Humpy Hailed As King
Kabumpo would never have stopped until he reached the Emerald City
itself, had it not been for the mountain. Rushing like an express train
from a small dim wood, the Elegant Elephant came unexpectedly upon a
steep wall of rock. With a snort of surprise he stopped so sharply
that everyone in the party went sailing over his head. Humpy, who was
lightest, sailed farthest and, landing first, made a splendid cushion
for Snip and Dorothy to fall on. Tora, fortunately, plumped into a
patch of gooseberry bushes, so that no one was really hurt.
"Didn't I do that well?" asked the dummy, as Dorothy and Snip jumped
up. "Falling's my specialty and falling for you, Princess," he rose
and made Dorothy an exceedingly shaky bow, "falling for you, is a real
pleasure."
"Well I'm kinda glad you did fall first," gasped the little girl,
running to help Snip pull Tora out of the bushes.
"Did I understand Dorothy to say your name was Kabumpo?" inquired the
dummy, addressing himself blandly to the Elegant Elephant. Kabumpo
nodded without taking his eyes from the mass of jagged stone ahead.
"Well, that accounts for the bumpo. I understand perfectly now,"
continued Humpy conversationally, as he picked up his crown and set it
solemnly on his head. "But next time, next time, old rascal!" He wagged
his finger playfully at the Elegant Elephant.
"Old rascal! Old rascal!" sputtered Kabumpo, swinging round in a fury.
"How dare you talk to me like that, you good for nothing son of a sofa,
you hair-brained piece of a night shirt!"
"Well, I may be stuffed with hair, but you're stuffed with hay and
I don't see much difference except," Humpy backed rapidly out of
Kabumpo's reach, "except that the person who stuffed you didn't finish
the job. You're full of wrinkles," he announced judicially.
Kabumpo made a swing at the dummy with his trunk and then, thinking
better of it, turned angrily away and, mumbling and wheezing under his
breath, began to move majestically toward the rocky barrier. Seeing
that no more fun was to be had out of him, Humpy hurried over to the
tailor, who was walking unsteadily between Dorothy and Snip. He had put
on his ears and was listening attentively to the little girl's remarks
about the Elegant Elephant. Dorothy was telling how faithfully Kabumpo
had served his master, the Prince of Pumperdink.
"It may be so, it may be so," muttered Tora, gazing after the great
beast doubtfully, "but he seems to me a trifle abrupt--er, almost
dangerous!"
"But he's very fast," said Dorothy coaxingly, "and if he had not
stopped when he did we'd have been thrown upon the rocks."
"That's so," put in Snip, who had rather enjoyed his wild ride upon the
elephant's back.
"Well, well, I daresay I am old fashioned," sighed the tailor, settling
his specs resignedly, "and if you and Dorothy can stand this mad mode
of travel, I'll try not to mind it either."
"Fall on me next time," invited the dummy generously. Humpy's
expression as he made this suggestion was so comical that Tora laughed
in spite of himself.
"But how are we going to cross the mountain?" put in Snip dismally.
"It's too steep for Kabumpo to climb and I don't see any way 'round, do
you?"
Dorothy shook her head. "I don't even remember a mountain being here,"
observed the little girl with a troubled frown. They had joined the
Elegant Elephant by this time and, standing in a dejected row, they
surveyed the great mass of tumbled rocks--rocks so steep and jagged
that even Snip shuddered at the thought of clambering over their
perilous peaks.
"I hope you don't expect me to carry you over," sniffed Kabumpo. "Only
a bird could cross this. A bird! Great Gollywockers! Look!"
But Dorothy and the others had already seen for themselves. An old
woman and a goose were walking calmly through the mountain just as if
it did not exist at all--an old woman and a goose! The former was
dressed in the simple costume of a Gilliken farmer's wife. In one hand
she carried a large basket and with the other she held her stick and a
long rope attached to the goose's neck.
"It's Mombi!" cried Dorothy, clutching Snip in terror, for in spite of
the disguise, there was no mistaking that wicked old face.
"And Pajuka!" gasped Snip, scarcely daring to breathe. Tora's ears
were fluttering like leaves in a gale, and even Kabumpo trembled
slightly.
"She must have got her magic powers back," whispered Snip hoarsely, "or
how could she walk through a mountain? Oh Dorothy, what shall we do
now?"
As it happened, they had time to do nothing, for just then Pajuka
looked up and saw the little button boy.
