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diff --git a/old/07woz11h.htm b/old/07woz11h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc57402 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/07woz11h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7792 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Patchwork Girl Of Oz, By L. 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FRANK BAUM</h3> + +<h4>Affectionately Dedicated to my young friend +Sumner Hamilton Britton of Chicago</h4> + + +<h2>Prologue</h2> + +<p>Through the kindness of Dorothy Gale of Kansas, afterward Princess +Dorothy of Oz, an humble writer in the United States of America was once +appointed Royal Historian of Oz, with the privilege of writing the +chronicle of that wonderful fairyland. But after making six books about +the adventures of those interesting but queer people who live in the +Land of Oz, the Historian learned with sorrow that by an edict of the +Supreme Ruler, Ozma of Oz, her country would thereafter be rendered +invisible to all who lived outside its borders and that all +communication with Oz would, in the future, be cut off.</p> + +<p>The children who had learned to look for the books about Oz and who +loved the stories about the gay and happy people inhabiting that favored +country, were as sorry as their Historian that there would be no more +books of Oz stories. They wrote many letters asking if the Historian did +not know of some adventures to write about that had happened before the +Land of Oz was shut out from all the rest of the world. But he did not +know of any. Finally one of the children inquired why we couldn't hear +from Princess Dorothy by wireless telegraph, which would enable her to +communicate to the Historian whatever happened in the far-off Land of Oz +without his seeing her, or even knowing just where Oz is.</p> + +<p>That seemed a good idea; so the Historian rigged up a high tower in his +back yard, and took lessons in wireless telegraphy until he understood +it, and then began to call "Princess Dorothy of Oz" by sending messages +into the air.</p> + +<p>Now, it wasn't likely that Dorothy would be looking for wireless +messages or would heed the call; but one thing the Historian was sure +of, and that was that the powerful Sorceress, Glinda, would know what he +was doing and that he desired to communicate with Dorothy. For Glinda +has a big book in which is recorded every event that takes place +anywhere in the world, just the moment that it happens, and so of course +the book would tell her about the wireless message.</p> + +<p>And that was the way Dorothy heard that the Historian wanted to speak +with her, and there was a Shaggy Man in the Land of Oz who knew how to +telegraph a wireless reply. The result was that the Historian begged so +hard to be told the latest news of Oz, so that he could write it down +for the children to read, that Dorothy asked permission of Ozma and Ozma +graciously consented.</p> + +<p>That is why, after two long years of waiting, another Oz story is now +presented to the children of America. This would not have been possible +had not some clever man invented the "wireless" and an equally clever +child suggested the idea of reaching the mysterious Land of Oz by its +means.</p> + +<p>L. Frank Baum.</p> + +<p>"OZCOT" +at Hollywood +in California</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="Contents">Contents</a> </h1> +<div class="ctr"> + <table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr><td>CHAPTER</td><td></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">1 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_One"> Ojo and Unc Nunkie</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">2 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Two"> The Crooked Magician</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">3 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Three"> The Patchwork Girl</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">4 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Four"> The Glass Cat</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">5 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Five"> A Terrible Accident</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">6 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Six"> The Journey</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">7 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Seven"> The Troublesome Phonograph</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">8 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Eight"> The Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">9 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Nine"> They Meet the Woozy</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">10 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Ten"> Shaggy Man to the Rescue</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">11 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Eleven"> A Good Friend</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">12 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twelve"> The Giant Porcupine</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">13 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Thirteen"> Scraps and the Scarecrow</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">14 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Fourteen"> Ojo Breaks the Law</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">15 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Fifteen"> Ozma's Prisoner</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">16 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Sixteen"> Princess Dorothy</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">17 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Seventeen"> Ozma and Her Friends</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">18 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Eighteen"> Ojo is Forgiven</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">19 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Nineteen"> Trouble with the Tottenhots</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">20 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty"> The Captive Yoop</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">21 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_One"> Hip Hopper the Champion</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">22 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Two"> The Joking Horners</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">23 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Three"> Peace is Declared</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">24 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Four"> Ojo Finds the Dark Well</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">25 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Five"> They Bribe the Lazy Quadling</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">26 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Six"> The Trick River</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">27 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Seven"> The Tin Woodman Objects</a></td></tr> + <tr><td align="right">28 </td><td> <a href="#Chapter_Twenty_Eight"> The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</a></td></tr> + </table> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="The_Patchwork_Girl_of_Oz" id="The_Patchwork_Girl_of_Oz" />The Patchwork Girl of Oz</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_One" id="Chapter_One" />Chapter One</h2> + +<h3>Ojo and Unc Nunkie</h3> + + +<p>"Where's the butter, Unc Nunkie?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>Unc looked out of the window and stroked his long beard. Then he turned +to the Munchkin boy and shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Isn't," said he.</p> + +<p>"Isn't any butter? That's too bad, Unc. Where's the jam then?" inquired +Ojo, standing on a stool so he could look through all the shelves of the +cupboard. But Unc Nunkie shook his head again.</p> + +<p>"Gone," he said.</p> + +<p>"No jam, either? And no cake—no jelly—no apples—nothing but bread?"</p> + +<p>"All," said Unc, again stroking his beard as he gazed from the window.</p> + +<p>The little boy brought the stool and sat beside his uncle, munching the +dry bread slowly and seeming in deep thought.</p> + +<p>"Nothing grows in our yard but the bread tree," he mused, "and there are +only two more loaves on that tree; and they're not ripe yet. Tell me, +Unc; why are we so poor?"</p> + +<p>The old Munchkin turned and looked at Ojo. He had kindly eyes, but he +hadn't smiled or laughed in so long that the boy had forgotten that Unc +Nunkie could look any other way than solemn. And Unc never spoke any +more words than he was obliged to, so his little nephew, who lived alone +with him, had learned to understand a great deal from one word.</p> + +<p>"Why are we so poor, Unc?" repeated the boy.</p> + +<p>"Not," said the old Munchkin.</p> + +<p>"I think we are," declared Ojo. "What have we got?"</p> + +<p>"House," said Unc Nunkie.</p> + +<p>"I know; but everyone in the Land of Oz has a place to live. What else, +Unc?"</p> + +<p>"Bread."</p> + +<p>"I'm eating the last loaf that's ripe. There; I've put aside your share, +Unc. It's on the table, so you can eat it when you get hungry. But when +that is gone, what shall we eat, Unc?"</p> + +<p>The old man shifted in his chair but merely shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Ojo, who was obliged to talk because his uncle would +not, "no one starves in the Land of Oz, either. There is plenty for +everyone, you know; only, if it isn't just where you happen to be, you +must go where it is."</p> + +<p>The aged Munchkin wriggled again and stared at his small nephew as if +disturbed by his argument.</p> + +<p>"By to-morrow morning," the boy went on, "we must go where there is +something to eat, or we shall grow very hungry and become very unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Unc.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we go? I don't know, I'm sure," replied Ojo. "But you must +know, Unc. You must have traveled, in your time, because you're so old. +I don't remember it, because ever since I could remember anything we've +lived right here in this lonesome, round house, with a little garden +back of it and the thick woods all around. All I've ever seen of the +great Land of Oz, Unc dear, is the view of that mountain over at the +south, where they say the Hammerheads live—who won't let anybody go by +them—and that mountain at the north, where they say nobody lives."</p> + +<p>"One," declared Unc, correcting him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; one family lives there, I've heard. That's the Crooked +Magician, who is named Dr. Pipt, and his wife Margolotte. One year you +told me about them; I think it took you a whole year, Unc, to say as +much as I've just said about the Crooked Magician and his wife. They +live high up on the mountain, and the good Munchkin Country, where the +fruits and flowers grow, is just the other side. It's funny you and I +should live here all alone, in the middle of the forest, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Unc.</p> + +<p>"Then let's go away and visit the Munchkin Country and its jolly, +good-natured people. I'd love to get a sight of something besides woods, +Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>"Too little," said Unc.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm not so little as I used to be," answered the boy earnestly. "I +think I can walk as far and as fast through the woods as you can, Unc. +And now that nothing grows in our back yard that is good to eat, we must +go where there is food."</p> + +<p>Unc Nunkie made no reply for a time. Then he shut down the window and +turned his chair to face the room, for the sun was sinking behind the +tree-tops and it was growing cool.</p> + +<p>By and by Ojo lighted the fire and the logs blazed freely in the broad +fireplace. The two sat in the firelight a long time—the old, +white-bearded Munchkin and the little boy. Both were thinking. When it +grew quite dark outside, Ojo said:</p> + +<p>"Eat your bread, Unc, and then we will go to bed."</p> + +<p>But Unc Nunkie did not eat the bread; neither did he go directly to bed. +Long after his little nephew was sound asleep in the corner of the room +the old man sat by the fire, thinking.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Two" id="Chapter_Two" />Chapter Two</h2> + +<h3>The Crooked Magician</h3> + + +<p>Just at dawn next morning Unc Nunkie laid his hand tenderly on Ojo's +head and awakened him.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said.</p> + +<p>Ojo dressed. He wore blue silk stockings, blue knee pants with gold +buckles, a blue ruffled waist and a jacket of bright blue braided with +gold. His shoes were of blue leather and turned up at the toes, which +were pointed. His hat had a peaked crown and a flat brim, and around the +brim was a row of tiny golden bells that tinkled when he moved. This was +the native costume of those who inhabited the Munchkin Country of the +Land of Oz, so Unc Nunkie's dress was much like that of his nephew. +Instead of shoes, the old man wore boots with turnover tops and his blue +coat had wide cuffs of gold braid.</p> + +<p>The boy noticed that his uncle had not eaten the bread, and supposed the +old man had not been hungry. Ojo was hungry, though; so he divided the +piece of bread upon the table and ate his half for breakfast, washing it +down with fresh, cool water from the brook. Unc put the other piece of +bread in his jacket pocket, after which he again said, as he walked out +through the doorway: "Come."</p> + +<p>Ojo was well pleased. He was dreadfully tired of living all alone in the +woods and wanted to travel and see people. For a long time he had wished +to explore the beautiful Land of Oz in which they lived. When they were +outside, Unc simply latched the door and started up the path. No one +would disturb their little house, even if anyone came so far into the +thick forest while they were gone.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the mountain that separated the Country of the Munchkins +from the Country of the Gillikins, the path divided. One way led to the +left and the other to the right—straight up the mountain. Unc Nunkie +took this right-hand path and Ojo followed without asking why. He knew +it would take them to the house of the Crooked Magician, whom he had +never seen but who was their nearest neighbor.</p> + +<p>All the morning they trudged up the mountain path and at noon Unc and +Ojo sat on a fallen tree-trunk and ate the last of the bread which the +old Munchkin had placed in his pocket. Then they started on again and +two hours later came in sight of the house of Dr. Pipt.</p> + +<p>It was a big house, round, as were all the Munchkin houses, and painted +blue, which is the distinctive color of the Munchkin Country of Oz. +There was a pretty garden around the house, where blue trees and blue +flowers grew in abundance and in one place were beds of blue cabbages, +blue carrots and blue lettuce, all of which were delicious to eat. In +Dr. Pipt's garden grew bun-trees, cake-trees, cream-puff bushes, blue +buttercups which yielded excellent blue butter and a row of +chocolate-caramel plants. Paths of blue gravel divided the vegetable and +flower beds and a wider path led up to the front door. The place was in +a clearing on the mountain, but a little way off was the grim forest, +which completely surrounded it.</p> + +<p>Unc knocked at the door of the house and a chubby, pleasant-faced woman, +dressed all in blue, opened it and greeted the visitors with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Ojo; "you must be Dame Margolotte, the good wife of Dr. +Pipt."</p> + +<p>"I am, my dear, and all strangers are welcome to my home."</p> + +<p>"May we see the famous Magician, Madam?"</p> + +<p>"He is very busy just now," she said, shaking her head doubtfully. "But +come in and let me give you something to eat, for you must have traveled +far in order to get our lonely place."</p> + +<p>"We have," replied Ojo, as he and Unc entered the house. "We have come +from a far lonelier place than this."</p> + +<p>"A lonelier place! And in the Munchkin Country?" she exclaimed. "Then it +must be somewhere in the Blue Forest."</p> + +<p>"It is, good Dame Margolotte."</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" she said, looking at the man, "you must be Unc Nunkie, known +as the Silent One." Then she looked at the boy. "And you must be Ojo the +Unlucky," she added.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Unc.</p> + +<p>"I never knew I was called the Unlucky," said Ojo, soberly; "but it is +really a good name for me."</p> + +<p>"Well," remarked the woman, as she bustled around the room and set the +table and brought food from the cupboard, "you were unlucky to live all +alone in that dismal forest, which is much worse than the forest around +here; but perhaps your luck will change, now you are away from it. If, +during your travels, you can manage to lose that 'Un' at the beginning +of your name 'Unlucky,' you will then become Ojo the Lucky, which will +be a great improvement."</p> + +<p>"How can I lose that 'Un,' Dame Margolotte?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know how, but you must keep the matter in mind and perhaps the +chance will come to you," she replied.</p> + +<p>Ojo had never eaten such a fine meal in all his life. There was a savory +stew, smoking hot, a dish of blue peas, a bowl of sweet milk of a +delicate blue tint and a blue pudding with blue plums in it. When the +visitors had eaten heartily of this fare the woman said to them:</p> + +<p>"Do you wish to see Dr. Pipt on business or for pleasure?"</p> + +<p>Unc shook his head.</p> + +<p>"We are traveling," replied Ojo, "and we stopped at your house just to +rest and refresh ourselves. I do not think Unc Nunkie cares very much to +see the famous Crooked Magician; but for my part I am curious to look at +such a great man."</p> + +<p>The woman seemed thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"I remember that Unc Nunkie and my husband used to be friends, many +years ago," she said, "so perhaps they will be glad to meet again. The +Magician is very busy, as I said, but if you will promise not to disturb +him you may come into his workshop and watch him prepare a wonderful +charm."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," replied the boy, much pleased. "I would like to do that."</p> + +<p>She led the way to a great domed hall at the back of the house, which +was the Magician's workshop. There was a row of windows extending nearly +around the sides of the circular room, which rendered the place very +light, and there was a back door in addition to the one leading to the +front part of the house. Before the row of windows a broad seat was +built and there were some chairs and benches in the room besides. At one +end stood a great fireplace, in which a blue log was blazing with a blue +flame, and over the fire hung four kettles in a row, all bubbling and +steaming at a great rate. The Magician was stirring all four of these +kettles at the same time, two with his hands and two with his feet, to +the latter, wooden ladles being strapped, for this man was so very +crooked that his legs were as handy as his arms.</p> + +<p>Unc Nunkie came forward to greet his old friend, but not being able to +shake either his hands or his feet, which were all occupied in stirring, +he patted the Magician's bald head and asked: "What?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's the Silent One," remarked Dr. Pipt, without looking up, "and +he wants to know what I'm making. Well, when it is quite finished this +compound will be the wonderful Powder of Life, which no one knows how to +make but myself. Whenever it is sprinkled on anything, that thing will +at once come to life, no matter what it is. It takes me several years to +make this magic Powder, but at this moment I am pleased to say it is +nearly done. You see, I am making it for my good wife Margolotte, who +wants to use some of it for a purpose of her own. Sit down and make +yourself comfortable, Unc Nunkie, and after I've finished my task I will +talk to you."</p> + +<p>"You must know," said Margolottte, when they were all seated together on +the broad window-seat, "that my husband foolishly gave away all the +Powder of Life he first made to old Mombi the Witch, who used to live in +the Country of the Gillikins, to the north of here. Mombi gave to Dr. +Pipt a Powder of Perpetual Youth in exchange for his Powder of Life, but +she cheated him wickedly, for the Powder of Youth was no good and could +work no magic at all."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the Powder of Life couldn't either," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is perfection," she declared. "The first lot we tested on our +Glass Cat, which not only began to live but has lived ever since. She's +somewhere around the house now."</p> + +<p>"A Glass Cat!" exclaimed Ojo, astonished.</p> + +<p>"Yes; she makes a very pleasant companion, but admires herself a little +more than is considered modest, and she positively refuses to catch +mice," explained Margolotte. "My husband made the cat some pink brains, +but they proved to be too high-bred and particular for a cat, so she +thinks it is undignified in her to catch mice. Also she has a pretty +blood-red heart, but it is made of stone—a ruby, I think—and so is +rather hard and unfeeling. I think the next Glass Cat the Magician makes +will have neither brains nor heart, for then it will not object to +catching mice and may prove of some use to us."</p> + +<p>"What did old Mombi the Witch do with the Powder of Life your husband +gave her?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"She brought Jack Pumpkinhead to life, for one thing," was the reply. "I +suppose you've heard of Jack Pumpkinhead. He is now living near the +Emerald City and is a great favorite with the Princess Ozma, who rules +all the Land of Oz."</p> + +<p>"No; I've never heard of him," remarked Ojo. "I'm afraid I don't know +much about the Land of Oz. You see, I've lived all my life with Unc +Nunkie, the Silent One, and there was no one to tell me anything."</p> + +<p>"That is one reason you are Ojo the Unlucky," said the woman, in a +sympathetic tone. "The more one knows, the luckier he is, for knowledge +is the greatest gift in life."</p> + +<p>"But tell me, please, what you intend to do with this new lot of the +Powder of Life, which Dr. Pipt is making. He said his wife wanted it for +some especial purpose."</p> + +<p>"So I do," she answered. "I want it to bring my Patchwork Girl to life."</p> + +<p>"Oh! A Patchwork Girl? What is that?" Ojo asked, for this seemed even +more strange and unusual than a Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"I think I must show you my Patchwork Girl," said Margolotte, laughing +at the boy's astonishment, "for she is rather difficult to explain. But +first I will tell you that for many years I have longed for a servant to +help me with the housework and to cook the meals and wash the dishes. No +servant will come here because the place is so lonely and +out-of-the-way, so my clever husband, the Crooked Magician, proposed +that I make a girl out of some sort of material and he would make her +live by sprinkling over her the Powder of Life. This seemed an excellent +suggestion and at once Dr. Pipt set to work to make a new batch of his +magic powder. He has been at it a long, long while, and so I have had +plenty of time to make the girl. Yet that task was not so easy as you +may suppose. At first I couldn't think what to make her of, but finally +in searching through a chest I came across an old patchwork quilt, which +my grandmother once made when she was young."</p> + +<p>"What is a patchwork quilt?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"A bed-quilt made of patches of different kinds and colors of cloth, all +neatly sewed together. The patches are of all shapes and sizes, so a +patchwork quilt is a very pretty and gorgeous thing to look at. +Sometimes it is called a 'crazy-quilt,' because the patches and colors +are so mixed up. We never have used my grandmother's many-colored +patchwork quilt, handsome as it is, for we Munchkins do not care for any +color other than blue, so it has been packed away in the chest for about +a hundred years. When I found it, I said to myself that it would do +nicely for my servant girl, for when she was brought to life she would +not be proud nor haughty, as the Glass Cat is, for such a dreadful +mixture of colors would discourage her from trying to be as dignified as +the blue Munchkins are."</p> + +<p>"Is blue the only respectable color, then?" inquired Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Yes, for a Munchkin. All our country is blue, you know. But in other +parts of Oz the people favor different colors. At the Emerald City, +where our Princess Ozma lives, green is the popular color. But all +Munchkins prefer blue to anything else and when my housework girl is +brought to life she will find herself to be of so many unpopular colors +that she'll never dare be rebellious or impudent, as servants are +sometimes liable to be when they are made the same way their mistresses +are."</p> + +<p>Unc Nunkie nodded approval.</p> + +<p>"Good i-dea," he said; and that was a long speech for Unc Nunkie because +it was two words.</p> + +<p>"So I cut up the quilt," continued Margolotte, "and made from it a very +well-shaped girl, which I stuffed with cotton-wadding. I will show you +what a good job I did," and she went to a tall cupboard and threw open +the doors.</p> + +<p>Then back she came, lugging in her arms the Patchwork Girl, which she +set upon the bench and propped up so that the figure would not tumble +over.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Three" id="Chapter_Three" />Chapter Three</h2> + +<h3>The Patchwork Girl</h3> + + +<p>Ojo examined this curious contrivance with wonder. The Patchwork Girl +was taller than he, when she stood upright, and her body was plump and +rounded because it had been so neatly stuffed with cotton. Margolotte +had first made the girl's form from the patchwork quilt and then she had +dressed it with a patchwork skirt and an apron with pockets in it—using +the same gay material throughout. Upon the feet she had sewn a pair of +red leather shoes with pointed toes. All the fingers and thumbs of the +girl's hands had been carefully formed and stuffed and stitched at the +edges, with gold plates at the ends to serve as finger-nails.</p> + +<p>"She will have to work, when she comes to life," said Marglotte.</p> + +<p>The head of the Patchwork Girl was the most curious part of her. While +she waited for her husband to finish making his Powder of Life the woman +had found ample time to complete the head as her fancy dictated, and she +realized that a good servant's head must be properly constructed. The +hair was of brown yarn and hung down on her neck in several neat braids. +Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons cut from a pair of the +Magician's old trousers, and they were sewed on with black threads, +which formed the pupils of the eyes. Margolotte had puzzled over the +ears for some time, for these were important if the servant was to hear +distinctly, but finally she had made them out of thin plates of gold and +attached them in place by means of stitches through tiny holes bored in +the metal. Gold is the most common metal in the Land of Oz and is used +for many purposes because it is soft and pliable.</p> + +<p>The woman had cut a slit for the Patchwork Girl's mouth and sewn two +rows of white pearls in it for teeth, using a strip of scarlet plush for +a tongue. This mouth Ojo considered very artistic and lifelike, and +Margolotte was pleased when the boy praised it. There were almost too +many patches on the face of the girl for her to be considered strictly +beautiful, for one cheek was yellow and the other red, her chin blue, +her forehead purple and the center, where her nose had been formed and +padded, a bright yellow.</p> + +<p>"You ought to have had her face all pink," suggested the boy.</p> + +<p>"I suppose so; but I had no pink cloth," replied the woman. "Still, I +cannot see as it matters much, for I wish my Patchwork Girl to be useful +rather than ornamental. If I get tired looking at her patched face I can +whitewash it."</p> + +<p>"Has she any brains?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"No; I forgot all about the brains!" exclaimed the woman. "I am glad you +reminded me of them, for it is not too late to supply them, by any +means. Until she is brought to life I can do anything I please with this +girl. But I must be careful not to give her too much brains, and those +she has must be such as are fitted to the station she is to occupy in +life. In other words, her brains mustn't be very good."</p> + +<p>"Wrong," said Unc Nunkie.</p> + +<p>"No; I am sure I am right about that," returned the woman.</p> + +<p>"He means," explained Ojo, "that unless your servant has good brains she +won't know how to obey you properly, nor do the things you ask her to +do."</p> + +<p>"Well, that may be true," agreed Margolotte; "but, on the contrary, a +servant with too much brains is sure to become independent and +high-and-mighty and feel above her work. This is a very delicate task, +as I said, and I must take care to give the girl just the right quantity +of the right sort of brains. I want her to know just enough, but not too +much."</p> + +<p>With this she went to another cupboard which was filled with shelves. +All the shelves were lined with blue glass bottles, neatly labeled by +the Magician to show what they contained. One whole shelf was marked: +"Brain Furniture," and the bottles on this shelf were labeled as +follows: "Obedience," "Cleverness," "Judgment," "Courage," "Ingenuity," +"Amiability," "Learning," "Truth," "Poesy," "Self Reliance."</p> + +<p>"Let me see," said Margolotte; "of those qualities she must have +'Obedience' first of all," and she took down the bottle bearing that +label and poured from it upon a dish several grains of the contents. +"'Amiability' is also good and 'Truth.'" She poured into the dish a +quantity from each of these bottles. "I think that will do," she +continued, "for the other qualities are not needed in a servant."</p> + +<p>Unc Nunkie, who with Ojo stood beside her, touched the bottle marked +"Cleverness."</p> + +<p>"Little," said he.</p> + +<p>"A little 'Cleverness'? Well, perhaps you are right, sir," said she, and +was about to take down the bottle when the Crooked Magician suddenly +called to her excitedly from the fireplace.</p> + +<p>"Quick, Margolotte! Come and help me."</p> + +<p>She ran to her husband's side at once and helped him lift the four +kettles from the fire. Their contents had all boiled away, leaving in +the bottom of each kettle a few grains of fine white powder. Very +carefully the Magician removed this powder, placing it all together in a +golden dish, where he mixed it with a golden spoon. When the mixture was +complete there was scarcely a handful, all told.</p> + +<p>"That," said Dr. Pipt, in a pleased and triumphant tone, "is the +wonderful Powder of Life, which I alone in the world know how to make. +It has taken me nearly six years to prepare these precious grains of +dust, but the little heap on that dish is worth the price of a kingdom +and many a king would give all he has to possess it. When it has become +cooled I will place it in a small bottle; but meantime I must watch it +carefully, lest a gust of wind blow it away or scatter it."</p> + +<p>Unc Nunkie, Margolotte and the Magician all stood looking at the +marvelous Powder, but Ojo was more interested just then in the Patchwork +Girl's brains. Thinking it both unfair and unkind to deprive her of any +good qualities that were handy, the boy took down every bottle on the +shelf and poured some of the contents in Margolotte's dish. No one saw +him do this, for all were looking at the Powder of Life; but soon the +woman remembered what she had been doing, and came back to the cupboard.</p> + +<p>"Let's see," she remarked; "I was about to give my girl a little +'Cleverness,' which is the Doctor's substitute for 'Intelligence'—a +quality he has not yet learned how to manufacture." Taking down the +bottle of "Cleverness" she added some of the powder to the heap on the +dish. Ojo became a bit uneasy at this, for he had already put quite a +lot of the "Cleverness" powder in the dish; but he dared not interfere +and so he comforted himself with the thought that one cannot have too +much cleverness.</p> + +<p>Margolotte now carried the dish of brains to the bench. Ripping the seam +of the patch on the girl's forehead, she placed the powder within the +head and then sewed up the seam as neatly and securely as before.</p> + +<p>"My girl is all ready for your Powder of Life, my dear," she said to her +husband. But the Magician replied:</p> + +<p>"This powder must not be used before to-morrow morning; but I think it +is now cool enough to be bottled."</p> + +<p>He selected a small gold bottle with a pepper-box top, so that the +powder might be sprinkled on any object through the small holes. Very +carefully he placed the Powder of Life in the gold bottle and then +locked it up in a drawer of his cabinet.</p> + +<p>"At last," said he, rubbing his hands together gleefully, "I have ample +leisure for a good talk with my old friend Unc Nunkie. So let us sit +down cosily and enjoy ourselves. After stirring those four kettles for +six years I am glad to have a little rest."</p> + +<p>"You will have to do most of the talking," said Ojo, "for Unc is called +the Silent One and uses few words."</p> + +<p>"I know; but that renders your uncle a most agreeable companion and +gossip," declared Dr. Pipt. "Most people talk too much, so it is a +relief to find one who talks too little."</p> + +<p>Ojo looked at the Magician with much awe and curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Don't you find it very annoying to be so crooked?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No; I am quite proud of my person," was the reply. "I suppose I am the +only Crooked Magician in all the world. Some others are accused of being +crooked, but I am the only genuine."</p> + +<p>He was really very crooked and Ojo wondered how he managed to do so many +things with such a twisted body. When he sat down upon a crooked chair +that had been made to fit him, one knee was under his chin and the other +near the small of his back; but he was a cheerful man and his face bore +a pleasant and agreeable expression.</p> + +<p>"I am not allowed to perform magic, except for my own amusement," he +told his visitors, as he lighted a pipe with a crooked stem and began to +smoke. "Too many people were working magic in the Land of Oz, and so our +lovely Princess Ozma put a stop to it. I think she was quite right. +There were several wicked Witches who caused a lot of trouble; but now +they are all out of business and only the great Sorceress, Glinda the +Good, is permitted to practice her arts, which never harm anybody. The +Wizard of Oz, who used to be a humbug and knew no magic at all, has been +taking lessons of Glinda, and I'm told he is getting to be a pretty good +Wizard; but he is merely the assistant of the great Sorceress. I've the +right to make a servant girl for my wife, you know, or a Glass Cat to +catch our mice—which she refuses to do—but I am forbidden to work +magic for others, or to use it as a profession."</p> + +<p>"Magic must be a very interesting study," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"It truly is," asserted the Magician. "In my time I've performed some +magical feats that were worthy of the skill of Glinda the Good. For +instance, there's the Powder of Life, and my Liquid of Petrifaction, +which is contained in that bottle on the shelf yonder—over the window."</p> + +<p>"What does the Liquid of Petrifaction do?" inquired the boy.</p> + +<p>"Turns everything it touches to solid marble. It's an invention of my +own, and I find it very useful. Once two of those dreadful Kalidahs, +with bodies like bears and heads like tigers, came here from the forest +to attack us; but I sprinkled some of that Liquid on them and instantly +they turned to marble. I now use them as ornamental statuary in my +garden. This table looks to you like wood, and once it really was wood; +but I sprinkled a few drops of the Liquid of Petrifaction on it and now +it is marble. It will never break nor wear out."</p> + +<p>"Fine!" said Unc Nunkie, wagging his head and stroking his long gray +beard.</p> + +<p>"Dear me; what a chatterbox you're getting to be, Unc," remarked the +Magician, who was pleased with the compliment. But just then there came +a scratching at the back door and a shrill voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Let me in! Hurry up, can't you? Let me in!"</p> + +<p>Margolotte got up and went to the door.</p> + +<p>"Ask like a good cat, then," she said.</p> + +<p>"Mee-ee-ow-w-w! There; does that suit your royal highness?" asked the +voice, in scornful accents.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that's proper cat talk," declared the woman, and opened the door.</p> + +<p>At once a cat entered, came to the center of the room and stopped short +at the sight of strangers. Ojo and Unc Nunkie both stared at it with +wide open eyes, for surely no such curious creature had ever existed +before—even in the Land of Oz.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Four" id="Chapter_Four" />Chapter Four</h2> + +<h3>The Glass Cat</h3> + + +<p>The cat was made of glass, so clear and transparent that you could see +through it as easily as through a window. In the top of its head, +however, was a mass of delicate pink balls which looked like jewels, and +it had a heart made of a blood-red ruby. The eyes were two large +emeralds, but aside from these colors all the rest of the animal was +clear glass, and it had a spun-glass tail that was really beautiful.</p> + +<p>"Well, Doc Pipt, do you mean to introduce us, or not?" demanded the cat, +in a tone of annoyance. "Seems to me you are forgetting your manners."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," returned the Magician. "This is Unc Nunkie, the descendant +of the former kings of the Munchkins, before this country became a part +of the Land of Oz."</p> + +<p>"He needs a haircut," observed the cat, washing its face.</p> + +<p>"True," replied Unc, with a low chuckle of amusement.</p> + +<p>"But he has lived alone in the heart of the forest for many years," the +Magician explained; "and, although that is a barbarous country, there +are no barbers there."</p> + +<p>"Who is the dwarf?" asked the cat.</p> + +<p>"That is not a dwarf, but a boy," answered the Magician. "You have never +seen a boy before. He is now small because he is young. With more years +he will grow big and become as tall as Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>"Oh. Is that magic?" the glass animal inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but it is Nature's magic, which is more wonderful than any art +known to man. For instance, my magic made you, and made you live; and it +was a poor job because you are useless and a bother to me; but I can't +make you grow. You will always be the same size—and the same saucy, +inconsiderate Glass Cat, with pink brains and a hard ruby heart."</p> + +<p>"No one can regret more than I the fact that you made me," asserted the +cat, crouching upon the floor and slowly swaying its spun-glass tail +from side to side. "Your world is a very uninteresting place. I've +wandered through your gardens and in the forest until I'm tired of it +all, and when I come into the house the conversation of your fat wife +and of yourself bores me dreadfully."</p> + +<p>"That is because I gave you different brains from those we ourselves +possess—and much too good for a cat," returned Dr. Pipt.</p> + +<p>"Can't you take 'em out, then, and replace 'em with pebbles, so that I +won't feel above my station in life?" asked the cat, pleadingly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so. I'll try it, after I've brought the Patchwork Girl to +life," he said.</p> + +<p>The cat walked up to the bench on which the Patchwork Girl reclined and +looked at her attentively.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to make that dreadful thing live?" she asked.</p> + +<p>The Magician nodded.</p> + +<p>"It is intended to be my wife's servant maid," he said. "When she is +alive she will do all our work and mind the house. But you are not to +order her around, Bungle, as you do us. You must treat the Patchwork +Girl respectfully."</p> + +<p>"I won't. I couldn't respect such a bundle of scraps under any +circumstances."</p> + +<p>"If you don't, there will be more scraps than you will like," cried +Margolotte, angrily.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you make her pretty to look at?" asked the cat. "You made me +pretty—very pretty, indeed—and I love to watch my pink brains roll +around when they're working, and to see my precious red heart beat." She +went to a long mirror, as she said this, and stood before it, looking at +herself with an air of much pride. "But that poor patched thing will +hate herself, when she's once alive," continued the cat. "If I were you +I'd use her for a mop, and make another servant that is prettier."</p> + +<p>"You have a perverted taste," snapped Margolotte, much annoyed at this +frank criticism. "I think the Patchwork Girl is beautiful, considering +what she's made of. Even the rainbow hasn't as many colors, and you must +admit that the rainbow is a pretty thing."</p> + +<p>The Glass Cat yawned and stretched herself upon the floor.</p> + +<p>"Have your own way," she said. "I'm sorry for the Patchwork Girl, that's +all."</p> + +<p>Ojo and Unc Nunkie slept that night in the Magician's house, and the boy +was glad to stay because he was anxious to see the Patchwork Girl +brought to life. The Glass Cat was also a wonderful creature to little +Ojo, who had never seen or known anything of magic before, although he +had lived in the Fairyland of Oz ever since he was born. Back there in +the woods nothing unusual ever happened. Unc Nunkie, who might have been +King of the Munchkins, had not his people united with all the other +countries of Oz in acknowledging Ozma as their sole ruler, had retired +into this forgotten forest nook with his baby nephew and they had lived +all alone there. Only that the neglected garden had failed to grow food +for them, they would always have lived in the solitary Blue Forest; but +now they had started out to mingle with other people, and the first +place they came to proved so interesting that Ojo could scarcely sleep a +wink all night.</p> + +<p>Margolotte was an excellent cook and gave them a fine breakfast. While +they were all engaged in eating, the good woman said:</p> + +<p>"This is the last meal I shall have to cook for some time, for right +after breakfast Dr. Pipt has promised to bring my new servant to life. I +shall let her wash the breakfast dishes and sweep and dust the house. +What a relief it will be!"</p> + +<p>"It will, indeed, relieve you of much drudgery," said the Magician. "By +the way, Margolotte, I thought I saw you getting some brains from the +cupboard, while I was busy with my kettles. What qualities have you +given your new servant?"