The Tin Woodman of Oz
by
L. Frank Baum
Part 2 out of 4
Chapter Seven
The Lace Apron
"Now," said the Canary, in a tone more brisk than
before, "we may talk together more freely, as Mrs. Yoop
cannot hear us. Perhaps we can figure out a way to
escape."
"Open!" said Woot the Monkey, still facing the door;
but his command had no effect and he slowly rejoined
the others.
"You cannot open any door or window in this enchanted
castle unless you are wearing the Magic Apron," said
the Canary.
"What Magic Apron do you mean?" asked the Tin Owl, in
a curious voice.
"The lace one, which the Giantess always wears. I
have been her prisoner, in this cage, for several
weeks, and she hangs my cage in her bedroom every
night, so that she can keep her eye on me," explained
Polychrome the Canary. "Therefore I have discovered
that it is the Magic Apron that opens the doors and
windows, and nothing else can move them. when she goes
to bed, Mrs. Yoop hangs her apron on the bedpost, and
one morning she forgot to put it on when she commanded
the door to open, and the door would not move. So then
she put on the lace apron and the door obeyed her. That
was how I learned the magic power of the apron."
"I see -- I see!" said the little Brown Bear, wagging
his stuffed head. "Then, if we could get the apron from
Mrs. Yoop, we could open the doors and escape from our
prison."
"That is true, and it is the plan I was about to
suggest," replied Polychrome the Canary-Bird.
"However, I don't believe the Owl could steal the
apron, or even the Bear, but perhaps the Monkey could
hide in her room at night and get the apron while she
is asleep."
"I'll try it!" cried Woot the Monkey. "I'll try it
this very night, if I can manage to steal into her
bedroom."
"You mustn't think about it, though," warned the
bird, "for she can read your thoughts whenever she
cares to do so. And do not forget, before you escape,
to take me with you. Once I am out of the power of the
Giantess, I may discover a way to save us all."
"We won't forget our fairy friend," promised the boy;
"but perhaps you can tell me how to get into the
bedroom."
"No," declared Polychrome, "I cannot advise you as to
that. You must watch for a chance, and slip in when
Mrs. Yoop isn't looking."
They talked it over for a while longer and then Mrs.
Yoop returned. When she entered, the door opened
suddenly, at her command, and closed as soon as her
huge form had passed through the doorway. During that
day she entered her bedroom several times, on one
errand or another, but always she commanded the door to
close behind her and her prisoners found not the
slightest chance to leave the big hall in which they
were confined.
The Green Monkey thought it would be wise to make a
friend of the big woman, so as to gain her confidence,
so he sat on the back of her chair and chattered to her
while she mended her stockings and sewed silver buttons
on some golden shoes that were as big as row-boats.
This pleased the Giantess and she would pause at times
to pat the Monkey's head. The little Brown Bear curled
up in a corner and lay still all day. The Owl and the
Canary found they could converse together in the bird
language, which neither the Giantess nor the Bear nor
the Monkey could understand; so at times they twittered
away to each other and passed the long, dreary day
quite cheerfully.
After dinner Mrs. Yoop took a big fiddle from a big
cupboard and played such loud and dreadful music that
her prisoners were all thankful when at last she
stopped and said she was going to bed.
After cautioning the Monkey and Bear and Owl to
behave themselves during the night, she picked up the
cage containing the Canary and, going to the door of
her bedroom, commanded it to open. just then, however,
she remembered she had left her fiddle lying upon a
table, so she went back for it and put it away in the
cupboard, and while her back was turned the Green
Monkey slipped through the open door into her bedroom
and hid underneath the bed. The Giantess, being sleepy,
did not notice this, and entering her room she made the
door close behind her and then hung the bird-cage on a
peg by the window. Then she began to undress, first
taking off the lace apron and laying it over the
bedpost, where it was within easy reach of her hand.
As soon as Mrs. Yoop was in bed the lights all went
out, and Woot the Monkey crouched under the bed and
waited patiently until he heard the Giantess snoring.
Then he crept out and in the dark felt around until he
got hold of the apron, which he at once tied around his
own waist.
Next, Woot tried to find the Canary, and there was
just enough moonlight showing through the window to
enable him to see where the cage hung; but it was out
of his reach. At first he was tempted to leave
Polychrome and escape with his other friends, but
remembering his promise to the Rainbow's Daughter Woot
tried to think how to save her.
A chair stood near the window, and this -- showing
dimly in the moonlight -- gave him an idea. By pushing
against it with all his might, he found he could move
the giant chair a few inches at a time. So he pushed
and pushed until the chair was beneath the bird-cage,
and then he sprang noiselessly upon the seat -- for his
monkey form enabled him to jump higher than he could do
as a boy -- and from there to the back of the chair,
and so managed to reach the cage and take it off the
peg. Then down he sprang to the floor and made his way
to the door. "Open!" he commanded, and at once the door
obeyed and swung open, But his voice wakened Mrs. Yoop,
who gave a wild cry and sprang out of bed with one
bound. The Green Monkey dashed through the doorway,
carrying the cage with him, and before the Giantess
could reach the door it slammed shut and imprisoned her
in her own bed-chamber!
The noise she made, pounding upon the door, and her
yells of anger and dreadful threats of vengeance,
filled all our friends with terror, and Woot the Monkey
was so excited that in the dark he could not find the
outer door of the hall. But the Tin Owl could see very
nicely in the dark, so he guided his friends to the
right place and when all were grouped before the door
Woot commanded it to open. The Magic Apron proved as
powerful as when it had been worn by the Giantess, so a
moment later they had rushed through the passage and
were standing in the fresh night air outside the
castle, free to go wherever they willed.
Chapter Eight
The Menace of the Forest
"Quick!" cried Polychrome the Canary; "we must hurry,
or Mrs. Yoop may find some way to recapture us, even
now. Let us get out of her Valley as soon as possible."
So they set off toward the east, moving as swiftly as
they could, and for a long time they could hear the
yells and struggles of the imprisoned Giantess. The
Green Monkey could run over the ground very swiftly,
and he carried with him the bird-cage containing
Polychrome the Rain-bow's Daughter. Also the Tin Owl
could skip and fly along at a good rate of speed, his
feathers rattling against one another with a tinkling
sound as he moved. But the little Brown Bear, being
stuffed with straw, was a clumsy traveler and the
others had to wait for him to follow.
However, they were not very long in reaching the
ridge that led out of Mrs. Yoop's Valley, and when they
had passed this ridge and descended into the next
valley they stopped to rest, for the Green Monkey was
tired.
"I believe we are safe, now," said Polychrome, when
her cage was set down and the others had all gathered
around it, "for Mrs. Yoop dares not go outside of her
own Valley, for fear of being captured by her enemies.
So we may take our time to consider what to do next."
"I'm afraid poor Mrs. Yoop will starve to death, if
no one lets her out of her bedroom," said Woot, who had
a heart as kind as that of the Tin Woodman. "We've
taken her Magic Apron away, and now the doors will
never open."
"Don't worry about that," advised Polychrome. "Mrs.
Yoop has plenty of magic left to console her."
"Are you sure of that?" asked the Green Monkey.
"Yes, for I've been watching her for weeks," said the
Canary. "She has six magic hairpins, which she wears in
her hair, and a magic ring which she wears on her thumb
and which is invisible to all eyes except those of a
fairy, and magic bracelets on both her ankles. So I am
positive that she will manage to find a way out of her
prison."
"She might transform the door into an archway,"
suggested the little Brown Bear.
"That would be easy for her," said the Tin Owl; "but
I'm glad she was too angry to think of that before we
got out of her Valley."
"Well, we have escaped the big woman, to be sure,"
remarked the Green Monkey, "but we still wear the
awful forms the cruel yookoohoo gave us. How are we
going to get rid of these shapes, and become ourselves
again?"
None could answer that question. They sat around the
cage, brooding over the problem, until the Monkey fell
asleep. Seeing this, the Canary tucked her head under
her wing and also slept, and the Tin Owl and the Brown
Bear did not disturb them until morning came and it was
broad daylight.
"I'm hungry," said Woot, when he wakened, for his
knapsack of food had been left behind at the castle.
"Then let us travel on until we can find something
for you to eat," returned the Scarecrow Bear.
"There is no use in your lugging my cage any
farther," declared the Canary. "Let me out, and throw
the cage away. Then I can fly with you and find my own
breakfast of seeds. Also I can search for water, and
tell you where to find it."
So the Green Monkey unfastened the door of the golden
cage and the Canary hopped out. At first she flew high
in the air and made great circles overhead, but after a
time she returned and perched beside them.
"At the east in the direction we were following,"
announced the Canary, "there is a fine forest, with a
brook running through it. In the forest there may be
fruits or nuts growing, or berry bushes at its edge, so
let us go that way."
