The Kingdom of Jinxland
Trot rode with more comfort than she had expected, although the swing
swayed so much that she had to hold on tight with both hands. Cap'n
Bill's bird followed the Ork, and Trot came next, with Button-Bright
trailing behind her. It was quite an imposing procession, but
unfortunately there was no one to see it, for the Ork had headed straight
for the great sandy desert and in a few minutes after starting they were
flying high over the broad waste, where no living thing could exist.
The little girl thought this would be a bad place for the birds to lose
strength, or for the cloth ropes to give way; but although she could not
help feeling a trifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the huge
and brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well as in Cap'n Bill's
knowledge of how to twist and fasten a rope so it would hold.
That was a remarkably big desert. There was nothing to relieve the
monotony of view and every minute seemed an hour and every hour a day.
Disagreeable fumes and gases rose from the sands, which would have been
deadly to the travelers had they not been so high in the air. As it was,
Trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath of fresher air filled her
nostrils and on looking ahead she saw a great cloud of pink-tinted mist.
Even while she wondered what it could be, the Ork plunged boldly into the
mist and the other birds followed. She could see nothing for a time, nor
could the bird which carried her see where the Ork had gone, but it kept
flying as sturdily as ever and in a few moments the mist was passed and
the girl saw a most beautiful landscape spread out below her, extending
as far as her eye could reach.
She saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fields of waving grain,
fountains, rivers and lakes; and throughout the scene were scattered
groups of pretty houses and a few grand castles and palaces.
Over all this delightful landscape--which from Trot's high perch seemed
like a magnificent painted picture--was a rosy glow such as we sometimes
see in the west at sunset. In this case, however, it was not in the west
only, but everywhere.
No wonder the Ork paused to circle slowly over this lovely country. The
other birds followed his action, all eyeing the place with equal delight.
Then, as with one accord, the four formed a group and slowly sailed
downward. This brought them to that part of the newly-discovered land
which bordered on the desert's edge; but it was just as pretty here as
anywhere, so the Ork and the birds alighted and the three passengers at
once got out of their swings.
"Oh, Cap'n Bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimed Trot rapturously.
"How lucky we were to discover this beautiful country!"
"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit, Trot," replied the old
sailor-man, looking around him, "but we don't know, as yet, what its
people are like."
"No one could live in such a country without being happy and good--I'm
sure of that," she said earnestly. "Don't you think so, Button-Bright?"
"I'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy. "It tires me to
think, and I never seem to gain anything by it. When we see the people
who live here we will know what they are like, and no 'mount of thinking
will make them any different."
"That's true enough," said the Ork. "But now I want to make a proposal.
While you are getting acquainted with this new country, which looks as if
it contains everything to make one happy, I would like to fly along--all
by myself--and see if I can find my home on the other side of the great
desert. If I do, I will stay there, of course. But if I fail to find
Orkland I will return to you in a week, to see if I can do anything more
to assist you."
They were sorry to lose their queer companion, but could offer no
objection to the plan; so the Ork bade them good-bye and rising swiftly
in the air, he flew over the country and was soon lost to view in the
distance.
The three birds which had carried our friends now begged permission to
return by the way they had come, to their own homes, saying they were
anxious to show their families how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill and
Trot and Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for their assistance
and soon the birds began their long flight toward the Land of Mo.
Being now left to themselves in this strange land, the three comrades
selected a pretty pathway and began walking along it. They believed
this path would lead them to a splendid castle which they espied in the
distance, the turrets of which towered far above the tops of the trees
which surrounded it. It did not seem very far away, so they sauntered on
slowly, admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the pathway
and listening to the singing of the birds and the soft chirping of the
grasshoppers.
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Presently the path wound over a little hill. In a valley that lay beyond
the hill was a tiny cottage surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. On
the shady porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a pleasant
faced woman sitting amidst a group of children, to whom she was telling
stories. The children quickly discovered the strangers and ran toward
them with exclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and her friends
became the center of a curious group, all chattering excitedly. Cap'n
Bill's wooden leg seemed to arouse the wonder of the children, as they
could not understand why he had not two meat legs. This attention seemed
to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of the children kindly and
then, raising his hat to the woman, he inquired:
"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?"
