo;t heard any of them scream or cry
+out&mdash;not even the poor officers. Dear me! I wonder if Uncle
+Henry or Aunt Em will ever know I have become an orn&rsquo;ment in
+the Nome King&rsquo;s palace, and must stand forever and ever in
+one place and look pretty&mdash;&lsquo;cept when I&rsquo;m moved to
+be dusted. It isn&rsquo;t the way I thought I&rsquo;d turn out, at
+all; but I s&rsquo;pose it can&rsquo;t be helped.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She walked through all the rooms once more, and examined with
+care all the objects they contained; but there were so many, they
+bewildered her, and she decided, after all, as Ozma had done, that
+it could be only guess work at the best, and that the chances were
+much against her guessing aright.</p>
+<p>Timidly she touched an alabaster bowl and said:
+&ldquo;Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one failure, anyhow,&rdquo; she thought.
+&ldquo;But how am I to know which thing is enchanted, and which is
+not?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next she touched the image of a purple kitten that stood on the
+corner of a mantel, and as she pronounced the word &ldquo;Ev&rdquo;
+the kitten disappeared, and a pretty, fair-haired boy stood beside
+her. At the same time a bell rang somewhere in the distance, and as
+Dorothy started back, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the
+little one exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where am I? And who are you? And what has happened to
+me?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I declare!&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve
+really done it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Done what?&rdquo; asked the boy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Saved myself from being an ornament,&rdquo; replied the
+girl, with a laugh, &ldquo;and saved you from being forever a
+purple kitten.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A purple kitten?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;There IS no
+such thing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I know,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;But there was, a
+minute ago. Don&rsquo;t you remember standing on a corner of the
+mantel?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course not. I am a Prince of Ev, and my name is
+Evring,&rdquo; the little one announced, proudly. &ldquo;But my
+father, the King, sold my mother and all her children to the cruel
+ruler of the Nomes, and after that I remember nothing at
+all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A purple kitten can&rsquo;t be &rsquo;spected to
+remember, Evring,&rdquo; said Dorothy. &ldquo;But now you are
+yourself again, and I&rsquo;m going to try to save some of your
+brothers and sisters, and perhaps your mother, as well. So come
+with me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She seized the child&rsquo;s hand and eagerly hurried here and
+there, trying to decide which object to choose next. The third
+guess was another failure, and so was the fourth and the fifth.</p>
+<p>Little Evring could not imagine what she was doing, but he
+trotted along beside her very willingly, for he liked the new
+companion he had found.</p>
+<p>Dorothy&rsquo;s further quest proved unsuccessful; but after her
+first disappointment was over, the little girl was filled with joy
+and thankfulness to think that after all she had been able to save
+one member of the royal family of Ev, and could restore the little
+Prince to his sorrowing country. Now she might return to the
+terrible Nome King in safety, carrying with her the prize she had
+won in the person of the fair-haired boy.</p>
+<p>So she retraced her steps until she found the entrance to the
+palace, and as she approached, the massive doors of rock opened of
+their own accord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the
+portals and enter the throne room.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_15" name="Ch_15"></a>15. Billina Frightens the Nome
+King</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Now when Dorothy had entered the palace to make her guesses and
+the Scarecrow was left with the Nome King, the two sat in moody
+silence for several minutes. Then the monarch exclaimed, in a tone
+of satisfaction:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very good!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who is very good?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The machine man. He won&rsquo;t need to be wound up any
+more, for he has now become a very neat ornament. Very neat,
+indeed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How about Dorothy?&rdquo; the Scarecrow enquired.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, she will begin to guess, pretty soon,&rdquo; said the
+King, cheerfully. &ldquo;And then she will join my collection, and
+it will be your turn.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The good Scarecrow was much distressed by the thought that his
+little friend was about to suffer the fate of Ozma and the rest of
+their party; but while he sat in gloomy reverie a shrill voice
+suddenly cried:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Kut, kut, kut&mdash;ka-daw-kutt! Kut, kut,
+kut&mdash;ka-daw-kutt!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Nome King nearly jumped off his seat, he was so
+startled.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good gracious! What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; he yelled.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, it&rsquo;s Billina,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you mean by making a noise like that?&rdquo;
+shouted the King, angrily, as the yellow hen came from under the
+throne and strutted proudly about the room.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a right to cackle, I guess,&rdquo; replied
+Billina. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just laid my egg.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What! Laid an egg! In my throne room! How dare you do
+such a thing?&rdquo; asked the King, in a voice of fury.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I lay eggs wherever I happen to be,&rdquo; said the hen,
+ruffling her feathers and then shaking them into place.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But&mdash;thunder-ation! Don&rsquo;t you know that eggs
+are poison?&rdquo; roared the King, while his rock-colored eyes
+stuck out in great terror.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Poison! well, I declare,&rdquo; said Billina,
+indignantly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have you know all my eggs are
+warranted strictly fresh and up to date. Poison, indeed!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t understand,&rdquo; retorted the little
+monarch, nervously. &ldquo;Eggs belong only to the outside
+world&mdash;to the world on the earth&rsquo;s surface, where you
+came from. Here, in my underground kingdom, they are rank poison,
+as I said, and we Nomes can&rsquo;t bear them around.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;ll have to bear this one around,&rdquo;
+declared Billina; &ldquo;for I&rsquo;ve laid it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where?&rdquo; asked the King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Under your throne,&rdquo; said the hen.</p>
+<p>The King jumped three feet into the air, so anxious was he to
+get away from the throne.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Take it away! Take it away at once!&rdquo; he
+shouted.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Billina. &ldquo;I
+haven&rsquo;t any hands.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take the egg,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m making a collection of Billina&rsquo;s eggs.
+There&rsquo;s one in my pocket now, that she laid
+yesterday.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Hearing this, the monarch hastened to put a good distance
+between himself and the Scarecrow, who was about to reach under the
+throne for the egg when the hen suddenly cried:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stop!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t take the egg unless the King will allow me to
+enter the palace and guess as the others have done,&rdquo; said
+Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Pshaw!&rdquo; returned the King. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re only
+a hen. How could you guess my enchantments?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can try, I suppose,&rdquo; said Billina. &ldquo;And, if
+I fail, you will have another ornament.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A pretty ornament you&rsquo;d make, wouldn&rsquo;t
+you?&rdquo; growled the King. &ldquo;But you shall have your way.