</p> + +<p>"Only those that an humble servant requires," she answered. "I do not +wish her to feel above her station, as the Glass Cat does. That would +make her discontented and unhappy, for of course she must always be a +servant."</p> + +<p>Ojo was somewhat disturbed as he listened to this, and the boy began to +fear he had done wrong in adding all those different qualities of brains +to the lot Margolotte had prepared for the servant. But it was too late +now for regret, since all the brains were securely sewn up inside the +Patchwork Girl's head. He might have confessed what he had done and thus +allowed Margolotte and her husband to change the brains; but he was +afraid of incurring their anger. He believed that Unc had seen him add +to the brains, and Unc had not said a word against it; but then, Unc +never did say anything unless it was absolutely necessary.</p> + +<p>As soon as breakfast was over they all went into the Magician's big +workshop, where the Glass Cat was lying before the mirror and the +Patchwork Girl lay limp and lifeless upon the bench.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said Dr. Pipt, in a brisk tone, "we shall perform one of +the greatest feats of magic possible to man, even in this marvelous Land +of Oz. In no other country could it be done at all. I think we ought to +have a little music while the Patchwork Girl comes to life. It is +pleasant to reflect that the first sounds her golden ears will hear will +be delicious music."</p> + +<p>As he spoke he went to a phonograph, which screwed fast to a small +table, and wound up the spring of the instrument and adjusted the big +gold horn.</p> + +<p>"The music my servant will usually hear," remarked Margolotte, "will be +my orders to do her work. But I see no harm in allowing her to listen to +this unseen band while she wakens to her first realization of life. My +orders will beat the band, afterward."</p> + +<p>The phonograph was now playing a stirring march tune and the Magician +unlocked his cabinet and took out the gold bottle containing the Powder +of Life.</p> + +<p>They all bent over the bench on which the Patchwork Girl reclined. Unc +Nunkie and Margolotte stood behind, near the windows, Ojo at one side +and the Magician in front, where he would have freedom to sprinkle the +powder. The Glass Cat came near, too, curious to watch the important +scene.</p> + +<p>"All ready?" asked Dr. Pipt.</p> + +<p>"All is ready," answered his wife.</p> + +<p>So the Magician leaned over and shook from the bottle some grains of the +wonderful Powder, and they fell directly on the Patchwork Girl's head +and arms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Five" id="Chapter_Five" />Chapter Five</h2> + +<h3>A Terrible Accident</h3> + + +<p>"It will take a few minutes for this powder to do its work," remarked +the Magician, sprinkling the body up and down with much care.</p> + +<p>But suddenly the Patchwork Girl threw up one arm, which knocked the +bottle of powder from the crooked man's hand and sent it flying across +the room. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte were so startled that they both +leaped backward and bumped together, and Unc's head joggled the shelf +above them and upset the bottle containing the Liquid of Petrifaction.</p> + +<p>The Magician uttered such a wild cry that Ojo jumped away and the +Patchwork Girl sprang after him and clasped her stuffed arms around him +in terror. The Glass Cat snarled and hid under the table, and so it was +that when the powerful Liquid of Petrifaction was spilled it fell only +upon the wife of the Magician and the uncle of Ojo. With these two the +charm worked promptly. They stood motionless and stiff as marble +statues, in exactly the positions they were in when the Liquid struck +them.</p> + +<p>Ojo pushed the Patchwork Girl away and ran to Unc Nunkie, filled with a +terrible fear for the only friend and protector he had ever known. When +he grasped Unc's hand it was cold and hard. Even the long gray beard was +solid marble. The Crooked Magician was dancing around the room in a +frenzy of despair, calling upon his wife to forgive him, to speak to +him, to come to life again!</p> + +<p>The Patchwork Girl, quickly recovering from her fright, now came nearer +and looked from one to another of the people with deep interest. Then +she looked at herself and laughed. Noticing the mirror, she stood before +it and examined her extraordinary features with amazement—her button +eyes, pearl bead teeth and puffy nose. Then, addressing her reflection +in the glass, she exclaimed:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Whee, but there's a gaudy dame!<br /> +Makes a paint-box blush with shame.<br /> +Razzle-dazzle, fizzle-fazzle!<br /> +Howdy-do, Miss What's-your-name?"<br /></p> + + +<p>She bowed, and the reflection bowed. Then she laughed again, long and +merrily, and the Glass Cat crept out from under the table and said:</p> + +<p>"I don't blame you for laughing at yourself. Aren't you horrid?"</p> + +<p>"Horrid?" she replied. "Why, I'm thoroughly delightful. I'm an Original, +if you please, and therefore incomparable. Of all the comic, absurd, +rare and amusing creatures the world contains, I must be the supreme +freak. Who but poor Margolotte could have managed to invent such an +unreasonable being as I? But I'm glad—I'm awfully glad!—that I'm just +what I am, and nothing else."</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, will you?" cried the frantic Magician; "be quiet and let me +think! If I don't think I shall go mad."</p> + +<p>"Think ahead," said the Patchwork Girl, seating herself in a chair. +"Think all you want to. I don't mind."</p> + +<p>"Gee! but I'm tired playing that tune," called the phonograph, speaking +through its horn in a brazen, scratchy voice. "If you don't mind, Pipt, +old boy, I'll cut it out and take a rest."</p> + +<p>The Magician looked gloomily at the music-machine.</p> + +<p>"What dreadful luck!" he wailed, despondently. "The Powder of Life must +have fallen on the phonograph."</p> + +<p>He went up to it and found that the gold bottle that contained the +precious powder had dropped upon the stand and scattered its life-giving +grains over the machine. The phonograph was very much alive, and began +dancing a jig with the legs of the table to which it was attached, and +this dance so annoyed Dr. Pipt that he kicked the thing into a corner +and pushed a bench against it, to hold it quiet.</p> + +<p>"You were bad enough before," said the Magician, resentfully; "but a +live phonograph is enough to drive every sane person in the Land of Oz +stark crazy."</p> + +<p>"No insults, please," answered the phonograph in a surly tone. "You did +it, my boy; don't blame me."</p> + +<p>"You've bungled everything, Dr. Pipt," added the Glass Cat, +contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Except me," said the Patchwork Girl, jumping up to whirl merrily around +the room.</p> + +<p>"I think," said Ojo, almost ready to cry through grief over Unc Nunkie's +sad fate, "it must all be my fault, in some way. I'm called Ojo the +Unlucky, you know."</p> + +<p>"That's nonsense, kiddie," retorted the Patchwork Girl cheerfully. "No +one can be unlucky who has the intelligence to direct his own actions. +The unlucky ones are those who beg for a chance to think, like poor Dr. +Pipt here. What's the row about, anyway, Mr. Magic-maker?"</p> + +<p>"The Liquid of Petrifaction has accidentally fallen upon my dear wife +and Unc Nunkie and turned them into marble," he sadly replied.</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you sprinkle some of that powder on them and bring them +to life again?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>The Magician gave a jump.</p> + +<p>"Why, I hadn't thought of that!" he joyfully cried, and grabbed up the +golden bottle, with which he ran to Margolotte.</p> + +<p>Said the Patchwork Girl:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Higgledy, piggledy, dee—<br /> +What fools magicians be!<br /> +His head's so thick<br /> +He can't think quick,<br /> +So he takes advice from me."</p> + + +<p>Standing upon the bench, for he was so crooked he could not reach the +top of his wife's head in any other way, Dr. Pipt began shaking the +bottle. But not a grain of powder came out. He pulled off the cover, +glanced within, and then threw the bottle from him with a wail of +despair.</p> + +<p>"Gone—gone! Every bit gone," he cried. "Wasted on that miserable +phonograph when it might have saved my dear wife!"</p> + +<p>Then the Magician bowed his head on his crooked arms and began to cry.</p> + +<p>Ojo was sorry for him. He went up to the sorrowful man and said softly:</p> + +<p>"You can make more Powder of Life, Dr. Pipt."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but it will take me six years—six long, weary years of stirring +four kettles with both feet and both hands," was the agonized reply. +"Six years! while poor Margolotte stands watching me as a marble image."</p> + +<p>"Can't anything else be done?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>The Magician shook his head. Then he seemed to remember something and +looked up.</p> + +<p>"There is one other compound that would destroy the magic spell of the +Liquid of Petrifaction and restore my wife and Unc Nunkie to life," said +he. "It may be hard to find the things I need to make this magic +compound, but if they were found I could do in an instant what will +otherwise take six long, weary years of stirring kettles with both hands +and both feet."</p> + +<p>"All right; let's find the things, then," suggested the Patchwork Girl. +"That seems a lot more sensible than those stirring times with the +kettles."</p> + +<p>"That's the idea, Scraps," said the Glass Cat, approvingly. "I'm glad to +find you have decent brains. Mine are exceptionally good. You can see +'em work; they're pink."</p> + +<p>"Scraps?" repeated the girl. "Did you call me 'Scraps'? Is that my +name?"</p> + +<p>"I—I believe my poor wife had intended to name you 'Angeline,'" said +the Magician.</p> + +<p>"But I like 'Scraps' best," she replied with a laugh. "It fits me +better, for my patchwork is all scraps, and nothing else. Thank you for +naming me, Miss Cat. Have you any name of your own?"</p> + +<p>"I have a foolish name that Margolotte once gave me, but which is quite +undignified for one of my importance," answered the cat. "She called me +'Bungle.'"</p> + +<p>"Yes," sighed the Magician; "you were a sad bungle, taken all in all. I +was wrong to make you as I did, for a more useless, conceited and +brittle thing never before existed."</p> + +<p>"I'm not so brittle as you think," retorted the cat. "I've been alive a +good many years, for Dr. Pipt experimented on me with the first magic +Powder of Life he ever made, and so far I've never broken or cracked or +chipped any part of me."</p> + +<p>"You seem to have a chip on your shoulder," laughed the Patchwork Girl, +and the cat went to the mirror to see.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," pleaded Ojo, speaking to the Crooked Magician, "what must we +find to make the compound that will save Unc Nunkie?"</p> + +<p>"First," was the reply, "I must have a six-leaved clover. That can only +be found in the green country around the Emerald City, and six-leaved +clovers are very scarce, even there."</p> + +<p>"I'll find it for you," promised Ojo.</p> + +<p>"The next thing," continued the Magician, "is the left wing of a yellow +butterfly. That color can only be found in the yellow country of the +Winkies, West of the Emerald City."</p> + +<p>"I'll find it," declared Ojo. "Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; I'll get my Book of Recipes and see what comes next."</p> + +<p>Saying this, the Magician unlocked a drawer of his cabinet and drew out +a small book covered with blue leather. Looking through the pages he +found the recipe he wanted and said: "I must have a gill of water from a +dark well."</p> + +<p>"What kind of a well is that, sir?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"One where the light of day never penetrates. The water must be put in a +gold bottle and brought to me without any light ever reaching it."</p> + +<p>"I'll get the water from the dark well," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Then I must have three hairs from the tip of a Woozy's tail, and a drop +of oil from a live man's body."</p> + +<p>Ojo looked grave at this.</p> + +<p>"What is a Woozy, please?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Some sort of an animal. I've never seen one, so I can't describe it," +replied the Magician.</p> + +<p>"If I can find a Woozy, I'll get the hairs from its tail," said Ojo. +"But is there ever any oil in a man's body?"</p> + +<p>The Magician looked in the book again, to make sure.</p> + +<p>"That's what the recipe calls for," he replied, "and of course we must +get everything that is called for, or the charm won't work. The book +doesn't say 'blood'; it says 'oil,' and there must be oil somewhere in a +live man's body or the book wouldn't ask for it."</p> + +<p>"All right," returned Ojo, trying not to feel discouraged; "I'll try to +find it."</p> + +<p>The Magician looked at the little Munchkin boy in a doubtful way and +said:</p> + +<p>"All this will mean a long journey for you; perhaps several long +journeys; for you must search through several of the different countries +of Oz in order to get the things I need."</p> + +<p>"I know it, sir; but I must do my best to save Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>"And also my poor wife Margolotte. If you save one you will save the +other, for both stand there together and the same compound will restore +them both to life. Do the best you can, Ojo, and while you are gone I +shall begin the six years job of making a new batch of the Powder of +Life. Then, if you should unluckily fail to secure any one of the things +needed, I will have lost no time. But if you succeed you must return +here as quickly as you can, and that will save me much tiresome stirring +of four kettles with both feet and both hands."</p> + +<p>"I will start on my journey at once, sir," said the boy.</p> + +<p>"And I will go with you," declared the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" exclaimed the Magician. "You have no right to leave this +house. You are only a servant and have not been discharged."</p> + +<p>Scraps, who had been dancing up and down the room, stopped and looked at +him.</p> + +<p>"What is a servant?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"One who serves. A—a sort of slave," he explained.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the Patchwork Girl, "I'm going to serve you and your +wife by helping Ojo find the things you need. You need a lot, you know, +such as are not easily found."</p> + +<p>"It is true," sighed Dr. Pipt. "I am well aware that Ojo has undertaken +a serious task."</p> + +<p>Scraps laughed, and resuming her dance she said:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Here's a job for a boy of brains:<br /> +A drop of oil from a live man's veins;<br /> +A six-leaved clover; three nice hairs<br /> +From a Woozy's tail, the book declares<br /> +Are needed for the magic spell,<br /> +And water from a pitch-dark well.<br /> +The yellow wing of a butterfly<br /> +To find must Ojo also try,<br /> +And if he gets them without harm,<br /> +Doc Pipt will make the magic charm;<br /> +But if he doesn't get 'em, Unc<br /> +Will always stand a marble chunk."</p> + + +<p>The Magician looked at her thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Poor Margolotte must have given you some of the quality of poesy, by +mistake," he said. "And, if that is true, I didn't make a very good +article when I prepared it, or else you got an overdose or an underdose. +However, I believe I shall let you go with Ojo, for my poor wife will +not need your services until she is restored to life. Also I think you +may be able to help the boy, for your head seems to contain some +thoughts I did not expect to find in it. But be very careful of +yourself, for you're a souvenir of my dear Margolotte. Try not to get +ripped, or your stuffing may fall out. One of your eyes seems loose, and +you may have to sew it on tighter. If you talk too much you'll wear out +your scarlet plush tongue, which ought to have been hemmed on the edges. +And remember you belong to me and must return here as soon as your +mission is accomplished."</p> + +<p>"I'm going with Scraps and Ojo," announced the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"You can't," said the Magician.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"You'd get broken in no time, and you couldn't be a bit of use to the +boy and the Patchwork Girl."</p> + +<p>"I beg to differ with you," returned the cat, in a haughty tone. "Three +heads are better than two, and my pink brains are beautiful. You can see +'em work."</p> + +<p>"Well, go along," said the Magician, irritably. "You're only an +annoyance, anyhow, and I'm glad to get rid of you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for nothing, then," answered the cat, stiffly.</p> + +<p>Dr. Pipt took a small basket from a cupboard and packed several things +in it. Then he handed it to Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Here is some food and a bundle of charms," he said. "It is all I can +give you, but I am sure you will find friends on your journey who will +assist you in your search. Take care of the Patchwork Girl and bring her +safely back, for she ought to prove useful to my wife. As for the Glass +Cat—properly named Bungle—if she bothers you I now give you my +permission to break her in two, for she is not respectful and does not +obey me. I made a mistake in giving her the pink brains, you see."</p> + +<p>Then Ojo went to Unc Nunkie and kissed the old man's marble face very +tenderly.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to try to save you, Unc," he said, just as if the marble +image could hear him; and then he shook the crooked hand of the Crooked +Magician, who was already busy hanging the four kettles in the +fireplace, and picking up his basket left the house.</p> + +<p>The Patchwork Girl followed him, and after them came the Glass Cat.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Six" id="Chapter_Six" />Chapter Six</h2> + +<h3>The Journey</h3> + + +<p>Ojo had never traveled before and so he only knew that the path down the +mountainside led into the open Munchkin Country, where large numbers of +people dwelt. Scraps was quite new and not supposed to know anything of +the Land of Oz, while the Glass Cat admitted she had never wandered very +far away from the Magician's house. There was only one path before them, +at the beginning, so they could not miss their way, and for a time they +walked through the thick forest in silent thought, each one impressed +with the importance of the adventure they had undertaken.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the Patchwork Girl laughed. It was funny to see her laugh, +because her cheeks wrinkled up, her nose tipped, her silver button eyes +twinkled and her mouth curled at the corners in a comical way.</p> + +<p>"Has something pleased you?" asked Ojo, who was feeling solemn and +joyless through thinking upon his uncle's sad fate.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered. "Your world pleases me, for it's a queer world, and +life in it is queerer still. Here am I, made from an old bedquilt and +intended to be a slave to Margolotte, rendered free as air by an +accident that none of you could foresee. I am enjoying life and seeing +the world, while the woman who made me is standing helpless as a block +of wood. If that isn't funny enough to laugh at, I don't know what is."</p> + +<p>"You're not seeing much of the world yet, my poor, innocent Scraps," +remarked the Cat. "The world doesn't consist wholly of the trees that +are on all sides of us."</p> + +<p>"But they're part of it; and aren't they pretty trees?" returned Scraps, +bobbing her head until her brown yarn curls fluttered in the breeze. +"Growing between them I can see lovely ferns and wild-flowers, and soft +green mosses. If the rest of your world is half as beautiful I shall be +glad I'm alive."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what the rest of the world is like, I'm sure," said the +cat; "but I mean to find out."</p> + +<p>"I have never been out of the forest," Ojo added; "but to me the trees +are gloomy and sad and the wild-flowers seem lonesome. It must be nicer +where there are no trees and there is room for lots of people to live +together."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if any of the people we shall meet will be as splendid as I +am," said the Patchwork Girl. "All I have seen, so far, have pale, +colorless skins and clothes as blue as the country they live in, while I +am of many gorgeous colors—face and body and clothes. That is why I am +bright and contented, Ojo, while you are blue and sad."</p> + +<p>"I think I made a mistake in giving you so many sorts of brains," +observed the boy. "Perhaps, as the Magician said, you have an overdose, +and they may not agree with you."</p> + +<p>"What had you to do with my brains?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"A lot," replied Ojo. "Old Margolotte meant to give you only a few—just +enough to keep you going—but when she wasn't looking I added a good +many more, of the best kinds I could find in the Magician's cupboard."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said the girl, dancing along the path ahead of Ojo and then +dancing back to his side. "If a few brains are good, many brains must be +better."</p> + +<p>"But they ought to be evenly balanced," said the boy, "and I had no time +to be careful. From the way you're acting, I guess the dose was badly +mixed."</p> + +<p>"Scraps hasn't enough brains to hurt her, so don't worry," remarked the +cat, which was trotting along in a very dainty and graceful manner. "The +only brains worth considering are mine, which are pink. You can see 'em +work."</p> + +<p>After walking a long time they came to a little brook that trickled +across the path, and here Ojo sat down to rest and eat something from +his basket. He found that the Magician had given him part of a loaf of +bread and a slice of cheese. He broke off some of the bread and was +surprised to find the loaf just as large as it was before. It was the +same way with the cheese: however much he broke off from the slice, it +remained exactly the same size.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said he, nodding wisely; "that's magic. Dr. Pipt has enchanted the +bread and the cheese, so it will last me all through my journey, however +much I eat."</p> + +<p>"Why do you put those things into your mouth?" asked Scraps, gazing at +him in astonishment. "Do you need more stuffing? Then why don't you use +cotton, such as I am stuffed with?"</p> + +<p>"I don't need that kind," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"But a mouth is to talk with, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"It is also to eat with," replied the boy. "If I didn't put food into my +mouth, and eat it, I would get hungry and starve.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I didn't know that," she said. "Give me some."</p> + +<p>Ojo handed her a bit of the bread and she put it in her mouth.</p> + +<p>"What next?" she asked, scarcely able to speak.</p> + +<p>"Chew it and swallow it," said the boy.</p> + +<p>Scraps tried that. Her pearl teeth were unable to chew the bread and +beyond her mouth there was no opening. Being unable to swallow she threw +away the bread and laughed.</p> + +<p>"I must get hungry and starve, for I can't eat," she said.</p> + +<p>"Neither can I," announced the cat; "but I'm not fool enough to try. +Can't you understand that you and I are superior people and not made +like these poor humans?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I understand that, or anything else?" asked the girl. "Don't +bother my head by asking conundrums, I beg of you. Just let me discover +myself in my own way."</p> + +<p>With this she began amusing herself by leaping across the brook and back +again.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, or you'll fall in the water," warned Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Never mind."</p> + +<p>"You'd better. If you get wet you'll be soggy and can't walk. Your +colors might run, too," he said.</p> + +<p>"Don't my colors run whenever I run?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Not in the way I mean. If they get wet, the reds and greens and yellows +and purples of your patches might run into each other and become just a +blur—no color at all, you know."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the Patchwork Girl, "I'll be careful, for if I spoiled my +splendid colors I would cease to be beautiful."</p> + +<p>"Pah!" sneered the Glass Cat, "such colors are not beautiful; they're +ugly, and in bad taste. Please notice that my body has no color at all. +I'm transparent, except for my exquisite red heart and my lovely pink +brains—you can see 'em work."</p> + +<p>"Shoo—shoo—shoo!" cried Scraps, dancing around and laughing. "And your +horrid green eyes, Miss Bungle! You can't see your eyes, but we can, and +I notice you're very proud of what little color you have. Shoo, Miss +Bungle, shoo—shoo—shoo! If you were all colors and many colors, as I +am, you'd be too stuck up for anything." She leaped over the cat and +back again, and the startled Bungle crept close to a tree to escape her. +This made Scraps laugh more heartily than ever, and she said:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Whoop-te-doodle-doo!<br /> +The cat has lost her shoe.<br /> +Her tootsie's bare, but she don't care,<br /> +So what's the odds to you?"</p> + + +<p>"Dear me, Ojo," said the cat; "don't you think the creature is a little +bit crazy?"</p> + +<p>"It may be," he answered, with a puzzled look.</p> + +<p>"If she continues her insults I'll scratch off her suspender-button +eyes," declared the cat.</p> + +<p>"Don't quarrel, please," pleaded the boy, rising to resume the journey. +"Let us be good comrades and as happy and cheerful as possible, for we +are likely to meet with plenty of trouble on our way."</p> + +<p>It was nearly sundown when they came to the edge of the forest and saw +spread out before them a delightful landscape. There were broad blue +fields stretching for miles over the valley, which was dotted everywhere +with pretty, blue domed houses, none of which, however, was very near to +the place where they stood. Just at the point where the path left the +forest stood a tiny house covered with leaves from the trees, and before +this stood a Munchkin man with an axe in his hand. He seemed very much +surprised when Ojo and Scraps and the Glass Cat came out of the woods, +but as the Patchwork Girl approached nearer he sat down upon a bench and +laughed so hard that he could not speak for a long time.</p> + +<p>This man was a woodchopper and lived all alone in the little house. He +had bushy blue whiskers and merry blue eyes and his blue clothes were +quite old and worn.</p> + +<p>"Mercy me!" exclaimed the woodchopper, when at last he could stop +laughing. "Who would think such a funny harlequin lived in the Land of +Oz? Where did you come from, Crazy-quilt?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean me?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Of course," he replied.</p> + +<p>"You misjudge my ancestry. I'm not a crazy-quilt; I'm patchwork," she +said.</p> + +<p>"There's no difference," he replied, beginning to laugh again. "When my +old grandmother sews such things together she calls it a crazy-quilt; +but I never thought such a jumble could come to life."</p> + +<p>"It was the Magic Powder that did it," explained Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Oh, then you have come from the Crooked Magician on the mountain. I +might have known it, for—Well, I declare! here's a glass cat. But the +Magician will get in trouble for this; it's against the law for anyone +to work magic except Glinda the Good and the royal Wizard of Oz. If you +people—or things—or glass spectacles—or crazy-quilts—or whatever you +are, go near the Emerald City, you'll be arrested."</p> + +<p>"We're going there, anyhow," declared Scraps, sitting upon the bench and +swinging her stuffed legs.</p> + + +<p class="poem">"If any of us takes a rest,<br /> +We'll be arrested sure,<br /> +And get no restitution<br /> +'Cause the rest we must endure."</p> + + +<p>"I see," said the woodchopper, nodding; "you're as crazy as the +crazy-quilt you're made of."</p> + +<p>"She really is crazy," remarked the Glass Cat. "But that isn't to be +wondered at when you remember how many different things she's made of. +For my part, I'm made of pure glass—except my jewel heart and my pretty +pink brains. Did you notice my brains, stranger? You can see 'em work."</p> + +<p>"So I can," replied the woodchopper; "but I can't see that they +accomplish much. A glass cat is a useless sort of thing, but a Patchwork +Girl is really useful. She makes me laugh, and laughter is the best +thing in life. There was once a woodchopper, a friend of mine, who was +made all of tin, and I used to laugh every time I saw him."</p> + +<p>"A tin woodchopper?" said Ojo. "That is strange."</p> + +<p>"My friend wasn't always tin," said the man, "but he was careless with +his axe, and used to chop himself very badly. Whenever he lost an arm or +a leg he had it replaced with tin; so after a while he was all tin."</p> + +<p>"And could he chop wood then?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"He could if he didn't rust his tin joints. But one day he met Dorothy +in the forest and went with her to the Emerald City, where he made his +fortune. He is now one of the favorites of Princess Ozma, and she has +made him the Emperor of the Winkies—the Country where all is yellow."</p> + +<p>"Who is Dorothy?" inquired the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"A little maid who used to live in Kansas, but is now a Princess of Oz. +She's Ozma's best friend, they say, and lives with her in the royal +palace."</p> + +<p>"Is Dorothy made of tin?" inquired Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Is she patchwork, like me?" inquired Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No," said the man; "Dorothy is flesh, just as I am. I know of only one +tin person, and that is Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman; and there will +never be but one Patchwork Girl, for any magician that sees you will +refuse to make another one like you."</p> + +<p>"I suppose we shall see the Tin Woodman, for we are going to the Country +of the Winkies," said the boy.</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked the woodchopper.</p> + +<p>"To get the left wing of a yellow butterfly."</p> + +<p>"It is a long journey," declared the man, "and you will go through +lonely parts of Oz and cross rivers and traverse dark forests before you +get there."</p> + +<p>"Suits me all right," said Scraps. "I'll get a chance to see the +country."</p> + +<p>"You're crazy, girl. Better crawl into a rag-bag and hide there; or give +yourself to some little girl to play with. Those who travel are likely +to meet trouble; that's why I stay at home."</p> + +<p>The woodchopper then invited them all to stay the night at his little +hut, but they were anxious to get on and so left him and continued along +the path, which was broader, now, and more distinct.</p> + +<p>They expected to reach some other house before it grew dark, but the +twilight was brief and Ojo soon began to fear they had made a mistake in +leaving the woodchopper.</p> + +<p>"I can scarcely see the path," he said at last. "Can you see it, +Scraps?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied the Patchwork Girl, who was holding fast to the boy's arm +so he could guide her.</p> + +<p>"I can see," declared the Glass Cat. "My eyes are better than yours, and +my pink brains—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind your pink brains, please," said Ojo hastily; "just run ahead +and show us the way. Wait a minute and I'll tie a string to you; for +then you can lead us."</p> + +<p>He got a string from his pocket and tied it around the cat's neck, and +after that the creature guided them along the path. They had proceeded +in this way for about an hour when a twinkling blue light appeared ahead +of them.</p> + +<p>"Good! there's a house at last," cried Ojo. "When we reach it the good +people will surely welcome us and give us a night's lodging." But +however far they walked the light seemed to get no nearer, so by and by +the cat stopped short, saying:</p> + +<p>"I think the light is traveling, too, and we shall never be able to +catch up with it. But here is a house by the roadside, so why go +farther?"</p> + +<p>"Where is the house, Bungle?"</p> + +<p>"Just here beside us, Scraps."</p> + +<p>Ojo was now able to see a small house near the pathway. It was dark and +silent, but the boy was tired and wanted to rest, so he went up to the +door and knocked.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" cried a voice from within.</p> + +<p>"I am Ojo the Unlucky, and with me are Miss Scraps Patchwork and the +Glass Cat," he replied.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" asked the Voice.</p> + +<p>"A place to sleep," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Come in, then; but don't make any noise, and you must go directly to +bed," returned the Voice.</p> + +<p>Ojo unlatched the door and entered. It was very dark inside and he could +see nothing at all. But the cat exclaimed: "Why, there's no one here!"</p> + +<p>"There must be," said the boy. "Some one spoke to me."</p> + +<p>"I can see everything in the room," replied the cat, "and no one is +present but ourselves. But here are three beds, all made up, so we may +as well go to sleep."</p> + +<p>"What is sleep?" inquired the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"It's what you do when you go to bed," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"But why do you go to bed?" persisted the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Here, here! You are making altogether too much noise," cried the Voice +they had heard before. "Keep quiet, strangers, and go to bed."</p> + +<p>The cat, which could see in the dark, looked sharply around for the +owner of the Voice, but could discover no one, although the Voice had +seemed close beside them. She arched her back a little and seemed +afraid. Then she whispered to Ojo: "Come!" and led him to a bed.</p> + +<p>With his hands the boy felt of the bed and found it was big and soft, +with feather pillows and plenty of blankets. So he took off his shoes +and hat and crept into the bed. Then the cat led Scraps to another bed +and the Patchwork Girl was puzzled to know what to do with it.</p> + +<p>"Lie down and keep quiet," whispered the cat, warningly.</p> + +<p>"Can't I sing?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Can't I whistle?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Can't I dance till morning, if I want to?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"You must keep quiet," said the cat, in a soft voice.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to," replied the Patchwork Girl, speaking as loudly as +usual. "What right have you to order me around? If I want to talk, or +yell, or whistle—"</p> + +<p>Before she could say anything more an unseen hand seized her firmly and +threw her out of the door, which closed behind her with a sharp slam. +She found herself bumping and rolling in the road and when she got up +and tried to open the door of the house again she found it locked.</p> + +<p>"What has happened to Scraps?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Never mind. Let's go to sleep, or something will happen to us," +answered the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>So Ojo snuggled down in his bed and fell asleep, and he was so tired +that he never wakened until broad daylight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Seven" id="Chapter_Seven" />Chapter Seven</h2> + +<h3>The Troublesome Phonograph</h3> + + +<p>When the boy opened his eyes next morning he looked carefully around the +room. These small Munchkin houses seldom had more than one room in them. +That in which Ojo now found himself had three beds, set all in a row on +one side of it. The Glass Cat lay asleep on one bed, Ojo was in the +second, and the third was neatly made up and smoothed for the day. On +the other side of the room was a round table on which breakfast was +already placed, smoking hot. Only one chair was drawn up to the table, +where a place was set for one person. No one seemed to be in the room +except the boy and Bungle.</p> + +<p>Ojo got up and put on his shoes. Finding a toilet stand at the head of +his bed he washed his face and hands and brushed his hair. Then he went +to the table and said:</p> + +<p>"I wonder if this is my breakfast?"</p> + +<p>"Eat it!" commanded a Voice at his side, so near that Ojo jumped. But no +person could he see.</p> + +<p>He was hungry, and the breakfast looked good; so he sat down and ate all +he wanted. Then, rising, he took his hat and wakened the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Bungle," said he; "we must go."</p> + +<p>He cast another glance about the room and, speaking to the air, he said: +"Whoever lives here has been kind to me, and I'm much obliged."</p> + +<p>There was no answer, so he took his basket and went out the door, the +cat following him. In the middle of the path sat the Patchwork Girl, +playing with pebbles she had picked up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there you are!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I thought you were never +coming out. It has been daylight a long time."</p> + +<p>"What did you do all night?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"Sat here and watched the stars and the moon," she replied. "They're +interesting. I never saw them before, you know."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"You were crazy to act so badly and get thrown outdoors," remarked +Bungle, as they renewed their journey.</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Scraps. "If I hadn't been thrown out I wouldn't +have seen the stars, nor the big gray wolf."</p> + +<p>"What wolf?" inquired Ojo.</p> + +<p>"The one that came to the door of the house three times during the +night."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why that should be," said the boy, thoughtfully; "there was +plenty to eat in that house, for I had a fine breakfast, and I slept in +a nice bed."</p> + +<p>"Don't you feel tired?" asked the Patchwork Girl, noticing that the boy +yawned.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; I'm as tired as I was last night; and yet I slept very well."</p> + +<p>"And aren't you hungry?"</p> + +<p>"It's strange," replied Ojo. "I had a good breakfast, and yet I think +I'll now eat some of my crackers and cheese."</p> + +<p>Scraps danced up and down the path. Then she sang:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Kizzle-kazzle-kore;<br /> +The wolf is at the door,<br /> +There's nothing to eat but a bone without meat,<br /> +And a bill from the grocery store."</p> + + +<p>"What does that mean?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me," replied Scraps. "I say what comes into my head, but of +course I know nothing of a grocery store or bones without meat or—very +much else."</p> + +<p>"No," said the cat; "she's stark, staring, raving crazy, and her brains +can't be pink, for they don't work properly."</p> + +<p>"Bother the brains!" cried Scraps. "Who cares for 'em, anyhow? Have you +noticed how beautiful my patches are in this sunlight?"</p> + +<p>Just then they heard a sound as of footsteps pattering along the path +behind them and all three turned to see what was coming. To their +astonishment they beheld a small round table running as fast as its four +spindle legs could carry it, and to the top was screwed fast a +phonograph with a big gold horn.</p> + +<p>"Hold on!" shouted the phonograph. "Wait for me!"</p> + +<p>"Goodness me; it's that music thing which the Crooked Magician scattered +the Powder of Life over," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"So it is," returned Bungle, in a grumpy tone of voice; and then, as the +phonograph overtook them, the Glass Cat added sternly: "What are you +doing here, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"I've run away," said the music thing. "After you left, old Dr. Pipt and +I had a dreadful quarrel and he threatened to smash me to pieces if I +didn't keep quiet. Of course I wouldn't do that, because a +talking-machine is supposed to talk and make a noise—and sometimes +music. So I slipped out of the house while the Magician was stirring his +four kettles and I've been running after you all night. Now that I've +found such pleasant company, I can talk and play tunes all I want to."</p> + +<p>Ojo was greatly annoyed by this unwelcome addition to their party. At +first he did not know what to say to the newcomer, but a little thought +decided him not to make friends.</p> + +<p>"We are traveling on important business," he declared, "and you'll +excuse me if I say we can't be bothered."</p> + +<p>"How very impolite!" exclaimed the phonograph.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry; but it's true," said the boy. "You'll have to go somewhere +else."</p> + +<p>"This is very unkind treatment, I must say," whined the phonograph, in +an injured tone. "Everyone seems to hate me, and yet I was intended to +amuse people."</p> + +<p>"It isn't you we hate, especially," observed the Glass Cat; "it's your +dreadful music. When I lived in the same room with you I was much +annoyed by your squeaky horn. It growls and grumbles and clicks and +scratches so it spoils the music, and your machinery rumbles so that the +racket drowns every tune you attempt."</p> + +<p>"That isn't my fault; it's the fault of my records. I must admit that I +haven't a clear record," answered the machine.</p> + +<p>"Just the same, you'll have to go away," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," cried Scraps. "This music thing interests me. I +remember to have heard music when I first came to life, and I would like +to hear it again. What is your name, my poor abused phonograph?"</p> + +<p>"Victor Columbia Edison," it answered.</p> + +<p>"Well, I shall call you 'Vic' for short," said the Patchwork Girl. "Go +ahead and play something."</p> + +<p>"It'll drive you crazy," warned the cat.</p> + +<p>"I'm crazy now, according to your statement. Loosen up and reel out the +music, Vic."</p> + +<p>"The only record I have with me," explained the phonograph, "is one the +Magician attached just before we had our quarrel. It's a highly +classical composition."</p> + +<p>"A what?" inquired Scraps.</p> + +<p>"It is classical music, and is considered the best and most puzzling +ever manufactured. You're supposed to like it, whether you do or not, +and if you don't, the proper thing is to look as if you did. +Understand?"</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Then, listen!"</p> + +<p>At once the machine began to play and in a few minutes Ojo put his hands +to his ears to shut out the sounds and the cat snarled and Scraps began +to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Cut it out, Vic," she said. "That's enough."