They agreed to this and promptly set off, this time
moving more deliberately. The Tin Owl, which had guided
their way during the night, now found the sunshine very
trying to his big eyes, so he shut them tight and
perched upon the back of the little Brown Bear, which
carried the Owl's weight with ease. The Canary
sometimes perched upon the Green Monkey's shoulder and
sometimes fluttered on ahead of the party, and in this
manner they traveled in good spirits across that valley
and into the next one to the east of it.
This they found to be an immense hollow, shaped like
a saucer, and on its farther edge appeared the forest
which Polychrome had seen from the sky.
"Come to think of it," said the Tin Owl, waking up
and blinking comically at his friends, "there's no
object, now, in our traveling to the Munchkin Country.
My idea in going there was to marry Nimmie Amee, but
however much the Munchkin girl may have loved a Tin
Woodman, I cannot reasonably expect her to marry a Tin
Owl."
"There is some truth in that, my friend," remarked
the Brown Bear. "And to think that I, who was
considered the handsomest Scarecrow in the world, am
now condemned to be a scrubby, no-account beast, whose
only redeeming feature is that he is stuffed with
straw!"
"Consider my case, please," said Woot. "The cruel
Giantess has made a Monkey of a Boy, and that is the
most dreadful deed of all!"
"Your color is rather pretty," said the Brown Bear,
eyeing Woot critically. "I have never seen a pea-green
monkey before, and it strikes me you are quite
gorgeous."
"It isn't so bad to be a bird," asserted the Canary,
fluttering from one to another with a free and graceful
motion, "but I long to enjoy my own shape a gam."
"As Polychrome, you were the loveliest maiden I have
ever seen -- except, of course, Ozma," said the Tin
Owl; "so the Giantess did well to transform you into
the loveliest of all birds, if you were to be
transformed at all. But tell me, since you are a fairy,
and have a fairy wisdom: do you think we shall be able
to break these enchantments?"
"Queer things happen in the Land of Oz," replied the
Canary, again perching on the Green Monkey's shoulder
and turning one bright eye thoughtfully toward her
questioner. "Mrs. Yoop has declared that none of her
transformations can ever be changed, even by herself,
but I believe that if we could get to Glinda the Good
Sorceress, she might find a way to restore us to our
natural shapes. Glinda, as you know, is the most
powerful Sorceress in the world, and there are few
things she cannot do if she tries."
"In that case," said the Little Brown Bear, "let us
return southward and try to get to Glinda's castle. It
lies in the Quadling Country, you know, so it is a good
way from here."
"First, however, let us visit the forest and search
for something to eat," pleaded Woot. So they continued
on to the edge of the forest, which consisted of many
tall and beautiful trees. They discovered no fruit
trees, at first, so the Green Monkey pushed on into the
forest depths and the others followed close behind him.
They were traveling quietly along, under the shade of
the trees, when suddenly an enormous jaguar leaped upon
them from a limb and with one blow of his paw sent the
little Brown Bear tumbling over and over until he was
stopped by a tree-trunk. Instantly they all took alarm.
The Tin Owl shrieked: "Hoot -- hoot!" and flew straight
up to the branch of a tall tree, although he could
scarcely see where he was going. The Canary swiftly
darted to a place beside the Owl, and the Green Monkey
sprang up, caught a limb, and soon scrambled to a high
perch of safety.
The Jaguar crouched low and with hungry eyes regarded
the little Brown Bear, which slowly got upon its feet
and asked reproachfully:
"For goodness' sake, Beast, what were you trying to
do?"
"Trying to get my breakfast," answered the Jaguar
with a snarl, "and I believe I've succeeded. You ought
to make a delicious meal -- unless you happen to be old
and tough."
"I'm worse than that, considered as a breakfast,"
said the Bear, "for I'm only a skin stuffed with straw,
and therefore not fit to eat."
"Indeed!" cried the Jaguar, in a disappointed voice;
"then you must be a magic Bear, or enchanted, and I
must seek my breakfast from among your companions."
With this he raised his lean head to look up at the
Tin Owl and the Canary and the Monkey, and he lashed
his tail upon the ground and growled as fiercely as any
jaguar could.
"My friends are enchanted, also," said the little
Brown Bear.
"All of them?" asked the Jaguar.
"Yes. The Owl is tin, so you couldn't possibly eat
him. The Canary is a fairy -- Polychrome, the Daughter
of the Rainbow -- and you never could catch her because
she can easily fly out of your reach."
"There still remains the Green Monkey," remarked the
Jaguar hungrily. "He is neither made of tin nor stuffed
with straw, nor can he fly. I'm pretty good at climbing
trees, myself, so I think I'll capture the Monkey and
eat him for my breakfast."
Woot the Monkey, hearing this speech from his perch
on the tree, became much frightened, for he knew the
nature of jaguars and realized they could climb trees
and leap from limb to limb with the agility of cats. So
he at once began to scamper through the forest as fast
as he could go, catching at a branch with his long
monkey arms and swinging his green body through space
to grasp another branch in a neighboring tree, and so
on, while the Jaguar followed him from below, his eyes
fixed steadfastly on his prey. But presently Woot got
his feet tangled in the Lace Apron, which he was still
wearing, and that tripped him in his flight and made
him fall to the ground, where the Jaguar placed one
huge paw upon him and said grimly:
I've got you, now!"
The fact that the Apron had tripped him made Woot
remember its magic powers, and in his terror he cried
out: "Open!" without stopping to consider how this
command might save him. But, at the word, the earth
opened at the exact spot where he lay under the
Jaguar's paw, and his body sank downward, the earth
closing over it again. The last thing Woot the Monkey
saw, as he glanced upward, was the Jaguar peering into
the hole in astonishment.
"He's gone!" cried the beast, with a long-drawn sigh
of disappointment; "he's gone, and now I shall have no
breakfast."
The clatter of the Tin Owl's wings sounded above him,
and the little Brown Bear came trotting up and asked:
"Where is the monkey? Have you eaten him so quickly?"
"No, indeed," answered the Jaguar. "He disappeared
into the earth before I could take one bite of him!"
And now the Canary perched upon a stump, a little way
from the forest beast, and said:
"I am glad our friend has escaped you; but, as it is
natural for a hungry beast to wish his breakfast, I
will try to give you one."
"Thank you," replied the Jaguar. "You're rather small
for a full meal, but it's kind of you to sacrifice
yourself to my appetite."
"Oh, I don't intend to be eaten, I assure you," said
the Canary, "but as I am a fairy I know something of
magic, and though I am now transformed into a bird's
shape, I am sure I can conjure up a breakfast that will
satisfy you."
"If you can work magic, why don't you break the
enchantment you are under and return to your proper
form?" inquired the beast doubtingly.
"I haven't the power to do that," answered the
Canary, "for Mrs. Yoop, the Giantess who transformed
me, used a peculiar form of yookoohoo magic that is
unknown to me. However, she could not deprive me of my
own fairy knowledge, so I will try to get you a
breakfast."
"Do you think a magic breakfast would taste good, or
relieve the pangs of hunger I now suffer?" asked the
Jaguar.
"I am sure it would. What would you like to eat?"
"Give me a couple of fat rabbits," said the beast.
"Rabbits! No, indeed. I'd not allow you to eat the
dear little things," declared Polychrome the Canary.
"Well, three or four squirrels, then," pleaded the
Jaguar.
"Do you think me so cruel?" demanded the Canary,
indignantly. "The squirrels are my especial friends."
"How about a plump owl?" asked the beast. "Not a tin
one, you know, but a real meat owl."
"Neither beast nor bird shall you have," said
Polychrome in a positive voice.
"Give me a fish, then; there's a river a little way
off," proposed the Jaguar.
"No living thing shall be sacrificed to feed you,"
returned the Canary.
"Then what in the world do you expect me to
eat?" said the Jaguar in a scornful tone.
"How would mush-and-milk do?" asked the
Canary.
The Jaguar snarled in derision and lashed his tail
against the ground angrily
"Give him some scrambled eggs on toast, Poly,"
suggested the Bear Scarecrow. "He ought to like that."
"I will," responded the Canary, and fluttering her
wings she made a flight of three circles around the
stump. Then she flew up to a tree and the Bear and the
Owl and the Jaguar saw that upon the stump had appeared
a great green leaf upon which was a large portion of
scrambled eggs on toast, smoking hot.
"There!" said the Bear; "eat your breakfast, friend
Jaguar, and be content."
The Jaguar crept closer to the stump and sniffed the
fragrance of the scrambled eggs. They smelled so good
that he tasted them, and they tasted so good that he
ate the strange meal in a hurry, proving he had been
really hungry.
