The Lost Princess of Oz
by
L. Frank Baum
Part 3 out of 3
"You have relieved my mind of a great anxiety," declared the Patchwork
Girl, now speaking more cheerfully. "The Scarecrow is stuffed with
straw and you with hair, so I am still the Original and Only
Cotton-Stuffed!"
"I hope I am too polite to criticize cotton as compared with curled
hair," said the King, "especially as you seem satisfied with it."
Then the Frogman told of his interview with the party from the Emerald
City and added that the Wizard of Oz had invited the bears and Cayke
and himself to travel in company with them to the castle of Ugu the
Shoemaker. Cayke was much pleased, but the Bear King looked solemn.
He set the Little Pink Bear on his lap and turned the crank in its
side and asked, "Is it safe for us to associate with those people from
the Emerald City?"
And the Pink Bear at once replied, "Safe for you and safe for me;
Perhaps no others safe will be."
"That 'perhaps' need not worry us," said the King, "so let us join the
others and offer them our protection."
Even the Lavender Bear was astonished, however, when on climbing over
the hill he found on the other side the group of queer animals and the
people from the Emerald City. The bears and Cayke were received very
cordially, although Button-Bright was cross when they wouldn't let him
play with the Little Pink Bear. The three girls greatly admired the
toy bears, and especially the pink one, which they longed to hold.
"You see," explained the Lavender King in denying them this privilege,
"he's a very valuable bear, because his magic is a correct guide on
all occasions, and especially if one is in difficulties. It was the
Pink Bear who told us that Ugu the Shoemaker had stolen the Cookie
Cook's dishpan."
"And the King's magic is just as wonderful," added Cayke, "because it
showed us the Magician himself."
"What did he look like?" inquired Dorothy.
"He was dreadful!"
"He was sitting at a table and examining an immense Book which had
three golden clasps," remarked the King.
"Why, that must have been Glinda's Great Book of Records!" exclaimed
Dorothy. "If it is, it proves that Ugu the Shoemaker stole Ozma, and
with her all the magic in the Emerald City."
"And my dishpan," said Cayke.
And the Wizard added, "It also proves that he is following our
adventures in the Book of Records, and therefore knows that we are
seeking him and that we are determined to find him and reach Ozma at
all hazards."
"If we can," added the Woozy, but everybody frowned at him.
The Wizard's statement was so true that the faces around him were very
serious until the Patchwork Girl broke into a peal of laughter.
"Wouldn't it be a rich joke if he made prisoners of us, too?" she
said.
"No one but a crazy Patchwork Girl would consider that a joke,"
grumbled Button-Bright.
And then the Lavender Bear King asked, "Would you like to see this
magical shoemaker?"
"Wouldn't he know it?" Dorothy inquired.
"No, I think not."
Then the King waved his metal wand and before them appeared a room in
the wicker castle of Ugu. On the wall of the room hung Ozma's Magic
Picture, and seated before it was the Magician. They could see the
Picture as well as he could, because it faced them, and in the Picture
was the hillside where they were not sitting, all their forms being
reproduced in miniature. And curiously enough, within the scene of
the Picture was the scene they were now beholding, so they knew that
the Magician was at this moment watching them in the Picture, and also
that he saw himself and the room he was in become visible to the
people on the hillside. Therefore he knew very well that they were
watching him while he was watching them.
In proof of this, Ugu sprang from his seat and turned a scowling face
in their direction; but now he could not see the travelers who were
seeking him, although they could still see him. His actions were so
distinct, indeed, that it seemed he was actually before them. "It is
only a ghost," said the Bear King. "It isn't real at all except that
it shows us Ugu just as he looks and tells us truly just what he is
doing."
"I don't see anything of my lost growl, though," said Toto as if to
himself.
Then the vision faded away, and they could see nothing but the grass
and trees and bushes around them.
CHAPTER 18
THE CONFERENCE
"Now then," said the Wizard, "let us talk this matter over and decide
what to do when we get to Ugu's wicker castle. There can be no doubt
that the Shoemaker is a powerful Magician, and his powers have been
increased a hundredfold since he secured the Great Book of Records,
the Magic Picture, all of Glinda's recipes for sorcery, and my own
black bag, which was full of tools of wizardry. The man who could rob
us of those things and the man with all their powers at his command is
one who may prove somewhat difficult to conquer, therefore we should
plan our actions well before we venture too near to his castle."
"I didn't see Ozma in the Magic Picture," said Trot.
"What do you suppose Ugu has done with her?"
"Couldn't the Little Pink Bear tell us what he did with Ozma?" asked
Button-Bright.
"To be sure," replied the Lavender King. "I'll ask him." So he
turned the crank in the Little Pink Bear's side and inquired, "Did Ugu
the Shoemaker steal Ozma of Oz?"
"Yes," answered the Little Pink Bear.
"Then what did he do with her?" asked the King.
"Shut her up in a dark place," answered the Little Pink Bear.
"Oh, that must be a dungeon cell!" cried Dorothy, horrified. "How
dreadful!"
"Well, we must get her out of it," said the Wizard.
"That is what we came for, and of course we must rescue Ozma. But how?"
Each one looked at some other one for an answer, and all shook their
heads in a grave and dismal manner. All but Scraps, who danced around
them gleefully. "You're afraid," said the Patchwork Girl, "because so
many things can hurt your meat bodies. Why don't you give it up and
go home? How can you fight a great magician when you have nothing to
fight with?"
Dorothy looked at her reflectively.
"Scraps," said she, "you know that Ugu couldn't hurt you a
bit, whatever he did, nor could he hurt ME, 'cause I wear the
Gnome King's Magic Belt. S'pose just we two go on together
and leave the others here to wait for us."
"No, no!" said the Wizard positively. "That won't do at all. Ozma is
more powerful than either of you, yet she could not defeat the wicked
Ugu, who has shut her up in a dungeon. We must go to the Shoemaker in
one mighty band, for only in union is there strength."
"That is excellent advice," said the Lavender Bear approvingly.
"But what can we do when we get to Ugu?" inquired the Cookie Cook
anxiously.
"Do not expect a prompt answer to that important question," replied
the Wizard, "for we must first plan our line of conduct. Ugu knows,
of course, that we are after him, for he has seen our approach in the
Magic Picture, and he has read of all we have done up to the present
moment in the Great Book of Records. Therefore we cannot expect to
take him by surprise."
"Don't you suppose Ugu would listen to reason?" asked Betsy. "If we
explained to him how wicked he has been, don't you think he'd let poor
Ozma go?"
"And give me back my dishpan?" added the Cookie Cook eagerly.
"Yes, yes, won't he say he's sorry and get on his knees and beg our
pardon?" cried Scraps, turning a flip-flop to show her scorn of the
suggestion. "When Ugu the Shoemaker does that, please knock at the
front door and let me know."
The Wizard sighed and rubbed his bald head with a puzzled air. "I'm
quite sure Ugu will not be polite to us," said he, "so we must conquer
this cruel magician by force, much as we dislike to be rude to anyone.
But none of you has yet suggested a way to do that. Couldn't the
Little Pink Bear tell us how?" he asked, turning to the Bear King.
"No, for that is something that is GOING to happen," replied the
Lavender Bear. "He can only tell us what already HAS happened."
Again, they were grave and thoughtful. But after a time, Betsy said
in a hesitating voice, "Hank is a great fighter. Perhaps HE could
conquer the magician."
The Mule turned his head to look reproachfully at his old friend, the
young girl. "Who can fight against magic?" he asked.
"The Cowardly Lion could," said Dorothy.
The Lion, who was lying with his front legs spread out, his chin on
his paws, raised his shaggy head. "I can fight when I'm not afraid,"
said he calmly, "but the mere mention of a fight sets me to
trembling."
"Ugu's magic couldn't hurt the Sawhorse," suggested tiny Trot.
"And the Sawhorse couldn't hurt the Magician," declared that wooden
animal.
"For my part," said Toto, "I am helpless, having lost my growl."
"Then," said Cayke the Cookie Cook, "we must depend upon the Frogman.
His marvelous wisdom will surely inform him how to conquer the wicked
Magician and restore to me my dishpan."