</p> + +<p>But the phonograph continued playing the dreary tune, so Ojo seized the +crank, jerked it free and threw it into the road. However, the moment +the crank struck the ground it bounded back to the machine again and +began winding it up. And still the music played.</p> + +<p>"Let's run!" cried Scraps, and they all started and ran down the path as +fast as they could go. But the phonograph was right behind them and +could run and play at the same time. It called out, reproachfully:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? Don't you love classical music?"</p> + +<p>"No, Vic," said Scraps, halting. "We will passical the classical and +preserve what joy we have left. I haven't any nerves, thank goodness, +but your music makes my cotton shrink."</p> + +<p>"Then turn over my record. There's a rag-time tune on the other side," +said the machine.</p> + +<p>"What's rag-time?"</p> + +<p>"The opposite of classical."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Scraps, and turned over the record.</p> + +<p>The phonograph now began to play a jerky jumble of sounds which proved +so bewildering that after a moment Scraps stuffed her patchwork apron +into the gold horn and cried: "Stop—stop! That's the other extreme. +It's extremely bad!"</p> + +<p>Muffled as it was, the phonograph played on.</p> + +<p>"If you don't shut off that music I'll smash your record," threatened +Ojo.</p> + +<p>The music stopped, at that, and the machine turned its horn from one to +another and said with great indignation: "What's the matter now? Is it +possible you can't appreciate rag-time?"</p> + +<p>"Scraps ought to, being rags herself," said the cat; "but I simply can't +stand it; it makes my whiskers curl."</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed, dreadful!" exclaimed Ojo, with a shudder.</p> + +<p>"It's enough to drive a crazy lady mad," murmured the Patchwork Girl. +"I'll tell you what, Vic," she added as she smoothed out her apron and +put it on again, "for some reason or other you've missed your guess. +You're not a concert; you're a nuisance."</p> + +<p>"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," asserted the phonograph +sadly.</p> + +<p>"Then we're not savages. I advise you to go home and beg the Magician's +pardon."</p> + +<p>"Never! He'd smash me."</p> + +<p>"That's what we shall do, if you stay here," Ojo declared.</p> + +<p>"Run along, Vic, and bother some one else," advised Scraps. "Find some +one who is real wicked, and stay with him till he repents. In that way +you can do some good in the world."</p> + +<p>The music thing turned silently away and trotted down a side path, +toward a distant Munchkin village.</p> + +<p>"Is that the way we go?" asked Bungle anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No," said Ojo; "I think we shall keep straight ahead, for this path is +the widest and best. When we come to some house we will inquire the way +to the Emerald City."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eight" id="Chapter_Eight" />Chapter Eight</h2> + +<h3>The Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey</h3> + + +<p>On they went, and half an hour's steady walking brought them to a house +somewhat better than the two they had already passed. It stood close to +the roadside and over the door was a sign that read: "Miss Foolish Owl +and Mr. Wise Donkey: Public Advisers."</p> + +<p>When Ojo read this sign aloud Scraps said laughingly: "Well, here is a +place to get all the advice we want, maybe more than we need. Let's go +in."</p> + +<p>The boy knocked at the door.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" called a deep bass voice.</p> + +<p>So they opened the door and entered the house, where a little +light-brown donkey, dressed in a blue apron and a blue cap, was engaged +in dusting the furniture with a blue cloth. On a shelf over the window +sat a great blue owl with a blue sunbonnet on her head, blinking her big +round eyes at the visitors.</p> + +<p>"Good morning," said the donkey, in his deep voice, which seemed bigger +than he was. "Did you come to us for advice?"</p> + +<p>"Why, we came, anyhow," replied Scraps, "and now we are here we may as +well have some advice. It's free, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the donkey. "Advice doesn't cost anything—unless you +follow it. Permit me to say, by the way, that you are the queerest lot +of travelers that ever came to my shop. Judging you merely by +appearances, I think you'd better talk to the Foolish Owl yonder."</p> + +<p>They turned to look at the bird, which fluttered its wings and stared +back at them with its big eyes.</p> + +<p>"Hoot-ti-toot-ti-toot!" cried the owl.</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Fiddle-cum-foo,<br /> +Howdy-do?<br /> +Riddle-cum, tiddle-cum,<br /> +Too-ra-la-loo!"</p> + + +<p>"That beats your poetry, Scraps," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"It's just nonsense!" declared the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"But it's good advice for the foolish," said the donkey, admiringly. +"Listen to my partner, and you can't go wrong."</p> + +<p>Said the owl in a grumbling voice:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Patchwork Girl has come to life;<br /> +No one's sweetheart, no one's wife;<br /> +Lacking sense and loving fun,<br /> +She'll be snubbed by everyone."</p> + + +<p>"Quite a compliment! Quite a compliment, I declare," exclaimed the +donkey, turning to look at Scraps. "You are certainly a wonder, my dear, +and I fancy you'd make a splendid pincushion. If you belonged to me, I'd +wear smoked glasses when I looked at you."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Because you are so gay and gaudy."</p> + +<p>"It is my beauty that dazzles you," she asserted. "You Munchkin people +all strut around in your stupid blue color, while I—"</p> + +<p>"You are wrong in calling me a Munchkin," interrupted the donkey, "for I +was born in the Land of Mo and came to visit the Land of Oz on the day +it was shut off from all the rest of the world. So here I am obliged to +stay, and I confess it is a very pleasant country to live in."</p> + +<p>"Hoot-ti-toot!" cried the owl;</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Ojo's searching for a charm,<br /> +'Cause Unc Nunkie's come to harm.<br /> +Charms are scarce; they're hard to get;<br /> +Ojo's got a job, you bet!"</p> + + +<p>"Is the owl so very foolish?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"Extremely so," replied the donkey. "Notice what vulgar expressions she +uses. But I admire the owl for the reason that she is positively +foolish. Owls are supposed to be so very wise, generally, that a foolish +one is unusual, and you perhaps know that anything or anyone unusual is +sure to be interesting to the wise."</p> + +<p>The owl flapped its wings again, muttering these words:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"It's hard to be a glassy cat—<br /> +No cat can be more hard than that;<br /> +She's so transparent, every act<br /> +Is clear to us, and that's a fact."</p> + + +<p>"Have you noticed my pink brains?" inquired Bungle, proudly. "You can +see 'em work."</p> + +<p>"Not in the daytime," said the donkey. "She can't see very well by day, +poor thing. But her advice is excellent. I advise you all to follow it."</p> + +<p>"The owl hasn't given us any advice, as yet," the boy declared.</p> + +<p>"No? Then what do you call all those sweet poems?"</p> + +<p>"Just foolishness," replied Ojo. "Scraps does the same thing."</p> + +<p>"Foolishness! Of course! To be sure! The Foolish Owl must be foolish or +she wouldn't be the Foolish Owl. You are very complimentary to my +partner, indeed," asserted the donkey, rubbing his front hoofs together +as if highly pleased.</p> + +<p>"The sign says that you are wise," remarked Scraps to the donkey. "I +wish you would prove it."</p> + +<p>"With great pleasure," returned the beast. "Put me to the test, my dear +Patches, and I'll prove my wisdom in the wink of an eye."</p> + +<p>"What is the best way to get to the Emerald City?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Walk," said the donkey.</p> + +<p>"I know; but what road shall I take?" was the boy's next question.</p> + +<p>"The road of yellow bricks, of course. It leads directly to the Emerald +City."</p> + +<p>"And how shall we find the road of yellow bricks?"</p> + +<p>"By keeping along the path you have been following. You'll come to the +yellow bricks pretty soon, and you'll know them when you see them +because they're the only yellow things in the blue country."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said the boy. "At last you have told me something."</p> + +<p>"Is that the extent of your wisdom?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the donkey; "I know many other things, but they wouldn't +interest you. So I'll give you a last word of advice: move on, for the +sooner you do that the sooner you'll get to the Emerald City of Oz."</p> + +<p>"Hoot-ti-toot-ti-toot-ti-too!" screeched the owl;</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Off you go! fast or slow,<br /> +Where you're going you don't know.<br /> +Patches, Bungle, Muchkin lad,<br /> +Facing fortunes good and bad,<br /> +Meeting dangers grave and sad,<br /> +Sometimes worried, sometimes glad—<br /> +Where you're going you don't know,<br /> +Nor do I, but off you go!"</p> + + +<p>"Sounds like a hint, to me," said the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Then let's take it and go," replied Ojo.</p> + +<p>They said good-bye to the Wise Donkey and the Foolish Owl and at once +resumed their journey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Nine" id="Chapter_Nine" />Chapter Nine</h2> + +<h3>They Meet the Woozy</h3> + + +<p>"There seem to be very few houses around here, after all," remarked Ojo, +after they had walked for a time in silence.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Scraps; "we are not looking for houses, but rather +the road of yellow bricks. Won't it be funny to run across something +yellow in this dismal blue country?"</p> + +<p>"There are worse colors than yellow in this country," asserted the Glass +Cat, in a spiteful tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh; do you mean the pink pebbles you call your brains, and your red +heart and green eyes?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"No; I mean you, if you must know it," growled the cat.</p> + +<p>"You're jealous!" laughed Scraps. "You'd give your whiskers for a lovely +variegated complexion like mine."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't!" retorted the cat. "I've the clearest complexion in the +world, and I don't employ a beauty-doctor, either."</p> + +<p>"I see you don't," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Please don't quarrel," begged Ojo. "This is an important journey, and +quarreling makes me discouraged. To be brave, one must be cheerful, so I +hope you will be as good-tempered as possible."</p> + +<p>They had traveled some distance when suddenly they faced a high fence +which barred any further progress straight ahead. It ran directly across +the road and enclosed a small forest of tall trees, set close together. +When the group of adventurers peered through the bars of the fence they +thought this forest looked more gloomy and forbidding than any they had +ever seen before.</p> + +<p>They soon discovered that the path they had been following now made a +bend and passed around the enclosure, but what made Ojo stop and look +thoughtful was a sign painted on the fence which read:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"BEWARE OF THE WOOZY!"</p> + + +<p>"That means," he said, "that there's a Woozy inside that fence, and the +Woozy must be a dangerous animal or they wouldn't tell people to beware +of it."</p> + +<p>"Let's keep out, then," replied Scraps. "That path is outside the fence, +and Mr. Woozy may have all his little forest to himself, for all we +care."</p> + +<p>"But one of our errands is to find a Woozy," Ojo explained. "The +Magician wants me to get three hairs from the end of a Woozy's tail."</p> + +<p>"Let's go on and find some other Woozy," suggested the cat. "This one is +ugly and dangerous, or they wouldn't cage him up. Maybe we shall find +another that is tame and gentle."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps there isn't any other, at all," answered Ojo. "The sign doesn't +say: 'Beware a Woozy'; it says: 'Beware the Woozy,' which may mean +there's only one in all the Land of Oz."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Scraps, "suppose we go in and find him? Very likely if we +ask him politely to let us pull three hairs out of the tip of his tail +he won't hurt us."</p> + +<p>"It would hurt him, I'm sure, and that would make him cross," said the +cat.</p> + +<p>"You needn't worry, Bungle," remarked the Patchwork Girl; "for if there +is danger you can climb a tree. Ojo and I are not afraid; are we, Ojo?"</p> + +<p>"I am, a little," the boy admitted; "but this danger must be faced, if +we intend to save poor Unc Nunkie. How shall we get over the fence?"</p> + +<p>"Climb," answered Scraps, and at once she began climbing up the rows of +bars. Ojo followed and found it more easy than he had expected. When +they got to the top of the fence they began to get down on the other +side and soon were in the forest. The Glass Cat, being small, crept +between the lower bars and joined them.</p> + +<p>Here there was no path of any sort, so they entered the woods, the boy +leading the way, and wandered through the trees until they were nearly +in the center of the forest. They now came upon a clear space in which +stood a rocky cave.</p> + +<p>So far they had met no living creature, but when Ojo saw the cave he +knew it must be the den of the Woozy.</p> + +<p>It is hard to face any savage beast without a sinking of the heart, but +still more terrifying is it to face an unknown beast, which you have +never seen even a picture of. So there is little wonder that the pulses +of the Munchkin boy beat fast as he and his companions stood facing the +cave. The opening was perfectly square, and about big enough to admit a +goat.</p> + +<p>"I guess the Woozy is asleep," said Scraps. "Shall I throw in a stone, +to waken him?"</p> + +<p>"No; please don't," answered Ojo, his voice trembling a little. "I'm in +no hurry."</p> + +<p>But he had not long to wait, for the Woozy heard the sound of voices and +came trotting out of his cave. As this is the only Woozy that has ever +lived, either in the Land of Oz or out of it, I must describe it to you.</p> + +<p>The creature was all squares and flat surfaces and edges. Its head was +an exact square, like one of the building-blocks a child plays with; +therefore it had no ears, but heard sounds through two openings in the +upper corners. Its nose, being in the center of a square surface, was +flat, while the mouth was formed by the opening of the lower edge of the +block. The body of the Woozy was much larger than its head, but was +likewise block-shaped—being twice as long as it was wide and high. The +tail was square and stubby and perfectly straight, and the four legs +were made in the same way, each being four-sided. The animal was covered +with a thick, smooth skin and had no hair at all except at the extreme +end of its tail, where there grew exactly three stiff, stubby hairs. The +beast was dark blue in color and his face was not fierce nor ferocious +in expression, but rather good-humored and droll.</p> + +<p>Seeing the strangers, the Woozy folded his hind legs as if they had been +hinged and sat down to look his visitors over.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," he exclaimed; "what a queer lot you are! At first I +thought some of those miserable Munchkin farmers had come to annoy me, +but I am relieved to find you in their stead. It is plain to me that you +are a remarkable group—as remarkable in your way as I am in mine—and +so you are welcome to my domain. Nice place, isn't it? But +lonesome—dreadfully lonesome."</p> + +<p>"Why did they shut you up here?" asked Scraps, who was regarding the +queer, square creature with much curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Because I eat up all the honey-bees which the Munchkin farmers who live +around here keep to make them honey."</p> + +<p>"Are you fond of eating honey-bees?" inquired the boy.</p> + +<p>"Very. They are really delicious. But the farmers did not like to lose +their bees and so they tried to destroy me. Of course they couldn't do +that."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"My skin is so thick and tough that nothing can get through it to hurt +me. So, finding they could not destroy me, they drove me into this +forest and built a fence around me. Unkind, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"But what do you eat now?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Nothing at all. I've tried the leaves from the trees and the mosses and +creeping vines, but they don't seem to suit my taste. So, there being no +honey-bees here, I've eaten nothing for years.</p> + +<p>"You must be awfully hungry," said the boy. "I've got some bread and +cheese in my basket. Would you like that kind of food?"</p> + +<p>"Give me a nibble and I will try it; then I can tell you better whether +it is grateful to my appetite," returned the Woozy.</p> + +<p>So the boy opened his basket and broke a piece off the loaf of bread. He +tossed it toward the Woozy, who cleverly caught it in his mouth and ate +it in a twinkling.</p> + +<p>"That's rather good," declared the animal. "Any more?"</p> + +<p>"Try some cheese," said Ojo, and threw down a piece.</p> + +<p>The Woozy ate that, too, and smacked its long, thin lips.</p> + +<p>"That's mighty good!" it exclaimed. "Any more?"</p> + +<p>"Plenty," replied Ojo. So he sat down on a Stump and fed the Woozy bread +and cheese for a long time; for, no matter how much the boy broke off, +the loaf and the slice remained just as big.</p> + +<p>"That'll do," said the Woozy, at last; "I'm quite full. I hope the +strange food won't give me indigestion."</p> + +<p>"I hope not," said Ojo. "It's what I eat."</p> + +<p>"Well, I must say I'm much obliged, and I'm glad you came," announced +the beast. "Is there anything I can do in return for your kindness?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ojo earnestly, "you have it in your power to do me a great +favor, if you will."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the Woozy. "Name the favor and I will grant it."</p> + +<p>"I—I want three hairs from the tip of your tail," said Ojo, with some +hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Three hairs! Why, that's all I have—on my tail or anywhere else," +exclaimed the beast.</p> + +<p>"I know; but I want them very much."</p> + +<p>"They are my sole ornaments, my prettiest feature," said the Woozy, +uneasily. "If I give up those three hairs I—I'm just a blockhead."</p> + +<p>"Yet I must have them," insisted the boy, firmly, and he then told the +Woozy all about the accident to Unc Nunkie and Margolotte, and how the +three hairs were to be a part of the magic charm that would restore them +to life. The beast listened with attention and when Ojo had finished the +recital it said, with a sigh:</p> + +<p>"I always keep my word, for I pride myself on being square. So you may +have the three hairs, and welcome. I think, under such circumstances, it +would be selfish in me to refuse you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you! Thank you very much," cried the boy, joyfully. "May I pull +out the hairs now?"</p> + +<p>"Any time you like," answered the Woozy.</p> + +<p>So Ojo went up to the queer creature and taking hold of one of the hairs +began to pull. He pulled harder. He pulled with all his might; but the +hair remained fast.</p> + +<p>"What's the trouble?" asked the Woozy, which Ojo had dragged here and +there all around the clearing in his endeavor to pull out the hair.</p> + +<p>"It won't come," said the boy, panting.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid of that," declared the beast. "You'll have to pull +harder."</p> + +<p>"I'll help you," exclaimed Scraps, coming to the boy's side. "You pull +the hair, and I'll pull you, and together we ought to get it out +easily."</p> + +<p>"Wait a jiffy," called the Woozy, and then it went to a tree and hugged +it with its front paws, so that its body couldn't be dragged around by +the pull. "All ready, now. Go ahead!"</p> + +<p>Ojo grasped the hair with both hands and pulled with all his strength, +while Scraps seized the boy around his waist and added her strength to +his. But the hair wouldn't budge. Instead, it slipped out of Ojo's hands +and he and Scraps both rolled upon the ground in a heap and never +stopped until they bumped against the rocky cave.</p> + +<p>"Give it up," advised the Glass Cat, as the boy arose and assisted the +Patchwork Girl to her feet. "A dozen strong men couldn't pull out those +hairs. I believe they're clinched on the under side of the Woozy's thick +skin."</p> + +<p>"Then what shall I do?" asked the boy, despairingly. "If on our return I +fail to take these three hairs to the Crooked Magician, the other things +I have come to seek will be of no use at all, and we cannot restore Unc +Nunkie and Margolotte to life."</p> + +<p>"They're goners, I guess," said the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," added the cat. "I can't see that old Unc and Margolotte +are worth all this trouble, anyhow."</p> + +<p>But Ojo did not feel that way. He was so disheartened that he sat down +upon a stump and began to cry.</p> + +<p>The Woozy looked at the boy thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you take me with you?" asked the beast. "Then, when at last +you get to the Magician's house, he can surely find some way to pull out +those three hairs."</p> + +<p>Ojo was overjoyed at this suggestion.</p> + +<p>"That's it!" he cried, wiping away the tears and springing to his feet +with a smile. "If I take the three hairs to the Magician, it won't +matter if they are still in your body."</p> + +<p>"It can't matter in the least," agreed the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"Come on, then," said the boy, picking up his basket; "let us start at +once. I have several other things to find, you know."</p> + +<p>But the Glass Cat gave a little laugh and inquired in her scornful way:</p> + +<p>"How do you intend to get the beast out of this forest?"</p> + +<p>That puzzled them all for a time.</p> + +<p>"Let us go to the fence, and then we may find a way," suggested Scraps. +So they walked through the forest to the fence, reaching it at a point +exactly opposite that where they had entered the enclosure.</p> + +<p>"How did you get in?" asked the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"We climbed over," answered Ojo.</p> + +<p>"I can't do that," said the beast. "I'm a very swift runner, for I can +overtake a honey-bee as it flies; and I can jump very high, which is the +reason they made such a tall fence to keep me in. But I can't climb at +all, and I'm too big to squeeze between the bars of the fence."</p> + +<p>Ojo tried to think what to do.</p> + +<p>"Can you dig?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," answered the Woozy, "for I have no claws. My feet are quite flat +on the bottom of them. Nor can I gnaw away the boards, as I have no +teeth."</p> + +<p>"You're not such a terrible creature, after all," remarked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"You haven't heard me growl, or you wouldn't say that," declared the +Woozy. "When I growl, the sound echoes like thunder all through the +valleys and woodlands, and children tremble with fear, and women cover +their heads with their aprons, and big men run and hide. I suppose there +is nothing in the world so terrible to listen to as the growl of a +Woozy."</p> + +<p>"Please don't growl, then," begged Ojo, earnestly.</p> + +<p>"There is no danger of my growling, for I am not angry. Only when angry +do I utter my fearful, ear-splitting, soul-shuddering growl. Also, when +I am angry, my eyes flash fire, whether I growl or not."</p> + +<p>"Real fire?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Of course, real fire. Do you suppose they'd flash imitation fire?" +inquired the Woozy, in an injured tone.</p> + +<p>"In that case, I've solved the riddle," cried Scraps, dancing with glee. +"Those fence-boards are made of wood, and if the Woozy stands close to +the fence and lets his eyes flash fire, they might set fire to the fence +and burn it up. Then he could walk away with us easily, being free."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I have never thought of that plan, or I would have been free long +ago," said the Woozy. "But I cannot flash fire from my eyes unless I am +very angry."</p> + +<p>"Can't you get angry 'bout something, please?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"I'll try. You just say 'Krizzle-Kroo' to me."</p> + +<p>"Will that make you angry?" inquired the boy.</p> + +<p>"Terribly angry."</p> + +<p>"What does it mean?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"I don't know; that's what makes me so angry," replied the Woozy.</p> + +<p>He then stood close to the fence, with his head near one of the boards, +and Scraps called out "Krizzle-Kroo!" Then Ojo said "Krizzle-Kroo!" and +the Glass Cat said "Krizzle-Kroo!" The Woozy began to tremble with anger +and small sparks darted from his eyes. Seeing this, they all cried +"Krizzle-Kroo!" together, and that made the beast's eyes flash fire so +fiercely that the fence-board caught the sparks and began to smoke. Then +it burst into flame, and the Woozy stepped back and said triumphantly:</p> + +<p>"Aha! That did the business, all right. It was a happy thought for you +to yell all together, for that made me as angry as I have ever been. +Fine sparks, weren't they?"</p> + +<p>"Reg'lar fireworks," replied Scraps, admiringly.</p> + +<p>In a few moments the board had burned to a distance of several feet, +leaving an opening big enough for them all to pass through. Ojo broke +some branches from a tree and with them whipped the fire until it was +extinguished.</p> + +<p>"We don't want to burn the whole fence down," said he, "for the flames +would attract the attention of the Munchkin farmers, who would then come +and capture the Woozy again. I guess they'll be rather surprised when +they find he's escaped."</p> + +<p>"So they will," declared the Woozy, chuckling gleefully. "When they find +I'm gone the farmers will be badly scared, for they'll expect me to eat +up their honey-bees, as I did before."</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," said the boy, "that you must promise not to eat +honey-bees while you are in our company."</p> + +<p>"None at all?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bee. You would get us all into trouble, and we can't afford to +have any more trouble than is necessary. I'll feed you all the bread and +cheese you want, and that must satisfy you."</p> + +<p>"All right; I'll promise," said the Woozy, cheerfully. "And when I +promise anything you can depend on it, 'cause I'm square."</p> + +<p>"I don't see what difference that makes," observed the Patchwork Girl, +as they found the path and continued their journey. "The shape doesn't +make a thing honest, does it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it does," returned the Woozy, very decidedly. "No one could +trust that Crooked Magician, for instance, just because he is crooked; +but a square Woozy couldn't do anything crooked if he wanted to."</p> + +<p>"I am neither square nor crooked," said Scraps, looking down at her +plump body.</p> + +<p>"No; you're round, so you're liable to do anything," asserted the Woozy. +"Do not blame me, Miss Gorgeous, if I regard you with suspicion. Many a +satin ribbon has a cotton back."</p> + +<p>Scraps didn't understand this, but she had an uneasy misgiving that she +had a cotton back herself. It would settle down, at times, and make her +squat and dumpy, and then she had to roll herself in the road until her +body stretched out again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Ten" id="Chapter_Ten" />Chapter Ten</h2> + +<h3>Shaggy Man to the Rescue</h3> + + +<p>They had not gone very far before Bungle, who had run on ahead, came +bounding back to say that the road of yellow bricks was just before +them. At once they hurried forward to see what this famous road looked +like.</p> + +<p>It was a broad road, but not straight, for it wandered over hill and +dale and picked out the easiest places to go. All its length and breadth +was paved with smooth bricks of a bright yellow color, so it was smooth +and level except in a few places where the bricks had crumbled or been +removed, leaving holes that might cause the unwary to stumble.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," said Ojo, looking up and down the road, "which way to go."</p> + +<p>"Where are you bound for?" asked the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"The Emerald City," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Then go west," said the Woozy. "I know this road pretty well, for I've +chased many a honey-bee over it."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever been to the Emerald City?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No. I am very shy by nature, as you may have noticed, so I haven't +mingled much in society."</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid of men?" inquired the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Me? With my heart-rending growl—my horrible, shudderful growl? I +should say not. I am not afraid of anything," declared the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could say the same," sighed Ojo. "I don't think we need be +afraid when we get to the Emerald City, for Unc Nunkie has told me that +Ozma, our girl Ruler, is very lovely and kind, and tries to help +everyone who is in trouble. But they say there are many dangers lurking +on the road to the great Fairy City, and so we must be very careful."</p> + +<p>"I hope nothing will break me," said the Glass Cat, in a nervous voice. +"I'm a little brittle, you know, and can't stand many hard knocks."</p> + +<p>"If anything should fade the colors of my lovely patches it would break +my heart," said the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure you have a heart," Ojo reminded her.</p> + +<p>"Then it would break my cotton," persisted Scraps. "Do you think they +are all fast colors, Ojo?" she asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"They seem fast enough when you run," he replied; and then, looking +ahead of them, he exclaimed: "Oh, what lovely trees!"</p> + +<p>They were certainly pretty to look upon and the travelers hurried +forward to observe them more closely.</p> + +<p>"Why, they are not trees at all," said Scraps; "they are just monstrous +plants."</p> + +<p>That is what they really were: masses of great broad leaves which rose +from the ground far into the air, until they towered twice as high as +the top of the Patchwork Girl's head, who was a little taller than Ojo. +The plants formed rows on both sides of the road and from each plant +rose a dozen or more of the big broad leaves, which swayed continually +from side to side, although no wind was blowing. But the most curious +thing about the swaying leaves was their color. They seemed to have a +general groundwork of blue, but here and there other colors glinted at +times through the blue—gorgeous yellows, turning to pink, purple, +orange and scarlet, mingled with more sober browns and grays—each +appearing as a blotch or stripe anywhere on a leaf and then +disappearing, to be replaced by some other color of a different shape. +The changeful coloring of the great leaves was very beautiful, but it +was bewildering, as well, and the novelty of the scene drew our +travelers close to the line of plants, where they stood watching them +with rapt interest.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a leaf bent lower than usual and touched the Patchwork Girl. +Swiftly it enveloped her in its embrace, covering her completely in its +thick folds, and then it swayed back upon its stem.</p> + +<p>"Why, she's gone!" gasped Ojo, in amazement, and listening carefully he +thought he could hear the muffled screams of Scraps coming from the +center of the folded leaf. But, before he could think what he ought to +do to save her, another leaf bent down and captured the Glass Cat, +rolling around the little creature until she was completely hidden, and +then straightening up again upon its stem.</p> + +<p>"Look out," cried the Woozy. "Run! Run fast, or you are lost."</p> + +<p>Ojo turned and saw the Woozy running swiftly up the road. But the last +leaf of the row of plants seized the beast even as he ran and instantly +he disappeared from sight.</p> + +<p>The boy had no chance to escape. Half a dozen of the great leaves were +bending toward him from different directions and as he stood hesitating +one of them clutched him in its embrace. In a flash he was in the dark. +Then he felt himself gently lifted until he was swaying in the air, with +the folds of the leaf hugging him on all sides.</p> + +<p>At first he struggled hard to escape, crying out in anger: "Let me go! +Let me go!" But neither struggles nor protests had any effect whatever. +The leaf held him firmly and he was a prisoner.</p> + +<p>Then Ojo quieted himself and tried to think. Despair fell upon him when +he remembered that all his little party had been captured, even as he +was, and there was none to save them.</p> + +<p>"I might have expected it," he sobbed, miserably. "I'm Ojo the Unlucky, +and something dreadful was sure to happen to me."</p> + +<p>He pushed against the leaf that held him and found it to be soft, but +thick and firm. It was like a great bandage all around him and he found +it difficult to move his body or limbs in order to change their +position.</p> + +<p>The minutes passed and became hours. Ojo wondered how long one could +live in such a condition and if the leaf would gradually sap his +strength and even his life, in order to feed itself. The little Munchkin +boy had never heard of any person dying in the Land of Oz, but he knew +one could suffer a great deal of pain. His greatest fear at this time +was that he would always remain imprisoned in the beautiful leaf and +never see the light of day again.</p> + +<p>No sound came to him through the leaf; all around was intense silence. +Ojo wondered if Scraps had stopped screaming, or if the folds of the +leaf prevented his hearing her. By and by he thought he heard a whistle, +as of some one whistling a tune. Yes; it really must be some one +whistling, he decided, for he could follow the strains of a pretty +Munchkin melody that Unc Nunkie used to sing to him. The sounds were low +and sweet and, although they reached Ojo's ears very faintly, they were +clear and harmonious.</p> + +<p>Could the leaf whistle, Ojo wondered? Nearer and nearer came the sounds +and then they seemed to be just the other side of the leaf that was +hugging him.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the whole leaf toppled and fell, carrying the boy with it, and +while he sprawled at full length the folds slowly relaxed and set him +free. He scrambled quickly to his feet and found that a strange man was +standing before him—a man so curious in appearance that the boy stared +with round eyes.</p> + +<p>He was a big man, with shaggy whiskers, shaggy eyebrows, shaggy +hair—but kindly blue eyes that were gentle as those of a cow. On his +head was a green velvet hat with a jeweled band, which was all shaggy +around the brim. Rich but shaggy laces were at his throat; a coat with +shaggy edges was decorated with diamond buttons; the velvet breeches had +jeweled buckles at the knees and shags all around the bottoms. On his +breast hung a medallion bearing a picture of Princess Dorothy of Oz, and +in his hand, as he stood looking at Ojo, was a sharp knife shaped like a +dagger.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Ojo, greatly astonished at the sight of this stranger; +and then he added: "Who has saved me, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you see?" replied the other, with a smile; "I'm the Shaggy Man."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I can see that," said the boy, nodding. "Was it you who rescued me +from the leaf?"</p> + +<p>"None other, you may be sure. But take care, or I shall have to rescue +you again."</p> + +<p>Ojo gave a jump, for he saw several broad leaves leaning toward him; but +the Shaggy Man began to whistle again, and at the sound the leaves all +straightened up on their stems and kept still.</p> + +<p>The man now took Ojo's arm and led him up the road, past the last of the +great plants, and not till he was safely beyond their reach did he cease +his whistling.</p> + +<p>"You see, the music charms 'em," said he. "Singing or whistling—it +doesn't matter which—makes 'em behave, and nothing else will. I always +whistle as I go by 'em and so they always let me alone. To-day as I went +by, whistling, I saw a leaf curled and knew there must be something +inside it. I cut down the leaf with my knife and—out you popped. Lucky +I passed by, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"You were very kind," said Ojo, "and I thank you. Will you please rescue +my companions, also?"</p> + +<p>"What companions?" asked the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"The leaves grabbed them all," said the boy. "There's a Patchwork Girl +and—"</p> + +<p>"A what?"</p> + +<p>"A girl made of patchwork, you know. She's alive and her name is Scraps. +And there's a Glass Cat—"</p> + +<p>"Glass?" asked the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"All glass."</p> + +<p>"And alive?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ojo; "she has pink brains. And there's a Woozy—"</p> + +<p>"What's a Woozy?" inquired the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"Why, I—I—can't describe it," answered the boy, greatly perplexed. +"But it's a queer animal with three hairs on the tip of its tail that +won't come out and—"</p> + +<p>"What won't come out?" asked the Shaggy Man; "the tail?"</p> + +<p>"The hairs won't come out. But you'll see the Woozy, if you'll please +rescue it, and then you'll know just what it is."</p> + +<p>"Of course," said the Shaggy Man, nodding his shaggy head. And then he +walked back among the plants, still whistling, and found the three +leaves which were curled around Ojo's traveling companions. The first +leaf he cut down released Scraps, and on seeing her the Shaggy Man threw +back his shaggy head, opened wide his mouth and laughed so shaggily and +yet so merrily that Scraps liked him at once. Then he took off his hat +and made her a low bow, saying:</p> + +<p>"My dear, you're a wonder. I must introduce you to my friend the +Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>When he cut down the second leaf he rescued the Glass Cat, and Bungle +was so frightened that she scampered away like a streak and soon had +joined Ojo, when she sat beside him panting and trembling. The last +plant of all the row had captured the Woozy, and a big bunch in the +center of the curled leaf showed plainly where he was. With his sharp +knife the Shaggy Man sliced off the stem of the leaf and as it fell and +unfolded out trotted the Woozy and escaped beyond the reach of any more +of the dangerous plants.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eleven" id="Chapter_Eleven" />Chapter Eleven</h2> + +<h3>A Good Friend</h3> + + +<p>Soon the entire party was gathered on the road of yellow bricks, quite +beyond the reach of the beautiful but treacherous plants. The Shaggy +Man, staring first at one and then at the other, seemed greatly pleased +and interested.</p> + +<p>"I've seen queer things since I came to the Land of Oz," said he, "but +never anything queerer than this band of adventurers. Let us sit down a +while, and have a talk and get acquainted."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you always lived in the Land of Oz?" asked the Munchkin boy.</p> + +<p>"No; I used to live in the big, outside world. But I came here once with +Dorothy, and Ozma let me stay."</p> + +<p>"How do you like Oz?" asked Scraps. "Isn't the country and the climate +grand?"</p> + +<p>"It's the finest country in all the world, even if it is a fairyland, +and I'm happy every minute I live in it," said the Shaggy Man. "But tell +me something about yourselves."</p> + +<p>So Ojo related the story of his visit to the house of the Crooked +Magician, and how he met there the Glass Cat, and how the Patchwork Girl +was brought to life and of the terrible accident to Unc Nunkie and +Margolotte. Then he told how he had set out to find the five different +things which the Magician needed to make a charm that would restore the +marble figures to life, one requirement being three hairs from a Woozy's +tail.</p> + +<p>"We found the Woozy," explained the boy, "and he agreed to give us the +three hairs; but we couldn't pull them out. So we had to bring the Woozy +along with us."</p> + +<p>"I see," returned the Shaggy Man, who had listened with interest to the +story. "But perhaps I, who am big and strong, can pull those three hairs +from the Woozy's tail."</p> + +<p>"Try it, if you like," said the Woozy.</p> + +<p>So the Shaggy Man tried it, but pull as hard as he could he failed to +get the hairs out of the Woozy's tail. So he sat down again and wiped +his shaggy face with a shaggy silk handkerchief and said:</p> + +<p>"It doesn't matter. If you can keep the Woozy until you get the rest of +the things you need, you can take the beast and his three hairs to the +Crooked Magician and let him find a way to extract 'em. What are the +other things you are to find?"</p> + +<p>"One," said Ojo, "is a six-leaved clover."</p> + +<p>"You ought to find that in the fields around the Emerald City," said the +Shaggy Man. "There is a Law against picking six-leaved clovers, but I +think I can get Ozma to let you have one."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," replied Ojo. "The next thing is the left wing of a yellow +butterfly."</p> + +<p>"For that you must go to the Winkie Country," the Shaggy Man declared. +"I've never noticed any butterflies there, but that is the yellow +country of Oz and it's ruled by a good friend of mine, the Tin Woodman."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've heard of him!" exclaimed Ojo. "He must be a wonderful man."</p> + +<p>"So he is, and his heart is wonderfully kind. I'm sure the Tin Woodman +will do all in his power to help you to save your Unc Nunkie and poor +Margolotte."</p> + +<p>"The next thing I must find," said the Munchkin boy, "is a gill of water +from a dark well."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Well, that is more difficult," said the Shaggy Man, scratching +his left ear in a puzzled way. "I've never heard of a dark well; have +you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where one may be found?" inquired the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"I can't imagine," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Then we must ask the Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"The Scarecrow! But surely, sir, a scarecrow can't know anything."</p> + +<p>"Most scarecrows don't, I admit," answered the Shaggy Man. "But this +Scarecrow of whom I speak is very intelligent. He claims to possess the +best brains in all Oz."</p> + +<p>"Better than mine?