+It will properly punish you for daring to lay an egg in my
+presence. After the Scarecrow is enchanted you shall follow him
+into the palace. But how will you touch the objects?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;With my claws,&rdquo; said the hen; &ldquo;and I can
+speak the word &lsquo;Ev&rsquo; as plainly as anyone. Also I must
+have the right to guess the enchantments of my friends, and to
+release them if I succeed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; said the King. &ldquo;You have my
+promise.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Billina to the Scarecrow, &ldquo;you
+may get the egg.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He knelt down and reached underneath the throne and found the
+egg, which he placed in another pocket of his jacket, fearing that
+if both eggs were in one pocket they would knock together and get
+broken.</p>
+<p>Just then a bell above the throne rang briskly, and the King
+gave another nervous jump.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; said he, with a rueful face;
+&ldquo;the girl has actually done it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Done what?&rdquo; asked the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;She has made one guess that is right, and broken one of
+my neatest enchantments. By ricketty, it&rsquo;s too bad! I never
+thought she would do it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do I understand that she will now return to us in
+safety?&rdquo; enquired the Scarecrow, joyfully wrinkling his
+painted face into a broad smile.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; said the King, fretfully pacing up and
+down the room. &ldquo;I always keep my promises, no matter how
+foolish they are. But I shall make an ornament of the yellow hen to
+replace the one I have just lost.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps you will, and perhaps you won&rsquo;t,&rdquo;
+murmured Billina, calmly. &ldquo;I may surprise you by guessing
+right.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Guessing right?&rdquo; snapped the King. &ldquo;How could
+you guess right, where your betters have failed, you stupid
+fowl?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Billina did not care to answer this question, and a moment later
+the doors flew open and Dorothy entered, leading the little Prince
+Evring by the hand.</p>
+<p>The Scarecrow welcomed the girl with a close embrace, and he
+would have embraced Evring, too, in his delight. But the little
+Prince was shy, and shrank away from the painted Scarecrow because
+he did not yet know his many excellent qualities.</p>
+<p>But there was little time for the friends to talk, because the
+Scarecrow must now enter the palace. Dorothy&rsquo;s success had
+greatly encouraged him, and they both hoped he would manage to make
+at least one correct guess.</p>
+<p>However, he proved as unfortunate as the others except Dorothy,
+and although he took a good deal of time to select his objects, not
+one did the poor Scarecrow guess aright.</p>
+<p>So he became a solid gold card-receiver, and the beautiful but
+terrible palace awaited its next visitor.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all over,&rdquo; remarked the King, with a
+sigh of satisfaction; &ldquo;and it has been a very amusing
+performance, except for the one good guess the Kansas girl made. I
+am richer by a great many pretty ornaments.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is my turn, now,&rdquo; said Billina, briskly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;d forgotten you,&rdquo; said the King.
+&ldquo;But you needn&rsquo;t go if you don&rsquo;t wish to. I will
+be generous, and let you off.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No you won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied the hen. &ldquo;I
+insist upon having my guesses, as you promised.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then go ahead, you absurd feathered fool!&rdquo; grumbled
+the King, and he caused the opening that led to the palace to
+appear once more.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go, Billina,&rdquo; said Dorothy, earnestly.
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t easy to guess those orn&rsquo;ments, and only
+luck saved me from being one myself. Stay with me and we&rsquo;ll
+go back to the Land of Ev together. I&rsquo;m sure this little
+Prince will give us a home.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Indeed I will,&rdquo; said Evring, with much dignity.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry, my dear,&rdquo; cried Billina, with a
+cluck that was meant for a laugh. &ldquo;I may not be human, but
+I&rsquo;m no fool, if I AM a chicken.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Billina!&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;you
+haven&rsquo;t been a chicken in a long time. Not since
+you&mdash;you&rsquo;ve been&mdash;grown up.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps that&rsquo;s true,&rdquo; answered Billina,
+thoughtfully. &ldquo;But if a Kansas farmer sold me to some one,
+what would he call me?&mdash;a hen or a chicken!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You are not a Kansas farmer, Billina,&rdquo; replied the
+girl, &ldquo;and you said&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind that, Dorothy. I&rsquo;m going. I won&rsquo;t
+say good-bye, because I&rsquo;m coming back. Keep up your courage,
+for I&rsquo;ll see you a little later.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then Billina gave several loud &ldquo;cluck-clucks&rdquo; that
+seemed to make the fat little King MORE nervous than ever, and
+marched through the entrance into the enchanted palace.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I hope I&rsquo;ve seen the last of THAT bird,&rdquo;
+declared the monarch, seating himself again in his throne and
+mopping the perspiration from his forehead with his rock-colored
+handkerchief. &ldquo;Hens are bothersome enough at their best, but
+when they can talk they&rsquo;re simply dreadful.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Billina&rsquo;s my friend,&rdquo; said Dorothy quietly.
+&ldquo;She may not always be &lsquo;zactly polite; but she MEANS
+well, I&rsquo;m sure.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_16" name="Ch_16"></a>16. Purple, Green, and Gold</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>The yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast
+importance, walked slowly over the rich velvet carpets of the
+splendid palace, examining everything she met with her sharp little
+eyes.</p>
+<p>Billina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the
+Nome King&rsquo;s secret and knew how to tell the objects that were
+transformations from those that had never been alive. She was very
+sure that her guesses would be correct, but before she began to
+make them she was curious to behold all the magnificence of this
+underground palace, which was perhaps one of the most splendid and
+beautiful places in any fairyland.</p>
+<p>As she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments;
+and although some were small and hidden in queer places, Billina
+spied them all, and found the entire ten scattered about the
+various rooms. The green ornaments she did not bother to count, for
+she thought she could find them all when the time came.</p>
+<p>Finally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed
+its splendor, the yellow hen returned to one of the rooms where she
+had noticed a large purple footstool. She placed a claw upon this
+and said &ldquo;Ev,&rdquo; and at once the footstool vanished and a
+lovely lady, tall and slender and most beautifully robed, stood
+before her.</p>
+<p>The lady&rsquo;s eyes were round with astonishment for a moment,
+for she could not remember her transformation, nor imagine what had
+restored her to life.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good morning, ma&rsquo;am,&rdquo; said Billina, in her
+sharp voice. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking quite well, considering
+your age.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who speaks?&rdquo; demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing
+herself up proudly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, my name&rsquo;s Bill, by rights,&rdquo; answered the
+hen, who was now perched upon the back of a chair; &ldquo;although
+Dorothy has put scollops on it and made it Billina. But the name
+doesn&rsquo;t matter. I&rsquo;ve saved you from the Nome King, and
+you are a slave no longer.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then I thank you for the gracious favor,&rdquo; said the
+Queen, with a graceful courtesy. &ldquo;But, my children&mdash;tell
+me, I beg of you&mdash;where are my children?&rdquo; and she
+clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry,&rdquo; advised Billina, pecking at a
+tiny bug that was crawling over the chair back. &ldquo;Just at
+present they are out of mischief and perfectly safe, for they
+can&rsquo;t even wiggle.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What mean you, O kindly stranger?&rdquo; asked the Queen,
+striving to repress her anxiety.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re enchanted,&rdquo; said Billina, &ldquo;just
+as you have been&mdash;all, that is, except the little fellow
+Dorothy picked out. And the chances are that they have been good
+boys and girls for some time, because they couldn&rsquo;t help
+it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, my poor darlings!&rdquo; cried the Queen, with a sob
+of anguish.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; returned the hen. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t
+let their condition make you unhappy, ma&rsquo;am, because
+I&rsquo;ll soon have them crowding &rsquo;round to bother and worry
+you as naturally as ever. Come with me, if you please, and
+I&rsquo;ll show you how pretty they look.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the
+Queen following. As she passed a low table a small green
+grasshopper caught her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it
+and snapped it up in her sharp bill. For grasshoppers are a
+favorite food with hens, and they usually must be caught quickly,
+before they can hop away. It might easily have been the end of Ozma
+of Oz, had she been a real grasshopper instead of an emerald one.
