Wheelers?" the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in eating her meal.
"Of course not," he answered. "They be-long to the roy-al fam-il-y of
Ev, on-ly of course there is no roy-al fam-il-y just now be-cause King
Ev-ol-do jumped in-to the sea and his wife and ten chil-dren have been
trans-formed by the Nome King. So there is no one to rule the Land of
Ev, that I can think of. Per-haps it is for this rea-son that the
Wheel-ers claim the trees for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and
din-ners to eat them-selves. But they be-long to the King, and you will
find the roy-al "E" stamped up-on the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner pail."
Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal mark upon
it, as Tiktok had said.
"Are the Wheelers the only folks living in the Land of Ev?" enquired the
girl.
[Illustration: DOROTHY OPENED HER TIN DINNER-PAIL]
"No; they on-ly in-hab-it a small por-tion of it just back of the
woods," replied the machine. "But they have al-ways been mis-chiev-ous
and im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter, King Ev-ol-do, used to car-ry a
whip with him, when he walked out, to keep the crea-tures in or-der.
When I was first made the Wheel-ers tried to run o-ver me, and butt me
with their heads; but they soon found I was built of too sol-id a
ma-ter-i-al for them to in-jure."
"You seem very durable," said Dorothy. "Who made you?"
"The firm of Smith & Tin-ker, in the town of Ev-na, where the roy-al
pal-ace stands," answered Tiktok.
"Did they make many of you?" asked the child.
"No; I am the on-ly au-to-mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they ev-er
com-plet-ed," he replied. "They were ver-y won-der-ful in-ven-tors, were
my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in all they did."
"I am sure of that," said Dorothy. "Do they live in the town of Evna
now?"
"They are both gone," replied the machine. "Mr. Smith was an art-ist, as
well as an in-vent-or, and he paint-ed a pic-ture of a riv-er which was
so nat-ur-al that, as he was reach-ing a-cross it to paint some flow-ers
on the op-po-site bank, he fell in-to the wa-ter and was drowned."
"Oh, I'm sorry for that!" exclaimed the little girl.
"Mis-ter Tin-ker," continued Tiktok, "made a lad-der so tall that he
could rest the end of it a-gainst the moon, while he stood on the
high-est rung and picked the lit-tle stars to set in the points of the
king's crown. But when he got to the moon Mis-ter Tin-ker found it such
a love-ly place that he de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up the
lad-der af-ter him and we have nev-er seen him since."
"He must have been a great loss to this country," said Dorothy, who was
by this time eating her custard pie.
"He was," acknowledged Tiktok. "Also he is a great loss to me. For if I
should get out of or-der I do not know of an-y one a-ble to re-pair me,
be-cause I am so com-pli-cat-ed. You have no i-de-a how full of
ma-chin-er-y I am."
"I can imagine it," said Dorothy, readily.
"And now," continued the machine, "I must stop talk-ing and be-gin
think-ing a-gain of a way to es-cape from this rock." So he turned
halfway around, in order to think without being disturbed.
"The best thinker I ever knew," said Dorothy to the yellow hen, "was a
scarecrow."
"Nonsense!" snapped Billina.
"It is true," declared Dorothy. "I met him in the Land of Oz, and he
travelled with me to the city of the great Wizard of Oz, so as to get
some brains, for his head was only stuffed with straw. But it seemed to
me that he thought just as well before he got his brains as he did
afterward."
"Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the Land of Oz?"
enquired Billina, who seemed a little cross--perhaps because bugs were
scarce.
"What rubbish?" asked the child, who was now finishing her nuts and
raisins.
"Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk, and a tin
woodman who is alive, and a scarecrow who can think."
"They are all there," said Dorothy, "for I have seen them."
"I don't believe it!" cried the hen, with a toss of her head.
"That's 'cause you're so ign'rant," replied the girl, who was a little
offended at her friend Billina's speech.
"In the Land of Oz," remarked Tiktok, turning toward them, "an-y-thing
is pos-si-ble. For it is a won-der-ful fair-y coun-try."
"There, Billina! what did I say?" cried Dorothy. And then she turned to
the machine and asked in an eager tone: "Do you know the Land of Oz,
Tiktok?"
[Illustration: MISTER TINKER VISITS THE MOON]
"No; but I have heard a-bout it," said the copper man. "For it is on-ly
sep-a-ra-ted from this Land of Ev by a broad des-ert."
Dorothy clapped her hands together delightedly.
"I'm glad of that!" she exclaimed. "It makes me quite happy to be so
near my old friends. The scarecrow I told you of, Billina, is the King
of the Land of Oz."
"Par-don me. He is not the king now," said Tiktok.
"He was when I left there," declared Dorothy.