"I prefer rabbits," he muttered, licking his chops,
"but I must admit the magic breakfast has filled my
stomach full, and brought me comfort. So I'm much
obliged for the kindness, little Fairy, and I'll now
leave you in peace."
Saying this, he plunged into the thick underbrush and
soon disappeared, although they could hear his great
body crashing through the bushes until he was far
distant.
"That was a good way to get rid of the savage beast,
Poly," said the Tin Woodman to the Canary; "but I'm
surprised that you didn't give our friend Woot a magic
breakfast, when you knew he was hungry."
"The reason for that," answered Polychrome, "was
that my mind was so intent on other things that I quite
forgot my power to produce food by magic. But where is
the monkey boy?"
"Gone!" said the Scarecrow Bear, solemnly. "The earth
has swallowed him up."
Chapter Nine
The Quarrelsome Dragons
The Green Monkey sank gently into the earth for a
little way and then tumbled swiftly through space,
landing on a rocky floor with a thump that astonished
him. Then he sat up, found that no bones were broken,
and gazed around him.
He seemed to be in a big underground cave, which was
dimly lighted by dozens of big round discs that looked
like moons. They were not moons, however, as Woot
discovered when he had examined the place more
carefully. They were eyes. The eyes were in the heads
of enormous beasts whose bodies trailed far behind
them. Each beast was bigger than an elephant, and three
times as long, and there were a dozen or more of the
creatures scattered here and there about the cavern. On
their bodies were big scales, as round as pie-plates,
which were beautifully tinted in shades of green,
purple and orange. On the ends of their long tails were
clusters of jewels. Around the great, moon-like eyes
were circles of diamonds which sparkled in the subdued
light that glowed from the eyes.
Woot saw that the creatures had wide mouths and rows
of terrible teeth and, from tales he had heard of such
beings, he knew he had fallen into a cavern inhabited
by the great Dragons that had been driven from the
surface of the earth and were only allowed to come out
once in a hundred years to search for food. Of course
he had never seen Dragons before, yet there was no
mistaking them, for they were unlike any other living
creatures.
Woot sat upon the floor where he had fallen, staring
around, and the owners of the big eyes returned his
look, silently and motionless. Finally one of the
Dragons which was farthest away from him asked, in a
deep, grave voice:
"What was that?"
And the greatest Dragon of all, who was just in front
of the Green Monkey, answered in a still deeper voice:
"It is some foolish animal from Outside."
"Is it good to eat?" inquired a smaller Dragon beside
the great one. "I'm hungry."
"Hungry!" exclaimed all the Dragons, in a reproachful
chorus; and then the great one said chidingly: "Tut-
tut, my son! You've no reason to be hungry at this
time."
"Why not?" asked the little Dragon. "I haven't eaten
anything in eleven years."
"Eleven years is nothing," remarked another Dragon,
sleepily opening and closing his eyes; "I haven't
feasted for eighty-seven years, and I dare not get
hungry for a dozen or so years to come. Children who
eat between meals should be broken of the habit."
"All I had, eleven years ago, was a rhinoceros, and
that's not a full meal at all," grumbled the young one.
"And, before that, I had waited sixty-two years to be
fed; so it's no wonder I'm hungry."
"How old are you now?" asked Woot, forgetting his own
dangerous position in his interest in the conversation.
"Why, I'm -- I'm -- How old am I, Father?" asked the
little Dragon.
"Goodness gracious! what a child to ask questions. Do
you want to keep me thinking all the time? Don't you
know that thinking is very bad for Dragons?" returned
the big one, impatiently.
"How old am I, Father?" persisted the small Dragon.
"About six hundred and thirty, I believe. Ask your
mother."
"No; don't!" said an old Dragon in the background;
"haven't I enough worries, what with being wakened in
the middle of a nap, without being obliged to keep
track of my children's ages?"
"You've been fast asleep for over sixty years,
Mother," said the child Dragon. "How long a nap do you
wish?"
"I should have slept forty years longer. And this
strange little green beast should be punished for
falling into our cavern and disturbing us."
"I didn't know you were here, and I didn't know I was
going to fall in," explained Woot.
"Nevertheless, here you are," said the great Dragon,
"and you have carelessly wakened our entire tribe; so
it stands to reason you must be punished."
"In what way?" inquired the Green Monkey, trembling a
little.
"Give me time and I'll think of a way. You're in no
hurry, are you?" asked the great Dragon.
"No, indeed," cried Woot. "Take your time. I'd much
rather you'd all go to sleep again, and punish me when
you wake up in a hundred years or so."
"Let me eat him!" pleaded the littlest Dragon.
"He is too small," said the father. "To eat this one
Green Monkey would only serve to make you hungry for
more, and there are no more."
"Quit this chatter and let me get to sleep,"
protested another Dragon, yawning in a fearful manner,
for when he opened his mouth a sheet of flame leaped
forth from it and made Woot jump back to get out of its
way.
In his jump he bumped against the nose of a Dragon
behind him, which opened its mouth to growl and shot
another sheet of flame at him. The flame was bright,
but not very hot, yet Woot screamed with terror and
sprang forward with a great bound. This time he landed
on the paw of the great Chief Dragon, who angrily
raised his other front paw and struck the Green Monkey
a fierce blow. Woot went sailing through the air and
fell sprawling upon the rocky floor far beyond the
place where the Dragon Tribe was grouped.
All the great beasts were now thoroughly wakened and
aroused, and they blamed the monkey for disturbing
their quiet. The littlest Dragon darted after Woot and
the others turned their unwieldy bodies in his
direction and followed, flashing from their eyes and
mouths flames which lighted up the entire cavern. Woot
almost gave himself up for lost, at that moment, but he
scrambled to his feet and dashed away to the farthest
end of the cave, the Dragons following more leisurely
because they were too clumsy to move fast. Perhaps they
thought there was no need of haste, as the monkey could
not escape from the cave. But, away up at the end of
the place, the cavern floor was heaped with tumbled
rocks, so Woot, with an agility born of fear, climbed
from rock to rock until he found himself crouched
against the cavern roof. There he waited, for he could
go no farther, while on over the tumbled rocks slowly
crept the Dragons -- the littlest one coming first
because he was hungry as well as angry.
The beasts had almost reached him when Woot,
remembering his lace apron -- now sadly torn and soiled
-- recovered his wits and shouted: "Open!" At the cry a
hole appeared in the roof of the cavern, just over his
head, and through it the sunlight streamed full upon
the Green Monkey
The Dragons paused, astonished at the magic and
blinking at the sunlight, and this gave Woot time to
climb through the opening. As soon as he reached the
surface of the earth the hole closed again, and the boy
monkey realized, with a thrill of joy, that he had seen
the last of the dangerous Dragon family
He sat upon the ground, still panting hard from his
exertions, when the bushes before him parted and his
former enemy, the Jaguar, appeared.
"Don't run," said the woodland beast, as Woot sprang
up; "you are perfectly safe, so far as I am concerned,
for since you so mysteriously disappeared I have had my
breakfast. I am now on my way home to sleep the rest of
the day."
"Oh, indeed!" returned the Green Monkey, in a tone
both sorry and startled. "Which of my friends did you
manage to eat?"
"None of them," returned the Jaguar, with a sly grin
had a dish of magic scrambled eggs-on toast -- and it
wasn't a bad feast, at all. There isn't room in me for
even you, and I don't regret it because I judge, from
your green color, that you are not ripe, and would make
an indifferent meal. We jaguars have to be careful of
our digestions. Farewell, Friend Monkey. Follow the
path I made through the bushes and you will find your
friends."
With this the Jaguar marched on his way and Woot took
his advice and followed the trail he had made until he
came to the place where the little Brown Bear, and the
Tin Owl, and the Canary were conferring together and
wondering what had become of their comrade, the Green
Monkey.
Chapter Ten
Tommy Kwikstep
"Our best plan," said the Scarecrow Bear, when the
Green Monkey had related the story of his adventure
with the Dragons, "is to get out of this Gillikin
Country as soon as we can and try to find our way to
the castle of Glinda, the Good Sorceress. There are too
many dangers lurking here to suit me, and Glinda may be
able to restore us to our proper forms."
"If we turn south now," the Tin Owl replied, "we
might go straight into the Emerald City. That's a place
I wish to avoid, for I'd hate to have my friends see me
in this sad plight," and he blinked his eyes and
fluttered his tin wings mournfully.
"But I am certain we have passed beyond Emerald
City," the Canary assured him, sailing lightly around
their heads. "So, should we turn south from here, we
would pass into the Munchkin Country, and continuing
south we would reach the Quadling Country where
Glinda's castle is located."
"Well, since you're sure of that, let's start right
away," proposed the Bear. "It's a long journey, at the
best, and I'm getting tired of walking on four legs."