+But Billina found the grasshopper hard and lifeless, and suspecting
+it was not good to eat she quickly dropped it instead of letting it
+slide down her throat.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I might have known better,&rdquo; she muttered to
+herself, &ldquo;for where there is no grass there can be no live
+grasshoppers. This is probably one of the King&rsquo;s
+transformations.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and
+while the Queen watched her curiously the hen broke the Nome
+King&rsquo;s enchantment and a sweet-faced girl, whose golden hair
+fell in a cloud over her shoulders, stood beside them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Evanna!&rdquo; cried the Queen, &ldquo;my own
+Evanna!&rdquo; and she clasped the girl to her bosom and covered
+her face with kisses.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; said Billina, contentedly.
+&ldquo;Am I a good guesser, Mr. Nome King? Well, I
+guess!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as
+Evrose, and afterwards a boy named Evardo, who was older than his
+brother Evring. Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen
+exclaiming and embracing for some time, until five Princesses and
+four Princes, all looking very much alike except for the difference
+in size, stood in a row beside their happy mother.</p>
+<p>The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and
+Evedna, while the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and
+Evroland. Of these Evardo was the eldest and would inherit his
+father&rsquo;s throne and be crowned King of Ev when he returned to
+his own country. He was a grave and quiet youth, and would
+doubtless rule his people wisely and with justice.</p>
+<p>Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their
+proper forms, now began to select the green ornaments which were
+the transformations of the people of Oz. She had little trouble in
+finding these, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well
+as the private, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully
+congratulating her upon their release. The thirty-seven people who
+were now alive in the rooms of the palace knew very well that they
+owed their freedom to the cleverness of the yellow hen, and they
+were earnest in thanking her for saving them from the magic of the
+Nome King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Billina, &ldquo;I must find Ozma. She is
+sure to be here, somewhere, and of course she is green, being from
+Oz. So look around, you stupid soldiers, and help me in my
+search.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>For a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was
+green. But the Queen, who had kissed all her nine children once
+more and could now find time to take an interest in what was going
+on, said to the hen:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Mayhap, my gentle friend, it is the grasshopper whom you
+seek.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course it&rsquo;s the grasshopper!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Billina. &ldquo;I declare, I&rsquo;m nearly as stupid as these
+brave soldiers. Wait here for me, and I&rsquo;ll go back and get
+it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper,
+and presently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and dainty as ever, entered and
+approached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princess
+greets another.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin
+Woodman?&rdquo; asked the girl Ruler, when these courtesies had
+been exchanged.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll hunt them up,&rdquo; replied Billina.
+&ldquo;The Scarecrow is solid gold, and so is Tiktok; but I
+don&rsquo;t exactly know what the Tin Woodman is, because the Nome
+King said he had been transformed into something funny.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Ozma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the
+Scarecrow and the machine man, being ornaments of shining gold,
+were discovered and restored to their accustomed forms. But, search
+as they might, in no place could they find a funny ornament that
+might be the transformation of the Tin Woodman.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Only one thing can be done,&rdquo; said Ozma, at last,
+&ldquo;and that is to return to the Nome King and oblige him to
+tell us what has become of our friend.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps he won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; suggested Billina.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He must,&rdquo; returned Ozma, firmly. &ldquo;The King
+has not treated us honestly, for under the mask of fairness and
+good nature he entrapped us all, and we would have been forever
+enchanted had not our wise and clever friend, the yellow hen, found
+a way to save us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The King is a villain,&rdquo; declared the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;His laugh is worse than another man&rsquo;s frown,&rdquo;
+said the private, with a shudder.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I thought he was hon-est, but I was mis-tak-en,&rdquo;
+remarked Tiktok. &ldquo;My thoughts are us-u-al-ly cor-rect, but it
+is Smith &amp; Tin-ker&rsquo;s fault if they some-times go wrong or
+do not work prop-er-ly.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Smith &amp; Tinker made a very good job of you,&rdquo;
+said Ozma, kindly. &ldquo;I do not think they should be blamed if
+you are not quite perfect.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; replied Tiktok.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Billina, in her brisk little voice,
+&ldquo;let us all go back to the Nome King, and see what he has to
+say for himself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the
+Queen and her train of little Princes and Princesses following.