All eyes were now turned questioningly upon the Frogman. Finding
himself the center of observation, he swung his gold-headed cane,
adjusted his big spectacles, and after swelling out his chest, sighed
and said in a modest tone of voice, "Respect for truth obliges me to
confess that Cayke is mistaken in regard to my superior wisdom. I am
not very wise. Neither have I had any practical experience in
conquering magicians. But let us consider this case.
What is Ugu, and what is a magician? Ugu is a renegade shoemaker,
and a magician is an ordinary man who, having learned how to do
magical tricks, considers himself above his fellows. In this case, the
Shoemaker has been naughty enough to steal a lot of magical tools and
things that did not belong to him, and he is more wicked to steal than
to be a magician. Yet with all the arts at his command, Ugu is still
a man, and surely there are ways in which a man may be conquered.
How, do you say, how? Allow me to state that I don't know.
In my judgment, we cannot decide how best to act until we
get to Ugu's castle. So let us go to it and take a look at it.
After that, we may discover an idea that will guide us to victory."
"That may not be a wise speech, but it sounds good," said Dorothy
approvingly. "Ugu the Shoemaker is not only a common man, but he's a
wicked man and a cruel man and deserves to be conquered. We musn't
have any mercy on him till Ozma is set free. So let's go to his
castle as the Frogman says and see what the place looks like."
No one offered any objection to this plan, and so it was adopted.
They broke camp and were about to start on the journey to Ugu's castle
when they discovered that Button-Bright was lost again. The girls and
the Wizard shouted his name, and the Lion roared and the Donkey brayed
and the Frogman croaked and the Big Lavender Bear growled (to the envy
of Toto, who couldn't growl but barked his loudest), yet none of them
could make Button-Bright hear. So after vainly searching for the boy
a full hour, they formed a procession and proceeded in the direction
of the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker.
"Button-Bright's always getting lost," said Dorothy.
"And if he wasn't always getting found again, I'd prob'ly worry. He may have
gone ahead of us, and he may have gone back, but wherever he is, we'll
find him sometime and somewhere, I'm almost sure."
CHAPTER 19
UGU THE SHOEMAKER
A curious thing about Ugu the Shoemaker was that he didn't suspect in
the least that he was wicked. He wanted to be powerful and great, and
he hoped to make himself master of all the Land of Oz that he might
compel everyone in that fairy country to obey him, His ambition
blinded him to the rights of others, and he imagined anyone else would
act just as he did if anyone else happened to be as clever as himself.
When he inhabited his little shoemaking shop in the City of Herku, he
had been discontented, for a shoemaker is not looked upon with high
respect, and Ugu knew that his ancestors had been famous magicians for
many centuries past and therefore his family was above the ordinary.
Even his father practiced magic when Ugu was a boy, but his father had
wandered away from Herku and had never come back again. So when Ugu
grew up, he was forced to make shoes for a living, knowing nothing of
the magic of his forefathers. But one day, in searching through the
attic of his house, he discovered all the books of magical recipes and
many magical instruments which had formerly been in use in his family.
From that day, he stopped making shoes and began to study magic.
Finally, he aspired to become the greatest magician in Oz, and for
days and weeks and months he thought on a plan to render all the other
sorcerers and wizards, as well as those with fairy powers, helpless to
oppose him.
From the books of his ancestors, he learned the following facts:
(1) That Ozma of Oz was the fairy ruler of the Emerald City and the
Land of Oz and that she could not be destroyed by any magic ever
devised. Also, by means of her Magic Picture she would be able to
discover anyone who approached her royal palace with the idea of
conquering it.
(2) That Glinda the Good was the most powerful Sorceress in Oz, among her other magical
possessions being the Great Book of Records, which
told her all that happened anywhere in the world. This Book of
Records was very dangerous to Ugu's plans, and Glinda was in the
service of Ozma and would use her arts of sorcery to protect the girl
Ruler.
(3) That the Wizard of Oz, who lived in Ozma's palace, had been taught
much powerful magic by Glinda and had a bag of magic tools with which
he might be able to conquer the Shoemaker.
(4) That there existed in Oz--in the Yip Country--a jeweled dishpan
made of gold, which dishpan would grow large enough for a man to sit
inside it. Then, when he grasped both the golden handles, the dishpan
would transport him in an instant to any place he wished to go within
the borders of the Land of Oz.
No one now living except Ugu knew of the powers of the Magic Dishpan,
so after long study, the shoemaker decided that if he could manage to
secure the dishpan, he could by its means rob Ozma and Glinda and the
Wizard of Oz of all their magic, thus becoming himself the most
powerful person in all the land. His first act was to go away from
the City of Herku and build for himself the Wicker Castle in the
hills. Here he carried his books and instruments of magic, and here
for a full year he diligently practiced all the magical arts learned
from his ancestors. At the end of that time, he could do a good many
wonderful things.
Then, when all his preparations were made, he set out for the Yip
Country, and climbing the steep mountain at night he entered the house
of Cayke the Cookie Cook and stole her diamond-studded gold dishpan
while all the Yips were asleep, Taking his prize outside, he set the
pan upon the ground and uttered the required magic word. Instantly,
the dishpan grew as large as a big washtub, and Ugu seated himself in
it and grasped the two handles. Then he wished himself in the great
drawing room of Glinda the Good.
He was there in a flash. First he took the Great Book of Records and
put it in the dishpan. Then he went to Glinda's laboratory and took
all her rare chemical compounds and her instruments of sorcery,
placing these also in the dishpan, which he caused to grow large
enough to hold them. Next he seated himself amongst the treasures he
had stolen and wished himself in the room in Ozma's palace which the
Wizard occupied and where he kept his bag of magic tools. This bag
Ugu added to his plunder and then wished himself in the apartments of
Ozma.
Here he first took the Magic Picture from the wall and then seized all
the other magical things which Ozma possessed. Having placed these in
the dishpan, he was about to climb in himself when he looked up and
saw Ozma standing beside him. Her fairy instinct had warned her that
danger was threatening her, so the beautiful girl Ruler rose from her
couch and leaving her bedchamber at once confronted the thief.
Ugu had to think quickly, for he realized that if he permitted Ozma to
rouse the inmates of her palace, all his plans and his present
successes were likely to come to naught. So he threw a scarf over the
girl's head so she could not scream, and pushed her into the dishpan
and tied her fast so she could not move. Then he climbed in beside
her and wished himself in his own wicker castle. The Magic Dishpan
was there in an instant, with all its contents, and Ugu rubbed his
hands together in triumphant joy as he realized that he now possessed
all the important magic in the Land of Oz and could force all the
inhabitants of that fairyland to do as he willed.
So quickly had his journey been accomplished that before daylight the
robber magician had locked Ozma in a room, making her a prisoner, and
had unpacked and arranged all his stolen goods. The next day he
placed the Book of Records on his table and hung the Magic Picture on
his wall and put away in his cupboards and drawers all the elixirs and
magic compounds he had stolen. The magical instruments he polished
and arranged, and this was fascinating work and made him very happy.
By turns the imprisoned Ruler wept and scolded the Shoemaker,
haughtily threatening him with dire punishment for the wicked deeds
he had done. Ugu became somewhat afraid of his fairy prisoner, in
spite of the fact that he believed he had robbed her of all her powers;
so he performed an enchantment that quickly disposed of her and placed
her out of his sight and hearing. After that, being occupied with other
things, he soon forgot her.
But now, when he looked into the Magic Picture and read the Great Book
of Records, the Shoemaker learned that his wickedness was not to go
unchallenged. Two important expeditions had set out to find him and
force him to give up his stolen property. One was the party headed by
the Wizard and Dorothy, while the other consisted of Cayke and the
Frogman. Others were also searching, but not in the right places.
These two groups, however, were headed straight for the wicker castle,
and so Ugu began to plan how best to meet them and to defeat their
efforts to conquer him.
CHAPTER 20
MORE SURPRISES
All that first day after the union of the two parties, our friends
marched steadily toward the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker. When
night came, they camped in a little grove and passed a pleasant
evening together, although some of them were worried because
Button-Bright was still lost.
"Perhaps," said Toto as the animals lay grouped together for the
night, "this Shoemaker who stole my growl and who stole Ozma has also
stolen Button-Bright."
"How do you know that the Shoemaker stole your growl?" demanded the
Woozy.
"He has stolen about everything else of value in Oz, hasn't he?"
replied the dog.
"He has stolen everything he wants, perhaps," agreed the Lion, "but
what could anyone want with your growl?"