"I know," said Tiktok, "but there was a rev-o-lu-tion in the Land of Oz,
and the Scare-crow was de-posed by a sol-dier wo-man named Gen-er-al
Jin-jur. And then Jin-jur was de-posed by a lit-tle girl named Oz-ma,
who was the right-ful heir to the throne and now rules the land un-der
the ti-tle of Oz-ma of Oz."
"That is news to me," said Dorothy, thoughtfully. "But I s'pose lots of
things have happened since I left the Land of Oz. I wonder what has
become of the Scarecrow, and of the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.
And I wonder who this girl Ozma is, for I never heard of her before."
But Tiktok did not reply to this. He had turned around again to resume
his thinking.
Dorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as not to be
wasteful of good things, and the yellow hen forgot her dignity far
enough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which she ate rather
greedily, although she had so lately pretended to despise the things
that Dorothy preferred as food.
By this time Tiktok approached them with his stiff bow.
"Be kind e-nough to fol-low me," he said, "and I will lead you a-way
from here to the town of Ev-na, where you will be more com-for-ta-ble,
and also I will pro-tect you from the Wheel-ers."
"All right," answered Dorothy, promptly. "I'm ready!"
[Illustration]
The Heads of Langwidere
[Illustration]
They walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going first,
Dorothy following him, and the yellow hen trotting along last of all.
At the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed aside with
ease the rocks that cumbered the way. Then he turned to Dorothy and
said:
"Let me car-ry your din-ner-pail."
She placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers closed
firmly over the stout handle.
Then the little procession marched out upon the level sands.
As soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw them, they
began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly toward the little
group, as if to capture them or bar their way. But when the foremost had
approached near enough, Tiktok swung the tin dinner-pail and struck the
Wheeler a sharp blow over its head with the queer weapon. Perhaps it did
not hurt very much, but it made a great noise, and the Wheeler uttered a
howl and tumbled over upon its side. The next minute it scrambled to its
wheels and rolled away as fast as it could go, screeching with fear at
the same time.
"I told you they were harm-less," began Tiktok; but before he could say
more another Wheeler was upon them. Crack! went the dinner-pail against
its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen feet away; and that was enough
for this Wheeler, also. It rolled away after the first one, and the
third did not wait to be pounded with the pail, but joined its fellows
as quickly as its wheels would whirl.
The yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch upon
Tiktok's shoulder, she said:
"Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of, too. Now we are
free from those ugly creatures."
But just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest, and
relying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely upon
Tiktok. Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her tight, and the
machine embraced the form of the little girl with his left arm, the
better to protect her. Then the Wheelers were upon them.
Rattlety, bang! bang! went the dinner-pail in every direction, and it
made so much clatter bumping against the heads of the Wheelers that they
were much more frightened than hurt and fled in a great panic. All, that
is, except their leader. This Wheeler had stumbled against another and
fallen flat upon his back, and before he could get his wheels under him
to rise again, Tiktok had fastened his copper fingers into the neck of
the gorgeous jacket of his foe and held him fast.
"Tell your peo-ple to go a-way," commanded the machine.
The leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so Tiktok shook
him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the Wheeler's teeth rattled
together with a noise like hailstones on a window pane. Then, as soon as
the creature could get its breath, it shouted to the others to roll
away, which they immediately did.
"Now," said Tiktok, "you shall come with us and tell me what I want to
know."
[Illustration]
"You'll be sorry for treating me in this way," whined the Wheeler. "I'm
a terribly fierce person."
"As for that," answered Tiktok, "I am only a ma-chine, and can-not feel
sor-row or joy, no mat-ter what hap-pens. But you are wrong to think
your-self ter-ri-ble or fierce."
"Why so?" asked the Wheeler.
"Be-cause no one else thinks as you do. Your wheels make you help-less
to in-jure an-y one. For you have no fists and can not scratch or e-ven
pull hair. Nor have you an-y feet to kick with. All you can do is to
yell and shout, and that does not hurt an-y one at all."
The Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy's great surprise.
"Now I and my people are ruined forever!" he sobbed; "for you have
discovered our secret. Being so helpless, our only hope is to make
people afraid of us, by pretending we are very fierce and terrible, and
writing in the sand warnings to Beware the Wheelers. Until now we have
frightened everyone, but since you have discovered our weakness our
enemies will fall upon us and make us very miserable and unhappy."
"Oh, no," exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see this beautifully
dressed Wheeler so miserable; "Tiktok will keep your secret, and so will
Billina and I. Only, you must promise not to try to frighten children
any more, if they come near to you."
"I won't--indeed I won't!" promised the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and
becoming more cheerful. "I'm not really bad, you know; but we have to
pretend to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking us."