+Then came Tiktok, and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his
+straw-stuffed shoulder. The twenty-seven officers and the private
+brought up the rear.</p>
+<p>As they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but
+then they all stopped and stared into the domed cavern with faces
+of astonishment and dismay. For the room was filled with the
+mail-clad warriors of the Nome King, rank after rank standing in
+orderly array. The electric lights upon their brows gleamed
+brightly, their battle-axes were poised as if to strike down their
+foes; yet they remained motionless as statues, awaiting the word of
+command.</p>
+<p>And in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon
+his throne of rock. But he neither smiled nor laughed. Instead, his
+face was distorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_17" name="Ch_17"></a>17. The Scarecrow Wins the
+Fight</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>After Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down
+to await the success or failure of her mission, and the Nome King
+occupied his throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a
+cheerful and contented mood.</p>
+<p>Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an
+enchantment was broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of
+annoyance and exclaimed, &ldquo;Rocketty-ricketts!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily,
+&ldquo;Smudge and blazes!&rdquo; and at a third ring he screamed in
+a fury, &ldquo;Hippikaloric!&rdquo; which must be a dreadful word
+because we don&rsquo;t know what it means.</p>
+<p>After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the
+King was now so violently enraged that he could not utter a word,
+but hopped out of his throne and all around the room in a mad
+frenzy, so that he reminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.</p>
+<p>The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the
+bell, for it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one
+more ornament into a living person. Dorothy was also amazed at
+Billina&rsquo;s success, for she could not imagine how the yellow
+hen was able to guess correctly from all the bewildering number of
+articles clustered in the rooms of the palace. But after she had
+counted ten, and the bell continued to ring, she knew that not only
+the royal family of Ev, but Ozma and her followers also, were being
+restored to their natural forms, and she was so delighted that the
+antics of the angry King only made her laugh merrily.</p>
+<p>Perhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was
+before, but the girl&rsquo;s laughter nearly drove him frantic, and
+he roared at her like a savage beast. Then, as he found that all
+his enchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every
+one set free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon
+the balcony and gave the shrill whistle that summoned his
+warriors.</p>
+<p>At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great
+numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room,
+led by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had
+nearly filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big
+underground cavern below, and then stood still until they were told
+what to do next.</p>
+<p>Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the
+warriors entered, and now she stood holding little Prince
+Evring&rsquo;s hand while the great Lion crouched upon one side and
+the enormous Tiger crouched on the other side.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Seize that girl!&rdquo; shouted the King to his captain,
+and a group of warriors sprang forward to obey. But both the Lion
+and Tiger snarled so fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth
+so threateningly, that the men drew back in alarm.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t mind them!&rdquo; cried the Nome King;
+&ldquo;they cannot leap beyond the places where they now
+stand.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But they can bite those who attempt to touch the
+girl,&rdquo; said the captain.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll fix that,&rdquo; answered the King.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll enchant them again, so that they can&rsquo;t open
+their jaws.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the
+Sawhorse ran up behind him and gave the fat monarch a powerful kick
+with both his wooden hind legs.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ow! Murder! Treason!&rdquo; yelled the King, who had been
+hurled against several of his warriors and was considerably
+bruised. &ldquo;Who did that?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I did,&rdquo; growled the Sawhorse, viciously. &ldquo;You
+let Dorothy alone, or I&rsquo;ll kick you again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see about that,&rdquo; replied the King, and
+at once he waved his hand toward the Sawhorse and muttered a
+magical word. &ldquo;Aha!&rdquo; he continued; &ldquo;NOW let us
+see you move, you wooden mule!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so
+quickly toward the King, that the fat little man could not get out
+of his way. Thump&mdash;BANG! came the wooden heels, right against
+his round body, and the King flew into the air and fell upon the
+head of his captain, who let him drop flat upon the ground.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; said the King, sitting up and looking
+surprised. &ldquo;Why didn&rsquo;t my magic belt work, I
+wonder?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The creature is made of wood,&rdquo; replied the captain.
+&ldquo;Your magic will not work on wood, you know.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, I&rsquo;d forgotten that,&rdquo; said the King,
+getting up and limping to his throne. &ldquo;Very well, let the
+girl alone. She can&rsquo;t escape us, anyway.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents,
+now formed their ranks again, and the Sawhorse pranced across the
+room to Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.</p>
+<p>At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and
+the people of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view. They
+paused, astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome
+King, seated in their midst.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Surrender!&rdquo; cried the King, in a loud voice.
+&ldquo;You are my prisoners.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Go &rsquo;long!&rdquo; answered Billina, from the
+Scarecrow&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;You promised me that if I
+guessed correctly my friends and I might depart in safety. And you
+always keep your promises.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I said you might leave the palace in safety,&rdquo;
+retorted the King; &ldquo;and so you may, but you cannot leave my
+dominions. You are my prisoners, and I will hurl you all into my
+underground dungeons, where the volcanic fires glow and the molten
+lava flows in every direction, and the air is hotter than blue
+blazes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That will be the end of me, all right,&rdquo; said the
+Scarecrow, sorrowfully. &ldquo;One small blaze, blue or green, is
+enough to reduce me to an ash-heap.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you surrender?&rdquo; demanded the King.</p>
+<p>Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow&rsquo;s ear that
+made him smile and put his hands in his jacket pockets.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No!&rdquo; returned Ozma, boldly answering the King. Then
+she said to her army:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and
+yourselves, unto death!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma,&rdquo; replied one of her
+generals; &ldquo;but I find that I and my brother officers all
+suffer from heart disease, and the slightest excitement might kill
+us. If we fight we may get excited. Would it not be well for us to
+avoid this grave danger?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Soldiers should not have heart disease,&rdquo; said
+Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that
+way,&rdquo; declared another general, twirling his moustache
+thoughtfully. &ldquo;If your Royal Highness desires, we will order
+our private to attack yonder warriors.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do so,&rdquo; replied Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For-ward&mdash;march!&rdquo; cried all the generals, with
+one voice. &ldquo;For-ward&mdash;march!&rdquo; yelled the colonels.
+&ldquo;For-ward&mdash;march!&rdquo; shouted the majors.
+&ldquo;For-ward&mdash;march!&rdquo; commanded the captains.</p>
+<p>And at that the private leveled his spear and dashed furiously
+upon the foe.</p>
+<p>The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden
+onslaught that he forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that
+the ten men in the first row, who stood in front of the
+private&rsquo;s spear, fell over like so many toy soldiers. The
+spear could not go through their steel armor, however, so the
+warriors scrambled to their feet again, and by that time the
+private had knocked over another row of them.</p>
+<p>Then the captain brought down his battle-axe with such a strong
+blow that the private&rsquo;s spear was shattered and knocked from
+his grasp, and he was helpless to fight any longer.</p>
+<p>The Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his
+warriors to the front ranks, so he could see what was going on; but
+as he faced Ozma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to
+action by the valor of the private, drew one of Billina&rsquo;s
+eggs from his right jacket pocket and hurled it straight at the
+little monarch&rsquo;s head.</p>
+<p>It struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed
+and scattered, as eggs will, and covered his face and hair and
+beard with its sticky contents.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Help, help!&rdquo; screamed the King, clawing with his
+fingers at the egg, in a struggle to remove it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;An egg! an egg! Run for your lives!&rdquo; shouted the
+captain of the Nomes, in a voice of horror.</p>
+<p>And how they DID run! The warriors fairly tumbled over one
+another in their efforts to escape the fatal poison of that awful
+egg, and those who could not rush down the winding stair fell off
+the balcony into the great cavern beneath, knocking over those who
+stood below them.</p>
+<p>Even while the King was still yelling for help his throne room
+became emptied of every one of his warriors, and before the monarch
+had managed to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow
+threw the second egg against his right eye, where it smashed and
+blinded him entirely. The King was unable to flee because he could
+not see which way to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted
+and screamed in abject fear.</p>
+<p>While this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and
+perching herself upon the Lion&rsquo;s back the hen whispered
+eagerly to the girl:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Get his belt! Get the Nome King&rsquo;s jeweled belt! It
+unbuckles in the back. Quick, Dorothy&mdash;quick!&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_18" name="Ch_18"></a>18. The Fate of the Tin
+Woodman</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Dorothy obeyed. She ran at once behind the Nome King, who was
+still trying to free his eyes from the egg, and in a twinkling she
+had unbuckled his splendid jeweled belt and carried it away with
+her to her place beside the Tiger and Lion, where, because she did
+not know what else to do with it, she fastened it around her own
+slim waist.</p>
+<p>Just then the Chief Steward rushed in with a sponge and a bowl
+of water, and began mopping away the broken eggs from his
+master&rsquo;s face. In a few minutes, and while all the party
+stood looking on, the King regained the use of his eyes, and the
+first thing he did was to glare wickedly upon the Scarecrow and
+exclaim:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll make you suffer for this, you hay-stuffed
+dummy! Don&rsquo;t you know eggs are poison to Nomes?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Really,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow, &ldquo;they
+DON&rsquo;T seem to agree with you, although I wonder
+why.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They were strictly fresh and above suspicion,&rdquo; said
+Billina. &ldquo;You ought to be glad to get them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll transform you all into scorpions!&rdquo; cried
+the King, angrily, and began waving his arms and muttering magic
+words.</p>
+<p>But none of the people became scorpions, so the King stopped and
+looked at them in surprise.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, you are not wearing your magic belt,&rdquo; replied
+the Chief Steward, after looking the King over carefully.