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Better than mine?" echoed the Glass Cat. "Mine are pink, and you can +see 'em work."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can't see the Scarecrow's brains work, but they do a lot of +clever thinking," asserted the Shaggy Man. "If anyone knows where a dark +well is, it's my friend the Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"Where does he live?" inquired Ojo.</p> + +<p>"He has a splendid castle in the Winkie Country, near to the palace of +his friend the Tin Woodman, and he is often to be found in the Emerald +City, where he visits Dorothy at the royal palace."</p> + +<p>"Then we will ask him about the dark well," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"But what else does this Crooked Magician want?" asked the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"A drop of oil from a live man's body."</p> + +<p>"Oh; but there isn't such a thing."</p> + +<p>"That is what I thought," replied Ojo; "but the Crooked Magician said it +wouldn't be called for by the recipe if it couldn't be found, and +therefore I must search until I find it."</p> + +<p>"I wish you good luck," said the Shaggy Man, shaking his head +doubtfully; "but I imagine you'll have a hard job getting a drop of oil +from a live man's body. There's blood in a body, but no oil."</p> + +<p>"There's cotton in mine," said Scraps, dancing a little jig.</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it," returned the Shaggy Man admiringly. "You're a +regular comforter and as sweet as patchwork can be. All you lack is +dignity."</p> + +<p>"I hate dignity," cried Scraps, kicking a pebble high in the air and +then trying to catch it as it fell. "Half the fools and all the wise +folks are dignified, and I'm neither the one nor the other."</p> + +<p>"She's just crazy," explained the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man laughed.</p> + +<p>"She's delightful, in her way," he said. "I'm sure Dorothy will be +pleased with her, and the Scarecrow will dote on her. Did you say you +were traveling toward the Emerald City?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Ojo. "I thought that the best place to go, at first, +because the six-leaved clover may be found there."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," said the Shaggy Man, "and show you the way."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," exclaimed Ojo. "I hope it won't put you out any."</p> + +<p>"No," said the other, "I wasn't going anywhere in particular. I've been +a rover all my life, and although Ozma has given me a suite of beautiful +rooms in her palace I still get the wandering fever once in a while and +start out to roam the country over. I've been away from the Emerald City +several weeks, this time, and now that I've met you and your friends I'm +sure it will interest me to accompany you to the great city of Oz and +introduce you to my friends."</p> + +<p>"That will be very nice," said the boy, gratefully.</p> + +<p>"I hope your friends are not dignified," observed Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Some are, and some are not," he answered; "but I never criticise my +friends. If they are really true friends, they may be anything they +like, for all of me."</p> + +<p>"There's some sense in that," said Scraps, nodding her queer head in +approval. "Come on, and let's get to the Emerald City as soon as +possible." With this she ran up the path, skipping and dancing, and then +turned to await them.</p> + +<p>"It is quite a distance from here to the Emerald City," remarked the +Shaggy Man, "so we shall not get there to-day, nor to-morrow. Therefore +let us take the jaunt in an easy manner. I'm an old traveler and have +found that I never gain anything by being in a hurry. 'Take it easy' is +my motto. If you can't take it easy, take it as easy as you can."</p> + +<p>After walking some distance over the road of yellow bricks Ojo said he +was hungry and would stop to eat some bread and cheese. He offered a +portion of the food to the Shaggy Man, who thanked him but refused it.</p> + +<p>"When I start out on my travels," said he, "I carry along enough square +meals to last me several weeks. Think I'll indulge in one now, as long +as we're stopping anyway."</p> + +<p>Saying this, he took a bottle from his pocket and shook from it a tablet +about the size of one of Ojo's finger-nails.</p> + +<p>"That," announced the Shaggy Man, "is a square meal, in condensed form. +Invention of the great Professor Woggle-Bug, of the Royal College of +Athletics. It contains soup, fish, roast meat, salad, apple-dumplings, +ice cream and chocolate-drops, all boiled down to this small size, so it +can be conveniently carried and swallowed when you are hungry and need a +square meal."</p> + +<p>"I'm square," said the Woozy. "Give me one, please."</p> + +<p>So the Shaggy Man gave the Woozy a tablet from his bottle and the beast +ate it in a twinkling.</p> + +<p>"You have now had a six course dinner," declared the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" said the Woozy, ungratefully, "I want to taste something. +There's no fun in that sort of eating."</p> + +<p>"One should only eat to sustain life," replied the Shaggy Man, "and that +tablet is equal to a peck of other food."</p> + +<p>"I don't care for it. I want something I can chew and taste," grumbled +the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"You are quite wrong, my poor beast," said the Shaggy Man in a tone of +pity. "Think how tired your jaws would get chewing a square meal like +this, if it were not condensed to the size of a small tablet—which you +can swallow in a jiffy."</p> + +<p>"Chewing isn't tiresome; it's fun, maintained the Woozy. "I always chew +the honey-bees when I catch them. Give me some bread and cheese, Ojo."</p> + +<p>"No, no! You've already eaten a big dinner!" protested the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"May be," answered the Woozy; "but I guess I'll fool myself by munching +some bread and cheese. I may not be hungry, having eaten all those +things you gave me, but I consider this eating business a matter of +taste, and I like to realize what's going into me."</p> + +<p>Ojo gave the beast what he wanted, but the Shaggy Man shook his shaggy +head reproachfully and said there was no animal so obstinate or hard to +convince as a Woozy.</p> + +<p>At this moment a patter of footsteps was heard, and looking up they saw +the live phonograph standing before them. It seemed to have passed +through many adventures since Ojo and his comrades last saw the machine, +for the varnish of its wooden case was all marred and dented and +scratched in a way that gave it an aged and disreputable appearance.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Ojo, staring hard. "What has happened to you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," replied the phonograph in a sad and depressed voice. +"I've had enough things thrown at me, since I left you, to stock a +department store and furnish half a dozen bargain-counters."</p> + +<p>"Are you so broken up that you can't play?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"No; I still am able to grind out delicious music. Just now I've a +record on tap that is really superb," said the phonograph, growing more +cheerful.</p> + +<p>"That is too bad," remarked Ojo. "We've no objection to you as a +machine, you know; but as a music-maker we hate you."</p> + +<p>"Then why was I ever invented?" demanded the machine, in a tone of +indignant protest.</p> + +<p>They looked at one another inquiringly, but no one could answer such a +puzzling question. Finally the Shaggy Man said:</p> + +<p>"I'd like to hear the phonograph play."</p> + +<p>Ojo sighed. "We've been very happy since we met you, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>"I know. But a little misery, at times, makes one appreciate happiness +more. Tell me, Phony, what is this record like, which you say you have +on tap?"</p> + +<p>"It's a popular song, sir. In all civilized lands the common people have +gone wild over it."</p> + +<p>"Makes civilized folks wild folks, eh? Then it's dangerous."</p> + +<p>"Wild with joy, I mean," explained the phonograph. "Listen. This song +will prove a rare treat to you, I know. It made the author rich—for an +author. It is called 'My Lulu.'"</p> + +<p>Then the phonograph began to play. A strain of odd, jerky sounds was +followed by these words, sung by a man through his nose with great vigor +of expression:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Ah wants mah Lulu, mah coal-black Lulu;<br /> +Ah wants mah loo-loo, loo-loo, loo-loo, Lu!<br /> +Ah loves mah Lulu, mah coal-black Lulu,<br /> +There ain't nobody else loves loo-loo, Lu!"</p> + + +<p>"Here—shut that off!" cried the Shaggy Man, springing to his feet. +"What do you mean by such impertinence?"</p> + +<p>"It's the latest popular song," declared the phonograph, speaking in a +sulky tone of voice.</p> + +<p>"A popular song?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. One that the feeble-minded can remember the words of and those +ignorant of music can whistle or sing. That makes a popular song +popular, and the time is coming when it will take the place of all other +songs."</p> + +<p>"That time won't come to us, just yet," said the Shaggy Man, sternly: +"I'm something of a singer myself, and I don't intend to be throttled by +any Lulus like your coal-black one. I shall take you all apart, Mr. +Phony, and scatter your pieces far and wide over the country, as a +matter of kindness to the people you might meet if allowed to run around +loose. Having performed this painful duty I shall—"</p> + +<p>But before he could say more the phonograph turned and dashed up the +road as fast as its four table-legs could carry it, and soon it had +entirely disappeared from their view.</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man sat down again and seemed well pleased. "Some one else +will save me the trouble of scattering that phonograph," said he; "for +it is not possible that such a music-maker can last long in the Land of +Oz. When you are rested, friends, let us go on our way."</p> + +<p>During the afternoon the travelers found themselves in a lonely and +uninhabited part of the country. Even the fields were no longer +cultivated and the country began to resemble a wilderness. The road of +yellow bricks seemed to have been neglected and became uneven and more +difficult to walk upon. Scrubby under-brush grew on either side of the +way, while huge rocks were scattered around in abundance.</p> + +<p>But this did not deter Ojo and his friends from trudging on, and they +beguiled the journey with jokes and cheerful conversation. Toward +evening they reached a crystal spring which gushed from a tall rock by +the roadside and near this spring stood a deserted cabin. Said the +Shaggy Man, halting here:</p> + +<p>"We may as well pass the night here, where there is shelter for our +heads and good water to drink. Road beyond here is pretty bad; worst we +shall have to travel; so let's wait until morning before we tackle it."</p> + +<p>They agreed to this and Ojo found some brushwood in the cabin and made a +fire on the hearth. The fire delighted Scraps, who danced before it +until Ojo warned her she might set fire to herself and burn up. After +that the Patchwork Girl kept at a respectful distance from the darting +flames, but the Woozy lay down before the fire like a big dog and seemed +to enjoy its warmth.</p> + +<p>For supper the Shaggy Man ate one of his tablets, but Ojo stuck to his +bread and cheese as the most satisfying food. He also gave a portion to +the Woozy.</p> + +<p>When darkness came on and they sat in a circle on the cabin floor, +facing the firelight—there being no furniture of any sort in the +place—Ojo said to the Shaggy Man:</p> + +<p>"Won't you tell us a story?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not good at stories," was the reply; "but I sing like a bird."</p> + +<p>"Raven, or crow?" asked the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"Like a song bird. I'll prove it. I'll sing a song I composed myself. +Don't tell anyone I'm a poet; they might want me to write a book. Don't +tell 'em I can sing, or they'd want me to make records for that awful +phonograph. Haven't time to be a public benefactor, so I'll just sing +you this little song for your own amusement."</p> + +<p>They were glad enough to be entertained, and listened with interest +while the Shaggy Man chanted the following verses to a tune that was not +unpleasant:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"I'll sing a song of Ozland, where wondrous creatures dwell<br /> +And fruits and flowers and shady bowers abound in every dell,<br /> +Where magic is a science and where no one shows surprise<br /> +If some amazing thing takes place before his very eyes.</p> + +<p class="poem">Our Ruler's a bewitching girl whom fairies love to please;<br /> +She's always kept her magic sceptre to enforce decrees<br /> +To make her people happy, for her heart is kind and true<br /> +And to aid the needy and distressed is what she longs to do.</p> + +<p class="poem">And then there's Princess Dorothy, as sweet as any rose,<br /> +A lass from Kansas, where they don't grow fairies, I suppose;<br /> +And there's the brainy Scarecrow, with a body stuffed with straw,<br /> +Who utters words of wisdom rare that fill us all with awe.</p> + +<p class="poem">I'll not forget Nick Chopper, the Woodman made of Tin,<br /> +Whose tender heart thinks killing time is quite a dreadful sin,<br /> +Nor old Professor Woggle-Bug, who's highly magnified<br /> +And looks so big to everyone that he is filled with pride.</p> + +<p class="poem">Jack Pumpkinhead's a dear old chum who might be called a chump,<br /> +But won renown by riding round upon a magic Gump;<br /> +The Sawhorse is a splendid steed and though he's made of wood<br /> +He does as many thrilling stunts as any meat horse could.</p> + +<p class="poem">And now I'll introduce a beast that ev'ryone adores—<br /> +The Cowardly Lion shakes with fear 'most ev'ry time he roars,<br /> +And yet he does the bravest things that any lion might,<br /> +Because he knows that cowardice is not considered right.</p> + +<p class="poem">There's Tik-Tok—he's a clockwork man and quite a funny sight—<br /> +He talks and walks mechanically, when he's wound up tight;<br /> +And we've a Hungry Tiger who would babies love to eat<br /> +But never does because we feed him other kinds of meat.</p> + +<p class="poem">It's hard to name all of the freaks this noble Land's acquired;<br /> +'Twould make my song so very long that you would soon be tired;<br /> +But give attention while I mention one wise Yellow Hen<br /> +And Nine fine Tiny Piglets living in a golden pen.</p> + +<p class="poem">Just search the whole world over—sail the seas from coast to coast—<br /> +No other nation in creation queerer folk can boast;<br /> +And now our rare museum will include a Cat of Glass,<br /> +A Woozy, and—last but not least—a crazy Patchwork Lass."</p> + + +<p>Ojo was so pleased with this song that he applauded the singer by +clapping his hands, and Scraps followed suit by clapping her padded +fingers together, although they made no noise. The cat pounded on the +floor with her glass paws—gently, so as not to break them—and the +Woozy, which had been asleep, woke up to ask what the row was about.</p> + +<p>"I seldom sing in public, for fear they might want me to start an opera +company," remarked the Shaggy Man, who was pleased to know his effort +was appreciated. "Voice, just now, is a little out of training; rusty, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Tell me," said the Patchwork Girl earnestly, "do all those queer people +you mention really live in the Land of Oz?"</p> + +<p>"Every one of 'em. I even forgot one thing: Dorothy's Pink Kitten."</p> + +<p>"For goodness sake!" exclaimed Bungle, sitting up and looking +interested. "A Pink Kitten? How absurd! Is it glass?"</p> + +<p>"No; just ordinary kitten."</p> + +<p>"Then it can't amount to much. I have pink brains, and you can see 'em +work."</p> + +<p>"Dorothy's kitten is all pink—brains and all—except blue eyes. Name's +Eureka. Great favorite at the royal palace," said the Shaggy Man, +yawning.</p> + +<p>The Glass Cat seemed annoyed.</p> + +<p>"Do you think a pink kitten—common meat—is as pretty as I am?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>"Can't say. Tastes differ, you know," replied the Shaggy Man, yawning +again. "But here's a pointer that may be of service to you: make friends +with Eureka and you'll be solid at the palace."</p> + +<p>"I'm solid now; solid glass."</p> + +<p>"You don't understand," rejoined the Shaggy Man, sleepily. "Anyhow, make +friends with the Pink Kitten and you'll be all right. If the Pink Kitten +despises you, look out for breakers."</p> + +<p>"Would anyone at the royal palace break a Glass Cat?"</p> + +<p>"Might. You never can tell. Advise you to purr soft and look humble—if +you can. And now I'm going to bed."</p> + +<p>Bungle considered the Shaggy Man's advice so carefully that her pink +brains were busy long after the others of the party were fast asleep.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twelve" id="Chapter_Twelve" />Chapter Twelve</h2> + +<h3>The Giant Porcupine</h3> + + +<p>Next morning they started out bright and early to follow the road of +yellow bricks toward the Emerald City. The little Munchkin boy was +beginning to feel tired from the long walk, and he had a great many +things to think of and consider besides the events of the journey. At +the wonderful Emerald City, which he would presently reach, were so many +strange and curious people that he was half afraid of meeting them and +wondered if they would prove friendly and kind. Above all else, he could +not drive from his mind the important errand on which he had come, and +he was determined to devote every energy to finding the things that were +necessary to prepare the magic recipe. He believed that until dear Unc +Nunkie was restored to life he could feel no joy in anything, and often +he wished that Unc could be with him, to see all the astonishing things +Ojo was seeing. But alas Unc Nunkie was now a marble statue in the house +of the Crooked Magician and Ojo must not falter in his efforts to save +him.</p> + +<p>The country through which they were passing was still rocky and +deserted, with here and there a bush or a tree to break the dreary +landscape. Ojo noticed one tree, especially, because it had such long, +silky leaves and was so beautiful in shape. As he approached it he +studied the tree earnestly, wondering if any fruit grew on it or if it +bore pretty flowers.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he became aware that he had been looking at that tree a long +time—at least for five minutes—and it had remained in the same +position, although the boy had continued to walk steadily on. So he +stopped short, and when he stopped, the tree and all the landscape, as +well as his companions, moved on before him and left him far behind.</p> + +<p>Ojo uttered such a cry of astonishment that it aroused the Shaggy Man, +who also halted. The others then stopped, too, and walked back to the +boy.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?" asked the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"Why, we're not moving forward a bit, no matter how fast we walk," +declared Ojo. "Now that we have stopped, we are moving backward! Can't +you see? Just notice that rock."</p> + +<p>Scraps looked down at her feet and said: "The yellow bricks are not +moving."</p> + +<p>"But the whole road is," answered Ojo.</p> + +<p>"True; quite true," agreed the Shaggy Man. "I know all about the tricks +of this road, but I have been thinking of something else and didn't +realize where we were."</p> + +<p>"It will carry us back to where we started from," predicted Ojo, +beginning to be nervous.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the Shaggy Man; "it won't do that, for I know a trick to +beat this tricky road. I've traveled this way before, you know. Turn +around, all of you, and walk backward."</p> + +<p>"What good will that do?" asked the cat.</p> + +<p>"You'll find out, if you obey me," said the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>So they all turned their backs to the direction in which they wished to +go and began walking backward. In an instant Ojo noticed they were +gaining ground and as they proceeded in this curious way they soon +passed the tree which had first attracted his attention to their +difficulty.</p> + +<p>"How long must we keep this up, Shags?" asked Scraps, who was constantly +tripping and tumbling down, only to get up again with a laugh at her +mishap.</p> + +<p>"Just a little way farther," replied the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later he called to them to turn about quickly and step +forward, and as they obeyed the order they found themselves treading +solid ground.</p> + +<p>"That task is well over," observed the Shaggy Man. "It's a little +tiresome to walk backward, but that is the only way to pass this part of +the road, which has a trick of sliding back and carrying with it anyone +who is walking upon it."</p> + +<p>With new courage and energy they now trudged forward and after a time +came to a place where the road cut through a low hill, leaving high +banks on either side of it. They were traveling along this cut, talking +together, when the Shaggy Man seized Scraps with one arm and Ojo with +another and shouted: "Stop!"</p> + +<p>"What's wrong now?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"See there!" answered the Shaggy Man, pointing with his finger.</p> + +<p>Directly in the center of the road lay a motionless object that bristled +all over with sharp quills, which resembled arrows. The body was as big +as a ten-bushel-basket, but the projecting quills made it appear to be +four times bigger.</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"That is Chiss, who causes a lot of trouble along this road," was the +reply.</p> + +<p>"Chiss! What is Chiss?</p> + +<p>"I think it is merely an overgrown porcupine, but here in Oz they +consider Chiss an evil spirit. He's different from a reg'lar porcupine, +because he can throw his quills in any direction, which an American +porcupine cannot do. That's what makes old Chiss so dangerous. If we get +too near, he'll fire those quills at us and hurt us badly."</p> + +<p>"Then we will be foolish to get too near," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid," declared the Woozy. "The Chiss is cowardly, I'm sure, +and if it ever heard my awful, terrible, frightful growl, it would be +scared stiff."</p> + +<p>"Oh; can you growl?" asked the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"That is the only ferocious thing about me," asserted the Woozy with +evident pride. "My growl makes an earthquake blush and the thunder +ashamed of itself. If I growled at that creature you call Chiss, it +would immediately think the world had cracked in two and bumped against +the sun and moon, and that would cause the monster to run as far and as +fast as its legs could carry it."</p> + +<p>"In that case," said the Shaggy Man, "you are now able to do us all a +great favor. Please growl."</p> + +<p>"But you forget," returned the Woozy; "my tremendous growl would also +frighten you, and if you happen to have heart disease you might expire."</p> + +<p>"True; but we must take that risk," decided the Shaggy Man, bravely. +"Being warned of what is to occur we must try to bear the terrific noise +of your growl; but Chiss won't expect it, and it will scare him away."</p> + +<p>The Woozy hesitated.</p> + +<p>"I'm fond of you all, and I hate to shock you," it said.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"You may be made deaf."</p> + +<p>"If so, we will forgive you."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," said the Woozy in a determined voice, and advanced a +few steps toward the giant porcupine. Pausing to look back, it asked: +"All ready?"</p> + +<p>"All ready!" they answered.</p> + +<p>"Then cover up your ears and brace yourselves firmly. Now, then—look +out!"</p> + +<p>The Woozy turned toward Chiss, opened wide its mouth and said:</p> + +<p>"Quee-ee-ee-eek."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead and growl," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Why, I—I did growl!" retorted the Woozy, who seemed much astonished.</p> + +<p>"What, that little squeak?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"It is the most awful growl that ever was heard, on land or sea, in +caverns or in the sky," protested the Woozy. "I wonder you stood the +shock so well. Didn't you feel the ground tremble? I suppose Chiss is +now quite dead with fright."</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man laughed merrily.</p> + +<p>"Poor Wooz!" said he; "your growl wouldn't scare a fly."</p> + +<p>The Woozy seemed to be humiliated and surprised. It hung its head a +moment, as if in shame or sorrow, but then it said with renewed +confidence: "Anyhow, my eyes can flash fire; and good fire, too; good +enough to set fire to a fence!"</p> + +<p>"That is true," declared Scraps; "I saw it done myself. But your +ferocious growl isn't as loud as the tick of a beetle—or one of Ojo's +snores when he's fast asleep."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said the Woozy, humbly, "I have been mistaken about my growl. +It has always sounded very fearful to me, but that may have been because +it was so close to my ears."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," Ojo said soothingly; "it is a great talent to be able to +flash fire from your eyes. No one else can do that."</p> + +<p>As they stood hesitating what to do Chiss stirred and suddenly a shower +of quills came flying toward them, almost filling the air, they were so +many. Scraps realized in an instant that they had gone too near to Chiss +for safety, so she sprang in front of Ojo and shielded him from the +darts, which stuck their points into her own body until she resembled +one of those targets they shoot arrows at in archery games. The Shaggy +Man dropped flat on his face to avoid the shower, but one quill struck +him in the leg and went far in. As for the Glass Cat, the quills rattled +off her body without making even a scratch, and the skin of the Woozy +was so thick and tough that he was not hurt at all.</p> + +<p>When the attack was over they all ran to the Shaggy Man, who was moaning +and groaning, and Scraps promptly pulled the quill out of his leg. Then +up he jumped and ran over to Chiss, putting his foot on the monster's +neck and holding it a prisoner. The body of the great porcupine was now +as smooth as leather, except for the holes where the quills had been, +for it had shot every single quill in that one wicked shower.</p> + +<p>"Let me go!" it shouted angrily. "How dare you put your foot on Chiss?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to do worse than that, old boy," replied the Shaggy Man. "You +have annoyed travelers on this road long enough, and now I shall put an +end to you."</p> + +<p>"You can't!" returned Chiss. "Nothing can kill me, as you know perfectly +well."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that is true," said the Shaggy Man in a tone of disappointment. +"Seems to me I've been told before that you can't be killed. But if I +let you go, what will you do?"</p> + +<p>"Pick up my quills again," said Chiss in a sulky voice.</p> + +<p>"And then shoot them at more travelers? No; that won't do. You must +promise me to stop throwing quills at people."</p> + +<p>"I won't promise anything of the sort," declared Chiss.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is my nature to throw quills, and every animal must do what +Nature intends it to do. It isn't fair for you to blame me. If it were +wrong for me to throw quills, then I wouldn't be made with quills to +throw. The proper thing for you to do is to keep out of my way."</p> + +<p>"Why, there's some sense in that argument," admitted the Shaggy Man, +thoughtfully; "but people who are strangers, and don't know you are +here, won't be able to keep out of your way."</p> + +<p>"Tell you what," said Scraps, who was trying to pull the quills out of +her own body, "let's gather up all the quills and take them away with +us; then old Chiss won't have any left to throw at people."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's a clever idea. You and Ojo must gather up the quills while I +hold Chiss a prisoner; for, if I let him go, he will get some of his +quills and be able to throw them again."</p> + +<p>So Scraps and Ojo picked up all the quills and tied them in a bundle so +they might easily be carried. After this the Shaggy Man released Chiss +and let him go, knowing that he was harmless to injure anyone.</p> + +<p>"It's the meanest trick I ever heard of," muttered the porcupine +gloomily. "How would you like it, Shaggy Man, if I took all your shags +away from you?"</p> + +<p>"If I threw my shags and hurt people, you would be welcome to capture +them," was the reply.</p> + +<p>Then they walked on and left Chiss standing in the road sullen and +disconsolate. The Shaggy Man limped as he walked, for his wound still +hurt him, and Scraps was much annoyed because the quills had left a +number of small holes in her patches.</p> + +<p>When they came to a flat stone by the roadside the Shaggy Man sat down +to rest, and then Ojo opened his basket and took out the bundle of +charms the Crooked Magician had given him.</p> + +<p>"I am Ojo the Unlucky," he said, "or we would never have met that +dreadful porcupine. But I will see if I can find anything among these +charms which will cure your leg."</p> + +<p>Soon he discovered that one of the charms was labelled: "For flesh +wounds," and this the boy separated from the others. It was only a bit +of dried root, taken from some unknown shrub, but the boy rubbed it upon +the wound made by the quill and in a few moments the place was healed +entirely and the Shaggy Man's leg was as good as ever.</p> + +<p>"Rub it on the holes in my patches," suggested Scraps, and Ojo tried it, +but without any effect.</p> + +<p>"The charm you need is a needle and thread," said the Shaggy Man. "But +do not worry, my dear; those holes do not look badly, at all."</p> + +<p>"They'll let in the air, and I don't want people to think I'm airy, or +that I've been stuck up," said the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"You were certainly stuck up until we pulled out those quills," observed +Ojo, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>So now they went on again and coming presently to a pond of muddy water +they tied a heavy stone to the bundle of quills and sunk it to the +bottom of the pond, to avoid carrying it farther.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Thirteen" id="Chapter_Thirteen" />Chapter Thirteen</h2> + +<h3>Scraps and the Scarecrow</h3> + + +<p>From here on the country improved and the desert places began to give +way to fertile spots; still no houses were yet to be seen near the road. +There were some hills, with valleys between them, and on reaching the +top of one of these hills the travelers found before them a high wall, +running to the right and the left as far as their eyes could reach. +Immediately in front of them, where the wall crossed the roadway, stood +a gate having stout iron bars that extended from top to bottom. They +found, on coming nearer, that this gate was locked with a great padlock, +rusty through lack of use.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Scraps, "I guess we'll stop here."</p> + +<p>"It's a good guess," replied Ojo. "Our way is barred by this great wall +and gate. It looks as if no one had passed through in many years."</p> + +<p>"Looks are deceiving," declared the Shaggy Man, laughing at their +disappointed faces, "and this barrier is the most deceiving thing in all +Oz."</p> + +<p>"It prevents our going any farther, anyhow," said Scraps. "There is no +one to mind the gate and let people through, and we've no key to the +padlock."</p> + +<p>"True," replied Ojo, going a little nearer to peep through the bars of +the gate. "What shall we do, Shaggy Man? If we had wings we might fly +over the wall, but we cannot climb it and unless we get to the Emerald +City I won't be able to find the things to restore Unc Nunkie to life."</p> + +<p>"All very true," answered the Shaggy Man, quietly; "but I know this +gate, having passed through it many times."</p> + +<p>"How?" they all eagerly inquired.</p> + +<p>"I'll show you how," said he. He stood Ojo in the middle of the road and +placed Scraps just behind him, with her padded hands on his shoulders. +After the Patchwork Girl came the Woozy, who held a part of her skirt in +his mouth. Then, last of all, was the Glass Cat, holding fast to the +Woozy's tail with her glass jaws.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the Shaggy Man, "you must all shut your eyes tight, and keep +them shut until I tell you to open them."</p> + +<p>"I can't," objected Scraps. "My eyes are buttons, and they won't shut."</p> + +<p>So the Shaggy Man tied his red handkerchief over the Patchwork Girl's +eyes and examined all the others to make sure they had their eyes fast +shut and could see nothing.</p> + +<p>"What's the game, anyhow—blind-man's-buff?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet!" commanded the Shaggy Man, sternly. "All ready? Then follow +me."</p> + +<p>He took Ojo's hand and led him forward over the road of yellow bricks, +toward the gate. Holding fast to one another they all followed in a row, +expecting every minute to bump against the iron bars. The Shaggy Man +also had his eyes closed, but marched straight ahead, nevertheless, and +after he had taken one hundred steps, by actual count, he stopped and +said:</p> + +<p>"Now you may open your eyes."</p> + +<p>They did so, and to their astonishment found the wall and the gateway +far behind them, while in front the former Blue Country of the Munchkins +had given way to green fields, with pretty farm-houses scattered among +them.</p> + +<p>"That wall," explained the Shaggy Man, "is what is called an optical +illusion. It is quite real while you have your eyes open, but if you are +not looking at it the barrier doesn't exist at all. It's the same way +with many other evils in life; they seem to exist, and yet it's all +seeming and not true. You will notice that the wall—or what we thought +was a wall—separates the Munchkin Country from the green country that +surrounds the Emerald City, which lies exactly in the center of Oz. +There are two roads of yellow bricks through the Munchkin Country, but +the one we followed is the best of the two. Dorothy once traveled the +other way, and met with more dangers than we did. But all our troubles +are over for the present, as another day's journey will bring us to the +great Emerald City."</p> + +<p>They were delighted to know this, and proceeded with new courage. In a +couple of hours they stopped at a farmhouse, where the people were very +hospitable and invited them to dinner. The farm folk regarded Scraps +with much curiosity but no great astonishment, for they were accustomed +to seeing extraordinary people in the Land of Oz.</p> + +<p>The woman of this house got her needle and thread and sewed up the holes +made by the porcupine quills in the Patchwork Girl's body, after which +Scraps was assured she looked as beautiful as ever.</p> + +<p>"You ought to have a hat to wear," remarked the woman, "for that would +keep the sun from fading the colors of your face. I have some patches +and scraps put away, and if you will wait two or three days I'll make +you a lovely hat that will match the rest of you."</p> + +<p>"Never mind the hat," said Scraps, shaking her yarn braids; "it's a kind +offer, but we can't stop. I can't see that my colors have faded a +particle, as yet; can you?"</p> + +<p>"Not much," replied the woman. "You are still very gorgeous, in spite of +your long journey."</p> + +<p>The children of the house wanted to keep the Glass Cat to play with, so +Bungle was offered a good home if she would remain; but the cat was too +much interested in Ojo's adventures and refused to stop.</p> + +<p>"Children are rough playmates," she remarked to the Shaggy Man, "and +although this home is more pleasant than that of the Crooked Magician I +fear I would soon be smashed to pieces by the boys and girls."</p> + +<p>After they had rested themselves they renewed their journey, finding the +road now smooth and pleasant to walk upon and the country growing more +beautiful the nearer they drew to the Emerald City.</p> + +<p>By and by Ojo began to walk on the green grass, looking carefully around +him.</p> + +<p>"What are you trying to find?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"A six-leaved clover," said he.</p> + +<p>"Don't do that!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man, earnestly. "It's against the +Law to pick a six-leaved clover. You must wait until you get Ozma's +consent."</p> + +<p>"She wouldn't know it," declared the boy.</p> + +<p>"Ozma knows many things," said the Shaggy Man. "In her room is a Magic +Picture that shows any scene in the Land of Oz where strangers or +travelers happen to be. She may be watching the picture of us even now, +and noticing everything that we do."</p> + +<p>"Does she always watch the Magic Picture?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Not always, for she has many other things to do; but, as I said, she +may be watching us this very minute."</p> + +<p>"I don't care," said Ojo, in an obstinate tone of voice; "Ozma's only a +girl."</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>"You ought to care for Ozma," said he, "if you expect to save your +uncle. For, if you displease our powerful Ruler, your journey will +surely prove a failure; whereas, if you make a friend of Ozma, she will +gladly assist you. As for her being a girl, that is another reason why +you should obey her laws, if you are courteous and polite. Everyone in +Oz loves Ozma and hates her enemies, for she is as just as she is +powerful."</p> + +<p>Ojo sulked a while, but finally returned to the road and kept away from +the green clover. The boy was moody and bad tempered for an hour or two +afterward, because he could really see no harm in picking a six-leaved +clover, if he found one, and in spite of what the Shaggy Man had said he +considered Ozma's law to be unjust.</p> + +<p>They presently came to a beautiful grove of tall and stately trees, +through which the road wound in sharp curves—first one way and then +another. As they were walking through this grove they heard some one in +the distance singing, and the sounds grew nearer and nearer until they +could distinguish the words, although the bend in the road still hid the +singer. The song was something like this:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Here's to the hale old bale of straw<br /> +That's cut from the waving grain,<br /> +The sweetest sight man ever saw<br /> +In forest, dell or plain.<br /> +It fills me with a crunkling joy<br /> +A straw-stack to behold,<br /> +For then I pad this lucky boy<br /> +With strands of yellow gold."</p> + + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man; "here comes my friend the Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"What, a live Scarecrow?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Yes; the one I told you of. He's a splendid fellow, and very +intelligent. You'll like him, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>Just then the famous Scarecrow of Oz came around the bend in the road, +riding astride a wooden Sawhorse which was so small that its rider's +legs nearly touched the ground.</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow wore the blue dress of the Munchkins, in which country he +was made, and on his head was set a peaked hat with a flat brim trimmed +with tinkling bells. A rope was tied around his waist to hold him in +shape, for he was stuffed with straw in every part of him except the top +of his head, where at one time the Wizard of Oz had placed sawdust, +mixed with needles and pins, to sharpen his wits. The head itself was +merely a bag of cloth, fastened to the body at the neck, and on the +front of this bag was painted the face—ears, eyes, nose and mouth.</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow's face was very interesting, for it bore a comical and yet +winning expression, although one eye was a bit larger than the other and +ears were not mates. The Munchkin farmer who had made the Scarecrow had +neglected to sew him together with close stitches and therefore some of +the straw with which he was stuffed was inclined to stick out between +the seams. His hands consisted of padded white gloves, with the fingers +long and rather limp, and on his feet he wore Munchkin boots of blue +leather with broad turns at the tops of them.</p> + +<p>The Sawhorse was almost as curious as its rider. It had been rudely +made, in the beginning, to saw logs upon, so that its body was a short +length of a log, and its legs were stout branches fitted into four holes +made in the body. The tail was formed by a small branch that had been +left on the log, while the head was a gnarled bump on one end of the +body. Two knots of wood formed the eyes, and the mouth was a gash +chopped in the log. When the Sawhorse first came to life it had no ears +at all, and so could not hear; but the boy who then owned him had +whittled two ears out of bark and stuck them in the head, after which +the Sawhorse heard very distinctly.</p> + +<p>This queer wooden horse was a great favorite with Princess Ozma, who had +caused the bottoms of its legs to be shod with plates of gold, so the +wood would not wear away. Its saddle was made of cloth-of-gold richly +encrusted with precious gems. It had never worn a bridle.</p> + +<p>As the Scarecrow came in sight of the party of travelers, he reined in +his wooden steed and dismounted, greeting the Shaggy Man with a smiling +nod. Then he turned to stare at the Patchwork Girl in wonder, while she +in turn stared at him.</p> + +<p>"Shags," he whispered, drawing the Shaggy Man aside, "pat me into shape, +there's a good fellow!"</p> + +<p>While his friend punched and patted the Scarecrow's body, to smooth out +the humps, Scraps turned to Ojo and whispered: "Roll me out, please; +I've sagged down dreadfully from walking so much and men like to see a +stately figure."</p> + +<p>She then fell upon the ground and the boy rolled her back and forth like +a rolling-pin, until the cotton had filled all the spaces in her +patchwork covering and the body had lengthened to its fullest extent. +Scraps and the Scarecrow both finished their hasty toilets at the same +time, and again they faced each other.</p> + +<p>"Allow me, Miss Patchwork," said the Shaggy Man, "to present my friend, +the Right Royal Scarecrow of Oz. Scarecrow, this is Miss Scraps Patches; +Scraps, this is the Scarecrow. Scarecrow—Scraps; Scraps—Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>They both bowed with much dignity.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me for staring so rudely," said the Scarecrow, "but you are the +most beautiful sight my eyes have ever beheld."</p> + +<p>"That is a high compliment from one who is himself so beautiful," +murmured Scraps, casting down her suspender-button eyes by lowering her +head. "But, tell me, good sir, are you not a trifle lumpy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course; that's my straw, you know. It bunches up, sometimes, in +spite of all my efforts to keep it even. Doesn't your straw ever bunch?