"Well," said the dog, wagging his tail slowly, "my recollection is
that it was a wonderful growl, soft and low and--and--"
"And ragged at the edges," said the Sawhorse.
"So," continued Toto, "if that magician hadn't any growl of his own,
he might have wanted mine and stolen it."
"And if he has, he will soon wish he hadn't," remarked the Mule.
"Also, if he has stolen Button-Bright, he will be sorry."
"Don't you like Button-Bright, then?" asked the Lion in surprise.
"It isn't a question of liking him," replied the Mule. "It's a
question of watching him and looking after him. Any boy who causes
his friends so much worry isn't worth having around. I never get
lost."
"If you did," said Toto, "no one would worry a bit. I think
Button-Bright is a very lucky boy because he always gets found."
"See here," said the Lion, "this chatter is keeping us all awake, and
tomorrow is likely to be a busy day. Go to sleep and forget your
quarrels."
"Friend Lion," retorted the dog, "if I hadn't lost my growl, you would
hear it now. I have as much right to talk as you have to sleep."
The Lion sighed.
"If only you had lost your voice when you lost your
growl," said he, "you would be a more agreeable companion."
But they quieted down after that, and soon the entire camp was wrapped
in slumber. Next morning they made an early start, but had hardly
proceeded on their way an hour when, on climbing a slight elevation,
they beheld in the distance a low mountain on top of which stood Ugu's
wicker castle. It was a good-sized building and rather pretty because
the sides, roofs and domes were all of wicker, closely woven as it is
in fine baskets.
"I wonder if it is strong?"said Dorothy musingly as she eyed the
queer castle.
"I suppose it is, since a magician built it," answered the Wizard.
"With magic to protect it, even a paper castle might be as strong as
if made of stone. This Ugu must be a man of ideas, because he does
things in a different way from other people."
"Yes. No one else would steal our dear Ozma," sighed tiny Trot.
"I wonder if Ozma is there?" said Betsy, indicating the castle with a
nod of her head.
"Where else could she be?" asked Scraps.
"Suppose we ask the Pink Bear," suggested Dorothy.
That seemed a good idea, so they halted the procession, and the Bear
King held the little Pink Bear on his lap and turned the crank in its
side and asked, "Where is Ozma of Oz?"
And the little Pink Bear answered, "She is in a hole in the ground a
half mile away at your left."
"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy.
"Then she is not in Ugu's castle at all."
"It is lucky we asked that question," said the Wizard, "for if we can
find Ozma and rescue her, there will be no need for us to fight that
wicked and dangerous magician."
"Indeed!" said Cayke. "Then what about my dishpan?"
The Wizard looked puzzled at her tone of remonstrance, so she added,
"Didn't you people from the Emerald City promise that we would all
stick together, and that you would help me to get my dishpan if I
would help you to get your Ozma? And didn't I bring to you the little
Pink Bear, which has told you where Ozma is hidden?"
"She's right," said Dorothy to the Wizard.
"We must do as we agreed."
"Well, first of all, let us go and rescue Ozma," proposed the Wizard.
"Then our beloved Ruler may be able to advise us how to conquer Ugu
the Shoemaker." So they turned to the left and marched for half a
mile until they came to a small but deep hole in the ground. At once,
all rushed to the brim to peer into the hole, but instead of finding
there Princess Ozma of Oz, all that they saw was Button-Bright, who
was lying asleep on the bottom.
Their cries soon wakened the boy, who sat up and rubbed his eyes.
When he recognized his friends, he smiled sweetly, saying, "Found
again!"
"Where is Ozma?" inquired Dorothy anxiously.
"I don't know," answered Button-Bright from the depths of the hole.
"I got lost yesterday, as you may remember, and in the night while I
was wandering around in the moonlight trying to find my way back to
you, I suddenly fell into this hole."
"And wasn't Ozma in it then?"
"There was no one in it but me, and I was sorry it wasn't entirely
empty. The sides are so steep I can't climb out, so there was nothing
to be done but sleep until someone found me. Thank you for coming.
If you'll please let down a rope, I'll empty this hole in a hurry."
"How strange!" said Dorothy, greatly disappointed.
"It's evident the Pink Bear didn't tell the truth."
"He never makes a mistake," declared the Lavender Bear King in a tone
that showed his feelings were hurt. And then he turned the crank of
the little Pink Bear again and asked, "Is this the hole that Ozma of
Oz is in?"
"Yes," answered the Pink Bear.
"That settles it," said the King positively. "Your Ozma is in this
hole in the ground."
"Don't be silly," returned Dorothy impatiently. "Even your beady eyes
can see there is no one in the hole but Button-Bright."
"Perhaps Button-Bright is Ozma," suggested the King.
"And perhaps he isn't!
Ozma is a girl, and Button-Bright is a boy."
"Your Pink Bear must be out of order," said the Wizard, "for, this
time at least, his machinery has caused him to make an untrue
statement."
The Bear King was so angry at this remark that he turned away, holding
the Pink Bear in his paws, and refused to discuss the matter in any
further way.
"At any rate," said the Frogman, "the Pink Bear has led us to your boy
friend and so enabled you to rescue him."
Scraps was leaning so far over the hole trying to find Ozma in it that
suddenly she lost her balance and pitched in head foremost. She fell
upon Button-Bright and tumbled him over, but he was not hurt by her
soft, stuffed body and only laughed at the mishap. The Wizard buckled
some straps together and let one end of them down into the hole, and
soon both Scraps and the boy had climbed up and were standing safely
beside the others. They looked once more for Ozma, but the hole was
now absolutely vacant. It was a round hole, so from the top they
could plainly see every part of it. Before they left the place,
Dorothy went to the Bear King and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't believe
what the little Pink Bear said, 'cause we don't want to make you feel
bad by doubting him. There must be a mistake, somewhere, and we
prob'ly don't understand just what the little Pink Bear said. Will
you let me ask him one more question?"
The Lavender Bear King was a good-natured bear, considering how he was
made and stuffed and jointed, so he accepted Dorothy's apology and
turned the crank and allowed the little girl to question his wee Pink
Bear.
"Is Ozma REALLY in this hole?" asked Dorothy.
"No," said the little Pink Bear.
This surprised everybody. Even the Bear King was now
puzzled by the contradictory statements of his oracle.
"Where IS she?" asked the King.
"Here, among you," answered the little Pink Bear.
"Well," said Dorothy, "this beats me entirely! I guess the little
Pink Bear has gone crazy."
"Perhaps," called Scraps, who was rapidly turning "cartwheels" all
around the perplexed group, "Ozma is invisible."
"Of course!" cried Betsy. That would account for it."
"Well, I've noticed that people can speak, even when they've been made
invisible," said the Wizard. And then he looked all around him and
said in a solemn voice, "Ozma, are you here?"
There was no reply. Dorothy asked the question, too, and so did
Button-Bright and Trot and Betsy, but none received any reply at all.
"It's strange, it's terrible strange!" muttered Cayke the Cookie Cook.
"I was sure that the little Pink Bear always tells the truth."
"I still believe in his honesty," said the Frogman, and this tribute
so pleased the Bear King that he gave these last speakers grateful
looks, but still gazed sourly on the others.
"Come to think of it," remarked the Wizard, "Ozma couldn't be
invisible, for she is a fairy, and fairies cannot be made invisible
against their will. Of course, she could be imprisoned by the
magician or enchanted or transformed, in spite of her fairy powers,
but Ugu could not render her invisible by any magic at his command."
"I wonder if she's been transformed into Button-Bright?" said Dorothy
nervously. Then she looked steadily at the boy and asked, "Are you
Ozma? Tell me truly!"
Button-Bright laughed.
"You're getting rattled, Dorothy," he replied.
"Nothing ever enchants ME. If I were Ozma, do you think I'd have
tumbled into that hole?"
"Anyhow," said the Wizard, "Ozma would never try to deceive her
friends or prevent them from recognizing her in whatever form she
happened to be. The puzzle is still a puzzle, so let us go on to the
wicker castle and question the magician himself. Since it was he who
stole our Ozma, Ugu is the one who must tell us where to find her."