+&ldquo;Where is it? What have you done with it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Nome King clapped his hand to his waist, and his rock
+colored face turned white as chalk.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone,&rdquo; he cried, helplessly.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone, and I am ruined!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy now stepped forward and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your
+people back to the land of the living. Billina has saved you from
+your troubles, and now we will leave this drea&rsquo;ful place, and
+return to Ev as soon as poss&rsquo;ble.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>While the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic
+belt, and a great cheer went up from all her friends, which was led
+by the voices of the Scarecrow and the private. But the Nome King
+did not join them. He crept back onto his throne like a whipped
+dog, and lay there bitterly bemoaning his defeat.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin
+Woodman,&rdquo; said Ozma to Dorothy, &ldquo;and without him I do
+not wish to go away.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nor I,&rdquo; replied Dorothy, quickly.
+&ldquo;Wasn&rsquo;t he in the palace?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He must be there,&rdquo; said Billina; &ldquo;but I had
+no clue to guide me in guessing the Tin Woodman, so I must have
+missed him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We will go back into the rooms,&rdquo; said Dorothy.
+&ldquo;This magic belt, I am sure, will help us to find our dear
+old friend.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she re-entered the palace, the doors of which still stood
+open, and everyone followed her except the Nome King, the Queen of
+Ev and Prince Evring. The mother had taken the little Prince in her
+lap and was fondling and kissing him lovingly, for he was her
+youngest born.</p>
+<p>But the others went with Dorothy, and when she came to the
+middle of the first room the girl waved her hand, as she had seen
+the King do, and commanded the Tin Woodman, whatever form he might
+then have, to resume his proper shape. No result followed this
+attempt, so Dorothy went into another room and repeated it, and so
+through all the rooms of the palace. Yet the Tin Woodman did not
+appear to them, nor could they imagine which among the thousands of
+ornaments was their transformed friend.</p>
+<p>Sadly they returned to the throne room, where the King, seeing
+that they had met with failure, jeered at Dorothy, saying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You do not know how to use my belt, so it is of no use to
+you. Give it back to me and I will let you go free&mdash;you and
+all the people who came with you. As for the royal family of Ev,
+they are my slaves, and shall remain here.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I shall keep the belt,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But how can you escape, without my consent?&rdquo; asked
+the King.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Easily enough,&rdquo; answered the girl. &ldquo;All we
+need to do is to walk out the way that we came in.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, that&rsquo;s all, is it?&rdquo; sneered the King.
+&ldquo;Well, where is the passage through which you entered this
+room?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>They all looked around, but could not discover the place, for it
+had long since been closed. Dorothy, however, would not be
+dismayed. She waved her hand toward the seemingly solid wall of the
+cavern and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I command the passage to open!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Instantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and the
+passage lay plainly before them.</p>
+<p>The King was amazed, and all the others overjoyed.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, then, if the belt obeys you, were we unable to
+discover the Tin Woodman?&rdquo; asked Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine,&rdquo; said Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;See here, girl,&rdquo; proposed the King, eagerly;
+&ldquo;give me the belt, and I will tell you what shape the Tin
+Woodman was changed into, and then you can easily find
+him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Dorothy hesitated, but Billina cried out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you do it! If the Nome King gets the belt
+again he will make every one of us prisoners, for we will be in his
+power. Only by keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to
+leave this place in safety.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think that is true,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow.
+&ldquo;But I have another idea, due to my excellent brains. Let
+Dorothy transform the King into a goose-egg unless he agrees to go
+into the palace and bring out to us the ornament which is our
+friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A goose-egg!&rdquo; echoed the horrified King. &ldquo;How
+dreadful!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us
+the ornament we want,&rdquo; declared Billina, with a joyful
+chuckle.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the
+magic belt all right,&rdquo; added the Scarecrow.</p>
+<p>The Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did
+not want to be a goose-egg. So he went into the palace to get the
+ornament which was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they
+all awaited his return with considerable impatience, for they were
+anxious to leave this underground cavern and see the sunshine once
+more. But when the Nome King came back he brought nothing with him
+except a puzzled and anxious expression upon his face.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s gone!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Tin Woodman
+is nowhere in the palace.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you sure?&rdquo; asked Ozma, sternly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very sure,&rdquo; answered the King, trembling,
+&ldquo;for I know just what I transformed him into, and exactly
+where he stood. But he is not there, and please don&rsquo;t change
+me into a goose-egg, because I&rsquo;ve done the best I
+could.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>They were all silent for a time, and then Dorothy said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is no use punishing the Nome King any more, and
+I&rsquo;m &rsquo;fraid we&rsquo;ll have to go away without our
+friend.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If he is not here, we cannot rescue him,&rdquo; agreed
+the Scarecrow, sadly. &ldquo;Poor Nick! I wonder what has become of
+him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And he owed me six weeks back pay!&rdquo; said one of the
+generals, wiping the tears from his eyes with his gold-laced coat
+sleeve.</p>
+<p>Very sorrowfully they determined to return to the upper world
+without their former companion, and so Ozma gave the order to begin
+the march through the passage.</p>
+<p>The army went first, and then the royal family of Ev, and
+afterward came Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, the Scarecrow and
+Tiktok.</p>
+<p>They left the Nome King scowling at them from his throne, and
+had no thought of danger until Ozma chanced to look back and saw a
+large number of the warriors following them in full chase, with
+their swords and spears and axes raised to strike down the
+fugitives as soon as they drew near enough.</p>
+<p>Evidently the Nome King had made this last attempt to prevent
+their escaping him; but it did him no good, for when Dorothy saw
+the danger they were in she stopped and waved her hand and
+whispered a command to the magic belt.</p>
+<p>Instantly the foremost warriors became eggs, which rolled upon
+the floor of the cavern in such numbers that those behind could not
+advance without stepping upon them. But, when they saw the eggs,
+all desire to advance departed from the warriors, and they turned
+and fled madly into the cavern, and refused to go back again.</p>
+<p>Our friends had no further trouble in reaching the end of the
+passage, and soon were standing in the outer air upon the gloomy
+path between the two high mountains. But the way to Ev lay plainly
+before them, and they fervently hoped that they had seen the last
+of the Nome King and of his dreadful palace.</p>
+<p>The cavalcade was led by Ozma, mounted on the Cowardly Lion, and
+the Queen of Ev, who rode upon the back of the Tiger. The children
+of the Queen walked behind her, hand in hand. Dorothy rode the
+Sawhorse, while the Scarecrow walked and commanded the army in the
+absence of the Tin Woodman.</p>
+<p>Presently the way began to lighten and more of the sunshine to
+come in between the two mountains. And before long they heard the
+&ldquo;thump! thump! thump!&rdquo; of the giant&rsquo;s hammer upon
+the road.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How may we pass the monstrous man of iron?&rdquo; asked
+the Queen, anxious for the safety of her children. But Dorothy
