The Conquest of the Witch
Now as soon as the conquest of King Krewl had taken place, one of the
Orks had been dispatched to Pon's house with the joyful news. At once
Gloria and Pon and Trot and Button-Bright hastened toward the castle.
They were somewhat surprised by the sight that met their eyes, for there
was the Scarecrow, crowned King, and all the people kneeling humbly
before him. So they likewise bowed low to the new ruler and then stood
beside the throne. Cap'n Bill, as the gray grasshopper, was still perched
upon Trot's shoulder, but now he hopped to the shoulder of the Scarecrow
and whispered into the painted ear:
"I thought Gloria was to be Queen of Jinxland."
The Scarecrow shook his head.
"Not yet," he answered. "No Queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule any
country." Then he turned to his new friend, the Ork, who was strutting
about, very proud of what he had done, and said: "Do you suppose you, or
your followers, could find old Blinkie the Witch?"
"Where is she?" asked the Ork.
"Somewhere in Jinxland, I'm sure."
"Then," said the Ork, "we shall certainly be able to find her."
"It will give me great pleasure," declared the Scarecrow. "When you have
found her, bring her here to me, and I will then decide what to do with
her."
The Ork called his followers together and spoke a few words to them in
a low tone. A moment after they rose into the air--so suddenly that the
Scarecrow, who was very light in weight, was blown quite out of his
throne and into the arms of Pon, who replaced him carefully upon his
seat. There was an eddy of dust and ashes, too, and the grasshopper only
saved himself from being whirled into the crowd of people by jumping into
a tree, from where a series of hops soon brought him back to Trot's
shoulder again.
The Orks were quite out of sight by this time, so the Scarecrow made a
speech to the people and presented Gloria to them, whom they knew well
already and were fond of. But not all of them knew of her frozen heart,
and when the Scarecrow related the story of the Wicked Witch's misdeeds,
which had been encouraged and paid for by Krewl and Googly-Goo, the
people were very indignant.
Meantime the fifty Orks had scattered all over Jinxland, which is not a
very big country, and their sharp eyes were peering into every valley
and grove and gully. Finally one of them spied a pair of heels sticking
out from underneath some bushes, and with a shrill whistle to warn his
comrades that the witch was found the Ork flew down and dragged old
Blinkie from her hiding-place. Then two or three of the Orks seized the
clothing of the wicked woman in their strong claws and, lifting her high
in the air, where she struggled and screamed to no avail, they flew with
her straight to the royal castle and set her down before the throne of
the Scarecrow.
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"Good!" exclaimed the straw man, nodding his stuffed head with
satisfaction. "Now we can proceed to business. Mistress Witch, I am
obliged to request, gently but firmly, that you undo all the wrongs you
have done by means of your witchcraft."
"Pah!" cried old Blinkie in a scornful voice. "I defy you all! By my
magic powers I can turn you all into pigs, rooting in the mud, and I'll
do it if you are not careful."
"I think you are mistaken about that," said the Scarecrow, and rising
from his throne he walked with wobbling steps to the side of the Wicked
Witch. "Before I left the Land of Oz, Glinda the Royal Sorceress gave me
a box, which I was not to open except in an emergency. But I feel pretty
sure that this occasion is an emergency; don't you, Trot?' he asked,
turning toward the little girl.
"Why, we've got to do _something_," replied Trot seriously. "Things seem
in an awful muddle here, jus' now, and they'll be worse if we don't stop
this witch from doing more harm to people."
"That is my idea, exactly," said the Scarecrow, and taking a small box
from his pocket he opened the cover and tossed the contents toward
Blinkie.
The old woman shrank back, pale and trembling, as a fine white dust
settled all about her. Under its influence she seemed to the eyes of all
observers to shrivel and grow smaller.
"Oh, dear--oh, dear!" she wailed, wringing her hands in fear. "Haven't
you the antidote, Scarecrow? Didn't the great Sorceress give you another
box?"
"She did," answered the Scarecrow.
"Then give it me--quick!" pleaded the witch. "Give it me--and I'll do
anything you ask me to!"
"You will do what I ask first," declared the Scarecrow, firmly.