She stared hard at all three of the strangers as she replied briefly:
"Jinxland."
"Oh!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. "And where is Jinxland,
please?"
"In the Quadling Country," said she.
"What!" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. "Do you mean to say this is the
Quadling Country of the Land of Oz?"
"To be sure I do," the woman answered. "Every bit of land that is
surrounded by the great desert is the Land of Oz, as you ought to know
as well as I do; but I'm sorry to say that Jinxland is separated from
the rest of the Quadling Country by that row of high mountains you see
yonder, which have such steep sides that no one can cross them. So we
live here all by ourselves, and are ruled by our own King, instead of by
Ozma of Oz."
"I've been to the Land of Oz before," said Button-Bright, "but I've never
been here."
"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?' asked Trot.
"No," said Button-Bright.
"It is on the Map of Oz, though," asserted the woman, "and it's a fine
country, I assure you. If only," she added, and then paused to look
around her with a frightened expression. "If only--" here she stopped
again, as if not daring to go on with her speech.
"If only what, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill.
The woman sent the children into the house. Then she came closer to the
strangers and whispered: "If only we had a different King, we would be
very happy and contented."
"What's the matter with your King?" asked Trot, curiously. But the woman
seemed frightened to have said so much. She retreated to her porch,
merely saying:
"The King punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects."
"What's treason?" asked Button-Bright.
"In this case," replied Cap'n Bill, "treason seems to consist of knockin'
the King; but I guess we know his disposition now as well as if the lady
had said more."
"I wonder," said Trot, going up to the woman, "if you could spare us
something to eat. We haven't had anything but popcorn and lemonade for a
long time."
"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you some food," the woman
answered, and entering her cottage she soon returned with a tray loaded
with sandwiches, cakes and cheese. One of the children drew a bucket of
clear, cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate heartily and
enjoyed the good things immensely.
When Button-Bright could eat no more he filled the pockets of his jacket
with cakes and cheese, and not even the children objected to this. Indeed
they all seemed pleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n Bill decided
that no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, the people would prove
friendly and hospitable.
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"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving his hand toward
the towers that rose above the trees.
"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl," she said.
"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?"
"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers and war captains,"
she replied.
"Is he hunting now?" Trot inquired.
"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about the King's actions the
safer we are."
It was evident the woman did not like to talk about King Krewl and so,
having finished their meal, they said good-bye and continued along the
pathway.
"Don't you think we'd better keep away from that King's castle, Cap'n?"
asked Trot.
"Well," said he, "King Krewl would find out, sooner or later, that we are
in his country, so we may as well face the music now. Perhaps he isn't
quite so bad as that woman thinks he is. Kings aren't always popular with
their people, you know, even if they do the best they know how."
"Ozma is pop'lar," said Button-Bright.
"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I've heard," remarked
Trot musingly, as she walked beside the boy. "And, after all, we are
really in the Land of Oz, where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybody
else. I never heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,
Button-Bright?"
"Not when she knows about it," he replied. "But those birds landed us in
just the wrong place, seems to me. They might have carried us right on,
over that row of mountains, to the Em'rald City."
"True enough," said Cap'n Bill; "but they didn't, an' so we must make the
best of Jinxland. Let's try not to be afraid."
"Oh, I'm not very scared," said Button-Bright, pausing to look at a pink
rabbit that popped its head out of a hole in the field near by.
"Nor am I," added Trot. "Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad to be anywhere at all
in the wonderful fairyland of Oz that I think I'm the luckiest girl in
all the world. Dorothy lives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so does
the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the Shaggy Man--and all
the rest of 'em that we've heard so much about not to mention Ozma, who
must be the sweetest and loveliest girl in all the world!"
"Take your time, Trot," advised Button-Bright. "You don't have to say
it all in one breath, you know. And you haven't mentioned half of the
curious people in the Em'rald City."
"That 'ere Em'rald City," said Cap'n Bill impressively, "happens to be
on the other side o' those mountains, that we're told no one is able
to cross. I don't want to discourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most as
much separated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when we lived in
Californy."
There was so much truth in this statement that they all walked on in
silence for some time. Finally they reached the grove of stately trees
that bordered the grounds of the King's castle. They had gone half-way
through it when the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,
reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.
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