+solved the problem by a word to the magic belt.</p>
+<p>The giant paused, with his hammer held motionless in the air,
+thus allowing the entire party to pass between his cast-iron legs
+in safety.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_19" name="Ch_19"></a>19. The King of Ev</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>If there were any shifting, rock-colored Nomes on the mountain
+side now, they were silent and respectful, for our adventurers were
+not annoyed, as before, by their impudent laughter. Really the
+Nomes had nothing to laugh at, since the defeat of their King.</p>
+<p>On the other side they found Ozma&rsquo;s golden chariot,
+standing as they had left it. Soon the Lion and the Tiger were
+harnessed to the beautiful chariot, in which was enough room for
+Ozma and the Queen and six of the royal children.</p>
+<p>Little Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse,
+which had a long back. The Prince had recovered from his shyness
+and had become very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they
+were fast friends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode
+along. Billina was also perched upon the head of the wooden steed,
+which seemed not to mind the added weight in the least, and the boy
+was full of wonder that a hen could talk, and say such sensible
+things.</p>
+<p>When they came to the gulf, Ozma&rsquo;s magic carpet carried
+them all over in safety; and now they began to pass the trees, in
+which birds were singing; and the breeze that was wafted to them
+from the farms of Ev was spicy with flowers and new-mown hay; and
+the sunshine fell full upon them, to warm them and drive away from
+their bodies the chill and dampness of the underground kingdom of
+the Nomes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I would be quite content,&rdquo; said the Scarecrow to
+Tiktok, &ldquo;were only the Tin Woodman with us. But it breaks my
+heart to leave him behind.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He was a fine fel-low,&rdquo; replied Tiktok,
+&ldquo;al-though his ma-ter-i-al was not ve-ry
+du-ra-ble.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, tin is an excellent material,&rdquo; the Scarecrow
+hastened to say; &ldquo;and if anything ever happened to poor Nick
+Chopper he was always easily soldered. Besides, he did not have to
+be wound up, and was not liable to get out of order.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I some-times wish,&rdquo; said Tiktok, &ldquo;that I was
+stuffed with straw, as you are. It is hard to be made of
+cop-per.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I have no reason to complain of my lot,&rdquo; replied
+the Scarecrow. &ldquo;A little fresh straw, now and then, makes me
+as good as new. But I can never be the polished gentleman that my
+poor departed friend, the Tin Woodman, was.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>You may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother
+were delighted at seeing again their beloved country; and when the
+towers of the palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear
+cheering at the sight. Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy,
+was so overjoyed that he took a curious tin whistle from his pocket
+and blew a shrill blast that made the Sawhorse leap and prance in
+sudden alarm.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is that?&rdquo; asked Billina, who had been obliged
+to flutter her wings in order to keep her seat upon the head of the
+frightened Sawhorse.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my whistle,&rdquo; said Prince Evring,
+holding it out upon his hand.</p>
+<p>It was in the shape of a little fat pig, made of tin and painted
+green. The whistle was in the tail of the pig.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where did you get it?&rdquo; asked the yellow hen,
+closely examining the toy with her bright eyes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I picked it up in the Nome King&rsquo;s palace,
+while Dorothy was making her guesses, and I put it in my
+pocket,&rdquo; answered the little Prince.</p>
+<p>Billina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that
+served her for a laugh.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No wonder I couldn&rsquo;t find the Tin Woodman,&rdquo;
+she said; &ldquo;and no wonder the magic belt didn&rsquo;t make him
+appear, or the King couldn&rsquo;t find him, either!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; questioned Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, the Prince had him in his pocket,&rdquo; cried
+Billina, cackling again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I did not!&rdquo; protested little Evring. &ldquo;I only
+took the whistle.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, then, watch me,&rdquo; returned the hen, and
+reaching out a claw she touched the whistle and said
+&ldquo;Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Swish!</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good afternoon,&rdquo; said the Tin Woodman, taking off
+his funnel cap and bowing to Dorothy and the Prince. &ldquo;I think
+I must have been asleep for the first time since I was made of tin,
+for I do not remember our leaving the Nome King.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You have been enchanted,&rdquo; answered the girl,
+throwing an arm around her old friend and hugging him tight in her
+joy. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s all right, now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I want my whistle!&rdquo; said the little Prince,
+beginning to cry.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; cautioned Billina. &ldquo;The whistle is
+lost, but you may have another when you get home.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his
+old comrade, so surprised and delighted was he to see him again,
+and Tiktok squeezed the Tin Woodman&rsquo;s hand so earnestly that
+he dented some of his fingers. Then they had to make way for Ozma
+to welcome the tin man, and the army caught sight of him and set up
+a cheer, and everybody was delighted and happy.</p>
+<p>For the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him,
+and his sudden recovery after they had thought he was lost to them
+forever was indeed a pleasant surprise.</p>
+<p>Before long the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a
+great crowd of people had gathered to welcome their Queen and her
+ten children. There was much shouting and cheering, and the people
+threw flowers in their path, and every face wore a happy smile.</p>
+<p>They found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber,
+where she was admiring one of her handsomest heads&mdash;one with
+rich chestnut hair, dreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut
+nose. She was very glad to be relieved of her duties to the people
+of Ev, and the Queen graciously permitted her to retain her rooms
+and her cabinet of heads as long as she lived.</p>
+<p>Then the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that
+overlooked the crowd of subjects gathered below, and said to
+them:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth. He is
+fifteen years of age, has fifteen silver buckles on his jacket and
+is the fifteenth Evardo to rule the land of Ev.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the
+Wheelers, some of whom were present, loudly promised to obey the
+new King.</p>
+<p>So the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon
+Evardo&rsquo;s head, and threw an ermine robe over his shoulders,
+and proclaimed him King; and he bowed gratefully to all his
+subjects and then went away to see if he could find any cake in the
+royal pantry.</p>
+<p>Ozma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and
+Billina, were splendidly entertained by the Queen mother, who owed
+all her happiness to their kind offices; and that evening the
+yellow hen was publicly presented with a beautiful necklace of
+pearls and sapphires, as a token of esteem from the new King.</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_20" name="Ch_20"></a>20. The Emerald City</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Dorothy decided to accept Ozma&rsquo;s invitation to return with
+her to the Land of Oz. There was no greater chance of her getting
+home from Ev than from Oz, and the little girl was anxious to see
+once more the country where she had encountered such wonderful
+adventures. By this time Uncle Henry would have reached Australia
+in his ship, and had probably given her up for lost; so he
+couldn&rsquo;t worry any more than he did if she stayed away from
+him a while longer. So she would go to Oz.</p>
+<p>They bade good-bye to the people of Ev, and the King promised
+Ozma that he would ever be grateful to her and render the Land of
+Oz any service that might lie within his power.</p>
+<p>And then they approached the edge of the dangerous desert, and
+Ozma threw down the magic carpet, which at once unrolled far enough
+for all of them to walk upon it without being crowded.</p>
+<p>Tiktok, claiming to be Dorothy&rsquo;s faithful follower because
+he belonged to her, had been permitted to join the party, and
+before they started the girl wound up his machinery as far as