"I thought you never tired, being stuffed with
straw," said Woot.
"I mean that it annoys me, to be obliged to go on all
fours, when two legs are my proper walking equipment,"
replied the Scarecrow. "I consider it beneath my
dignity. In other words, my remarkable brains can tire,
through humiliation, although my body cannot tire."
"That is one of the penalties of having brains,"
remarked the Tin Owl with a sigh. "I have had no brains
since I was a man of meat, and so I never worry.
Nevertheless, I prefer my former manly form to this
owl's shape and would be glad to break Mrs. Yoop's
enchantment as soon as possible. I am so noisy, just
now, that I disturb myself," and he fluttered his wings
with a clatter that echoed throughout the forest.
So, being all of one mind, they turned southward,
traveling steadily on until the woods were left behind
and the landscape turned from purple tints to blue
tints, which assured them they had entered the Country
of the Munchkins.
"Now I feel myself more safe," said the Scarecrow
Bear. "I know this country pretty well, having been
made here by a Munchkin farmer and having wandered over
these lovely blue lands many times. Seems to me,
indeed, that I even remember that group of three tall
trees ahead of us; and, if I do, we are not far from
the home of my friend Jinjur."
"Who is Jinjur?" asked Woot, the Green Monkey.
"Haven't you heard of Jinjur?" exclaimed the
Scarecrow, in surprise.
"No," said Woot. "Is Jinjur a man, a woman, a beast
or a bird?"
"Jinjur is a girl," explained the Scarecrow Bear.
"She's a fine girl, too, although a bit restless and
liable to get excited. Once, a long time ago, she
raised an army of girls and called herself 'General
Jinjur.' With her army she captured the Emerald City,
and drove me out of it, because I insisted that an army
in Oz was highly improper. But Ozma punished the rash
girl, and afterward Jinjur and I became fast friends.
Now Jinjur lives peacefully on a farm, near here, and
raises fields of cream-puffs, chocolate-caramels and
macaroons. They say she's a pretty good farmer, and in
addition to that she's an artist, and paints pictures
so perfect that one can scarcely tell them from nature.
She often repaints my face for me, when it gets worn or
mussy, and the lovely expression I wore when the
Giantess transformed me was painted by Jinjur only a
month or so ago."
"It was certainly a pleasant expression," agreed
Woot.
"Jinjur can paint anything," continued the Scarecrow
Bear, with enthusiasm, as they walked along together.
"Once, when I came to her house, my straw was old and
crumpled, so that my body sagged dreadfully. I needed
new straw to replace the old, but Jinjur had no straw
on all her ranch and I was really unable to travel
farther until I had been restuffed. When I explained
this to Jinjur, the girl at once painted a straw-stack
which was so natural that I went to it and secured
enough straw to fill all my body. It was a good quality
of straw, too, and lasted me a long time."
This seemed very wonderful to Woot, who knew that
such a thing could never happen in any place but a
fairy country like Oz.
The Munchkin Country was much nicer than the Gillikin
Country, and all the fields were separated by blue
fences, with grassy lanes and paths of blue ground, and
the land seemed well cultivated. They were on a little
hill looking down upon this favored country, but had
not quite reached the settled parts, when on turning a
bend in the path they were halted by a form that barred
their way
A more curious creature they had seldom seen, even in
the Land of Oz, where curious creatures abound. It had
the head of a young man -- evidently a Munchkin -- with
a pleasant face and hair neatly combed. But the body
was very long, for it had twenty legs -- ten legs on
each side -- and this caused the body to stretch out
and lie in a horizontal position, so that all the legs
could touch the ground and stand firm. From the
shoulders extended two small arms; at least, they
seemed small beside so many legs.
This odd creature was dressed in the regulation
clothing of the Munchkin people, a dark blue coat neatly
fitting the long body and each pair of legs having a
pair of sky-blue trousers, with blue-tinted stockings
and blue leather shoes turned up at the pointed toes.
"I wonder who you are?" said Polychrome the Canary,
fluttering above the strange creature, who had probably
been asleep on the path.
"I sometimes wonder, myself, who I am," replied the
many-legged young man; "but, in reality, I am Tommy
Kwikstep, and I live in a hollow tree that fell to the
ground with age. I have polished the inside of it, and
made a door at each end, and that's a very comfortable
residence for me because it just fits my shape."
"How did you happen to have such a shape?" asked the
Scarecrow Bear, sitting on his haunches and regarding
Tommy Kwikstep with a serious look. "Is the shape
natural?"
"No; it was wished on me," replied Tommy, with a
sigh. "I used to be very active and loved to run
errands for anyone who needed my services. That was how
I got my name of Tommy Kwikstep. I could run an errand
more quickly than any other boy, and so I was very
proud of myself. One day, however, I met an old lady
who was a fairy, or a witch, or something of the sort,
and she said if I would run an errand for her -- to
carry some magic medicine to another old woman -- she
would grant me just one Wish, whatever the Wish
happened to be. Of course I consented and, taking the
medicine, I hurried away. It was a long distance,
mostly up hill, and my legs began to grow weary.
Without thinking what I was doing I said aloud: 'Dear
me; I wish I had twenty legs!' and in an instant I
became the unusual creature you see beside you. Twenty
legs! Twenty on one man! You may count them, if you
doubt my word."
"You've got 'em, all right," said Woot the Monkey,
who had already counted them.
"After I had delivered the magic medicine to the old
woman, I returned and tried to find the witch, or
fairy, or whatever she was, who had given me the
unlucky wish, so she could take it away again. I've
been searching for her ever since, but never can I find
her," continued poor Tommy Kwikstep, sadly "I suppose,
said the Tin Owl, blinking at him, "you can travel
very fast, with those twenty legs."
"At first I was able to," was the reply; "but I
traveled so much, searching for the fairy, or witch, or
whatever she was, that I soon got corns on my toes.
Now, a corn on one toe is not so bad, but when you have
a hundred toes -- as I have -- and get corns on most of
them, it is far from pleasant. Instead of running, I
now painfully crawl, and although I try not to be
discouraged I do hope I shall find that witch or fairy,
or whatever she was, before long."
"I hope so, too," said the Scarecrow. "But, after
all, you have the pleasure of knowing you are unusual,
and therefore remarkable among the people of Oz. To be
just like other persons is small credit to one, while
to be unlike others is a mark of distinction."
"That sounds very pretty," returned Tommy Kwikstep,
"but if you had to put on ten pair of trousers every
morning, and tie up twenty shoes, you would prefer not
to be so distinguished."
"Was the witch, or fairy, or whatever she was, an old
person, with wrinkled skin and half her teeth gone?"
inquired the Tin Owl.
"No," said Tommy Kwikstep.
"Then she wasn't Old Mombi," remarked the transformed
Emperor.
"I'm not interested in who it wasn't, so much as I am
in who it was," said the twenty-legged young man. "And,
whatever or whomsoever she was, she has managed to keep
out of my way."
"If you found her, do you suppose she'd change you
back into a two-legged boy?" asked Woot.
"Perhaps so, if I could run another errand for her
and so earn another wish."
"Would you really like to be as you were before?"
asked Polychrome the Canary, perching upon the Green
Monkey's shoulder to observe Tommy Kwikstep more
attentively.
"I would, indeed," was the earnest reply.
"Then I will see what I can do for you," promised the
Rainbow's Daughter, and flying to the ground she took a
small twig in her bill and with it made several mystic
figures on each side of Tommy Kwikstep.
"Are you a witch, or fairy, or something of the
sort?" he asked as he watched her wonderingly.
The Canary made no answer, for she was busy, but the
Scarecrow Bear replied: "Yes; she's something of the
sort, and a bird of a magician."
The twenty-legged boy's transformation happened so
queerly that they were all surprised at its method.
First, Tommy Kwikstep's last two legs disappeared; then
the next two, and the next, and as each pair of legs
vanished his body shortened. All this while Polychrome
was running around him and chirping mystical words, and
when all the young man's legs had disappeared but two
he noticed that the Canary was still busy and cried out
in alarm:
"Stop -- stop! Leave me two of my legs, or I shall be
worse off than before."
"I know," said the Canary. "I'm only removing with my
magic the corns from your last ten toes."
"Thank you for being so thoughtful," he said
gratefully, and now they noticed that Tommy Kwikstep
was quite a nice looking young fellow.
"What will you do now~" asked Woot the Monkey.
"First," he answered, "I must deliver a note which
I've carried in my pocket ever since the witch, or
fairy, or whatever she was, granted my foolish wish.
And I am resolved never to speak again without taking
time to think carefully on what I am going to say, for
I realize that speech without thought is dangerous. And
after I've delivered the note, I shall run errands
again for anyone who needs my services."