CHAPTER 21
MAGIC AGAINST MAGIC
The Wizard's advice was good, so again they started in the direction
of the low mountain on the crest of which the wicker castle had been
built. They had been gradually advancing uphill, so now the elevation
seemed to them more like a round knoll than a mountaintop. However,
the sides of the knoll were sloping and covered with green grass, so
there was a stiff climb before them yet. Undaunted, they plodded on
and had almost reached the knoll when they suddenly observed that it
was surrounded by a circle of flame. At first, the flames barely rose
above the ground, but presently they grew higher and higher until a
circle of flaming tongues of fire taller than any of their heads quite
surrounded the hill on which the wicker castle stood. When they
approached the flames, the heat was so intense that it drove them back
again.
"This will never do for me!" exclaimed the Patchwork Girl. "I catch
fire very easily."
"It won't do for me either," grumbled the Sawhorse, prancing to the
rear.
"I also strongly object to fire," said the Bear King, following the
Sawhorse to a safe distance and hugging the little Pink Bear with his
paws.
"I suppose the foolish Shoemaker imagines these blazes will stop us,"
remarked the Wizard with a smile of scorn for Ugu. "But I am able to
inform you that this is merely a simple magic trick which the robber
stole from Glinda the Good, and by good fortune I know how to destroy
these flames as well as how to produce them. Will some one of you
kindly give me a match?"
You may be sure the girls carried no matches, nor did the Frogman or
any of the animals. But Button-Bright, after searching carefully
through his pockets, which contained all sorts of useful and useless
things, finally produced a match and handed it to the Wizard, who tied
it to the end of a branch which he tore from a small tree growing near
them. Then the little Wizard carefully lighted the match, and running
forward thrust it into the nearest flame. Instantly, the circle of
fire began to die away, and soon vanished completely leaving the way
clear for them to proceed.
"That was funny!" laughed Button-Bright.
"Yes," agreed the Wizard, "it seems odd that a little match could
destroy such a great circle of fire, but when Glinda invented this
trick, she believed no one would ever think of a match being a remedy
for fire. I suppose even Ugu doesn't know how we managed to quench
the flames of his barrier, for only Glinda and I know the secret.
Glinda's Book of Magic which Ugu stole told how to make the flames,
but not how to put them out."
They now formed in marching order and proceeded to advance up the
slope of the hill, but had not gone far when before them rose a wall
of steel, the surface of which was thickly covered with sharp,
gleaming points resembling daggers. The wall completely surrounded
the wicker castle, and its sharp points prevented anyone from climbing
it. Even the Patchwork Girl might be ripped to pieces if she dared
attempt it. "Ah!" exclaimed the Wizard cheerfully, "Ugu is now using
one of my own tricks against me. But this is more serious than the
Barrier of Fire, because the only way to destroy the wall is to get on
the other side of it."
"How can that be done?" asked Dorothy.
The Wizard looked thoughtfully around his little party, and his face
grew troubled. "It's a pretty high wall," he sadly remarked. "I'm
pretty sure the Cowardly Lion could not leap over it."
"I'm sure of that, too!" said the Lion with a shudder of fear. "If I
foolishly tried such a leap, I would be caught on those dreadful
spikes."
"I think I could do it, sir," said the Frogman with a bow to the
Wizard. "It is an uphill jump as well as being a high jump, but I'm
considered something of a jumper by my friends in the Yip Country, and
I believe a good, strong leap will carry me to the other side."
"I'm sure it would," agreed the Cookie Cook.
"Leaping, you know, is a froglike accomplishment," continued the
Frogman modestly, "but please tell me what I am to do when I reach the
"You're a brave creature," said the Wizard admiringly. "Has anyone a
pin?"
Betsy had one, which she gave him. "All you need do," said the Wizard
to the Frogman, giving him the pin, "is to stick this into the other
side of the wall."
"But the wall is of steel!" exclaimed the big frog.
"I know. At least, it SEEMS to be steel, but do as I tell you. Stick
the pin into the wall, and it will disappear."
The Frogman took off his handsome coat and carefully folded it and
laid it on the grass. Then he removed his hat and laid it together
with his gold-headed cane beside the coat. He then went back a way
and made three powerful leaps in rapid succession. The first two
leaps took him to the wall, and the third leap carried him well over
it, to the amazement of all. For a short time, he disappeared from
their view, but when he had obeyed the Wizard's injunction and had
thrust the pin into the wall, the huge barrier vanished and showed
them the form of the Frogman, who now went to where his coat lay and
put it on again.
"We thank you very much," said the delighted Wizard.
"That was the most wonderful leap I ever saw, and it has saved us
from defeat by our enemy. Let us now hurry on to the castle before
Ugu the Shoemaker thinks up some other means to stop us."
"We must have surprised him so far," declared Dorothy.
"Yes indeed. The fellow knows a lot of magic--all of our tricks and
some of his own," replied the Wizard. "So if he is half as clever as
he ought to be, we shall have trouble with him yet."
He had scarcely spoken these words when out from the gates of the
wicker castle marched a regiment of soldiers, clad in gay uniforms and
all bearing long, pointed spears and sharp battle axes. These
soldiers were girls, and the uniforms were short skirts of yellow and
black satin, golden shoes, bands of gold across their foreheads and
necklaces of glittering jewels. Their jackets were scarlet, braided
with silver cords. There were hundreds of these girl-soldiers, and
they were more terrible than beautiful, being strong and fierce in
appearance. They formed a circle all around the castle and faced
outward, their spears pointed toward the invaders, and their battle
axes held over their shoulders, ready to strike. Of course, our
friends halted at once, for they had not expected this dreadful array
of soldiery. The Wizard seemed puzzled, and his companions exchanged
discouraged looks.
"I'd no idea Ugu had such an army as that," said Dorothy. "The castle
doesn't look big enough to hold them all."
"It isn't," declared the Wizard.
"But they all marched out of it."
"They seemed to, but I don't believe it is a real army at all. If Ugu
the Shoemaker had so many people living with him, I'm sure the
Czarover of Herku would have mentioned the fact to us."
"They're only girls!" laughed Scraps.
"Girls are the fiercest soldiers of all," declared the Frogman. "They
are more brave than men, and they have better nerves. That is
probably why the magician uses them for soldiers and has sent them to
oppose us."
No one argued this statement, for all were staring hard at the line of
soldiers, which now, having taken a defiant position, remained
motionless.
"Here is a trick of magic new to me," admitted the Wizard after a
time. "I do not believe the army is real, but the spears may be sharp
enough to prick us, nevertheless, so we must be cautious. Let us take
time to consider how to meet this difficulty."
While they were thinking it over, Scraps danced closer to the line of
girl soldiers. Her button eyes sometimes saw more than did the
natural eyes of her comrades, and so after staring hard at the
magician's army, she boldly advanced and danced right through the
threatening line! On the other side, she waved her stuffed arms and
called out, "Come on, folks. The spears can't hurt you."
said the Wizard gaily. "An optical illusion, as I thought. Let
us all follow the Patchwork Girl." The three little girls were
somewhat nervous in attempting to brave the spears and battle axes,
but after the others had safely passed the line, they ventured to
follow. And when all had passed through the ranks of the girl army,
the army itself magically disappeared from view.
All this time our friends had been getting farther up the hill and
nearer to the wicker castle. Now, continuing their advance, they
expected something else to oppose their way, but to their astonishment
nothing happened, and presently they arrived at the wicker gates,
which stood wide open, and boldly entered the domain of Ugu the
Shoemaker.
CHAPTER 22
No sooner were the Wizard of Oz and his followers well within the
castle entrance when the big gates swung to with a clang and heavy
bars dropped across them. They looked at one another uneasily, but no
one cared to speak of the incident. If they were indeed prisoners in
the wicker castle, it was evident they must find a way to escape, but
their first duty was to attend to the errand on which they had come
and seek the Royal Ozma, whom they believed to be a prisoner of the
magician, and rescue her.
They found they had entered a square courtyard, from which an entrance
led into the main building of the castle. No person had appeared to
greet them so far, although a gaudy peacock perched upon the wall
cackled with laughter and said in its sharp, shrill voice, "Poor
fools! Poor fools!"
"I hope the peacock is mistaken," remarked the Frogman, but no one
else paid any attention to the bird. They were a little awed by the
stillness and loneliness of the place. As they entered the doors of
the castle, which stood invitingly open, these also closed behind them
and huge bolts shot into place. The animals had all accompanied the
party into the castle because they felt it would be dangerous for them
to separate. They were forced to follow a zigzag passage, turning
this way and that, until finally they entered a great central hall,
circular in form and with a high dome from which was suspended an
enormous chandelier.