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm stuffed with cotton," said Scraps. "It never bunches, but it's +inclined to pack down and make me sag."</p> + +<p>"But cotton is a high-grade stuffing. I may say it is even more stylish, +not to say aristocratic, than straw," said the Scarecrow politely. +"Still, it is but proper that one so entrancingly lovely should have the +best stuffing there is going. I—er—I'm so glad I've met you, Miss +Scraps! Introduce us again, Shaggy."</p> + +<p>"Once is enough," replied the Shaggy Man, laughing at his friend's +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"Then tell me where you found her, and—Dear me, what a queer cat! What +are you made of—gelatine?"</p> + +<p>"Pure glass," answered the cat, proud to have attracted the Scarecrow's +attention. "I am much more beautiful than the Patchwork Girl. I'm +transparent, and Scraps isn't; I've pink brains—you can see 'em work; +and I've a ruby heart, finely polished, while Scraps hasn't any heart at +all."</p> + +<p>"No more have I," said the Scarecrow, shaking hands with Scraps, as if +to congratulate her on the fact. "I've a friend, the Tin Woodman, who +has a heart, but I find I get along pretty well without one. And +so—Well, well! here's a little Munchkin boy, too. Shake hands, my +little man. How are you?"</p> + +<p>Ojo placed his hand in the flabby stuffed glove that served the +Scarecrow for a hand, and the Scarecrow pressed it so cordially that the +straw in his glove crackled.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the Woozy had approached the Sawhorse and begun to sniff at +it. The Sawhorse resented this familiarity and with a sudden kick +pounded the Woozy squarely on its head with one gold-shod foot.</p> + +<p>"Take that, you monster!" it cried angrily.</p> + +<p>The Woozy never even winked.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," he said; "I'll take anything I have to. But don't make me +angry, you wooden beast, or my eyes will flash fire and burn you up."</p> + +<p>The Sawhorse rolled its knot eyes wickedly and kicked again, but the +Woozy trotted away and said to the Scarecrow:</p> + +<p>"What a sweet disposition that creature has! I advise you to chop it up +for kindling-wood and use me to ride upon. My back is flat and you can't +fall off."</p> + +<p>"I think the trouble is that you haven't been properly introduced," said +the Scarecrow, regarding the Woozy with much wonder, for he had never +seen such a queer animal before.</p> + +<p>"The Sawhorse is the favorite steed of Princess Ozma, the Ruler of the +Land of Oz, and he lives in a stable decorated with pearls and emeralds, +at the rear of the royal palace. He is swift as the wind, untiring, and +is kind to his friends. All the people of Oz respect the Sawhorse +highly, and when I visit Ozma she sometimes allows me to ride him—as I +am doing to-day. Now you know what an important personage the Sawhorse +is, and if some one—perhaps yourself—will tell me your name, your rank +and station, and your history, it will give me pleasure to relate them +to the Sawhorse. This will lead to mutual respect and friendship."</p> + +<p>The Woozy was somewhat abashed by this speech and did not know how to +reply. But Ojo said:</p> + +<p>"This square beast is called the Woozy, and he isn't of much importance +except that he has three hairs growing on the tip of his tail."</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow looked and saw that this was true.</p> + +<p>"But," said he, in a puzzled way, "what makes those three hairs +important? The Shaggy Man has thousands of hairs, but no one has ever +accused him of being important."</p> + +<p>So Ojo related the sad story of Unc Nunkie's transformation into a +marble statue, and told how he had set out to find the things the +Crooked Magician wanted, in order to make a charm that would restore his +uncle to life. One of the requirements was three hairs from a Woozy's +tail, but not being able to pull out the hairs they had been obliged to +take the Woozy with them.</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow looked grave as he listened and he shook his head several +times, as if in disapproval.</p> + +<p>"We must see Ozma about this matter," he said. "That Crooked Magician is +breaking the Law by practicing magic without a license, and I'm not sure +Ozma will allow him to restore your uncle to life."</p> + +<p>"Already I have warned the boy of that," declared the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>At this Ojo began to cry. "I want my Unc Nunkie!" he exclaimed. "I know +how he can be restored to life, and I'm going to do it—Ozma or no Ozma! +What right has this girl Ruler to keep my Unc Nunkie a statue forever?"</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about that just now," advised the Scarecrow. "Go on to the +Emerald City, and when you reach it have the Shaggy Man take you to see +Dorothy. Tell her your story and I'm sure she will help you. Dorothy is +Ozma's best friend, and if you can win her to your side your uncle is +pretty safe to live again." Then he turned to the Woozy and said: "I'm +afraid you are not important enough to be introduced to the Sawhorse, +after all."</p> + +<p>"I'm a better beast than he is," retorted the Woozy, indignantly. "My +eyes can flash fire, and his can't."</p> + +<p>"Is this true?" inquired the Scarecrow, turning to the Munchkin boy.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ojo, and told how the Woozy had set fire to the fence.</p> + +<p>"Have you any other accomplishments?" asked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"I have a most terrible growl—that is, sometimes," said the Woozy, as +Scraps laughed merrily and the Shaggy Man smiled. But the Patchwork +Girl's laugh made the Scarecrow forget all about the Woozy. He said to +her:</p> + +<p>"What an admirable young lady you are, and what jolly good company! We +must be better acquainted, for never before have I met a girl with such +exquisite coloring or such natural, artless manners."</p> + +<p>"No wonder they call you the Wise Scarecrow," replied Scraps.</p> + +<p>"When you arrive at the Emerald City I will see you again," continued +the Scarecrow. "Just now I am going to call upon an old friend—an +ordinary young lady named Jinjur—who has promised to repaint my left +ear for me. You may have noticed that the paint on my left ear has +peeled off and faded, which affects my hearing on that side. Jinjur +always fixes me up when I get weather-worn."</p> + +<p>"When do you expect to return to the Emerald City?" asked the Shaggy +Man.</p> + +<p>"I'll be there this evening, for I'm anxious to have a long talk with +Miss Scraps. How is it, Sawhorse; are you equal to a swift run?"</p> + +<p>"Anything that suits you suits me," returned the wooden horse.</p> + +<p>So the Scarecrow mounted to the jeweled saddle and waved his hat, when +the Sawhorse darted away so swiftly that they were out of sight in an +instant.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fourteen" id="Chapter_Fourteen" />Chapter Fourteen</h2> + +<h3>Ojo Breaks the Law</h3> + + +<p>"What a queer man," remarked the Munchkin boy, when the party had +resumed its journey.</p> + +<p>"And so nice and polite," added Scraps, bobbing her head. "I think he is +the handsomest man I've seen since I came to life."</p> + +<p>"Handsome is as handsome does," quoted the Shaggy Man; "but we must +admit that no living scarecrow is handsomer. The chief merit of my +friend is that he is a great thinker, and in Oz it is considered good +policy to follow his advice."</p> + +<p>"I didn't notice any brains in his head," observed the Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"You can't see 'em work, but they're there, all right," declared the +Shaggy Man. "I hadn't much confidence in his brains myself, when first I +came to Oz, for a humbug Wizard gave them to him; but I was soon +convinced that the Scarecrow is really wise; and, unless his brains make +him so, such wisdom is unaccountable."</p> + +<p>"Is the Wizard of Oz a humbug?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Not now. He was once, but he has reformed and now assists Glinda the +Good, who is the Royal Sorceress of Oz and the only one licensed to +practice magic or sorcery. Glinda has taught our old Wizard a good many +clever things, so he is no longer a humbug."</p> + +<p>They walked a little while in silence and then Ojo said:</p> + +<p>"If Ozma forbids the Crooked Magician to restore Unc Nunkie to life, +what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"In that case you can't do anything," he said. "But don't be discouraged +yet. We will go to Princess Dorothy and tell her your troubles, and then +we will let her talk to Ozma. Dorothy has the kindest little heart in +the world, and she has been through so many troubles herself that she is +sure to sympathize with you."</p> + +<p>"Is Dorothy the little girl who came here from Kansas?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"Yes. In Kansas she was Dorothy Gale. I used to know her there, and she +brought me to the Land of Oz. But now Ozma has made her a Princess, and +Dorothy's Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are here, too." Here the Shaggy Man +uttered a long sigh, and then he continued: "It's a queer country, this +Land of Oz; but I like it, nevertheless."</p> + +<p>"What is queer about it?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"You, for instance," said he.</p> + +<p>"Did you see no girls as beautiful as I am in your own country?" she +inquired.</p> + +<p>"None with the same gorgeous, variegated beauty," he confessed. "In +America a girl stuffed with cotton wouldn't be alive, nor would anyone +think of making a girl out of a patchwork quilt."</p> + +<p>"What a queer country America must be!" she exclaimed in great surprise. +"The Scarecrow, whom you say is wise, told me I am the most beautiful +creature he has ever seen."</p> + +<p>"I know; and perhaps you are—from a scarecrow point of view," replied +the Shaggy Man; but why he smiled as he said it Scraps could not +imagine.</p> + +<p>As they drew nearer to the Emerald City the travelers were filled with +admiration for the splendid scenery they beheld. Handsome houses stood +on both sides of the road and each had a green lawn before it as well as +a pretty flower garden.</p> + +<p>"In another hour," said the Shaggy Man, "we shall come in sight of the +walls of the Royal City."</p> + +<p>He was walking ahead, with Scraps, and behind them came the Woozy and +the Glass Cat. Ojo had lagged behind, for in spite of the warnings he +had received the boy's eyes were fastened on the clover that bordered +the road of yellow bricks and he was eager to discover if such a thing +as a six-leaved clover really existed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he stopped short and bent over to examine the ground more +closely. Yes; here at last was a clover with six spreading leaves. He +counted them carefully, to make sure. In an instant his heart leaped +with joy, for this was one of the important things he had come for—one +of the things that would restore dear Unc Nunkie to life.</p> + +<p>He glanced ahead and saw that none of his companions was looking back. +Neither were any other people about, for it was midway between two +houses. The temptation was too strong to be resisted.</p> + +<p>"I might search for weeks and weeks, and never find another six-leaved +clover," he told himself, and quickly plucking the stem from the plant +he placed the prized clover in his basket, covering it with the other +things he carried there. Then, trying to look as if nothing had +happened, he hurried forward and overtook his comrades.</p> + +<p>The Emerald City, which is the most splendid as well as the most +beautiful city in any fairyland, is surrounded by a high, thick wall of +green marble, polished smooth and set with glistening emeralds. There +are four gates, one facing the Munchkin Country, one facing the Country +of the Winkies, one facing the Country of the Quadlings and one facing +the Country of the Gillikins. The Emerald City lies directly in the +center of these four important countries of Oz. The gates had bars of +pure gold, and on either side of each gateway were built high towers, +from which floated gay banners. Other towers were set at distances along +the walls, which were broad enough for four people to walk abreast upon.</p> + +<p>This enclosure, all green and gold and glittering with precious gems, +was indeed a wonderful sight to greet our travelers, who first observed +it from the top of a little hill; but beyond the wall was the vast city +it surrounded, and hundreds of jeweled spires, domes and minarets, +flaunting flags and banners, reared their crests far above the towers of +the gateways. In the center of the city our friends could see the tops +of many magnificent trees, some nearly as tall as the spires of the +buildings, and the Shaggy Man told them that these trees were in the +royal gardens of Princess Ozma.</p> + +<p>They stood a long time on the hilltop, feasting their eyes on the +splendor of the Emerald City.</p> + +<p>"Whee!" exclaimed Scraps, clasping her padded hands in ecstacy, "that'll +do for me to live in, all right. No more of the Munchkin Country for +these patches—and no more of the Crooked Magician!"</p> + +<p>"Why, you belong to Dr. Pipt," replied Ojo, looking at her in amazement. +"You were made for a servant, Scraps, so you are personal property and +not your own mistress."</p> + +<p>"Bother Dr. Pipt! If he wants me, let him come here and get me. I'll not +go back to his den of my own accord; that's certain. Only one place in +the Land of Oz is fit to live in, and that's the Emerald City. It's +lovely! It's almost as beautiful as I am, Ojo."</p> + +<p>"In this country," remarked the Shaggy Man, "people live wherever our +Ruler tells them to. It wouldn't do to have everyone live in the Emerald +City, you know, for some must plow the land and raise grains and fruits +and vegetables, while others chop wood in the forests, or fish in the +rivers, or herd the sheep and the cattle."</p> + +<p>"Poor things!" said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure they are not happier than the city people," replied the +Shaggy Man. "There's a freedom and independence in country life that not +even the Emerald City can give one. I know that lots of the city people +would like to get back to the land. The Scarecrow lives in the country, +and so do the Tin Woodman and Jack Pumpkinhead; yet all three would be +welcome to live in Ozma's palace if they cared to. Too much splendor +becomes tiresome, you know. But, if we're to reach the Emerald City +before sundown, we must hurry, for it is yet a long way off."</p> + +<p>The entrancing sight of the city had put new energy into them all and +they hurried forward with lighter steps than before. There was much to +interest them along the roadway, for the houses were now set more +closely together and they met a good many people who were coming or +going from one place or another. All these seemed happy-faced, pleasant +people, who nodded graciously to the strangers as they passed, and +exchanged words of greeting.</p> + +<p>At last they reached the great gateway, just as the sun was setting and +adding its red glow to the glitter of the emeralds on the green walls +and spires. Somewhere inside the city a band could be heard playing +sweet music; a soft, subdued hum, as of many voices, reached their ears; +from the neighboring yards came the low mooing of cows waiting to be +milked.</p> + +<p>They were almost at the gate when the golden bars slid back and a tall +soldier stepped out and faced them. Ojo thought he had never seen so +tall a man before. The soldier wore a handsome green and gold uniform, +with a tall hat in which was a waving plume, and he had a belt thickly +encrusted with jewels. But the most peculiar thing about him was his +long green beard, which fell far below his waist and perhaps made him +seem taller than he really was.</p> + +<p>"Halt!" said the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, not in a stern voice +but rather in a friendly tone.</p> + +<p>They halted before he spoke and stood looking at him.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Colonel," said the Shaggy Man. "What's the news since I +left? Anything important?"</p> + +<p>"Billina has hatched out thirteen new chickens," replied the Soldier +with the Green Whiskers, "and they're the cutest little fluffy yellow +balls you ever saw. The Yellow Hen is mighty proud of those children, I +can tell you."</p> + +<p>"She has a right to be," agreed the Shaggy Man. "Let me see; that's +about seven thousand chicks she has hatched out; isn't it, General?"</p> + +<p>"That, at least," was the reply. "You will have to visit Billina and +congratulate her."</p> + +<p>"It will give me pleasure to do that," said the Shaggy Man. "But you +will observe that I have brought some strangers home with me. I am going +to take them to see Dorothy."</p> + +<p>"One moment, please," said the soldier, barring their way as they +started to enter the gate. "I am on duty, and I have orders to execute. +Is anyone in your party named Ojo the Unlucky?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that's me!" cried Ojo, astonished at hearing his name on the lips +of a stranger.</p> + +<p>The Soldier with the Green Whiskers nodded. "I thought so," said he, +"and I am sorry to announce that it is my painful duty to arrest you."</p> + +<p>"Arrest me!" exclaimed the boy. "What for?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't looked to see," answered the soldier. Then he drew a paper +from his breast pocket and glanced at it. "Oh, yes; you are to be +arrested for willfully breaking one of the Laws of Oz."</p> + +<p>"Breaking a law!" said Scraps. "Nonsense, Soldier; you're joking."</p> + +<p>"Not this time," returned the soldier, with a sigh. "My dear child—what +are you, a rummage sale or a guess-me-quick?—in me you behold the +Body-Guard of our gracious Ruler, Princess Ozma, as well as the Royal +Army of Oz and the Police Force of the Emerald City."</p> + +<p>"And only one man!" exclaimed the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Only one, and plenty enough. In my official positions I've had nothing +to do for a good many years—so long that I began to fear I was +absolutely useless—until to-day. An hour ago I was called to the +presence of her Highness, Ozma of Oz, and told to arrest a boy named Ojo +the Unlucky, who was journeying from the Munchkin Country to the Emerald +City and would arrive in a short time. This command so astonished me +that I nearly fainted, for it is the first time anyone has merited +arrest since I can remember. You are rightly named Ojo the Unlucky, my +poor boy, since you have broken a Law of Oz.</p> + +<p>"But you are wrong," said Scraps. "Ozma is wrong—you are all wrong—for +Ojo has broken no Law."</p> + +<p>"Then he will soon be free again," replied the Soldier with the Green +Whiskers. "Anyone accused of crime is given a fair trial by our Ruler +and has every chance to prove his innocence. But just now Ozma's orders +must be obeyed."</p> + +<p>With this he took from his pocket a pair of handcuffs made of gold and +set with rubies and diamonds, and these he snapped over Ojo's wrists.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fifteen" id="Chapter_Fifteen" />Chapter Fifteen</h2> + +<h3>Ozma's Prisoner</h3> + + +<p>The boy was so bewildered by this calamity that he made no resistance at +all. He knew very well he was guilty, but it surprised him that Ozma +also knew it. He wondered how she had found out so soon that he had +picked the six-leaved clover. He handed his basket to Scraps and said:</p> + +<p>"Keep that, until I get out of prison. If I never get out, take it to +the Crooked Magician, to whom it belongs."</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man had been gazing earnestly in the boy's face, uncertain +whether to defend him or not; but something he read in Ojo's expression +made him draw back and refuse to interfere to save him. The Shaggy Man +was greatly surprised and grieved, but he knew that Ozma never made +mistakes and so Ojo must really have broken the Law of Oz.</p> + +<p>The Soldier with the Green Whiskers now led them all through the gate +and into a little room built in the wall. Here sat a jolly little man, +richly dressed in green and having around his neck a heavy gold chain to +which a number of great golden keys were attached. This was the Guardian +of the Gate and at the moment they entered his room he was playing a +tune upon a mouth-organ.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" he said, holding up his hand for silence. "I've just composed +a tune called 'The Speckled Alligator.' It's in patch-time, which is +much superior to rag-time, and I've composed it in honor of the +Patchwork Girl, who has just arrived."</p> + +<p>"How did you know I had arrived?" asked Scraps, much interested.</p> + +<p>"It's my business to know who's coming, for I'm the Guardian of the +Gate. Keep quiet while I play you 'The Speckled Alligator.'"</p> + +<p>It wasn't a very bad tune, nor a very good one, but all listened +respectfully while he shut his eyes and swayed his head from side to +side and blew the notes from the little instrument. When it was all over +the Soldier with the Green Whiskers said:</p> + +<p>"Guardian, I have here a prisoner."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! A prisoner?" cried the little man, jumping up from his +chair. "Which one? Not the Shaggy Man?"</p> + +<p>"No; this boy."</p> + +<p>"Ah; I hope his fault is as small as himself," said the Guardian of the +Gate. "But what can he have done, and what made him do it?"</p> + +<p>"Can't say," replied the soldier. "All I know is that he has broken the +Law."</p> + +<p>"But no one ever does that!"</p> + +<p>"Then he must be innocent, and soon will be released. I hope you are +right, Guardian. Just now I am ordered to take him to prison. Get me a +prisoner's robe from your Official Wardrobe."</p> + +<p>The Guardian unlocked a closet and took from it a white robe, which the +soldier threw over Ojo. It covered him from head to foot, but had two +holes just in front of his eyes, so he could see where to go. In this +attire the boy presented a very quaint appearance.</p> + +<p>As the Guardian unlocked a gate leading from his room into the streets +of the Emerald City, the Shaggy Man said to Scraps:</p> + +<p>"I think I shall take you directly to Dorothy, as the Scarecrow advised, +and the Glass Cat and the Woozy may come with us. Ojo must go to prison +with the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, but he will be well treated +and you need not worry about him."</p> + +<p>"What will they do with him?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"That I cannot tell. Since I came to the Land of Oz no one has ever been +arrested or imprisoned—until Ojo broke the Law."</p> + +<p>"Seems to me that girl Ruler of yours is making a big fuss over +nothing," remarked Scraps, tossing her yarn hair out of her eyes with a +jerk of her patched head. "I don't know what Ojo has done, but it +couldn't be anything very bad, for you and I were with him all the +time."</p> + +<p>The Shaggy Man made no reply to this speech and presently the Patchwork +Girl forgot all about Ojo in her admiration of the wonderful city she +had entered.</p> + +<p>They soon separated from the Munchkin boy, who was led by the Soldier +with the Green Whiskers down a side street toward the prison. Ojo felt +very miserable and greatly ashamed of himself, but he was beginning to +grow angry because he was treated in such a disgraceful manner. Instead +of entering the splendid Emerald City as a respectable traveler who was +entitled to a welcome and to hospitality, he was being brought in as a +criminal, handcuffed and in a robe that told all he met of his deep +disgrace.</p> + +<p>Ojo was by nature gentle and affectionate and if he had disobeyed the +Law of Oz it was to restore his dear Unc Nunkie to life. His fault was +more thoughtless than wicked, but that did not alter the fact that he +had committed a fault. At first he had felt sorrow and remorse, but the +more he thought about the unjust treatment he had received—unjust +merely because he considered it so—the more he resented his arrest, +blaming Ozma for making foolish laws and then punishing folks who broke +them. Only a six-leaved clover! A tiny green plant growing neglected and +trampled under foot. What harm could there be in picking it? Ojo began +to think Ozma must be a very bad and oppressive Ruler for such a lovely +fairyland as Oz. The Shaggy Man said the people loved her; but how could +they?</p> + +<p>The little Munchkin boy was so busy thinking these things—which many +guilty prisoners have thought before him—that he scarcely noticed all +the splendor of the city streets through which they passed. Whenever +they met any of the happy, smiling people, the boy turned his head away +in shame, although none knew who was beneath the robe.</p> + +<p>By and by they reached a house built just beside the great city wall, +but in a quiet, retired place. It was a pretty house, neatly painted and +with many windows. Before it was a garden filled with blooming flowers. +The Soldier with the Green Whiskers led Ojo up the gravel path to the +front door, on which he knocked.</p> + +<p>A woman opened the door and, seeing Ojo in his white robe, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Goodness me! A prisoner at last. But what a small one, Soldier."</p> + +<p>"The size doesn't matter, Tollydiggle, my dear. The fact remains that he +is a prisoner," said the soldier. "And, this being the prison, and you +the jailer, it is my duty to place the prisoner in your charge."</p> + +<p>"True. Come in, then, and I'll give you a receipt for him."</p> + +<p>They entered the house and passed through a hall to a large circular +room, where the woman pulled the robe off from Ojo and looked at him +with kindly interest. The boy, on his part, was gazing around him in +amazement, for never had he dreamed of such a magnificent apartment as +this in which he stood. The roof of the dome was of colored glass, +worked into beautiful designs. The walls were paneled with plates of +gold decorated with gems of great size and many colors, and upon the +tiled floor were soft rugs delightful to walk upon. The furniture was +framed in gold and upholstered in satin brocade and it consisted of easy +chairs, divans and stools in great variety. Also there were several +tables with mirror tops and cabinets filled with rare and curious +things. In one place a case filled with books stood against the wall, +and elsewhere Ojo saw a cupboard containing all sorts of games.</p> + +<p>"May I stay here a little while before I go to prison?" asked the boy, +pleadingly.</p> + +<p>"Why, this is your prison," replied Tollydiggle, "and in me behold your +jailor. Take off those handcuffs, Soldier, for it is impossible for +anyone to escape from this house."</p> + +<p>"I know that very well," replied the soldier and at once unlocked the +handcuffs and released the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The woman touched a button on the wall and lighted a big chandelier that +hung suspended from the ceiling, for it was growing dark outside. Then +she seated herself at a desk and asked:</p> + +<p>"What name?"</p> + +<p>"Ojo the Unlucky," answered the Soldier with the Green Whiskers.</p> + +<p>"Unlucky? Ah, that accounts for it," said she. "What crime?"</p> + +<p>"Breaking a Law of Oz."</p> + +<p>"All right. There's your receipt, Soldier; and now I'm responsible for +the prisoner. I'm glad of it, for this is the first time I've ever had +anything to do, in my official capacity," remarked the jailer, in a +pleased tone.</p> + +<p>"It's the same with me, Tollydiggle," laughed the soldier. "But my task +is finished and I must go and report to Ozma that I've done my duty like +a faithful Police Force, a loyal Army and an honest Body-Guard—as I +hope I am."</p> + +<p>Saying this, he nodded farewell to Tollydiggle and Ojo and went away.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said the woman briskly, "I must get you some supper, for +you are doubtless hungry. What would you prefer: planked whitefish, +omelet with jelly or mutton-chops with gravy?"</p> + +<p>Ojo thought about it. Then he said: "I'll take the chops, if you +please."</p> + +<p>"Very well; amuse yourself while I'm gone; I won't be long," and then +she went out by a door and left the prisoner alone.</p> + +<p>Ojo was much astonished, for not only was this unlike any prison he had +ever heard of, but he was being treated more as a guest than a criminal. +There were many windows and they had no locks. There were three doors to +the room and none were bolted. He cautiously opened one of the doors and +found it led into a hallway. But he had no intention of trying to +escape. If his jailor was willing to trust him in this way he would not +betray her trust, and moreover a hot supper was being prepared for him +and his prison was very pleasant and comfortable. So he took a book from +the case and sat down in a big chair to look at the pictures.</p> + +<p>This amused him until the woman came in with a large tray and spread a +cloth on one of the tables. Then she arranged his supper, which proved +the most varied and delicious meal Ojo had ever eaten in his life.</p> + +<p>Tollydiggle sat near him while he ate, sewing on some fancy work she +held in her lap. When he had finished she cleared the table and then +read to him a story from one of the books.</p> + +<p>"Is this really a prison?" he asked, when she had finished reading.</p> + +<p>"Indeed it is," she replied. "It is the only prison in the Land of Oz."</p> + +<p>"And am I a prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Bless the child! Of course."</p> + +<p>"Then why is the prison so fine, and why are you so kind to me?" he +earnestly asked.</p> + +<p>Tollydiggle seemed surprised by the question, but she presently +answered:</p> + +<p>"We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in two +ways—because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived of +his liberty. Therefore we should treat him kindly, because of his +misfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would not +be sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed a +fault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts him +in prison to make him strong and brave. When that is accomplished he is +no longer a prisoner, but a good and loyal citizen and everyone is glad +that he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it is +kindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to our +prisoners."</p> + +<p>Ojo thought this over very carefully. "I had an idea," said he, "that +prisoners were always treated harshly, to punish them."</p> + +<p>"That would be dreadful!" cried Tollydiggle. "Isn't one punished enough +in knowing he has done wrong? Don't you wish, Ojo, with all your heart, +that you had not been disobedient and broken a Law of Oz?"</p> + +<p>"I—I hate to be different from other people," he admitted.</p> + +<p>"Yes; one likes to be respected as highly as his neighbors are," said +the woman. "When you are tried and found guilty, you will be obliged to +make amends, in some way. I don't know just what Ozma will do to you, +because this is the first time one of us has broken a Law; but you may +be sure she will be just and merciful. Here in the Emerald City people +are too happy and contented ever to do wrong; but perhaps you came from +some faraway corner of our land, and having no love for Ozma carelessly +broke one of her Laws."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ojo, "I've lived all my life in the heart of a lonely +forest, where I saw no one but dear Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said Tollydiggle. "But now we have talked enough, so let +us play a game until bedtime."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Sixteen" id="Chapter_Sixteen" />Chapter Sixteen</h2> + +<h3>Princess Dorothy</h3> + + +<p>Dorothy Gale was sitting in one of her rooms in the royal palace, while +curled up at her feet was a little black dog with a shaggy coat and very +bright eyes. She wore a plain white frock, without any jewels or other +ornaments except an emerald-green hair-ribbon, for Dorothy was a simple +little girl and had not been in the least spoiled by the magnificence +surrounding her. Once the child had lived on the Kansas prairies, but +she seemed marked for adventure, for she had made several trips to the +Land of Oz before she came to live there for good. Her very best friend +was the beautiful Ozma of Oz, who loved Dorothy so well that she kept +her in her own palace, so as to be near her. The girl's Uncle Henry and +Aunt Em—the only relatives she had in the world—had also been brought +here by Ozma and given a pleasant home. Dorothy knew almost everybody in +Oz, and it was she who had discovered the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and +the Cowardly Lion, as well as Tik-Tok the Clockwork Man. Her life was +very pleasant now, and although she had been made a Princess of Oz by +her friend Ozma she did not care much to be a Princess and remained as +sweet as when she had been plain Dorothy Gale of Kansas.</p> + +<p>Dorothy was reading in a book this evening when Jellia Jamb, the +favorite servant-maid of the palace, came to say that the Shaggy Man +wanted to see her.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Dorothy; "tell him to come right up."</p> + +<p>"But he has some queer creatures with him—some of the queerest I've +ever laid eyes on," reported Jellia.</p> + +<p>"Never mind; let 'em all come up," replied Dorothy.</p> + +<p>But when the door opened to admit not only the Shaggy Man, but Scraps, +the Woozy and the Glass Cat, Dorothy jumped up and looked at her strange +visitors in amazement. The Patchwork Girl was the most curious of all +and Dorothy was uncertain at first whether Scraps was really alive or +only a dream or a nightmare. Toto, her dog, slowly uncurled himself and +going to the Patchwork Girl sniffed at her inquiringly; but soon he lay +down again, as if to say he had no interest in such an irregular +creation.</p> + +<p>"You're a new one to me," Dorothy said reflectively, addressing the +Patchwork Girl. "I can't imagine where you've come from."</p> + +<p>"Who, me?" asked Scraps, looking around the pretty room instead of at +the girl. "Oh, I came from a bed-quilt, I guess. That's what they say, +anyhow. Some call it a crazy-quilt and some a patchwork quilt. But my +name is Scraps—and now you know all about me."</p> + +<p>"Not quite all," returned Dorothy with a smile. "I wish you'd tell me +how you came to be alive."</p> + +<p>"That's an easy job," said Scraps, sitting upon a big upholstered chair +and making the springs bounce her up and down. "Margolotte wanted a +slave, so she made me out of an old bed-quilt she didn't use. Cotton +stuffing, suspender-button eyes, red velvet tongue, pearl beads for +teeth. The Crooked Magician made a Powder of Life, sprinkled me with it +and—here I am. Perhaps you've noticed my different colors. A very +refined and educated gentleman named the Scarecrow, whom I met, told me +I am the most beautiful creature in all Oz, and I believe it."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Have you met our Scarecrow, then?" asked Dorothy, a little puzzled +to understand the brief history related.</p> + +<p>"Yes; isn't he jolly?"</p> + +<p>"The Scarecrow has many good qualities," replied Dorothy. "But I'm sorry +to hear all this 'bout the Crooked Magician. Ozma'll be mad as hops when +she hears he's been doing magic again. She told him not to."</p> + +<p>"He only practices magic for the benefit of his own family," explained +Bungle, who was keeping at a respectful distance from the little black +dog.</p> + +<p>"Dear me," said Dorothy; "I hadn't noticed you before. Are you glass, or +what?"</p> + +<p>"I'm glass, and transparent, too, which is more than can be said of some +folks," answered the cat. "Also I have some lovely pink brains; you can +see 'em work."</p> + +<p>"Oh; is that so? Come over here and let me see."</p> + +<p>The Glass Cat hesitated, eyeing the dog.</p> + +<p>"Send that beast away and I will," she said.</p> + +<p>"Beast! Why, that's my dog Toto, an' he's the kindest dog in all the +world. Toto knows a good many things, too; 'most as much as I do, I +guess."</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't he say anything?" asked Bungle.</p> + +<p>"He can't talk, not being a fairy dog," explained Dorothy. "He's just a +common United States dog; but that's a good deal; and I understand him, +and he understands me, just as well as if he could talk."</p> + +<p>Toto, at this, got up and rubbed his head softly against Dorothy's hand, +which she held out to him, and he looked up into her face as if he had +understood every word she had said.</p> + +<p>"This cat, Toto," she said to him, "is made of glass, so you mustn't +bother it, or chase it, any more than you do my Pink Kitten. It's +prob'ly brittle and might break if it bumped against anything."</p> + +<p>"Woof!" said Toto, and that meant he understood.</p> + +<p>The Glass Cat was so proud of her pink brains that she ventured to come +close to Dorothy, in order that the girl might "see 'em work." This was +really interesting, but when Dorothy patted the cat she found the glass +cold and hard and unresponsive, so she decided at once that Bungle would +never do for a pet.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about the Crooked Magician who lives on the mountain?" +asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"He made me," replied the cat; "so I know all about him. The Patchwork +Girl is new—three or four days old—but I've lived with Dr. Pipt for +years; and, though I don't much care for him, I will say that he has +always refused to work magic for any of the people who come to his +house. He thinks there's no harm in doing magic things for his own +family, and he made me out of glass because the meat cats drink too much +milk. He also made Scraps come to life so she could do the housework for +his wife Margolotte."</p> + +<p>"Then why did you both leave him?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"I think you'd better let me explain that," interrupted the Shaggy Man, +and then he told Dorothy all of Ojo's story and how Unc Nunkie and +Margolotte had accidentally been turned to marble by the Liquid of +Petrifaction. Then he related how the boy had started out in search of +the things needed to make the magic charm, which would restore the +unfortunates to life, and how he had found the Woozy and taken him along +because he could not pull the three hairs out of its tail. Dorothy +listened to all this with much interest, and thought that so far Ojo had +acted very well. But when the Shaggy Man told her of the Munchkin boy's +arrest by the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, because he was accused of +wilfully breaking a Law of Oz, the little girl was greatly shocked.</p> + +<p>"What do you s'pose he's done?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"I fear he has picked a six-leaved clover," answered the Shaggy Man, +sadly. "I did not see him do it, and I warned him that to do so was +against the Law; but perhaps that is what he did, nevertheless."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry 'bout that," said Dorothy gravely, "for now there will be no +one to help his poor uncle and Margolotte 'cept this Patchwork Girl, the +Woozy and the Glass Cat."</p> + +<p>"Don't mention it," said Scraps. "That's no affair of mine. Margolotte +and Unc Nunkie are perfect strangers to me, for the moment I came to +life they came to marble."</p> + +<p>"I see," remarked Dorothy with a sigh of regret; "the woman forgot to +give you a heart."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad she did," retorted the Patchwork Girl. "A heart must be a +great annoyance to one. It makes a person feel sad or sorry or devoted +or sympathetic—all of which sensations interfere with one's happiness."</p> + +<p>"I have a heart," murmured the Glass Cat. "It's made of a ruby; but I +don't imagine I shall let it bother me about helping Unc Nunkie and +Margolotte."</p> + +<p>"That's a pretty hard heart of yours," said Dorothy. "And the Woozy, of +course—"</p> + +<p>"Why, as for me," observed the Woozy, who was reclining on the floor +with his legs doubled under him, so that he looked much like a square +box, "I have never seen those unfortunate people you are speaking of, +and yet I am sorry for them, having at times been unfortunate myself. +When I was shut up in that forest I longed for some one to help me, and +by and by Ojo came and did help me. So I'm willing to help his uncle. +I'm only a stupid beast, Dorothy, but I can't help that, and if you'll +tell me what to do to help Ojo and his uncle, I'll gladly do it."</p> + +<p>Dorothy walked over and patted the Woozy on his square head.</p> + +<p>"You're not pretty," she said, "but I like you. What are you able to do; +anything 'special?"</p> + +<p>"I can make my eyes flash fire—real fire—when I'm angry. When anyone +says: 'Krizzle-Kroo' to me I get angry, and then my eyes flash fire."</p> + +<p>"I don't see as fireworks could help Ojo's uncle," remarked Dorothy. +"Can you do anything else?"</p> + +<p>"I—I thought I had a very terrifying growl," said the Woozy, with +hesitation; "but perhaps I was mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Shaggy Man, "you were certainly wrong about that." Then +he turned to Dorothy and added: "What will become of the Munchkin boy?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she said, shaking her head thoughtfully. "Ozma will see +him 'bout it, of course, and then she'll punish him. But how, I don't +know, 'cause no one ever has been punished in Oz since I knew anything +about the place. Too bad, Shaggy Man, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>While they were talking Scraps had been roaming around the room and +looking at all the pretty things it contained. She had carried Ojo's +basket in her hand, until now, when she decided to see what was inside +it. She found the bread and cheese, which she had no use for, and the +bundle of charms, which were curious but quite a mystery to her. Then, +turning these over, she came upon the six-leaved clover which the boy +had plucked.</p> + +<p>Scraps was quick-witted, and although she had no heart she recognized +the fact that Ojo was her first friend. She knew at once that because +the boy had taken the clover he had been imprisoned, and she understood +that Ojo had given her the basket so they would not find the clover in +his possession and have proof of his crime. So, turning her head to see +that no one noticed her, she took the clover from the basket and dropped +it into a golden vase that stood on Dorothy's table. Then she came +forward and said to Dorothy:</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't care to help Ojo's uncle, but I will help Ojo. He did not +break the Law—no one can prove he did—and that green-whiskered soldier +had no right to arrest him."</p> + +<p>"Ozma ordered the boy's arrest," said Dorothy, "and of course she knew +what she was doing. But if you can prove Ojo is innocent they will set +him free at once."</p> + +<p>"They'll have to prove him guilty, won't they?'' asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose so."