So he thanked Polychrome again and started away in a
different direction from their own, and that was the
last they saw of Tommy Kwikstep.
Chapter Eleven
Jinjur's Ranch
As they followed a path down the blue-grass hillside,
the first house that met the view of the travelers was
joyously recognized by the Scarecrow Bear as the one
inhabited by his friend Jinjur, so they increased their
speed and hurried toward it.
On reaching the place, how ever, they found the house
deserted. The front door stood open, but no one was
inside. In the garden surrounding the house were neat
rows of bushes bearing cream-puffs and macaroons, some
of which were still green, but others ripe and ready to
eat. Farther back were fields of caramels, and all the
land seemed well cultivated and carefully tended. They
looked through the fields for the girl farmer, but she
was nowhere to be seen.
"Well," finally remarked the little Brown Bear, "let
us go into the house and make ourselves at home. That
will be sure to please my friend Jinjur, who happens to
be away from home just now. When she returns, she will
be greatly surprised."
"Would she care if I ate some of those ripe cream-
puffs?" asked the Green Monkey.
"No, indeed; Jinjur is very generous. Help yourself
to all you want," said the Scarecrow Bear.
So Woot gathered a lot of the cream-puffs that were
golden yellow and filled with a sweet, creamy
substance, and ate until his hunger was satisfied. Then
he entered the house with his friends and sat in a
rocking-chair -- just as he was accustomed to do when a
boy. The Canary perched herself upon the mantel and
daintily plumed her feathers; the Tin Owl sat on the
back of another chair; the Scarecrow squatted on his
hairy haunches in the middle of the room.
"I believe I remember the girl Jinjur," remarked the
Canary, in her sweet voice. "She cannot help us very
much, except to direct us on our way to Glinda's
castle, for she does not understand magic. But she's a
good girl, honest and sensible, and I'll be glad to see
her."
"All our troubles," said the Owl with a deep sigh,
"arose from my foolish resolve to seek Nimmie Amee and
make her Empress of the Winkies, and while I wish to
reproach no one, I must say that it was Woot the
Wanderer who put the notion into my head."
"Well, for my part, I am glad he did," responded the
Canary. "Your journey resulted in saving me from the
Giantess, and had you not traveled to the Yoop Valley,
I would still be Mrs. Yoop's prisoner. It is much nicer
to be free, even though I still bear the enchanted form
of a Canary-Bird."
"Do you think we shall ever be able to get our proper
forms back again?" asked the Green Monkey earnestly.
Polychrome did not make reply at once to this
important question, but after a period of
thoughtfulness she said:
"I have been taught to believe that there is an
antidote for every magic charm, yet Mrs. Yoop insists
that no power can alter her transformations. I realize
that my own fairy magic cannot do it, although I have
thought that we Sky Fairies have more power than is
accorded to Earth Fairies. The yookoohoo magic is
admitted to be very strange in its workings and
different from the magic usually practiced, but perhaps
Glinda or Ozma may understand it better than I. In them
lies our only hope. Unless they can help us, we must
remain forever as we are."
"A Canary-Bird on a Rainbow wouldn't be so bad,"
asserted the Tin Owl, winking and blinking with his
round tin eyes, "so if you can manage to find your
Rainbow again you need have little to worry about."
"That's nonsense, Friend Chopper," exclaimed Woot. "I
know just how Polychrome feels. A beautiful girl is
much superior to a little yellow bird, and a boy --
such as I was -- far better than a Green Monkey.
Neither of us can be happy again unless we recover our
rightful forms."
"I feel the same way," announced the stuffed Bear.
"What do you suppose my friend the Patchwork Girl would
think of me, if she saw me wearing this beastly shape?"
"She'd laugh till she cried," admitted the Tin Owl.
"For my part, I'll have to give up the notion of
marrying Nimmie Amee, but I'll try not to let that make
me unhappy. If it's my duty, I'd like to do my duty,
but if magic prevents my getting married I'll flutter
along all by myself and be just as contented."
Their serious misfortunes made them all silent for a
time, and as their thoughts were busy in dwelling upon
the evils with which fate had burdened them, none
noticed that Jinjur had suddenly appeared in the
doorway and was looking at them in astonishment. The
next moment her astonishment changed to anger, for
there, in her best rocking-chair, sat a Green Monkey. A
great shiny Owl perched upon another chair and a Brown
Bear squatted upon her parlor rug. Jinjur did not
notice the Canary, but she caught up a broomstick and
dashed into the room, shouting as she came:
"Get out of here, you wild creatures! How dare you
enter my house?"
With a blow of her broom she knocked the Brown Bear
over, and the Tin Owl tried to fly out of her reach and
made a great clatter with his tin wings. The Green
Monkey was so startled by the sudden attack that he
sprang into the fireplace -- where there was
fortunately no fire -- and tried to escape by climbing
up the chimney. But he found the opening too small, and
so was forced to drop down again. Then he crouched
trembling in the fireplace, his pretty green hair all
blackened with soot and covered with ashes. From this
position Woot watched to see what would happen next.
"Stop, Jinjur -- stop!" cried the Brown Bear, when
the broom again threatened him. "Don't you know me? I'm
your old friend the Scarecrow?"
"You're trying to deceive me, you naughty beast! I
can see plainly that you are a bear, and a mighty poor
specimen of a bear, too," retorted the girl.
"That's because I'm not properly stuffed," he assured
her. "When Mrs. Yoop transformed me, she didn't realize
I should have more stuffing."
"Who is Mrs. Yoop?" inquired Jinjur, pausing with the
broom still upraised.
"A Giantess in the Gillikin Country."
"Oh; I begin to understand. And Mrs. Yoop transformed
you? You are really the famous Scarecrow of Oz."
"I was, Jinjur. Just now I'm as you see me -- a
miserable little Brown Bear with a poor quality of
stuffing. That Tin Owl is none other than our dear Tin
Woodman -- Nick Chopper, the Emperor of the Winkies --
while this Green Monkey is a nice little boy we
recently became acquainted with, Woot the Wanderer."
"And I," said the Canary, flying close to Jinjur, "am
Polychrome, the Daughter of the Rainbow, in the form of
a bird."
"Goodness me!" cried Jinjur, amazed; "that Giantess
must be a powerful Sorceress, and as wicked as she is
powerful."
"She's a yookoohoo," said Polychrome. "Fortunately,
we managed to escape from her castle, and we are now on
our way to Glinda the Good to see if she possesses the
power to restore us to our former shapes."
"Then I must beg your pardons; all of you must
forgive me," said Jinjur, putting away the broom. "I
took you to be a lot of wild, unmannerly animals, as
was quite natural. You are very welcome to my home and
I'm sorry I haven't the power to help you out of your
troubles. Please use my house and all that I have, as
if it were your own."
At this declaration of peace, the Bear got upon his
feet and the Owl resumed his perch upon the chair and
the Monkey crept out of the fireplace. Jinjur looked at
Woot critically, and scowled.
"For a Green Monkey," said she, "you're the blackest
creature I ever saw. And you'll get my nice clean room
all dirty with soot and ashes. Whatever possessed you
to jump up the chimney?"
"I -- I was scared," explained Woot, somewhat
ashamed.
"Well, you need renovating, and that's what will
happen to you, right away. Come with me!" she
commanded.
"What are you going to do?" asked Woot.
"Give you a good scrubbing," said Jinjur.
Now, neither boys nor monkeys relish being scrubbed,
so Woot shrank away from the energetic girl, trembling
fearfully. But Jinjur grabbed him by his paw and
dragged him out to the back yard, where, in spite of
his whines and struggles, she plunged him into a tub of
cold water and began to scrub him with a stiff brush
and a cake of yellow soap.
This was the hardest trial that Woot had endured
since he became a monkey, but no protest had any
influence with Jinjur, who lathered and scrubbed him in
a business-like manner and afterward dried him with a
coarse towel.
The Bear and the Owl gravely watched this operation
and nodded approval when Woot's silky green fur shone
clear and bright in the afternoon sun. The Canary
seemed much amused and laughed a silvery ripple of
laughter as she said:
"Very well done, my good Jinjur; I admire your energy
and judgment. But I had no idea a monkey could look so
comical as this monkey did while he was being bathed."
"I'm not a monkey!" declared Woot, resentfully; "I'm
just a boy in a monkey's shape, that's all."
"If you can explain to me the difference," said
Jinjur, "I'll agree not to wash you again -- that is,
unless you foolishly get into the fireplace. All
persons are usually judged by the shapes in which they
appear to the eyes of others. Look at me, Woot; what am
I?"
Woot looked at her.
"You're as pretty a girl as I've ever seen," he
replied.
Jinjur frowned. That is, she tried hard to frown.