The Wizard went first, and Dorothy, Betsy and Trot followed him, Toto
keeping at the heels of his little mistress. Then came the Lion, the
Woozy and the Sawhorse, then Cayke the Cookie Cook and Button-Bright,
then the Lavender Bear carrying the Pink Bear, and finally the Frogman
and the Patchwork Girl, with Hank the Mule tagging behind. So it was
the Wizard who caught the first glimpse of the big, domed hall, but
the others quickly followed and gathered in a wondering group just
within the entrance.
Upon a raised platform at one side was a heavy table on which lay
Glinda's Great Book of Records, but the platform was firmly fastened
to the floor and the table was fastened to the platform and the Book
was chained fast to the table, just as it had been when it was kept in
Glinda's palace. On the wall over the table hung Ozma's Magic
Picture. On a row of shelves at the opposite side of the hall stood
all the chemicals and essences of magic and all the magical
instruments that had been stolen from Glinda and Ozma and the Wizard,
with glass doors covering the shelves so that no one could get at
them.
And in a far corner sat Ugu the Shoemaker, his feet lazily extended,
his skinny hands clasped behind his head. He was leaning back at his
ease and calmly smoking a long pipe. Around the magician was a sort
of cage, seemingly made of golden bars set wide apart, and at his
feet, also within the cage, reposed the long-sought diamond-studded
dishpan of Cayke the Cookie Cook. Princess Ozma of Oz was nowhere to
be seen.
"Well, well," said Ugu when the invaders had stood in silence for a
moment, staring about them. "This visit is an unexpected pleasure, I
assure you. I knew you were coming, and I know why you are here. You
are not welcome, for I cannot use any of you to my advantage, but as
you have insisted on coming, I hope you will make the afternoon call
as brief as possible. It won't take long to transact your business
with me. You will ask me for Ozma, and my reply will be that you may
find her--if you can."
"Sir," answered the Wizard in a tone of rebuke, "you are a very wicked
and cruel person. I suppose you imagine, because you have stolen this
poor woman's dishpan and all the best magic in Oz, that you are more
powerful than we are and will be able to triumph over us."
"Yes," said Ugu the Shoemaker, slowly filling his pipe with fresh
tobacco from a silver bowl that stood beside him, "that is exactly
what I imagine. It will do you no good to demand from me the girl who
was formerly the Ruler of Oz, because I will not tell you where I have
hidden her, and you can't guess in a thousand years. Neither will I
restore to you any of the magic I have captured. I am not so foolish.
But bear this in mind: I mean to be the Ruler of Oz myself, hereafter,
so I advise you to be careful how you address your future Monarch."
"Ozma is still Ruler of Oz, wherever you may have hidden her,"
declared the Wizard. "And bear this in mind, miserable Shoemaker: we
intend to find her and to rescue her in time, but our first duty and
pleasure will be to conquer you and then punish you for your
misdeeds."
"Very well, go ahead and conquer," said Ugu. "I'd really like to see
how you can do it."
Now although the little Wizard had spoken so boldly, he had at the
moment no idea how they might conquer the magician. He had that
morning given the Frogman, at his request, a dose of zosozo from his
bottle, and the Frogman had promised to fight a good fight if it was
necessary, but the Wizard knew that strength alone could not avail
against magical arts. The toy Bear King seemed to have some pretty
good magic, however, and the Wizard depended to an extent on that.
But something ought to be done right away, and the Wizard didn't know
what it was.
While he considered this perplexing question and the others stood
looking at him as their leader, a queer thing happened. The floor of
the great circular hall on which they were standing suddenly began to
tip. Instead of being flat and level, it became a slant, and the
slant grew steeper and steeper until none of the party could manage to
stand upon it. Presently they all slid down to the wall, which was
now under them, and then it became evident that the whole vast room
was slowly turning upside down! Only Ugu the Shoemaker, kept in place
by the bars of his golden cage, remained in his former position, and
the wicked magician seemed to enjoy the surprise of his victims
immensely.
First they all slid down to the wall back of them, but as the room
continued to turn over, they next slid down the wall and found
themselves at the bottom of the great dome, bumping against the big
chandelier which, like everything else, was now upside down. The
turning movement now stopped, and the room became stationary. Looking
far up, they saw Ugu suspended in his cage at the very top, which had
once been the floor.
"Ah," said he, grinning down at them, "the way to conquer is to act,
and he who acts promptly is sure to win. This makes a very good
prison, from which I am sure you cannot escape. Please amuse
yourselves in any way you like, but I must beg you to excuse me, as I
have business in another part of my castle."
Saying this, he opened a trap door in the floor of his cage (which was
now over his head) and climbed through it and disappeared from their
view. The diamond dishpan still remained in the cage, but the bars
kept it from falling down on their heads.
"Well, I declare," said the Patchwork Girl, seizing one of the bars of
the chandelier and swinging from it, "we must peg one for the
Shoemaker, for he has trapped us very cleverly."
"Get off my foot, please," said the Lion to the Sawhorse.
"And oblige me, Mr. Mule," remarked the Woozy, "by taking your tail
out of my left eye."
"It's rather crowded down here," explained Dorothy, "because the dome
is rounding and we have all slid into the middle of it. But let us
keep as quiet as possible until we can think what's best to be done."
"Dear, dear!"wailed Cayke, "I wish I had my darling dishpan," and she
held her arms longingly toward it.
"I wish I had the magic on those shelves up there," sighed the Wizard.
"Don't you s'pose we could get to it?" asked Trot anxiously.
"We'd have to fly," laughed the Patchwork Girl.
But the Wizard took the suggestion seriously, and so did the Frogman.
They talked it over and soon planned an attempt to reach the shelves
where the magical instruments were. First the Frogman lay against the
rounding dome and braced his foot on the stem of the chandelier; then
the Wizard climbed over him and lay on the dome with his feet on the
Frogman's shoulders; the Cookie Cook came next; then Button-Bright
climbed to the woman's shoulders; then Dorothy climbed up and Betsy
and Trot, and finally the Patchwork Girl, and all their lengths made a
long line that reached far up the dome, but not far enough for Scraps
to touch the shelves.
"Wait a minute. Perhaps I can reach the magic," called the Bear King,
and began scrambling up the bodies of the others. But when he came to
the Cookie Cook, his soft paws tickled her side so that she squirmed
and upset the whole line. Down they came, tumbling in a heap against
the animals, and although no one was much hurt, it was a bad mix-up,
and the Frogman, who was at the bottom, almost lost his temper before
he could get on his feet again.
Cayke positively refused to try what she called "the pyramid act"
again, and as the Wizard was now convinced they could not reach the
magic tools in that manner, the attempt was abandoned. "But SOMETHING
must be done," said the Wizard, and then he turned to the Lavender
Bear and asked, "Cannot Your Majesty's magic help us to escape from
here?"
"My magic powers are limited," was the reply. "When I was stuffed,
the fairies stood by and slyly dropped some magic into my stuffing.
Therefore I can do any of the magic that's inside me, but nothing
else. You, however, are a wizard, and a wizard should be able to do
anything."
"Your Majesty forgets that my tools of magic have been stolen," said
the Wizard sadly, "and a wizard without tools is as helpless as a
carpenter without a hammer or saw."
"Don't give up," pleaded Button-Bright, "20'cause if we can't get
out of this queer prison, we'll all starve to death."
"Not I!" laughed the Patchwork Girl, now standing on top of the
chandelier at the place that was meant to be the bottom of it.
"Don't talk of such dreadful things," said Trot, shuddering. "We came
here to capture the Shoemaker, didn't we?"
"Yes, and to save Ozma," said Betsy.
"And here we are, captured ourselves, and my darling dishpan up there
in plain sight!" wailed the Cookie Cook, wiping her eyes on the tail
of the Frogman's coat.
"Hush!" called the Lion with a low, deep growl. "Give the Wizard time
to think."
"He has plenty of time," said Scraps. "What he needs is the
Scarecrow's brains."