"Snip!" screamed the goose joyfully. Spreading both wings, he flew
forward so fast that Mombi had to run to keep up with him. "I thought
she had done for you," panted the goose, paying no attention to Mombi's
jerks upon the rope. He began to caress Snip with both wing and bill.
Snip forgot his fright for a moment, in his delight at seeing his old
friend again and, dropping on his knees, hugged Pajuka for dear life.
Dorothy involuntarily drew back from the witch, who was mumbling a long
rigamarole about being on her way to the Emerald City with a fine goose
for Ozma of Oz.
Humpy, stepping from behind the Elegant Elephant, folded his arms and
gazed down benevolently upon the little scene. "Reminds me of the happy
endings in the picture game," observed the dummy indulgently to the
tired tailor. "I'm _for_ that bird, and I don't care who knows it," he
said.
"Hush!" warned the tailor, looking nervously at Mombi. But at the
first sound of Humpy's voice, Pajuka had given a great bounce and,
extricating himself from Snip's embrace, came hurtling through the air.
"Master!" shrieked the goose and flapped his wings so violently that
the flimsy dummy fell backward over Kabumpo's trunk. With a surly
flounce the Elegant Elephant shook him off.
"Monster!" hissed Pajuka, with a wild peck at the elephant's trunk.
"How dare you insult his Majesty?" Bowing and weeping alternately he
cried shrilly, "The King! At last I have found the King!"
By this time the tailor had got Humpy to his feet, and it is hard to
say who was the most astonished of that astonished little group. Mombi
dropped her basket with a crash and came over to stare at the green
clad figure. Kabumpo, thinking of his late speeches, began to back
uncomfortably away.
"But it can't be the King," began Dorothy, catching hold of Snip. "I
found Humpy my own self in California and however could he have gotten
there?"
"Girl," said the goose sternly, "don't you suppose I know my own
Master?"
"And I've seen him before too," murmured the old tailor, half closing
his eyes. "Let me think! Let me think!"
"Did you ever see the King yourself?" asked Snip, turning excitedly to
Dorothy. The little girl had to acknowledge that she had not, for Mombi
had hidden the old monarch away before Dorothy had come to Oz.
"You don't mind my being King, do you Dorothy?" The dummy turned to her
coaxingly. "I'd love to be the star in just one picture. Let me be King
and you shall be Queen."
"Star! Picture! Queen!" choked Pajuka, gazing from one to the other in
bewilderment. "What does this mean? Woman, woman what have you done to
the King?"
He turned accusingly to Mombi, but Mombi, brushing him roughly aside,
had run up to Humpy and was examining him carefully from all sides.
Catching sight of a white tape protruding from the collar of his robe,
the old witch jerked him sideways and after one triumphant look at the
number on the tape, began to jump up and down like a child on a pogo
stick.
"The King!" shrilled Mombi, throwing up her stick. "It is the King of
Oz himself! And I am the only one who can restore him to himself and
to the throne." She looked sharply at Dorothy, whom she had already
recognized, as if daring her to contradict this statement.
"But I don't see how a dummy could be a king," objected Dorothy, still
trying to puzzle out the mystery.
"That's because you are only a little girl," explained Pajuka gently.
"I suppose you don't see how a goose could be a prime minister either,
or how that wicked old woman would dare to turn her King to a stuffed
man and his trusted councillor to a goose, or throw an innocent little
boy down a well," hissed Pajuka, with an angry glare at Mombi.
"A meddlesome little vagabond," mumbled Mombi, holding her ground
stubbornly. She was not going to be frightened out of her reward by
anyone now, and stared defiantly at the little company.
"But how did you get out of the well and who are all these people?"
puffed Pajuka, looking curiously from Tora to Kabumpo and then letting
his eyes rest fondly on the King.
Mombi scarcely listened as Snip told of his fall into Blankenburg, his
escape with the tailor and their meeting with Dorothy, Kabumpo and the
dummy. She was hurriedly turning over a plan to get Humpy away from
his friends. While Pajuka, in his turn, told how he had tried to fly
down the well, how he had been caught and tied up by the old witch and
forced to accompany her until now, Mombi dropped the rope that was tied
to his neck and made a sly move toward the King.
"Your Majesty," whispered Mombi craftily, "may I have a few words with
you?"