"Come out into the garden with me," she said, "and
I'll give you some of the most delicious caramels you
ever ate. They're a new variety, that no one can grow
but me, and they have a heliotrope flavor."
Chapter Twelve
Ozma and Dorothy
In her magnificent palace in the Emerald City, the
beautiful girl Ruler of all the wonderful Land of Oz
sat in her dainty boudoir with her friend Princess
Dorothy beside her. Ozma was studying a roll of
manuscript which she had taken from the Royal Library,
while Dorothy worked at her embroidery and at times
stooped to pat a shaggy little black dog that lay at
her feet. The little dog's name was Toto, and he was
Dorothy's faithful companion.
To judge Ozma of Oz by the standards of our world,
you would think her very young -- perhaps fourteen or
fifteen years of age -- yet for years she had ruled the
Land of Oz and had never seemed a bit older. Dorothy
appeared much younger than Ozma. She had been a little
girl when first she came to the Land of Oz, and she was
a little girl still, and would never seem to be a day
older while she lived in this wonderful fairyland.
Oz was not always a fairyland, I am told. Once it was
much like other lands, except it was shut in by a
dreadful desert of sandy wastes that lay all around it,
thus preventing its people from all contact with the
rest of the world. Seeing this isolation, the fairy
band of Queen Lurline, passing over Oz while on a
journey, enchanted the country and so made it a
Fairyland. And Queen Lurline left one of her fairies to
rule this enchanted Land of Oz, and then passed on and
forgot all about it.
From that moment no one in Oz ever died. Those who
were old remained old; those who were young and strong
did not change as years passed them by; the children
remained children always, and played and romped to
their hearts' content, while all the babies lived in
their cradles and were tenderly cared for and never
grew up. So people in Oz stopped counting how old they
were in years, for years made no difference in their
appearance and could not alter their station. They did
not get sick, so there were no doctors among them.
Accidents might happen to some, on rare occasions, it
is true, and while no one could die naturally, as other
people do, it was possible that one might be totally
destroyed. Such incidents, however, were very unusual,
and so seldom was there anything to worry over that the
Oz people were as happy and contented as can be.
Another strange thing about this fairy Land of Oz was
that whoever managed to enter it from the outside world
came under the magic spell of the place and did not
change in appearance as long as they lived there. So
Dorothy, who now lived with Ozma, seemed just the same
sweet little girl she had been when first she came to
this delightful fairyland.
Perhaps all parts of Oz might not be called truly
delightful, but it was surely delightful in the
neighborhood of the Emerald City, where Ozma reigned.
Her loving influence was felt for many miles around,
but there were places in the mountains of the Gillikin
Country, and the forests of the Quadling Country, and
perhaps in far-away parts of the Munchkin and Winkie
Countries, where the inhabitants were somewhat rude and
uncivilized and had not yet come under the spell of
Ozma's wise and kindly rule. Also, when Oz first became
a fairyland, it harbored several witches and magicians
and sorcerers and necromancers, who were scattered in
various parts, but most of these had been deprived of
their magic powers, and Ozma had issued a royal edict
forbidding anyone in her dominions to work magic except
Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz. Ozma herself,
being a real fairy, knew a lot of magic, but she only
used it to benefit her subjects.
This little explanation will help you to understand
better the story you are reaching, but most of it is
already known to those who are familiar with the Oz
people whose adventures they have followed in other Oz
books.
Ozma and Dorothy were fast friends and were much
together. Everyone in Oz loved Dorothy almost as well
as they did their lovely Ruler, for the little Kansas
girl's good fortune had not spoiled her or rendered her
at all vain. She was just the same brave and true and
adventurous child as before she lived in a royal palace
and became the chum of the fairy Ozma.
In the room in which the two sat -- which was one of
Ozma's private suite of apartments -- hung the famous
Magic Picture. This was the source of constant interest
to little Dorothy. One had but to stand before it and
wish to see what any person was doing, and at once a
scene would flash upon the magic canvas which showed
exactly where that person was, and like our own moving
pictures would reproduce the actions of that person as
long as you cared to watch them. So today, when Dorothy
tired of her embroidery, she drew the curtains from
before the Magic Picture and wished to see what her
friend Button Bright was doing. Button Bright, she saw,
was playing ball with Ojo, the Munchkin boy, so Dorothy
next wished to see what her Aunt Em was doing. The
picture showed Aunt Em quietly engaged in darning socks
for Uncle Henry, so Dorothy wished to see what her old
friend the Tin Woodman was doing.
The Tin Woodman was then just leaving his tin castle
in the company of the Scarecrow and Woot the Wanderer.
Dorothy had never seen this boy before, so she wondered
who he was. Also she was curious to know where the
three were going, for she noticed Woot's knapsack and
guessed they had started on a long journey. She asked
Ozma about it, but Ozma did not know
That afternoon Dorothy again saw the travelers in the
Magic Picture, but they were merely tramping through
the country and Dorothy was not much interested in
them. A couple of days later, however, the girl, being
again with Ozma, wished to see her friends, the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman in the Magic Picture, and
on this occasion found them in the great castle of Mrs.
Yoop, the Giantess, who was at the time about to
transform them. Both Dorothy and Ozma now became
greatly interested and watched the transformations with
indignation and horror.
"What a wicked Giantess!" exclaimed Dorothy.
"Yes," answered Ozma, "she must be punished for this
cruelty to our friends, and to the poor boy who is with
them."
After this they followed the adventure of the little
Brown Bear and the Tin Owl and the Green Monkey with
breathless interest, and were delighted when they
escaped from Mrs. Yoop. They did not know, then, who
the Canary was, but realized it must be the
transformation of some person of consequence, whom the
Giantess had also enchanted.
When, finally, the day came when the adventurers
headed south into the Munchkin Country, Dorothy asked
anxiously:
"Can't something be done for them, Ozma? Can't you
change 'em back into their own shapes? They've suffered
enough from these dreadful transformations, seems to
me."
"I've been studying ways to help them, ever since
they were transformed," replied Ozma. "Mrs. Yoop is now
the only yookoohoo in my dominions, and the yookoohoo
magic is very peculiar and hard for others to
understand, yet I am resolved to make the attempt to
break these enchantments. I may not succeed, but I
shall do the best I can. From the directions our
friends are taking, I believe they are going to pass by
Jinjur's Ranch, so if we start now we may meet them
there. Would you like to go with me, Dorothy?"
"Of course," answered the little girl; "I wouldn't
miss it for anything."
"Then order the Red Wagon," said Ozma of Oz, "and we
will start at once."
Dorothy ran to do as she was bid, while Ozma went to
her Magic Room to make ready the things she believed
she would need. In half an hour the Red Wagon stood
before the grand entrance of the palace, and before it
was hitched the Wooden Sawhorse, which was Ozma's
favorite steed.
This Sawhorse, while made of wood, was very much
alive and could travel swiftly and without tiring. To
keep the ends of his wooden legs from wearing down
short, Ozma had shod the Sawhorse with plates of pure
gold. His harness was studded with brilliant emeralds
and other jewels and so, while he himself was not at
all handsome, his outfit made a splendid appearance.
Since the Sawhorse could understand her spoken words,
Ozma used no reins to guide him. She merely told him
where to go. When she came from the palace with
Dorothy, they both climbed into the Red Wagon and then
the little dog, Toto, ran up and asked:
"Are you going to leave me behind, Dorothy?" Dorothy
looked at Ozma, who smiled in return and said:
"Toto may go with us, if you wish him to."
So Dorothy lifted the little dog into the wagon, for,
while he could run fast, he could not keep up with the
speed of the wonderful Sawhorse.
Away they went, over hills and through meadows,
covering the ground with astonishing speed. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the Red Wagon arrived
before Jinjur's house just as that energetic young lady
had finished scrubbing the Green Monkey and was about
to lead him to the caramel patch.
Chapter Thirteen
The Restoration
The Tin Owl gave a hoot of delight when he saw the Red
Wagon draw up before Jinjur's house, and the Brown Bear
grunted and growled with glee and trotted toward Ozma
as fast as he could wobble. As for the Canary, it flew
swiftly to Dorothy's shoulder and perched there, saying
in her ear:
"Thank goodness you have come to our rescue!"
"But who are you?" asked Dorothy
"Don't you know?" returned the Canary.
"No; for the first time we noticed you in the Magic
Picture, you were just a bird, as you are now. But
we've guessed that the giant woman had transformed you,
as she did the others."
"Yes; I'm Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter,"
announced the Canary.
"Goodness me!" cried Dorothy. "How dreadful."
"Well, I make a rather pretty bird, I think,"
returned Polychrome, "but of course I'm anxious to
resume my own shape and get back upon my rainbow."
"Ozma will help you, I'm sure," said Dorothy. "How
does it feel, Scarecrow, to be a Bear?" she asked,
addressing her old friend.