After all, it was little Dorothy who came to their rescue, and her
ability to save them was almost as much a surprise to the girl as it
was to her friends. Dorothy had been secretly testing the powers of
her Magic Belt, which she had once captured from the Nome King, and
experimenting with it in various ways ever since she had started on
this eventful journey. At different times she had stolen away from
the others of her party and in solitude had tried to find out what the
Magic Belt could do and what it could not do. There were a lot of
things it could not do, she discovered, but she learned some things
about the Belt which even her girl friends did not suspect she knew.
For one thing, she had remembered that when the Nome King owned it,
the Magic Belt used to perform transformations, and by thinking hard
she had finally recalled the way in which such transformations had
been accomplished. Better than this, however, was the discovery that
the Magic Belt would grant its wearer one wish a day. All she need do
was close her right eye and wiggle her left toe and then draw a long
breath and make her wish. Yesterday she had wished in secret for a
box of caramels, and instantly found the box beside her. Today she
had saved her daily wish in case she might need it in an emergency,
and the time had now come when she must use the wish to enable her to
escape with her friends from the prison in which Ugu had caught them.
So without telling anyone what she intended to do--for she had only
used the wish once and could not be certain how powerful the Magic
Belt might be--Dorothy closed her right eye and wiggled her left big
toe and drew a long breath and wished with all her might. The next
moment the room began to revolve again, as slowly as before, and by
degrees they all slid to the side wall and down the wall to the
floor--all but Scraps, who was so astonished that she still clung to
the chandelier. When the big hall was in its proper position again
and the others stood firmly upon the floor of it, they looked far up
the dome and saw the Patchwork girl swinging from the chandelier.
"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy."How ever will you get down?"
"Won't the room keep turning?" asked Scraps.
"I hope not. I believe it has stopped for good," said Princess
Dorothy.
"Then stand from under, so you won't get hurt!" shouted the
PatchworkGirl, and as soon as they had obeyed this request, she let go the
chandelier and came tumbling down heels over head and twisting and
turning in a very exciting manner. Plump! She fell on the tiled
floor, and they ran to her and rolled her and patted her into shape
again.
CHAPTER 23
THE DEFIANCE OF UGU THE SHOEMAKER
The delay caused by Scraps had prevented anyone from running to the
shelves to secure the magic instruments so badly needed. Even Cayke
neglected to get her diamond-studded dishpan because she was watching
the Patchwork Girl. And now the magician had opened his trap door and
appeared in his golden cage again, frowning angrily because his
prisoners had been able to turn their upside-down prison right side
up. "Which of you has dared defy my magic?" he shouted in a terrible
voice.
"It was I," answered Dorothy calmly.
"Then I shall destroy you, for you are only an Earth girl and no
fairy," he said, and began to mumble some magic words.
Dorothy now realized that Ugu must be treated as an enemy, so she
advanced toward the corner in which he sat, saying as she went, "I am
not afraid of you, Mr. Shoemaker, and I think you'll be sorry, pretty
soon, that you're such a bad man. You can't destroy me, and I won't
destroy you, but I'm going to punish you for your wickedness."
Ugu laughed, a laugh that was not nice to hear, and then he waved his
hand. Dorothy was halfway across the room when suddenly a wall of
glass rose before her and stopped her progress. Through the glass she
could see the magician sneering at her because she was a weak little
girl, and this provoked her. Although the glass wall obliged her to
halt, she instantly pressed both hands to her Magic Belt and cried in
a loud voice, "Ugu the Shoemaker, by the magic virtues of the Magic
Belt, I command you to become a dove!"
The magician instantly realized he was being enchanted, for he could
feel his form changing. He struggled desperately against the
enchantment, mumbling magic words and making magic passes with his
hands. And in one way he succeeded in defeating Dorothy's purpose,
for while his form soon changed to that of a gray dove, the dove was
of an enormous size, bigger even than Ugu had been as a man, and this
feat he had been able to accomplish before his powers of magic wholly
deserted him.
And the dove was not gentle, as doves usually are, for
Ugu was terribly enraged at the little girl's success. His books had
told him nothing of the Nome King's Magic Belt, the Country of the
Nomes being outside the Land of Oz. He knew, however, that he was
likely to be conquered unless he made a fierce fight, so he spread his
wings and rose in the air and flew directly toward Dorothy. The Wall
of Glass had disappeared the instant Ugu became transformed.
Dorothy had meant to command the Belt to transform the magician into a
Dove of Peace, but in her excitement she forgot to say more than
"dove," and now Ugu was not a Dove of Peace by any means, but rather a
spiteful Dove of War. His size made his sharp beak and claws very
dangerous, but Dorothy was not afraid when he came darting toward her
with his talons outstretched and his sword-like beak open. She knew
the Magic Belt would protect its wearer from harm.
But the Frogman did not know that fact and became alarmed at the
little girl's seeming danger. So he gave a sudden leap and leaped
full upon the back of the great dove. Then began a desperate
struggle. The dove was as strong as Ugu had been, and in size it was
considerably bigger than the Frogman. But the Frogman had eaten the
zosozo, and it had made him fully as strong as Ugu the Dove. At the
first leap he bore the dove to the floor, but the giant bird got free
and began to bite and claw the Frogman, beating him down with its
great wings whenever he attempted to rise. The thick, tough skin of
the big frog was not easily damaged, but Dorothy feared for her
champion, and by again using the transformation power of the Magic
Belt, she made the dove grow small until it was no larger than a
canary bird. Ugu had not lost his knowledge of magic when he lost his
shape as a man, and he now realized it was hopeless to oppose the
power of the Magic Belt and knew that his only hope of escape lay in
instant action. So he quickly flew into the golden jeweled dishpan he
had stolen from Cayke the Cookie Cook, and as birds can talk as well
as beasts or men in the Fairyland of Oz, he muttered the magic word
that was required and wished himself in the Country of the Quadlings,
which was as far away from the wicker castle as he believed he could
get.
Our friends did not know, of course, what Ugu was about to do. They
saw the dishpan tremble an instant and then disappear, the dove
disappearing with it, and although they waited expectantly for some
minutes for the magician's return, Ugu did not come back again.
"Seems to me," said the Wizard in a cheerful voice, "that we have
conquered the wicked magician more quickly than we expected to."
"Don't say 'we.' Dorothy did it!" cried the Patchwork Girl, turning
three somersaults in succession and then walking around on her hands.
"Hurrah for Dorothy!"
"I thought you said you did not know how to use the magic of the Nome
King's Belt," said the Wizard to Dorothy.
"I didn't know at that time," she replied, "but afterward I remembered
how the Nome King once used the Magic Belt to enchant people and
transform 'em into ornaments and all sorts of things, so I tried some
enchantments in secret, and after a while I transformed the Sawhorse
into a potato masher and back again, and the Cowardly Lion into a
pussycat and back again, and then I knew the thing would work all
right."
"When did you perform those enchantments?" asked the Wizard, much
surprised.
"One night when all the rest of you were asleep but Scraps, and she
had gone chasing moonbeams."
"Well," remarked the Wizard, "your discovery has certainly saved us a
lot of trouble, and we must all thank the Frogman, too, for making
such a good fight. The dove's shape had Ugu's evil disposition inside
it, and that made the monster bird dangerous."
The Frogman was looking sad because the bird's talons had torn his
pretty clothes, but he bowed with much dignity at this well-deserved
praise. Cayke, however, had squatted on the floor and was sobbing
bitterly. "My precious dishpan is gone!" she wailed. "Gone, just as
I had found it again!"
"Never mind," said Trot, trying to comfort her, "it's sure to be
SOMEWHERE, so we'll cert'nly run across it some day."
"Yes indeed," added Betsy, "now that we have Ozma's Magic Picture, we
can tell just where the Dove went with your dishpan. They all
approached the Magic Picture, and Dorothy wished it to show the
enchanted form of Ugu the Shoemaker, wherever it might be. At once
there appeared in the frame of the Picture a scene in the far Quadling
Country, where the Dove was perched disconsolately on the limb of a
tree and the jeweled dishpan lay on the ground just underneath the
limb.
"But where is the place? How far or how near?" asked Cayke anxiously.
"The Book of Records will tell us that," answered the Wizard. So they
looked in the Great Book and read the following:
"Ugu the Magician, being transformed into a dove by Princess Dorothy
of Oz, has used the magic of the golden dishpan to carry him instantly
to the northeast corner of the Quadling Country."