</p> + +<p>"Well, they can't do that," declared the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>As it was nearly time for Dorothy to dine with Ozma, which she did every +evening, she rang for a servant and ordered the Woozy taken to a nice +room and given plenty of such food as he liked best.</p> + +<p>"That's honey-bees," said the Woozy.</p> + +<p>"You can't eat honey-bees, but you'll be given something just as nice," +Dorothy told him. Then she had the Glass Cat taken to another room for +the night and the Patchwork Girl she kept in one of her own rooms, for +she was much interested in the strange creature and wanted to talk with +her again and try to understand her better.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Seventeen" id="Chapter_Seventeen" />Chapter Seventeen</h2> + +<h3>Ozma and Her Friends</h3> + + +<p>The Shaggy Man had a room of his own in the royal palace, so there he +went to change his shaggy suit of clothes for another just as shaggy but +not so dusty from travel. He selected a costume of pea-green and pink +satin and velvet, with embroidered shags on all the edges and iridescent +pearls for ornaments. Then he bathed in an alabaster pool and brushed +his shaggy hair and whiskers the wrong way to make them still more +shaggy. This accomplished, and arrayed in his splendid shaggy garments, +he went to Ozma's banquet hall and found the Scarecrow, the Wizard and +Dorothy already assembled there. The Scarecrow had made a quick trip and +returned to the Emerald City with his left ear freshly painted.</p> + +<p>A moment later, while they all stood in waiting, a servant threw open a +door, the orchestra struck up a tune and Ozma of Oz entered.</p> + +<p>Much has been told and written concerning the beauty of person and +character of this sweet girl Ruler of the Land of Oz—the richest, the +happiest and most delightful fairyland of which we have any knowledge. +Yet with all her queenly qualities Ozma was a real girl and enjoyed the +things in life that other real girls enjoy. When she sat on her splendid +emerald throne in the great Throne Room of her palace and made laws and +settled disputes and tried to keep all her subjects happy and contented, +she was as dignified and demure as any queen might be; but when she had +thrown aside her jeweled robe of state and her sceptre, and had retired +to her private apartments, the girl—joyous, light-hearted and +free—replaced the sedate Ruler.</p> + +<p>In the banquet hall to-night were gathered only old and trusted friends, +so here Ozma was herself—a mere girl. She greeted Dorothy with a kiss, +the Shaggy Man with a smile, the little old Wizard with a friendly +handshake and then she pressed the Scarecrow's stuffed arm and cried +merrily:</p> + +<p>"What a lovely left ear! Why, it's a hundred times better than the old +one."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you like it," replied the Scarecrow, well pleased. "Jinjur did +a neat job, didn't she? And my hearing is now perfect. Isn't it +wonderful what a little paint will do, if it's properly applied?"</p> + +<p>"It really is wonderful," she agreed, as they all took their seats; "but +the Sawhorse must have made his legs twinkle to have carried you so far +in one day. I didn't expect you back before to-morrow, at the earliest."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the Scarecrow, "I met a charming girl on the road and +wanted to see more of her, so I hurried back."</p> + +<p>Ozma laughed.</p> + +<p>"I know," she returned; "it's the Patchwork Girl. She is certainly +bewildering, if not strictly beautiful."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen her, then?" the straw man eagerly asked.</p> + +<p>"Only in my Magic Picture, which shows me all scenes of interest in the +Land of Oz."</p> + +<p>"I fear the picture didn't do her justice," said the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"It seemed to me that nothing could be more gorgeous," declared Ozma. +"Whoever made that patchwork quilt, from which Scraps was formed, must +have selected the gayest and brightest bits of cloth that ever were +woven."</p> + +<p>"I am glad you like her," said the Scarecrow in a satisfied tone. +Although the straw man did not eat, not being made so he could, he often +dined with Ozma and her companions, merely for the pleasure of talking +with them. He sat at the table and had a napkin and plate, but the +servants knew better than to offer him food. After a little while he +asked: "Where is the Patchwork Girl now?"</p> + +<p>"In my room," replied Dorothy. "I've taken a fancy to her; she's so +queer and—and—uncommon."</p> + +<p>"She's half crazy, I think," added the Shaggy Man.</p> + +<p>"But she is so beautiful!" exclaimed the Scarecrow, as if that fact +disarmed all criticism. They all laughed at his enthusiasm, but the +Scarecrow was quite serious. Seeing that he was interested in Scraps +they forbore to say anything against her. The little band of friends +Ozma had gathered around her was so quaintly assorted that much care +must be exercised to avoid hurting their feelings or making any one of +them unhappy. It was this considerate kindness that held them close +friends and enabled them to enjoy one another's society.</p> + +<p>Another thing they avoided was conversing on unpleasant subjects, and +for that reason Ojo and his troubles were not mentioned during the +dinner. The Shaggy Man, however, related his adventures with the +monstrous plants which had seized and enfolded the travelers, and told +how he had robbed Chiss, the giant porcupine, of the quills which it was +accustomed to throw at people. Both Dorothy and Ozma were pleased with +this exploit and thought it served Chiss right.</p> + +<p>Then they talked of the Woozy, which was the most remarkable animal any +of them had ever before seen—except, perhaps, the live Sawhorse. Ozma +had never known that her dominions contained such a thing as a Woozy, +there being but one in existence and this being confined in his forest +for many years. Dorothy said she believed the Woozy was a good beast, +honest and faithful; but she added that she did not care much for the +Glass Cat.</p> + +<p>"Still," said the Shaggy Man, "the Glass Cat is very pretty and if she +were not so conceited over her pink brains no one would object to her as +a companion."</p> + +<p>The Wizard had been eating silently until now, when he looked up and +remarked:</p> + +<p>"That Powder of Life which is made by the Crooked Magician is really a +wonderful thing. But Dr. Pipt does not know its true value and he uses +it in the most foolish ways."</p> + +<p>"I must see about that," said Ozma, gravely. Then she smiled again and +continued in a lighter tone: "It was Dr. Pipt's famous Powder of Life +that enabled me to become the Ruler of Oz."</p> + +<p>"I've never heard that story," said the Shaggy Man, looking at Ozma +questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Well, when I was a baby girl I was stolen by an old Witch named Mombi +and transformed into a boy," began the girl Ruler. "I did not know who I +was and when I grew big enough to work, the Witch made me wait upon her +and carry wood for the fire and hoe in the garden. One day she came back +from a journey bringing some of the Powder of Life, which Dr. Pipt had +given her. I had made a pumpkin-headed man and set it up in her path to +frighten her, for I was fond of fun and hated the Witch. But she knew +what the figure was and to test her Powder of Life she sprinkled some of +it on the man I had made. It came to life and is now our dear friend +Jack Pumpkinhead. That night I ran away with Jack to escape punishment, +and I took old Mombi's Powder of Life with me. During our journey we +came upon a wooden Sawhorse standing by the road and I used the magic +powder to bring it to life. The Sawhorse has been with me ever since. +When I got to the Emerald City the good Sorceress, Glinda, knew who I +was and restored me to my proper person, when I became the rightful +Ruler of this land. So you see had not old Mombi brought home the Powder +of Life I might never have run away from her and become Ozma of Oz, nor +would we have had Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse to comfort and amuse +us."</p> + +<p>That story interested the Shaggy Man very much, as well as the others, +who had often heard it before. The dinner being now concluded, they all +went to Ozma's drawing-room, where they passed a pleasant evening before +it came time to retire.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eighteen" id="Chapter_Eighteen" />Chapter Eighteen</h2> + +<h3>Ojo is Forgiven</h3> + + +<p>The next morning the Soldier with the Green Whiskers went to the prison +and took Ojo away to the royal palace, where he was summoned to appear +before the girl Ruler for judgment. Again the soldier put upon the boy +the jeweled handcuffs and white prisoner's robe with the peaked top and +holes for the eyes. Ojo was so ashamed, both of his disgrace and the +fault he had committed, that he was glad to be covered up in this way, +so that people could not see him or know who he was. He followed the +Soldier with the Green Whiskers very willingly, anxious that his fate +might be decided as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of the Emerald City were polite people and never jeered +at the unfortunate; but it was so long since they had seen a prisoner +that they cast many curious looks toward the boy and many of them +hurried away to the royal palace to be present during the trial.</p> + +<p>When Ojo was escorted into the great Throne Room of the palace he found +hundreds of people assembled there. In the magnificent emerald throne, +which sparkled with countless jewels, sat Ozma of Oz in her Robe of +State, which was embroidered with emeralds and pearls. On her right, but +a little lower, was Dorothy, and on her left the Scarecrow. Still lower, +but nearly in front of Ozma, sat the wonderful Wizard of Oz and on a +small table beside him was the golden vase from Dorothy's room, into +which Scraps had dropped the stolen clover.</p> + +<p>At Ozma's feet crouched two enormous beasts, each the largest and most +powerful of its kind. Although these beasts were quite free, no one +present was alarmed by them; for the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger +were well known and respected in the Emerald City and they always +guarded the Ruler when she held high court in the Throne Room. There was +still another beast present, but this one Dorothy held in her arms, for +it was her constant companion, the little dog Toto. Toto knew the +Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger and often played and romped with +them, for they were good friends.</p> + +<p>Seated on ivory chairs before Ozma, with a clear space between them and +the throne, were many of the nobility of the Emerald City, lords and +ladies in beautiful costumes, and officials of the kingdom in the royal +uniforms of Oz. Behind these courtiers were others of less importance, +filling the great hall to the very doors.</p> + +<p>At the same moment that the Soldier with the Green Whiskers arrived with +Ojo, the Shaggy Man entered from a side door, escorting the Patchwork +Girl, the Woozy and the Glass Cat. All these came to the vacant space +before the throne and stood facing the Ruler.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Ojo," said Scraps; "how are you?"</p> + +<p>"All right," he replied; but the scene awed the boy and his voice +trembled a little with fear. Nothing could awe the Patchwork Girl, and +although the Woozy was somewhat uneasy in these splendid surroundings +the Glass Cat was delighted with the sumptuousness of the court and the +impressiveness of the occasion—pretty big words but quite expressive.</p> + +<p>At a sign from Ozma the soldier removed Ojo's white robe and the boy +stood face to face with the girl who was to decide his punishment. He +saw at a glance how lovely and sweet she was, and his heart gave a bound +of joy, for he hoped she would be merciful.</p> + +<p>Ozma sat looking at the prisoner a long time. Then she said gently:</p> + +<p>"One of the Laws of Oz forbids anyone to pick a six-leaved clover. You +are accused of having broken this Law, even after you had been warned +not to do so."</p> + +<p>Ojo hung his head and while he hesitated how to reply the Patchwork Girl +stepped forward and spoke for him.</p> + +<p>"All this fuss is about nothing at all," she said, facing Ozma +unabashed. "You can't prove he picked the six-leaved clover, so you've +no right to accuse him of it. Search him, if you like, but you won't +find the clover; look in his basket and you'll find it's not there. He +hasn't got it, so I demand that you set this poor Munchkin boy free."</p> + +<p>The people of Oz listened to this defiance in amazement and wondered at +the queer Patchwork Girl who dared talk so boldly to their Ruler. But +Ozma sat silent and motionless and it was the little Wizard who answered +Scraps.</p> + +<p>"So the clover hasn't been picked, eh?" he said. "I think it has. I +think the boy hid it in his basket, and then gave the basket to you. I +also think you dropped the clover into this vase, which stood in +Princess Dorothy's room, hoping to get rid of it so it would not prove +the boy guilty. You're a stranger here, Miss Patches, and so you don't +know that nothing can be hidden from our powerful Ruler's Magic +Picture—nor from the watchful eyes of the humble Wizard of Oz. Look, +all of you!" With these words he waved his hands toward the vase on the +table, which Scraps now noticed for the first time.</p> + +<p>From the mouth of the vase a plant sprouted, slowly growing before their +eyes until it became a beautiful bush, and on the topmost branch +appeared the six-leaved clover which Ojo had unfortunately picked.</p> + +<p>The Patchwork Girl looked at the clover and said: "Oh, so you've found +it. Very well; prove he picked it, if you can."</p> + +<p>Ozma turned to Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Did you pick the six-leaved clover?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied. "I knew it was against the Law, but I wanted to save +Unc Nunkie and I was afraid if I asked your consent to pick it you would +refuse me."</p> + +<p>"What caused you to think that?" asked the Ruler.</p> + +<p>"Why, it seemed to me a foolish law, unjust and unreasonable. Even now I +can see no harm in picking a six-leaved clover. And I—I had not seen +the Emerald City, then, nor you, and I thought a girl who would make +such a silly Law would not be likely to help anyone in trouble."</p> + +<p>Ozma regarded him musingly, her chin resting upon her hand; but she was +not angry. On the contrary she smiled a little at her thoughts and then +grew sober again.</p> + +<p>"I suppose a good many laws seem foolish to those people who do not +understand them," she said; "but no law is ever made without some +purpose, and that purpose is usually to protect all the people and guard +their welfare. As you are a stranger, I will explain this Law which to +you seems so foolish. Years ago there were many Witches and Magicians in +the Land of Oz, and one of the things they often used in making their +magic charms and transformations was a six-leaved clover. These Witches +and Magicians caused so much trouble among my people, often using their +powers for evil rather than good, that I decided to forbid anyone to +practice magic or sorcery except Glinda the Good and her assistant, the +Wizard of Oz, both of whom I can trust to use their arts only to benefit +my people and to make them happier. Since I issued that Law the Land of +Oz has been far more peaceful and quiet; but I learned that some of the +Witches and Magicians were still practicing magic on the sly and using +the six-leaved clovers to make their potions and charms. Therefore I +made another Law forbidding anyone from plucking a six-leaved clover or +from gathering other plants and herbs which the Witches boil in their +kettles to work magic with. That has almost put an end to wicked sorcery +in our land, so you see the Law was not a foolish one, but wise and +just; and, in any event, it is wrong to disobey a Law."</p> + +<p>Ojo knew she was right and felt greatly mortified to realize he had +acted and spoken so ridiculously. But he raised his head and looked Ozma +in the face, saying:</p> + +<p>"I am sorry I have acted wrongly and broken your Law. I did it to save +Unc Nunkie, and thought I would not be found out. But I am guilty of +this act and whatever punishment you think I deserve I will suffer +willingly."</p> + +<p>Ozma smiled more brightly, then, and nodded graciously.</p> + +<p>"You are forgiven," she said. "For, although you have committed a +serious fault, you are now penitent and I think you have been punished +enough. Soldier, release Ojo the Lucky and—"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; I'm Ojo the Unlucky," said the boy.</p> + +<p>"At this moment you are lucky," said she. "Release him, Soldier, and let +him go free."</p> + +<p>The people were glad to hear Ozma's decree and murmured their approval. +As the royal audience was now over, they began to leave the Throne Room +and soon there were none remaining except Ojo and his friends and Ozma +and her favorites.</p> + +<p>The girl Ruler now asked Ojo to sit down and tell her all his story, +which he did, beginning at the time he had left his home in the forest +and ending with his arrival at the Emerald City and his arrest. Ozma +listened attentively and was thoughtful for some moments after the boy +had finished speaking. Then she said:</p> + +<p>"The Crooked Magician was wrong to make the Glass Cat and the Patchwork +Girl, for it was against the Law. And if he had not unlawfully kept the +bottle of Liquid of Petrifaction standing on his shelf, the accident to +his wife Margolotte and to Unc Nunkie could not have occurred. I can +understand, however, that Ojo, who loves his uncle, will be unhappy +unless he can save him. Also I feel it is wrong to leave those two +victims standing as marble statues, when they ought to be alive. So I +propose we allow Dr. Pipt to make the magic charm which will save them, +and that we assist Ojo to find the things he is seeking. What do you +think, Wizard?"</p> + +<p>"That is perhaps the best thing to do," replied the Wizard. "But after +the Crooked Magician has restored those poor people to life you must +take away his magic powers."</p> + +<p>"I will," promised Ozma.</p> + +<p>"Now tell me, please, what magic things must you find?" continued the +Wizard, addressing Ojo.</p> + +<p>"The three hairs from the Woozy's tail I have," said the boy. "That is, +I have the Woozy, and the hairs are in his tail. The six-leaved clover +I—I—"</p> + +<p>"You may take it and keep it," said Ozma. "That will not be breaking the +Law, for it is already picked, and the crime of picking it is forgiven."</p> + +<p>"Thank you!" cried Ojo gratefully. Then he continued: "The next thing I +must find is a gill of water from a dark well."</p> + +<p>The Wizard shook his head. "That," said he, "will be a hard task, but if +you travel far enough you may discover it."</p> + +<p>"I am willing to travel for years, if it will save Unc Nunkie," declared +Ojo, earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Then you'd better begin your journey at once," advised the Wizard.</p> + +<p>Dorothy had been listening with interest to this conversation. Now she +turned to Ozma and asked: "May I go with Ojo, to help him?"</p> + +<p>"Would you like to?" returned Ozma.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I know Oz pretty well, but Ojo doesn't know it at all. I'm sorry +for his uncle and poor Margolotte and I'd like to help save them. May I +go?"</p> + +<p>"If you wish to," replied Ozma.</p> + +<p>"If Dorothy goes, then I must go to take care of her," said the +Scarecrow, decidedly. "A dark well can only be discovered in some +out-of-the-way place, and there may be dangers there."</p> + +<p>"You have my permission to accompany Dorothy," said Ozma. "And while you +are gone I will take care of the Patchwork Girl."</p> + +<p>"I'll take care of myself," announced Scraps, "for I'm going with the +Scarecrow and Dorothy. I promised Ojo to help him find the things he +wants and I'll stick to my promise."</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied Ozma. "But I see no need for Ojo to take the Glass +Cat and the Woozy."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to remain here," said the cat. "I've nearly been nicked half a +dozen times, already, and if they're going into dangers it's best for me +to keep away from them."</p> + +<p>"Let Jellia Jamb keep her till Ojo returns," suggested Dorothy. "We +won't need to take the Woozy, either, but he ought to be saved because +of the three hairs in his tail."</p> + +<p>"Better take me along," said the Woozy. "My eyes can flash fire, you +know, and I can growl—a little."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you'll be safer here," Ozma decided, and the Woozy made no +further objection to the plan.</p> + +<p>After consulting together they decided that Ojo and his party should +leave the very next day to search for the gill of water from a dark +well, so they now separated to make preparations for the journey.</p> + +<p>Ozma gave the Munchkin boy a room in the palace for that night and the +afternoon he passed with Dorothy—getting acquainted, as she said—and +receiving advice from the Shaggy Man as to where they must go. The +Shaggy Man had wandered in many parts of Oz, and so had Dorothy, for +that matter, yet neither of them knew where a dark well was to be found.</p> + +<p>"If such a thing is anywhere in the settled parts of Oz," said Dorothy, +"we'd prob'ly have heard of it long ago. If it's in the wild parts of +the country, no one there would need a dark well. P'raps there isn't +such a thing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there must be!" returned Ojo, positively; "or else the recipe of +Dr. Pipt wouldn't call for it."</p> + +<p>"That's true," agreed Dorothy; "and, if it's anywhere in the Land of Oz, +we're bound to find it."</p> + +<p>"Well, we're bound to search for it, anyhow," said the Scarecrow. "As +for finding it, we must trust to luck."</p> + +<p>"Don't do that," begged Ojo, earnestly. "I'm called Ojo the Unlucky, you +know."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Nineteen" id="Chapter_Nineteen" />Chapter Nineteen</h2> + +<h3>Trouble with the Tottenhots</h3> + + +<p>A day's journey from the Emerald City brought the little band of +adventurers to the home of Jack Pumpkinhead, which was a house formed +from the shell of an immense pumpkin. Jack had made it himself and was +very proud of it. There was a door, and several windows, and through the +top was stuck a stovepipe that led from a small stove inside. The door +was reached by a flight of three steps and there was a good floor on +which was arranged some furniture that was quite comfortable.</p> + +<p>It is certain that Jack Pumpkinhead might have had a much finer house to +live in had he wanted it, for Ozma loved the stupid fellow, who had been +her earliest companion; but Jack preferred his pumpkin house, as it +matched himself very well, and in this he was not so stupid, after all.</p> + +<p>The body of this remarkable person was made of wood, branches of trees +of various sizes having been used for the purpose. This wooden framework +was covered by a red shirt—with white spots in it—blue trousers, a +yellow vest, a jacket of green-and-gold and stout leather shoes. The +neck was a sharpened stick on which the pumpkin head was set, and the +eyes, ears, nose and mouth were carved on the skin of the pumpkin, very +like a child's jack-o'-lantern.</p> + +<p>The house of this interesting creation stood in the center of a vast +pumpkin-field, where the vines grew in profusion and bore pumpkins of +extraordinary size as well as those which were smaller. Some of the +pumpkins now ripening on the vines were almost as large as Jack's house, +and he told Dorothy he intended to add another pumpkin to his mansion.</p> + +<p>The travelers were cordially welcomed to this quaint domicile and +invited to pass the night there, which they had planned to do. The +Patchwork Girl was greatly interested in Jack and examined him +admiringly.</p> + +<p>"You are quite handsome," she said; "but not as really beautiful as the +Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>Jack turned, at this, to examine the Scarecrow critically, and his old +friend slyly winked one painted eye at him.</p> + +<p>"There is no accounting for tastes," remarked the Pumpkinhead, with a +sigh. "An old crow once told me I was very fascinating, but of course +the bird might have been mistaken. Yet I have noticed that the crows +usually avoid the Scarecrow, who is a very honest fellow, in his way, +but stuffed. I am not stuffed, you will observe; my body is good solid +hickory."</p> + +<p>"I adore stuffing," said the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Well, as for that, my head is stuffed with pumpkin-seeds," declared +Jack. "I use them for brains, and when they are fresh I am intellectual. +Just now, I regret to say, my seeds are rattling a bit, so I must soon +get another head."</p> + +<p>"Oh; do you change your head?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"To be sure. Pumpkins are not permanent, more's the pity, and in time +they spoil. That is why I grow such a great field of pumpkins—that I +may select a new head whenever necessary."</p> + +<p>"Who carves the faces on them?" inquired the boy.</p> + +<p>"I do that myself. I lift off my old head, place it on a table before +me, and use the face for a pattern to go by. Sometimes the faces I carve +are better than others—more expressive and cheerful, you know—but I +think they average very well."</p> + +<p>Before she had started on the journey Dorothy had packed a knapsack with +the things she might need, and this knapsack the Scarecrow carried +strapped to his back. The little girl wore a plain gingham dress and a +checked sunbonnet, as she knew they were best fitted for travel. Ojo +also had brought along his basket, to which Ozma had added a bottle of +"Square Meal Tablets" and some fruit. But Jack Pumpkinhead grew a lot of +things in his garden besides pumpkins, so he cooked for them a fine +vegetable soup and gave Dorothy, Ojo and Toto, the only ones who found +it necessary to eat, a pumpkin pie and some green cheese. For beds they +must use the sweet dried grasses which Jack had strewn along one side of +the room, but that satisfied Dorothy and Ojo very well. Toto, of course, +slept beside his little mistress.</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow, Scraps and the Pumpkinhead were tireless and had no need +to sleep, so they sat up and talked together all night; but they stayed +outside the house, under the bright stars, and talked in low tones so as +not to disturb the sleepers. During the conversation the Scarecrow +explained their quest for a dark well, and asked Jack's advice where to +find it.</p> + +<p>The Pumpkinhead considered the matter gravely.</p> + +<p>"That is going to be a difficult task," said he, "and if I were you I'd +take any ordinary well and enclose it, so as to make it dark."</p> + +<p>"I fear that wouldn't do," replied the Scarecrow. "The well must be +naturally dark, and the water must never have seen the light of day, for +otherwise the magic charm might not work at all."</p> + +<p>"How much of the water do you need?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"A gill."</p> + +<p>"How much is a gill?"</p> + +<p>"Why—a gill is a gill, of course," answered the Scarecrow, who did not +wish to display his ignorance.</p> + +<p>"I know!" cried Scraps. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch—"</p> + +<p>"No, no; that's wrong," interrupted the Scarecrow. "There are two kinds +of gills, I think; one is a girl, and the other is—"</p> + +<p>"A gillyflower," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"No; a measure."</p> + +<p>"How big a measure?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll ask Dorothy."</p> + +<p>So next morning they asked Dorothy, and she said:</p> + +<p>"I don't just know how much a gill is, but I've brought along a gold +flask that holds a pint. That's more than a gill, I'm sure, and the +Crooked Magician may measure it to suit himself. But the thing that's +bothering us most, Jack, is to find the well."</p> + +<p>Jack gazed around the landscape, for he was standing in the doorway of +his house.</p> + +<p>"This is a flat country, so you won't find any dark wells here," said +he. "You must go into the mountains, where rocks and caverns are."</p> + +<p>"And where is that?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"In the Quadling Country, which lies south of here," replied the +Scarecrow. "I've known all along that we must go to the mountains."</p> + +<p>"So have I," said Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"But—goodness me!—the Quadling Country is full of dangers," declared +Jack. "I've never been there myself, but—"</p> + +<p>"I have," said the Scarecrow. "I've faced the dreadful Hammerheads, +which have no arms and butt you like a goat; and I've faced the Fighting +Trees, which bend down their branches to pound and whip you, and had +many other adventures there."</p> + +<p>"It's a wild country," remarked Dorothy, soberly, "and if we go there +we're sure to have troubles of our own. But I guess we'll have to go, if +we want that gill of water from the dark well."</p> + +<p>So they said good-bye to the Pumpkinhead and resumed their travels, +heading now directly toward the South Country, where mountains and rocks +and caverns and forests of great trees abounded. This part of the Land +of Oz, while it belonged to Ozma and owed her allegiance, was so wild +and secluded that many queer peoples hid in its jungles and lived in +their own way, without even a knowledge that they had a Ruler in the +Emerald City. If they were left alone, these creatures never troubled +the inhabitants of the rest of Oz, but those who invaded their domains +encountered many dangers from them.</p> + +<p>It was a two days journey from Jack Pumkinhead's house to the edge of +the Quadling Country, for neither Dorothy nor Ojo could walk very fast +and they often stopped by the wayside to rest. The first night they +slept on the broad fields, among the buttercups and daisies, and the +Scarecrow covered the children with a gauze blanket taken from his +knapsack, so they would not be chilled by the night air. Toward evening +of the second day they reached a sandy plain where walking was +difficult; but some distance before them they saw a group of palm trees, +with many curious black dots under them; so they trudged bravely on to +reach that place by dark and spend the night under the shelter of the +trees.</p> + +<p>The black dots grew larger as they advanced and although the light was +dim Dorothy thought they looked like big kettles turned upside down. +Just beyond this place a jumble of huge, jagged rocks lay scattered, +rising to the mountains behind them.</p> + +<p>Our travelers preferred to attempt to climb these rocks by daylight, and +they realized that for a time this would be their last night on the +plains.</p> + +<p>Twilight had fallen by the time they came to the trees, beneath which +were the black, circular objects they had marked from a distance. Dozens +of them were scattered around and Dorothy bent near to one, which was +about as tall as she was, to examine it more closely. As she did so the +top flew open and out popped a dusky creature, rising its length into +the air and then plumping down upon the ground just beside the little +girl. Another and another popped out of the circular, pot-like dwelling, +while from all the other black objects came popping more creatures—very +like jumping-jacks when their boxes are unhooked—until fully a hundred +stood gathered around our little group of travelers.</p> + +<p>By this time Dorothy had discovered they were people, tiny and curiously +formed, but still people. Their skins were dusky and their hair stood +straight up, like wires, and was brilliant scarlet in color. Their +bodies were bare except for skins fastened around their waists and they +wore bracelets on their ankles and wrists, and necklaces, and great +pendant earrings.</p> + +<p>Toto crouched beside his mistress and wailed as if he did not like these +strange creatures a bit. Scraps began to mutter something about +"hoppity, poppity, jumpity, dump!" but no one paid any attention to her. +Ojo kept close to the Scarecrow and the Scarecrow kept close to Dorothy; +but the little girl turned to the queer creatures and asked:</p> + +<p>"Who are you?"</p> + +<p>They answered this question all together, in a sort of chanting chorus, +the words being as follows:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"We're the jolly Tottenhots;<br /> +We do not like the day,<br /> +But in the night 'tis our delight<br /> +To gambol, skip and play.</p> + +<p class="poem">"We hate the sun and from it run,<br /> +The moon is cool and clear,<br /> +So on this spot each Tottenhot<br /> +Waits for it to appear.</p> + +<p class="poem">"We're ev'ry one chock full of fun,<br /> +And full of mischief, too;<br /> +But if you're gay and with us play<br /> +We'll do no harm to you.</p> + + +<p>"Glad to meet you, Tottenhots," said the Scarecrow solemnly. "But you +mustn't expect us to play with you all night, for we've traveled all day +and some of us are tired."</p> + +<p>"And we never gamble," added the Patchwork Girl. "It's against the Law."</p> + +<p>These remarks were greeted with shouts of laughter by the impish +creatures and one seized the Scarecrow's arm and was astonished to find +the straw man whirl around so easily. So the Tottenhot raised the +Scarecrow high in the air and tossed him over the heads of the crowd. +Some one caught him and tossed him back, and so with shouts of glee they +continued throwing the Scarecrow here and there, as if he had been a +basket-ball.</p> + +<p>Presently another imp seized Scraps and began to throw her about, in the +same way. They found her a little heavier than the Scarecrow but still +light enough to be tossed like a sofa-cushion, and they were enjoying +the sport immensely when Dorothy, angry and indignant at the treatment +her friends were receiving, rushed among the Tottenhots and began +slapping and pushing them until she had rescued the Scarecrow and the +Patchwork Girl and held them close on either side of her. Perhaps she +would not have accomplished this victory so easily had not Toto helped +her, barking and snapping at the bare legs of the imps until they were +glad to flee from his attack. As for Ojo, some of the creatures had +attempted to toss him, also, but finding his body too heavy they threw +him to the ground and a row of the imps sat on him and held him from +assisting Dorothy in her battle.</p> + +<p>The little brown folks were much surprised at being attacked by the girl +and the dog, and one or two who had been slapped hardest began to cry. +Then suddenly they gave a shout, all together, and disappeared in a +flash into their various houses, the tops of which closed with a series +of pops that sounded like a bunch of firecrackers being exploded.</p> + +<p>The adventurers now found themselves alone, and Dorothy asked anxiously:</p> + +<p>"Is anybody hurt?"</p> + +<p>"Not me," answered the Scarecrow. "They have given my straw a good +shaking up and taken all the lumps out of it. I am now in splendid +condition and am really obliged to the Tottenhots for their kind +treatment."</p> + +<p>"I feel much the same way," said Scraps. "My cotton stuffing had sagged +a good deal with the day's walking and they've loosened it up until I +feel as plump as a sausage. But the play was a little rough and I'd had +quite enough of it when you interfered."</p> + +<p>"Six of them sat on me," said Ojo, "but as they are so little they +didn't hurt me much."</p> + +<p>Just then the roof of the house in front of them opened and a Tottenhot +stuck his head out, very cautiously, and looked at the strangers.</p> + +<p>"Can't you take a joke?" he asked, reproachfully; "haven't you any fun +in you at all?"</p> + +<p>"If I had such a quality," replied the Scarecrow, "your people would +have knocked it out of me. But I don't bear grudges. I forgive you."</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Scraps. "That is, if you behave yourselves after this."</p> + +<p>"It was just a little rough-house, that's all," said the Tottenhot. "But +the question is not if we will behave, but if you will behave? We can't +be shut up here all night, because this is our time to play; nor do we +care to come out and be chewed up by a savage beast or slapped by an +angry girl. That slapping hurts like sixty; some of my folks are crying +about it. So here's the proposition: you let us alone and we'll let you +alone."</p> + +<p>"You began it," declared Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Well, you ended it, so we won't argue the matter. May we come out +again? Or are you still cruel and slappy?"</p> + +<p>"Tell you what we'll do," said Dorothy. "We're all tired and want to +sleep until morning. If you'll let us get into your house, and stay +there until daylight, you can play outside all you want to."</p> + +<p>"That's a bargain!" cried the Tottenhot eagerly, and he gave a queer +whistle that brought his people popping out of their houses on all +sides. When the house before them was vacant, Dorothy and Ojo leaned +over the hole and looked in, but could see nothing because it was so +dark. But if the Tottenhots slept there all day the children thought +they could sleep there at night, so Ojo lowered himself down and found +it was not very deep.</p> + +<p>"There's a soft cushion all over," said he. "Come on in."</p> + +<p>Dorothy handed Toto to the boy and then climbed in herself. After her +came Scraps and the Scarecrow, who did not wish to sleep but preferred +to keep out of the way of the mischievous Tottenhots.</p> + +<p>There seemed no furniture in the round den, but soft cushions were +strewn about the floor and these they found made very comfortable beds. +They did not close the hole in the roof but left it open to admit air. +It also admitted the shouts and ceaseless laughter of the impish +Tottenhots as they played outside, but Dorothy and Ojo, being weary from +their journey, were soon fast asleep.</p> + +<p>Toto kept an eye open, however, and uttered low, threatening growls +whenever the racket made by the creatures outside became too boisterous; +and the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl sat leaning against the wall +and talked in whispers all night long. No one disturbed the travelers +until daylight, when in popped the Tottenhot who owned the place and +invited them to vacate his premises.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty" id="Chapter_Twenty" />Chapter Twenty</h2> + +<h3>The Captive Yoop</h3> + + +<p>As they were preparing to leave, Dorothy asked: "Can you tell us where +there is a dark well?"</p> + +<p>"Never heard of such a thing," said the Tottenhot. "We live our lives in +the dark, mostly, and sleep in the daytime; but we've never seen a dark +well, or anything like one."</p> + +<p>"Does anyone live on those mountains beyond here?" asked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"Lots of people. But you'd better not visit them. We never go there," +was the reply.</p> + +<p>"What are the people like?" Dorothy inquired.</p> + +<p>"Can't say. We've been told to keep away from the mountain paths, and so +we obey. This sandy desert is good enough for us, and we're not +disturbed here," declared the Tottenhot.</p> + +<p>So they left the man snuggling down to sleep in his dusky dwelling, and +went out into the sunshine, taking the path that led toward the rocky +places. They soon found it hard climbing, for the rocks were uneven and +full of sharp points and edges, and now there was no path at all. +Clambering here and there among the boulders they kept steadily on, +gradually rising higher and higher until finally they came to a great +rift in a part of the mountain, where the rock seemed to have split in +two and left high walls on either side.</p> + +<p>"S'pose we go this way," suggested Dorothy; "it's much easier walking +than to climb over the hills."</p> + +<p>"How about that sign?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"What sign?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>The Munchkin boy pointed to some words painted on the wall of rock +beside them, which Dorothy had not noticed. The words read:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"LOOK OUT FOR YOOP."</p> + + +<p>The girl eyed this sign a moment and turned to the Scarecrow, asking:</p> + +<p>"Who is Yoop; or what is Yoop?"</p> + +<p>The straw man shook his head. Then looked at Toto and the dog said +"Woof!"</p> + +<p>"Only way to find out is to go on," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>This being quite true, they went on. As they proceeded, the walls of +rock on either side grew higher and higher. Presently they came upon +another sign which read:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"BEWARE THE CAPTIVE YOOP."</p> + + +<p>"Why, as for that," remarked Dorothy, "if Yoop is a captive there's no +need to beware of him. Whatever Yoop happens to be, I'd much rather have +him a captive than running around loose."</p> + +<p>"So had I," agreed the Scarecrow, with a nod of his painted head.</p> + +<p>"Still," said Scraps, reflectively:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Yoop-te-hoop-te-loop-te-goop!<br /> +Who put noodles in the soup?<br /> +We may beware but we don't care,<br /> +And dare go where we scare the Yoop."</p> + + +<p>"Dear me! Aren't you feeling a little queer, just now?" Dorothy asked +the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"Not queer, but crazy," said Ojo. "When she says those things I'm sure +her brains get mixed somehow and work the wrong way.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why we are told to beware the Yoop unless he is dangerous," +observed the Scarecrow in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>"Never mind; we'll find out all about him when we get to where he is," +replied the little girl.</p> + +<p>The narrow canyon turned and twisted this way and that, and the rift was +so small that they were able to touch both walls at the same time by +stretching out their arms. Toto had run on ahead, frisking playfully, +when suddenly he uttered a sharp bark of fear and came running back to +them with his tail between his legs, as dogs do when they are +frightened.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said the Scarecrow, who was leading the way, "we must be near +Yoop."</p> + +<p>Just then, as he rounded a sharp turn, the Straw man stopped so suddenly +that all the others bumped against him.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Dorothy, standing on tip-toes to look over his +shoulder. But then she saw what it was and cried "Oh!" in a tone of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>In one of the rock walls—that at their left—was hollowed a great +cavern, in front of which was a row of thick iron bars, the tops and +bottoms being firmly fixed in the solid rock. Over this cavern was a big +sign, which Dorothy read with much curiosity, speaking the words aloud +that all might know what they said:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"MISTER YOOP—HIS CAVE</p> + +<p class="poem">The Largest Untamed Giant in Captivity.