The witch was shriveling and growing smaller every moment.
"Be quick, then!" she cried. "Tell me what I must do and let me do it, or
it will be too late."
"You made Trot's friend, Cap'n Bill, a grasshopper. I command you to give
him back his proper form again," said the Scarecrow.
"Where is he? Where's the grasshopper? Quick--quick!" she screamed.
Cap'n Bill, who had been deeply interested in this conversation, gave
a great leap from Trot's shoulder and landed on that of the Scarecrow.
Blinkie saw him alight and at once began to make magic passes and to
mumble magic incantations. She was in a desperate hurry, knowing that she
had no time to waste, and the grasshopper was so suddenly transformed
into the old sailor-man, Cap'n Bill, that he had no opportunity to jump
off the Scarecrow's shoulder; so his great weight bore the stuffed
Scarecrow to the ground. No harm was done, however, and the straw man got
up and brushed the dust from his clothes while Trot delightedly embraced
Cap'n Bill.
"The other box! Quick! Give me the other box," begged Blinkie, who had
now shrunk to half her former size.
"Not yet," said the Scarecrow. "You must first melt Princess Gloria's
frozen heart."
"I can't; it's an awful job to do that! I can't," asserted the witch, in
an agony of fear--for still she was growing smaller.
"You must!" declared the Scarecrow, firmly.
The witch cast a shrewd look at him and saw that he meant it; so she
began dancing around Gloria in a frantic manner. The Princess looked
coldly on, as if not at all interested in the proceedings, while Blinkie
tore a handful of hair from her own head and ripped a strip of cloth from
the bottom of her gown. Then the witch sank upon her knees, took a purple
powder from her black bag and sprinkled it over the hair and cloth.
"I hate to do it--I hate to do it!" she wailed, "for there is no more
of this magic compound in all the world. But I must sacrifice it to save
my own life. A match! Give me a match, quick!" and panting from lack of
breath she gazed imploringly from one to another.
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Cap'n Bill was the only one who had a match, but he lost no time in
handing it to Blinkie, who quickly set fire to the hair and the cloth
and the purple powder. At once a purple cloud enveloped Gloria, and this
gradually turned to a rosy pink color--brilliant and quite transparent.
Through the rosy cloud they could all see the beautiful Princess,
standing proud and erect. Then her heart became visible, at first
frosted with ice but slowly growing brighter and warmer until all the
frost had disappeared and it was beating as softly and regularly as any
other heart. And now the cloud dispersed and disclosed Gloria, her face
suffused with joy, smiling tenderly upon the friends who were grouped
about her.
Poor Pon stepped forward--timidly, fearing a repulse, but with pleading
eyes and arms fondly outstretched toward his former sweetheart--and the
Princess saw him and her sweet face lighted with a radiant smile. Without
an instant's hesitation she threw herself into Pon's arms and this
reunion of two loving hearts was so affecting that the people turned away
and lowered their eyes so as not to mar the sacred joy of the faithful
lovers.
But Blinkie's small voice was shouting to the Scarecrow for help.
"The antidote!" she screamed. "Give me the other box--quick!"
The Scarecrow looked at the witch with his quaint, painted eyes and saw
that she was now no taller than his knee. So he took from his pocket the
second box and scattered its contents on Blinkie. She ceased to grow any
smaller, but she could never regain her former size, and this the wicked
old woman well knew.
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She did not know, however, that the second powder had destroyed all her
power to work magic, and seeking to be revenged upon the Scarecrow and
his friends she at once began to mumble a charm so terrible in its effect
that it would have destroyed half the population of Jinxland--had it
worked. But it did not work at all, to the amazement of old Blinkie. And
by this time the Scarecrow noticed what the little witch was trying to
do, and said to her:
"Go home, Blinkie, and behave yourself. You are no longer a witch, but an
ordinary old woman, and since you are powerless to do more evil I advise
you to try to do some good in the world. Believe me, it is more fun to
accomplish a good act than an evil one, as you will discover when once
you have tried it."
But Blinkie was at that moment filled with grief and chagrin at losing
her magic powers. She started away toward her home, sobbing and bewailing
her fate, and not one who saw her go was at all sorry for her.
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