+possible, and the copper man stepped off as briskly as any one of
+them.</p>
+<p>Ozma also invited Billina to visit the Land of Oz, and the
+yellow hen was glad enough to go where new sights and scenes
+awaited her.</p>
+<p>They began the trip across the desert early in the morning, and
+as they stopped only long enough for Billina to lay her daily egg,
+before sunset they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of the
+beautiful Land of Oz. They entered it in the Munchkin territory,
+and the King of the Munchkins met them at the border and welcomed
+Ozma with great respect, being very pleased by her safe return. For
+Ozma of Oz ruled the King of the Munchkins, the King of the
+Winkies, the King of the Quadlings and the King of the Gillikins
+just as those kings ruled their own people; and this supreme ruler
+of the Land of Oz lived in a great town of her own, called the
+Emerald City, which was in the exact center of the four kingdoms of
+the Land of Oz.</p>
+<p>The Munchkin king entertained them at his palace that night, and
+in the morning they set out for the Emerald City, travelling over a
+road of yellow brick that led straight to the jewel-studded gates.
+Everywhere the people turned out to greet their beloved Ozma, and
+to hail joyfully the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly
+Lion, who were popular favorites. Dorothy, too, remembered some of
+the people, who had befriended her on the occasion of her first
+visit to Oz, and they were well pleased to see the little Kansas
+girl again, and showered her with compliments and good wishes.</p>
+<p>At one place, where they stopped to refresh themselves, Ozma
+accepted a bowl of milk from the hands of a pretty dairy-maid. Then
+she looked at the girl more closely, and exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, it&rsquo;s Jinjur&mdash;isn&rsquo;t it!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, your Highness,&rdquo; was the reply, as Jinjur
+dropped a low curtsy. And Dorothy looked wonderingly at this lively
+appearing person, who had once assembled an army of women and
+driven the Scarecrow from the throne of the Emerald City, and even
+fought a battle with the powerful army of Glinda the Sorceress.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve married a man who owns nine cows,&rdquo; said
+Jinjur to Ozma, &ldquo;and now I am happy and contented and willing
+to lead a quiet life and mind my own business.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where is your husband?&rdquo; asked Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He is in the house, nursing a black eye,&rdquo; replied
+Jinjur, calmly. &ldquo;The foolish man would insist upon milking
+the red cow when I wanted him to milk the white one; but he will
+know better next time, I am sure.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the party moved on again, and after crossing a broad river
+on a ferry and passing many fine farm houses that were dome shaped
+and painted a pretty green color, they came in sight of a large
+building that was covered with flags and bunting.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember that building,&rdquo; said
+Dorothy. &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is the College of Art and Athletic
+Perfection,&rdquo; replied Ozma. &ldquo;I had it built quite
+recently, and the Woggle-Bug is its president. It keeps him busy,
+and the young men who attend the college are no worse off than they
+were before. You see, in this country are a number of youths who do
+not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for
+them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And now they came in sight of the Emerald City, and the people
+flocked out to greet their lovely ruler. There were several bands
+and many officers and officials of the realm, and a crowd of
+citizens in their holiday attire.</p>
+<p>Thus the beautiful Ozma was escorted by a brilliant procession
+to her royal city, and so great was the cheering that she was
+obliged to constantly bow to the right and left to acknowledge the
+greetings of her subjects.</p>
+<p>That evening there was a grand reception in the royal palace,
+attended by the most important persons of Oz, and Jack Pumpkinhead,
+who was a little overripe but still active, read an address
+congratulating Ozma of Oz upon the success of her generous mission
+to rescue the royal family of a neighboring kingdom.</p>
+<p>Then magnificent gold medals set with precious stones were
+presented to each of the twenty-six officers; and the Tin Woodman
+was given a new axe studded with diamonds; and the Scarecrow
+received a silver jar of complexion powder. Dorothy was presented
+with a pretty coronet and made a Princess of Oz, and Tiktok
+received two bracelets set with eight rows of very clear and
+sparkling emeralds.</p>
+<p>Afterward they sat down to a splendid feast, and Ozma put
+Dorothy at her right and Billina at her left, where the hen sat
+upon a golden roost and ate from a jeweled platter. Then were
+placed the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and Tiktok, with baskets of
+lovely flowers before them, because they did not require food. The
+twenty-six officers were at the lower end of the table, and the
+Lion and the Tiger also had seats, and were served on golden
+platters, that held a half a bushel at one time.</p>
+<p>The wealthiest and most important citizens of the Emerald City
+were proud to wait upon these famous adventurers, and they were
+assisted by a sprightly little maid named Jellia Jamb, whom the
+Scarecrow pinched upon her rosy cheeks and seemed to know very
+well.</p>
+<p>During the feast Ozma grew thoughtful, and suddenly she
+asked:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where is the private?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, he is sweeping out the barracks,&rdquo; replied one
+of the generals, who was busy eating a leg of a turkey. &ldquo;But
+I have ordered him a dish of bread and molasses to eat when his
+work is done.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let him be sent for,&rdquo; said the girl ruler.</p>
+<p>While they waited for this command to be obeyed, she
+enquired:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Have we any other privates in the armies?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; replied the Tin Woodman, &ldquo;I believe
+there are three, altogether.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal
+Ozma very respectfully.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is your name, my man?&rdquo; asked the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Omby Amby,&rdquo; answered the private.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then, Omby Amby,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;I promote you to
+be Captain General of all the armies of my kingdom, and especially
+to be Commander of my Body Guard at the royal palace.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It is very expensive to hold so many offices,&rdquo; said
+the private, hesitating. &ldquo;I have no money with which to buy
+uniforms.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You shall be supplied from the royal treasury,&rdquo;
+said Ozma.</p>
+<p>Then the private was given a seat at the table, where the other
+officers welcomed him cordially, and the feasting and merriment
+were resumed.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Jellia Jamb exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is nothing more to eat! The Hungry Tiger has
+consumed everything!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But that is not the worst of it,&rdquo; declared the
+Tiger, mournfully. &ldquo;Somewhere or somehow, I&rsquo;ve actually
+lost my appetite!&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a id="Ch_21" name="Ch_21"></a>21. Dorothy&rsquo;s Magic
+Belt</h2>
+<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of
+Contents</a></p>
+<p>Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the
+guest of the royal Ozma, who delighted to please and interest the
+little Kansas girl. Many new acquaintances were formed and many old
+ones renewed, and wherever she went Dorothy found herself among
+friends.</p>
+<p>One day, however, as she sat in Ozma&rsquo;s private room, she
+noticed hanging upon the wall a picture which constantly changed in
+appearance, at one time showing a meadow and at another time a
+forest, a lake or a village.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How curious!&rdquo; she exclaimed, after watching the
+shifting scenes for a few moments.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Ozma, &ldquo;that is really a wonderful
+invention in magic. If I wish to see any part of the world or any
+person living, I need only express the wish and it is shown in the
+picture.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;May I use it?&rdquo; asked Dorothy, eagerly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course, my dear.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then I&rsquo;d like to see the old Kansas farm, and Aunt
+Em,&rdquo; said the girl.</p>
+<p>Instantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture,
+and Aunt Em could be seen quite plainly. She was engaged in washing
+dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented.
