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diff --git a/old/53765-0.txt b/old/53765-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e93b658..0000000 --- a/old/53765-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6456 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Kabumpo in Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Kabumpo in Oz - -Author: Ruth Plumly Thompson - -Illustrator: John R. Neill - -Release Date: December 18, 2016 [EBook #53765] -Last Updated: November 4, 2017 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KABUMPO IN OZ *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Eric Lehtonen, Stephen -Hutcheson, University of Miami and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - [Illustration: This Book Belongs to] - - [Illustration: PRINCESS DOROTHY] - -[Illustration: Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant swayed along grandly after -the Prince—_Page 18_] - - - - - KABUMPO - IN OZ - - - BY - RUTH PLUMLY THOMPSON - _Founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories_ - BY - L. FRANK BAUM - “Royal Historian of Oz” - - [Illustration: Publisher logo] - - Illustrated by - JOHN R. NEILL - - The Reilly & Lee Co. - Chicago - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - Copyright, 1922 - By - The Reilly & Lee Co. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Dear Children: - -Do you like Elephants? Do you believe in Giants? And do you love all the -jolly people of the Wonderful Land of Oz? - -Well, then you’ll want to hear about the latest happenings in that -delightful Kingdom. All are set forth in true Oz fashion in “Kabumpo in -Oz,” the fifteenth Oz book. - -Kabumpo is an Elegant Elephant. He is very old and wise, and has a -kindly heart, as have all the Oz folks. In the new book you’ll meet -Prince Pompa, and Peg Amy, a charming Wooden Doll. There are new -countries, strange adventures and the most surprising Box of Magic you -have ever heard of. Ruggedo, the wicked old Gnome King, does a lot of -mischief with this before Princess Ozma can stop him. - -Of course Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Scraps, Glinda the Good, Tik-Tok, and -other old friends all are alive and busy in the new book. I am just back -from the Emerald City with the best of Oz wishes for everybody, _but -especially for you_. - - Ruth Plumly Thompson. - - Philadelphia, - Spring of 1922. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - This book is dedicated with - all of my heart - To Janet - My littlest sister but biggest assistor - Ruth Plumly Thompson - - [Illustration: LIST OF CHAPTERS] - - - - - LIST OF CHAPTERS - - - Page - 1 The Exploding Birthday Cake 15 - 2 Picking a Proper Princess 30 - 3 Kabumpo and Pompa Disappear 44 - 4 The Curious Cottabus Appears 50 - 5 In the City of The Figure Heads 62 - 6 Ruggedo’s History In Six Rocks 78 - 7 Sir Hokus And The Giants 95 - 8 Woe in the Emerald City 105 - 9 Mixed Magic Makes Mischief 114 - 10 Peg and Wag to the Rescue 132 - 11 The King of the Illumi Nation 145 - 12 The Delicious Sea of Soup 160 - 13 On the Road to Ev 174 - 14 Terror in Ozma’s Palace 188 - 15 The Sand Man Takes a Hand 205 - 16 Kabumpo Vanquishes The Twigs 211 - 17 Meeting the Runaway Country 226 - 18 Prince Pompadore Proposes 240 - 19 Ozma Takes Things in Hand 255 - 20 The Proper Princess is Found 267 - 21 How It All Came About 281 - 22 Ruggedo’s Last Rock 292 - - [Illustration: Princess Ozma, of Oz] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 1 - The Exploding Birthday Cake - - -“The cake, you chattering Chittimong! Where is the cake? Stirem, Friem, -Hashem, _where_ is the cake?” cried Eejabo, chief footman in the palace -of Pumperdink, bouncing into the royal pantry. - -The three cooks, too astonished for speech, and with staring eyes, -pointed to the center table. The great, gorgeous birthday cake was gone, -though not two seconds before it had been placed on the table by Hashem -himself. - -“It was my m-m-asterpiece,” sobbed Hashem, tearing off his cap and -throwing his apron over his head. - -“Help! Robbers! Thieves!” cried Stirem and Friem, running to the window. - -Here _was_ a howdedo. The trumpets blowing for the celebration to begin -and the best part of the celebration gone! - -“We’ll all be dipped for this!” wailed Eejabo, flinging open the second -best china closet so violently that three silver cups and a pewter mug -tumbled out. Just then there was a scream from Hashem, who had removed -the apron from his head. “Look!” he shrieked. “There it is!” - -Back to the table rushed the other three, Stirem and Friem rubbing their -eyes and Eejabo his head where the cups had bumped him severely. Upon -the table stood the royal cake, as pink and perfect as ever. - -“It was there all the time, mince my eyebrows!” spluttered Hashem in an -injured voice. “Called me a Chittimong, did you?” Grasping a big wooden -spoon he ran angrily at Eejabo. - -“Was it gone or wasn’t it?” cried Eejabo, appealing to the others and -hastily catching up a bread knife to defend himself. Instantly there -arose a babble. - -“It was!” - -“It wasn’t!” - -“Was!” Rap, bang, _clatter_. In a minute they were in a furious -argument, not only with words but with spoons, forks and bowls. And dear -knows what would have become of the cake had not a bell rung loudly and -the second footman poked his head through the door. - -“The cake! Where is the cake?” he wheezed importantly. - -So Eejabo, dodging three cups and a salt cellar, seized the great silver -platter and dashed into the great banquet hall. One pink coat tail was -missing and his wig was somewhat elevated over the left ear from the -lump raised by the pewter mug, but he summoned what dignity he could and -joined the grand procession of footmen who were bearing gold and silver -dishes filled with goodies for the birthday feast of Prince Pompadore of -Pumperdink. - -The royal guests were already assembled and just as Eejabo entered, the -pages blew a shrill blast upon their silver trumpets and the Prime -Pumper stepped forward to announce their Majesties. - -“Oyez! Oyez!” shouted the Prime Pumper, pounding on the floor with his -silver staff, while the guests politely inclined their heads just as if -they had not heard the same announcement dozens of times before: - -“Oyez! Oyez! - - “Pompus the Proud - And Pozy Pink, - King and Queen - Of Pumperdink— - Way for the King - And clear the floor, - Way for our good - Prince Pompadore. - Way for the Elegant - Elephant—Way - For the King and - The Queen and the - Prince, I say!” - -So everybody _wayed_, which is to say they bowed, and down the center of -the room swept Pompus, very fat and gorgeous in his purple robes and -jeweled crown, and Pozy Pink, very stately and queenlike in her ermine -cloak, and Prince Pompadore very straight and handsome! In fact, they -looked exactly as a good old-fashioned royal family should. - - [Illustration: Pumperdink] - -But Kabumpo, who swayed along grandly after the Prince—few royal -families could boast of so royal and elegant an elephant! He was huge -and gray. On his head he wore jeweled bands and a jeweled court robe -billowed out majestically as he walked. His little eyes twinkled merrily -and his big ears flapped so sociably, that just to look at him put one -in a good humor. Kabumpo was the only elephant in Pumperdink, or in any -Kingdom near Pumperdink, so no wonder he was a prime favorite at Court. -He had been given to the King at Pompa’s christening by a friendly -stranger and since then had enjoyed every luxury and advantage. He was -not only treated as a member of the royal family, but was always -addressed as _Sir_ by all of the palace servants. - -“He lends an air of elegance to our Court,” the King was fond of saying, -and the Elegant Elephant he surely had become. Now an Elegant Elephant -at Court might seem strange in a regular up-to-date country, but -Pumperdink is not at all regular nor up to date. It is a cozy, -old-fashioned Kingdom, ’way up in the northern part of the Gilliken -country of Oz; old-fashioned enough to wear knee breeches and have a -King and cozy enough to still enjoy birthday parties and candy pulls. - -If Pompus, the King, was a bit proud who could blame him? His Queen was -the loveliest, his son the most charming and his elephant the most -elegant and unusual for twenty Kingdoms round about. And Pompus, for all -his pride, had a very simple way of ruling. When the Pumperdinkians did -right they were rewarded; when they did wrong they were dipped. - -In the very center of the courtyard there is a great stone well with a -huge stone bucket. Into this Pumperdink well all offenders and law -breakers were lowered. Its waters were dark blue and as the color stuck -to one for several days the inhabitants of Pumperdink were careful to -behave well, so that the Chief Dipper, who turned the wheel that raised -and lowered the bucket, often had days at a time with nothing to do. -This time he spent in writing poetry, and as Prince Pompadore took the -place of honor at the head of the table the Chief Dipper rose from his -humble place at the foot and with a moist flourish burst forth: - - “Oh, Pompadore of Pumperdink, - Of all perfection you’re the pink; - Your praises now I utter! - Your eyes are clear as apple sauce, - Your head the best I’ve come across; - Your heart is soft as butter.” - -“Very good,” said the King, and the Chief Dipper sat down, blushing with -pride and confusion. Prince Pompadore bowed and the rest of the party -clapped tremendously. - -“Sounds like a dipper full of nonsense to me,” wheezed Kabumpo, who -stood directly back of Prince Pompadore’s throne, leisurely consuming a -bale of hay placed on the floor beside him. It may surprise you to know -that all the animals in Oz can talk, but such is the case, and -Pumperdink being in the fairy country of Oz, Kabumpo could talk as well -as any man and better than most. - -“Eyes like apple sauce—heart of butter! Ho-ho, kerrumph!” The Elegant -Elephant laughed so hard he shook all over; then slyly reaching over the -Prime Pumper’s shoulder, he snatched his glass of pink lemonade and -emptied it down his great throat, setting the tumbler back before the -old fellow turned his head. - -“Did you call, Sir?” asked Eejabo, hurrying over. He had mistaken -Kabumpo’s laugh for a command. - -“Yes; why did you not give his Excellency lemonade?” demanded the -Elegant Elephant sternly. - -“I did; he must have drunk it, Sir!” stuttered Eejabo. - -“Drunk it!” cried the Prime Pumper, pounding on the table indignantly. -“I never had any!” - -“Fetch him a glass at once,” rumbled Kabumpo, waving his trunk, and -Eejabo, too wise to argue with a member of the royal family, brought -another glass of lemonade. But no sooner had he done so than the -mischievous elephant stole that, next the Prime Pumper’s plate and roll, -and all so quickly, no one but Prince Pompadore knew what was happening -and poor Eejabo was kept running backwards and forwards till his wig -stood on end with confusion and rage. - -All of this was very amusing to the Prince, and helped him to listen -pleasantly to the fifteen long birthday speeches addressed to him by -members of the Royal Guard. But if the speeches were dull, the dinner -was not. The fiddlers fiddled so merrily, and the chief cook Hashem had -so outdone himself in the preparation of new and delicious dainties, -that by ice-cream-and-cake time everyone was in a high good humor. - -“The cake, my good Eejabo! Fetch forth the cake!” commanded King Pompus, -beaming fondly upon his son. Nervously Eejabo stepped to the side table -and lighted the eighteen tall birthday candles. A cake that had -disappeared once might easily do so again, and Eejabo was anxious to -have it cut and out of the way—out of _his_ way at least. - -Hashem, looking through a tiny crack in the door, almost burst with -pride as his gorgeous pink masterpiece was set down before the Prince. - -“Many happy returns of your eighteenth birthday!” cried the Courtiers, -jumping to their feet and waving their napkins enthusiastically. - -“Thank you! Thank you!” chuckled Pompadore, bowing low. “I feel that -this is but one of many more to come!” Which may sound strange, but -Pumperdink being in Oz, one may have as many eighteenth birthdays as one -cares to have. This was Pompa’s tenth and while the courtiers drank his -health the Prince made ready to blow out the birthday candles. - -“That’s right, blow ’em all out at once!” cried the King. So Pompa -puffed out his cheeks and blew with all his might. But not a candle -flickered. Then he tried again. Indeed, he puffed and blew until he was -a regular royal purple, but nary a candle flame so much as wavered. - -“Stubbornest candles I ever saw!” blustered King Pompus. Then _he_ -puffed out his cheeks and blew like a porpoise; so did Queen Pozy and -the Prime Pumper; so did everybody. They blew until every dish upon the -table skipped and they all sank back exhausted in their chairs, but the -candles burned as merrily as ever. - -Then Kabumpo took a hand—or rather a trunk. He had been watching the -proceedings with his twinkling little eyes. Now he took a tremendous -breath, pointed his trunk straight at the cake and blew with all his -strength. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Every candle went out—but _stars_! As they did, the great pink cake -exploded with such force that half the Courtiers were flung under the -table and the rest knocked unconscious by flying fragments of icing, -tumblers and plates. - -“_Treason!_” screamed Pompus, the first to recover from the shock. “Who -dared put gunpowder in the cake?” Brushing the icing from his nose, he -glared around angrily. The first person to catch his eye was Hashem, the -cook, who stood trembling in the doorway. - -“_Dip him!_” shouted the King furiously. And the Chief Dipper, only too -glad of an excuse to escape, seized poor Hashem. “_And him!_” ordered -the King, as Eejabo tried to sidle out of the room. “_And them!_” as all -the other footmen started to run. Forming his victims in a line the -Chief Dipper marched them sternly from the banquet hall. - -“Oyez! Oyez Everybody shall be dipped!” mumbled the Prime Pumper, feebly -raising his head. - -“Oh, no! Oh, no! Nothing of the sort!” snapped the King, fanning poor -Queen Pozy Pink with a plate. She had fainted dead away. - -“What is the meaning of this outrage?” shouted Pompus, his anger rising -again. - -“How should I know?” wheezed Kabumpo, dragging Prince Pompadore from -beneath the table and pouring a jug of cream over his head. - -“Something hit me,” moaned the Prince, opening his eyes. - -“Of course it did!” said Kabumpo. “The cake hit you. Made a great hit -with us all—that cake!” The Elegant Elephant looked ruefully at his silk -robe of state, which was hopelessly smeared with icing; then put his -trunk to his head, for something hard had struck him between the eyes. -He felt about the floor and found a round shiny object which he was -about to show the King when Pompus pounced upon a tall scroll sitting -upright in his tumbler. In the confusion of the moment it had escaped -his attention. - -“Perhaps this will explain,” spluttered the King, breaking the seal. -Queen Pozy Pink opened her eyes with a sigh, and the Courtiers, crawling -out from beneath the table, looked up anxiously, for everyone was still -dazed from the tremendous explosion. Pompus read the scroll to himself -with popping eyes and then began to dance up and down in a frenzy. - -“What is it? What is it?” cried the Queen, trying to read over his -shoulder. Then she gave a well-bred scream and fainted away in the arms -of General Quakes, who had come up behind her. - -By this time the Prime Pumper had recovered sufficiently to remember -that reading scrolls and court papers was his business. Somewhat -unsteadily he walked over and took the scroll from the King. - -“Oyez! Oyez!” he faltered, pounding on the table. - -“Oh, never mind that!” rumbled Kabumpo, flagging his ears. “Let’s hear -what it says!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Know ye,” began the old man in a high, shaky voice, “know ye that -unless ye Prince of ye ancient and honorable Kingdom of Pumperdink wed -ye Proper Fairy Princess in ye proper span of time ye Kingdom of -Pumperdink shall disappear forever and _even longer_ from ye Gilliken -country of Oz. - _J. G._” - -“What?” screamed Pompadore, bounding to his feet. “Me? But I don’t -_want_ to marry!” - -“You’ll have to,” groaned the King, with a wave at the scroll. The -Courtiers sat staring at one another in dazed disbelief. From the -courtyard came the splash and splutter of the luckless footmen and the -dismal creaking of the stone bucket. - -“Oh!” wailed Pompa, throwing up his hands. “This is the worst eighteenth -birthday I’ve ever had. I’ll never have another as long as I live!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 2 - Picking a Proper Princess - - -“What shall we do first?” groaned the King, holding his head with both -hands. “Let me think!” - -“Right,” said Kabumpo. “Think by all means.” - -So the great hall was cleared and the King, with the mysterious scroll -spread out before him, thought and thought and _thought_. But he did not -make much headway, for, as he explained over and over to Queen Pozy, -who—with Pompadore, the Elegant Elephant and the Prime Pumper—had -remained to help him, “How is one to know where to find the Proper -Princess, and how is one to know the proper time for Pompa to wed her?” - -Who was J.G.? How did the scroll get in the cake? - -The more the King thought about these questions, the more wrinkled his -forehead became. - -“Why! We’re liable to wake up any morning and find ourselves gone,” he -announced gloomily. “How does it feel to disappear, I wonder?” - -“I suppose it would give one rather a gone feeling, but I don’t believe -it would hurt—much!” volunteered Kabumpo, glancing uneasily over his -shoulder. - -“Perhaps not, but it would not get us anywhere. My idea is to marry the -Prince at once to a Proper Princess,” put in the Prime Pumper, “and -avoid all this disappearing.” - -“You’re in a great hurry to marry me off, aren’t you,” said Pompadore -sulkily. “For my part, I don’t want to marry at all!” - -“Well, that’s very selfish of you, Pompa,” said the King in a grieved -voice. “Do you want your poor old father to disappear?” - -“Not only your poor old father,” choked the Prime Pumper, rolling up his -eyes. “How about me?” - -“Oh, you—_you_ can disappear any time you want,” said the Prince -unfeelingly. - -“It all started with that wretched cake,” sighed the Queen. “I am -positive the scroll flew out of the cake when it exploded.” - -“Of course it did!” cried Pompus. “Let us send for the cook and question -him.” - -So Hashem, very wet and blue from his dip, was brought before the King. - -“A fine cook you are!” roared Pompus, “mixing gun powder and scrolls in -a birthday cake.” - -“But I didn’t,” wailed Hashem, falling on his knees. “Only eggs, your -Highness—very best eggs—sugar, flour, spice and—” - -“Bombshells!” cried the King angrily. - -“The cake disappeared _before_ the party, your Majesty!” cried Eejabo. - -Everyone jumped at the sudden interruption, and Eejabo, who had crept in -unnoticed, stepped before the throne. - -“Disappeared,” continued Eejabo hoarsely, dripping blue water all over -the royal rugs. “One minute there it was on the pantry table. Next -minute—_gone!_” croaked Eejabo, flinging up his hands and shrugging his -shoulders. - -“Then, before a fellow could turn around, it was back. ’Tweren’t our -fault if magic got mixed into it, and here we have been dipped for -nothing!” - -“Well, why didn’t you say so before!” asked the King in exasperation. - -“Fine chance I had to say anything!” sniffed Eejabo, wringing out his -lace ruffles. - -“Eh—rr—you may have the day off, my good man,” said Pompus, with an -apologetic cough—“And _you_ also,” with a wave at Hashem. Very stiffly -the two walked to the door. - -“It’s an off day for us, all right,” said Eejabo ungraciously, and -without so much as a bow the two disappeared. - -“I fear you were a bit hasty, my love,” murmured Queen Pozy, looking -after them with a troubled little frown. - -“Well, who wouldn’t be!” cried Pompus, ruffling up his hair. “Here we -are liable to disappear any minute and all you do is to stand around and -criticize me. _Begone!_” he puffed angrily, as a page stuck his head in -the door. - -“No use shouting at people to begone,” said the Elegant Elephant -testily. “We’ll all begone soon enough.” - -At this Queen Pozy began to weep into her silk handkerchief, which sight -so affected Prince Pompadore that he rushed forward and embraced her -tenderly. - -“I’ll marry!” cried the Prince impulsively. “I’ll do anything! The -trouble is there aren’t any Fairy Princesses around here!” - -“There must be,” said the King. - -“There is—There are!” screamed the Prime Pumper, bouncing up suddenly. -“Oyez, Oyez! Has your Majesty forgotten Faleero, royal Princess of -Follensby forest?” - -“Why, of course!” The King snapped his fingers joyfully. “Everyone says -Faleero is a Fairy Princess. She must be the proper one!” - -“Fa—_leero_!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, sitting down with a -terrific thud. “That awful old creature! You ought to be ashamed of -yourself!” - -“Silence!” thundered the King. - -“Nonsense!” trumpeted Kabumpo. “She’s a thousand years old and as ugly -as a stone Lukoogoo. Don’t you marry her, Pompa.” - -“I command him to marry her!” cried the King opening his eyes very wide -and bending forward. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Faleero?” gasped the Prince, scarcely believing his ears. No wonder -Pompadore was shocked. Faleero, although a Princess in her own right and -of royal fairy descent, was so unattractive that in all her thousand -years of life no one had wished to marry her. She lived in a small hut -in the great forest kingdom next to Pumperdink and did nothing all day -but gather faggots. Her face was long and lean, her hair thin and black -and her nose so large that it made you think of a cauliflower. - -“Ugh!” groaned Prince Pompadore, falling back on Kabumpo for support. - -“Well, she’s a Princess and a fairy—the only one in any Kingdom. I don’t -see why you want to be so fussy!” said the King fretfully. - -“Shall I tell her Royal Highness of the great good fortune that has -befallen her?” asked the Prime Pumper, starting for the door. - -“Do so at once,” snapped Pompus. Just then he gave a scream of fright -and pain, for a round shiny object had flown through the air and struck -him on the head. “What was that?” - -The Prime Pumper looked suspiciously at the Elegant Elephant. Kabumpo -glared back. - -“A—a warning!” stuttered the Prime Pumper, afraid to say that Kabumpo -had flung the offending missile. “A warning, your Majesty!” - -“It’s nothing of the kind,” said the King angrily. “You’re getting old, -Pumper and stupid. It’s—why it’s a door knob! Who _dares_ to hit me with -a door knob?” - -“It hit me once,” mumbled Kabumpo, shifting uneasily from one foot to -the other three. “How does it strike you?” - -“As an outrageous piece of impertinence!” spluttered Pompus, turning as -red as a turkey cock. - -“Perhaps it has something to do with the scroll,” suggested Queen Pozy, -taking it from the King. “See! It is gold and all the door knobs in the -palace are ivory. And look! Here are some initials!” - -Sure enough! It was gold and in the very centre were the initials P. A. - -Just at this interesting juncture the page, who had been poking his head -in the door every few minutes, gathered his courage together and rushed -up to the King. - -“Pardon, Most High Highness, but General Quakes bade me say that this -mirror was found under the window,” stuttered the page, and before -Pompus had an opportunity to cry “Begone!” or “Dip him!” the little -fellow made a dash for the door and disappeared. - -“It grows more puzzling every minute,” wailed the King, looking from the -door knob to the mirror and from the mirror to the scroll. - -“If you take my advice you’ll have this marriage performed at once,” -said the Prime Pumper in a trembling voice. - -“I believe I will!” sighed Pompus, rubbing the bump on his head. “Go and -fetch the Princess Faleero and you, Pompa, prepare for your wedding.” - -“But Father!” began the Prince. - -“Not another word or you’ll be dipped!” rumbled the King of Pumperdink. -“I’m not going to have my kingdom disappearing if I can help it!” - -“You mean if _I_ can help it,” muttered Pompadore gloomily. - -“This is ridiculous!” stormed the Elegant Elephant, as the Prime Pumper -rushed importantly out of the room. “Don’t you know that this country of -ours is only a small part of the great Kingdom of Oz? There must be -hundreds of Princesses for Pompadore to choose from. Why should he not -wed Ozma, the princess of us all? Haven’t you read any Oz history? Have -you never heard of the wonderful Emerald City? Let Pompadore start out -at once. I, myself, will accompany him, and if Ozma refuses to marry -him—well”—the Elegant Elephant drew himself up—“I will carry her -off—that’s all!” - -“It’s a long way to the Emerald City,” mused Queen Pozy, “but still—” - -“Yes, and what is to become of us in the meantime pray? While you are -wandering all over Oz we can disappear I suppose! No Sir! Not one step -do you go out of Pumperdink. Faleero is the Proper Princess and -Pompadore shall marry her!” said Pompus. - -“You’re talking through your crown,” wheezed Kabumpo. “How about the -door knob and mirror? They came out of the cake as well as the scroll. -What are you going to do about them? Let’s have a look at that mirror.” - -“Just a common gold mirror,” fumed Pompus, holding it up for the Elegant -Elephant to see. - -“What’s the matter?” as Kabumpo gave a snort. - -On the face of the mirror, as Kabumpo looked in, two words appeared: - - Elegant Elephant. - -And when Pompus snatched the mirror, above his reflection stood the -words: - - Fat Old King. - -Then Queen Pozy peeped into the mirror, which promptly flashed: - - Lovely Queen. - -“Why, it’s telling the truth!” screamed Pompa, looking over his mother’s -shoulder. At this the words “Charming Prince” formed quickly in the -glass. - -The Prince grinned at his father, who was now quite beside himself with -rage. - -“You think I’m fat and old, do you!” snorted the King, flinging the gold -mirror face down on the table. “This is a nice day, I must say! Scrolls, -door knobs, mirrors and insults!” - -“But what can P. A. stand for?” mused Queen Pozy thoughtfully. - -“Plain enough,” chuckled Kabumpo, maliciously. “It stands for perfectly -awful!” - -“Who’s perfectly awful?” asked Pompus suspiciously. - -“Why, Faleero,” sniffed the Elegant Elephant. “That’s plain enough to -everybody!” - -“Dip him!” shrieked Pompus. “I’ve had enough of this! _Dip him_—do you -hear?” - -“That,” yawned Kabumpo, straightening his silk robe, “is impossible!” -And, considering his size it was. But just that minute the Prime Pumper -returned and in his interest to hear what the Princess Faleero had said -the King forgot about dipping Kabumpo. - -The courier from the Princess stepped forward. - -“Her Highness,” puffed the Prime Pumper, who had run all the way, “Her -Highness accepts Prince Pompadore with pleasure and will marry him -to-morrow morning.” - -Prince Pompadore gave a dismal groan. - -“Fine!” cried the King, rubbing his hands together. “Let everything be -made ready for the ceremony, and in the meantime”—Pompus glared about -fiercely—“I forbid anyone’s disappearing. I am still the King! Set a -guard around the castle, Pumper, to watch for any signs of -disappearance, and if so much as a fence paling disappears”—he drew -himself up—“notify me _at once_!” Then turning to the throne Pompus gave -his arm to Queen Pozy and together they started for the garden. - -“Do you mean to say you are going to pay no attention to the mirror or -door knob?” cried Kabumpo, planting himself in the King’s path. - -“Go away,” said Pompus crossly. - -“Oyez! Oyez! Way for their Majesties!” cried the Prime Pumper, running -ahead with his silver staff, and the royal couple swept out of the -banquet hall. - -“Never mind, Kabumpo,” said the Prince, flinging his arm affectionately -around the Elegant Elephant’s trunk, “I dare say Faleero has her good -points—and we cannot let the old Kingdom disappear, you know!” - -[Illustration: “Flinging his arms affectionately around the Elegant -Elephant’s trunk”] - -“Fiddlesticks!” choked Kabumpo. “She’ll make a door mat of you, -Pompa—Prince Pompadormat—that’s what you’ll be! Let’s run away!” he -proposed, his little eyes twinkling anxiously. - -“I couldn’t do that and let the Kingdom disappear, it wouldn’t be -right,” sighed the Prince, and sadly he followed his parents into the -royal gardens. - -“The King’s a Gooch!” gulped the Elegant Elephant unhappily. Then, all -at once he flung up his trunk. “Somebody’s going to disappear around -here,” he wheezed darkly, “that’s certain!” With a mighty rustling of -his silk robe, Kabumpo hurried off to his own royal quarters in the -palace. - -Left alone, Prince Pompa threw himself down at the foot of the throne, -and gazed sadly into space. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 3 - Kabumpo and Pompa Disappear - - -Once in his own apartment, Kabumpo pulled the bell rope furiously. - -“My pearls and my purple plush robe! Bring them at once!” he puffed when -his personal attendant appeared in the doorway. - -“Yes, Sir! Are you going out, Sir?” murmured the little Pumperdinkian, -hastening to a great chest in the corner of the big marble room, to get -out of the robe. - -“Not unless disappearing is going out,” said Kabumpo more mildly, for he -was quite fond of this little man who waited on him. “But I’m liable to -disappear any minute. So are you. So is everybody, and I, for my part, -wish to do the thing well and disappear with as much elegance as -possible. Have you heard about the magic scroll, Spezzle?” - -“Yes, Sir!” quavered Spezzle, mounting a ladder to adjust the Elegant -Elephant’s pearls and gorgeous robe of state. “Yes, Sir, and my head’s -going round and round like—” - -“Like what?” asked Kabumpo, looking approvingly at his reflection in the -long mirror. - -“I can’t rightly say, Sir,” sighed Spezzle. “This disappearing has me -that mixed up I don’t know what I’m doing.” - -“Well, don’t start by losing your head,” chuckled Kabumpo. “There—that -will do very well.” He lifted the little man down from the ladder. - -“Good-bye, Spezzle. If you should disappear before I should see you -again, try to do it in style.” - -“Yes, Sir!” gulped Spezzle. Then taking out a bright red handkerchief he -blew his nose violently and rushed out of the room. - -Kabumpo walked up and down before the mirror, surveying himself from all -angles. A very gorgeous appearance he presented, in his purple plush -robe of state, all embroidered in silver, and his head bands of shining -pearls. In the left side of his robe there was a deep pocket. Into this -the Elegant Elephant slipped all the jewels he possessed, taking them -from a drawer in the chest. - -“I must get that gold door knob,” he rumbled thoughtfully. “And the -mirror.” Noiselessly (for all his tremendous size, Kabumpo could move -without a sound) he made his way back to the banquet hall and loomed up -suddenly behind the Prime Pumper. The old fellow was staring with -popping eyes into the gold mirror. - -“Ho, Ho!” roared Kabumpo. “Ho, Ho! Kerumph!” - -No wonder! Above the shocked reflection of the foolish statesman stood -the words “Old Goose!” - -“A truthful mirror, indeed,” wheezed the Elegant Elephant. - -“Heh? What?” stuttered the Prime Pumper, slapping the mirror down on the -table in a hurry. “Where’d you come from? What are you all dressed up -for?” - -“For my disappearance,” said Kabumpo, sweeping the door knob and mirror -into his pocket. “I’m getting ready to disappear. How do I look?” - -Before the Prime Pumper had time to answer, the Elegant Elephant was -gone. - -Back in his own room, Kabumpo paced impatiently up and down, waiting for -night. “I do not see how she could refuse us,” he mumbled every now and -then to himself. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -That was an anxious afternoon and evening in the palace of Pumperdink. -Every few minutes the Courtiers felt themselves nervously to see if they -were still there. The servants went about on tip-toe, looking fearfully -over their shoulders for the first signs of disappearance. As it grew -darker the gates and windows were securely barred and not a candle was -lighted. “The less the castle shows, the less likely it is to -disappear,” reasoned the King. - -The darkness suited Kabumpo. He waited until everyone in the palace had -retired, and a full hour longer. Then he stepped softly down the passage -to the Prince’s apartment. Pompadore, without undressing had flung -himself upon a couch and fallen into an uneasy slumber. - -Without making a sound, Kabumpo took the Prince’s crown from a dressing -cabinet, slipped it carefully into the pocket of his robe, and then -carefully lifted the sleeping Prince in his curling trunk and started -cautiously down the great hall. Setting him gently on the floor as he -reached the palace doors, he pushed back the golden bolts and stepped -out into the garden. - -The voices of the watchmen calling to each other from the great wall -came faintly through the darkness, but the Elegant Elephant hurried to a -secret unguarded entrance known only to himself and Pompadore and passed -like a great shadow through the swinging gates. Once outside, he swung -the sleeping Prince to his broad back and ran swiftly and silently -through the night. - -“What are we doing?” murmured the Prince drowsily in his sleep. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Disappearing,” chuckled Kabumpo under his breath. “Disappearing from -Pumperdink, my lad.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 4 - The Curious Cottabus Appears - - -“Ouch!” Prince Pompadore stirred uneasily and rolled over. “Ouch!” he -groaned again, giving his pillow a fretful thump. “Ouch!” This time his -eyes flew wide open, for his knuckles were tingling with pain. - -“A rock!” gasped the Prince, sitting up indignantly. “A rock under my -head! No wonder it aches! Great Gillikens! Where am I?” He stared about -wildly. There was not a familiar object in sight. Indeed he was in a -dim, deep forest, and from the distance came the sound of someone sawing -wood. - -“Oh! Oh! I know!” muttered the Prince, rubbing his head miserably. “It’s -that wretched scroll. I’ve disappeared and this is the place I’ve -disappeared to.” Stiffly he got to his feet and started to walk in the -direction of the sawing, but had only gone a few steps before he gave a -cry of joy, for there, leaning up against a tree, snoring like twenty -wood-cutters at work, was Kabumpo. - -“Wake up!” cried Pompadore, pounding him with all his might. “Wake up, -Kabumpo. We’ve disappeared!” - -“Have we?” yawned the Elegant Elephant, opening one eye. “You don’t say? -Hah, Hoh, Hum!” With a tremendous yawn he opened the other eye and began -to chuckle and shake all over. - -“We stole a march on ’em, Pompa. I’d like to see the King’s face when he -finds us gone. Old Pumper will be Oyezing all over the palace. He’ll -think we’ve disappeared by magic.” - -“Well, didn’t we?” asked Pompadore in amazement. - -“Not unless you call _me_ magic. I carried you off in the night. Did you -suppose old Kabumpo was going to stand quietly by while they married you -to a faggotty old fairy like Faleero? Not much,” wheezed the Elegant -Elephant. “I have other plans for you, little one!” - -“But this is terrible!” cried the Prince, catching hold of a tree. “Here -you have left my poor old father, my lovely mother, and the whole -Kingdom of Pumperdink to disappear. We’ll have to go right straight -back—right straight back to Pumperdink. Do you hear?” - -“Do have a little sense!” Kabumpo shook himself crossly. “You can’t save -them by going back. The thing to do is to go forward, find the Proper -Princess and marry her. No scroll magic takes effect for seven days, -anyway!” - -“How do you know?” asked Pompa anxiously. - -“Read it in a witch book,” answered Kabumpo promptly. “Now, that gives -us plenty of time to go to the Emerald City and present ourselves to the -lovely ruler of Oz. There’s a Proper Princess for you, Pompa!” - -“But suppose she refuses me,” said the Prince uncertainly. - -“You’re very handsome, Pompa, my boy.” The Elegant Elephant gave the -Prince a playful poke with his trunk. “I’ve brought all my jewels as -gifts and the magic mirror and door knob as well. If she refuses you and -the worst comes to the worst”—Kabumpo cleared his throat -gravely—“well—just leave it to me!” - -After a bit more coaxing and after eating the breakfast Kabumpo had -thoughtfully brought along, Pompa allowed the Elegant Elephant to lift -him on his head and off they set at Kabumpo’s best speed for the Emerald -City of Oz. - -Neither the Prince nor the Elegant Elephant had ever been out of -Pumperdink, but Kabumpo had found an old map of Oz in the palace -library. According to this map, the Emerald City lay directly to the -South of their own country. “So all we have to do is to keep going -South,” chuckled Kabumpo softly. Pompadore nodded, but he was trying to -recall the exact words of the mysterious scroll: - -“Know Ye, that unless ye Prince of ye ancient and honorable Kingdom of -Pumperdink shall wed ye Proper Fairy Princess in ye proper span of time -ye Kingdom of Pumperdink shall disappear forever and even longer from ye -Gilliken Country of Oz. _J. G._” - -Pompadore repeated the words solemnly; then fell a-thinking of all he -had heard of Ozma of Oz, the loveliest little fairy imaginable. - -“She wouldn’t want one of her Kingdom to disappear,” reflected Pompadore -sagely. Now, as it happened, Ozma did not even know of the existence of -Pumperdink. Oz is so large and inhabited by so many strange and singular -peoples that although fourteen books of history have been written about -it, only half the story has been told. There are no Oz railway or -steamship lines and traveling is tedious and slow, owing to the magic -nature of the land itself, its many mountains and fairy forests, so that -Pumperdink, like many of the small Kingdoms on the outskirts of Oz, has -never been explored by Ozma. - -Oz itself is a huge oblong country divided into four parts, the North -being the purple Gilliken country, the East the blue Munchkin country, -the South the red lands of the Quadlings, and the West the pleasant -yellow country of the Winkies. In the very center of Oz, as almost every -boy and girl knows, is the wonderful Emerald City, and in its gorgeous -green palace lives Ozma, the lovely little Fairy Princess, whom Kabumpo -wanted Pompadore to marry. - -“Do you know,” mused the Prince, after they had traveled some time -through the dim forest, “I believe that gold mirror has a lot to do with -all this. I believe it was put in the cake to help me find the Proper -Princess.” - -“Where would you find a more Proper Princess than Ozma?” puffed Kabumpo -indignantly. “Ozma is the one—depend upon it!” - -“Just the same,” said Pompa firmly, “I’m going to try every Princess we -meet!” - -“Do you expect to find ’em running wild in the woods?” snorted Kabumpo, -who didn’t like to be contradicted. - -“You never can tell.” The Prince of Pumperdink settled back comfortably. -Now that they were really started, he was finding traveling extremely -interesting. “I should have done this long ago,” murmured the Prince to -himself. “Every Prince should go on a journey of adventure.” - -“How long will it take us to reach the Emerald City?” he asked -presently. - -“Two days, if nothing happens,” answered Kabumpo. “Say—what’s that?” He -stopped short and spread his ears till they looked like sails. The -underbrush at the right was crackling from the springs of some large -animal, and next minute a hoarse voice roared: - - “I want to know - The which and what, - The where and how and why? - A curious, luxurious - Old Cottabus am I! - - I want to know the - When and who, - The whatfor and whyso, Sir! - So please attend, there is no end - To things I want to know, Sir!” - -“Aha!” exulted the voice triumphantly. “There you are!” And a great -round head was thrust out, almost in Kabumpo’s face. “Oh! I’m going to -enjoy this. Don’t move!” - -Kabumpo was too astonished to move, and the next instant the Cottabus -had flounced out of the bushes and settled itself directly in front of -the two travelers. It was large as a pony, but shaped like a great -overfed cat. Its eyes bulged unpleasantly and the end of its tail ended -in a large fan. - -[Illustration: The Cottabus was as large as a pony, but shaped like a -great overfed cat] - -“Well,” grunted Kabumpo after the strange creature had regarded them for -a full minute without blinking. - -“Well, what?” it asked, beginning to fan itself sulkily. “You act as if -you had never seen a Cottabus before.” - -“We never have,” admitted Pompa, peering over Kabumpo’s head and -secretly wishing he had brought along his jeweled sword. - -“Why haven’t you?” asked the Cottabus, rolling up its eyes. “How -frightfully ignorant!” It closed its fan tail with a snap and looked up -at them disapprovingly. “Will you kindly tell me who you are, where you -came from, when you came, what you are going for, how you are going to -get it, why you are going and what you are going to do when you do get -it!” - -“I don’t see why we should tell you all that,” grumbled Kabumpo. “It's -none of your affair.” - -“Wrong!” shrieked the creature hysterically. “It is the business of a -Cottabus to find out everything. I live on other people’s affairs, and -unless”—here it paused, took a large handkerchief out of a pocket in its -fur and began to wipe its eyes—“unless a Cottabus asks fifty questions a -day it curls up in its porch rocker and d-d-dies, and this is my fifth -questionless day.” - -“Curl up and die, then,” said Kabumpo gruffly. But the kind-hearted -Prince felt sorry for the foolish creature. - -“If we answer your questions, will you answer ours?” - -“I’ll try,” sniffed the Curious Cottabus, and leaning over it dragged a -rocking chair out of the bushes and seated itself comfortably. - -“Well, then,” began Pompa, “this is the Elegant Elephant and I am a -Prince. We came from Pumperdink because our Kingdom was threatened with -disappearance unless I marry a Proper Princess.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Yes,” murmured the Cottabus, rocking violently. “Yes, yes!” - -“And we are going to the Emerald City to ask Princess Ozma for her -hand,” continued the Prince. - -“How do you know she is the one? When did this happen? Who brought the -message? What are you going to do if Ozma refuses you?” asked the -Cottabus, leaning forward breathlessly. - -“Are you going to stand talking to this ridiculous creature all day?” -grumbled Kabumpo. But Pompadore, perhaps because he was so young, felt -flattered that even a curious old Cottabus should take such an interest -in his affairs. So beginning at the very beginning he told the whole -story of his birthday party. - -“Yes, yes,” gulped the Cottabus wildly each time the Prince paused for -breath. “Yes, yes,” fluttering its fan excitedly. When Pompadore had -finished the Cottabus leaned back, closed its eyes and put both paws on -the arms of the rocker. “I never heard anything more curious in my -life,” said the curious one. “This will keep me amused for three days!” - -“Of course—that’s what we’re here for—to amuse you!” said Kabumpo -scornfully. “Let's be going, Pompa!” - -“Perhaps the Curious Cottabus can tell us something of the country -ahead. Are there any Princesses living ’round here?” the Prince asked -eagerly. - -“Never heard of any,” said the Cottabus, opening its eyes. “Can you -multiply—add—divide and subtract? Are you good at fractions, Prince?” - -“Not very,” admitted Pompadore, looking mystified. - -“Then you won’t make much headway,” sighed the Cottabus, shaking its -head solemnly. “Now, don’t ask me why,” it added lugubriously, dragging -its rocker back into the brush, and while Kabumpo and Pompa stared in -amazement it wriggled away into the bushes. - -“Come on,” cried Kabumpo with a contemptuous grunt, but he had only gone -a few steps when the Curious Cottabus stuck its head out of an opening -in the trees just ahead. “When are you coming back?” it asked, twitching -its nose anxiously. - -“Never!” trumpeted Kabumpo, increasing his speed. Again the Cottabus -disappeared, only to reappear at the first turn in the road. - -“Did you say the door knob hit you on the head?” it asked pleadingly. - -Kabumpo gave a snort of anger and rushed along so fast that Pompa had to -hang on for dear life. - -“Guess we’ve left him behind this time,” spluttered the Elegant -Elephant, after he had run almost a mile. - -But at that minute there was a wheeze from the underbrush and the head -of the Cottabus was thrust out. Its tongue was hanging out and it was -panting with exhaustion. “How old are you?” it gasped rolling its eyes -pitifully. “Who was your grandfather on your father’s side, and was he -bald?” - -“Kerumberty Bumpus!” raged the Elegant Elephant, flouncing to the other -side of the road. - -“But why was the door knob in the cake?” gulped the Cottabus, two tears -trickling off its nose. - -“How should we know,” said Pompa coldly. - -“Then just tell me the date of your birth,” wailed the Cottabus, two -tears trickling off its nose. - -“No! No!” screamed Kabumpo, and this time he ran so fast that the -tearful voice of the Cottabus became fainter and fainter and finally -died away altogether. - -“Provokingest creature I’ve ever met,” grumbled the Elegant Elephant, -and this time Pompa agreed with him. - -“Isn’t it almost lunch time?” asked the Prince. He was beginning to feel -terribly hungry. - -“And aren’t there any villages or cities between here and the Emerald -City?” Pompa spoke again. - -“Don’t know,” wheezed Kabumpo, swinging ahead. - -“Oh! There’s a flag!” cried Pompa suddenly. “It’s flying above the tree -tops just ahead.” - -And so it was—a huge, flapping black flag covered with hundreds of -figures and signs. - -“Hurry up, Kabumpo,” urged the Prince. “This looks interesting.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 5 - In The City of The Figure Heads - - -“It reminds me of something disagreeable,” answered Kabumpo, as he eyed -the flag. Nevertheless he quickened his steps and in a moment they came -to a clearing in the forest, surrounded by a tall black picket fence. -The only thing visible above the fence was the strange black flag, and -as the forest on either side was too dense to penetrate and there seemed -to be no way around, Kabumpo thumped loudly on the center gate. - -It was flung open at once, so suddenly that Kabumpo, who had his head -pressed against the bars, fell on his knees and shot Pompadore clear -over his head. Altogether it was a very undignified entrance. - -“Oh! Oh! Now we shall have some fun!” screamed a high, thin voice, and -immediately the cry was taken up by hundreds of other voices. A perfect -swarm of strange creatures surrounded the two travelers. The Elegant -Elephant took one look, put back his ears and snatched Pompa from the -paving stones. - -“Stop that!” he rumbled threateningly. “Who are you anyway?” The crowd -paid no attention to the Elegant Elephant’s question, but continued to -dance up and down and scream with glee. Clutching Kabumpo’s ear, Pompa -peered down with many misgivings. They were entirely surrounded by thin, -spry little people, who had figures instead of heads, and the fours, -eights, sevens and ciphers bobbing up and down made it terribly -confusing. - -“Let’s go!” said Pompa, who was growing dizzier every minute. But the -Figure Heads were wedged so closely around them Kabumpo could not move -and they were shouting so lustily that the Elegant Elephant’s voice was -drowned in the hubbub. Finally, Kabumpo’s eyes began to snap angrily -and, taking a deep breath, he threw up his trunk and trumpeted like -fifty ferry-boat whistles. The effect was immediate and astonishing. -Half of the Figure Heads fell on their faces, and the other half fell on -their backs and stared vacantly up at the sky. - -“Conduct us to your Ruler!” roared Kabumpo, in the dead silence that -followed. - -“How’d you know we had a Ruler?” asked a Seven, getting cautiously to -its feet. - -“Most countries have,” said the Elegant Elephant shortly. - -“He’s got no right to order us around,” said a Six, sitting up and -jerking its thumb at Kabumpo. - -“Yes—but!” Seven frowned at Six and put his hands over his ears. “This -way,” he said gruffly, and Kabumpo, stepping carefully, for many of the -Figure Heads were still on their backs, followed Seven. - -If the inhabitants of this strange city were queer, their city was even -more so. The air was dry and choky and the houses were dull, oblong -affairs, set in rows and rows with never a garden in sight. Each street -had a large signpost on the corner, but they were not like the signs one -usually sees in cities. For these were _plus_ and _minus_ signs with -here and there a _long division_ sign. - -“I suppose everything in this street’s divided up,” mumbled Pompadore, -looking up at a division sign curiously. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Hope they don’t subtract any of our belongings,” whispered Kabumpo, as -they turned into Minus Alley. “Look, Pompa, at the houses. Ever see -anything like ’em before?” - -“They remind me of something disagreeable,” mused the Prince. “Why, -they’re _books_, Kabumpo, great big arithmetic books!” Pompa pointed at -one. - -“You mean they are shaped like books,” said the Elegant Elephant. “I -never saw books with windows and doors!” - -“A lot you know!” said Seven, looking back scornfully, but Kabumpo was -too interested to care. Out of the windows of the big book houses leaped -hundreds of the little Figure Heads, and they laughed and jeered at -Pompa and Kabumpo. - -“Ho! Ho!” yelled one, leaning out so far it nearly fell on its Eight. -“Wait till the Count sees ’em. He’ll make an example of ’em!” - -“What an awful country,” whispered Pompadore, ducking just in time, as a -Four snatched at his hair from an open window. But just then they turned -a corner and entered a large gloomy court. Sitting on a square and solid -wood throne, surrounded by a guard of Figure Heads, sat the Giant Ruler -of this strange city. - -“What have you got there, Seven?” roared the Ruler. - -“I am the Elegant Elephant and this is the Prince of Pumperdink,” -announced Kabumpo before Seven could answer. Pompadore, himself, could -say nothing for he had never before been addressed by a wooden Ruler in -his life. And that is exactly what the King of the Figure Heads was—an -ordinary school ruler, twice as large as a man, with arms and legs and a -great square head set atop of his thin flat body. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“I don’t care a rap _who_ you are. I want to know _what_ you are?” said -the Ruler. - -“We are travelers,” spoke up Pompa, swallowing hard—“travelers in search -of a Proper Princess.” - -“Well, you won’t find any here,” grunted the Ruler shortly. “We don’t -believe in ’em!” - -“Would you mind telling me the name of your Kingdom,” asked Pompa, -somewhat cast down by these words. - -“You have no heads,” announced the Ruler calmly, “or you would have -known that this is Rith Metic. _I_,” he hammered himself upon the wooden -chest—“I am its Ruler and every inch a King—King of the Figure Heads,” -he added, glaring around as if he expected someone to contradict him. - -“All right! All right!” wheezed Kabumpo, bowing his head twice. “I knew -twelve inches made a foot rule, but I never knew they made a King Rule. -But could you give us some luncheon and allow us to pass peaceably -through your Kingdom?” - -“Pass through!” exclaimed the King, standing up indignantly. “We don’t -pass anyone through here. You’ve got to work your way through. Pass -through, indeed! And when you’ve worked your way through we’ll put you -in a problem and make an example of you.” - -“They’ll make a very good example, your Majesty,” said a tall thin -individual standing next to the Ruler. He eyed the two cunningly. “If a -thin Prince sets out on a fat elephant to find a Proper Princess, how -many yards of fringe will the elephant lose from his robe and how bald -will the Prince be at the end of the journey? I don’t believe anyone -could figure that out,” he murmured gleefully. - -“It might be done by subtraction,” said the King, looking at the two -critically. - -“Great hay stacks!” rumbled Kabumpo, glaring over his shoulder to see if -he had lost any fringe so far. “What have we gotten into?” - -“Bald!” gulped Pompa, rubbing his head. “Do you mean to say you take -poor innocent travelers and make them into arithmetic problems?” - -“Why not?” said the thin one, who looked exactly like a giant lead -pencil. “And please address me as Count, after this—Count It Up is my -name. What’s the matter with living in a problem, my boy? Life is a -problem, after all, and you will get used to it in time. I’ll try to -assign you to a comfortable book and you’ll find book-keeping a lot more -simple than house-keeping. This way, please!” - -“Please go,” yawned the Ruler, waving his hand. “The Count will take you -in charge now.” And so dazed was the Elegant Elephant by all this -strange reasoning that he tamely followed the lead pencil person. - -“Good-bye!” shouted the Ruler hoarsely. “Start them on simple -additions,” he said as they moved off. - -The street ahead was filled with Figure Heads and as Kabumpo paused they -began forming themselves into sums. The first row sat down, the next -knelt behind them, the third stood up, the fourth nimbly leaped upon the -shoulders of the third, and so on, until a long addition confronted the -travelers. - -“Now,” said Count It Up in his blunt way, “as you haven’t figures for -heads, let us see if you have heads for figures.” Kabumpo pushed back -his pearl headdress and drops of perspiration began to run down his -trunk. Prince Pompa, lying flat on Kabumpo’s head, started to add up the -first line of figures. - -“Eighty-three,” he announced anxiously. - -“Say three and eight to carry,” snapped Count It Up. “Here, Three!” A -Three stepped out of the crowd and placed itself under the line. “I’ve -got to be carried!” cried Eight, looking sulkily at Pompa. - -“Carried!” snorted Kabumpo, snatching Eight into the air. “Well, I’ll -attend to you. You do the adding, Pompa, and I’ll do the carrying.” - -He landed the Eight head down at the bottom of the line of Figure Heads -and swung his trunk carelessly while he waited for his next victim. So, -slowly and painfully, Pompa counted up the long lines and Kabumpo -carried and if they made the slightest mistake the Figure Heads shouted -with scorn and danced about till the confusion was terrible. When an -example was finished, the Figure Heads in it marched away but another -would immediately form lines ahead so that it took them a whole hour to -go two blocks. - -[Illustration: Slowly and Painfully Pompa Counted up the Long Lines] - -“Oh!” groaned Pompa at last, “We’ll never get through this, Kabumpo. -Look at those awful fractions ahead! Can’t I skip fractions?” he asked -looking pleadingly at Count It Up. - -“Certainly not!” said the pencilly man stroking his shiny hair, which -was straight and black and grew up into a sharp point. “You shall skip -nothing!” - -“That gives me an idea,” whispered Kabumpo huskily. “Why shouldn’t we -skip altogether? We’re bigger than they are. Why—” - -“How are you getting on?” At the sound of that hoarse, familiar voice -both the Prince and Kabumpo jumped. - -“You don’t mind me asking, I hope?” Clinging to the high picket fence -and looking anxiously through the bars was the Curious Cottabus. - -“Have you found the Greatest Common Divisor yet?” - -“Who’s he?” asked the Elegant Elephant suspiciously. - -“Isn’t there any way out of Rith Metic but this?” wailed Pompa, looking -at the Cottabus pleadingly. He was too tired to mind being questioned. - -The curious beast was delighted to have this new opportunity to talk to -the travelers. - -“Will you answer a few questions if I tell you?” asked the Cottabus, -raising itself with great difficulty and looking over the palings. - -“Yes—yes—anything,” promised Pompa. - -“Do you care for strawberry tarts?” asked the Cottabus, twitching its -nose very rapidly. - -“Of course,” said the Prince. “Oh! Do hurry. Count It Up will be back in -a moment!” He had run ahead to arrange a new problem and the rest of the -Figure Heads paid no attention to the queer creature clinging to the -palings. - -“Are you going to invite the Scarecrow to your wedding?” gulped the -Cottabus. - -“I don’t know any Scarecrow,” said Pompa, “so how could I?” - -“Are you fond of that old elephant?” The Cottabus waved at Kabumpo, who -stamped first one foot then another and fairly snorted with rage. - -“All right,” sighed the Curious Cottabus, “that makes my fifty -questions.” - -Hanging on to the fence with one paw it waved the other backward and -forward as it chanted: - - “How many tics in Rith Metic? - Tell me that and tell me quick! - But if you can’t it’s not my fault, - So simply turn a wintersault!” - -The head of the Cottabus disappeared. - -“Now isn’t that provoking,” gulped the Prince. “After it promised to -help us, too!” - -“I meant summersault,” wheezed the Cottabus, reappearing suddenly— - - “And if you can’t it’s not your fault, - So simply turn a summersault!” - -it recited dolefully, and losing its balance fell off the fence and -landed with a thud on the ground below. - -“Here! Hurry along!” scolded Count It Up, prodding Kabumpo with a sharp -pencil. “The next is a nice little problem in fractions.” - -“I wonder if it meant anything?” mused Pompadore, as Kabumpo approached -the new problem. “’If you can’t its not your fault, so simply turn a -summersault.’ Anyway it wouldn’t hurt to try. Stop a minute, Kabumpo!” - -Sliding down the Elegant Elephant’s trunk, the Prince put his head on -the ground and very carefully and deliberately turned a somersault. At -his first motion Count It Up gave a deafening scream, fell on his head -and broke off his point, while the Figure Heads began to run in every -direction. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Do it again! Do it again!” cried Kabumpo joyfully. So Pompa turned -another somersault and another, and another, and _another_, till not a -Figure Head was in sight. Even the Figure Heads at the windows of the -houses tumbled out and dashed madly around the corner. Before they could -return, Kabumpo snatched up Pompa and tore through the deserted streets -of Rith Metic till he came to the black iron gate at the other end of -the city. Butting it open with his head, the Elegant Elephant dashed -through and never stopped running till he was miles away from there. - -“Have to rest a bit and eat some leaves,” puffed Kabumpo, at last -slowing down. “Whe—w!” - -“Wish I could eat leaves,” sighed the Prince, as Kabumpo began lunching -off the tree tops. “But, never mind, we’re out of Rith Metic! Wasn’t it -lucky that Cottabus followed us? I never would have thought of getting -out of sums by somersaulting. Would you?” - -“Only sensible thing it ever said, probably,” answered the Elegant -Elephant, with his mouth full of leaves. “There’s a lot more to be -learned by traveling than by studying, my boy. Somersaults for -sums—let’s always remember that!” - -Pompa did not answer. He slid down Kabumpo’s trunk and began hunting -anxiously around for something to eat. Not far away he found a large nut -tree and, gathering a handful of nuts, he sat down and began to crack -them on a white marble slab near by. Next instant Kabumpo heard a thud -and a muffled cry. - -The Prince of Pumperdink had vanished, as if by magic. - -“Where are you?” screamed the Elegant Elephant, pounding through the -brush. “Pompa! Pompa! He’s disappeared,” gasped Kabumpo, rushing over to -the marble slab. There was not a sign of the Royal Prince of Pumperdink -anywhere, but carved carefully on the white stone were these words: - - Please Knock Before You Fall In. - -“Fall in!” snorted Kabumpo, his eyes rolling wildly. “Great Gooch!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 6 - Ruggedo’s History In Six Rocks - - -On the same night that Prince Pompa and Kabumpo had disappeared from -Pumperdink, a little gray gnome crouched in a deep chamber, tunneled -under the Emerald City, laboriously carving letters on a big rock. It -was Ruggedo, the old Gnome King, carving and grumbling and grumbling and -carving, and pausing every few minutes to light his pipe with a hot coal -which he kept in his pocket for that purpose. A big emerald lamp cast a -green glow over the strange cavern and made the gnome look like a bad -green goblin, which he was. - -“Wag!” screamed the gnome, suddenly throwing down his chisel. “Where are -you, you long-eared villain?” There was a slight stir at the back of the -cave and a rabbit, of about the same size as the gnome, shuffled slowly -forward. - -“What you want?” he asked, rubbing one eye with his paw. - -“Bring me a cup of melted mud, idiot!” roared the gnome, pounding on the -rock. “And serve it to me on my throne at once!” - -“Now, see here,” the rabbit twitched his nose rapidly, “I’ll get you a -cup of melted mud, but don’t you call me an idiot. I don’t mind working -for one, nor digging for one and listening to his foolishness, but -nobody can call me an idiot—not even a make-believe King!” - -“Oh, you make me tired!” fumed the gnome. - -“Then go to sleep,” advised the rabbit with a yawn. “What’s the use of -trying to pretend you’re a King, Rug? Ho, ho! King over one wooden doll, -six rocks and twenty-seven sofa cushions! You may have been a King once, -but now you’re just a plain gnome and nothing else, and if you go and -sit quietly in your plain rocking chair I’ll bring you a cup of plain -mud.” - -With a chuckle, the rabbit retired, and Ruggedo, spluttering with fury, -flounced into a doll’s broken rocker that was set in the exact center of -the cave. - -“Here I give that rabbit everything I steal and he won’t even allow me -the little luxury of calling him an idiot or of pulling his ears. How -can I pretend to be a King without an ear to pull?” grumbled the gnome. - -“What are you grinning at?” Bouncing out of his chair, Ruggedo flew at a -merry-faced wooden doll who sat propped up against the wall and shook -her till her head turned round backwards and her arms and legs flew -every which way. Then he hurled her violently into a corner. Quite out -of breath he sank back in his chair and stared angrily about. - -When Wag returned the gnome snatched the tin cup of melted mud and -tossed it down with one gulp. Then, flinging the cup at the doll, he -went back to work. - -The rabbit shook his head mournfully and, picking up the wooden doll, -straightened her out and placed her on a cushion. Then, yawning again, -he lit a candle and started for the passage at the back of the cave. - -“How are you getting on?” he asked, pausing to look over the gnome’s -shoulder with a grin. - -“Fine!” answered Ruggedo, forgetting to scowl. “I’m up to the sixth rock -and expect to finish to-night.” - -“Who do you think will read it?” asked the rabbit, putting back both -ears and stroking his whiskers. Then he gave a great spring, just -escaped the chisel Ruggedo had flung at his head, and pattered away into -the darkness. For several minutes the gnome danced up and down with -fury. Then, as there was no one to pinch or shake, he started to work -harder than ever on the sixth rock of his history. There were six of the -great stones set in a row on one side of the cavern and the carving on -them had taken the old gnome King the best part of two years. The -letters were crooked and roughly chiseled, but quite readable. On the -first rock he had carved: - - History of Ruggedo in Six Rocks - - Ruggedo the Rough—King of the Gnomes - -One time Metal Monarch, at other times a Limoneag, a goose, a nut, and -now a common gnome by order of - _Ozma of Oz._ - -The second rock told of Ruggedo’s magnificent Kingdom under the -mountains of Ev, of the thousands of gnomes he had ruled and the great -treasure of precious gems he had possessed, in those good old days -before he was banished from his dominions. - -The third rock told of his transformation of the Queen of Ev and her -children into ornaments for his palace and of their rescue by a party -from Oz, through the cleverness of Billina, a yellow hen. It told of the -loss of his Magic Belt which was captured at this same time by Dorothy, -a little girl from Kansas. - -The fourth rock related how Ruggedo had tried to conquer Oz and recover -his belt; how all of his plans failed and how he tumbled into the -Fountain of Oblivion and forgot all about his campaign. - -The fifth rock had taken Ruggedo the longest to carve, for it gave the -story of his banishment by the Great Jinn Titihoochoo. You have probably -read this story yourself. How Tik Tok, Betsy Bobbin, Shaggyman and -Polychrome, trying to find Shaggy’s brother, hidden in the Gnome King’s -metal forest, were thrown down a long tube to the other side of the -world, and how the owner of the tube sent Quox, the dragon, to punish -Ruggedo by banishment from his Kingdom and how Kaliko was made King of -the Gnomes. - -The sixth rock told of Ruggedo’s last attempt to capture Oz. Meeting -Kiki Aru, a Highup boy who knew a magic transformation word, Ruggedo -suggested that they change themselves to Limoneags—queer beasts with -lion heads, monkey tails and eagle wings—get all the beasts of Oz to -help and march on the Emerald City. But this plan failed, too. Kiki lost -his temper and changed Ruggedo to a goose, the Wizard of Oz discovered -the magic word and changed both the conspirators to nuts. Later on they -were changed back to their normal shapes, but again Ruggedo was plunged -into the Fountain of Oblivion and again forgot his wicked plans. This -ended the rock history, except for a short sentence stating that Ruggedo -now lived in the Emerald City. - -But the magic of the Fountain of Oblivion had soon worn off and it was -not long before Ruggedo began to remember his past wickedness. That is -why he decided to carve his life story in rock, so that it would be -handy should he ever fall into the forgetful fountain again. And it had -taken six rocks to tell all of his adventures. He had not carved these -stories just as they had happened, nor ever called himself wicked, but -he had told most of the facts, leaving out the parts most unflattering -to himself. And now it was finished—his whole history in six rocks. -Throwing down his chisel for the last time, Ruggedo straightened up and -regarded his work with glowing pride. - -“I don’t believe there’s another history like this in all Oz,” puffed -the gnome, tugging at his silver beard. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“It’s a good thing,” chuckled Wag, who had come back to eat a carrot. -“Oz would not be a very happy place if there were many folks like you.” - -He seated himself quietly on the first rock of Ruggedo’s history, and -began nibbling his carrot. - -“Get up! How dare you sit on my history?” Ruggedo stamped his foot and -started threateningly toward Wag. - -“All right,” said the rabbit, “it’s too hard, anyway.” - -“Of course it’s hard,” stormed Ruggedo. “I’ve had a hard life; hard as -those rocks. Everybody’s been against me from the very start, and all -because I’m so little,” he finished bitterly. - -“No, because you are so wicked,” said the rabbit calmly. “Now, don’t -throw your pipe at me, for you know it’s the truth.” - -Ruggedo glared at the rabbit for a minute, then rushed over to the -wooden doll, and began shaking her furiously. He always vented his rage -on the wooden doll. - -“Stop that,” screamed Wag, “or I’ll leave upon the spot. You ought to be -ashamed of yourself. You old scrabble-scratch.” - -“She’s not alive,” snapped Ruggedo sulkily. - -“How do you know?” retorted the rabbit. “Anyway, she’s a jolly creature. -I’m not going to have her banged around. Here you’ve taken her away from -her little mother, and she hasn’t even anyone to rock her to sleep.” - -“I’ll rock her to sleep,” screamed Ruggedo, maliciously. And flinging -the doll on the floor he began hurling small rocks at the helpless -little figure. - -Scrambling to his feet, Wag rescued the wooden doll again, and Ruggedo, -who really was afraid the rabbit would leave him, subsided into his -rocking chair. Then reaching up to a small shelf over his head, he -pulled down an accordion. At the first doleful wheeze Wag gave a great -hop, dropped Peg and disappeared into his room in the farthest corner of -the cave. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -After his last attempt to capture Oz, the gnome had been given a small -cottage to live in, just outside the Emerald City. But Ruggedo could not -bear life above ground. The sunlight hurt his eyes, and the contented, -happy faces of the people hurt his feelings, for he was exactly what Wag -had called him—an old scrabble-scratch. So, while he pretended to live -in the little cottage, according to Ozma’s orders, he really spent most -of his time in this deep, dark cave. He entered it by a secret passage, -opening from his cellar. - -Digging the long passage had been the hardest work Ruggedo had ever done -in his bad little life. While toiling one day, he had bumped into the -underground burrow of Wag, a wandering rabbit of Oz, and after a deal of -bargaining, the rabbit had agreed to help him. Wag was to receive a ruby -a month for his services, for the gnome still had a large bag of -precious stones, which he had brought from the old Kingdom. After the -bargain with Wag was made, the passage progressed rapidly, for the -rabbit was an expert digger. - -It was Ruggedo’s idea to tunnel himself out a secret chamber, directly -under Ozma’s palace, and there establish a kingdom of his own. But when -they had almost reached the spot, the earth began to crumble away, and a -few strokes of Ruggedo’s spade revealed a great dark cavern, already -tunneled by someone else. It was huge and the exact shape of the royal -palace. This Ruggedo discovered by careful measurement, and also that it -was directly beneath the gorgeous green edifice, so that the footsteps -of the servants could be heard faintly, pattering to and fro. - -This dark, underground retreat suited the former Gnome King exactly and, -without stopping to wonder to whom it had belonged, Ruggedo gleefully -took possession. For almost two years he had lived here without anyone -suspecting it, but so far his kingdom had not progressed very well. Wag -had tried to coax some of his rabbit relations to serve the old gnome as -subjects, but Ruggedo, besides his terrible temper, had a mean habit of -pulling their ears, so that the whole crew had deserted the first week. -He had pulled Wag’s ears once, but the rabbit tore out a pawful of his -whiskers, and bit him so severely in the leg that Ruggedo had never -dared to try it again. - -Wag had stayed partly because Ruggedo amused him and partly because of -the bribes, for every day, in fear of losing his only retainer, Ruggedo -brought Wag something from the Emerald City—something he had stolen! In -return, Wag waited on the bad little gnome and listened to his -grumblings against everybody in Oz. All the furnishings of this strange -cave had been stolen from various houses in the Emerald City. The -twenty-seven brocade cushions had been taken, one at a time from the -palace; the green emerald lamp also. Every day Ruggedo ran innocently -about the city, pretending to visit this one and that, and every day -cups, spoons, and candlesticks disappeared. - -The doll’s rocker, which Ruggedo insisted upon calling his throne, had -been taken from Betsy Bobbin, a little girl who lived with Ozma in the -palace. He had lugged it through the secret passage with great -difficulty. The wooden doll had been stolen from Trot, another of Ozma’s -companions. She was Trot’s favorite doll, for she had been carved out of -wood by Captain Bill, an old one-legged sailor, who was one of the most -celebrated characters in all Oz. He had carved her for Trot one day when -they were on a picnic in the Winkie Country, from the wood of a small -yellow tree, and as Captain Bill had old-fashioned notions, Peg was a -very old-fashioned doll. But she had splendid joints and could sit down -and stand up. Her face was painted and as pleasant as laughing blue -eyes, a turned-up nose, and a smiling mouth could make it. Trot had -dressed her in a funny, old-fashioned dress, with pantalettes, and then, -thinking Peg too short a name, the little girl had added Amy, because -she was so amiable, she confided laughingly to the old sailor. Captain -Bill had wagged his head understandingly, and Peg Amy had straightway -become the most popular doll in the palace; that is, until she -disappeared, for Ruggedo had found her one day in the garden and, -chuckling wickedly, had carried her off to his cave. - -How Trot would have felt if she had seen her poor doll being shaken and -scolded by the old Gnome King! But Trot never knew. She hunted and -hunted for her doll, and finally gave up in despair. Fortunately, Peg -was well made, or she would have been shaken to bits, but her joints -held bravely, and nothing—not even the terrible scolding of the bad old -gnome—could change her pleasant expression. - -Being the sole subject of so wicked a King, however, was wearing even -for a wooden doll, and Peg was beginning to show signs of wear. Her nose -was badly chipped, one pantalette was missing, and both sleeves had been -jerked from her dress by the furious old gnome. If the rabbit was -around, Ruggedo did not shake Peg as hard as he wanted to, but when the -rabbit was gone, he pretended she was his old steward, Kaliko, and -scolded and flung her about to his heart’s content. - -[Illustration: Ruggedo scolded and flung Peg about furiously] - -When not carving his history or shaking Peg, Ruggedo had spent most of -his time digging new tunnels and chambers, so that leading off from the -main cavern was a perfect network of underground passages. In the back -of Ruggedo’s head was a notion that some day he would conquer the -Emerald City, regain his magic powers and then, after changing all the -inhabitants to mouldy muffins, return to his dominions and oust Kaliko -from his throne. Just how this was to be done, he had not decided, but -the secret passages would be useful. So meanwhile he dug secret -passages. - -Above ground the little rascal went about so meekly and pretended to be -so delighted with his life among the inhabitants of the Emerald City, -that Ozma really thought he had reformed. Wag, to whom he confided his -plans, would shake his head gloomily and often planned to leave the -services of the wicked old gnome. There was no real harm in Wag, but the -rabbit had a weakness for collecting, and the spoons, cups and odds and -ends that Ruggedo brought him from the Emerald City filled him with -delight. He felt that they were not gotten honestly, but his work for -Ruggedo was honest and hard, “and it’s not my fault if the old -scrabble-scratch steals ’em,” Wag would mumble to himself. In his heart -he knew that he was doing wrong to stay with Ruggedo, but like all -foolish creatures he could not make up his mind to go. So this very -night, while the old gnome sat playing the accordion and howling doleful -snatches of the Gnome National Air, Wag was gloating over his treasures. -They quite filled his little dug-out room. There were two emerald -plates, a gold pencil, a dozen china cups and saucers, twenty thimbles -stolen from the work baskets of the good dames of Oz, scraps of silk, -pictures and almost everything you could imagine. - -“I’ll soon have enough to marry and go to house-keeping on,” murmured -the rabbit, clasping his paws and twitching his nose very fast. He -picked up a pair of purple wool socks that had once belonged to a little -girl’s doll and regarded them rapturously. Out of all the articles -Ruggedo had given him, Wag considered these purple socks the most -valuable, perhaps because they exactly fitted him and were the only -things he could really use. The squeaking of the accordion stopped at -last and, supposing his wicked little master had retired for the night, -Wag prepared to enjoy himself. Draping a green silk scarf over his -shoulders, he strutted before the mirror, pretending he was a Courtier -of Oz. Then, throwing down the scarf, he sat down on the floor and had -just drawn on one of the socks when a loud shrill scream from Ruggedo -made his ears stand straight on end in amazement. - -“What now?” coughed the rabbit, seizing the candle. Ruggedo was on his -knees before the rocking chair. - -“As I was sitting here, playing and singing,” spluttered the old gnome, -“I noticed a little ring in one of the rocks on the floor!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Well, what of it?” sniffed Wag, leaning down to pull up his sock. - -“What of it?” shrieked the gnome. “What of it, you poor, puny earth -worm! Look!” Leaning over Ruggedo’s shoulder and dropping hot candle -grease down the gnome’s neck, Wag peered into a square opening in the -floor. There lay a small gold box. Studded in gems on the lid were these -words: - - Glegg’s Box of Mixed Magic. - -“Mixed magic!” stuttered Wag, dropping the candle. “Oh, my socks and -soup spoons!” - -Ruggedo said nothing, but his little red eyes blazed maliciously. -Reaching down, he lifted out the box and, clasping it to his fat little -stomach, shook his fist at the high domed ceiling of the cave. - -“Now!” hissed Ruggedo triumphantly. “Now we shall see what mixed magic -will do to the Emerald City of Oz!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 7 - Sir Hokus And The Giants - - -“Oh!” sighed Sir Hokus of Pokes and Oz, stretching his armored legs to -the fire. “How I yearn to slay a giant! How it would refresh me! Hast -any real giants in Oz, Dorothy?” - -“Don’t you remember the candy giant?” laughed the little girl, looking -up from the handkerchief she was making for Ozma. - -“Not to my taste,” said the Knight, “though his vest buttons were vastly -nourishing.” - -“Well, there’s Mr. Yoop—he’s a real blood-and-bone giant. There are -plenty of giants, I guess, if we knew just where to find them!” said the -little girl, biting off her thread. - - “Find ’em—bind ’em, - Get behind ’em! - Hokus Pokus - He don’t mind ’em!” - -screamed the Patch Work Girl, bounding out of her chair. “But why can’t -you stay peaceably at home, old Iron Sides, and be jolly like the rest -of us?” - -“You don’t understand, Scraps,” put in Dorothy gravely. “Sir Hokus is a -Knight and it is a true Knight’s duty to slay giants and dragons and go -on quests!” - -“_That_ it is, my Lady Patches!” boomed Sir Hokus, puffing out his -chest. “I’ve rusted here in idleness long enough. To-morrow, with Ozma’s -permission, I shall start on a giant quest.” - -“I’d go with you, only I’ve promised to help Ozma count the royal -emeralds,” said the Scarecrow, who had ridden over from his Corn-Ear -residence to spend a week with his old friends in the Emerald City. - - “Giants, Sir, are bluff and rude - And might mistake a man for food! - - Hokus Pokus, be discreet, - Or you will soon be giant meat!” - -chuckled the Patch Work Girl, crooking her finger under the Knight’s -nose. - -“Nonsense!” blustered Sir Hokus, waving Scraps aside. Rising from his -green arm chair, he strode up and down the room, his armor clanking at -every step. Straightway the company began to tell about wild giants they -had read of or known. Trot and Betsy Bobbin held hands as they sat -together on the sofa, and Toto, Dorothy’s small dog, crept closer to his -little mistress, the bristles on his back rising higher as each story -was finished. “Giant stories are all very well, but why tell ’em at -night?” shivered Toto, peering nervously at the long shadows in the -corners of the room. - -It was the evening after Ruggedo’s strange discovery of the mixed magic -and in the royal palace Ozma and most of the Courtiers had retired. But -a few of Princess Dorothy’s special friends had gathered in the cozy -sitting-room of her apartment to talk about old times. They were very -unusual and interesting friends, not at all the sort one would expect to -find in a royal palace, even in Fairyland. Dorothy, herself, before she -had become a Princess of Oz, had been a little girl from Kansas but, -after several visits to this delightful country, she had preferred to -make Oz her home. - -Trot and Betsy Bobbin also had come from the United States by way of -shipwrecks, so to speak, and had been invited to remain by Ozma, the -little fairy Princess who ruled Oz, and now each of these girls had a -cozy little apartment in the royal palace. Toto had come with Dorothy, -but the rest of the company were of more or less magic extraction. - -The Scarecrow, a stuffed straw person, with a marvelous set of mixed -brains given to him by the Wizard of Oz, was Dorothy’s favorite. In fact -she had discovered him herself upon a Munchkin farm, lifted him down -from his bean pole and brought him to the Emerald City. Tik Tok was a -wonderful man made entirely of copper, who could talk, think and act as -well as the next fellow when properly wound. You would have been amazed -to hear the giant story he was ticking off at this very minute. As for -Scraps, she had been made by a magician’s wife out of old pieces of -patch-work and magically brought to life. Her bright patches, yarn hair -and silver suspender button eyes gave Scraps so comical an expression -that just to look at her tickled one’s funny bone. Her head was full of -nonsense rhymes and she was so amusing and cheerful that Ozma insisted -upon her living with the rest of the celebrities in the Emerald City. - -[Illustration: Just to Look at Scraps Tickled One’s Funny Bone] - -Sir Hokus of Pokes was a comparative new-comer in the capital city of -Oz. Yet the Knight was so old that it would give me lumbago just to try -to count up his birthdays. He dated back to King Arthur, in fact, and -had been wished into the Land of Oz centuries before by an enemy -sorcerer. Dorothy had found and rescued him, with the Cowardly Lion’s -help, from Pokes, the dullest Kingdom in Oz. As there were no other -Knights in the Emerald City, Sir Hokus was much stared at and admired. -Even the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, the one and only soldier and -entire army of Oz—yes, even the soldier with the Green Whiskers saluted -Sir Hokus when he passed. Ozma, herself, felt more secure since the -Knight had come to live in the palace. He was well versed in adventure -and always courageous and courteous, withal. - -But, while I’ve been telling you all this, Tik Tok had finished his -story of a three-legged giant who lived in Ev. - -“And where is Ev?” puffed Sir Hokus, planting himself before Tik Tok. - -“Ev,” began Tik Tok in his precise fashion, “is to the north-west of -here on the oth-er side of the im—” There was a whirr and a click and -the copper man stood motionless and soundless, his round eyes fixed -solemnly on the Knight. - -“Pass-able des-ert,” finished the Scarecrow, jumping up and kindly -winding all of Tik Tok’s keys as if nothing had happened. - -“Pass-able des-ert,” continued the Copper Man. - -“That’s where the old Gnome King used to live,” piped Betsy Bobbin, -bouncing up and down upon the sofa, “under the mountains of Ev, and he -threw us down a tube and tried to melt you in a crucible, didn’t he, Tik -Tok?” - -“He was a ve-ry bad per-son,” said the Copper Man. - - “Ruggedo was a wicked King, - ’Tho’ now he’s good as pie, - But none the less, I must confess, - He has a wicked eye!” - -burst out Scraps, who was tired of sitting still listening to giant -stories. - -But Sir Hokus could not be got off the subject of giants. “To Ev!” -thundered the Knight, raising his sword. “To-morrow I’m off to Ev to -conquer this terrible monster. Large as a mountain, you say, Tik Tok? -Well, what care I for mountains? I, Sir Hokus of Pokes, will slay him!” - -“Hurrah for the giant killer!” giggled Scraps, turning a somersault and -nearly falling in the fire. - -“Let’s go to bed!” said Dorothy uneasily. She had for the last few -minutes been hearing strange rumbles. Of course it could not be giants; -still the conversation, she concluded, had better be finished by -sunlight. - -But it never was, for at that moment there was a deafening crash. The -lights went out; the whole castle shivered; furniture fell every which -way. Down clattered Sir Hokus, falling with a terrible clangor on top of -the Copper Man. Down rolled the little girls and the Scarecrow and -Scraps. Down tumbled everybody. - -“Cyclone!” gasped Dorothy, who had experienced several in Kansas. - -“Giants!” stuttered Betsy Bobbin, clutching Trot. - -The Wizard of Oz tried to reassure the agitated company. He told them -there was no cause for alarm, and that they would soon find out what was -the trouble. The soothing words of the Wizard were scarcely heard. - -[Illustration: The Smiling Little Wizard of Oz] - -What the others said was lost in the noise that followed. -Thumps—bangs—crashes—screams came from every room in the rocking palace. - -“We’re flying! The whole castle’s flying up in the air!” screamed -Dorothy. Then she subsided, as an emerald clock and three pictures came -thumping down on her head. - -What had happened? No one could say. Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin and Trot had -fainted dead away. The Scarecrow and Sir Hokus were tangled up on the -floor, clasped in each other’s arms. - -The confusion was terrific. Only the Wizard was still calm and smiling. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 8 - Woe In The Emerald City - - -The Soldier with the Green Whiskers finished his breakfast slowly, -combed his beard, pinned on all of his medals and solemnly issued forth -from his little house at the garden gates. - -“Forward march!” snapped the soldier. He had to give himself orders, -being the only man, general or private in the army. And forward march he -did. It was his custom to report to Ozma every morning to receive his -orders for the day. When he had gone through the little patch of trees -that separated his cottage from the palace, the Soldier with the Green -Whiskers gave a great leap. - -“Halt! Break ranks!” roared the Grand Army of Oz, clutching his beard in -terror. “Great Goloshes!” He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Yes, the -gorgeous emerald-studded palace had disappeared, leaving not so much as -a gold brick to tell where it had stood. Trembling in every knee, the -Grand Army of Oz approached. A great black hole, the exact shape of the -palace, yawned at his feet. He took one look down that awful cavity, -then shot through the palace gardens like a green comet. - -Like Paul Revere he had gone to give the alarm, and Paul Revere himself -never made better time. He thumped on windows and banged on doors and -dashed through the sleeping city like a whirlwind. In five minutes there -was not a man, woman or child who did not know of the terrible calamity. -They rushed to the palace gardens in a panic. Some stared up in the air; -others peered down the dark hole; still others ran about wildly trying -to discover some trace of the missing castle. - -“What shall we do?” they wailed dismally. For to have their lovely -little Queen and the Wizard and all the most important people in Oz -disappear at once was simply terrifying. They were a gentle and kindly -folk, used to obeying orders, and now there was no one to tell them what -to do. - -At last Unk Nunkie, an old Munchkin who had taken up residence in the -Emerald City, pushed through the crowd. Unk was a man of few words, but -a wise old chap for all that, so they made way for him respectfully. -First Unk Nunkie stroked his beard; then pointing with his long lean -finger toward the south he snapped out one word—“GLINDA!” - -Of course! They must tell Glinda. Why had they not thought of it -themselves? Glinda would know just what to do and how to do it. Three -cheers for Unk Nunkie! Glinda, you know, is the good Sorceress of Oz, -who knows more magic than anyone in the Kingdom, but who only practices -it for the people’s good. Indeed, Glinda and the Wizard of Oz are the -only ones permitted to practice magic, for so much harm had come of it -that Ozma made a law forbidding sorcery in all of its branches. But even -in a fairy country people do not always obey the laws and everyone felt -that magic was at the bottom of this disaster. - -So away to fetch Glinda dashed the Grand Army, his green whiskers -streaming behind him. Fortunately the royal stables had not disappeared -with the palace, so the gallant army sprang upon the back of the Saw -Horse, and without stopping to explain to the other royal beasts, bade -it carry him to Glinda as fast as it could gallop. Being made of wood -with gold shod feet and magically brought to life, the Saw Horse can run -faster than any animal in Oz. It never tired or needed food and when it -understood that the palace and its dear little Mistress had disappeared -it fairly flew; for the Saw Horse loved Ozma with all its saw dust and -was devoted as only a wooden beast can be. - -[Illustration: The Grand Army sprang upon the back of the Saw Horse] - -In an hour they had reached Glinda’s shining marble palace in the -southern part of the Quadling country, and as soon as the lovely -Sorceress had heard the soldier’s story, she hurried to the magic Book -of Records. This is the most valuable book in Oz and it is kept -padlocked with many golden chains to a gold table, for in this great -volume appear all the events happening in and out of the world. - -Now, Glinda had been so occupied trying to discover the cause of frowns -that she had not referred to the book for several days and naturally -there were many pages to go over. There were hundreds of entries -concerning automobile accidents in the United States and elsewhere. -These Glinda passed over hurriedly, till she came to three sentences -printed in red, for Oz news always appeared in the book in red letters. -The first sentence did not seem important. It merely stated that the -Prince of Pumperdink was journeying toward the Emerald City. The other -two entries seemed serious. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Glegg’s box of Mixed Magic has been discovered,” said the second, and -“Ruggedo has something on his _mind_,” stated the third. Glinda pored -over the book for a long time to see whether any more information would -be given but not another red sentence appeared. With a sigh, Glinda -turned to the Soldier with the Green Whiskers. - -[Illustration: “Ruggedo Has Something on His Mind,” Read Glinda] - -“The old Gnome King must be mixed up in this,” she said anxiously, “and -as he was last seen in the Emerald City, I will return with you at -once.” So Glinda and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers flew back to -the Emerald City drawn in Glinda’s chariot by swift flying swans and the -little Saw Horse trotted back by himself. When they reached the gardens -a great crowd had gathered by the Fountain of Oblivion and a tall green -grocer was speaking excitedly. - -“What is it?” asked Glinda, shuddering as she passed the dreadful hole -where Ozma’s lovely palace had once stood. Everyone started explaining -at once so that Glinda was obliged to clap her hands for silence. - -“Foot print!” Unk Nunkie stood upon his tip toes and whispered it in -Glinda’s ear and when she looked where Unk pointed she saw a huge, -shallow cave-in that crushed the flower beds for as far as she could -see. - -“Foot print!” gasped Glinda in amazement. - -“Uh huh!” Unk Nunkie wagged his head determinedly and then, pulling his -hat down over his eyes, spoke his last word on the subject: “_GIANT!_” - -“A giant foot print! Why so it is!” cried Glinda. - -“What shall we do? What shall we do?” cried the frightened inhabitants -of the Emerald City, wringing their hands. - -“First, find Ruggedo,” ordered Glinda, suddenly remembering the -mysterious entry in the Book of Records. So, away to the little cottage -hurried the crowd. They searched it from cellar to garret, but of course -found no trace of the wicked little gnome. As no one knew about the -secret passage in Ruggedo’s cellar, they never thought of searching -underground. - -Meanwhile Glinda sank down on one of the golden garden benches and tried -to think. The Comfortable Camel stumbled broken-heartedly across the -lawn and dropping on its knees begged the Sorceress in a tearful voice -to save Sir Hokus of Pokes. The Camel and the Doubtful Dromedary had -been discovered by the Knight on his last adventure and were deeply -attached to him. Soon all the palace pets came and stood in a dejected -row before Glinda—Betsy’s mule, Hank, hee-hawing dismally and the Hungry -Tiger threatening to eat everyone in sight if any harm came to the three -little girls. - -“I doubt if we’ll ever see them again,” groaned the Doubtful Dromedary, -leaning up against a tree. - -“Oh Doubty—how _can_ you?” wailed the Camel, tears streaming down its -nose. - -“Please do be quiet,” begged Glinda, “or I’ll forget all the magic I -know. Let me see, now—how does one catch a marauding giant who has run -off with a castle?” - -On her fingers Glinda counted up all the giants in the four countries of -Oz. No! It could not be an Oz giant; there was none large enough. It -must be a giant from some strange country. - -When the crowd returned with the news that Ruggedo had disappeared -Glinda felt more uneasy still. But hiding her anxiety she bade the -people return to their homes and continue their work and play as usual. -Then, promising to return that evening with a plan to save the castle, -and charging the Soldier with the Green Whiskers to keep a strict watch -in the garden, Glinda stepped into her chariot and flew back to the -South. All that day, in her palace in the Quadling country, Glinda bent -over her encyclopedia on giants, and far into the night the lights -burned from her high turret-chamber, as she consulted book after book of -magic. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 9 - Mixed Magic Makes Mischief - - -The Book of Records had been perfectly correct in stating that Ruggedo -had something on his mind. _He had!_ To understand the mysterious -disappearance of Ozma’s palace, we must go back to the old Ex-King of -the Gnomes. The whole of the night after he had found Glegg’s box of -Mixed Magic, Ruggedo had spent trying to open the box. But pry and poke -as he would it stubbornly refused to give up its secrets. - -“Better come to bed,” advised Wag, twitching his nose nervously. “Mixed -Magic isn’t safe, you know. It might explode.” - -“Idiot!” grumbled Ruggedo. “I don’t know who Glegg is or was, but I’m -going to find out what kind of magic he mixes. I’m going to open this -box if it takes me a century.” - -“All right,” quavered Wag, retiring backward and holding up his paw. -“All right, but remember I warned you! Don’t meddle with magic, that’s -my motto!” - -“I don’t care a harebell what your motto is,” sneered the gnome, -continuing to hammer on the gold lid. - -When he reached his room, Wag shut the door and sank dejectedly upon the -edge of the bed. - -“There’s no manner of use trying to stop him,” sighed the rabbit, “so -I’ve got to get out of here before he gets me into trouble. I’ll go -to-morrow!” resolved Wag, pulling his long ear nervously. With this good -resolution, the little rabbit drooped off asleep. - -Very cautiously he opened the door of his little rock-room next morning. -Ruggedo was sound asleep on the floor, his head on the magic box, and -Peg Amy, with her wooden arms and legs flung out in every direction, lay -sprawled in a corner. - -“Been shaking you again, the old scrabble-scratch!” whispered the rabbit -indignantly, “just ’cause he couldn’t open that box. Well, never mind, -Peg, I’m leaving to-day and as surely as I’ve ears and whiskers you -shall go too!” Picking up the poor wooden doll Wag tucked her under his -arm. Was it imagination, or did the little wooden face break into a -sunny smile? It seemed so to Wag and, with a real thrill of pleasure, he -tip-toed back to his room and began tossing his treasures into one of -the bed sheets. He seated Peg in his own small rocking chair and from -time to time he nodded to her reassuringly. - -“We’ll soon be out now, my dear,” he chuckled, quite as if Peg had been -alive. She often did seem alive to Wag. “Then we’ll see what Ozma has to -say to this Mixed Magic,” continued the bunny, wiggling his ears -indignantly. And so occupied was he collecting his treasures that he did -not hear Ruggedo’s call and next minute the angry gnome himself stood in -the doorway. - -“What does this mean?” he cried furiously, pointing to the tied up -sheet. Then he stamped his foot so hard that Peg Amy fell over sideways -in the chair and all the ornaments in the room skipped as if alive. - -The rabbit whirled ’round in a hurry. - -“It means I’m leaving you for good, you wicked little monster!” shrilled -Wag, his whiskers trembling with agitation and his ears sticking -straight out behind. “_Leaving_—do you hear?” - -Then he snatched Peg Amy in one paw and his treasures in the other and -tried to brush past Ruggedo. But the gnome was too quick for him. -Springing out of the room, he slammed the door and locked it. Wag could -hear him rolling up rocks for further security. - -“Thought you’d steal a march on old Ruggedo; thought you’d tell Ozma all -his plans and get a nice little reward! Well, _think again_!” shouted -the gnome through the keyhole. - -Wag had plenty of time to think, for Ruggedo never came near the -rabbit’s room all day. At every sound poor Wag leaped into the air, for -he felt sure each blow could only mean the opening of the dreaded magic -box. To reassure himself he held long conversations with the wooden doll -and Peg’s calm cheerfulness steadied him a lot. - -“I might dig my way out but it would take so long! My ear tips! How -provoking it is!” exclaimed Wag. “But perhaps he’ll relent by -nightfall!” Slowly the day dragged on but nothing came from the big rock -room but thumps, grumbles and bangs. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“It is fortunate that you do not eat, Peg, dear,” sighed the rabbit late -in the afternoon, nibbling disconsolately on a stale biscuit he had -found under his bureau. “Shall you care very much if I starve? I -probably shall, you know. Of course no one in Oz can die, but starving -forever is not comfortable either.” At this the wooden doll seemed to -shake her head, as much as to say: “You won’t starve, Wag dear; just be -patient a little longer.” Not that she really said this, mind you, but -Wag knew from her smile that this is what she was thinking. - -It was hot and stuffy in the little rock chamber and the faint light -that filtered down from the hole in the ceiling was far from cheerful. -At last night came, and that was worse. Wag lit his only candle but it -was already partly burned down and soon with a dismal sputter it went -out and left the two sitting in the dark. Peg Amy stared cheerfully -ahead but the rabbit, worn out by his long day of fright and worry, fell -into a heavy slumber. - -Meanwhile Ruggedo had worked on the magic box and every minute he became -more impatient. All his poundings failed to make even a dent on the gold -lid and even jumping on it brought no result. The little gnome had eaten -nothing since morning and by nightfall he was stamping around the box in -a perfect fury. His eyes snapped and twinkled like live coals and his -wispy white hair fairly crackled with rage. Hidden in this box were -magic secrets that would doubtless enable him to capture the Whole of Oz -but, _klumping kaloogas_, how was he to get at ’em? He finally gave the -gold box such a vindictive kick that he almost crushed his curly toes; -then holding onto one foot, he hopped about on the other till he fell -over exhausted. - -For several minutes he lay perfectly still; then jumping up he seized -the box and flung it with all his gnome might against the rock wall. - -“Take that!” screamed Ruggedo furiously. There was a bright flash; then -the box righted itself slowly and sailed straight back into Ruggedo’s -hands and, more wonderful still, _it was open_! With his eyes almost -popping from his head, the gnome sat down on the floor, the box in his -lap. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -In the first tray were four golden flasks and each one was carefully -labeled. The first was marked, “Flying Fluid”; “Vanishing Cream” was in -the second. The third flask held “Glegg’s Instantaneous Expanding -Extract,” and in the fourth was “Spike’s Hair Strengthener.” - -Ruggedo rubbed his hands gleefully and lifted out the top tray. In the -next compartment was a tiny copper kettle, a lamp and a package marked -“Triple Trick Tea.” So anxious was Ruggedo to know what was in the last -compartment that he scarcely glanced at Glegg’s tea set. Quickly he -peered into the bottom of the casket. There were two boxes. Taking up -the first Ruggedo read, “Glegg’s Question Box. Shake three times after -each question.” - -“Great Grampus!” spluttered the gnome, “this is a find!” He was growing -more excited every minute and his hands shook so he could hardly read -the label on the last box. Finally he made it out: “Re-animating Rays, -guaranteed to reawaken any person who has lost the power of life through -sorcery, witchcraft or enchantment,” said the label. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Well, did anyone ever hear anything more magic than that? Ruggedo -glanced from one to the other of the little gold flasks and boxes. There -were so many he hardly knew which to use first. “Flying Fluid and -Vanishing Cream,” mused the gnome. Well, they might help after he had -captured Oz, but he felt it would take more powerful magic than Flying -Fluid and Vanishing Cream to capture the fairy Kingdom. Next he picked -up the bottle labeled “Spike’s Hair Strengthener.” Anything that -strengthened would be helpful, so, with one eye on the last bottle, -Ruggedo absently rubbed some of the hair strengthener on his head. He -stopped rubbing in a hurry and put his finger in his mouth with a howl -of pain. Then he jumped up in alarm and ran to a small mirror hanging on -the wall. Every hair on his head had become an iron spike and the result -was so terrible that it frightened even the old gnome. He flung the -bottle angrily on the ground. But stop! He could butt his enemies with -the sharp spikes! Comforting himself with this cheerful thought, Ruggedo -returned to the magic box. - -“Instantaneous Expanding Extract,” muttered the gnome, turning the -bottle over carefully. “That ought to make me _larger_—and if I were -larger—if I were larger!” He snapped his fingers and began hopping up -and down. He was about to empty the bottle over his head when he -suddenly reflected that it might be safer to try this powerful extract -on someone else. But on whom? - -Ruggedo glanced quickly around the cave and then remembered the wooden -doll. He would try a little on Peg Amy and see how it worked. Turning -the key he stepped softly into Wag’s room. Without wakening the rabbit, -Ruggedo dragged out the wooden doll. Propping her up against the wall, -the gnome uncorked the bottle of expanding fluid and dropped two drops -on Peg Amy’s head. Peg was about ten inches high, but no sooner had the -expanding fluid touched her than she shot up four feet and with such -force that she lost her balance and came crashing down on top of -Ruggedo, almost crushing him flat. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Get off, you great log of wood!” screamed the gnome, struggling -furiously. But this Peg Amy was powerless to do and it was only after a -frightful struggle that Ruggedo managed to drag himself out. He started -to shake Peg but as she was now four times his size he soon gave that -up. - -“Well, anyway it works,” sighed the gnome, rubbing his nose and the -middle of his back. “I wonder how it would act on a live person? I’ll -try a little on that silly rabbit,” he concluded, tip-toeing back into -Wag’s room. Now Wag’s apartment was about seven feet square—plenty large -enough for a regular rabbit—but two drops of the expanding fluid—and, -_stars_! Wag was no longer a regular rabbit but a six-foot funny bunny, -stretching from one end of the room to the other. He expanded without -even waking up. Ruggedo had to squeeze past him in order to get out and, -chuckling with satisfaction, the gnome hurried back to his box of magic. -His mind was now made up. He would take Glegg’s Mixed Magic under his -arm, go above ground and with the Expanding Fluid change himself into a -giant. Then conquering Oz would be a simple matter. - -It was all going to be so easy and amusing that Ruggedo felt he had -plenty of time to examine the rest of the bottles and boxes. He rubbed -some of the Vanishing Cream on a sofa cushion and it instantly -disappeared. The box of Re-animating Rays, guaranteed to reawaken anyone -from enchantment, interested the old gnome immensely, but how could he -try them when there was no bewitched person about—at least none that he -knew of? Then his eye fell on the Question Box. Why not try that? So, -“How shall I use the Re-animating Rays?” asked Ruggedo, shaking the box -three times. Nothing happened at first. Then, by the light from his -emerald lamp, the gnome saw a sentence forming on the lid. - -“Try them on Peg,” said the box shortly. Without thinking of -consequences or wondering what the Question Box meant by suggesting Peg, -the curious gnome opened the box of rays and held it over the huge -wooden doll. For as long as it would take to count ten Peg lay perfectly -still. Then, with a creak and jerk, she sprang to her feet. - -“How perfectly pomiferous!” cried Peg Amy, with an awkward jump. “I’m -alive! Why, I’m alive all over!” She moved one arm, then the other and -turned her head stiffly from side to side. “I can walk!” cried Peg. “I -can walk; I can skip; I can run!” Here Peg began running around the -cave, her joints squeaking merrily at every step. - -At Peg’s first move Ruggedo had jumped back of a rock, his every spike -standing on end. Too late he realized his mistake. This huge wooden -creature clattering around the cave was positively dangerous. Why, she -might easily pound him to bits. Why on earth had he meddled with the -magic rays and why under the earth should a wooden doll come to life? He -waited till Peg had run to the farthest end of the cave; then he dashed -to the magic casket and scrambled the bottles, the Trick Tea Set and the -flasks back into place and started for the door that led to the secret -passage as fast as his crooked little legs would carry him. - -But he was not fast enough, for Peg heard and like a flash was after -him. - -“Stop! Go away!” screamed Ruggedo. - -“Why, it’s the old gnome!” cried the Wooden Doll in surprise. “The -wicked old gnome who used to shake me all the time. Why, how small he -is! I could pick him up with one hand!” She made a snatch at Ruggedo. - -“Go away!” shrieked Ruggedo, ducking behind a rock. “Go away—there’s a -dear girl,” he added coaxingly. “I didn’t shake you much—not too much, -you know!” - -Peg Amy put a wooden finger to her forehead and regarded him -attentively. - -“I remember,” she murmured thoughtfully. “You found a magic box, and -you’re going to harm Ozma and try to conquer Oz. I must get that box!” - -Reaching around the rock she seized Ruggedo by the arm. - -In a panic, he jerked away. “Help! Help!” cried the gnome King, darting -off toward the other end of the cave. “Help! Help!” - -In his little rock room Wag stirred uneasily. Then, as Ruggedo’s cries -grew louder, he bounced erect and almost cracked his skull on the low -ceiling. Hardly knowing what he was doing he rushed at the door only to -knock himself almost senseless against the top, for of course he did not -realize he had expanded into a giant rabbit. But as the cries from the -other room became louder and louder he got up and rubbing his head in a -dazed fashion he somehow crowded himself through the door and hopped -into the cave. When he saw Peg Amy chasing Ruggedo, Wag fell back -against the wall. - -“My wocks and hoop soons!” stuttered the rabbit. “She is alive! And he’s -shrunk!” - -Wag’s voice rose triumphantly. “I’m going to pound his curly toes off!” -he shouted. With this he joined merrily in the chase. - -“I’ll catch him!” he called, “I’ll catch him, Peg, my dear, and make him -pay for all the shakings he has given you. I’ll pound his curly toes -off!” - -“Oh, Wag! Don’t do that,” cried the Wooden Doll, stopping short. “I -didn’t mind the shakings and gnomes don’t know any better!” - -“Neither do rabbits!” cried Wag stubbornly, bounding after Ruggedo. -“I’ll pound his curly toes off, I tell you!” - -The old gnome was sputtering like a firecracker. What chance had he now -with two after him? Then suddenly he had an idea. Without stopping, he -fumbled in the box which he still clutched under one arm and pulled out -the bottle of Expanding Fluid. Uncorking the bottle he poured its -contents over his head—_every single drop_! - -This is what happened: First he shot out sideways, till Peg and Wag were -almost crushed against the wall. With a hoarse scream Wag dragged Peg -Amy back into his room, which was now barely large enough to hold them. -They were just in time, for Ruggedo was still spreading. Soon there was -not an inch of space left to expand in. Then he shot up and grew up and -grew and grew and groaned and grew till there wasn’t any more room to -grow in. So, he burst through the top of the cave, with a noise like -fifty boilers exploding. - -No wonder Dorothy thought it was a cyclone! For what was on the top of -the cave but the royal palace of Oz? The next instant it was impaled -fast on the spikes of Ruggedo’s giant head and shooting up with him -toward the clouds. And that wretched gnome never stopped growing till he -was three-quarters of a mile high! - -[Illustration: The royal palace of Oz impaled fast on the spikes of -Ruggedo’s giant head] - -If the people in the palace were frightened, Ruggedo was more frightened -still. Being a giant was a new experience for him and having a castle -jammed on his head was worse still. The first thing he tried to do, when -he stopped growing, was to lift the castle off, but his spikes were -driven fast into the foundations and it fitted closer than his scalp. - -In a panic Ruggedo began to run, and when a giant runs he gets -somewhere. Each step carried him a half mile and shook the country below -like an earthquake and rattled the people in the castle above like -pennies in a Christmas bank. Shaking with terror and hardly knowing why, -the gnome made for his old Kingdom, and in an hour had reached the -little country of Oogaboo, which is in the very northwestern corner of -Oz, opposite his old dominions. - -The Deadly Desert is so narrow at this point that with one jump Ruggedo -was across and, puffing like a volcano about to erupt, he sank down on -the highest mountain in Ev. Fortunately he had not stepped on any cities -in his flight, although he had crushed several forests and about a -hundred fences. - -“Oh, Oh, My head!” groaned Ruggedo, rocking to and fro. He seemed to -have forgotten all about conquering Oz. He was full of twinges and -growing pains. Ozma’s castle was giving him a thundering headache, and -there he sat, a fearsome figure in the bright moonlight, moaning and -groaning instead of conquering. - -The Book of Records had been right indeed when it stated that Ruggedo -had something on his mind. Ozma’s castle itself sat squarely upon that -mischievous mind—and every moment it seemed to grow heavier. - -No wonder there had been confusion in the castle! Every time Ruggedo -shook his aching head Ozma and her guests were tossed about like leaves -in a storm. Mixed magic had made mischief indeed. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 10 - Peg and Wag To The Rescue - - -For a long time after the terrific bang following Ruggedo’s final -expansion, Wag and Peg Amy had been too stunned to even move. Crowded -together in the little rock room, they lay perfectly breathless. - -“Umpthing sappened,” quavered the rabbit at last. - -“That sounds rather queer, but I think I know what you mean,” said Peg, -sitting up cautiously. - -“Something has happened. Ruggedo’s been blown up, I guess.” - -“Mixed Magic!” groaned Wag gloomily. “I knew it would explode. Say, Peg, -what makes this room so small?” - -“I don’t know,” sighed the doll in a puzzled voice, for neither Peg nor -Wag realized how much they had grown. “But let’s go above ground and see -what has become of Ruggedo.” One at a time and with great difficulty -they got through the door. - -“Why, there are the stars!” cried Peg Amy, clasping her wooden hands -rapturously. “Real stars!” The top of the cave had gone off with the old -gnome King and the two stood looking up at the lovely skies of Oz. - -“It doesn’t seem so high as it used to,” said the rabbit, looking at the -walls. “Why, I believe I could jump out if I took a good run and carry -you, too. Come ashort, Peg!” - -“Aren’t you mixed, Wag dear? Don’t you mean come along?” asked Peg, -smoothing down her torn dress. - -“Well, now that you mention it, my head does feel queer,” admitted the -rabbit, twitching his nose, “bort of sackwards!” - -“Sort of backwards,” corrected Peg gently. “Well, never mind. I know -what you mean. But do let’s try to find that awful box of magic. You -know Ruggedo brought me to life, Wag, with something in that box!” - -“Only good thing he ever did,” said Wag, shaking his head. “But I think -you were alive before,” he added solemnly. “You always seemed alive to -me.” - -“I think so, too,” whispered Peg excitedly. “I can’t remember just how, -or where, but Oh! Wag! I know I’ve been alive before. I remember -dancing.” - -Peg took a few awkward steps and Wag looked on dubiously, too polite to -criticize her efforts. He didn’t even laugh when Peg Amy fell down. Peg -laughed herself, however, as merrily as possible. “It’s going to be such -fun being alive,” she said, picking herself up gaily, “such fun, Wag -dear. Why, there’s Glegg’s box!” She pounced upon the little shining -gold casket. “Ruggedo didn’t take it after all!” - -“Is it shut?” asked Wag, clapping both paws to his ears. “Look out for -explosions, say I.” - -“No, but I’ll soon close it,” said Peg and, shutting Glegg’s box, she -slipped it into pocket of her dress. It was about half the size of this -book you are reading and as Peg’s pockets were big and old fashioned, it -fitted quite nicely. - -“Come ashort,” said Wag again, looking around uneasily, for he was -anxious to get out of the gnome’s cave. So Peg seated herself carefully -on his back and clasped her wooden arms around his neck. Then Wag ran -back a few steps, gave a great jump and sailed up, up and out of the -cave. - -“Ten penny tea cups!” shrieked the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, -falling over backwards. “What next?” For Wag with Peg on his back had -leaped straight over his head. - -Picking himself up, and with every whisker in his beard prickling -straight on end, the Grand Army of Oz backed toward the royal stable. -When he had backed half the distance he turned and ran for his life. But -he need not have been afraid. - -“What a funny little man,” chuckled Wag. “Why, he’s no bigger than we -are. He’s no—!” Then suddenly Wag clutched his ears. “Oh!” he screamed, -beginning to hop up and down, “I forgot all my treasures—my olden goop -soons. Oh! Oh! My urple sool wocks! I’ve forgotten my urple sool wocks!” - -“Your what?” cried Peg Amy, clutching him by the fur. “Now Wag, dear, -you’re all mixed up. Perhaps it’s ’cause your ears are crossed. There, -now, do stop wiggling your whiskers and turn out your toes!” - -But Wag continued to wiggle his whiskers and turn in his toes and roar -for his urple sool wocks. - -“Stop!” screamed Peg at last, with both hands over her wooden ears. “I -know what you mean! Your purple wool socks!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Yes,” sobbed the rabbit, slumping down on a rock and holding his head -in both paws. - -“Well, don’t you think”—the Wooden Doll shook her head jerkily—“Don’t -you think it’s just as well? Ruggedo stole all those things and you -wouldn’t want stolen soup spoons, now would you?” - -Wag took a long breath and regarded Peg uncertainly. Then something in -her pleasant wooden face seemed to brace him up. - -“No!” he sighed solemnly—“I s’pose not. I ought to have left Rug long -ago.” - -“But then you couldn’t have helped me,” said Peg brightly. “Let’s don’t -think about it any more. You’ve been awfully good to me, Wag.” - -“Have I?” said Wag more cheerfully. “Well, you’re a good sort, Peg—a -regular Princess!” he finished, puffing out his chest, “and anything you -say goes.” - -“Princess?” laughed the Wooden Doll, pleased nevertheless. “I’m a funny -Princess, in this old dress. Did you ever hear of a wooden Princess, -Wag?” - -“You look like a Princess to me,” said the rabbit stoutly. “Dresses -don’t matter.” - -This speech so tickled the Wooden Doll that she gave Wag a good hug and -began dancing again. “Being alive is such fun!” she called gaily over -her shoulder, “and you are so wonderful!” - -Wag’s chest expanded at least three inches and his whiskers trembled -with emotion. “Hop on my back Peg and I’ll take you anywhere you want to -go,” he puffed magnificently. - -But the Wooden Doll had suddenly grown sober. “Wherever is the castle?” -she cried anxiously. She remembered exactly where it had stood when she -was an unalive doll and now not a tower or turret of the castle was to -be seen. “Oh!” groaned Peg Amy, “Ruggedo has done something dreadful -with his Mixed Magic!” - -Wag rubbed his eyes and looked all around. “Why, it’s gone!” he cried, -waving his paws. “What shall we do? If only we weren’t so small!” - -“We’ve got the magic box,” said Peg hopefully, “and somehow I don’t feel -as small as I used to feel; do you?” - -“Well, I feel pretty queer, myself,” said the rabbit, twitching his -nose. “Maybe it’s because I’m hungry. There’s a kitchen garden over -there near the royal stables and I think if I had some carrots I’d feel -better.” - -“Of course you would!” cried Peg, jumping up. “I forgot you had to eat.” -So, very cautiously they stole into the royal cook’s garden. Wag had -often helped himself to carrots from this garden before, but now sitting -on his haunches he stared around in dazed surprise. - -“Everything’s different!” wailed the rabbit dismally. “You’re the same -and I’m the same but everything else is all mixed up. Look at this -carrot. Why, it’s no bigger than a blade of grass.” Wag held up a carrot -in disgust. “Why, it will take fifty of these to give me even a taste -and the lettuce—look at it! Everything’s shrunk, even the houses!” cried -the big funny bunny, looking around. “My wocks and hoop soons, -sheverything’s hunk!” - -Peg Amy had followed Wag’s gaze and now she jumped up in great -excitement. “I see it now!” cried Peg. “It’s us, Wag. Everything’s the -same but we are different. Some of that Mixed Magic has made us grow. -We’re bigger and everything else is the same. I am as tall as the little -girl who used to play with me and you are even bigger and I’m glad, -because now we can help find the castle and Ruggedo and try to make -everything right again.” - -Peg clasped her wooden hands. “Aren’t you glad too, Wag?” - -The rabbit shook his head. “It’s going to take an awful lot to fill me -up,” he said doubtfully. “I’ll have to eat about six times as much as I -used to.” - -“Well, you’re six times as large; isn’t that any comfort?” - -“My head doesn’t feel right,” insisted Wag. “As soon as I talk fast the -words all come wrong.” - -“Maybe it didn’t grow as fast as the rest of you,” laughed the Wooden -Doll. “But don’t you care, Wag. I know what you mean and I think you’re -just splendid! Now hurry and finish your carrots so we can decide what -to do. - -“If Mixed Magic caused all this trouble,” added Peg half to herself, -“Mixed Magic’s got to fix it. I’m going to look at that box.” Wag, -nibbling industriously, had not heard Peg’s last speech or he would -doubtless have taken to his heels. - -Sitting unconcernedly in a cabbage bed, the Wooden Doll took the gold -box from her pocket. Fortunately she had not snapped the magic snap and -it opened quite easily. Her fingers were stiff and clumsy and the moon -was the only light she had to see by, but it did not take Peg Amy long -to realize the importance of Glegg’s magic. - -“I wonder if he rubbed this on the castle,” she murmured, holding up the -bottle of Vanishing Cream. “And how would one bring it back? Let me see, -now.” One after the other, she took out the bottles and boxes and the -tiny tea set. The Re-animating Rays she passed over, without realizing -they were responsible for bringing her to life, but the Question Box, -Peg pounced upon with eager curiosity. - -“Oh, if it only would answer questions!” fluttered Peg. Then, holding -the box close to her mouth, she whispered, “Where is Ruggedo?” - -“Who are you talking to?” asked Wag, looking up in alarm. “Now don’t -_you_ get mixed up, Peg!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“It’s a Question Box,” said the Wooden Doll, “but it’s not working very -well.” She shook it vigorously and held it up so that the light -streaming down from the stable window fell directly on it. In silver -letters on the lid of the box was one word—Ev! - -“Ev—Ruggedo’s in Ev!” cried Peg Amy, rushing over to the rabbit. “Can -you take me to Ev, Wag dear?” - -“Of course,” said Wag, nibbling faster and faster at his carrots. “I’ll -take you anywhere, Peg.” - -“Then it’s going to be all right; I know it,” chuckled the Wooden Doll, -and putting all the magic appliances back into the box she closed the -lid with a snap. And this time the magic catch caught. - -“Is it far to Ev?” asked Peg Amy, looking thoughtfully at the place -where the castle had once been. - -“Quite a long journey,” said Wag, “but we’ll go a hopping. Ev is near -Ruggedo’s old home and it’s across the Deadly Desert, but we’ll get -there somehow. Trust me. And when I do!” spluttered Wag, thumping his -hind feet determinedly, “I’ll pound his curly toes off—the wicked little -monster!” - -“Did you ask the Question Box where the castle was?” he inquired -hastily, for he saw Peg was going to tell him he must not pound Ruggedo. - -“Why, no! How silly of me!” Peg felt in her pocket and brought out the -gold box. She tried to open it as she had done before but it was no use. -She pulled and tugged and shook it. Then Wag tried. - -“There’s a secret to it,” puffed the rabbit at last. “Took Rug a whole -night and day to discover it. Can’t you remember how you opened it -before, Peg?” - -The Wooden Doll shook her head sadly. - -“Well, never mind,” said Wag comfortingly. “Once we find Ruggedo we can -make him tell. We’d better start right off, because if any of the people -around here saw us they might try to capture us and put us in a circus. -We are rather unusual, you know.” The rabbit regarded Peg Amy -complacently. “One doesn’t see six-foot rabbits and live dolls every -day, even in Oz!” - -“No,” agreed Peg Amy slowly, “I s’pose not!” - -The moon, looking down on the strange pair, ducked behind a cloud to -hide her smile, for the giant funny bunny, strutting about pompously, -and old-fashioned wooden Peg, in her torn frock, were enough to make -anyone smile. - -“You think of everything,” sighed Peg, looking affectionately at Wag. - -“Who wouldn’t for a girl like you? You’re a Princess, Peg—a regular -Princess.” The rabbit said it with conviction and again Peg happily -smoothed her dress. - -“Hop on,” chuckled Wag, “and then I’ll hop off.” - -Seating herself on his back and holding tight to one of his long ears, -Peg announced herself ready. Then away through the night shot the giant -bunny—away toward the western country of the Winkies—and each hop -carried him twelve feet forward and sent up great spurts of dust behind. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 11 - The King of The Illumi Nation - - -While Ruggedo was working all this mischief in the Emerald City, -Pompadore and the Elegant Elephant had fallen into strange company. -After the Prince’s disappearance, Kabumpo stared long and anxiously at -the white marble stone with its mysterious inscription, “Knock before -you fall in.” - -What would happen if he knocked, as the sign directed? Something -upsetting, the Elegant Elephant was sure, else why had Pompa called for -help? - -Kabumpo groaned, for he was a luxurious beast and hated discomfort of -any sort. As for falling _in_—the very thought of it made him shudder in -every pound. But selfish and luxurious though he was, the Elegant -Elephant loved Pompa with all his heart. After all, he had run off with -the Prince and was responsible for his safety. If Pompa had fallen in he -must fall in too. With a resigned sigh, Kabumpo felt in his pocket to -see that his treasures were safe, straightened his robe and, taking one -last long breath, rapped sharply on the marble stone with his trunk. -Without a sound, the stone swung inward, and as Kabumpo was standing on -it he shot headlong into a great black opening. There was a terrific -rush of air and the slab swung back, catching as it did so the -fluttering edge of the Elegant Elephant’s robe of state. This halted his -fall for about a second and then with a spluttering tear the silk fringe -ripped loose and down plunged the Elegant Elephant, trunk over heels. - -After the third somersault, Kabumpo, right side up, fortunately, struck -a soft inclined slide, down which he shot like a scenic railway train. - -“Great Grump!” coughed Kabumpo, holding his jeweled headpiece with his -trunk. “Great—” Before he reached the second grump, his head struck the -top of the passage with terrific force, and that was the last he -remembered about his fall. How long he lay in an unconscious state the -Elegant Elephant never knew. After what seemed several ages he became -aware of a confused murmur. Footsteps seemed to be pattering all around -him, but he was still too stunned to be curious. - -“Nothing will make me get up,” thought Kabumpo dully. “I’m going to lie -here forever and—ever—and ever—and—” Just as he reached this drowsy -conclusion, something red hot fell down his neck and a voice louder than -all the rest shouted in his ear. “_What are you?_” - -“Ouch!” screamed Kabumpo, now thoroughly aroused. He opened one eye and -rolled over on his side. A tall, curious creature was bending over him. -Its head was on fire and as Kabumpo blinked angrily another red hot -shower spattered into his ear. With a trumpet of rage Kabumpo lunged to -his feet. The hot-headed person fell over backwards and a crowd of -similar creatures pattered off into the corner and regarded Kabumpo -uneasily. They were as tall as Pompa but very thin and tube-like in -shape and their heads appeared to be a mass of flickering flames. - -“Like giant candles,” reflected the Elegant Elephant, his curiosity -getting the better of his anger. He glanced about hurriedly. He was in a -huge white tiled chamber and the only lights came from the heads of its -singular occupants. A little distance away Prince Pompadore sat rubbing -first his knees and then his head. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“It’s another faller,” said one of the giant Candlemen to the other. -“Two fallers in one day! This is exciting—an ‘Ouch’ it calls itself!” - -“I don’t care what it calls itself,” answered the second Candleman -crossly. “I call it mighty rude. How dare you blow out our king?” -shouted the hot-headed fellow, shaking his fist at the Elegant Elephant. -“Here, some of you, light him up!” - -“Blow out your King?” gasped Kabumpo in amazement. Sure enough, he had. -There at his feet lay the King of the Candles, stiff and lifeless and -with never a head to bless himself with. While the Elegant Elephant -stared at the long candlestick figure a fat little Candleman rushed -forward and lit with his own head the small black wick sticking out of -the King’s collar. - -Instantly the ruddy flame face of the King appeared, his eyes snapping -dangerously. Jumping to his feet he advanced toward Pompadore. “Is this -your Ouch?” spluttered the King, jerking his thumb at Kabumpo. “You must -take him away at once. I never was so put out in my life. Me, the -hand-dipped King of the whole Illumi Nation, to be blown out by a bumpy -creature without any headlight. Where’s _your_ headlight?” he demanded -fiercely, leaning over the Prince and dropping hot tallow down his neck. - -Pompa jumped up in a hurry and backed toward Kabumpo. “Be careful how -you talk to him,” roared the Elegant Elephant, swaying backwards and -forward like a big ship. “He’s a Prince—the Prince of Pumperdink!” -Kabumpo tossed his trunk threateningly. - -“A Prince?” spluttered the King, changing his tone instantly. “Well, -that’s different. A Prince can fall in on us any time and welcome but an -Ouch! Why bring this great clumsy Ouch along?” He rolled his eyes -mournfully at Kabumpo. - -“He’s not an Ouch,” explained Pompa, who was gradually recovering from -the shock of his fall. “He is Kabumpo, an Elegant Elephant, and he blew -you out by mistake. Didn’t you, Kabumpo?” - -“Purely an accident—nothing intentional, I assure you,” chuckled -Kabumpo. He was beginning to enjoy himself. “If there’s any more trouble -I’ll blow ’em all out,” he reflected comfortably, “for they’re nothing -but great big candles.” - -Seeing their King in friendly conversation with the strangers, the other -Candlemen came closer—too close for comfort, in fact. They were always -leaning over and dropping hot tallow on a body and the heat from their -flaming heads was simply suffocating. - -“Sing the National Air for them,” said the Candle King carelessly and -the Candlemen, in their queer crackling voices, sang the following song, -swaying rhythmically to the tune: - - “Flicker, flicker, Candlemen, - Cheer our King and cheer again! - Neat as wax and always bright, - Cheer’s the King of candle light! - - Kindle lightly—dwindle slightly, - Here we burn both day and nightly, - Here we have good times to burn - Till each one goes out in turn.” - -“Thank you,” said Pompa, mopping his head with his silk handkerchief. - -“Thank you very much,” Kabumpo groaned plaintively, for the great -elephant was nearly stifled. - -“How is it you are so tall and thin?” asked Pompa after an awkward -pause. - -“How is it you are so short and lumpy and unevenly dipped?” responded -King Cheer promptly. “If I were in your place,” he gave Kabumpo a -contemptuous glance, “I’d have myself redipped. Where are your wicks? -And how can you walk about without being lighted?” - -“We’re not fireworks,” puffed Kabumpo indignantly and then he gave a -shrill scream. Ten Candlemen tottered and went out, falling to the -ground with a great clatter. Then Pompa leaped several feet in the air -and his scream put out five more. - -“Stop!” cried King Cheer angrily. “Stand where you are!” But Kabumpo and -Pompa neither stopped nor stood where they were. The Elegant Elephant -rushed over to the Prince and threw his heavy robe over his head. And -just in time, for Pompa’s golden locks were a mass of flames. Then the -Prince tore off his velvet jacket and clapped it to Kabumpo’s tail, -which also was blazing merrily. - -“Great Grump!” rumbled the Elegant Elephant furiously, when he had -extinguished Pompa and Pompa had extinguished him. “I’ll put you all out -for this!” He raised his trunk and pointed it straight at the Candlemen, -who cowered in the far corner. - -“I was only trying to light you up,” wailed a little fellow, holding out -his hands pleadingly. “I thought that was your wick.” He pointed a -trembling finger at Kabumpo’s tail and another at Pompa’s head. - -[Illustration: “I was only trying to light you up,” wailed the -Candleman] - -“Wick!” snorted Kabumpo in a rage—while the Prince ran his hand -sorrowfully through his one luxuriant pompadour, of which nothing but a -short stubble remained—“Wick! What would we be doing with wicks?” - -“I don’t think he meant any harm,” put in Pompadore, whose kind heart -was touched by the little Candleman’s terror. “And it wouldn’t help us -any.” - -“Thought it was my Wick,” shrilled Kabumpo, glaring over his shoulder at -his poor scorched tail. “He’s a wick-ed little wretch. He’s ruined your -looks.” - -“I know!” Pompa sighed dismally. “No one will want to marry me now. It’s -all coming true, Kabumpo, just as Count It Up said. Remember? ‘If a thin -Prince sets out on a fat elephant to find a Proper Princess, how many -yards of fringe will the elephant lose from his robe and how bald will -the Prince be at the end of the journey?’ And we’ve scarcely begun!” - -“Great hay stacks!” whistled Kabumpo, his little eyes twinkling. “So I -have lost every bit of fringe from my robe and my tail and half the back -of my robe besides. This is nice, I must say.” - -“We only tried to give you a warm welcome,” said the King timidly. - -“Warm welcome! Well I should think you did,” sniffed Kabumpo. “How do we -get out of here?” - -“Oh, that’s very simple,” said the King, cheering up. “Tommy, go for the -Snuffer.” - -Before Kabumpo or Pompa realized what this would mean a little Candleman -named Tommy Tallow had returned with a tall black candle person. He -stepped to the side wall, quickly jerked a rope and down over Kabumpo -dropped a great brass snuffer and over the Prince another. - -“That ought to put the cross old things out,” Pompa heard the King say -just before his snuffer reached the floor. - -“This is terrible,” fumed the poor Prince, thumping on the sides of the -huge brass dome. “I might as well have stayed at home and disappeared -comfortably. My poor old father and my mother! I wonder where they are -now?” - -Sunk in gloomy reflection, Pompadore leaned against the side of the -snuffer. And one cannot blame him for feeling dismal. The fall down the -deep passage, the shock of losing his hair and now imprisonment under a -stifling brass dome were enough to extinguish the hopes of the stoutest -hearted adventurer. - -“I shall never find a Proper Princess!” wailed Pompa, tying and untying -his handkerchief. But just then there was a creak from without and the -great dome lifted as suddenly as it had fallen—so suddenly in fact that -Pompa fell flat on his back. There stood Kabumpo winding up the long -rope with his trunk and grumbling furiously all the while. - -“Takes more than a snuffer to keep me down,” wheezed the Elegant -Elephant, hurrying over and jerking the Prince to his feet. “Three humps -of my shoulders and off she goes! What makes it so dark?” - -“The Candlemen have all gone,” sighed Pompa, brushing his hand wearily -across his forehead. “All except that one.” - -In a distant corner sat Tommy Tallow and the light from his head was the -only light in the great chamber. He was reading a book with tin leaves -and looked up in surprise when he saw the Elegant Elephant and Pompadore -approaching. Then he started to sputter and ran toward a bell rope at -the side of the chamber. - -“Stop!” shouted Kabumpo, “or I’ll blow off your head!” At that the -little Candleman trembled so violently that his flame head almost went -out. - -“Now suppose you show us the way out,” snapped the Elegant Elephant, -stamping one big foot until the floor trembled. - -“You could burn out!” gasped Tommy faintly. “That’s what we do!” - -“Don’t say out,” whispered Pompa anxiously. “We want to go away from -here,” he explained earnestly. “Back on the top of the ground, you -know.” - -“Oh!” whistled Tommy Tallow, his face lighting up. “That’s easy—this -way, please!” He almost ran to a big door at one side of the room and -tugging it open, waved them through. - -“Good-bye!” he called, slamming the door quickly behind them. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Kabumpo and the Prince found themselves in a wide dim hallway. It -slanted up gradually and there were tall candle guards stationed about a -hundred yards apart all of the way. - -“Are you going to a birthday party or a wedding?” asked the first guard, -as they passed him. - -“Wedding,” sniffed Kabumpo. “Why?” - -“Well, hardly any of the candles go out of here unless they’re needed -for a birthday or a wedding,” explained the guard, shifting his big -feet. “You’re mighty poorly made though. What kind of candles do you -call yourselves?” - -“Roman,” chuckled Kabumpo with a wink. “We roam around,” he added -ponderously. - -“Do all the candles used above ground come from here?” asked Pompa -curiously. - -“Certainly,” replied the guard. “All candles come from Illumi—and they -don’t like to leave either because as soon as they strike the upper air -they shrink down to ordinary cake and candlestick size. Distressing, -isn’t it?” - -“I suppose it must be,” smiled Pompadore. “Good-bye!” The guard touched -his flame hat and Kabumpo quickened his pace. - -“I want air,” rumbled the great elephant, panting along as fast as he -could go. “I’ve seen and felt about all I care to see and feel of the -Illumi Nation.” - -“So have I!” The Prince of Pumperdink touched his scorched locks and -sighed deeply. “I’m afraid Ozma will never marry me now, and Pumperdink -will disappear forever!” - -“Don’t be a Gooch!” snapped the Elegant Elephant shortly. “Our -adventures have only begun.” - -They passed the rest of the guards without further conversation, and -after about two hours came to the end of the long tiled passageway and -stepped upon firm ground again. - -Kabumpo was terribly out of breath, for the whole way had been up hill. -For a full minute he stood sniffing the fresh night air. Then, turning -around, he looked for the opening through which they had come. Not a -sign of the passage anywhere! - -“That’s curious,” puffed the Elegant Elephant. “But never mind. We don’t -want to go back anyway.” - -“I should say not,” gasped the Prince wearily. “Where are we now, -Kabumpo?” - -“Still in the Gilliken country, I think, but headed in the right -direction. All we have to do is to keep going South,” said the Elegant -Elephant cheerfully. - -“But we’ve had nothing to eat since morning,” objected Pompadore. - -“That’s so,” agreed Kabumpo, scratching his head thoughtfully, “and not -a house in sight!” - -“But I smell something cooking,” insisted the Prince, sniffing hungrily. - -“So do I,” said the Elegant Elephant, lifting his trunk, “and it smells -like soup. Let’s follow our noses, Pompa, my boy.” - -“Yours is the longest,” laughed the Prince, as Kabumpo swung him upon -the elephant’s back. So, guided by the fragrant whiffs that came -floating toward them, Kabumpo set out through the trees. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 12 - The Delicious Sea of Soup - - -“Strange that we don’t see any houses,” puffed Kabumpo, swinging along -rapidly. - -“I hear water,” answered Pompa, peering out over Kabumpo’s head, “and -there it is!” - -Rippling silver under the rays of the moon, which shone brightly, lay a -great inland sea. The trees had thinned out, and a smooth, sandy beach -stretched down to the shore. A slight mist hung in the air and all -around was the delicious fragrance of vegetable soup. - -“Somebody’s making soup,” sighed the Prince, “but who, and where?” - -“Never mind, Pompa,” wheezed the Elegant Elephant, walking down to the -water’s edge, “perhaps you can catch some fish, and while you cook them -I’ll go back and eat some leaves.” - -With a jerk of his trunk, Kabumpo pulled a length of the heavy silver -thread from his torn robe and handed it up to Pompa. Fastening a jeweled -pin to one end, the Prince cast his line far out into the waves. At the -first tug he drew it in. - -“What is it?” asked the Elegant Elephant, as Pompa pulled the dripping -line over his trunk. - -“Oh, how delicious! How wonderful!” exclaimed the once fastidious Prince -of Pumperdink. - -Kabumpo could hear him munching away with relish. - -“What is it?” he asked again. - -“A carrot! A lovely, red, delightful, tender carrot!” - -“Carrot! Who ever heard of a sea carrot?” grunted Kabumpo. “I’m afraid -you’re not yourself, my boy. Let me see it.” - -Snaps and crunches, as Pompa consumed his strange catch, were the only -answer, and in real alarm the Elegant Elephant moved away from the -shore, and in doing so bumped against a white sign, stuck in the sand. - -“Please Don’t Fall In,” directed the sign politely, “_It Spoils The -Soup_.” - -“Soup!” sputtered Kabumpo. Then another sign caught his eye: “_Soup -Sea—Salted To Taste—Help Yourself_.” - -“Come down—come down here directly!” cried the Elegant Elephant, -snatching the Prince from his back. “Here’s the soup—a whole sea full. -Now all you need is a bowl.” - -Swallowing convulsively the last bit of carrot, Pompa stood staring out -over the tossing, smoking soup sea. Every now and then a bone or a -vegetable would bob out of the waves, and the poor hungry Prince of -Pumperdink thought he had never seen a more lovely sight in his life. - -“We’ll probably be awarded a china medal for this,” chuckled the Elegant -Elephant. “Won’t old Pumper’s eyes stick out when we tell him about it? -But now for a bowl!” - -Swinging his trunk gently, Kabumpo walked up the white beach, and had -not gone more than a dozen steps before he came to a cluster of huge -shells. He turned one over curiously. “Why, it’s a soup bowl,” whistled -the Elegant Elephant. He rushed back with it to Pompadore, who still -stood dreamily surveying the soup. - -“I never thought I’d be so thrilled by a common soup bowl,” thought -Kabumpo, staring at the Prince in amusement. He stepped out on a rock -and dipped up a bowl of the hot liquid. - -“Here! Drink!” commanded the Elegant Elephant, handing the bowl to the -Prince. “Drink to the Proper Princess and the future Queen of -Pumperdink.” - -“Don’t go,” begged the Prince between gulps, “I shall want -two—three—several!” - -Kabumpo laughed good naturedly. “This is the pleasantest thing that has -happened to us. Here! Have another!” - -Then both Pompa and the Elegant Elephant gasped, for out of the bubbling -waves arose the most curious figure that they had ever seen—the most -curious and the jolliest. He was made entirely of soup bones, and his -head was a monster cabbage, with a soup bowl set jauntily on the side -for a cap. For a cabbage head he sang very well and this was the song to -which he kept time by waving a silver ladle: - - “Ho! I am the King of the Soup Sea, - Yes, I am the King of the Deep; - My crown is a bowl and my sceptre a ladle, - I fell in the soup when I fell from the cradle, - And find it exceedingly cheap! - - I stir it up nightly, and pepper it rightly— - A liquid perfection you’ll find. - And here is a roll, sirs, - So fill up your bowl, sirs, - And think of me after you’ve dined.” - -When he came to “dined,” the Soup King gave a playful leap and -disappeared backward into the waves. - -Pompa rubbed his eyes and looked at Kabumpo to see whether he had been -dreaming. - -“Oh!” cried Kabumpo, his eyes as round as little saucers. Floating -gently toward them were two large, crisp, buttered rolls. - -“The most charming King I’ve ever met,” chuckled Kabumpo, scooping up -the rolls and handing them to Pompa. - -Pompa, staring dreamily ahead, first took a drink of soup, then a nibble -of roll, too happy for speech. Four times the Elegant Elephant refilled -the bowl. Then, his stomach full for the first time since they had left -Pumperdink, the Prince stretched himself out on the sands. - -“Now,” puffed the Elegant Elephant ceremoniously, “if you think you’ve -had quite enough, I’ll snatch a few bites myself.” Chuckling softly he -made his way back to some young trees, and dined luxuriously off their -tops. - -When he returned to the beach, Pompa was fast asleep, and for a few -moments Kabumpo was inclined to sleep himself. “But then,” he reflected, -“Ozma may require a lot of coaxing before she consents to marry Pompa, -and two of our precious seven days are gone. It is plainly my duty to -save Pumperdink. Besides, when Pompa is married he will be King of Oz! -Then I, the Elegant Elephant, will be the biggest figure at Court.” - -Kabumpo threw up his trunk and trumpeted softly to the stars. Then, -giving himself a big shake and a little stretch, he lifted the sleeping -Prince to his back and started on again. In about two hours he had -circled the Soup Sea and, guiding himself by a particularly bright and -twinkling star, ran swiftly and steadily toward the South. - -As the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky, Kabumpo passed through -a quaint little Gilliken village. He snatched a bag of rolls from a -doorstep and stuck them into his pocket, but he did not stop, and so -fast asleep was the little village that except for a few wideawake -roosters, no one knew how important a person had passed through. - -The sky grew pinker and pinker. You have no idea how pink the morning -skies in Oz can be. Just as the sun got out of bed, the Elegant Elephant -came to the wonderful Emerald City itself, shining and fairylike as a -dream under the lovely colors of sunrise. Kabumpo paused and took a deep -breath. Even he was impressed, and it took a good bit to impress him. He -reached back and touched Pompa with his trunk. - -“Wake up, my boy,” whispered Kabumpo in a trembling voice. “Wake up and -put on your crown, for we have come to the city of your Proper -Princess.” - -Pompa sat up and rubbed his eyes in amazement. Without a word, he took -the crown Kabumpo handed up to him, and set it on his scorched, golden -head. Accustomed as Pompa was to grandeur, for Pumperdink is very -magnificent in its funny old-fashioned way, he could not help but gasp -at Ozma’s fair city. The lovely green parks, the houses studded with -countless emeralds, the shining marble streets, filled the Prince with -wonder. - -“I don’t believe she’ll ever marry me,” he stuttered, beginning to feel -quite frightened at his boldness. - -“Nonsense,” wheezed Kabumpo faintly. He was beginning to have misgivings -himself. “Sit up now! Look your best, and I’ll carry you straight into -the palace gardens.” - -No one was awake. Even the Soldier with the Green Whiskers lay snoring -against a tree, so that Kabumpo stole unobserved into the Royal Gardens. - -“I don’t see the palace,” whispered Pompa anxiously. “Wouldn’t it show -above the trees?” - -“It ought to,” said Kabumpo, wrinkling up his forehead. “But look! Who -is that?” - -Pompa’s heart almost stopped, and even Kabumpo’s gave a queer jump. On a -golden bench, just ahead, sat the loveliest person either had seen in -all of their eighteenth birthdays. - -“Ozma,” gasped the Elegant Elephant, as soon as he had breath enough to -whisper. “What luck! You must ask her at once.” - -“Not now,” begged the Prince of Pumperdink, as Kabumpo unceremoniously -helped him to the ground. His knees shook, his tongue stuck to the roof -of his mouth. He had never proposed to a Fairy Princess before in his -whole life. Then all at once he had an idea. Slipping his hand into the -Elegant Elephant’s pocket, he drew out the magic mirror. “I’ll see if -she’s a princess,” stuttered Pompa. - -The elephant shook his head angrily but was afraid to speak again lest -he disturb the quiet figure on the bench. - -“And I’ll not propose unless she is the one,” said Pompa, tip-toeing -toward the bench. Without making a sound he suddenly held the mirror -before the startled and lovely lady. - -“Glinda, good Sorceress of Oz,” flashed the mirror promptly. - -“Great gooseberries!” cried Glinda, springing to her feet in alarm and -swinging around on Pompa. “Where did you come from?” After studying a -whole day and night in her magic books, Glinda had returned to the -Emerald City to try to perfect her plan for rescuing Ozma. - -“From Pumperdink, your Highness,” puffed Kabumpo, lunging forward -anxiously. He, too, had seen the words in the mirror and the fear of -offending a Sorceress made him quake in his skin—which was loose enough -to quake in, dear knows! - -“A thousand pardons!” cried the Prince, dropping on one knee and taking -off his crown. “We were seeking Princess Ozma, the Fairy Ruler of Oz.” - -Glinda looked from Kabumpo to the Prince and controlled a desire to -laugh. The Elegant Elephant’s torn and scorched robe hung in rags from -his shoulders and his jeweled headpiece was dangling over one ear. -Pompa’s clothes were equally shabby and his almost bald head with a lock -sticking up here and there gave him a singular and comical appearance. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Pumperdink?” mused Glinda, tapping her foot thoughtfully. Then, like a -flash she remembered the entry in the Book of Records—“The Prince of -Pumperdink is journeying toward the Emerald City.” - -“Why did you want to see Ozma?” asked Glinda anxiously. Perhaps these -two strangers could throw some light on the mysterious disappearance of -the Royal Palace. - -“Our country was threatened with disappearance and I thought—” - -“He thought Ozma might help us,” finished the Elegant Elephant -breathlessly. He did not believe in telling strange Sorceresses about -everything. Now if Glinda had not been so occupied with the -disappearance of the palace and all the dearest people in Oz, she might -have been more curious about the disappearance of Pumperdink. As it was -she just shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid Ozma cannot help you,” she -said, “for Ozma herself has disappeared—Ozma and everyone in the -palace.” - -“Disappeared!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, sitting down with a thud. -“Great Grump! The thing’s getting to be a habit!” - -What was to become of Pompa now? Would he never be King, nor he, -Kabumpo, ever be known as the most Elegant Elephant in Oz? Had they made -the long journey in vain? - -“Where? When?” gasped Prince Pompadore. - -“Night before last,” explained Glinda. “I’ve been consulting my magic -books ever since but have only been able to discover one fact.” - -“What is that?” asked Kabumpo faintly. - -“That they are in Ev,” said Glinda, “and that a giant carried them off. -I came here early this morning to see whether I could discover anything -new. Would you care to see where the castle stood?” - -“Did he carry the castle off, too?” shuddered Pompa. Glinda nodded -gloomily and led them over to the great hole in the center of the -gardens. - -For a minute she stood watching them. Then, glancing at a golden sun -dial set in the center of a lovely flower bed, she murmured half to -herself, “I must be off!” Next instant she clapped her hands and down -swept a shining chariot drawn by white swans. - -“Good-bye!” called Glinda, springing in lightly. “I’m off to Ev to try -my magic against the giant’s. Wait here and when I’ve helped Ozma -perhaps I can help you!” - -“Can’t we help? Can’t we go?” cried Pompa, running a few steps after the -chariot, but Glinda, already high in the air, did not hear him and in -the wink of an eye the chariot and its lovely occupant had melted into -the pink morning clouds. - -“Now what shall we do?” groaned the Prince, letting his arms drop -heavily at his sides. - -“Do!” snorted Kabumpo. “The thing for you to do is to act like a Prince -instead of a Gooch! There are other ways of getting to Ev than by -chariot.” - -The thought of Kabumpo in Glinda’s chariot made Pompa smile in spite of -himself. - -“There! That’s better,” said the Elegant Elephant more pleasantly. - -“Now, what’s to hinder us from going to Ev and rescuing Princess Ozma? -She couldn’t help marrying you if you saved her from a giant, could -she?” - -“But could I save her—that’s the question,” muttered the Prince, looking -uneasily at the yawning cavity where the castle had stood. “This giant -must be a terrible fellow!” - -“Pooh!” said Kabumpo airily. “Who’s afraid of giants? I’ll wind my trunk -around his leg and pull him to earth. Then you can dispatch the villain. -We must get you a sword, though,” he added softly. - -“All right! I’ll do it!” cried the Prince, throwing out his chest. The -very thought of killing a giant made him feel about ten feet high. “Do -you know the way to Ev, Kabumpo? We’ll have to hurry, because unless I -marry Ozma before the seven days are up my poor old father and mother -and all of Pumperdink will disappear forever.” - -You see, even Pompa had now got it into his head that Ozma was the -Proper Princess mentioned in the scroll. - -“We’ll start at once,” sighed the Elegant Elephant a bit ruefully. “I’ve -had no sleep and precious little to eat but when you are King of Oz you -can reward old Kabumpo as he deserves.” - -“Everything I have will be yours,” cried the Prince, giving the -elephant, or as much of him as he could grasp, a sudden hug. Then each -took a long drink from one of the bubbling fountains and, munching the -rolls Kabumpo had picked up in the Gilliken village, the two adventurers -stole out of the gardens. - -As they reached the gates, Kabumpo paused and his little eyes twinkled -with delight. There lay the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, snoring -tremendously and beside him was a long, sharp sword with an emerald -handle. “Just what we need,” chuckled Kabumpo, snatching it up in his -trunk. Then out through the gates and swiftly through the still sleeping -city swept the Elegant Elephant and the Prince of Pumperdink, off to -rescue Princess Ozma, a prisoner in Ev! - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 13 - On The Road To Ev - - -In their journey to Ev, Peg and Wag had a night’s start of Kabumpo and -Prince Pompadore, but towards morning Wag’s ears began to droop with -sleep. - -“Gotta natch a sap, Peg,” Wag muttered thickly, as they halted on a -little hill. - -“Natch a sap? What’s that?” asked the Wooden Doll anxiously. Wag made no -answer—just flopped on his side and in a minute was asleep and snoring -tremendously. - -“Oh!” whispered Peg, pulling herself gently from beneath the sleeping -rabbit. “He meant snatch a nap.” - -She laughed softly and seated herself under a small tree. The birds were -beginning to waken and their singing filled Peg Amy with delight. “How -wonderful it all is,” she murmured, gazing up at the little ruffly pink -clouds. “How wonderful it is to be alive!” - -“Hello! Mr. Robin!” she called gaily, as a bird flew to a low bush -beside her. “Are your children quite well?” - -The robin swung backward and forward on his swaying branch; then burst -into his best morning song. - -“Oh!” cried Peg Amy, clasping her wooden hands, “I’ve heard that before! -But how could I?” she reasoned, “I’m only a Wooden Doll and this is the -first morning I have been alive. But then, how did I know it was a -robin?” - -Peg rubbed her wooden forehead in perplexity, for it was all very -puzzling indeed. Below their little hill stretched the lovely land of -the Winkies, with its great green forests and little yellow villages. -The wind sent the leaves dancing above Peg’s head and the early sunbeams -made lovely patterns on the grass. - -“I’ve seen it before!” gasped the Wooden Doll breathlessly. “The trees, -the birds, the houses and everything!” Springing to her feet she ran -awkwardly from bush to tree, touching the leaves and bending over the -flowers as if they were old friends. Had it not been for the squeaking -of her wooden joints, Peg would almost have forgotten she was a Wooden -Doll, for at the sight of the lovely green growing things something warm -and sunny seemed to waken in her stiff wooden breast. “I’ve been alive -before,” said Peg Amy over and over. - -Suddenly, through the still morning air, came a loud, shrill laugh. Peg, -who had been standing with her cheek pressed closely against a small -tree, swung around quickly—so quickly in fact that she fell over and lay -in a ridiculously bent double position before the new-comers. - -It was Kabumpo and the Prince of Pumperdink. Traveling by the same road -Wag had chosen but much more rapidly, the Elegant Elephant had come at -sunrise to the little hill. He had been watching Peg for some time, and -when he saw her dance awkwardly over to the tree, he could no longer -restrain himself. - -“Get out your mirror!” roared Kabumpo, shaking all over with mirth. -“Here is your Proper Princess, Pompa, my boy—as royal a maiden as the -country boasts. Ho, ho! Kerumph!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Pompa, looking down curiously at the -comical figure of Peg Amy. - -“But she’s so funny!” gasped Kabumpo, the tears rolling down his big -cheeks. - -“Who’s funny?” demanded an angry voice and Wag, who had been awakened by -Kabumpo’s loud roars, hopped up, his ears quivering with rage. - -“I’ll pull your long nose for you!” cried Wag, advancing threateningly. -“Don’t you dare make fun of Peg. What are you, anyway?” - -“Great Grump!” choked Kabumpo, without answering Wag’s inquiry. “What -kind of a rabbit is this?” - -“A clawing, chawing, scratching kind—as you’ll soon find out!” Wag drew -himself up into a ball and prepared to launch himself at Kabumpo’s head, -when Peg straightened up and caught him by the ear. - -“Don’t, Wag, please,” she begged. “He couldn’t help laughing. I am -funny. You know I am!” she sighed a bit ruefully. - -“You’re not funny to me,” blustered Wag, still glaring at Kabumpo. “Who -does he think he is?” - -“I?” sniffed Kabumpo, spreading out his ears complacently, “I am the -Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink. Notice my pearls; gaze upon my robe.” - -“You don’t look very elegant to me,” snorted Wag. “You look more like a -tramp. Says he’s a lelegant nelephant from Dumperpink,” he whispered -scornfully to Peg. - -“And what’s that you’ve got on your back?” he called, with a wave of his -paw at Pompa. “A dunce?” - -“Dunce!” screamed Kabumpo furiously. “This is the Prince of Pumperdink, -you good-for-nothing lettuce-eater! What do you mean by laughing at -royalty?” - -“Royalty! Oh, ha, ha, ha!” roared Wag, rolling over and over in the -grass. “But he’s so funny!” He paused to take another look at the -Prince. At this Kabumpo lunged forward, his eyes snapping angrily. - -“Stop!” begged the Prince, tugging Kabumpo by the ear. “You were rude to -his friend that—er—doll, so you must expect him to be rude to me. It’s -all your fault,” he added reproachfully. - -“Are you a Prince?” asked Peg Amy, staring up at Pompa with her round, -painted eyes. - -“Of course he’s a Prince. Didn’t I say so before? Who is that hoppy -creature?” - -“That’s Wag—such a dear fellow.” Peg smiled confidently at Kabumpo and -he was suddenly ashamed of himself for laughing at her. - -“Well, he needn’t get waggish with me,” grumbled the Elegant Elephant in -a lower voice. - -“Oh, don’t quarrel!” begged Peg. “It’s such a lovely morning and you -both look so interesting.” - -Kabumpo eyed the big Wooden Doll attentively. It was smart of her to -think him interesting. He cleared his throat gruffly. - -“You’re not as funny as you look,” he admitted grandly, which was the -nearest to an apology he had ever come. “But what are you doing here and -why are you alive?” - -“I don’t know,” explained Peg apologetically. “It just happened last -night.” - -“It did? Well, where are you going?” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Wag still looked cross and his nose was twitching violently, but Peg -politely answered Kabumpo’s question. - -“We’re on our way to Ev to try to help Ozma,” said the Wooden Doll, -folding her hands quaintly. - -“Why so are _we_!” cried Pompa, sliding down Kabumpo’s trunk in a hurry. - -“How do _you_ expect to help her?” grunted Kabumpo, looking at Wag and -Peg contemptuously. - -“Don’t mind him,” begged Pompa, running up to Peg Amy. “Tell me -everything you know about Ozma. Is she pretty?” - -“Beautiful,” breathed Peg, looking up at the sky. “Beautiful and lovely -and good. That’s why I want to help her.” - -“Then I sha’n’t mind marrying her at all,” said Pompa, with a great sigh -of relief. - -“Gooch!” roared Kabumpo angrily—“Telling everything you know!” - -“Do you mean to say you think Ozma would marry _you_?” gasped Wag, -sitting up with a jerk. “Oh, my wocks and hoop soons!” His ears crossed -and uncrossed and with a final gurgle of disbelief Wag fell back on the -grass. - -“Well, is there anything so strange in that?” asked Pompa in a hurt -voice. “I’ve _got_ to marry her,” he added, desperately appealing to Peg -Amy. And while Kabumpo stood sulkily swinging his trunk the Prince told -Peg the whole story of the magic scroll. - -“I said you looked interesting,” breathed Peg, as Pompa paused for -breath. “Did you hear that, Wag? Unless he marries a Proper Princess in -a proper time his whole Kingdom will disappear—his Kingdom and everyone -in it!” - -“But how do you know Ozma is the Proper Princess?” asked Wag, chewing a -blade of grass. “The scroll didn’t say Ozma, did it?” - -“Kabumpo thinks Ozma is the Proper Princess,” explained Pompadore, -nodding toward the Elegant Elephant, “and he’s usually right!” - -“Humph!” sniffed Wag. “Well, maybe you are a Prince. You’re not really -bad looking if you had some fur on your head,” he remarked more amiably. -“What happened? Somebody pull it out?” - -“Oh, Wag!” murmured Peg Amy, in a shocked voice. - -“Burned off,” sighed Pompa, and proceeded to tell of their fall into the -Illumi Nation. He even told them about the Soup Sea and of their meeting -with Glinda, the Good. - -“Don’t you care,” said the big Wooden Doll, as Pompa mournfully rubbed -his scorched head. “It will soon grow again and I don’t see how Ozma -could help loving you—you’re so tall, and so polite.” This kind little -speech affected Pompa so deeply that he dropped on one knee and raised -Peg’s wooden hand to his lips. - -“The creature has a lot of sense,” mumbled Kabumpo, with his mouth full -of leaves. - -“Creature!” exclaimed Wag, sitting up straight and opening his eyes -wide. “Her name is Peg Amy, Mr. Nelegant Lelephant.” - -“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo hastily. “But you’ll have to admit -she’s curious.” - -“Of course she is,” said Wag complacently. “That’s why I like her. She -wasn’t cut out to be a beauty, but to be companionable, and she is. When -you’ve known Peg as long as I have”—Wag paused impressively—“you’ll be -proud to carry her on your back, Mr. Long Nose!” - -“I’ve only known her a few minutes and I adore her!” said Pompa -heartily. “Mistress Peg and I are good friends already.” Peg curtseyed -awkwardly. “I’ve done this before,” she reflected curiously to herself. - -“Shall we tell them about Ruggedo?” Peg asked aloud, turning to Wag. - -“Yes, do!” begged Pompa. “Tell us something about yourselves. I never -saw so large a rabbit in my life as Wag and as for _you_!”—Pompa paused, -for Wag was eying him resentfully—“you are the largest, most delightful -doll I have ever met, the only alive one, I might say. How did you know -about Ozma’s disappearance and how were you going to help her?” - -“Mixed Magic!” whispered Wag, crossing his ears and his eyes as well. -“Mixed Magic!” - -“Magic?” gulped Kabumpo, swallowing a branch of sticky leaves whole. -“Have _you_ any magic?” - -“A whole box full,” sighed Peg Amy, patting her pocket softly. - -“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” shrilled Wag, -pointing a trembling paw. “In that box is the magic that made us grow. -In that box is the magic that caused Ozma’s castle to disappear—!” - -[Illustration: “In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” -shrilled Wag] - -“Great Grump!” whistled Kabumpo. “How fortunate we fell in with them, -Pompa.” He held out his trunk. “Give me the box, my good girl, and you -shall be fittingly rewarded when Pompa is King of Oz.” - -“That’s a long time to wait,” chuckled Wag, tickled by Kabumpo’s -outrageous impudence. “No, Peg and I will just keep the box, thank you.” - -“Of course you will,” said Prince Pompadore, frowning at Kabumpo. “But -as we are both bound on the same errand, let us travel together. Kabumpo -and I are going to kill the giant who ran off with the castle.” - -The Prince held up his long sword. “And if you can help us, I shall -thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Pompa stretched out his hand -impulsively. - -“Well, that’s more like,” said Wag, pulling his ear thoughtfully. “And -four heads are better than two!” - -“Of course we’ll help you!” cried Peg Amy. “The trouble is, we don’t -know ourselves how to open the magic box, but we do know that Ruggedo is -in Ev and when we get there we will make him open the box and undo all -this mischief.” - -“You mentioned him before,” said Kabumpo, holding up his trunk. “Who is -Ruggedo and what has he to do with Ozma?” - -“Ruggedo is a wicked little gnome,” explained Peg Amy gravely. “He used -to be King of the Gnomes but he was banished from his Kingdom and Ozma -gave him a little cottage in the Emerald City. He pretended to live -there, but instead he tunneled a cave right underneath the palace. Wag -helped him dig.” Peg waved her hand at the rabbit. “And he was the only -one who would stay with him. Then Ruggedo stole me. I was only a small, -unalive doll, belonging to Trot, a little girl who lives with Ozma. -Ruggedo stole me just to shake,” continued Peg shuddering. - -“That’s why I’m going to pound his curly toes off!” screamed Wag, -beginning to hop about at the very thought of Ruggedo. - -“But how did you come to be so large and alive?” asked Kabumpo, who was -growing more interested. - -“Well, one night”—Peg dropped her voice to a whisper—“One night Ruggedo -found this box of Mixed Magic hidden in the cave and then—” - -“Then,” screamed Wag hoarsely, “in some way we don’t understand, Peg and -I grew big, Peg came alive, the top blew off the cave—and depend upon -it, whatever’s happened to Ozma and her palace happened from something -in that box. It’s all Ruggedo’s fault. When I catch him”—Wag began to -wiggle his nose and paw his whiskers—“my wocks and hoop soons! I’ll -pound his curly toes off!” - -“And I’ll help you!” cried Kabumpo heartily. He could not help but -admire such spirit. “Come on—let’s start. You may ride on my back with -Pompa if you care to,” finished the Elegant Elephant with a sidelong -glance at Peg. - -“Oh, thank you,” smiled the Wooden Doll, “but Wag will carry me.” - -“I always carry Peg,” said Wag jealously. “I’ve known her the longest.” - -“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo, lifting Pompa up, “but if she ever -_wants_ to ride on my back she may.” - -“Humph!” grunted Wag, as the Wooden Doll settled herself on his -shoulders. “Isn’t he generous!” - -Peg pulled down one of Wag’s long ears. “It was kindly meant,” whispered -the Wooden Doll merrily. - -“Ready?” puffed Kabumpo, backing out into the road. “We’ve no time to -lose, for if we lose time we lose our Kingdom too. Forward for -Pumperdink!” - -“All right!” cried Wag, giving a great leap. “Follow me!” And off hopped -the giant bunny so fast that Kabumpo had to stretch his legs even to -keep him in sight. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 14 - Terror In Ozma’s Palace - - -Meanwhile strange things had been happening in Ozma’s palace. For the -people inside it had been a very mean time indeed. During Ruggedo’s run -to the mountains of Ev, they had almost been shaken out of their wits -and when he sat down upon the mountain top there was not a person nor -piece of furniture standing in the whole palace. Courtiers and servants -who were not knocked senseless lay shaking in their beds or huddled in -corners and under sofas and chairs, just as they had fallen when the -first terrible crash lifted the palace into the air. - -Ozma’s four poster bed had collapsed, pinning the little Fairy Princess -under a mass of silk hangings and curtain poles. Being a fairy, Ozma was -unhurt, but not being able to move, nor to reach her Magic Belt or even -make herself heard, she was forced to lie perfectly still and wait for -help. - -In Dorothy’s sitting room there was not a sound but the ticking of the -Copper Man’s machinery. Trot and Betsy Bobbin had knocked their heads -together so smartly that they were unconscious. Sir Hokus had been -hurled violently against Tik Tok and the poor Knight had known nothing -since. Dorothy lay quietly beside him, an ugly bruise on her forehead, -where the emerald clock had landed. - -“Scraps!” called the Scarecrow, sometime after the rumble and tumble had -ceased, “are you there?” - -“No, here!” gasped the Patch Work Girl, sitting up cautiously. She had -bounced all around the room and finally rolled into a corner quite close -to the Scarecrow himself. She put out her cotton hand as she spoke and -touched him. - -“How fortunate we are unbreakable,” said the Scarecrow, pressing her -cotton fingers convulsively and trying to peer out through the intense -blackness of the room. “What happened?” - -“Earthquake!” shivered Scraps. “And maybe it’s not over!” - -“Must have knocked everybody silly,” said the Scarecrow huskily. - -“Except us,” giggled the Patch Work Girl. “We couldn’t be knocked silly -’cause we were silly in the first place.” - -“Now, don’t make jokes, please,” begged the Scarecrow. “This is serious. -Besides, I want to think.” - -“All right,” said Scraps cheerfully. “I don’t—but I’m going to feel -around and see if I can find the matches. There used to be some candles -on the mantel and—” As she spoke, Scraps fell headlong over Sir Hokus of -Pokes and as luck would have it her cotton fingers closed over a small -gold match box. Picking herself up carefully, Scraps struck a match on -Sir Hokus’ armor and looked anxiously around the room. - -“They need water,” said the Patch Work Girl, wrinkling up her patchwork -forehead. - -“So will you if you don’t blow out that match!” cried the Scarecrow in -alarm, for Scraps continued to hold the match till it burned to the very -end. He jumped up clumsily and puffed out the light just in time. Scraps -promptly lit another and as she did so the Scarecrow saw a tall blue -candle sticking out of the waste basket. - -“Here,” said the Straw Man nervously. “Light this and stand it on the -mantel there.” By the flickering candle light the Scarecrow and Scraps -tried to set Dorothy’s room to rights. They dragged the mattress from -the bed-room and placed the little girls on it, side by side. Sir Hokus -was too heavy to move, so they merely loosened his armor and put a sofa -cushion under his head. Then, just as Scraps was going for some water, -the room began to tremble again. - -“I told you it wasn’t over,” cried Scraps, flinging both arms about the -Scarecrow’s neck. And as they rocked to and fro she shouted merrily: - - “Shaker! Shaker! Who art thee, - To shake a castle like a tree? - Shaker! Shaker! Go away - And come again some other day!” - -“Now, Scraps,” begged the Scarecrow, steadying the Patch Work Girl with -one hand and catching hold of a table with the other, “everything -depends on us. Do try to keep your head!” - -“Keep my head!” shrilled Scraps, as the room tilted over and slid all -the furniture sideways. “I’ll be lucky if I keep my feet. Whoopee! Here -we go!” And go they did with a rush into the farthest corner. Slowly the -room righted itself and everything grew quiet again. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“I know what I’m going to do,” said the Scarecrow determinedly. “Before -anything else happens I’m going to see what has happened already.” - -“How?” asked Scraps, bouncing to her feet. - -[Illustration: Dorothy and Toto] - -“The Magic Picture,” gasped the Scarecrow. “You bring the candle, -Scraps, like a good girl. You’re less liable to take fire than I am. -Then we’ll come back and help Dorothy and the others.” - -“Good idea,” said Scraps, taking the candle from the mantel. -Breathlessly the two tip-toed along the hall to Ozma’s apartment. On the -wall in one of Ozma’s rooms hangs the most magic possession in Oz. It is -a picture representing a country scene, but when you ask it where a -certain person is, immediately he is shown in the picture and also what -he is doing at the time. - -“So,” murmured the Scarecrow, as they gained the room in safety, “if it -tells where other people are, it ought to tell us where we are -ourselves.” - -Drawing aside the curtain that covered the picture the Scarecrow -demanded loudly, “Where are we?” - -Scraps held the candle so that its flickering rays fell directly on the -picture. Then both jumped in earnest, for in a flash the face of -Ruggedo, the wicked old gnome King, appeared, on his head a great, green -towering sort of hat. - -The Scarecrow seized the candle from Scraps and held it closer to the -picture. He squinted up one eye and almost rubbed his painted nose off. - -“Great Kinkajous!” spluttered the Straw Man distractedly. “That’s a -palace on his head—an Emerald palace—Ozma’s palace!” - -“But how?” asked Scraps, her suspender button eyes almost dropping out. -“He’s nothing but a gnome. He’s—” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Before Scraps could finish her sentence the palace began to tilt forward -and they both fell upon their faces. Then the picture jerked loose and -fell with a clattering slam on their heads, followed by such ornaments -as had not already tumbled down before. Through it all Scraps held the -candle high in air and fortunately it did not go out, despite the -turmoil. - -In a few moments the palace stopped rocking and a muffled call from Ozma -sent the Scarecrow and Scraps hurrying to her bedside. After some -trouble, for they were both flimsily made, they managed to free the -little Princess of Oz from the poles and bed curtains. - -“Goodness!” sighed Ozma, looking around at the terrible confusion. - -“Not goodness, but badness,” said the Scarecrow, settling his hat -firmly, “and Ruggedo is at the bottom of it and of us.” He quickly -explained to Ozma what he had seen in the Magic Picture. - -Slipping on a silk robe, Ozma followed them into the next room. When the -picture had been rehung, they all looked again. This time Ozma asked -where the palace was. Immediately the old Gnome King appeared and there -could be no mistake—the palace was set squarely on his head. The picture -did not show the real size of Ruggedo nor of the palace, but it was -enough. - -“He must have sprung into a giant,” gasped Ozma, scarcely believing her -eyes. “Oh, what shall we do?” - -“The first thing to do is to keep him quiet. Every time he shakes his -head it tumbles us about so,” complained the Scarecrow, plumping up the -straw in his chest. “And we must look after Dorothy and Betsy and Trot.” - -“And Sir Hokus,” added the Patch Work Girl, flinging out one hand. “He’s -yearning to slay a giant. ’Way for the Giant Killer!” - -Without waiting for the others Scraps ran back to Dorothy’s sitting -room. Lighting another candle, for all the lights in the palace were -out, Ozma and the Scarecrow followed. - -“Odds Goblins!” gasped the Knight, as they entered. He was sitting up -with one hand to his head. - -“Not goblins—giants!” cried the Patch Work Girl, with a bounce, while -Ozma ran for some water to restore her three little friends. - -“Where?” puffed the Knight, lurching to his feet. - -“Beneath you,” said the Scarecrow, clutching at a wisp of straw that -stuck out of his head. “Say! Some one wind up Tik Tok. There’s a lot of -thinking to be done here and his head works very well, even if it has -wheels inside.” - -Sir Hokus, though still a bit dizzy, hastened to wind up all the Copper -Man’s keys. - -“Thanks,” said Tik Tok immediately. “Give me a lift up, Ho-kus.” The -Knight obligingly helped the Copper Man to his feet. Then both stared in -amazement at the topsy turvy room. Even in the dim candle light they -could see that something very serious had occurred. - -Jack Pumpkinhead picked himself up out of a corner, looking very much -dazed. - -[Illustration: Jack Pumpkinhead] - -Just then Dorothy opened her eyes, and Betsy and Trot, spluttering from -the water the Patch Work Girl was pouring on their heads, sat up and -wanted to know what had happened. In a few words Ozma told them what the -magic picture had revealed. - - “Ruggedo to a giant’s grown - And set us on his head. - We’ve made some headway, you’ll admit, - Since we have gone to bed!” - -—shouted Scraps, who was growing more and more excited. - -“Rug-ge-do will nev-er re-form,” ticked the Copper Man sadly. - -“But what are we going to do?” wailed Dorothy. “Suppose he leans over -and spills us all out?” - -“I shall take my sword,” said Sir Hokus, speaking very determinedly, and -backing toward the window as he spoke, “climb down, and slay the -villain.” He threw one leg over the sill. - -“Come back!” cried Ozma. “Dear Sir Hokus, don’t you realize that if you -kill Ruggedo he will fall down and break us to pieces? Besides, wicked -as he is, I could not have him killed.” - -“Yes, we should be all broken up if you did that,” sighed the Scarecrow. -“We must try something else.” - -Reluctantly, the Knight dropped back into the room. “Close the windows,” -ordered Ozma with a little shudder. - -“I’ve thought of a plan,” said Tik Tok, in his slow, painstaking way. “A -ve-ry good plan.” - -“Tell us what it is,” begged Dorothy. “And Oh, Tik Tok, hurry!” - -“Eggs,” said the Copper Man solemnly. - -“Oh!” gasped Dorothy, “I remember. Eggs are the only things in Oz that -Ruggedo is afraid of; for if an egg touches a gnome he shrivels up and -disappears.” - -“Then where are the eggs?” demanded Sir Hokus gloomily. “In faith, this -sounds more like an omelet than a battle. But if we’re to fight with -eggs instead of swords, let us draw them at once.” - -“You mean throw them,” corrected Dorothy. But Tik Tok shook his head -violently. - -“Not throw them,” said the Copper Man slowly, “threat-en to throw them.” - -“But how can we threaten a giant so far below us?” asked Ozma. - -“Print a sign,” directed Tik Tok calmly, “and low-er it down to him.” - -“Tik Tok,” cried the Scarecrow, rushing forward and embracing him -impulsively, “your patent-action-double-guaranteed brains are marvels. I -couldn’t have thought up a better plan myself.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Now off ran Scraps to fetch a huge piece of cardboard, and the Scarecrow -for a paint brush, and Sir Hokus for a piece of rope. - -“It’s growing lighter,” quavered Trot, looking toward the windows. The -sky was turning gray with little streaks of pink, and the three girls -huddled together on the mattress gave a sigh of relief; for nothing, not -even a giant, seems so bad by daylight. - -“Perhaps someone has already started to help us,” said Ozma hopefully. -“But here’s the sign board. What shall we write?” - -“How shall I begin?” asked the Scarecrow, dipping the brush into a can -of green paint. “Dear Ruggedo?” - -“I should say not,” said Dorothy indignantly. - -“Then I shall simply say, Sir,” said the Scarecrow. - -“If you move or turn or shake your head a-gain, ten thou-sand eggs will -be hurl-ed from the pal-ace windows,” suggested Tik Tok. - -As this message met with general approval, the Scarecrow set it down -with many flourishes and blotches of paint spilled between. Then Ozma -painted her name and the Royal seal of Oz at the end. - -Meanwhile, with the help of a pair of field glasses, Sir Hokus had -located Ruggedo’s nose, sticking out like a huge cliff below the middle -window of Dorothy’s room. So, tying a long rope to each corner of the -sign, and rolling it up so it would go through the window, the Knight -let it down till it dangled directly in front of Ruggedo’s nose. - -At first Ruggedo did not even see the sign, which was about as large as -the tiniest visiting card—compared to him. But it blew against his face -and tickled his cheek. He tried to brush it away. Then, suddenly -noticing it was dangling from above, he seized it in one hand and held -it close to his left eye. The words were so small for a giant that -Ruggedo had to squint fearfully before he could make them out at all, -but when he did he gave a bloodcurdling scream, and began to tremble -violently. - -[Illustration: “Ruggedo gave a bloodcurdling scream and began to tremble -violently”] - -Up in the palace the entire company fell over and twenty windows were -shaken to bits. Then everything grew quiet and there was perfect -silence; for Ruggedo, realizing his danger, grew rigid with fright. -Giant drops of perspiration trickled down his forehead. How long could -he keep from moving? - -“Well,” said Dorothy after a few minutes had passed, “I guess that will -keep him quiet, but what next? Shall we let ourselves down with ropes?” - -“We have none long enough,” said Sir Hokus. - -“Then I’ll fall out and go for help,” said the Scarecrow brightly, and -started toward the window. When he reached it he paused in astonishment. -“Look,” he cried, waving excitedly to the others, “here comes someone, -walking right over the clouds.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 15 - The Sand Man Takes a Hand - - -Someone was coming toward the palace. A little gray-cloaked old -gentleman—a surprisingly quick and nimble old gentleman—springing from -cloud to cloud and pausing now and then to straighten a huge sack he -carried over his left shoulder. He was so busy admiring the lovely sky -colors behind him and waving merrily at the fluffy cloud figures above -his head, that he did not see Ozma’s shining palace until he was almost -upon it. - -“Stars!” murmured the little old gentleman, balancing perilously on the -very edge of a silver cloud. “Another air castle! How delightful! I -shall jump right through it!” - -Gathering himself together he leaped straight toward the window out of -which Dorothy and Ozma and the others were looking. With a soft thud he -struck the emerald setting just above the window, and down tumbled his -sack, opening as it fell and filling the air with clouds of silver sand. -Down tumbled the little old gentleman, turning over and over, and -finally landing on a blankety white cloud far below. - -All of this Dorothy saw, and was about to ask Ozma what it could mean -when an overpowering drowsiness stole over her. Before she could speak -her eyes closed, and she sank backward into a big arm chair. Trot and -Betsy Bobbin with two little sighs crumpled down to the floor. The head -of Sir Hokus dropped heavily on the sill, and not even in Pokes had he -snored so lustily. Ozma slipped gently down beside Betsy and Trot, and -in a moment there was not a person awake in that whole big palace. Even -the little mice in the kitchen were fast asleep, with heads on their -paws. - -Did I say everyone? Well, not quite everyone had fallen under the -strange spell. Tik Tok, Scraps, and the Scarecrow, who had never slept -in their lives, were still wide awake, and regarding their companions -with astonishment and alarm. The Tin Woodman was taking things calmly, -oiling up his joints and polishing his tin jacket with silver polish. - -“This is no time to sleep,” cried the Scarecrow, shaking Sir Hokus. “I -say—wake up!” But all their efforts to arouse their companions were in -vain. - -“En-chant-ment,” said the Copper Man. “Some—” With a click and a whirr -Tik Tok’s machinery ran down, and as Scraps and the Scarecrow were too -upset to think of winding him, he stood as silent and dumb as the rest. - -“What shall we do?” cried the Scarecrow, seizing Scraps’ arm. “Jump out -of the window and go for help, or stay here and guard the palace?” - -Scraps looked out of the window. “Stay here,” shuddered the Patch Work -Girl, drawing in her head quickly. - -“Then,” said the Scarecrow, “let us arm ourselves and prepare to -withstand any attack.” He snatched up a pair of fire tongs and Scraps -grasped the poker. Falling into step, the two marched from the top to -the bottom of the palace. Everywhere the same sight met their gaze; -rooms turned topsy turvy, and spread over floors and sofas and chairs -the sleeping figures of Ozma’s once lively Courtiers and servants. The -effect was so distressing that Scraps and the Scarecrow found themselves -whispering and treading about on tip-toe. After inspecting the whole -palace they returned to Dorothy’s room and placed themselves -disconsolately in the doorway. - -“Anyway, Ruggedo is quiet,” sighed the Scarecrow, “and that is -something.” - -Scraps started to make a verse, but the silence and the ghostlike -atmosphere of the sleeping palace had dashed even the spirits of the -Patch Work Girl and she subsided with an indistinct mumble. - -Ruggedo was silent for a very good reason. Ruggedo was asleep, -too—asleep sitting up as stiff as a stone image, for even in his sleep -he dreamed of the dreaded bombardment of eggs. - -All this had happened because the little man in gray had taken Ozma’s -palace for an air castle, and who could blame him for that? Even the -Sand Man would not expect to find a regular palace set among the clouds. -There are plenty of dream castles, to be sure, and one of the Sand Man’s -chief delights is to jump through them and admire their lovely -furniture. But sure-enough castles—the little fellow could not get over -it. Sitting cross-legged on the white cloud, which floated close to -Ruggedo’s head, he stared and stared. - -[Illustration: The Tin Woodman, oiling up his joints] - -“Well, I never,” chuckled the Sand Man, and turned a somersault for very -amazement. Then, not knowing what else to do or think, he sensibly -decided to hurry home and tell the whole affair to his wife. His empty -bag he found on a tall treetop, and without one backward glance he -bounded into the air and disappeared. Really, it was quite lucky the -little old gentleman spilled his bag of sand where he did, for the only -safe giant is a sleeping giant, and while Ozma and her friends lay -dreaming they could not worry. - -“Will they sleep forever?” sighed Scraps, after she and the Scarecrow -had sat silently for an hour. - -“Seems likely,” said the Scarecrow gloomily. “But even if they do,” he -plucked three straws from his chest, “we shall stick to our post to the -very end.” - -The Scarecrow regarded the sleeping figures of the little girls -affectionately. - -“To the end of forever?” gulped Scraps, putting her cotton finger in her -mouth. “How long is that?” - -“That,” said the Scarecrow resignedly and settling himself comfortably, -“that is what we shall soon see.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 16 - Kabumpo Vanquishes The Twigs - - -“Do you think you were alive before?” asked Kabumpo, squinting down his -long trunk at Peg Amy. She had begged him to take off his plush robe -and, spreading it on the grass, was beating it briskly with the branch -of a tree. - -“Yes,” sighed the Wooden Doll, pausing with uplifted stick and regarding -Kabumpo solemnly, “I must have been alive before ’cause I keep -remembering things.” - -“What kind of things?” asked the Elegant Elephant, rubbing himself -lazily against a tree. - -“Well, this for instance,” said Peg, holding up a corner of the purple -plush robe. “I once had a dress of it. I’m sure I had a dress of this -stuff.” - -“When you were a little doll?” asked Kabumpo curiously. - -“No,” said Peg, giving the robe a few little shakes, “before that. And I -remember this country, too, and the sun and the wind and the sky. If I’d -only been alive one day I wouldn’t remember them, would I?” - -“Queer things happen in Oz,” said Kabumpo comfortably. “But why bother? -You are alive and very jolly. You are traveling with the most Elegant -Elephant in Oz and in the company of a Prince. Isn’t that enough?” - -Peg Amy did not reply but kept on beating the plush robe with determined -little thumps and staring off through the trees with a very puzzled -expression in her painted blue eyes. They had traveled swiftly all -morning through the fertile farmlands of the Winkies and had paused for -lunch in this little grove. Peg, not needing food, and Kabumpo, finding -plenty of tender branches handy, had remained together while Wag and the -Prince sought more nourishing fare. - -Many a little Winkie farmer had stared in amazement as Peg and Pompa -passed that morning but so fast did Kabumpo and Wag travel that before -the Winkies were half sure of what they had seen there was nothing but a -cloud of dust to wonder over and exclaim about. - -“If you had a pair of scissors, I could cut off the burned part of your -robe and make it more tidy,” said Peg, when she had finished beating the -dust out of Kabumpo’s gorgeous blanket. - -“There might be a pair in my pocket,” said the Elegant Elephant. “Here, -let me get them,” he added hastily. “For suppose she should look into -the Magic Mirror,” he thought suddenly. “It might tell her something -terrible!” - -Even in this short time Kabumpo had grown fond of queer wooden Peg and -careless as he was somehow he did not want to hurt her feelings again. -Sure enough, there was a pair of silver scissors in with the jewels he -had tumbled into his pocket before leaving Pumperdink. So Peg carefully -cut away all the scorched part of Kabumpo’s robe and pinned under the -rough edges with three beautiful pearl pins. - -“Now lift me up into that small tree and I’ll drop it over you,” she -laughed gaily. This Kabumpo did quite easily and after Peg Amy had -smoothed and adjusted the robe, she crept out on the end of the branch -and straightened the Elegant Elephant’s pearl head dress and brushed all -the dust from his forehead with a handful of damp leaves. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“You’re a good girl, Peg,” said Kabumpo, sighing with contentment. “I -don’t care whether you never were alive before or not, you’ve more sense -than some people who’ve lived for centuries. I’m going to give that -gnome something on my own account. Dared to shake you, did he? Well, -wait till I get through shaking him!” - -“It didn’t hurt,” said Peg reflectively, “but it ruined all my clothes. -Do you think Prince Pompadore minds having me look so shabby?” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Kabumpo shifted about uneasily. “Will this help?” he asked sheepishly, -pulling a lovely pearl necklace from his pocket. “Ozma doesn’t need -everything,” he muttered to himself. - -“Oh! How perfectly pomiferous!” cried Peg. “Lift me down so I can try it -on.” In a trice Kabumpo swung her down from the tree and awkwardly Peg -Amy clasped the chain about her wooden neck. Then she flung both arms -round Kabumpo’s trunk. “You’re the biggest darling old elephant in Oz!” -cried Peg happily. - -Kabumpo blinked. He was accustomed to being called elegant and -magnificent but no one—not even Pompa—had ever called him an old darling -before and he found he liked it immensely. - -While Peg ran to look at her reflection in a small pool he resolved to -get the Wooden Doll a position at Court, for, in spite of her stiff -fingers, Peg was very deft and clever. “And she shall have a purple -plush dress too,” said Kabumpo grandly. - -Just then Pompa and Wag returned in a high good humor. The Prince had -tapped on the door of a small farm house and the little Winkie lady had -been most hospitable. Not only had she given the Prince all he could -eat, but she had allowed Wag to go into the garden and pick two dozen of -her best cabbages. His size had greatly astonished her and she had -insisted upon measuring him twice with her yellow tape measure but -finally, without revealing the purpose of their journey, the two managed -to get away. As all were now refreshed and rested, they decided to start -on again. - -“We ought to reach Ev by evening,” puffed Wag, between hops. - -“But I wish we could open the Magic Box,” sighed Peg, holding on to -Wag’s ear, “for in that box there’s Flying Fluid!” - -“We’d make a remarkably nice lot of birds,” chuckled Kabumpo, looking -over his shoulder, “now wouldn’t we?” - -“You would,” laughed Pompa. “What else was in the box, Peg?” - -It was hard to talk while they were being jolted along, but Peg, being -of wood, did not feel the bumps and Pompa, being a Prince, pretended not -to, so that they continued their conversation in jerky sentences. - -“There’s Vanishing Cream, a little tea kettle and some kind of rays and -a Question Box,” said Peg, holding up her wooden hand. “A Question Box -that answers any question you ask it.” - -“There is!” exclaimed Kabumpo, stopping short. “Well, I wish we could -ask it whether Pumperdink has disappeared.” - -“And how to rescue Ozma, and who sent the scroll!” cried Pompa. “Oh, do -let me try to open it, Peg!” - -So Peg handed over Glegg’s Magic Box and as they pounded along the -Prince tried to pry it open with his pearl pen knife. “It would save us -such a lot of trouble,” he murmured, holding it up and screwing his eye -to the keyhole. - -“Better let it alone,” advised Wag, wiggling his ears nervously. -“Suppose you should grow as big for you as I am for me. Suppose you -should explode or vanish!” - -“Vanish!” coughed Kabumpo. “Great Grump! Put it away, Pompa. Wait till -we reach Ev and make that wicked little Ruggedo open it for us. Who is -this Glegg, anyway?” - -“A lawless magician, I guess,” said Wag, “or he wouldn’t have owned a -box of Mixed Magic. Ozma doesn’t allow anyone to practice magic, you -know.” - -“Why, I’ll bet he was the person who sent the scroll!” exclaimed the -Prince suddenly. “Don’t you remember, Kabumpo, it was signed J. G.?” - -“Not a doubt in the world,” rumbled Kabumpo. “I’ll throw him up a tree -when I catch him and Ruggedo, too!” - -“Oh, please don’t,” begged Peg Amy. “Perhaps they are sorry.” - -“Not half as sorry as they will be,” wheezed Kabumpo, plowing ahead -through the long grass like a big ferryboat under full steam. - -Wag hopped close behind and Peg kept her eyes fixed upon Pompa’s back. -In spite of his scorched head, he seemed to Peg the most delightful -Prince imaginable. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“I’ll brush off his cloak and cut his hair all evenly,” thought Peg. -“Then, perhaps Ozma will say _yes_ when he tells her his story and asks -for her hand. But I wonder what will become of me,” Peg sighed ever so -softly and looked down with distaste at her wooden hands and torn old -dress. Nothing very exciting could happen to a shabby Wooden Doll. - -“Why, I haven’t even any right to be alive,” she reflected sadly. “I’m -only meant to be funny. Well, never mind! Perhaps I can help Pompa and -maybe that’s why I was brought to life.” - -This thought, and the gleam of the lovely pearls Kabumpo had given her, -so cheered Peg that she began to hum a queer, squeaky little song. The -country was growing rougher and more hilly every minute. The sunny -farmlands lay far behind them now and as Peg finished her song they came -to the edge of a queer, dead-looking forest. The trees were dry and -without leaves and there were quantities of stiff bushes and short -stunted little trees standing under the taller ones. - -Peg had an odd feeling that hundreds of eyes were staring out at them -but the forest was so dim that she couldn’t be sure. There was not a -sound but the crackling of the dead branches under Wag’s and Kabumpo’s -feet. - -“I don’t like this,” choked Wag. “My wocks and hoop soons! What a -pleerful chase!” - -“It isn’t very cheerful,” shivered Peg. “Oh, look, Wag! That big tree -has eyes!” At Peg’s remark the tree doubled up its branches into fists -and stepped right out in front of them. At the same instant all the -other trees and bushes moved closer, with dry crackling steps. - -“Now we have you!” snapped the tallest tree in a dreadful voice. - -[Illustration: “Now we have you!” snapped the tallest tree in a dreadful -voice] - -“Now we have you!” crackled all the other skitter-witchy creatures, -crowding closer. - - “Pigs, pigs, we’re the twigs; - We’ll tweak your ears and snatch your wigs!” - -they shouted all together. One taller than the rest leaned over and -seized Wag by the ear with its twisted fingers. - -“Help!” screamed Wag, kicking out with his hind legs. Immediately -Kabumpo began laying about with his trunk. - -“Stand back!” he trumpeted angrily, “or I’ll trample you to splinters.” - -Pompa stood up on Kabumpo’s back and began to wave his sword -threateningly. At this the ugly creatures grew simply furious. They -snatched at the Prince with their long, claw-like branches, tearing at -his sadly scorched hair and almost upsetting him. - -“Stop! Stop!” cried Peg Amy, waving her wooden arms frantically. “Don’t -hit him. He’s going to be married. Hit me, I’m only made of wood!” - -“Don’t you dare hit her!” shrilled Pompa, slicing off the branch head of -the nearest Twig. “I am a Prince and she is under my protection. Don’t -touch her!” - -By this time Kabumpo had cleared himself a space ahead and Wag a space -behind. Every time Kabumpo’s trunk flew out, a dozen of the queer -crackly Bushmen tumbled over forward and every time Wag’s heels flew out -a dozen crumpled over backward. Pompa kept his sword whirling and, after -several had lost top branches, the whole crowd fell back and began -grumbling together. - -“Now then!” puffed Kabumpo angrily, “let’s make a dash for it, Wag. Come -on; we’ll smash them to kindling wood!” - -“What’s all this commotion?” cried a loud voice. The Twigs fell back -immediately and a bent and twisted old tree hobbled forward. - -“Strangers, your Woodjesty,” whispered a tall Twig, waving a branch at -Kabumpo. - -“Well, have you pinched them?” asked the King in a bored voice. - -“A little,” admitted the tall Twig nervously, “but they object to it, -your Woodjesty.” - -“Well, what if they do?” rasped the King tartly. “Don’t be gormish -Faggots. You know I detest gormishness. It seems to me you might allow -my people a little innocent diversion,” he grumbled, turning to Pompa, -“they don’t get much pleasure!” - -“Pleasure!” gasped the Prince, while Kabumpo and Wag were so astonished -that they forgot to fight. - -“What does he mean by gormish?” whispered Peg uneasily to Wag. Before he -could answer, the Twigs, who evidently had decided not to be gormish, -made a rush upon the travelers. But Kabumpo was ready for them with -uplifted trunk. With a furious trumpet he charged straight into the -middle, Wag at his heels, with the result that the Twigs went crackling -and snapping to the ground in heaps. - -“All we need is a match,” grunted Kabumpo, pounding along unmindful of -the scratching and clawing. “They’re good for nothing but kindling -wood.” - -“Don’t be gormish,” he screeched scornfully, as he flung the last Twig -out of his way and Wag and he never stopped till they had put a good -mile between themselves and the disagreeable pinchers. - -“Are you hurt?” asked Kabumpo, stopping at last and looking around at -Pompa. “If we keep on this way you won’t be fit to be seen—much less to -marry. Let’s have a look at you.” He lifted the Prince down carefully -and eyed him with consternation. The Prince had seven long scratches on -his cheek and his velvet cloak was torn to ribbons. - -“I declare,” spluttered the Elegant Elephant explosively, “you’re a -perfect fright. I declare, it’s a grumpy shame!” - -“Well, don’t be gormish,” said the Prince, smiling faintly and wiping -his cheek with his handkerchief. - -“Let me help,” begged Peg Amy, falling off Wag’s back. “Ozma won’t mind -a few scratches and what do clothes matter? Anyone would know he was a -Prince,” she added, taking Pompa’s cloak and regarding it ruefully. - -Pompa smiled at Peg’s earnestness and made her his best bow but Kabumpo -still looked anxious. “Everyone’s not so smart as you, Peg,” he sighed -gloomily. “But come along. The main thing is to rescue Ozma and after -that perhaps she won’t notice your scratches and torn cloak. She’ll -think you got them fighting the giant,” he finished more hopefully. - -With a few more of Kabumpo’s jeweled pins Peg repaired Pompa’s cloak. -Then, after tying up Wag’s ear, which was badly torn, they started off -again. - -“What worries me,” said Wag, twitching his nose very fast, “what worries -me is crossing the Deadly Desert. We’re almost to it, you know.” - -“Never cross deserts till you come to ’em,” grunted Kabumpo, with a wink -at Peg Amy. - -“Oh, all right,” sniffed Wag, “but don’t be gormish. You know how I -detest gormishness!” - -While Pompa and Peg were laughing over these last remarks a most -terrible rumble sounded behind them. - -“Now what?” trumpeted Kabumpo, turning about. - -“Sheverything’s mixed hup!” gulped Wag, putting back his ears. “Hold on -to me, Peg!