<br /> +Height, 21 Feet.—(And yet he has but 2 feet.)<br /> +Weight, 1640 Pounds.—(But he waits all the time.)<br /> +Age, 400 Years 'and Up' (as they say in the Department Store advertisements).<br /> +Temper, Fierce and Ferocious.—(Except when asleep.)<br /> +Appetite, Ravenous.—(Prefers Meat People and Orange Marmalade.)</p> + +<p class="poem">STRANGERS APPROACHING THIS CAVE DO SO AT THEIR OWN PERIL!</p> + +<p class="poem">P.S.—Don't feed the Giant yourself."</p> + + +<p>"Very well," said Ojo, with a sigh; "let's go back."</p> + +<p>"It's a long way back," declared Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"So it is," remarked the Scarecrow, "and it means a tedious climb over +those sharp rocks if we can't use this passage. I think it will be best +to run by the Giant's cave as fast as we can go. Mister Yoop seems to be +asleep just now."</p> + +<p>But the Giant wasn't asleep. He suddenly appeared at the front of his +cavern, seized the iron bars in his great hairy hands and shook them +until they rattled in their sockets. Yoop was so tall that our friends +had to tip their heads way back to look into his face, and they noticed +he was dressed all in pink velvet, with silver buttons and braid. The +Giant's boots were of pink leather and had tassels on them and his hat +was decorated with an enormous pink ostrich feather, carefully curled.</p> + +<p>"Yo-ho!" he said in a deep bass voice; "I smell dinner."</p> + +<p>"I think you are mistaken," replied the Scarecrow. "There is no orange +marmalade around here."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but I eat other things," asserted Mister Yoop. "That is, I eat them +when I can get them. But this is a lonely place, and no good meat has +passed by my cave for many years; so I'm hungry."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you eaten anything in many years?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Nothing except six ants and a monkey. I thought the monkey would taste +like meat people, but the flavor was different. I hope you will taste +better, for you seem plump and tender."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm not going to be eaten," said Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I shall keep out of your way," she answered.</p> + +<p>"How heartless!" wailed the Giant, shaking the bars again. "Consider how +many years it is since I've eaten a single plump little girl! They tell +me meat is going up, but if I can manage to catch you I'm sure it will +soon be going down. And I'll catch you if I can."</p> + +<p>With this the Giant pushed his big arms, which looked like tree-trunks +(except that tree-trunks don't wear pink velvet) between the iron bars, +and the arms were so long that they touched the opposite wall of the +rock passage. Then he extended them as far as he could reach toward our +travelers and found he could almost touch the Scarecrow—but not quite.</p> + +<p>"Come a little nearer, please," begged the Giant.</p> + +<p>"I'm a Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"A Scarecrow? Ugh! I don't care a straw for a scarecrow. Who is that +bright-colored delicacy behind you?"</p> + +<p>"Me?" asked Scraps. "I'm a Patchwork Girl, and I'm stuffed with cotton."</p> + +<p>"Dear me," sighed the Giant in a disapointed tone; "that reduces my +dinner from four to two—and the dog. I'll save the dog for dessert."</p> + +<p>Toto growled, keeping a good distance away.</p> + +<p>"Back up," said the Scarecrow to those behind him. "Let us go back a +little way and talk this over."</p> + +<p>So they turned and went around the bend in the passage, where they were +out of sight of the cave and Mister Yoop could not hear them.</p> + +<p>"My idea," began the Scarecrow, when they had halted, "is to make a dash +past the cave, going on a run."</p> + +<p>"He'd grab us," said Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Well, he can't grab but one at a time, and I'll go first. As soon as he +grabs me the rest of you can slip past him, out of his reach, and he +will soon let me go because I am not fit to eat."</p> + +<p>They decided to try this plan and Dorothy took Toto in her arms, so as +to protect him. She followed just after the Scarecrow. Then came Ojo, +with Scraps the last of the four. Their hearts beat a little faster than +usual as they again approached the Giant's cave, this time moving +swiftly forward.</p> + +<p>It turned out about the way the Scarecrow had planned. Mister Yoop was +quite astonished to see them come flying toward him, and thrusting his +arms between the bars he seized the Scarecrow in a firm grip. In the +next instant he realized, from the way the straw crunched between his +fingers, that he had captured the non-eatable man, but during that +instant of delay Dorothy and Ojo had slipped by the Giant and were out +of reach. Uttering a howl of rage the monster threw the Scarecrow after +them with one hand and grabbed Scraps with the other.</p> + +<p>The poor Scarecrow went whirling through the air and so cleverly was he +aimed that he struck Ojo's back and sent the boy tumbling head over +heels, and he tripped Dorothy and sent her, also, sprawling upon the +ground. Toto flew out of the little girl's arms and landed some distance +ahead, and all were so dazed that it was a moment before they could +scramble to their feet again. When they did so they turned to look +toward the Giant's cave, and at that moment the ferocious Mister Yoop +threw the Patchwork Girl at them.</p> + +<p>Down went all three again, in a heap, with Scraps on top. The Giant +roared so terribly that for a time they were afraid he had broken loose; +but he hadn't. So they sat in the road and looked at one another in a +rather bewildered way, and then began to feel glad.</p> + +<p>"We did it!" exclaimed the Scarecrow, with satisfaction. "And now we are +free to go on our way."</p> + +<p>"Mister Yoop is very impolite," declared Scraps. "He jarred me terribly. +It's lucky my stitches are so fine and strong, for otherwise such harsh +treatment might rip me up the back."</p> + +<p>"Allow me to apologize for the Giant," said the Scarecrow, raising the +Patchwork Girl to her feet and dusting her skirt with his stuffed hands. +"Mister Yoop is a perfect stranger to me, but I fear, from the rude +manner in which he has acted, that he is no gentleman."</p> + +<p>Dorothy and Ojo laughed at this statement and Toto barked as if he +understood the joke, after which they all felt better and resumed the +journey in high spirits.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said the little girl, when they had walked a way along the +passage, "it was lucky for us the Giant was caged; for, if he had +happened to be loose, he—he—"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, in that case, he wouldn't be hungry any more," said Ojo +gravely.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_One" id="Chapter_Twenty_One" />Chapter Twenty-One</h2> + +<h3>Hip Hopper the Champion</h3> + + +<p>They must have had good courage to climb all those rocks, for after +getting out of the canyon they encountered more rock hills to be +surmounted. Toto could jump from one rock to another quite easily, but +the others had to creep and climb with care, so that after a whole day +of such work Dorothy and Ojo found themselves very tired.</p> + +<p>As they gazed upward at the great mass of tumbled rocks that covered the +steep incline, Dorothy gave a little groan and said:</p> + +<p>"That's going to be a ter'ble hard climb, Scarecrow. I wish we could +find the dark well without so much trouble."</p> + +<p>"Suppose," said Ojo, "you wait here and let me do the climbing, for it's +on my account we're searching for the dark well. Then, if I don't find +anything, I'll come back and join you."</p> + +<p>"No," replied the little girl, shaking her head positively, "we'll all +go together, for that way we can help each other. If you went alone, +something might happen to you, Ojo."</p> + +<p>So they began the climb and found it indeed difficult, for a way. But +presently, in creeping over the big crags, they found a path at their +feet which wound in and out among the masses of rock and was quite +smooth and easy to walk upon. As the path gradually ascended the +mountain, although in a roundabout way, they decided to follow it.</p> + +<p>"This must be the road to the Country of the Hoppers," said the +Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"Who are the Hoppers?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Some people Jack Pumpkinhead told me about," he replied.</p> + +<p>"I didn't hear him," replied the girl.</p> + +<p>"No; you were asleep," explained the Scarecrow. "But he told Scraps and +me that the Hoppers and the Horners live on this mountain."</p> + +<p>"He said in the mountain," declared Scraps; "but of course he meant on +it."</p> + +<p>"Didn't he say what the Hoppers and Horners were like?" inquired +Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"No; he only said they were two separate nations, and that the Horners +were the most important."</p> + +<p>"Well, if we go to their country we'll find out all about 'em," said the +girl. "But I've never heard Ozma mention those people, so they can't be +very important."</p> + +<p>"Is this mountain in the Land of Oz?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Course it is," answered Dorothy. "It's in the South Country of the +Quadlings. When one comes to the edge of Oz, in any direction, there is +nothing more to be seen at all. Once you could see sandy desert all +around Oz; but now it's diff'rent, and no other people can see us, any +more than we can see them."</p> + +<p>"If the mountain is under Ozma's rule, why doesn't she know about the +Hoppers and the Horners?" Ojo asked.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's a fairyland," explained Dorothy, "and lots of queer people +live in places so tucked away that those in the Emerald City never even +hear of 'em. In the middle of the country it's diff'rent, but when you +get around the edges you're sure to run into strange little corners that +surprise you. I know, for I've traveled in Oz a good deal, and so has +the Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"Yes," admitted the straw man, "I've been considerable of a traveler, in +my time, and I like to explore strange places. I find I learn much more +by traveling than by staying at home."</p> + +<p>During this conversation they had been walking up the steep pathway and +now found themselves well up on the mountain. They could see nothing +around them, for the rocks beside their path were higher than their +heads. Nor could they see far in front of them, because the path was so +crooked. But suddenly they stopped, because the path ended and there was +no place to go. Ahead was a big rock lying against the side of the +mountain, and this blocked the way completely.</p> + +<p>"There wouldn't be a path, though, if it didn't go somewhere," said the +Scarecrow, wrinkling his forehead in deep thought.</p> + +<p>"This is somewhere, isn't it?" asked the Patchwork Girl, laughing at the +bewildered looks of the others.</p> + + +<p class="poem">"The path is locked, the way is blocked,<br /> +Yet here we've innocently flocked;<br /> +And now we're here it's rather queer<br /> +There's no front door that can be knocked."</p> + + +<p>"Please don't, Scraps," said Ojo. "You make me nervous."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Dorothy, "I'm glad of a little rest, for that's a drea'ful +steep path."</p> + +<p>As she spoke she leaned against the edge of the big rock that stood in +their way. To her surprise it slowly swung backward and showed behind it +a dark hole that looked like the mouth of a tunnel.</p> + +<p>"Why, here's where the path goes to!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"So it is," answered the Scarecrow. "But the question is, do we want to +go where the path does?"</p> + +<p>"It's underground; right inside the mountain," said Ojo, peering into +the dark hole. "Perhaps there's a well there; and, if there is, it's +sure to be a dark one."</p> + +<p>"Why, that's true enough!" cried Dorothy with eagerness. "Let's go in, +Scarecrow; 'cause, if others have gone, we're pretty safe to go, too."</p> + +<p>Toto looked in and barked, but he did not venture to enter until the +Scarecrow had bravely gone first. Scraps followed closely after the +straw man and then Ojo and Dorothy timidly stepped inside the tunnel. As +soon as all of them had passed the big rock, it slowly turned and filled +up the opening again; but now they were no longer in the dark, for a +soft, rosy light enabled them to see around them quite distinctly.</p> + +<p>It was only a passage, wide enough for two of them to walk abreast—with +Toto in between them—and it had a high, arched roof. They could not see +where the light which flooded the place so pleasantly came from, for +there were no lamps anywhere visible. The passage ran straight for a +little way and then made a bend to the right and another sharp turn to +the left, after which it went straight again. But there were no side +passages, so they could not lose their way.</p> + +<p>After proceeding some distance, Toto, who had gone on ahead, began to +bark loudly. They ran around a bend to see what was the matter and found +a man sitting on the floor of the passage and leaning his back against +the wall. He had probably been asleep before Toto's barks aroused him, +for he was now rubbing his eyes and staring at the little dog with all +his might.</p> + +<p>There was something about this man that Toto objected to, and when he +slowly rose to his foot they saw what it was. He had but one leg, set +just below the middle of his round, fat body; but it was a stout leg and +had a broad, flat foot at the bottom of it, on which the man seemed to +stand very well. He had never had but this one leg, which looked +something like a pedestal, and when Toto ran up and made a grab at the +man's ankle he hopped first one way and then another in a very active +manner, looking so frightened that Scraps laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>Toto was usually a well behaved dog, but this time he was angry and +snapped at the man's leg again and again. This filled the poor fellow +with fear, and in hopping out of Toto's reach he suddenly lost his +balance and tumbled heel over head upon the floor. When he sat up he +kicked Toto on the nose and made the dog howl angrily, but Dorothy now +ran forward and caught Toto's collar, holding him back.</p> + +<p>"Do you surrender?" she asked the man.</p> + +<p>"Who? Me?" asked the Hopper.</p> + +<p>"Yes; you," said the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Am I captured?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Of course. My dog has captured you," she said.</p> + +<p>"Well," replied the man, "if I'm captured I must surrender, for it's the +proper thing to do. I like to do everything proper, for it saves one a +lot of trouble."</p> + +<p>"It does, indeed," said Dorothy. "Please tell us who you are."</p> + +<p>"I'm Hip Hopper—Hip Hopper, the Champion."</p> + +<p>"Champion what?" she asked in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Champion wrestler. I'm a very strong man, and that ferocious animal +which you are so kindly holding is the first living thing that has ever +conquered me."</p> + +<p>"And you are a Hopper?" she continued.</p> + +<p>"Yes. My people live in a great city not far from here. Would you like +to visit it?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure," she said with hesitation. "Have you any dark wells in +your city?"</p> + +<p>"I think not. We have wells, you know, but they're all well lighted, and +a well lighted well cannot well be a dark well. But there may be such a +thing as a very dark well in the Horner Country, which is a black spot +on the face of the earth."</p> + +<p>"Where is the Horner Country?" Ojo inquired.</p> + +<p>"The other side of the mountain. There's a fence between the Hopper +Country and the Horner Country, and a gate in the fence; but you can't +pass through just now, because we are at war with the Horners."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad," said the Scarecrow. "What seems to be the trouble?"</p> + +<p>"Why, one of them made a very insulting remark about my people. He said +we were lacking in understanding, because we had only one leg to a +person. I can't see that legs have anything to do with understanding +things. The Horners each have two legs, just as you have. That's one leg +too many, it seems to me."</p> + +<p>"No," declared Dorothy, "it's just the right number."</p> + +<p>"You don't need them," argued the Hopper, obstinately. "You've only one +head, and one body, and one nose and mouth. Two legs are quite +unnecessary, and they spoil one's shape."</p> + +<p>"But how can you walk, with only one leg?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Walk! Who wants to walk?" exclaimed the man. "Walking is a terribly +awkward way to travel. I hop, and so do all my people. It's so much more +graceful and agreeable than walking."</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with you," said the Scarecrow. "But tell me, is there any +way to get to the Horner Country without going through the city of the +Hoppers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; there is another path from the rocky lowlands, outside the +mountain, that leads straight to the entrance of the Horner Country. But +it's a long way around, so you'd better come with me. Perhaps they will +allow you to go through the gate; but we expect to conquer them this +afternoon, if we get time, and then you may go and come as you please."</p> + +<p>They thought it best to take the Hopper's advice, and asked him to lead +the way. This he did in a series of hops, and he moved so swiftly in +this strange manner that those with two legs had to run to keep up with +him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Two" id="Chapter_Twenty_Two" />Chapter Twenty-Two</h2> + +<h3>The Joking Horners</h3> + + +<p>It was not long before they left the passage and came to a great cave, +so high that it must have reached nearly to the top of the mountain +within which it lay. It was a magnificent cave, illumined by the soft, +invisible light, so that everything in it could be plainly seen. The +walls were of polished marble, white with veins of delicate colors +running through it, and the roof was arched and fantastic and beautiful.</p> + +<p>Built beneath this vast dome was a pretty village—not very large, for +there seemed not more than fifty houses altogether—and the dwellings +were of marble and artistically designed. No grass nor flowers nor trees +grew in this cave, so the yards surrounding the houses carved in designs +both were smooth and bare and had low walls around them to mark their +boundaries.</p> + +<p>In the streets and the yards of the houses were many people all having +one leg growing below their bodies and all hopping here and there +whenever they moved. Even the children stood firmly upon their single +legs and never lost their balance.</p> + +<p>"All hail, Champion!" cried a man in the first group of Hoppers they +met; "whom have you captured?"</p> + +<p>"No one," replied the Champion in a gloomy voice; "these strangers have +captured me."</p> + +<p>"Then," said another, "we will rescue you, and capture them, for we are +greater in number."</p> + +<p>"No," answered the Champion, "I can't allow it. I've surrendered, and it +isn't polite to capture those you've surrendered to."</p> + +<p>"Never mind that," said Dorothy. "We will give you your liberty and set +you free."</p> + +<p>"Really?" asked the Champion in joyous tones.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the little girl; "your people may need you to help conquer +the Horners."</p> + +<p>At this all the Hoppers looked downcast and sad. Several more had joined +the group by this time and quite a crowd of curious men, women and +children surrounded the strangers.</p> + +<p>"This war with our neighbors is a terrible thing," remarked one of the +women. "Some one is almost sure to get hurt."</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that, madam?" inquired the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"Because the horns of our enemies are sharp, and in battle they will try +to stick those horns into our warriors," she replied.</p> + +<p>"How many horns do the Horners have?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Each has one horn in the center of his forehead," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, then they're unicorns," declared the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"No; they're Horners. We never go to war with them if we can help it, on +account of their dangerous horns; but this insult was so great and so +unprovoked that our brave men decided to fight, in order to be +revenged," said the woman.</p> + +<p>"What weapons do you fight with?" the Scarecrow asked.</p> + +<p>"We have no weapons," explained the Champion. "Whenever we fight the +Horners, our plan is to push them back, for our arms are longer than +theirs."</p> + +<p>"Then you are better armed," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but they have those terrible horns, and unless we are careful they +prick us with the points," returned the Champion with a shudder. "That +makes a war with them dangerous, and a dangerous war cannot be a +pleasant one."</p> + +<p>"I see very clearly," remarked the Scarecrow, "that you are going to +have trouble in conquering those Horners—unless we help you."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried the Hoppers in a chorus; "can you help us? Please do! We +will be greatly obliged! It would please us very much!" and by these +exclamations the Scarecrow knew that his speech had met with favor.</p> + +<p>"How far is it to the Horner Country?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's just the other side of the fence," they answered, and the +Champion added:</p> + +<p>"Come with me, please, and I'll show you the Horners."</p> + +<p>So they followed the Champion and several others through the streets and +just beyond the village came to a very high picket fence, built all of +marble, which seemed to divide the great cave into two equal parts.</p> + +<p>But the part inhabited by the Horners was in no way as grand in +appearance as that of the Hoppers. Instead of being marble, the walls +and roof were of dull gray rock and the square houses were plainly made +of the same material. But in extent the city was much larger than that +of the Hoppers and the streets were thronged with numerous people who +busied themselves in various ways.</p> + +<p>Looking through the open pickets of the fence our friends watched the +Horners, who did not know they were being watched by strangers, and +found them very unusual in appearance. They were little folks in size +and had bodies round as balls and short legs and arms. Their heads were +round, too, and they had long, pointed ears and a horn set in the center +of the forehead. The horns did not seem very terrible, for they were not +more than six inches long; but they were ivory white and sharp pointed, +and no wonder the Hoppers feared them.</p> + +<p>The skins of the Horners were light brown, but they wore snow-white +robes and were bare-footed. Dorothy thought the most striking thing +about them was their hair, which grew in three distinct colors on each +and every head—red, yellow and green. The red was at the bottom and +sometimes hung over their eyes; then came a broad circle of yellow and +the green was at the top and formed a brush-shaped top-knot.</p> + +<p>None of the Horners was yet aware of the presence of strangers, who +watched the little brown people for a time and then went to the big gate +in the center of the dividing fence. It was locked on both sides and +over the latch was a sign reading:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"WAR IS DECLARED"</p> + + +<p>"Can't we go through?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Not now," answered the Champion.</p> + +<p>"I think," said the Scarecrow, "that if I could talk with those Horners +they would apologize to you, and then there would be no need to fight."</p> + +<p>"Can't you talk from this side?" asked the Champion.</p> + +<p>"Not so well," replied the Scarecrow. "Do you suppose you could throw me +over that fence? It is high, but I am very light."</p> + +<p>"We can try it," said the Hopper. "I am perhaps the strongest man in my +country, so I'll undertake to do the throwing. But I won't promise you +will land on your feet."</p> + +<p>"No matter about that," returned the Scarecrow. "Just toss me over and +I'll be satisfied."</p> + +<p>So the Champion picked up the Scarecrow and balanced him a moment, to +see how much he weighed, and then with all his strength tossed him high +into the air.</p> + +<p>Perhaps if the Scarecrow had been a trifle heavier he would have been +easier to throw and would have gone a greater distance; but, as it was, +instead of going over the fence he landed just on top of it, and one of +the sharp pickets caught him in the middle of his back and held him fast +prisoner. Had he been face downward the Scarecrow might have managed to +free himself, but lying on his back on the picket his hands waved in the +air of the Horner Country while his feet kicked the air of the Hopper +Country; so there he was.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt?" called the Patchwork Girl anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Course not," said Dorothy. "But if he wiggles that way he may tear his +clothes. How can we get him down, Mr. Champion?"</p> + +<p>The Champion shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he confessed. "If he could scare Horners as well as he +does crows, it might be a good idea to leave him there."</p> + +<p>"This is terrible," said Ojo, almost ready to cry. "I s'pose it's +because I am Ojo the Unlucky that everyone who tries to help me gets +into trouble."</p> + +<p>"You are lucky to have anyone to help you," declared Dorothy. "But don't +worry. We'll rescue the Scarecrow somehow."</p> + +<p>"I know how," announced Scraps. "Here, Mr. Champion; just throw me up to +the Scarecrow. I'm nearly as light as he is, and when I'm on top the +fence I'll pull our friend off the picket and toss him down to you."</p> + +<p>"All right," said the Champion, and he picked up the Patchwork Girl and +threw her in the same manner he had the Scarecrow. He must have used +more strength this time, however, for Scraps sailed far over the top of +the fence and, without being able to grab the Scarecrow at all, tumbled +to the ground in the Horner Country, where her stuffed body knocked over +two men and a woman and made a crowd that had collected there run like +rabbits to get away from her.</p> + +<p>Seeing the next moment that she was harmless, the people slowly returned +and gathered around the Patchwork Girl, regarding her with astonishment. +One of them wore a jeweled star in his hair, just above his horn, and +this seemed a person of importance. He spoke for the rest of his people, +who treated him with great respect.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, Unknown Being?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Scraps," she said, rising to her feet and patting her cotton wadding +smooth where it had bunched up.</p> + +<p>"And where did you come from?" he continued.</p> + +<p>"Over the fence. Don't be silly. There's no other place I could have +come from," she replied.</p> + +<p>He looked at her thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"You are not a Hopper," said he, "for you have two legs. They're not +very well shaped, but they are two in number. And that strange creature +on top the fence—why doesn't he stop kicking?—must be your brother, or +father, or son, for he also has two legs."</p> + +<p>"You must have been to visit the Wise Donkey," said Scraps, laughing so +merrily that the crowd smiled with her, in sympathy. "But that reminds +me, Captain—or King—"</p> + +<p>"I am Chief of the Horners, and my name is Jak."</p> + +<p>"Of course; Little Jack Horner; I might have known it. But the reason I +volplaned over the fence was so I could have a talk with you about the +Hoppers."</p> + +<p>"What about the Hoppers?" asked the Chief, frowning.</p> + +<p>"You've insulted them, and you'd better beg their pardon," said Scraps. +"If you don't, they'll probably hop over here and conquer you."</p> + +<p>"We're not afraid—as long as the gate is locked," declared the Chief. +"And we didn't insult them at all. One of us made a joke that the stupid +Hoppers couldn't see."</p> + +<p>The Chief smiled as he said this and the smile made his face look quite +jolly.</p> + +<p>"What was the joke?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"A Horner said they have less understanding than we, because they've +only one leg. Ha, ha! You see the point, don't you? If you stand on your +legs, and your legs are under you, then—ha, ha, ha!—then your legs are +your under-standing. Hee, hee, hee! Ho, ho! My, but that's a fine joke. +And the stupid Hoppers couldn't see it! They couldn't see that with only +one leg they must have less under-standing than we who have two legs. +Ha, ha, ha! Hee, hee! Ho, ho!" The Chief wiped the tears of laughter +from his eyes with the bottom hem of his white robe, and all the other +Horners wiped their eyes on their robes, for they had laughed just as +heartily as their Chief at the absurd joke.</p> + +<p>"Then," said Scraps, "their understanding of the understanding you meant +led to the misunderstanding."</p> + +<p>"Exactly; and so there's no need for us to apologize," returned the +Chief.</p> + +<p>"No need for an apology, perhaps, but much need for an explanation," +said Scraps decidedly. "You don't want war, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Not if we can help it," admitted Jak Horner. "The question is, who's +going to explain the joke to the Horners? You know it spoils any joke to +be obliged to explain it, and this is the best joke I ever heard."</p> + +<p>"Who made the joke?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Diksey Horner. He is working in the mines, just now, but he'll be home +before long. Suppose we wait and talk with him about it? Maybe he'll be +willing to explain his joke to the Hoppers."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Scraps. "I'll wait, if Diksey isn't too long."</p> + +<p>"No, he's short; he's shorter than I am. Ha, ha, ha! Say! that's a +better joke than Diksey's. He won't be too long, because he's short. +Hee, hee, ho!"</p> + +<p>The other Horners who were standing by roared with laughter and seemed +to like their Chief's joke as much as he did. Scraps thought it was odd +that they could be so easily amused, but decided there could be little +harm in people who laughed so merrily.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Three" id="Chapter_Twenty_Three" />Chapter Twenty-Three</h2> + +<h3>Peace Is Declared</h3> + + +<p>"Come with me to my dwelling and I'll introduce you to my daughters," +said the Chief. "We're bringing them up according to a book of rules +that was written by one of our leading old bachelors, and everyone says +they're a remarkable lot of girls."</p> + +<p>So Scraps accompanied him along the street to a house that seemed on the +outside exceptionally grimy and dingy. The streets of this city were not +paved nor had any attempt been made to beautify the houses or their +surroundings, and having noticed this condition Scraps was astonished +when the Chief ushered her into his home.</p> + +<p>Here was nothing grimy or faded, indeed. On the contrary, the room was +of dazzling brilliance and beauty, for it was lined throughout with an +exquisite metal that resembled translucent frosted silver. The surface +of this metal was highly ornamented in raised designs representing men, +animals, flowers and trees, and from the metal itself was radiated the +soft light which flooded the room. All the furniture was made of the +same glorious metal, and Scraps asked what it was.</p> + +<p>"That's radium," answered the Chief. "We Horners spend all our time +digging radium from the mines under this mountain, and we use it to +decorate our homes and make them pretty and cosy. It is a medicine, too, +and no one can ever be sick who lives near radium."</p> + +<p>"Have you plenty of it?" asked the Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>"More than we can use. All the houses in this city are decorated with +it, just the same as mine is."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you use it on your streets, then, and the outside of your +houses, to make them as pretty as they are within?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>"Outside? Who cares for the outside of anything?" asked the Chief. "We +Horners don't live on the outside of our homes; we live inside. Many +people are like those stupid Hoppers, who love to make an outside show. +I suppose you strangers thought their city more beautiful than ours, +because you judged from appearances and they have handsome marble houses +and marble streets; but if you entered one of their stiff dwellings you +would find it bare and uncomfortable, as all their show is on the +outside. They have an idea that what is not seen by others is not +important, but with us the rooms we live in are our chief delight and +care, and we pay no attention to outside show."</p> + +<p>"Seems to me," said Scraps, musingly, "it would be better to make it all +pretty—inside and out."</p> + +<p>"Seems? Why, you're all seams, my girl!" said the Chief; and then he +laughed heartily at his latest joke and a chorus of small voices echoed +the chorus with "tee-hee-hee! ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>Scraps turned around and found a row of girls seated in radium chairs +ranged along one wall of the room. There were nineteen of them, by +actual count, and they were of all sizes from a tiny child to one almost +a grown woman. All were neatly dressed in spotless white robes and had +brown skins, horns on their foreheads and three-colored hair.</p> + +<p>"These," said the Chief, "are my sweet daughters. My dears, I introduce +to you Miss Scraps Patchwork, a lady who is traveling in foreign parts +to increase her store of wisdom."</p> + +<p>The nineteen Horner girls all arose and made a polite curtsey, after +which they resumed their seats and rearranged their robes properly.</p> + +<p>"Why do they sit so still, and all in a row?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Because it is ladylike and proper," replied the Chief.</p> + +<p>"But some are just children, poor things! Don't they ever run around and +play and laugh, and have a good time?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," said the Chief. "That would he improper in young ladies, +as well as in those who will sometime become young ladies. My daughters +are being brought up according to the rules and regulations laid down by +a leading bachelor who has given the subject much study and is himself a +man of taste and culture. Politeness is his great hobby, and he claims +that if a child is allowed to do an impolite thing one cannot expect the +grown person to do anything better."</p> + +<p>"Is it impolite to romp and shout and be jolly?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't," replied the Horner, +after considering the question. "By curbing such inclinations in my +daughters we keep on the safe side. Once in a while I make a good joke, +as you have heard, and then I permit my daughters to laugh decorously; +but they are never allowed to make a joke themselves."</p> + +<p>"That old bachelor who made the rules ought to be skinned alive!" +declared Scraps, and would have said more on the subject had not the +door opened to admit a little Horner man whom the Chief introduced as +Diksey.</p> + +<p>"What's up, Chief?" asked Diksey, winking nineteen times at the nineteen +girls, who demurely cast down their eyes because their father was +looking.</p> + +<p>The Chief told the man that his joke had not been understood by the dull +Hoppers, who had become so angry that they had declared war. So the only +way to avoid a terrible battle was to explain the joke so they could +understand it.</p> + +<p>"All right," replied Diksey, who seemed a good-natured man; "I'll go at +once to the fence and explain. I don't want any war with the Hoppers, +for wars between nations always cause hard feelings."</p> + +<p>So the Chief and Diksey and Scraps left the house and went back to the +marble picket fence. The Scarecrow was still stuck on the top of his +picket but had now ceased to struggle. On the other side of the fence +were Dorothy and Ojo, looking between the pickets; and there, also, were +the Champion and many other Hoppers.</p> + +<p>Diksey went close to the fence and said:</p> + +<p>"My good Hoppers, I wish to explain that what I said about you was a +joke. You have but one leg each, and we have two legs each. Our legs are +under us, whether one or two, and we stand on them. So, when I said you +had less understanding than we, I did not mean that you had less +understanding, you understand, but that you had less standundering, so +to speak. Do you understand that?"</p> + +<p>The Hoppers thought it over carefully. Then one said:</p> + +<p>"That is clear enough; but where does the joke come in?'"</p> + +<p>Dorothy laughed, for she couldn't help it, although all the others were +solemn enough.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you where the joke comes in," she said, and took the Hoppers +away to a distance, where the Horners could not hear them. "You know," +she then explained, "those neighbors of yours are not very bright, poor +things, and what they think is a joke isn't a joke at all—it's true, +don't you see?"</p> + +<p>"True that we have less understanding?" asked the Champion.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it's true because you don't understand such a poor joke; if you +did, you'd be no wiser than they are."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes; of course," they answered, looking very wise.</p> + +<p>"So I'll tell you what to do," continued Dorothy. "Laugh at their poor +joke and tell 'em it's pretty good for a Horner. Then they won't dare +say you have less understanding, because you understand as much as they +do."</p> + +<p>The Hoppers looked at one another questioningly and blinked their eyes +and tried to think what it all meant; but they couldn't figure it out.</p> + +<p>"What do you think, Champion?" asked one of them.</p> + +<p>"I think it is dangerous to think of this thing any more than we can +help," he replied. "Let us do as this girl says and laugh with the +Horners, so as to make them believe we see the joke. Then there will be +peace again and no need to fight."</p> + +<p>They readily agreed to this and returned to the fence laughing as loud +and as hard as they could, although they didn't feel like laughing a +bit. The Horners were much surprised.</p> + +<p>"That's a fine joke—for a Horner—and we are much pleased with it," +said the Champion, speaking between the pickets. "But please don't do it +again."</p> + +<p>"I won't," promised Diksey. "If I think of another such joke I'll try to +forget it."</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried the Chief Horner. "The war is over and peace is declared."</p> + +<p>There was much joyful shouting on both sides of the fence and the gate +was unlocked and thrown wide open, so that Scraps was able to rejoin her +friends.</p> + +<p>"What about the Scarecrow?" she asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"We must get him down, somehow or other," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the Horners can find a way," suggested Ojo. So they all went +through the gate and Dorothy asked the Chief Horner how they could get +the Scarecrow off the fence. The Chief didn't know how, but Diksey said:</p> + +<p>"A ladder's the thing."</p> + +<p>"Have you one?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"To be sure. We use ladders in our mines," said he. Then he ran away to +get the ladder, and while he was gone the Horners gathered around and +welcomed the strangers to their country, for through them a great war +had been avoided.</p> + +<p>In a little while Diksey came back with a tall ladder which he placed +against the fence. Ojo at once climbed to the top of the ladder and +Dorothy went about halfway up and Scraps stood at the foot of it. Toto +ran around it and barked. Then Ojo pulled the Scarecrow away from the +picket and passed him down to Dorothy, who in turn lowered him to the +Patchwork Girl.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was on his feet and standing on solid ground the Scarecrow +said:</p> + +<p>"Much obliged. I feel much better. I'm not stuck on that picket any +more."</p> + +<p>The Horners began to laugh, thinking this was a joke, but the Scarecrow +shook himself and patted his straw a little and said to Dorothy: "Is +there much of a hole in my back?"</p> + +<p>The little girl examined him carefully.</p> + +<p>"There's quite a hole," she said. "But I've got a needle and thread in +the knapsack and I'll sew you up again."</p> + +<p>"Do so," he begged earnestly, and again the Hoppers laughed, to the +Scarecrow's great annoyance.</p> + +<p>While Dorothy was sewing up the hole in the straw man's back Scraps +examined the other parts of him.</p> + +<p>"One of his legs is ripped, too!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Oho!" cried little Diksey; "that's bad. Give him the needle and thread +and let him mend his ways."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the Chief, and the other Horners at once roared +with laughter.</p> + +<p>"What's funny?" inquired the Scarecrow sternly.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see?" asked Diksey, who had laughed even harder than the +others. "That's a joke. It's by odds the best joke I ever made. You walk +with your legs, and so that's the way you walk, and your legs are the +ways. See? So, when you mend your legs, you mend your ways. Ho, ho, ho! +hee, hee! I'd no idea I could make such a fine joke!"</p> + +<p>"Just wonderful!" echoed the Chief. "How do you manage to do it, +Diksey?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Diksey modestly. "Perhaps it's the radium, but I +rather think it's my splendid intellect."</p> + +<p>"If you don't quit it," the Scarecrow told him, "there'll be a worse war +than the one you've escaped from."</p> + +<p>Ojo had been deep in thought, and now he asked the Chief: "Is there a +dark well in any part of your country?"</p> + +<p>"A dark well? None that ever I heard of," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Diksey, who overheard the boy's question. "There's a +very dark well down in my radium mine."</p> + +<p>"Is there any water in it?" Ojo eagerly asked.</p> + +<p>"Can't say; I've never looked to see. But we can find out."</p> + +<p>So, as soon as the Scarecrow was mended, they decided to go with Diksey +to the mine. When Dorothy had patted the straw man into shape again he +declared he felt as good as new and equal to further adventures.</p> + +<p>"Still," said he, "I prefer not to do picket duty again. High life +doesn't seem to agree with my constitution." And then they hurried away +to escape the laughter of the Horners, who thought this was another +joke.