+The hired men and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the
+house, and the corn and wheat seemed to the child to be in prime
+condition. On the side porch Dorothy&rsquo;s pet dog, Toto, was
+lying fast asleep in the sun, and to her surprise old Speckles was
+running around with a brood of twelve new chickens trailing after
+her.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Everything seems all right at home,&rdquo; said Dorothy,
+with a sigh of relief. &ldquo;Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is
+doing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in
+a pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair,
+solemnly smoking his briar pipe. He looked sad and lonely, and his
+hair was now quite white and his hands and face thin and
+wasted.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; cried Dorothy, in an anxious voice,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure Uncle Henry isn&rsquo;t getting any better,
+and it&rsquo;s because he is worried about me. Ozma, dear, I must
+go to him at once!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How can you?&rdquo; asked Ozma.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; replied Dorothy; &ldquo;but
+let us go to Glinda the Good. I&rsquo;m sure she will help me, and
+advise me how to get to Uncle Henry.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Ozma readily agreed to this plan and caused the Sawhorse to be
+harnessed to a pretty green and pink phaeton, and the two girls
+rode away to visit the famous sorceress.</p>
+<p>Glinda received them graciously, and listened to Dorothy&rsquo;s
+story with attention.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I have the magic belt, you know,&rdquo; said the little
+girl. &ldquo;If I buckled it around my waist and commanded it to
+take me to Uncle Henry, wouldn&rsquo;t it do it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think so,&rdquo; replied Glinda, with a smile.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And then,&rdquo; continued Dorothy, &ldquo;if I ever
+wanted to come back here again, the belt would bring me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In that you are wrong,&rdquo; said the sorceress.
+&ldquo;The belt has magical powers only while it is in some fairy
+country, such as the Land of Oz, or the Land of Ev. Indeed, my
+little friend, were you to wear it and wish yourself in Australia,
+with your uncle, the wish would doubtless be fulfilled, because it
+was made in fairyland. But you would not find the magic belt around
+you when you arrived at your destination.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What would become of it?&rdquo; asked the girl.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It would be lost, as were your silver shoes when you
+visited Oz before, and no one would ever see it again. It seems too
+bad to destroy the use of the magic belt in that way, doesn&rsquo;t
+it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said Dorothy, after a moment&rsquo;s
+thought, &ldquo;I will give the magic belt to Ozma, for she can use
+it in her own country. And she can wish me transported to Uncle
+Henry without losing the belt.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That is a wise plan,&rdquo; replied Glinda.</p>
+<p>So they rode back to the Emerald City, and on the way it was
+arranged that every Saturday morning Ozma would look at Dorothy in
+her magic picture, wherever the little girl might chance to be.
+And, if she saw Dorothy make a certain signal, then Ozma would know
+that the little Kansas girl wanted to revisit the Land of Oz, and
+by means of the Nome King&rsquo;s magic belt would wish that she
+might instantly return.</p>
+<p>This having been agreed upon, Dorothy bade good-bye to all her
+friends. Tiktok wanted to go to Australia; too, but Dorothy knew
+that the machine man would never do for a servant in a civilized
+country, and the chances were that his machinery wouldn&rsquo;t
+work at all. So she left him in Ozma&rsquo;s care.</p>
+<p>Billina, on the contrary, preferred the Land of Oz to any other
+country, and refused to accompany Dorothy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The bugs and ants that I find here are the finest
+flavored in the world,&rdquo; declared the yellow hen, &ldquo;and
+there are plenty of them. So here I shall end my days; and I must
+say, Dorothy, my dear, that you are very foolish to go back into
+that stupid, humdrum world again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Uncle Henry needs me,&rdquo; said Dorothy, simply; and
+every one except Billina thought it was right that she should
+go.</p>
+<p>All Dorothy&rsquo;s friends of the Land of Oz&mdash;both old and
+new&mdash;gathered in a group in front of the palace to bid her a
+sorrowful good-bye and to wish her long life and happiness. After
+much hand shaking, Dorothy kissed Ozma once more, and then handed
+her the Nome King&rsquo;s magic belt, saying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, dear Princess, when I wave my handkerchief, please
+wish me with Uncle Henry. I&rsquo;m aw&rsquo;fly sorry to leave
+you&mdash;and the Scarecrow&mdash;and the Tin Woodman&mdash;and the
+Cowardly Lion&mdash;and Tiktok&mdash;and&mdash;and
+everybody&mdash;but I do want my Uncle Henry! So good-bye, all of
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the little girl stood on one of the big emeralds which
+decorated the courtyard, and after looking once again at each of
+her friends, waved her handkerchief.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Dorothy, &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t drowned at
+all. And I&rsquo;ve come to nurse you and take care of you, Uncle
+Henry, and you must promise to get well as soon as
+poss&rsquo;ble.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Uncle Henry smiled and cuddled his little niece close in his
+lap.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m better already, my darling,&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<pre>
+This is the end of the Project Gutenberg Edition of Ozma of Oz
+</pre>
+</body>
+</html>
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