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 17 - Meeting The Runaway Country - - -Everything was mixed up, indeed. Moving toward the little party of -rescuers was a huge jagged piece of land, running along on ten -tremendous feet and feeling its way with its long wiggly peninsula. The -feet raised it several yards above the ground. - -“If we crouch down maybe it will run over us,” panted Pompa, sliding -down Kabumpo’s trunk. - -“I don’t want to be run over,” shrilled Wag, beginning to hop in a -frenzied circle. - -“Stop!” cried the Land in a loud voice, as Wag and Kabumpo started to -run. - -“Better stop,” puffed Kabumpo, his eyes rolling wildly, “or it’ll -probably fall on us.” Trembling in spite of themselves, they stood still -and waited for the Land to approach. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“I’ve often heard of sailors hailing land with joy,” gulped Wag, “but -this—well, how did it get this way?” - -As the Runaway Country drew nearer, its peninsula fairly quivered with -excitement and as it reached them it pulled up its front feet and tilted -forward to get a better view. Its eyes were two small blue lakes and its -mouth a broad bubbling river. - -“I claim you by right of discovery,” cried the Land in its loud, river -voice and before they could make any objection it scooped them up neatly -and tossed them on a little hill. - -“This is outrageous,” spluttered the Elegant Elephant, picking Peg out -of some bushes. “We’ve been kidnapped!” - -“Let’s jump off!” cried Wag, beginning to hop toward the edge. - -“I wouldn’t do that,” said the Land calmly, “because I’d only run after -you again. You might as well settle down and grow up with me. I’m not -such a bad little Country,” it added quietly, “just a bit rough and -uncultivated.” - -“Well, what’s that got to do with us,” demanded Kabumpo, staring the -Country right in its lake-eyes. “We’re on an important mission and we -haven’t time for this sort of thing at all.” - -“It’s a matter of saving a Princess,” cried Pompa impulsively. “Couldn’t -you, please—” - -“Let someone else save her,” said the Country indifferently, beginning -to move off sideways like a crab. “You’re the first savages I’ve found -and I’m going to keep you. Not that you’re what I’d pick out,” it -continued ungraciously. “That wooden girl looks uncommonly odd and you -two beasts are even queerer. But I’m liberal, I am, and the boy looks -all right so far as I can see.” - -“But, look here,” panted Wag, twitching his nose very fast, “this is all -wrong. Land is supposed to stand still, isn’t it? You’ve no right to -discover us. We don’t want to be discovered. Put us off at once—do you -hear?” - -“Yes, I hear,” said the Runaway Country gruffly. “And I’ve heard about -enough. Don’t anger me,” it shrilled warningly. “Remember, I’m a wild, -rough Country.” - -“You’re the wildest Country I ever saw,” groaned the Elegant Elephant, -falling up against a tree. “And of all ridiculous happenings this is the -worst!” - -“Never mind,” whispered Peg Amy, standing on her tip toes to whisper in -Kabumpo’s huge ear, “it’s taking us in the right direction, and maybe, -if we were very polite—?” - -“Go ahead and try it,” wheezed Kabumpo, rolling his eyes. “I’m too -upset.” He hugged the tree again. - -So Peg climbed to the top of the little hill and, waving her wooden arms -to attract the Country’s attention, called cheerfully: - -“Yoho, Mr. Land! Where are you going?” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -At first the Land only blinked his blue lake-eyes sulkily but, as Peg -paid no attention to his ill temper and began making him pretty -compliments on his mountains and trees, he gradually cheered up. - -“I’m going to be an island,” he announced finally. “That’s where I’m -going. I’m tired of being a hot, dry old undiscovered plateau and I -don’t intend to stop till I come to the Nonestic Ocean.” - -“Oh!” groaned Wag, falling over backwards. “We’re going to be cast away -on a desert island.” - -Peg held up a warning finger. “What made you want to run away and be an -island?” she asked faintly for, even to Peg, things looked serious. - -“Well,” began the Land, giving itself a hitch, “I lay patiently for -years and years waiting to be discovered. Nobody came—not even one -little missionary. I kept getting lonelier and lonelier. You see how -broken up I am!” - -“Yes, we can see that, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo. - -“And I’m ambitious,” continued the Country huskily. “I want to be -cultivated and built up like other Kingdoms. So, one day I made up my -mind I wouldn’t wait any longer but would run off myself and discover -some settlers. As I have ten mountains and each has a foot there seemed -to be no reason why I shouldn’t run away, so I _did_—and I _have_!” - -The Country rolled its lakes triumphantly at the little party on the -hill. “I have found some settlers and I’m looking to you to develop me -into a good, modern, up-to-Oz Kingdom. I’m a progressive Country and I -expect you to improve and make something out of me,” it continued -earnestly. “There’s gold to be dug out of my mountains, plenty of good -farm land to be planted and cities to be built, and—” - -“What do you think we are?” exploded Kabumpo indignantly. “Slaves?” - -“He’ll get used to it in time,” said the Runaway Country, paying no -attention to Kabumpo, “and he’ll be useful for drawing logs. Now you,” -he turned his watery eyes full on Peg Amy, “you seem to be the most -sensible one in the party, so I think I shall bestow myself upon you. Of -course you’re not at all handsome nor regular, but from now on you may -consider yourself a Princess and _me_ as your Kingdom.” - -“Thank you! Thank you very much!” said Peg Amy, hardly knowing what else -to say. - -“Hurrah for the Princess of Runaway Island!” cried Wag, standing on his -head. “I always knew you were a Princess, Peg my dear.” - -“Oh, hush!” whispered Pompa. “Can’t you see it’s getting more -reasonable? Maybe Peg can persuade it to stop.” - -“If it doesn’t stop soon I’ll tear all its trees out by the roots,” -grumbled Kabumpo under his breath. “Logging, indeed! Great Grump! Here’s -the Deadly Desert!” - -The air was now so hot and choking that Pompa flung himself face down on -the cool grass. The Runaway Country did not seem to notice the burning -sands and pattered smoothly along on its ten mountain feet. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Something has to be done, quick,” breathed Peg, clasping her hands, -“for soon we’ll be in Ev.” - -Pompa, holding his silk handkerchief before his face, had come up beside -her and they both looked anxiously for the first signs of the country -that held Ruggedo and the giant who had run off with Ozma’s palace. - -“Oh, Mr. Land,” called Peg suddenly. - -“Yes, Princess,” answered the Country, without slackening its speed. - -“Have you thought about feeding us?” asked the Wooden Doll gently. “I -don’t see any fruit trees or vegetables or chickens and settlers must -eat, you know. We ought to have some seeds to plant and some building -materials, oughtn’t we, if we’re going to make you into an up-to-Oz -Country?” - -“Pshaw!” said the Runaway Country, stopping with a jolt, “I never -thought of that. Can’t you eat grass and fish? There’s fine fish in my -lakes.” - -“Well, I don’t eat at all,” explained Peg pleasantly, “but Pompa is a -Prince and a Prince has to have meat and vegetables and puddings on -Sunday—” - -“And I have to have lettuce and carrots and cabbages, or I won’t work!” -cried Wag, thumping with his hind feet and winking at Kabumpo. “I’ll not -dig a single mountain!” - -“And I’ve got to have my ton of hay a day, too!” trumpeted the Elegant -Elephant, “or I’ll not lug a single log. Pretty poor sort of a Country -you are, expecting us to live on grass as if we were donkeys and goats.” - -The Runaway Country rolled its lakes helplessly from one to the other. -“I thought settlers always managed to get a living off the land,” it -murmured in a troubled voice. - -“Not us!” rumbled Kabumpo. “Not enough pie in pioneer to suit this -party!” - -“Has your Highness anything to suggest?” asked the Country, looking -anxiously at Peg. - -“Well,” said the Wooden Doll slowly, “suppose we stop at the first -country we come to and stock up. We could get a few chickens and seeds -and saws and hammers and things.” - -“You’d run away,” said the Runaway Country suspiciously. “Not but what I -trust you, Princess,” he added hastily, “but them.” He scowled darkly at -Kabumpo and Wag. “I’ll not let them out of my sight.” - -“How our little floating island loves us,” chuckled Wag, nudging the -Elegant Elephant. - -“They won’t run away,” said Peg softly. “And if they did you could -easily catch them again.” - -“That’s so; I’ll stop wherever you say,” sighed the Country, starting on -again. - -“What are you going to do?” whispered Pompa, catching Peg’s arm. - -“I don’t know,” said Peg honestly, “but perhaps if we can make it stop -something will turn up. We’re almost across the desert now and that’s a -big help.” - -“You’re wonderful!” cried Pompa, eying Peg gratefully. “How can I ever -thank you?” - -“Better get your sword ready,” said Peg practically, “for we may run -into that giant any minute now.” Even Kabumpo and Wag had stopped making -jokes and were straining their eyes toward Ev. - -“Let’s all stand together!” gasped Wag breathlessly. Before Peg or Pompa -had time to plan, or Kabumpo to reply, the Runaway Country stepped off -the desert and swept over the border and into the Kingdom of Ev, making -straight for a tall purple mountain. - -“Do you see anything that looks like a giant, or a palace?” asked Peg, -leaning forward. - -“Oh, help!” screamed Wag just then, while Kabumpo gave an earsplitting -trumpet. Peg grasped Pompa and Pompa clutched Peg and no wonder! -Directly in front of them were the legs and feet of the most terrible -and tremendous giant they had ever imagined. He was sitting on the -mountain itself and only a part of him was visible, for his head and -shoulders were lost in the clouds. - -[Illustration: Kabumpo gave an ear-splitting trumpet] - -“What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” rumbled the Runaway Country, -tilting forward slightly so it could see. One look was enough. With a -frightened jump, that sent the four travelers hurtling through the air, -it began running backwards and in a moment was out of sight. - -Peg was the first to recover her senses. Being wood, bumps didn’t bother -her. She rose stiffly and gazed around her. Pompa’s feet were waving -feebly from a small clump of bushes. Kabumpo stood swaying near by, -while Wag lay over on his side with closed eyes. - -“Oh, you poor dears!” murmured Peg, and running over to the bushes she -pulled out the Prince of Pumperdink and settled him with his back -against a tree. He was much shaken by his high dive from the island, but -pulled himself together and patted Peg’s wooden hand kindly. By this -time Kabumpo had gotten his bearings and came wabbling over. - -“You’ve got a black eye, I see,” wheezed the Elegant Elephant bitterly. - -“Not so very black,” said Peg cheerfully. “Are you hurt, Kabumpo?” - -The Elegant Elephant felt himself all over with his trunk. “Well, I’m -not used to being flung about like a bean bag,” he said irritably. Then -he lowered his voice hastily, as he caught another glimpse of those -dreadful giant feet. “I’ll go help Wag,” he whispered, backing away -quickly. - -It took some time to rouse the giant rabbit, but finally he opened his -eyes. “I shought I thaw a giant,” he muttered thickly. “Hush!” warned -Kabumpo. “He’s over there.” He waved his trunk in the direction of the -mountain and began dragging Wag firmly away. - -“C’mon over here,” he called in a loud whisper to Peg and Pompa. Leaning -heavily on Peg Amy the Prince came. Then he gave a cry of distress. “My -sword!” he gasped, staring around a bit wildly. - -“I’ll find it,” said Peg obligingly. “You sit still and rest.” - -“Where’s the Magic Box?” coughed Kabumpo, with an uneasy glance in the -giant’s direction. - -Now that they were actually in Ev, the Elegant Elephant began to doubt -the wisdom of his plan for killing the monster. - -“Gone!” wailed Pompa, feeling in his pocket. “I dropped it when I fell -off the Land. What shall we do, Kabumpo?” - -“Don’t be a Gooch,” gulped the Elegant Elephant, but he said it without -spirit. - -“It’s probably around here somewhere.” Moving quietly, Kabumpo began to -poke about with his trunk. - -Just then Peg Amy came flying toward them, her ragged dress fluttering -in the breeze. - -“Look!” whispered the Wooden Doll, dropping on her knees before them. - -In her hands was Glegg’s Box of Mixed Magic and _it was open_! - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 18 - Prince Pompadore Proposes - - -While Peg and Pompa and the Elegant Elephant eyed the box, Wag, -twitching his nose and mumbling very fast under his breath, backed -rapidly away. He was not going to run the risk of any more explosions. -So anxious was the big rabbit to put a good distance between himself and -Glegg’s Mixed Magic, that he never realized that he was backing toward -the giant till a sharp thump on the back of the head brought him up -short. - -Trembling in every hair, Wag looked over his shoulder. _Stars!_ He had -run into the terrible, five-toed foot of the giant himself. At first Wag -was too terrified to move. But suddenly the hair on the back of his neck -bristled erect. He peered at the giant’s foot more attentively. His eyes -snapped and, seizing a stout stick that lay near by, he brought it down -with all his might on the giant’s toes. - -“It’s Ruggedo!” screamed Wag, hopping up and down with rage. “And I’ll -pound his curly toes off. I don’t care if he is a giant! I’ll pound his -curly toes off!” - -The stick whistled through the air and whacked the giant’s toes again. - -Now of course we have known all along that the giant was Ruggedo, but it -was a great surprise for the rescuers. Ruggedo was bad enough to deal -with as a gnome—but a giant Ruggedo! _Horrors!_ - -“Stop him! Stop him!” cried Peg Amy, throwing up her hands and -scattering the contents of the box of magic in every direction. - -“What are you trying to do?” roared Kabumpo, plunging forward. “Get us -all trampled on?” - -A muffled cry came down from the clouds and, as Kabumpo dragged Wag back -by the ear, something flashed through the air and bounced upon the -Elegant Elephant’s head. - -“It’s the Scarecrow!” chattered Wag, wriggling from beneath Kabumpo’s -trunk. Kabumpo opened his eyes and peered down at the limp bundle at his -feet. As he looked the bundle began to pull itself together. It sat up -awkwardly and began clutching itself into shape. - -“Where’d you come from?” gasped the Elegant Elephant. Without speaking, -the Scarecrow waved his hand upward and rose unsteadily to his feet. -Then, catching sight of Peg Amy and Pompadore, the Straw Man bowed -politely. Meanwhile Wag, seeing that Kabumpo’s attention was diverted, -began to sidle back toward Ruggedo. - -“Stop!” cried the Scarecrow, running after him. “Are you crazy? Don’t -you know Ozma’s palace is on his head? Every time he moves everyone in -the palace tumbles about. Was it you who stirred him up and made him -spill me out of the window?” - -“I’ll wake him up some more, the wicked old scrabble-scratch,” muttered -Wag, but Kabumpo jerked him back roughly. - -[Illustration: The Scarecrow waved his hand upward] - -“Great Grump!” choked the Elegant Elephant, shaking Wag in his -exasperation. “Here we’ve come all this way to save Princess Ozma and -now you want to upset everything.” - -“That’s the way to do it,” said the Scarecrow, rolling his eyes wildly. - -“Please stop it, Wag,” begged Peg Amy, throwing her wooden arms around -the big rabbit’s neck, and as Pompa added his voice to Peg’s, Wag -finally threw down his stick. - -“Who is that beautiful girl?” asked the Scarecrow of Kabumpo. The -Elegant Elephant looked at the Straw Man sharply, to see that he was not -poking fun at the Wooden Doll. Finding he was quite serious, he said -proudly, “That’s Peg Amy, the best little body in Oz. She’s under my -protection,” he added grandly. - -Just then Pompa and Peg came over and Wag, who had often seen the -Scarecrow in the Emerald City, introduced them all. - -“Did I understand you to say you had come to rescue Ozma?” asked the -Scarecrow, who could not keep his eyes off the Elegant Elephant. - -“Did I understand you to say Ozma’s palace was on Ruggedo’s head?” -shuddered Kabumpo, glancing fearfully in the direction of the mountain. - -The Scarecrow nodded vigorously and told in a few words of their -terrible journey to Ev and their present perilous position. How the -palace had gotten on Ruggedo’s head, he admitted was a puzzle to him. -Kabumpo and Pompadore listened with amazement, especially to the part -where they had threatened Ruggedo with eggs. - -“And he’s kept still for two days just on account of eggs?” gasped the -Elegant Elephant incredulously. - -“Well, no,” admitted the Scarecrow, wrinkling up his forehead. “A little -man came flying through the air the first morning and bumped into the -palace and instantly everyone except Scraps and me fell asleep. Ruggedo -was put to sleep, too; we could hear him snoring.” - -“Why, it must have been the Sand Man,” breathed Peg Amy. “I have heard -he lived near here.” - -“Are they asleep now?” asked Pompa, clutching the Scarecrow’s arm. How -romantic—thought the Prince of Pumperdink—to rescue and waken a sleeping -Princess! - -But the Scarecrow shook his head. “A few minutes before I fell out they -began to wake up and I’d just gone to the window to look for Glinda when -Ruggedo gave a howl and ducked his head and here I fell.” The Scarecrow -spread his hands eloquently and smiled at Peg. - -“Has Glinda been here?” asked Kabumpo jealously. - -“Yes,” said the Scarecrow. “She came this morning and she’s been trying -all sorts of magic to reduce Ruggedo without harm to the palace.” - -“Great Grump! Do you hear that?” Kabumpo rolled his eyes anxiously -toward the Prince. “If Glinda’s magic takes effect before ours then -where’ll we be? Peg! Peg! Where’s the box of Mixed Magic?” - -“Would you mind telling me,” burst out the Scarecrow, who had been -examining one after another in the party with a puzzled expression, -“would you mind telling me how you happened to know about the palace -disappearing; how you got across the sandy desert; how you expect to -help us; how he (with a jerk at Wag) came to be too large; how she (with -a jerk of his thumb at Peg) came to be alive; and—” - -“All in good time; all in good time!” trumpeted Kabumpo testily. “You -sound like the Curious Cottabus! The principal thing to do now is to -save Ozma. Will Ruggedo stay quiet a little longer?” - -“If he’s not disturbed,” said the Scarecrow, with a meaning glance at -Wag. - -“Well, my hocks and woop soons!” cried the rabbit indignantly. “Isn’t -anyone going to punish him? He shook and shook Peg and he meddled with -magic and blew up into a giant. He’s run off with the palace. Doesn’t he -deserve a pounding?” - -“Friend,” said the Scarecrow, “I admire your spirit but my excellent -brains tell me that this is a case where an ounce of prevention is worth -a pound of cure. But have we the ounce of prevention?” - -“Here’s the Question Box,” announced Peg, who had run off at Kabumpo’s -first call. “What shall we ask it first?” - -“How to save the lovely Princess of Oz,” spoke up Pompa, running his -hand over his scorched locks. “Where’s my crown, Kabumpo?” - -Kabumpo fished the crown from his pocket and Pompa set it gravely upon -his head as Peg asked the Question Box: - -“How shall we save the lovely Princess of Oz?” - -These maneuvers so astonished the Scarecrow that he lost his balance and -fell flat on his nose. When he recovered Peg was clapping her wooden -hands and Kabumpo was dancing on three legs. - -“You’re as good as married, my boy!” cried Kabumpo, thumping the Prince -upon the back. - -“What is it? What’s happened?” gasped the Scarecrow. - -“Why, the Question Box says to pour three drops of Trick Tea on -Ruggedo’s left foot and two on his right and he will then march back to -the Emerald City, descend into his cave and, after the palace has -settled firmly on its foundations, he will shrink down to his former -size,” read Peg Amy, holding the Question Box close to her eyes, for the -printing was very small. - -“Hurrah!” cried the Scarecrow, throwing up his hat. “Peggy, put the -kettle on and we’ll all have some tea! But where’d you get all this -magic stuff?” he asked immediately after. - -“Out of a box of Mixed Magic,” puffed Kabumpo, his little eyes twinkling -with anticipation as he watched Peg. First she filled the tiny kettle at -a near-by brook; then she lit the little lamp and dropped some of the -Trick Tea into the kettle. Bright pink clouds arose from the kettle, as -soon as Peg had set it over the flame, and while they waited for it to -boil Pompa put another question. - -“Has Pumperdink disappeared?” asked the Prince, in a trembling voice. - -“N-o,” spelled the Question Box slowly, and Kabumpo settled back with a -great sigh of relief. - -“I told you everything would be all right if you followed my advice,” -said the Elegant Elephant. “Stand up now and try to forget your black -eye. You are the Prince of Pumperdink and I am the Elegant Elephant of -Oz.” - -“But why all the ceremony?” asked the Scarecrow, looking mystified. - -Kabumpo only chuckled to himself and, as the Trick Tea was now ready, -Peg took the little kettle and began to tip-toe toward Ruggedo. - -“I hope it’s red hot,” grumbled Wag resentfully. “He’s getting off easy, -the old scrabble-scratch! Getting off! Say, look here!” He gestured -violently to Kabumpo. “If Ruggedo returns to the Emerald City with the -palace on his head, where does Pompa come in?” He pointed a trembling -paw at the Prince, his nose twitching so fast it made the Scarecrow -blink. - -“Stop!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, plunging after Peg Amy. He -reached her just in time. - -“I’m no better than Pumper,” grunted Kabumpo, mopping his brow with the -tail of his robe. “Suppose, after all our hardships, I had allowed Ozma -and the palace to get away without giving Pompa a chance to ask her—” - -“But we ought to save her as quick as we can,” ventured Peg. “Couldn’t -we hurry back to the Emerald City again?” - -“It might be too late,” wheezed Kabumpo. “Let—me—see!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -“Hello!” cried the Scarecrow. “Here comes Glinda.” As he spoke the swan -chariot of the good Sorceress floated down beside the little party. - -“Bother!” groaned Kabumpo, as Glinda stepped out. - -“Some strangers,” called the Scarecrow, gleefully running toward Glinda, -“some strangers with a box of Mixed Magic trying to help.” - -“If we could have a few words with Ozma,” put in the Elegant Elephant -hastily, “everything would be all right.” - -Glinda looked at Kabumpo gravely. “It’s unlawful to practice magic. You -must know that,” said the Sorceress sternly. - -“But it’s not our magic, your Highness,” explained Peg Amy, setting down -the little kettle. “We found it, and we’re only trying to help Ozma.” - -“Well, in that case,” Glinda could not help smiling at the Wooden Doll’s -quaint appearance, “I shall be glad to assist you, as all of my magic -has proved useless.” - -“Aren’t you the Prince of Pumperdink?” she asked, nodding toward Pompa. -The Prince bowed in his most princely fashion and assured her that he -was and, after a few hasty explanations, Glinda promised to bring Ozma -down in her chariot. - -“Tell her,” trumpeted Kabumpo impressively, as the chariot rose in the -air, “tell her that a young Prince waits below!” - -While Pompa was still looking after Glinda’s chariot, Peg Amy came up to -him and extended both her wooden hands. - -“I wish you much happiness, Pompa dear,” said the Wooden Doll in a low -voice. - -Pompa pressed Peg’s hands gratefully. “If it hadn’t been for you I’d -never have succeeded. You shall have everything you wish for now, Peg. -Why, where are you going?” - -“Good-bye!” called Peg Amy, trying to keep her voice as cheerful as her -painted face, and before anyone could stop her she began to run toward a -little grove of trees. - -“Come back!” cried the Prince, starting after her. - -“Come back!” trumpeted Kabumpo in alarm. - -“I’ll get her!” coughed Wag, hopping forward jealously. “I’ve known her -the longest.” - -Pompa and Kabumpo both started to run, too, but just at that minute down -swooped the chariot and out jumped Ozma, the lovely little Ruler of Oz. - -“At last!” gasped Kabumpo, pushing Pompa forward. - -If Ozma was startled by their singular appearance, she was too polite to -say so, and she returned Pompa’s deep bow with a still deeper curtsey. - -“Glinda tells me you have come a long, long way just to help me,” said -Ozma anxiously. “Is that so?” - -“Princess!” cried Pompa, falling on his knee. “I know you are worried -about your palace and your Courtiers and your friends. Two drops of that -Triple Trick Tea (he waved at the small kettle) upon Ruggedo’s right -foot and three on his left will set everything right!” - -“But where did you get it—and why?” Ozma looked doubtfully at the -Scarecrow. - -“Might as well try it,” advised the Scarecrow. - -“We will explain everything later,” puffed the Elegant Elephant. “Trust -old Kabumpo, your Highness, and everything will turn out happily.” - -“I believe I will,” smiled Ozma. “Will you try the Trick Tea, Glinda?” - -Glinda took the kettle and poured it exactly as directed. First Ruggedo -gave a gusty sigh that blew the clouds about in every direction. - -“Look out!” warned Glinda. - -Next instant they all fluttered down like a pack of cards, for Ruggedo -had taken a step—a giant step that shook the earth as if it had been a -block of jelly—and when they had picked themselves up Ruggedo was out of -sight, tramping like a giant in a dream, back toward the Emerald City. - -[Illustration: Ruggedo, tramping like a giant in a dream, back to the -Emerald City] - -“You wait here!” cried Glinda to Ozma. “And I’ll follow him!” She sprang -into her chariot. - -“How do you know he’ll go back?” asked the little Ruler of Oz, staring -with straining eyes for a glimpse of the giant. - -“Because the Question Box said so,” chuckled Kabumpo triumphantly. - -“Good magic!” approved the Scarecrow. “But where is that charming Peg? I -think I’ll run find her.” - -No sooner had the Scarecrow disappeared than Pompa, swallowing very -hard, again approached Ozma. But Ozma, still looking after Glinda’s -vanishing chariot, was hardly aware of the Prince of Pumperdink. - -Poor Pompa dropped on his knee (which had a large hole in it by this -time) and began mumbling indistinct sentences. Then, as Kabumpo frowned -with disgust, the Prince burst out desperately, “Princess, will you -marry me?” - -“Marry you?” gasped the little Ruler of Oz. “Good gracious, _no_!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 19 - Ozma Takes Things In Hand - - -Prince Pompadore jumped up quickly. - -“I told you she wouldn’t!” he choked, looking reproachfully at Kabumpo. -“I’m not half good enough.” - -“He doesn’t always look so scratched up and shabby,” wheezed Kabumpo -breathlessly. “We’ve been scorched and pinched and kidnapped. We’ve been -through every kind of hardship to save your Highness—and _now_!” The -Elegant Elephant slouched against a tree, the picture of discouragement. -He seemed to have forgotten the jewels that were to have won the -Princess for Pompa and his threat of running off with her should she -refuse him. - -“Why, you don’t even know me,” cried Ozma, dismayed by even the thought -of marrying; for though the little Ruler of Oz has lived almost a -thousand years she is no older than _you_ are and would no more think of -marrying than Dorothy or Betsy Bobbin or Trot. Ruling the Kingdom of Oz -takes almost all of Ozma’s time and in any that is left she wants to -play and enjoy herself like any other sensible little girl. For Ozma is -only a little girl fairy after all. - -“I’m not going to marry anybody!” she declared stoutly. Then, because -she really was touched by Pompa’s woebegone appearance, she asked more -kindly, “Why did you want to marry me especially?” - -“Because you are the properest Princess in Oz,” groaned the Prince, -leaning disconsolately against Kabumpo. “Because if we don’t Pumperdink -will disappear and my poor old father and my mother and everyone.” - -“Not to speak of us,” gulped the Elegant Elephant. - -“But where is Pumperdink, and who said it would disappear?” asked Ozma -in amazement. “And how did you happen to have this Trick Tea and come to -rescue me?” - -“The Prince always rescues the Princess he intends to marry,” said -Kabumpo wearily. “I should think you’d know that.” - -“Well, I’m very grateful, and I’ll do anything I can except marry you,” -exclaimed Ozma, who was beginning to feel very much interested in this -strange pair. - -“Thank you,” said Kabumpo stiffly, for he was deeply offended. “Thank -you, but we must be going. Come along, Pompa.” - -“Don’t be a Gooch!” This time it was Pompa who spoke. “I’m going to tell -her everything!” - -And Pompa, being as I have told you before the most charming Prince in -the world, made Ozma a comfortable throne of green boughs and, throwing -himself at her feet, poured out the whole story of their adventures, -beginning with the birthday party and the mysterious scroll. He told of -their meeting with Peg Amy and Wag and ended up with the ride upon the -Runaway Country. - -Kabumpo stood by, swaying sulkily. He was very much disappointed in the -Princess of Oz. He felt that she had no proper appreciation of his or -Pompa’s importance. - -“I’m going to find Peg,” he called finally. “She’s got more sense than -any of you,” he wheezed under his breath as he swept grandly out of -sight. - -Ozma put both hands to her head as Pompa finished his recital and really -it was enough to puzzle any fairy. Scrolls, live Wooden Dolls, a giant -rabbit, a mysterious magician threatening disappearances and Ruggedo’s -wicked use of the box of Mixed Magic. - -“Goodness!” cried the little Ruler of Oz. “I wish the Scarecrow would -come back. He’s so clever I’m sure he could help us; but first you had -better bring me the magic box.” - -Pompa rose slowly and, picking up all the little flasks and boxes that -had spilled out when Wag pounded Ruggedo, he put them back into the -casket and handed it to Ozma. She examined the contents as curiously as -the others had done. The Expanding Extract was the only thing missing, -for Ruggedo had poured the whole bottle over his head. The Question Box -seemed to Ozma the most wonderful of all of Glegg’s magic. - -“Why, all we have to do is to ask this box questions,” she cried in -excitement. “Has my palace reached the Emerald City?” she asked -breathlessly. - -“Shake it three times,” said Pompa, as Ozma looked in vain for her -answer. - -“Yes,” stated the box after the third shake, and Ozma sighed with -relief. - -“I suppose you asked it if I were the Proper Princess mentioned in the -scroll,” she said, a bit shyly. - -The Prince shook his head. “Knew without asking,” said Pompa heavily. - -“Do you mean to say you never asked it that?” gasped Ozma in disbelief. -“Why, I am surprised at you.” And before Pompa could object she shook -the little box briskly. “Who is the Princess that Pompa must marry?” she -demanded anxiously. - -“The Princess of Sun Top Mountain,” flashed the Question Box promptly. -Then, as an afterthought, it added, “Trust the mirror and golden door -knob!” - -“Now, you see!” cried Ozma, jumping up in delight. “I wasn’t the Proper -Princess at all!” - -Pompa smiled faintly, but without enthusiasm. The thought of hunting -another Princess was almost too much. “I wish I could just take Peg Amy -and Wag and go back to Pumperdink without marrying anybody,” he choked -bitterly. - -“Now, don’t give up,” advised Ozma kindly. “It was very wrong of Glegg -to cause you all this trouble. I’m going to keep his box of Mixed Magic -and take away all his powers when I find him, but until I do, you’ll -have to follow directions. Oh mercy! What’s that?” - -They both ducked and turned around in a hurry, as a terrific thumping -sounded behind them. - -“It’s the Runaway Country again,” cried Pompa, seizing Ozma’s hands in -distress, “and it’s caught all the others.” - -The Scarecrow had climbed a tree, and was waving to them wildly as the -Country galloped nearer. “Might as well come aboard,” he called -genially. “This is a fast Country—no arguing with it at all.” - -Ozma looked helplessly at Pompa, and the Prince had only time to grasp -her more firmly when the Country scooped them neatly into the air. Down -they tumbled, beside Peg Amy and Wag and the Elegant Elephant. - -“What do you mean by this?” demanded Ozma, as soon as she regained her -breath. - -“Don’t you know this lady is the Ruler of all Oz?” cried Pompa -warningly. - -“Peg’s the Ruler of me,” replied the Country calmly. “I nearly lost her -once, but now I’ve caught her and all the rest, and I am not going to -stop until I’ve reached the Nonestic Ocean—giants or no giants.” - -Ozma had been somewhat prepared for the Runaway Country by Pompa’s -description, but she had never dreamed it would dare to run off with -her. While Peg Amy began to coax it to stop, she took out Glegg’s little -Question Box. - -“How shall I stop this Country?” she whispered anxiously. - -“Spin around six times and cross your fingers,” directed the Question -Box. - -This Ozma proceeded to do, much to the agitation of the Scarecrow, who -thought she had taken leave of her senses. But next instant the Country -came to a jolting halt. - -“Peg, Princess Peg!” shrieked the Island. “I am bewitched, I can’t move -a step!” - -“Then everybody