"I don't like it," declared the Scarecrow Bear. "This
brutal form is quite beneath the dignity of a wholesome
straw man."
"And think of me," said the Owl, perching upon the
dashboard of the Red Wagon with much noisy clattering
of his tin feathers. "Don't I look horrid, Dorothy,
with eyes several sizes too big for my body, and so
weak that I ought to wear spectacles?"
"Well," said Dorothy critically, as she looked him
over, "you're nothing to brag of, I must confess. But
Ozma will soon fix you up again."
The Green Monkey had hung back, bashful at meeting
two lovely girls while in the form of a beast; but
Jinjur now took his hand and led him forward while she
introduced him to Ozma, and Woot managed to make a low
bow, not really ungraceful, before her girlish Majesty,
the Ruler of Oz.
"You have all been forced to endure a sad
experience," said Ozma, "and so I am anxious to do all
in my power to break Mrs. Yoop's enchantments. But
first tell me how you happened to stray into that
lonely Valley where Yoop Castle stands."
Between them they related the object of their
journey, the Scarecrow Bear telling of the Tin
Woodman's resolve to find Nimmie Amee and marry her, as
a just reward for her loyalty to him. Woot told of
their adventures with the Loons of Loonville, and the
Tin Owl described the manner in which they had been
captured and transformed by the Giantess. Then
Polychrome related her story, and when all had been
told, and Dorothy had several times reproved Toto for
growling at the Tin Owl, Ozma remained thoughtful for a
while, pondering upon what she had heard. Finally she
looked up, and with one of her delightful smiles, said
to the anxious group:
"I am not sure my magic will be able to restore
every one of you, because your transformations are
of such a strange and unusual character. Indeed,
Mrs. Yoop was quite justified in believing no power
could alter her enchantments. However, I am sure
I can restore the Scarecrow to his original shape.
He was stuffed with straw from the beginning, and
even the yookoohoo magic could not alter that. The
Giantess was merely able to make a bear's shape of
a man's shape, but the bear is stuffed with straw,
just as the man was. So I feel confident I can make
a man of the bear again."
"Hurrah!" cried the Brown Bear, and tried clumsily to
dance a jig of delight.
"As for the Tin Woodman, his case is much the same,"
resumed Ozma, still smiling. "The power of the Giantess
could not make him anything but a tin creature,
whatever shape she transformed him into, so it will not
be impossible to restore him to his manly form. Anyhow,
I shall test my magic at once, and see if it will do
what I have promised."
She drew from her bosom a small silver Wand and,
making passes with the Wand over the head of the Bear,
she succeeded in the brief space of a moment in
breaking his enchantment. The original Scarecrow of Oz
again stood before them, well stuffed with straw and
with his features nicely painted upon the bag which
formed his head.
The Scarecrow was greatly delighted, as you may
suppose, and he strutted proudly around while the
powerful fairy, Ozma of Oz, broke the enchantment that
had transformed the Tin Woodman and made a Tin Owl into
a Tin Man again.
"Now, then," chirped the Canary, eagerly; "I'm
next, Ozma!"
"But your case is different," replied Ozma, no
longer smiling but wearing a grave expression on
her sweet face. "I shall have to experiment on you,
Polychrome, and I may fail in all my attempts."
She then tried two or three different methods of
magic, hoping one of them would succeed in breaking
Polychrome's enchantment, but still the Rainbow's
Daughter remained a Canary-Bird. Finally, however, she
experimented in another way. She transformed the Canary
into a Dove, and then transformed the Dove into a
Speckled Hen, and then changed the Speckled Hen into a
rabbit, and then the rabbit into a Fawn. And at the
last, after mixing several powders and sprinkling them
upon the Fawn, the yookoohoo enchantment was suddenly
broken and before them stood one of the daintiest and
loveliest creatures in any fairyland in the world.
Polychrome was as sweet and merry in disposition as she
was beautiful, and when she danced and capered around
in delight, her beautiful hair floated around her like
a golden mist and her many-hued raiment, as soft as
cobwebs, reminded one of drifting clouds in a summer
sky.
Woot was so awed by the entrancing sight of this
exquisite Sky Fairy that he quite forgot his own sad
plight until be noticed Ozma gazing upon him with an
intent expression that denoted sympathy and sorrow.
Dorothy whispered in her friend's ear, but the Ruler of
Oz shook her head sadly.
Jinjur, noticing this and understanding Ozma's looks,
took the paw of the Green Monkey in her own hand and
patted it softly.
"Never mind," she said to him. "You are a very
beautiful color, and a monkey can climb better than a
boy and do a lot of other things no boy can ever do."
"What's the matter?" asked Woot, a sinking feeling at
his heart. "Is Ozma's magic all used up?"
Ozma herself answered him.
"Your form of enchantment, my poor boy," she said
pityingly, "is different from that of the others.
Indeed, it is a form that is impossible to alter by any
magic known to fairies or yookoohoos. The wicked
Giantess was well aware, when she gave you the form of
a Green Monkey, that the Green Monkey must exist in the
Land of Oz for all future time."
Woot drew a long sigh.
"Well, that's pretty hard luck," he said bravely,
"but if it can't be helped I must endure it; that's
all. I don't like being a monkey, but what's the use of
kicking against my fate?"
They were all very sorry for him, and Dorothy
anxiously asked Ozma:
"Couldn't Glinda save him?"
"No," was the reply. "Glinda's power in trans-
formations is no greater than my own. Before I left my
palace I went to my Magic Room and studied Woot's case
very carefully. I found that no power can do away with
the Green Monkey. He might transfer, or exchange his
form with some other person, it is true; but the Green
Monkey we cannot get rid of by any magic arts known to
science."
"But -- see here," said the Scarecrow, who had
listened intently to this explanation, "why not put the
monkey's form on some one else?"
"Who would agree to make the change?" asked Ozma. "If
by force we caused anyone else to become a Green
Monkey, we would be as cruel and wicked as Mrs. Yoop.
And what good would an exchange do?" she continued.
"Suppose, for instance, we worked the enchantment, and
made Toto into a Green Monkey. At the same moment Woot
would become a little dog."
"Leave me out of your magic, please," said Toto, with
a reproachful growl. "I wouldn't become a Green Monkey
for anything."
"And I wouldn't become a dog," said Woot. "A green
monkey is much better than a dog, it seems to me."
"That is only a matter of opinion," answered Toto.
"Now, here's another idea," said the Scarecrow. "My
brains are working finely today, you must admit. Why
not transform Toto into Woot the Wanderer, and then
have them exchange forms? The dog would become a green
monkey and the monkey would have his own natural shape
again."
"To be sure!" cried Jinjur. "That's a fine idea."
"Leave me out of it," said Toto. "I won't do it."
"Wouldn't you be willing to become a green monkey --
see what a pretty color it is -- so that this poor boy
could be restored to his own shape?" asked Jinjur,
pleadingly
"No," said Toto.
"I don't like that plan the least bit," declared
Dorothy, "for then I wouldn't have any little dog."
"But you'd have a green monkey in his place,"
persisted Jinjur, who liked Woot and wanted to help
him.
"I don't want a green monkey," said Dorothy
positively.
"Don't speak of this again, I beg of you," said Woot.
"This is my own misfortune and I would rather suffer it
alone than deprive Princess Dorothy of her dog, or
deprive the dog of his proper shape. And perhaps even
her Majesty, Ozma of Oz, might not be able to transform
anyone else into the shape of Woot the Wanderer."
"Yes; I believe I might do that," Ozma returned; "but
Woot is quite right; we are not justified in inflicting
upon anyone -- man or dog -- the form of a green
monkey. Also it is certain that in order to relieve the
boy of the form he now wears, we must give it to
someone else, who would be forced to wear it always."
"I wonder," said Dorothy, thoughtfully, "if we
couldn't find someone in the Land of Oz who would be
willing to become a green monkey? Seems to me a monkey
is active and spry, and he can climb trees and do a lot
of clever things, and green isn't a bad color for a
monkey -- it makes him unusual."
"I wouldn't ask anyone to take this dreadful form,"
said Woot; "it wouldn't be right, you know. I've been a
monkey for some time, now, and I don't like it. It
makes me ashamed to be a beast of this sort when by
right of birth I'm a boy; so I'm sure it would be
wicked to ask anyone else to take my place."
They were all silent, for they knew he spoke the
truth. Dorothy was almost ready to cry with pity and
Ozma's sweet face was sad and disturbed. The Scarecrow
rubbed and patted his stuffed head to try to make it
think better, while the Tin Woodman went into the house
and began to oil his tin joints so that the sorrow of
his friends might not cause him to weep. Weeping is
liable to rust tin, and the Emperor prided himself upon
his highly polished body -- now doubly dear to him
because for a time he had been deprived of it.