"Certainly. Certainly!" puffed the dummy King, stepping along pompously
at her side. Tora, Snip and Dorothy were so interested in Pajuka's
story that they did not notice Mombi's move, but Kabumpo, who had been
keeping an astonished eye and ear upon the whole proceeding, stepped
noiselessly after the two. Here, reasoned Kabumpo anxiously, was an
opportunity to make up for his rude speeches and restore himself to
favor with this impossible person who was turning out to be the King.
No sooner had Mombi put a few trees between herself and the others than
she grasped Humpy by his hand and began running like the wind.
"We'll hide," grunted the old witch, paying no attention to the dummy's
expostulations, "and when they've stopped looking for us we'll go on
to the Emerald City and I will restore your Majesty to the throne. But
first," panted Mombi, stopping a moment to catch her breath, "you must
promise to give me back my magic powers and half of the Kingdom of Oz.
Do you promise? You'd better," she added threateningly, giving Humpy a
vicious shake.
"But I'm going to the Emerald City with Dorothy," objected the King in
dismay. "Let me go, you old ragbag."
"Yes, how dare you shake his Majesty!" thundered an imperious voice
and, whirling 'round in a fright, Mombi saw the Elegant Elephant
looming up between two trees. He had followed them without a sound and
now, snatching Humpy from the clutches of the old witch, placed him
carefully upon his back.
With a cry of rage, Mombi tried to get away, but Kabumpo was too quick
for her. Seizing the witch in his trunk and shaking her to and fro
like a rattle, he ran trumpeting back to the others. They had just
discovered Humpy's absence and Pajuka with a hoarse shriek came flying
toward the Elegant Elephant.
"She was trying to steal the King!" panted Kabumpo indignantly. "Shall
I throw her over the mountain or step on her?"
"Step on her," commanded the dummy, extending two fingers of his right
hand as he had seen kings in the movies do time and time again. Mombi
gave a terrible screech and Dorothy and Snip looked uneasily at one
another.
"The King has spoken," honked Pajuka, settling down gravely beside the
dummy, "therefore let the sentence be carried out."
Dorothy closed her eyes and clung to Snip, but just then, the calm
voice of the tailor intervened.
"Your Highness," began Tora gravely, "as this woman is the only one in
Oz who can restore you to your proper self, do you think this step a
wise one?"
The tailor's ears fluttered anxiously as he waited for the King's
decision. For an instant Humpy looked doubtfully at Mombi, then with
a sigh lowered his fingers. "Perhaps it would be a rash step," he
admitted regretfully.
"Well, some steps must be taken," honked Pajuka angrily. "Are we to put
up with this treachery forever?"
"No, just until she restores the King," answered Tora mildly.
"Then I shall step on her," promised Kabumpo, giving Mombi another
shake.
"That's right," said Dorothy, glad to have the dreadful business
delayed. "Mombi must first restore the King."
"I'll not do it without a reward," screamed the witch defiantly. "Do I
get a reward or not?"
The others were silent but Humpy, again extending his fingers,
announced grandly, "You shall be rewarded as you deserve!" He winked at
Pajuka as he said this, but Mombi apparently was satisfied and stopped
squirming.
"Well, I can't do it here," she muttered sulkily. "The transformation
was made near the Emerald City and the enchantment cannot be broken
until we reach the green country."
"Then let's go on to the Emerald City," proposed Dorothy eagerly. Once
there, reflected the little girl, Ozma herself could settle the whole
troublesome business. Somehow Dorothy could not imagine Oz without
the little fairy as its Queen, and while she was glad indeed to have
found the lost King, she could not get used to the idea of Humpy on the
throne and administering affairs in Oz.
Humpy, himself, was enjoying it all tremendously. He remembered nothing
of his past, it is true, but the present was sufficiently interesting
and exciting to make up for everything.
"On to the Emerald City!" he commanded, pompously waving his arms.
"I hear and I obey, your Majesty," wheezed Kabumpo, and hardly giving
the two children and the old tailor time to climb aboard, he was off,
still holding Mombi fast in his trunk.
"But what about the mountain?" asked Snip, as it loomed up suddenly
ahead.
"Watch," called Pajuka and while Kabumpo swayed uncertainly before it,
he flew straight through the wall of rocks. Like many another mountain
when you come right to it, this was no mountain at all--only a shadow
mountain.
"No wonder Mombi could walk through," sighed Snip, greatly relieved
that the witch had not recovered her magic powers.