off,” shouted the Scarecrow, jerking a branch of a tree -as if he were a conductor. “End of the line—everybody off!” And they -lost no time tumbling off the wild little Country. - -“It seems too bad to leave it,” said Peg Amy regretfully, picking -herself up. - -“It threw us off without any feeling or consideration when it saw -Ruggedo,” sniffed Kabumpo. “Therefore it has no claims on us -whatsoever.” - -“But couldn’t you do something for it?” asked Peg, approaching Ozma -timidly. “It’s so tired of being a plateau. Couldn’t you let it be an -island, and find someone to settle on it? I wouldn’t mind going,” she -added generously. - -“You shall do nothing of the sort,” cried Kabumpo angrily. “You’re going -back to Pumperdink with Pompa and me.” - -“She’s going with me,” cried Wag. “Aren’t you, Peg?” - -“You seem to be a very popular person,” smiled Ozma. “While a Country -has no right to run away, and while I never heard of one doing it -before, I’ve no objections to its being an island. It’s running off with -people I object to.” She looked the Country sternly in its lake-eyes. - -“But I can’t move,” screamed the Country, tears streaming down its hill, -“and I’ve got to have somebody to settle me.” - -“Oh! Here’s Glinda,” shouted the Scarecrow, tossing up his hat. “Now we -shall know what’s happened to Ruggedo.” - -Leaving the Country for a moment, they all ran to welcome the good -Sorceress of Oz. Glinda’s reports were most satisfactory. Ruggedo had -walked straight back to the Emerald City, stepped into the yawning -cavern, and immediately the palace had settled firmly upon its old -foundations. Then had come a muffled explosion, and when Glinda and -Dorothy ran through the secret passage, which had been discovered -meanwhile by the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, they saw Ruggedo, -shrunken to his former size, sitting angrily on his sixth rock of -history. - -“I have locked him up in the palace,” finished Glinda, “and I strongly -advise your Highness to punish him severely.” - -Ozma sighed. “What would you do?” she asked, appealing to the Scarecrow. -So many things had come up for her attention and advice in the last few -hours that the little fairy ruler felt positively dizzy. - -“Let’s all sit down in a circle and think,” proposed the Scarecrow -cheerfully. This they all did except Kabumpo, who stood off glumly by -himself. Peg was looking anxiously at Pompadore, for the Elegant -Elephant had told her of Ozma’s refusal, and wondering sadly what she -could do to help, when the Scarecrow bounced up impulsively. - -“I have it,” chuckled the Straw Man. “Let’s send Ruggedo off on the -Runaway Country. He deserves to be banished and, if Ozma makes the -Country an Island, he can do no harm.” - -Here Ozma had to stop and explain to Glinda about the Country that -wanted to be an Island, and after a short consultation they decided to -take the Scarecrow’s advice. - -“Just as soon as I reach the Emerald City I’ll put on my Magic Belt and -wish him onto the Island,” declared Ozma. “And I think we’d better go -right straight back,” she added thoughtfully, “for it’s growing darker -every minute and Dorothy will be anxious to hear everything that’s -happened.” - -“Now you”—Ozma tapped Pompadore gently on the arm—“You must start at -once for Sun Top Mountain. I’m going to ask the Question Box just where -it is.” - -Pompa sighed deeply, and when Ozma consulted the Question Box as to the -location of Sun Top Mountain, it stated that this Kingdom was in the -very Centre of the North Winkie Country. “That’s fine,” said Ozma, -clapping her hands. “I’ll have the Runaway country carry you over the -Deadly Desert, and as soon as you have married the Princess you must -bring her to see me in the Emerald City.” - -“What’s all this?” demanded Kabumpo, pricking up his ears. - -“The Question Box says I must marry the Princess of Sun Top Mountain,” -said Pompa, getting up wearily. - -“Well, Great Grump, why couldn’t it have said so before?” asked Kabumpo -shrilly. - -“You never asked it,” snapped Wag, twitching his nose. “I told you Ozma -wasn’t the Princess mentioned in the scroll!” - -“Now don’t quarrel,” begged Peg Amy, jumping up hastily. “There’s still -plenty of time to save Pumperdink. Come along, Pompa.” - -“That’s right,” said Ozma, smiling approvingly at Peg. “And when Pompa -finds his Princess you must come and live with me in the Emerald City, -for as Ruggedo was responsible for bringing you to life, I want to take -care of you always.” - -Peg Amy dropped a curtsey and promised to come, but she didn’t feel very -cheerful about it. Then, as Ozma was anxious to get back to the Emerald -City, they all hurried to Runaway Country. - -“You are to take these travelers across the Deadly Desert,” said Ozma, -addressing the Runaway Country quite sternly, “and you are to set them -down in the Winkie Country. If you do this I will restore your moving -power again and give you a little gnome for King. Then you may run off -to the Nonestic Ocean as soon as ever you wish.” - -“I want Peg,” pouted the Country, “but if that’s the best you can do I -suppose I’ll have to stand it.” After a little more grumbling it agreed -to Ozma’s terms. Wearily, Kabumpo, Wag, Peg and Pompa climbed aboard and -then Ozma spun around six times in the opposite direction and -immediately the Country found itself able to move again. - -“Good-bye!” called Ozma, as she and the Scarecrow jumped into Glinda’s -chariot. “Good-bye and good luck!” - -“Good-bye!” called Peg, waving her old torn bonnet. - -“Good riddance,” grumbled the Country gruffly and, turning sideways, -began running toward the Deadly Desert. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 20 - The Proper Princess Is Found! - - -“Is the mirror safe, and have you still got the gold door knob?” asked -Pompa, as the Country swung out onto the Deadly Desert. “The Question -Box said I was to trust them, you know.” - -“And by what right did Ozma take that box?” wheezed Kabumpo irritably, -as he felt in his pocket to see whether the magic articles were still -there. - -“That’s gratitude for you! We find Glegg’s box of Mixed Magic and rescue -her, and off she goes with all our magic, leaving us to the tender -mercies of a Runaway Country!” - -“You find the box!” shrilled Wag. “Well, I like that!” - -“Oh, what difference does it make?” groaned Pompa, stretching out upon -the ground. They were all completely exhausted by the day’s adventures -and as cross as three sticks—all except Peg Amy, who never was cross. - -“I shall marry this Princess and save my country, but I’m going away as -soon as the wedding is over and spend the rest of my life in travel,” -announced Pompa gloomily. - -“Don’t blame you,” rumbled the Elegant Elephant with a sniff. - -“Ah, now!” laughed Peg. “That doesn’t sound like you, Pompa. Why, maybe -this Princess will be so lovely you’ll want to carry her straight back -to Pumperdink.” - -“I think Princesses are a great bore,” said Wag with a terrific yawn. “I -prefer plain folks like Peg and the Scarecrow.” - -“You’re all hungry, that’s what’s the matter,” chuckled the Wooden Doll. -“When you’ve had some supper you’ll be just as anxious to find the -Princess of Sun Top Mountain as you were to find Ozma. Here’s the Winkie -Country now, and there’s a star for good luck.” - -Peg waved toward the green fields with one hand and toward the clouds -with the other. It was dusk now and just one star twinkled cheerily in -the sky. - -“I’ll set you down, but I’m not going away,” said the Runaway Country -determinedly, “for if that little old gnome doesn’t turn up I’m going to -catch you all again.” - -“Ozma never forgets. She’ll keep her promise,” said Peg. “And you must -do just as she told you to do for she has some powerful magic and can -send you right back to where you came from.” - -“Can she?” gulped the Country anxiously. - -“You might wait a while, though,” suggested Pompa darkly. “After I’ve -seen this new Princess a Runaway Country might be a very good thing.” - -“Well, you can’t expect her to marry you if you talk that way,” said Peg -warningly, as the Country came to a stop in a huge field of daisies. - -“I’ll wait,” it said hopefully, as the four travelers swung themselves -down. - -“I wonder if we are in the North Central part,” murmured Peg Amy, -looking around anxiously. Now it happened the Country had crossed the -Deadly Desert slantwise and although none of the party knew it they were -scarcely a mile from Sun Top Mountain. - -“I see a garden!” cried Wag, twitching his nose hungrily. “Come on, -Prince, let’s find some supper.” With head down and dragging his feet, -Pompa followed Wag. Kabumpo began jerking snappishly at some tree tops -and Peg Amy sat down to think. - -“I wish,” thought the Wooden Doll, looking up at the bright star, “I -wish I might have asked the box one little question.” Peg Amy looked so -solemn that Kabumpo stopped eating and regarded her anxiously. - -“What’s the matter?” asked the Elegant Elephant gruffly, for he quite -counted on Peg’s cheerfulness. - -“I was thinking about it again,” admitted Peg apologetically. “About -being alive before. I’m sure I was alive before I was a doll, Kabumpo. I -think I was a person, like Pompa,” she continued softly. - -“You’re much better as you are,” said the Elegant Elephant uneasily, for -it had just occurred to him that the Magic Mirror would tell Peg who she -was as well as the Question Box. But should he let her look in it? That -was the question. Poor, tired old Kabumpo shifted from one foot to the -other as he tried to make up his mind. Two huge drops of perspiration -ran down his trunk. What good would it do? he reasoned finally. Suppose -it told something awful! It couldn’t change her and it might make her -unhappy. No, he would not let Peg look in the mirror. - -“How would you like to have this pearl bracelet?” he asked in an -embarrassed voice. - -“Why, Kabumpo, I’d just adore it!” cried Peg, springing up in a hurry. -“And I’m not going to worry about being alive any more, for everyone is -so lovely to me I ought to be the happiest person in Oz.” - -“You are,” puffed Kabumpo, clumsily slipping the bracelet on Peg’s -wooden arm, “and if we ever get back to Pumperdink you shall have as -many silk dresses as you want and—” The rest of the sentence was -smothered in a hug. - -Peg Amy was growing fonder and fonder of pompous old Kabumpo and by the -time he had recovered his breath Wag and the Prince came ambling back -together. They had found an orchard and a kitchen garden and as they -were no longer hungry, both were more cheerful. - -“Let’s play scop hotch,” suggested Wag amiably. “I’m tired of hunting -Princesses.” There was a smooth patch of sand under the trees and Wag -hopped over and began marking out the squares with his paw. - -“Scop hotch!” laughed Pompa, While Peg gave a skip of delight. - -“Play if you want to,” wheezed Kabumpo, shaking himself wearily, “I feel -about as playful as a stone lion. Besides, hop scotch isn’t an elephant -game.” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -Peg, Wag and Pompa began to hop scotch for dear life. Peg often tumbled -over, for it is hard to keep your balance on wooden legs, but it was Peg -who won in the end and Wag crowned her with daisies. - -“I wish we could go on just as we are,” gasped Pompa, mopping his face -with his silk handkerchief. “We’re all good chums and, if it weren’t for -Pumperdink’s disappearing, we might travel all over Oz and have no end -of adventures together.” - -“Speaking of disappearing,” said Kabumpo, opening one eye, for he had -dozed off during the game, “I suppose we’d better be starting if we’re -to save the Kingdom at all.” - -“Good-bye to pleasure,” sighed Pompa, as Kabumpo lifted him to his back. -“Good-bye to everything!” - -“Oh, cheer up,” begged Peg, settling herself on Wag’s back. - -“Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” A large yellow bird rose suddenly from a -near-by bush and flapped its wings over Pompa’s head. “Hurrah! Hurrah!” - -“Shoo! Get away!” grumbled Kabumpo crossly. “What are you cheering -about?” - -“She said to,” cawed the bird, darting over Peg Amy’s head. “Hurrah! -Hurrah! Hurrah! Let me teach you how to be cheerful in three chirps. -First, think of what you might have been; next, think of what you are; -then think of what you are going to be. Do you get it?” The bird put its -head on one side and regarded them anxiously. - -“He might have been King of Oz, instead of which he is only a lost -Prince, and he’s going to be married to a mountain top Princess. Do you -see anything cheerful about that?” demanded Kabumpo angrily. “Clear out! -We’ll do our own cheering.” - -“Shall I go?” asked the Hurrah Bird, looking very crestfallen and -pointing its claw at Peg Amy. - -“Maybe you can tell us the way to Sun Top Mountain,” said Peg politely. - -“You can see it from the other side of the hill,” replied the Hurrah -Bird. “I’ll give you a few hurrahs for luck. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” - -“Oh, go away,” grumbled Kabumpo. - -“Not till you look at my nest. Did you ever see a Hurrah Bird’s nest?” -he chirped brightly. - -“Let’s look at it,” said Pompa, smiling in spite of himself. The Hurrah -Bird preened itself proudly as they peered through the bushes. Surely it -had the gayest nest ever built, for it was woven of straw of many -colors, and hung all over the near-by branches were small Oz flags. In -the nest three little yellow chicks were growing up into Hurrahs and -they chirped faintly at the visitors. - -“Remember,” called the Father Hurrah, as they bade him good-bye, “you -can always be cheerful in three chirps if you think of what you _might_ -have been, what you _are_, and what you are going to be. Hurrah! Hurrah! -Hurrah!” - -“There’s something in what you’ve said,” chuckled Wag. “Good-bye!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -The moon had come up brightly and even Kabumpo began to feel more like -himself. “There’s a lot to be learned by traveling, eh, Wag?” He winked -at the rabbit, who was just behind him. “Let’s see—somersaults for -sums—never be gormish—and now, how to be cheerful in three chirps. -Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” The Elegant Elephant began to plow swiftly -through the daisy field, so that in almost no time they reached the top -of the little hill and as they did so Peg gave a little scream of -delight. As for the others, they were simply speechless. - -A purple mountain rose steeply ahead, and set like a crown upon its -summit was a glittering gold castle, the loveliest, laciest gold castle -you could imagine, with a hundred fluttering pennants. All down the -mountain side spread its lovely gardens, its golden arbors and flower -bordered paths. - -[Illustration: At the top of the mountain the loveliest castle you could -imagine] - -“I’ve seen it before!” cried the Wooden Doll softly, but no one heard -her. Pompa drew a deep breath, for the castle, shimmering in the -moonlight, seemed almost too beautiful to believe. - -“Whe-ew!” whistled Wag, breaking the silence. “The Princess of Tun Sop -Wountain must be wonderful.” - -“Shall we start up now?” gasped Kabumpo, swinging his trunk nervously. - -“I don’t believe she’ll ever marry me. Let’s don’t go at all,” muttered -the Prince of Pumperdink in a shaking voice. - -“Oh, come on!” called Wag, who was curious to see the owner of so grand -a castle. - -“But we mustn’t go, Wag,” gasped Peg Amy. “How would it look to have a -shabby old doll tagging along when he’s trying to talk to the Princess?” - -“If Peg doesn’t go, I’m not going,” declared Pompa stubbornly. - -“You’re just as good as any Princess,” said Kabumpo, “and I’m not going -without you, either.” - -As the Elegant Elephant refused to budge and there seemed no other way -out of it, Peg Amy finally consented and the four adventurers started -fearfully up the winding path, almost expecting the castle to disappear -before they reached the top, so unreal did it seem in the moonlight. -There was no one in the garden but there were lights in the castle -windows. “Just as if they expected us,” said the Elegant Elephant, as -they reached the tall gates. Pompa opened the gates and next instant -they were standing before the great castle door. - -“Shall we knock?” chattered Wag, his eyes sticking out with excitement. - -“No! Wait a minute,” begged the Prince, who was becoming more agitated -every minute. - -“Here’s the mirror and the door knob,” quavered Kabumpo. “Didn’t the -Question Box say to trust them? Why, look here, Pompa, my boy, it fits!” -Clumsily, Kabumpo held up the glittering door knob he had brought all -the way from Pumperdink; then he slipped it easily on the small gold bar -projecting from the door. - -But instead of looking joyful Pompa groaned dismally. He started to -protest but Kabumpo had already turned the knob and they found -themselves in a glittering gold court room. - -“Now for the Princess,” puffed Kabumpo, looking around with his -twinkling little eyes. “Here, take the mirror, Pompa.” The room was -empty, although brilliantly lighted, and the Prince stood uncertainly in -the very center. Suddenly, with a determined little cry, Pompa rushed -over to Peg Amy, who stood leaning against a tall gold chair. - -“Peg,” choked Pompa, dropping on his knees beside the Wooden Doll, “I’ll -have to find some other way to save Pumperdink. I’m not going to marry -this Princess and have you taken away from me. You’re a proper enough -Princess for me and we’ll just go back to Pumperdink and be—” - -“The mirror! Look in the mirror!” screamed Wag, who was sitting beside -Peg Amy. - -[Illustration: There stood Peg Amy, the Loveliest Little Princess in the -world] - -Unconsciously, Pompa had held out the gold mirror and Peg, leaning over -to listen, had looked directly into it. Above Peg’s pleasant reflection -in the mirror they read these startling and important words: - - This is Peg Amy, Princess of Sun Top Mountain. - -While Pompa stared with round eyes the words faded out and this new -legend formed in the glass: - - This is the Proper Princess. - -“I always knew you were a Princess,” cried Wag, turning a somersault. - -The big rabbit had just come right-side-up, when a still more amazing -thing happened. The wooden body of Peg melted before their eyes and in -its place stood the loveliest little Princess in the world. And yet, -with all her beauty, she was strangely like the old Peg. Her eyes had -the same merry twinkle and her mouth the same pleasant curve. - -“Oh!” cried Princess Peg, holding her arms out to her friends. “Now I am -the happiest person in Oz!” - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 21 - How It All Came About - - -Before Pompa had time to rise, a tall, richly clad old nobleman rushed -into the room. - -“Peg!” cried the old gentleman, clasping the Princess in his arms. “You -are back! At last the enchantment is broken!” - -For a moment the two forgot all about Pompa and the others. Then, gently -disengaging herself, Peg seized the Prince’s hands and drew him to his -feet. - -“Uncle,” she said breathlessly, holding to Pompa with one hand and -waving with the other at Kabumpo and Wag, “here are the friends -responsible for my release. This is my Uncle Tozzyfog,” she explained -quickly, and impulsively Uncle Tozzyfog sprang to his feet and embraced -each in turn—even Kabumpo. - -“Sit down,” begged the old nobleman, sinking into a golden chair and -mopping his head with a flowered silk kerchief. - -Pompa, who could not take his eyes from this new and wonderful Peg Amy, -dropped into another chair. Kabumpo leaned limply against a pillar and -Wag sat where he was, his nose twitching faster than ever and his ears -stuck out straight behind him. - -“You are probably wondering about the change in Peg,” began Uncle -Tozzyfog, as the Princess perched on the arm of his chair, “so I’ll try -to tell my part of the story. Three years ago an ugly old peddlar -climbed the path to Sun Top Mountain. He said his name was Glegg and, -forcing his way into the castle, he demanded the hand of my niece in -marriage.” - -Peg shuddered and Uncle Tozzyfog blew his nose violently at the -distressing memory. Then, speaking rapidly and pausing every few minutes -to appeal to the Princess, he continued the story of Peg’s enchantment. -Naturally the old peddlar had been refused and thrown out of the castle. -That night as Uncle Tozzyfog prepared to carve the royal roast, there -came an explosion, and when the Courtiers had picked themselves up Peg -Amy was nowhere to be seen, and only a threatening scroll remained to -explain the mystery. Glegg, who was really a powerful magician, -infuriated by Uncle Tozzyfog’s treatment, had changed the little -Princess into a tree. - -“Know ye,” began the scroll quite like the one that had spoiled Pompa’s -birthday, “know ye that unless ye Princess of Sun Top Mountain consents -to wed J. Glegg she shall remain a tree forever, or until two shall call -and believe her to be a Princess. J. G.” - -The whole castle had been plunged into utmost gloom by this terrible -happening, for Peg was the kindliest, best loved little Princess any -Kingdom could wish for. Lord Tozzyfog and nearly all the Courtiers set -out at once to search for the little tree and for two years they -wandered over Oz, addressing every hopeful tree as Princess, but never -happening on the right one. Finally they returned in despair and Sun Top -Mountain, once the most cheerful Kingdom in all Oz, had become the -gloomiest. There was no singing, nor dancing—no happiness of any kind. -Even the flowers had drooped in the absence of their little Mistress. - -“Why didn’t you appeal to Ozma?” demanded Pompa at this point in the -story. - -“Because in another scroll Glegg warned us that the day we told Ozma, -Peg Amy would cease to even be a tree,” explained Uncle Tozzyfog -hoarsely. - -“Then how did she become a doll? Tell me that, Uncle Fozzytog,” gulped -Wag, raising one paw. - -“She’ll have to tell you that herself,” confessed Peg’s uncle, “for -that’s all of the story I know.” - -So here Peg took up the story herself. The morning after her -transformation into a tree Glegg had appeared and asked her again to -marry him. “I was a little yellow tree, in the Winkie Country, not far -from the Emerald City,” explained Peg, “and every day for two months -Glegg appeared and gave me the power of speech long enough to answer his -question. And each time he asked me to marry him but I always said -‘No!’” The Princess shook her yellow curls briskly. - -[Illustration: “Every day Glegg returned and asked me to marry him, but -I always said ‘No’!” explained Peg] - -“One afternoon there came a one-legged sailor man and a little girl.” -Even Kabumpo shuddered as Peg Amy told how Cap’n Bill had cut down the -little tree, pared off all the branches and carved from the trunk a -small wooden doll for Trot. - -“It didn’t hurt,” Princess Peg hastened to explain as she caught Pompa’s -sorrowful expression, “and being a doll was a lot better than being a -tree. I could not move or speak but I knew what was going on and life in -Ozma’s palace was cheerful and interesting. Only, of course, I longed to -tell Ozma or Trot of my enchantment. I missed dear Uncle Tozzyfog and -all the people of Sun Top Mountain. Then, as you all know, I was stolen -by the old gnome and after Ruggedo carried me underground I forgot all -about being a Princess and remembered nothing of this.” Peg glanced -lovingly around the room. “I only felt that I had been alive before. So -you!” Peg jumped up and flung one arm around Wag, “and you,” she flung -the other around Pompa, “saved me by calling me a Princess and really -believing I was one. And you!” Peg hastened over to Kabumpo, who was -rolling his eyes sadly. “You are the darlingest old elephant in Oz! See, -I still have the necklace and bracelet!” And sure enough on Peg’s round -arm and white neck gleamed the jewels the Elegant Elephant had -generously given when he thought her only a funny Wooden Doll. - -“Oh!” groaned Kabumpo. “Why didn’t I let you look in the mirror before? -No wonder you kept remembering things.” - -“But why did Glegg send the threatening scroll to Pumperdink three years -after he’d enchanted Peg?” asked Wag, scratching his head. - -“Because!” shrilled a piercing voice, and in through the window bounded -a perfectly dreadful old man. It was Glegg himself! - -[Illustration: “In through the window bounded a perfectly dreadful old -man”] - -“Because!” screeched the wicked magician, advancing toward the little -party with crooked finger, “when that meddling old sailor touched Peg -with his knife I lost all power over her; because my Question Box told -me that Pompadore of Pumperdink could bring about her disenchantment and -he has. I made it interesting for you, didn’t I? There isn’t another -magician in Oz can put scrolls up in cakes and roasts like I can nor mix -magic like mine. Ha! Ha!” Glegg threw back his head and rocked with -enjoyment. “You have had all the trouble and I shall have all the -reward!” - -Everyone was so stunned by this terrible interruption that no one made a -move as Glegg sprang toward Peg Amy. But before he had reached the -Princess there was a queer sulphurous explosion and the magician -disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. They rubbed their eyes and as the -smoke cleared they saw Trot, the little girl who had played with Peg Amy -when she was a Wooden Doll. - -“Ozma,” explained Trot breathlessly, for she had come on a fast _wish_. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -After following the adventures of Pompa and Peg in the Magic Mirror, and -as the magician had tried to snatch the Princess, Ozma had transported -him by means of her Magic Belt to the Emerald City, and sent Trot to -bring her best wishes to the whole party. - -“I’m sorry I didn’t make you a prettier dress when you were my doll,” -said Trot, seizing Peg Amy’s hand impulsively, “but you see I didn’t -know you were a Princess.” - -“But you guessed my name,” said Peg softly. - -There were so many explanations to be made and so many things to wonder -over and exclaim about, that it seemed as if they could never stop -talking. - -Uncle Tozzyfog rang all the bells in the castle tower and stepping out -on a balcony told the people of Sun Top Mountain of the return of -Princess Peg Amy. Then the servants were summoned and such a feast as -only an Oz cook can prepare was started in the castle kitchen. The -Courtiers came hurrying back, for during Peg’s absence Uncle Tozzyfog -had lived alone in the castle. Yes, the Courtiers came back and the -people of Sun Top Mountain poured into the castle in throngs and nearly -overwhelmed the rescuers by the enthusiasm of their thanks. - -Kabumpo had never been so admired and complimented in his whole elegant -life. As for Wag, his speech grew more mixed up every minute. At last, -when the Courtiers and Uncle Tozzyfog had run off to dress for the grand -banquet, and after Trot had been magically recalled by Ozma to the -Emerald City, the four who had gone through so many adventures together -were left alone. - -“Well, how about Pumperdink, my boy?” chuckled Kabumpo, with a wave of -his trunk. “Are we going to let the old Kingdom disappear or not?” - -“It is my duty to save my country,” said Pompa loftily. Then, with a -mischievous smile at Peg Amy, “Don’t you think so, Princess?” Peg Amy -looked merrily at the Elegant Elephant and then took Pompa’s hand. - -“Yes, I do,” said the Princess of Sun Top Mountain. - -“Then, you _will_ marry me?” asked Pompa, looking every inch a Prince in -spite of his singed head and torn clothes. - -“We must save Pumperdink, you know,” sighed Peg softly. - -“Three cheers for the Princess of Pumperdink! May she be as happy as the -day is short!” cried Wag in his impulsive way. - -Uncle Tozzyfog was as pleased as Wag when he heard the news, and Pompa, -attired in a royal gold embroidered robe, was married to Peg Amy upon -the spot, with much pomp and magnificence. - -Never before was there such rejoicing—a merrier company or a happier -bride. Kabumpo, arrayed in two gold curtains borrowed for the happy -occasion, had never appeared more elegant and Wag was everywhere at once -and simply overwhelmed with attention. - -That same night a messenger was dispatched to Pumperdink to carry the -good news and the next morning Pompa and Peg set out for the Emerald -City, the Princess riding proudly on Wag and Pompadore on Kabumpo. -Knowing the whole four as you now do, you will believe me when I say -that their journey was the merriest and most delightful ever recorded in -the merry Kingdom of Oz. - -After a short visit with Ozma and another to the King and Queen of -Pumperdink they all returned to Sun Top Mountain, where they are living -happily at this very minute. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Chapter 22 - Ruggedo’s Last Rock - - -There are only a few more mysteries to clear up before we leave for a -time the jolly Kingdom of Oz. Ruggedo, much shaken by his terrible -experiences with Glegg’s magic, confessed everything to Ozma on her -return to the Emerald City. You can imagine the surprise of the little -Fairy Ruler on learning how her palace had come to be impaled upon the -spikes of the wicked old gnome’s gray head. - -“He will nev-er re-form,” said Tik Tok mournfully, as Ruggedo finished -his recital. The bad little gnome assured Ozma that he had reformed and -begged for another chance, but this time Ozma knew better, and putting -on her Magic Belt she whispered a few secret words. Then they all -hurried over to the Magic Picture, for they knew that Ruggedo had been -transported to a safe place at last. The picture showed the Runaway -Country rushing along faster than an express train and dancing up and -down on its highest hill was the furious old King of the Gnomes. They -watched until the Country plunged joyfully into the Nonestic Ocean and, -when it was almost in the middle, Ozma stopped it by the magic spinning -process and it became Ruggedo’s Island. - -“Well,” sighed Dorothy as they turned from the picture, “I guess that -will be Ruggedo’s last rock!” - -“He’s rocked in the cradle of the deep now,” chuckled the Scarecrow. -“And I hope it quiets him down. They ought to make a good pair—that bad -little Island and that bad little King,” he added reflectively. - -[Illustration: “I guess that will be Ruggedo’s last rock,” said Dorothy] - -Then Ozma proposed that they follow the adventures of Peg and Pompa, -having so satisfactorily disposed of Ruggedo. How she transported Glegg -just in time to save the Princess you already know. But what happened to -Glegg himself is interesting. When the old magician had asked his -Question Box how to regain control over Peg again it had directed him to -bury his Mixed Magic under the Emerald City and in two years to send the -scroll to Pumperdink. So Glegg had tunneled out the cave under Ozma’s -palace and left his magic in what he supposed was a very safe place. It -had been a great hardship to do without it for two years, but he wanted -Peg so badly that he actually did this, never dreaming that Ruggedo had -moved in and discovered his treasures. The Question Box had told the -exact day Peg would be disenchanted and all that long two years Glegg -had waited, hidden in a forest near Sun Top Mountain. - -As he knew nothing of the discovery of his magic box, no one was more -surprised than he to find himself, just as he was on the point of -seizing Peg, transported to the Emerald City. - -While Sir Hokus of Pokes held the struggling Glegg, Ozma asked the -Question Box how to deal with him. Everybody crowded around the little -Fairy Ruler to hear what the wicked old magician’s fate was to be. - -“Give him a taste of his own magic,” directed the Question Box. “Make -him drink a cup of his Triple Trick Tea.” This Ozma did, although it -took fourteen people to get Glegg to drink it. But, stars! No sooner had -the liquid touched his lips than the miserable old magician went off -with a loud explosion! - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - -The box of Mixed Magic was carefully put away in Ozma’s gold safe and -then the whole company—Ozma, Dorothy, Sir Hokus, the Scarecrow and all -the celebrities—devoted themselves to setting the topsy turvy palace to -rights, for they knew by the Magic picture that Pompa and Peg Amy were -coming to visit them. - - “Glegg, Glegg, shake a leg - And never more, Sir, bother Peg!” - -shouted Scraps, as she swept up the black soot Glegg had left when he -exploded. And he never did. - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - [Illustration: (unlabelled)] - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public - domain in the country of publication. - ---Generated a cover image, based on graphic elements from the book, and - released for free unrestricted use with this eBook. - ---Relocated some images closer to the corresponding text. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the - HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.) - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kabumpo in Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KABUMPO IN OZ *** - -***** This file should be named 53765-0.txt or 53765-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/7/6/53765/ - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Eric Lehtonen, Stephen -Hutcheson, University of Miami and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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