Polychrome had danced down the garden paths and back
again a dozen times, for she was seldom still a moment,
yet she had heard Ozma's speech and understood very
well Woot's unfortunate position. But the Rainbow's
Daughter, even while dancing, could think and reason
very clearly, and suddenly she solved the problem in
the nicest possible way. Coming close to Ozma, she
said:
"Your Majesty, all this trouble was caused by the
wickedness of Mrs. Yoop, the Giantess. Yet even now
that cruel woman is living in her secluded castle,
enjoying the thought that she has put this terrible
enchantment on Woot the Wanderer. Even now she is
laughing at our despair because we can find no way to
get rid of the green monkey. Very well, we do not wish
to get rid of it. Let the woman who created the form
wear it herself, as a just punishment for her
wickedness. I am sure your fairy power can give to Mrs.
Yoop the form of Woot the Wanderer -- even at this
distance from her --and then it will be possible to
exchange the two forms. Mrs. Yoop will become the Green
Monkey, and Woot will recover his own form again."
Ozma's face brightened as she listened to this clever
proposal.
"Thank you, Polychrome," said she. "The task you
propose Is not so easy as you suppose, but I will make
the attempt, and perhaps I may succeed."
Chapter Fourteen
The Green Monkey
They now entered the house, and as an interested group,
watched Jinjur, at Ozma's command, build a fire and put
a kettle of water over to boil. The Ruler of Oz stood
before the fire silent and grave, while the others,
realizing that an important ceremony of magic was about
to be performed, stood quietly in the background so as
not to interrupt Ozma's proceedings. Only Polychrome
kept going in and coming out, humming softly to herself
as she danced, for the Rainbow's Daughter could not
keep still for long, and the four walls of a room
always made her nervous and ill at ease. She moved so
noiselessly, however, that her movements were like the
shifting of sunbeams and did not annoy anyone.
When the water in the kettle bubbled, Ozma drew from
her bosom two tiny packets containing powders. These
powders she threw into the kettle and after briskly
stirring the contents with a branch from a macaroon
bush, Ozma poured the mystic broth upon a broad platter
which Jinjur had placed upon the table. As the broth
cooled it became as silver, reflecting all objects from
its smooth surface like a mirror.
While her companions gathered around the table,
eagerly attentive -- and Dorothy even held little Toto
in her arms that he might see -- Ozma waved her wand
over the mirror-like surface. At once it reflected the
interior of Yoop Castle, and in the big hall sat Mrs.
Yoop, in her best embroidered silken robes, engaged in
weaving a new lace apron to replace the one she had
lost.
The Giantess seemed rather uneasy, as if she had a
faint idea that someone was spying upon her, for she
kept looking behind her and this way and that, as
though expecting danger from an unknown source. Perhaps
some yookoohoo instinct warned her. Woot saw that she
had escaped from her room by some of the magical means
at her disposal, after her prisoners had escaped her.
She was now occupying the big hall of her castle as she
used to do. Also Woot thought, from the cruel
expression on the face of the Giantess, that she was
planning revenge on them, as soon as her new magic
apron was finished
But Ozma was now making passes over the platter with
her silver Wand, and presently the form of the Giantess
began to shrink in size and to change its shape. And
now, in her place sat the form of Woot the Wanderer,
and as if suddenly realizing her transformation Mrs.
Yoop threw down her work and rushed to a looking-glass
that stood against the wall of her room. When she saw
the boy's form reflected as her own, she grew violently
angry and dashed her head against the mirror, smashing
it to atoms.
Just then Ozma was busy with her magic Wand, making
strange figures, and she had also placed her left hand
firmly upon the shoulder of the Green Monkey. So now,
as all eyes were turned upon the platter, the form of
Mrs. Yoop gradually changed again. She was slowly
transformed into the Green Monkey, and at the same time
Woot slowly regained his natural form.
It was quite a surprise to them all when they raised
their eyes from the platter and saw Woot the Wanderer
standing beside Ozma. And, when they glanced at the
platter again, it reflected nothing more than the walls
of the room in Jinjur's house in which they stood. The
magic ceremonial was ended, and Ozma of Oz had
triumphed over the wicked Giantess.
"What will become of her, I wonder?" said Dorothy, as
she drew a long breath.
"She will always remain a Green Monkey," replied
Ozma, "and in that form she will be unable to perform
any magical arts whatsoever. She need not be unhappy,
however, and as she lives all alone in her castle she
probably won't mind the transformation very much after
she gets used to it."
"Anyhow, it serves her right," declared Dorothy, and
all agreed with her.
"But," said the kind hearted Tin Woodman, "I'm afraid
the Green Monkey will starve, for Mrs. Yoop used to get
her food by magic, and now that the magic is taken away
from her, what can she eat?"
"Why, she'll eat what other monkeys do," returned the
Scarecrow. "Even in the form of a Green Monkey, she's a
very clever person, and I'm sure her wits will show her
how to get plenty to eat."
"Don't worry about her," advised Dorothy. "She didn't
worry about you, and her condition is no worse than the
condition she imposed on poor Woot. She can't starve to
death in the Land of Oz, that's certain, and if she
gets hungry at times it's no more than the wicked thing
deserves. Let's forget Mrs. Yoop; for, in spite of her
being a yookoohoo, our fairy friends have broken all of
her transformations."
Chapter Fifteen
The Man of Tin
Ozma and Dorothy were quite pleased with Woot the
Wanderer, whom they found modest and intelligent and
very well mannered. The boy was truly grateful for his
release from the cruel enchantment, and he promised to
love, revere and defend the girl Ruler of Oz forever
afterward, as a faithful subject.
"You may visit me at my palace, if you wish," said
Ozma, "where I will be glad to introduce you to two
other nice boys, Ojo the Munchkin and Button-Bright."
"Thank your Majesty," replied Woot, and then he
turned to the Tin Woodman and inquired: "What are your
further plans, Mr. Emperor? Will you still seek Nimmie
Amee and marry her, or will you abandon the quest and
return to the Emerald City and your own castle?"
The Tin Woodman, now as highly polished and well-
oiled as ever, reflected a while on this question and
then answered:
"Well, I see no reason why I should not find Nimmie
Amee. We are now in the Munchkin Country, where we are
perfectly safe, and if it was right for me, before our
enchantment, to marry Nimmie Amee and make her Empress
of the Winkies, it must be right now, when the
enchantment has been broken and I am once more myself.
Am I correct, friend Scarecrow?"
"You are, indeed," answered the Scarecrow. "No one
can oppose such logic."
"But I'm afraid you don't love Nimmie Amee,"
suggested Dorothy.
"That is just because I can't love anyone," replied
the Tin Woodman. "But, if I cannot love my wife, I can
at least be kind to her, and all husbands are not able
to do that."
"Do you s'pose Nimmie Amee still loves you, after all
these years?" asked Dorothy
"I'm quite sure of it, and that is why I am going to
her to make her happy. Woot the Wanderer thinks I ought
to reward her for being faithful to me after my meat
body was chopped to pieces and I became tin. What do
you think, Ozma?"
Ozma smiled as she said:
"I do not know your Nimmie Amee, and so I cannot tell
what she most needs to make her happy. But there is no
harm in your going to her and asking her if she still
wishes to marry you. If she does, we will give you a
grand wedding at the Emerald City and, afterward, as
Empress of the Winkies, Nimmie Amee would become one
of the most important ladies in all Oz."
So it was decided that the Tin Woodman would continue
his journey, and that the Scarecrow and Woot the
Wanderer should accompany him, as before. Polychrome
also decided to join their party, somewhat to the
surprise of all.
"I hate to be cooped up in a palace," she said to
Ozma, "and of course the first time I meet my Rainbow I
shall return to my own dear home in the skies, where my
fairy sisters are even now awaiting me and my father is
cross because I get lost so often. But I can find my
Rainbow just as quickly while traveling in the Munchkin
Country as I could if living in the Emerald City -- or
any other place in Oz -- so I shall go with the Tin
Woodman and help him woo Nimmie Amee."
Dorothy wanted to go, too, but as the Tin Woodman did
not invite her to join his party, she felt she might be
intruding if she asked to be taken. she hinted, but she
found he didn't take the hint. It is quite a delicate
matter for one to ask a girl to marry him, however much
she loves him, and perhaps the Tin Woodman did not
desire to have too many looking on when he found his
old sweetheart, Nimmie Amee. So Dorothy contented
herself with the thought that she would help Ozma
prepare a splendid wedding feast, to be followed by a
round of parties and festivities when the Emperor of
the Winkies reached the Emerald City with his bride.
Ozma offered to take them all in the Red Wagon to a
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