"Don't worry, Cayke, for the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are in that part of the country looking
for Ozma, and they'll surely find your dishpan."
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Button-Bright. "We've forgot all about
Ozma. Let's find out where the magician hid her."
Back to the Magic Picture they trooped, but when they wished to see
Ozma wherever she might be hidden, only a round black spot appeared in
the center of the canvas. "I don't see how THAT can be Ozma!" said
Dorothy, much puzzled.
"It seems to be the best the Magic Picture can do, however," said the
Wizard, no less surprised. "If it's an enchantment, looks as if the
magician had transformed Ozma into a chunk of pitch."
CHAPTER 24
THE LITTLE PINK BEAR SPEAKS TRULY
For several minutes they all stood staring at the black spot on the
canvas of the Magic Picture, wondering what it could mean. "P'r'aps
we'd better ask the little Pink Bear about Ozma," suggested Trot.
"Pshaw!" said Button-Bright. "HE don't know anything."
"He never makes a mistake," declared the King.
"He did once, surely," said Betsy. "But perhaps he wouldn't make a
mistake again."
"He won't have the chance," grumbled the Bear King.
"We might hear what he has to say," said Dorothy. "It won't do any
harm to ask the Pink Bear where Ozma is."
"I will not have him questioned," declared the King in a surly voice.
"I do not intend to allow my little Pink Bear to be again insulted by
your foolish doubts. He never makes a mistake."
"Didn't he say Ozma was in that hole in the ground?"
asked Betsy.
"He did, and I am certain she was there," replied the Lavender Bear.
Scraps laughed jeeringly, and the others saw there was no use arguing
with the stubborn Bear King, who seemed to have absolute faith in his
Pink Bear. The Wizard, who knew that magical things can usually be
depended upon and that the little Pink Bear was able to answer
questions by some remarkable power of magic, thought it wise to
apologize to the Lavender Bear for the unbelief of his friends, at the
same time urging the King to consent to question the Pink Bear once
more. Cayke and the Frogman also pleaded with the big Bear, who
finally agreed, although rather ungraciously, to put the little Bear's
wisdom to the test once more. So he sat the little one on his knee
and turned the crank, and the Wizard himself asked the questions in a
very respectful tone of voice. "Where is Ozma?" was his first query.
"Here in this room," answered the little Pink Bear.
They all looked around the room, but of course did not see her. "In
what part of the room is she?" was the Wizard's next question.
"In Button-Bright's pocket," said the little Pink Bear.
This reply amazed them all, you may be sure, and although the three
girls smiled and Scraps yelled "Hoo-ray!" in derision, the Wizard
turned to consider the matter with grave thoughtfulness. "In which
one of Button-Bright's pockets is Ozma?" he presently inquired.
"In the left-hand jacket pocket," said the little Pink Bear.
"The pink one has gone crazy!" exclaimed Button-Bright, staring
hard at the little bear on the big bear's knee.
"I am not so sure of that," declared the Wizard. "If Ozma proves to
be really in your pocket, then the little Pink Bear spoke truly when
he said Ozma was in that hole in the ground. For at that time you
were also in the hole, and after we had pulled you out of it, the
little Pink Bear said Ozma was not in the hole."
"He never makes a mistake," asserted the Bear King stoutly.
"Empty that pocket, Button-Bright, and let's see what's in it,"
requested Dorothy.
So Button-Bright laid the contents of his left jacket pocket on the
table. These proved to be a peg top, a bunch of string, a small
rubber ball and a golden peach pit. "What's this?" asked the Wizard,
picking up the peach pit and examining it closely.
"Oh," said the boy, "I saved that to show to the girls, and then
forgot all about it. It came out of a lonesome peach that I found in
the orchard back yonder, and which I ate while I was lost. It looks
like gold, and I never saw a peach pit like it before."
"Nor I," said the Wizard, "and that makes it seem suspicious."
All heads were bent over the golden peach pit. The Wizard turned it
over several times and then took out his pocket knife and pried the
pit open. As the two halves fell apart, a pink, cloud-like haze came
pouring from the golden peach pit, almost filling the big room, and
from the haze a form took shape and settled beside them. Then, as the
haze faded away, a sweet voice said, "Thank you, my friends!" and
there before them stood their lovely girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz.
With a cry of delight, Dorothy rushed forward and embraced her.
Scraps turned gleeful flipflops all around the room. Button-Bright
gave a low whistle of astonishment. The Frogman took off his tall hat
and bowed low before the beautiful girl who had been freed from her
enchantment in so startling a manner. For a time, no sound was heard
beyond the low murmur of delight that came from the amazed group, but
presently the growl of the big Lavender Bear grew louder, and he said
in a tone of triumph, "He never makes a mistake!"
CHAPTER 25
OZMA OF OZ
"It's funny," said Toto, standing before his friend the Lion and
wagging his tail, "but I've found my growl at last! I am positive now
that it was the cruel magician who stole it."
"Let's hear your growl," requested the Lion.
"G-r-r-r-r-r!" said Toto.
"That is fine," declared the big beast. "It isn't as loud or as deep
as the growl of the big Lavender Bear, but it is a very respectable
growl for a small dog. Where did you find it, Toto?"
"I was smelling in the corner yonder," said Toto, "when suddenly a
mouse ran out--and I growled."
The others were all busy congratulating Ozma, who was very happy at
being released from the confinement of the golden peach pit, where the
magician had placed her with the notion that she never could be found
or liberated.
"And only to think," cried Dorothy, "that Button-Bright has been
carrying you in his pocket all this time, and we never knew it!"
"The little Pink Bear told you," said the Bear King, "but you wouldn't
believe him."
"Never mind, my dears," said Ozma graciously, "all is well that ends
well, and you couldn't be expected to know I was inside the peach pit.
Indeed, I feared I would remain a captive much longer than I did, for
Ugu is a bold and clever magician, and he had hidden me very
securely."
"You were in a fine peach," said Button-Bright, "the best I ever ate."
"The magician was foolish to make the peach so tempting," remarked the
Wizard, "but Ozma would lend beauty to any transformation."
"How did you manage to conquer Ugu the Shoemaker?"
inquired the girl Ruler of Oz.
Dorothy started to tell the story, and Trot helped her, and
Button-Bright wanted to relate it in his own way, and the Wizard tried
to make it clear to Ozma, and Betsy had to remind them of important
things they left out, and all together there was such a chatter that
it was a wonder that Ozma understood any of it. But she listened
patiently, with a smile on her lovely face at their eagerness, and
presently had gleaned all the details of their adventures.
Ozma thanked the Frogman very earnestly for his assistance, and she
advised Cayke the Cookie Cook to dry her weeping eyes, for she
promised to take her to the Emerald City and see that her cherished
dishpan was restored to her. Then the beautiful Ruler took a chain of
emeralds from around her own neck and placed it around the neck of the
little Pink Bear.
"Your wise answers to the questions of my friends,"
said she, "helped them to rescue me. Therefore I am deeply grateful
to you and to your noble King."
The bead eyes of the little Pink Bear stared unresponsive to this
praise until the Big Lavender Bear turned the crank in its side, when
it said in its squeaky voice, "I thank Your Majesty."
"For my part," returned the Bear King, "I realize that you were well
worth saving, Miss Ozma, and so I am much pleased that we could be of
service to you. By means of my Magic Wand I have been creating exact
images of your Emerald City and your Royal Palace, and I must confess
that they are more attractive than any places I have ever seen--not
excepting Bear Center."
"I would like to entertain you in my palace," returned Ozma sweetly,
"and you are welcome to return with me and to make me a long visit, if
your bear subjects can spare you from your own kingdom."
"As for that," answered the King, "my kingdom causes me little worry,
and I often find it somewhat tame and uninteresting. Therefore I am
glad to accept your kind invitation. Corporal Waddle may be trusted
to care for my bears in my absence."
"And you'll bring the little Pink Bear?" asked Dorothy eagerly.
"Of course, my dear. I would not willingly part with him."
They remained in the wicker castle for three days, carefully packing
all the magical things that had been stolen by Ugu and also taking
whatever in the way of magic the shoemaker had inherited from his
ancestors. "For," said Ozma, "I have forbidden any of my subjects
except Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz to practice magical arts,
because they cannot be trusted to do good and not harm. Therefore Ugu
must never again be permitted to work magic of any sort."