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Four" id="Chapter_Twenty_Four" />Chapter Twenty-Four</h2> + +<h3>Ojo Finds the Dark Well</h3> + + +<p>They now followed Diksey to the farther end of the great cave, beyond +the Horner city, where there were several round, dark holes leading into +the ground in a slanting direction. Diksey went to one of these holes +and said:</p> + +<p>"Here is the mine in which lies the dark well you are seeking. Follow me +and step carefully and I'll lead you to the place."</p> + +<p>He went in first and after him came Ojo, and then Dorothy, with the +Scarecrow behind her. The Patchwork Girl entered last of all, for Toto +kept close beside his little mistress.</p> + +<p>A few steps beyond the mouth of the opening it was pitch dark. "You +won't lose your way, though," said the Horner, "for there's only one way +to go. The mine's mine and I know every step of the way. How's that for +a joke, eh? The mine's mine." Then he chuckled gleefully as they +followed him silently down the steep slant. The hole was just big enough +to permit them to walk upright, although the Scarecrow, being much the +taller of the party, often had to bend his head to keep from hitting the +top.</p> + +<p>The floor of the tunnel was difficult to walk upon because it had been +worn smooth as glass, and pretty soon Scraps, who was some distance +behind the others, slipped and fell head foremost. At once she began to +slide downward, so swiftly that when she came to the Scarecrow she +knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling against Dorothy, who +tripped up Ojo. The boy fell against the Horner, so that all went +tumbling down the slide in a regular mix-up, unable to see where they +were going because of the darkness.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, when they reached the bottom the Scarecrow and Scraps were +in front, and the others bumped against them, so that no one was hurt. +They found themselves in a vast cave which was dimly lighted by the tiny +grains of radium that lay scattered among the loose rocks.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Diksey, when they had all regained their feet, "I will show +you where the dark well is. This is a big place, but if we hold fast to +each other we won't get lost."</p> + +<p>They took hold of hands and the Horner led them into a dark corner, +where he halted.</p> + +<p>"Be careful," said he warningly. "The well is at your feet."</p> + +<p>"All right," replied Ojo, and kneeling down he felt in the well with his +hand and found that it contained a quantity of water. "Where's the gold +flask, Dorothy?" he asked, and the little girl handed him the flask, +which she had brought with her.</p> + +<p>Ojo knelt again and by feeling carefully in the dark managed to fill the +flask with the unseen water that was in the well. Then he screwed the +top of the flask firmly in place and put the precious water in his +pocket.</p> + +<p>"All right!" he said again, in a glad voice; "now we can go back."</p> + +<p>They returned to the mouth of the tunnel and began to creep cautiously +up the incline. This time they made Scraps stay behind, for fear she +would slip again; but they all managed to get up in safety and the +Munchkin boy was very happy when he stood in the Horner city and +realized that the water from the dark well, which he and his friends had +traveled so far to secure, was safe in his jacket pocket.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Five" id="Chapter_Twenty_Five" />Chapter Twenty-Five</h2> + +<h3>They Bribe the Lazy Quadling</h3> + + +<p>"Now," said Dorothy, as they stood on the mountain path, having left +behind them the cave in which dwelt the Hoppers and the Horners, "I +think we must find a road into the Country of the Winkies, for there is +where Ojo wants to go next."</p> + +<p>"Is there such a road?" asked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she replied. "I s'pose we can go back the way we came, +to Jack Pumpkinhead's house, and then turn into the Winkie Country; but +that seems like running 'round a haystack, doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Scarecrow. "What is the next thing Ojo must get?"</p> + +<p>"A yellow butterfly," answered the boy.</p> + +<p>"That means the Winkie Country, all right, for it's the yellow country +of Oz," remarked Dorothy. "I think, Scarecrow, we ought to take him to +the Tin Woodman, for he's the Emp'ror of the Winkies and will help us to +find what Ojo wants."</p> + +<p>"Of course," replied the Scarecrow, brightening at the suggestion. "The +Tin Woodman will do anything we ask him, for he's one of my dearest +friends. I believe we can take a crosscut into his country and so get to +his castle a day sooner than if we travel back the way we came."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," said the girl; "and that means we must keep to the +left."</p> + +<p>They were obliged to go down the mountain before they found any path +that led in the direction they wanted to go, but among the tumbled rocks +at the foot of the mountain was a faint trail which they decided to +follow. Two or three hours walk along this trail brought them to a +clear, level country, where there were a few farms and some scattered +houses. But they knew they were still in the Country of the Quadlings, +because everything had a bright red color. Not that the trees and +grasses were red, but the fences and houses were painted that color and +all the wild-flowers that bloomed by the wayside had red blossoms. This +part of the Quadling Country seemed peaceful and prosperous, if rather +lonely, and the road was more distinct and easier to follow.</p> + +<p>But just as they were congratulating themselves upon the progress they +had made they came upon a broad river which swept along between high +banks, and here the road ended and there was no bridge of any sort to +allow them to cross.</p> + +<p>"This is queer," mused Dorothy, looking at the water reflectively. "Why +should there be any road, if the river stops everyone walking along it?"</p> + +<p>"Wow!" said Toto, gazing earnestly into her face.</p> + +<p>"That's the best answer you'll get," declared the Scarecrow, with his +comical smile, "for no one knows any more than Toto about this road."</p> + +<p>Said Scraps:</p> + + +<p class="poem">"Ev'ry time I see a river,<br /> +I have chills that make me shiver,<br /> +For I never can forget<br /> +All the water's very wet.<br /> +If my patches get a soak<br /> +It will be a sorry joke;<br /> +So to swim I'll never try<br /> +Till I find the water dry."</p> + + +<p>"Try to control yourself, Scraps," said Ojo; "you're getting crazy +again. No one intends to swim that river."</p> + +<p>"No," decided Dorothy, "we couldn't swim it if we tried. It's too big a +river, and the water moves awful fast."</p> + +<p>"There ought to be a ferryman with a boat," said the Scarecrow; "but I +don't see any."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't we make a raft?" suggested Ojo.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to make one of," answered Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" said Toto again, and Dorothy saw he was looking along the bank of +the river.</p> + +<p>"Why, he sees a house over there!" cried the little girl. "I wonder we +didn't notice it ourselves. Let's go and ask the people how to get +'cross the river."</p> + +<p>A quarter of a mile along the bank stood a small, round house, painted +bright red, and as it was on their side of the river they hurried toward +it. A chubby little man, dressed all in red, came out to greet them, and +with him were two children, also in red costumes. The man's eyes were +big and staring as he examined the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl, and +the children shyly hid behind him and peeked timidly at Toto.</p> + +<p>"Do you live here, my good man?" asked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"I think I do, Most Mighty Magician," replied the Quadling, bowing low; +"but whether I'm awake or dreaming I can't be positive, so I'm not sure +where I live. If you'll kindly pinch me I'll find out all about it!"</p> + +<p>"You're awake," said Dorothy, "and this is no magician, but just the +Scarecrow."</p> + +<p>"But he's alive," protested the man, "and he oughtn't to be, you know. +And that other dreadful person—the girl who is all patches—seems to be +alive, too."</p> + +<p>"Very much so," declared Scraps, making a face at him. "But that isn't +your affair, you know."</p> + +<p>"I've a right to be surprised, haven't I?" asked the man meekly.</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure; but anyhow you've no right to say I'm dreadful. The +Scarecrow, who is a gentleman of great wisdom, thinks I'm beautiful," +retorted Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Never mind all that," said Dorothy. "Tell us, good Quadling, how we can +get across the river."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied the Quadling.</p> + +<p>"Don't you ever cross it?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>"Don't travelers cross it?"</p> + +<p>"Not to my knowledge," said he.</p> + +<p>They were much surprised to hear this, and the man added: "It's a pretty +big river, and the current is strong. I know a man who lives on the +opposite bank, for I've seen him there a good many years; but we've +never spoken because neither of us has ever crossed over."</p> + +<p>"That's queer," said the Scarecrow. "Don't you own a boat?"</p> + +<p>The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Nor a raft?"</p> + +<p>"Where does this river go to?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"That way," answered the man, pointing with one hand, "it goes into the +Country of the Winkies, which is ruled by the Tin Emperor, who must be a +mighty magician because he's all made of tin, and yet he's alive. And +that way," pointing with the other hand, "the river runs between two +mountains where dangerous people dwell."</p> + +<p>The Scarecrow looked at the water before them.</p> + +<p>"The current flows toward the Winkie Country," said he; "and so, if we +had a boat, or a raft, the river would float us there more quickly and +more easily than we could walk."</p> + +<p>"That is true," agreed Dorothy; and then they all looked thoughtful and +wondered what could be done.</p> + +<p>"Why can't the man make us a raft?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Will you?" inquired Dorothy, turning to the Quadling.</p> + +<p>The chubby man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I'm too lazy," he said. "My wife says I'm the laziest man in all Oz, +and she is a truthful woman. I hate work of any kind, and making a raft +is hard work."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you my em'rald ring," promised the girl.</p> + +<p>"No; I don't care for emeralds. If it were a ruby, which is the color I +like best, I might work a little while."</p> + +<p>"I've got some Square Meal Tablets," said the Scarecrow. "Each one is +the same as a dish of soup, a fried fish, a mutton pot-pie, lobster +salad, charlotte russe and lemon jelly—all made into one little tablet +that you can swallow without trouble."</p> + +<p>"Without trouble!" exclaimed the Quadling, much interested; "then those +tablets would be fine for a lazy man. It's such hard work to chew when +you eat."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you six of those tablets if you'll help us make a raft," +promised the Scarecrow. "They're a combination of food which people who +eat are very fond of. I never eat, you know, being straw; but some of my +friends eat regularly. What do you say to my offer, Quadling?"</p> + +<p>"I'll do it," decided the man. "I'll help, and you can do most of the +work. But my wife has gone fishing for red eels to-day, so some of you +will have to mind the children."</p> + +<p>Scraps promised to do that, and the children were not so shy when the +Patchwork Girl sat down to play with them. They grew to like Toto, too, +and the little dog allowed them to pat him on his head, which gave the +little ones much joy.</p> + +<p>There were a number of fallen trees near the house and the Quadling got +his axe and chopped them into logs of equal length. He took his wife's +clothesline to bind these logs together, so that they would form a raft, +and Ojo found some strips of wood and nailed them along the tops of the +logs, to render them more firm. The Scarecrow and Dorothy helped roll +the logs together and carry the strips of wood, but it took so long to +make the raft that evening came just as it was finished, and with +evening the Quadling's wife returned from her fishing.</p> + +<p>The woman proved to be cross and bad-tempered, perhaps because she had +only caught one red eel during all the day. When she found that her +husband had used her clothesline, and the logs she had wanted for +firewood, and the boards she had intended to mend the shed with, and a +lot of gold nails, she became very angry. Scraps wanted to shake the +woman, to make her behave, but Dorothy talked to her in a gentle tone +and told the Quadling's wife she was a Princess of Oz and a friend of +Ozma and that when she got back to the Emerald City she would send them +a lot of things to repay them for the raft, including a new clothesline. +This promise pleased the woman and she soon became more pleasant, saying +they could stay the night at her house and begin their voyage on the +river next morning.</p> + +<p>This they did, spending a pleasant evening with the Quadling family and +being entertained with such hospitality as the poor people were able to +offer them. The man groaned a good deal and said he had overworked +himself by chopping the logs, but the Scarecrow gave him two more +tablets than he had promised, which seemed to comfort the lazy fellow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Six" id="Chapter_Twenty_Six" />Chapter Twenty-Six</h2> + +<h3>The Trick River</h3> + + +<p>Next morning they pushed the raft into the water and all got aboard. The +Quadling man had to hold the log craft fast while they took their +places, and the flow of the river was so powerful that it nearly tore +the raft from his hands. As soon as they were all seated upon the logs +he let go and away it floated and the adventurers had begun their voyage +toward the Winkie Country.</p> + +<p>The little house of the Quadlings was out of sight almost before they +had cried their good-byes, and the Scarecrow said in a pleased voice: +"It won't take us long to get to the Winkie Country, at this rate."</p> + +<p>They had floated several miles down the stream and were enjoying the +ride when suddenly the raft slowed up, stopped short, and then began to +float back the way it had come.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's wrong?" asked Dorothy, in astonishment; but they were all +just as bewildered as she was and at first no one could answer the +question. Soon, however, they realized the truth: that the current of +the river had reversed and the water was now flowing in the opposite +direction—toward the mountains.</p> + +<p>They began to recognize the scenes they had passed, and by and by they +came in sight of the little house of the Quadlings again. The man was +standing on the river bank and he called to them:</p> + +<p>"How do you do? Glad to see you again. I forgot to tell you that the +river changes its direction every little while. Sometimes it flows one +way, and sometimes the other."</p> + +<p>They had no time to answer him, for the raft was swept past the house +and a long distance on the other side of it.</p> + +<p>"We're going just the way we don't want to go," said Dorothy, "and I +guess the best thing we can do is to get to land before we're carried +any farther."</p> + +<p>But they could not get to land. They had no oars, nor even a pole to +guide the raft with. The logs which bore them floated in the middle of +the stream and were held fast in that position by the strong current.</p> + +<p>So they sat still and waited and, even while they were wondering what +could be done, the raft slowed down, stopped, and began drifting the +other way—in the direction it had first followed. After a time they +repassed the Quadling house and the man was still standing on the bank. +He cried out to them:</p> + +<p>"Good day! Glad to see you again. I expect I shall see you a good many +times, as you go by, unless you happen to swim ashore."</p> + +<p>By that time they had left him behind and were headed once more straight +toward the Winkie Country.</p> + +<p>"This is pretty hard luck," said Ojo in a discouraged voice. "The Trick +River keeps changing, it seems, and here we must float back and forward +forever, unless we manage in some way to get ashore."</p> + +<p>"Can you swim?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"No; I'm Ojo the Unlucky."</p> + +<p>"Neither can I. Toto can swim a little, but that won't help us to get to +shore."</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether I could swim, or not," remarked Scraps; "but if I +tried it I'd surely ruin my lovely patches."</p> + +<p>"My straw would get soggy in the water and I would sink," said the +Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>So there seemed no way out of their dilemma and being helpless they +simply sat still. Ojo, who was on the front of the raft, looked over +into the water and thought he saw some large fishes swimming about. He +found a loose end of the clothesline which fastened the logs together, +and taking a gold nail from his pocket he bent it nearly double, to form +a hook, and tied it to the end of the line. Having baited the hook with +some bread which he broke from his loaf, he dropped the line into the +water and almost instantly it was seized by a great fish.</p> + +<p>They knew it was a great fish, because it pulled so hard on the line +that it dragged the raft forward even faster than the current of the +river had carried it. The fish was frightened, and it was a strong +swimmer. As the other end of the clothesline was bound around the logs +he could not get it away, and as he had greedily swallowed the gold hook +at the first bite he could not get rid of that, either.</p> + +<p>When they reached the place where the current had before changed, the +fish was still swimming ahead in its wild attempt to escape. The raft +slowed down, yet it did not stop, because the fish would not let it. It +continued to move in the same direction it had been going. As the +current reversed and rushed backward on its course it failed to drag the +raft with it. Slowly, inch by inch, they floated on, and the fish tugged +and tugged and kept them going.</p> + +<p>"I hope he won't give up," said Ojo anxiously. "If the fish can hold out +until the current changes again, we'll be all right."</p> + +<p>The fish did not give up, but held the raft bravely on its course, till +at last the water in the river shifted again and floated them the way +they wanted to go. But now the captive fish found its strength failing. +Seeking a refuge, it began to drag the raft toward the shore. As they +did not wish to land in this place the boy cut the rope with his +pocket-knife and set the fish free, just in time to prevent the raft +from grounding.</p> + +<p>The next time the river backed up the Scarecrow managed to seize the +branch of a tree that overhung the water and they all assisted him to +hold fast and prevent the raft from being carried backward. While they +waited here, Ojo spied a long broken branch lying upon the bank, so he +leaped ashore and got it. When he had stripped off the side shoots he +believed he could use the branch as a pole, to guide the raft in case of +emergency.</p> + +<p>They clung to the tree until they found the water flowing the right way, +when they let go and permitted the raft to resume its voyage. In spite +of these pauses they were really making good progress toward the Winkie +Country and having found a way to conquer the adverse current their +spirits rose considerably. They could see little of the country through +which they were passing, because of the high banks, and they met with no +boats or other craft upon the surface of the river.</p> + +<p>Once more the trick river reversed its current, but this time the +Scarecrow was on guard and used the pole to push the raft toward a big +rock which lay in the water. He believed the rock would prevent their +floating backward with the current, and so it did. They clung to this +anchorage until the water resumed its proper direction, when they +allowed the raft to drift on.</p> + +<p>Floating around a bend they saw ahead a high bank of water, extending +across the entire river, and toward this they were being irresistibly +carried. There being no way to arrest the progress of the raft they +clung fast to the logs and let the river sweep them on. Swiftly the raft +climbed the bank of water and slid down on the other side, plunging its +edge deep into the water and drenching them all with spray.</p> + +<p>As again the raft righted and drifted on, Dorothy and Ojo laughed at the +ducking they had received; but Scraps was much dismayed and the +Scarecrow took out his handkerchief and wiped the water off the +Patchwork Girl's patches as well as he was able to. The sun soon dried +her and the colors of her patches proved good, for they did not run +together nor did they fade.</p> + +<p>After passing the wall of water the current did not change or flow +backward any more but continued to sweep them steadily forward. The +banks of the river grew lower, too, permitting them to see more of the +country, and presently they discovered yellow buttercups and dandelions +growing amongst the grass, from which evidence they knew they had +reached the Winkie Country.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think we ought to land?" Dorothy asked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"Pretty soon," he replied. "The Tin Woodman's castle is in the southern +part of the Winkie Country, and so it can't be a great way from here."</p> + +<p>Fearing they might drift too far, Dorothy and Ojo now stood up and +raised the Scarecrow in their arms, as high as they could, thus allowing +him a good view of the country. For a time he saw nothing he recognized, +but finally he cried:</p> + +<p>"There it is! There it is!"</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>"The Tin Woodman's tin castle. I can see its turrets glittering in the +sun. It's quite a way off, but we'd better land as quickly as we can."</p> + +<p>They let him down and began to urge the raft toward the shore by means +of the pole. It obeyed very well, for the current was more sluggish now, +and soon they had reached the bank and landed safely.</p> + +<p>The Winkie Country was really beautiful, and across the fields they +could see afar the silvery sheen of the tin castle. With light hearts +they hurried toward it, being fully rested by their long ride on the +river.</p> + +<p>By and by they began to cross an immense field of splendid yellow +lilies, the delicate fragrance of which was very delightful.</p> + +<p>"How beautiful they are!" cried Dorothy, stopping to admire the +perfection of these exquisite flowers.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Scarecrow, reflectively, "but we must be careful not to +crush or injure any of these lilies."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"The Tin Woodman is very kind-hearted," was the reply, "and he hates to +see any living thing hurt in any way."</p> + +<p>"Are flowers alive?" asked Scraps.</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. And these flowers belong to the Tin Woodman. So, in +order not to offend him, we must not tread on a single blossom."</p> + +<p>"Once," said Dorothy, "the Tin Woodman stepped on a beetle and killed +the little creature. That made him very unhappy and he cried until his +tears rusted his joints, so he couldn't move 'em."</p> + +<p>"What did he do then?" asked Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Put oil on them, until the joints worked smooth again."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed the boy, as if a great discovery had flashed across his +mind. But he did not tell anybody what the discovery was and kept the +idea to himself.</p> + +<p>It was a long walk, but a pleasant one, and they did not mind it a bit. +Late in the afternoon they drew near to the wonderful tin castle of the +Emperor of the Winkies, and Ojo and Scraps, who had never seen it +before, were filled with amazement.</p> + +<p>Tin abounded in the Winkie Country and the Winkies were said to be the +most skillful tinsmiths in all the world. So the Tin Woodman had +employed them in building his magnificent castle, which was all of tin, +from the ground to the tallest turret, and so brightly polished that it +glittered in the sun's rays more gorgeously than silver. Around the +grounds of the castle ran a tin wall, with tin gates; but the gates +stood wide open because the Emperor had no enemies to disturb him.</p> + +<p>When they entered the spacious grounds our travelers found more to +admire. Tin fountains sent sprays of clear water far into the air and +there were many beds of tin flowers, all as perfectly formed as any +natural flowers might be. There were tin trees, too, and here and there +shady bowers of tin, with tin benches and chairs to sit upon. Also, on +the sides of the pathway leading up to the front door of the castle, +were rows of tin statuary, very cleverly executed. Among these Ojo +recognized statues of Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, the +Shaggy Man, Jack Pumpkinhead and Ozma, all standing upon neat pedestals +of tin.</p> + +<p>Toto was well acquainted with the residence of the Tin Woodman and, +being assured a joyful welcome, he ran ahead and barked so loudly at the +front door that the Tin Woodman heard him and came out in person to see +if it were really his old friend Toto. Next moment the tin man had +clasped the Scarecrow in a warm embrace and then turned to hug Dorothy. +But now his eye was arrested by the strange sight of the Patchwork Girl, +and he gazed upon her in mingled wonder and admiration.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Seven" id="Chapter_Twenty_Seven" />Chapter Twenty-Seven</h2> + +<h3>The Tin Woodman Objects</h3> + + +<p>The Tin Woodman was one of the most important personages in all Oz. +Though Emperor of the Winkies, he owed allegiance to Ozma, who ruled all +the land, and the girl and the tin man were warm personal friends. He +was something of a dandy and kept his tin body brilliantly polished and +his tin joints well oiled. Also he was very courteous in manner and so +kind and gentle that everyone loved him. The Emperor greeted Ojo and +Scraps with cordial hospitality and ushered the entire party into his +handsome tin parlor, where all the furniture and pictures were made of +tin. The walls were paneled with tin and from the tin ceiling hung tin +chandeliers.</p> + +<p>The Tin Woodman wanted to know, first of all, where Dorothy had found +the Patchwork Girl, so between them the visitors told the story of how +Scraps was made, as well as the accident to Margolotte and Unc Nunkie +and how Ojo had set out upon a journey to procure the things needed for +the Crooked Magician's magic charm. Then Dorothy told of their +adventures in the Quadling Country and how at last they succeeded in +getting the water from a dark well.</p> + +<p>While the little girl was relating these adventures the Tin Woodman sat +in an easy chair listening with intense interest, while the others sat +grouped around him. Ojo, however, had kept his eyes fixed upon the body +of the tin Emperor, and now he noticed that under the joint of his left +knee a tiny drop of oil was forming. He watched this drop of oil with a +fast-beating heart, and feeling in his pocket brought out a tiny vial of +crystal, which he held secreted in his hand.</p> + +<p>Presently the Tin Woodman changed his position, and at once Ojo, to the +astonishment of all, dropped to the floor and held his crystal vial +under the Emperor's knee joint. Just then the drop of oil fell, and the +boy caught it in his bottle and immediately corked it tight. Then, with +a red face and embarrassed manner, he rose to confront the others.</p> + +<p>"What in the world were you doing?" asked the Tin Woodman.</p> + +<p>"I caught a drop of oil that fell from your knee-joint," confessed Ojo.</p> + +<p>"A drop of oil!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman. "Dear me, how careless my +valet must have been in oiling me this morning. I'm afraid I shall have +to scold the fellow, for I can't be dropping oil wherever I go."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Dorothy. "Ojo seems glad to have the oil, for some +reason."</p> + +<p>"Yes," declared the Munchkin boy, "I am glad. For one of the things the +Crooked Magician sent me to get was a drop of oil from a live man's +body. I had no idea, at first, that there was such a thing; but it's now +safe in the little crystal vial."</p> + +<p>"You are very welcome to it, indeed," said the Tin Woodman. "Have you +now secured all the things you were in search of?"</p> + +<p>"Not quite all," answered Ojo. "There were five things I had to get, and +I have found four of them. I have the three hairs in the tip of a +Woozy's tail, a six-leaved clover, a gill of water from a dark well and +a drop of oil from a live man's body. The last thing is the easiest of +all to get, and I'm sure that my dear Unc Nunkie—and good Margolotte, +as well—will soon be restored to life."</p> + +<p>The Munchkin boy said this with much pride and pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman; "I congratulate you. But what is the +fifth and last thing you need, in order to complete the magic charm?"</p> + +<p>"The left wing of a yellow butterfly," said Ojo. "In this yellow +country, and with your kind assistance, that ought to be very easy to +find."</p> + +<p>The Tin Woodman stared at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Surely you are joking!" he said.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Ojo, much surprised; "I am in earnest."</p> + +<p>"But do you think for a moment that I would permit you, or anyone else, +to pull the left wing from a yellow butterfly?" demanded the Tin Woodman +sternly.</p> + +<p>"Why not, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Why not? You ask me why not? It would be cruel—one of the most cruel +and heartless deeds I ever heard of," asserted the Tin Woodman. "The +butterflies are among the prettiest of all created things, and they are +very sensitive to pain. To tear a wing from one would cause it exquisite +torture and it would soon die in great agony. I would not permit such a +wicked deed under any circumstances!"</p> + +<p>Ojo was astounded at hearing this. Dorothy, too, looked grave and +disconcerted, but she knew in her heart that the Tin Woodman was right. +The Scarecrow nodded his head in approval of his friend's speech, so it +was evident that he agreed with the Emperor's decision. Scraps looked +from one to another in perplexity.</p> + +<p>"Who cares for a butterfly?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't you?" inquired the Tin Woodman.</p> + +<p>"Not the snap of a finger, for I have no heart," said the Patchwork +Girl. "But I want to help Ojo, who is my friend, to rescue the uncle +whom he loves, and I'd kill a dozen useless butterflies to enable him to +do that."</p> + +<p>The Tin Woodman sighed regretfully.</p> + +<p>"You have kind instincts," he said, "and with a heart you would indeed +be a fine creature. I cannot blame you for your heartless remark, as you +cannot understand the feelings of those who possess hearts. I, for +instance, have a very neat and responsive heart which the wonderful +Wizard of Oz once gave me, and so I shall never—never—never permit a +poor yellow butterfly to be tortured by anyone."</p> + +<p>"The yellow country of the Winkies," said Ojo sadly, "is the only place +in Oz where a yellow butterfly can be found."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that," said the Tin Woodman. "As I rule the Winkie Country, +I can protect my butterflies."</p> + +<p>"Unless I get the wing—just one left wing—" said Ojo miserably, "I +can't save Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>"Then he must remain a marble statue forever," declared the Tin Emperor, +firmly.</p> + +<p>Ojo wiped his eyes, for he could not hold back the tears.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what to do," said Scraps. "We'll take a whole yellow +butterfly, alive and well, to the Crooked Magician, and let him pull the +left wing off."</p> + +<p>"No, you won't," said the Tin Woodman. "You can't have one of my dear +little butterflies to treat in that way."</p> + +<p>"Then what in the world shall we do?" asked Dorothy.</p> + +<p>They all became silent and thoughtful. No one spoke for a long time. +Then the Tin Woodman suddenly roused himself and said:</p> + +<p>"We must all go back to the Emerald City and ask Ozma's advice. She's a +wise little girl, our Ruler, and she may find a way to help Ojo save his +Unc Nunkie."</p> + +<p>So the following morning the party started on the journey to the Emerald +City, which they reached in due time without any important adventure. It +was a sad journey for Ojo, for without the wing of the yellow butterfly +he saw no way to save Unc Nunkie—unless he waited six years for the +Crooked Magician to make a new lot of the Powder of Life. The boy was +utterly discouraged, and as he walked along he groaned aloud.</p> + +<p>"Is anything hurting you?" inquired the Tin Woodman in a kindly tone, +for the Emperor was with the party.</p> + +<p>"I'm Ojo the Unlucky," replied the boy. "I might have known I would fail +in anything I tried to do."</p> + +<p>"Why are you Ojo the Unlucky?" asked the tin man.</p> + +<p>"Because I was born on a Friday."</p> + +<p>"Friday is not unlucky," declared the Emperor. "It's just one of seven +days. Do you suppose all the world becomes unlucky one-seventh of the +time?"</p> + +<p>"It was the thirteenth day of the month," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"Thirteen! Ah, that is indeed a lucky number," replied the Tin Woodman. +"All my good luck seems to happen on the thirteenth. I suppose most +people never notice the good luck that comes to them with the number 13, +and yet if the least bit of bad luck falls on that day, they blame it to +the number, and not to the proper cause."</p> + +<p>"Thirteen's my lucky number, too," remarked the Scarecrow.</p> + +<p>"And mine," said Scraps. "I've just thirteen patches on my head."</p> + +<p>"But," continued Ojo, "I'm left-handed."</p> + +<p>"Many of our greatest men are that way," asserted the Emperor. "To be +left-handed is usually to be two-handed; the right-handed people are +usually one-handed."</p> + +<p>"And I've a wart under my right arm," said Ojo.</p> + +<p>"How lucky!" cried the Tin Woodman. "If it were on the end of your nose +it might be unlucky, but under your arm it is luckily out of the way."</p> + +<p>"For all those reasons," said the Munchkin boy, "I have been called Ojo +the Unlucky."</p> + +<p>"Then we must turn over a new leaf and call you henceforth Ojo the +Lucky," declared the tin man. "Every reason you have given is absurd. +But I have noticed that those who continually dread ill luck and fear it +will overtake them, have no time to take advantage of any good fortune +that comes their way. Make up your mind to be Ojo the Lucky."</p> + +<p>"How can I?" asked the boy, "when all my attempts to save my dear uncle +have failed?"</p> + +<p>"Never give up, Ojo," advised Dorothy. "No one ever knows what's going +to happen next."</p> + +<p>Ojo did not reply, but he was so dejected that even their arrival at the +Emerald City failed to interest him.</p> + +<p>The people joyfully cheered the appearance of the Tin Woodman, the +Scarecrow and Dorothy, who were all three general favorites, and on +entering the royal palace word came to them from Ozma that she would at +once grant them an audience.</p> + +<p>Dorothy told the girl Ruler how successful they had been in their quest +until they came to the item of the yellow butterfly, which the Tin +Woodman positively refused to sacrifice to the magic potion.</p> + +<p>"He is quite right," said Ozma, who did not seem a bit surprised. "Had +Ojo told me that one of the things he sought was the wing of a yellow +butterfly I would have informed him, before he started out, that he +could never secure it. Then you would have been saved the troubles and +annoyances of your long journey."</p> + +<p>"I didn't mind the journey at all," said Dorothy; "it was fun."</p> + +<p>"As it has turned out," remarked Ojo, "I can never get the things the +Crooked Magician sent me for; and so, unless I wait the six years for +him to make the Powder of Life, Unc Nunkie cannot be saved."</p> + +<p>Ozma smiled.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Pipt will make no more Powder of Life, I promise you," said she. "I +have sent for him and had him brought to this palace, where he now is, +and his four kettles have been destroyed and his book of recipes burned +up. I have also had brought here the marble statues of your uncle and of +Margolotte, which are standing in the next room."</p> + +<p>They were all greatly astonished at this announcement.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me see Unc Nunkie! Let me see him at once, please!" cried Ojo +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment," replied Ozma, "for I have something more to say. +Nothing that happens in the Land of Oz escapes the notice of our wise +Sorceress, Glinda the Good. She knew all about the magic-making of Dr. +Pipt, and how he had brought the Glass Cat and the Patchwork Girl to +life, and the accident to Unc Nunkie and Margolotte, and of Ojo's quest +and his journey with Dorothy. Glinda also knew that Ojo would fail to +find all the things he sought, so she sent for our Wizard and instructed +him what to do. Something is going to happen in this palace, presently, +and that 'something' will, I am sure, please you all. And now," +continued the girl Ruler, rising from her chair, "you may follow me into +the next room."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty_Eight" id="Chapter_Twenty_Eight" />Chapter Twenty-Eight</h2> + +<h3>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</h3> + + +<p>When Ojo entered the room he ran quickly to the statue of Unc Nunkie and +kissed the marble face affectionately.</p> + +<p>"I did my best, Unc," he said, with a sob, "but it was no use!"</p> + +<p>Then he drew back and looked around the room, and the sight of the +assembled company quite amazed him.</p> + +<p>Aside from the marble statues of Unc Nunkie and Margolotte, the Glass +Cat was there, curled up on a rug; and the Woozy was there, sitting on +its square hind legs and looking on the scene with solemn interest; and +there was the Shaggy Man, in a suit of shaggy pea-green satin, and at a +table sat the little Wizard, looking quite important and as if he knew +much more than he cared to tell.</p> + +<p>Last of all, Dr. Pipt was there, and the Crooked Magician sat humped up +in a chair, seeming very dejected but keeping his eyes fixed on the +lifeless form of his wife Margolotte, whom he fondly loved but whom he +now feared was lost to him forever.</p> + +<p>Ozma took a chair which Jellia Jamb wheeled forward for the Ruler, and +back of her stood the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and Dorothy, as well as +the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger. The Wizard now arose and made a +low bow to Ozma and another less deferent bow to the assembled company.</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen and beasts," he said, "I beg to announce that our +Gracious Ruler has permitted me to obey the commands of the great +Sorceress, Glinda the Good, whose humble Assistant I am proud to be. We +have discovered that the Crooked Magician has been indulging in his +magical arts contrary to Law, and therefore, by Royal Edict, I hereby +deprive him of all power to work magic in the future. He is no longer a +crooked magician, but a simple Munchkin; he is no longer even crooked, +but a man like other men."</p> + +<p>As he pronounced these words the Wizard waved his hand toward Dr. Pipt +and instantly every crooked limb straightened out and became perfect. +The former magician, with a cry of joy, sprang to his feet, looked at +himself in wonder, and then fell back in his chair and watched the +Wizard with fascinated interest.</p> + +<p>"The Glass Cat, which Dr. Pipt lawlessly made," continued the Wizard, +"is a pretty cat, but its pink brains made it so conceited that it was a +disagreeable companion to everyone. So the other day I took away the +pink brains and replaced them with transparent ones, and now the Glass +Cat is so modest and well behaved that Ozma has decided to keep her in +the palace as a pet."</p> + +<p>"I thank you," said the cat, in a soft voice.</p> + +<p>"The Woozy has proved himself a good Woozy and a faithful friend," the +Wizard went on, "so we will send him to the Royal Menagerie, where he +will have good care and plenty to eat all his life."</p> + +<p>"Much obliged," said the Woozy. "That beats being fenced up in a lonely +forest and starved."</p> + +<p>"As for the Patchwork Girl," resumed the Wizard, "she is so remarkable +in appearance, and so clever and good tempered, that our Gracious Ruler +intends to preserve her carefully, as one of the curiosities of the +curious Land of Oz. Scraps may live in the palace, or wherever she +pleases, and be nobody's servant but her own."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Scraps.</p> + +<p>"We have all been interested in Ojo," the little Wizard continued, +"because his love for his unfortunate uncle has led him bravely to face +all sorts of dangers, in order that he might rescue him. The Munchkin +boy has a loyal and generous heart and has done his best to restore Unc +Nunkie to life. He has failed, but there are others more powerful than +the Crooked Magician, and there are more ways than Dr. Pipt knew of to +destroy the charm of the Liquid of Petrifaction. Glinda the Good has +told me of one way, and you shall now learn how great is the knowledge +and power of our peerless Sorceress."</p> + +<p>As he said this the Wizard advanced to the statue of Margolote and made +a magic pass, at the same time muttering a magic word that none could +hear distinctly. At once the woman moved, turned her head wonderingly +this way and that, to note all who stood before her, and seeing Dr. +Pipt, ran forward and threw herself into her husband's outstretched +arms.</p> + +<p>Then the Wizard made the magic pass and spoke the magic word before the +statue of Unc Nunkie. The old Munchkin immediately came to life and with +a low bow to the Wizard said: "Thanks."</p> + +<p>But now Ojo rushed up and threw his arms joyfully about his uncle, and +the old man hugged his little nephew tenderly and stroked his hair and +wiped away the boy's tears with a handkerchief, for Ojo was crying from +pure happiness.</p> + +<p>Ozma came forward to congratulate them.</p> + +<p>"I have given to you, my dear Ojo and Unc Nunkie, a nice house just +outside the walls of the Emerald City," she said, "and there you shall +make your future home and be under my protection."</p> + +<p>"Didn't I say you were Ojo the Lucky?" asked the Tin Woodman, as +everyone crowded around to shake Ojo's hand.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and it is true!" replied Ojo, gratefully.</p> + + +<pre> + +*** End of Project Gutenberg's The Patchwork Girl of Oz, by Baum *** + +</pre> + + +</body> +</html> |