"Well," remarked Dorothy cheerfully, "a dove can't do much in the way
of magic, anyhow, and I'm going to keep Ugu in the form of a dove
until he reforms and becomes a good and honest shoemaker."
When everything was packed and loaded on the backs of the animals,
they set out for the river, taking a more direct route than that by
which Cayke and the Frogman had come. In this way they avoided the
Cities of Thi and Herku and Bear Center and after a pleasant journey
reached the Winkie River and found a jolly ferryman who had a fine,
big boat and was willing to carry the entire party by water to a place
quite near to the Emerald City.
The river had many windings and many branches, and the journey did not
end in a day, but finally the boat floated into a pretty lake which
was but a short distance from Ozma's home. Here the jolly ferryman
was rewarded for his labors, and then the entire party set out in a
grand procession to march to the Emerald City. News that the Royal
Ozma had been found spread quickly throughout the neighborhood, and
both sides of the road soon became lined with loyal subjects of the
beautiful and beloved Ruler. Therefore Ozma's ears heard little but
cheers, and her eyes beheld little else than waving handkerchiefs and
banners during all the triumphal march from the lake to the city's
gates.
And there she met a still greater concourse, for all the inhabitants
of the Emerald City turned out to welcome her return, and all the
houses were decorated with flags and bunting, and never before were
the people so joyous and happy as at this moment when they welcomed
home their girl Ruler. For she had been lost and was now found again,
and surely that was cause for rejoicing. Glinda was at the royal
palace to meet the returning party, and the good Sorceress was indeed
glad to have her Great Book of Records returned to her, as well as all
the precious collection of magic instruments and elixirs and chemicals
that had been stolen from her castle. Cap'n Bill and the Wizard at
once hung the Magic Picture upon the wall of Ozma's boudoir, and the
Wizard was so light-hearted that he did several tricks with the tools
in his black bag to amuse his companions and prove that once again he
was a powerful wizard.
For a whole week there was feasting and merriment and all sorts of
joyous festivities at the palace in honor of Ozma's safe return. The
Lavender Bear and the little Pink Bear received much attention and
were honored by all, much to the Bear King's satisfaction. The
Frogman speedily became a favorite at the Emerald City, and the Shaggy
Man and Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead, who had now returned from their
search, were very polite to the big frog and made him feel quite at
home. Even the Cookie Cook, because she was quite a stranger and
Ozma's guest, was shown as much deference as if she had been a queen.
"All the same, Your Majesty," said Cayke to Ozma, day after day with
tiresome repetition, "I hope you will soon find my jeweled dishpan,
for never can I be quite happy without it."
CHAPTER 26
DOROTHY FORGIVES
The gray dove which had once been Ugu the Shoemaker sat on its tree in
the far Quadling Country and moped, chirping dismally and brooding
over its misfortunes. After a time, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman
came along and sat beneath the tree, paying no heed to the mutterings
of the gray dove. The Tin Woodman took a small oilcan from his tin
pocket and carefully oiled his tin joints with it.
While he was thus engaged, the Scarecrow remarked, "I feel much better,
dear comrade, since we found that heap of nice, clean straw and you
stuffed me anew with it."
"And I feel much better now that my joints are oiled," returned the
Tin Woodman with a sigh of pleasure. "You and I, friend Scarecrow,
are much more easily cared for than those clumsy meat people, who
spend half their time dressing in fine clothes and who must live in
splendid dwellings in order to be contented and happy. You and I do
not eat, and so we are spared the dreadful bother of getting three
meals a day. Nor do we waste half our lives in sleep, a condition
that causes the meat people to lose all consciousness and become as
thoughtless and helpless as logs of wood."
"You speak truly," responded the Scarecrow, tucking some wisps of
straw into his breast with his padded fingers. "I often feel sorry
for the meat people, many of whom are my friends. Even the beasts are
happier than they, for they require less to make them content. And
the birds are the luckiest creatures of all, for they can fly swiftly
where they will and find a home at any place they care to perch.
Their food consists of seeds and grains they gather from the fields,
and their drink is a sip of water from some running brook. If I could
not be a Scarecrow or a Tin Woodman, my next choice would be to live
as a bird does."
The gray dove had listened carefully to this speech and seemed to find
comfort in it, for it hushed its moaning. And just then the Tin
Woodman discovered Cayke's dishpan, which was on the ground quite near
to him. "Here is a rather pretty utensil," he said, taking it in his
tin hand to examine it, "but I would not care to own it. Whoever
fashioned it of gold and covered it with diamonds did not add to its
usefulness, nor do I consider it as beautiful as the bright dishpans
of tin one usually sees. No yellow color is ever so handsome as the
silver sheen of tin," and he turned to look at his tin legs and body
with approval.
"I cannot quite agree with you there," replied the Scarecrow. "My
straw stuffing has a light yellow color, and it is not only pretty to
look at, but it crunkles most delightfully when I move."
"Let us admit that all colors are good in their proper places," said
the Tin Woodman, who was too kind-hearted to quarrel, "but you must
agree with me that a dishpan that is yellow is unnatural. What shall
we do with this one, which we have just found?"
"Let us carry it back to the Emerald City," suggested the Scarecrow.
"Some of our friends might like to have it for a foot-bath, and in
using it that way, its golden color and sparkling ornaments would not
injure its usefulness."
So they went away and took the jeweled dishpan with them. And after
wandering through the country for a day or so longer, they learned the
news that Ozma had been found. Therefore they straightway returned to
the Emerald City and presented the dishpan to Princess Ozma as a token
of their joy that she had been restored to them. Ozma promptly gave
the diamond-studded gold dishpan to Cayke the Cookie Cook, who was
delighted at regaining her lost treasure that she danced up and down
in glee and then threw her skinny arms around Ozma's neck and kissed
her gratefully. Cayke's mission was now successfully accomplished,
but she was having such a good time at the Emerald City that she
seemed in no hurry to go back to the Country of the Yips.
It was several weeks after the dishpan had been restored to the Cookie
Cook when one day, as Dorothy was seated in the royal gardens with
Trot and Betsy beside her, a gray dove came flying down and alighted
at the girl's feet.
"I am Ugu the Shoemaker," said the dove in a
soft, mourning voice, "and I have come to ask you to forgive me for
the great wrong I did in stealing Ozma and the magic that belonged to
her and to others."
"Are you sorry, then?" asked Dorothy, looking hard at the bird.
"I am VERY sorry," declared Ugu. "I've been thinking over my misdeeds
for a long time, for doves have little else to do but think, and I'm
surprised that I was such a wicked man and had so little regard for
the rights of others. I am now convinced that even had I succeeded in
making myself ruler of all Oz, I should not have been happy, for many
days of quiet thought have shown me that only those things one
acquires honestly are able to render one content."
"I guess that's so," said Trot.
"Anyhow," said Betsy, "the bad man seems truly sorry, and if he has
now become a good and honest man, we ought to forgive him."
"I fear I cannot become a good MAN again," said Ugu, "for the
transformation I am under will always keep me in the form of a dove.
But with the kind forgiveness of my former enemies, I hope to become a
very good dove and highly respected."
"Wait here till I run for my Magic Belt," said Dorothy, "and I'll
transform you back to your reg'lar shape in a jiffy."
"No, don't do that!" pleaded the dove, fluttering its wings in an
excited way. "I only want your forgiveness. I don't want to be a man
again. As Ugu the Shoemaker I was skinny and old and unlovely. As a
dove I am quite pretty to look at. As a man I was ambitious and
cruel, while as a dove I can be content with my lot and happy in my
simple life. I have learned to love the free and independent life of
a bird, and I'd rather not change back."
"Just as you like, Ugu," said Dorothy, resuming her seat. "Perhaps
you are right, for you're certainly a better dove than you were a man,
and if you should ever backslide an' feel wicked again, you couldn't
do much harm as a gray dove."
"Then you forgive me for all the trouble I caused you?" he asked
earnestly.
"Of course. Anyone who's sorry just has to be forgiven."
"Thank you," said the gray dove, and flew away again.
THE END
The Wonderful Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
The Wizard of Oz
The Land of Oz
Ozma of Oz
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
The Road to Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Tik-Tok of Oz
The Scarecrow of Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Tin Woodman of Oz
The Magic of Oz
Glinda of Oz
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