[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO THE ROYAL PALACE OF EV]
"That is not ex-act-ly true," said Tiktok, starting to walk toward the
path through the forest, and still holding fast to his prisoner, who
rolled slowly along beside him. "You and your peo-ple are full of
mis-chief, and like to both-er those who fear you. And you are of-ten
im-pu-dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too. But if you will try to cure those
faults I will not tell any-one how help-less you are."
"I'll try, of course," replied the Wheeler, eagerly. "And thank you, Mr.
Tiktok, for your kindness."
"I am on-ly a ma-chine," said Tiktok. "I can not be kind an-y more than
I can be sor-ry or glad. I can on-ly do what I am wound up to do."
"Are you wound up to keep my secret?" asked the Wheeler, anxiously.
"Yes; if you be-have your-self. But tell me: who rules the Land of Ev
now?" asked the machine.
"There is no ruler," was the answer, "because every member of the royal
family is imprisoned by the Nome King. But the Princess Langwidere, who
is a niece of our late King Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal palace
and takes as much money out of the royal treasury as she can spend. The
Princess Langwidere is not exactly a ruler, you see, because she doesn't
rule; but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we have at present."
"I do not re-mem-ber her," said Tiktok. "What does she look like?"
"That I cannot say," replied the Wheeler, "although I have seen her
twenty times. For the Princess Langwidere is a different person every
time I see her, and the only way her subjects can recognize her at all
is by means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain
attached to her left wrist. When we see the key we know we are beholding
the Princess."
"That is strange," said Dorothy, in astonishment. "Do you mean to say
that so many different princesses are one and the same person?"
"Not exactly," answered the Wheeler. "There is, of course, but one
princess; but she appears to us in many forms, which are all more or
less beautiful."
"She must be a witch," exclaimed the girl.
"I do not think so," declared the Wheeler. "But there is some mystery
connected with her, nevertheless. She is a very vain creature, and lives
mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire herself
whichever way she looks."
No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of the
forest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before them--a
beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and green fields, with
pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads that
led in every direction.
In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends
were standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace, which glittered
brightly against their background of blue sky. The palace was surrounded
by charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery. Several tinkling
fountains could be seen, and there were pleasant walks bordered by rows
of white marble statuary.
All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or admire
until they had advanced along the road to a position quite near to the
palace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights when her little
party entered the grounds and approached the big front door of the
king's own apartments. To their disappointment they found the door
tightly closed. A sign was tacked to the panel which read as follows:
OWNER ABSENT.
Please Knock at the Third Door in the Left Wing.
"Now," said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler, "you must show us the way to
the Left Wing."
[Illustration: A SIGN WAS TACKED TO THE PANEL]
"Very well," agreed the prisoner, "it is around here at the right."
"How can the left wing be at the right?" demanded Dorothy, who feared
the Wheeler was fooling them.
"Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn down, so the
one on the right is the only one left. It is a trick of the Princess
Langwidere to prevent visitors from annoying her."
Then the captive led them around to the wing, after which the machine
man, having no further use for the Wheeler, permitted him to depart and
rejoin his fellows. He immediately rolled away at a great pace and was
soon lost to sight.
Tiktok now counted the doors in the wing and knocked loudly upon the
third one.
It was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay ribbons, who
bowed respectfully and asked:
"What do you wish, good people?"
"Are you the Princess Langwidere?" asked Dorothy.
"No, miss; I am her servant," replied the maid.
"May I see the Princess, please?"
"I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant you an
audience," said the maid. "Step in, please, and take a seat in the
drawing-room."
[Illustration]
So Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine. But as the yellow
hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried "Shoo!" and flapped
her apron in Billina's face.
"Shoo, yourself!" retorted the hen, drawing back in anger and ruffling
up her feathers. "Haven't you any better manners than that?"
"Oh, do you talk?" enquired the maid, evidently surprised.
"Can't you hear me?" snapped Billina. "Drop that apron, and get out of
the doorway, so that I may enter with my friends!"
"The Princess won't like it," said the maid, hesitating.
"I don't care whether she likes it or not," replied Billina, and
fluttering her wings with a loud noise she flew straight at the maid's
face. The little servant at once ducked her head, and the hen reached
Dorothy's side, in safety.
"Very well," sighed the maid; "if you are all ruined because of this
obstinate hen, don't blame me for it. It isn't safe to annoy the
Princess Langwidere."
"Tell her we are waiting, if you please," Dorothy requested, with
dignity. "Billina is my friend, and must go wherever I go."
Without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished drawing-room,
lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in through beautiful
stained-glass windows.
"Remain here," she said. "What names shall I give the Princess?"
"I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas," replied the child; "and this gentleman
is a machine named Tiktok, and the yellow hen is my friend Billina."
[Illustration: "THE PRINCESS WONT LIKE IT," SAID THE MAID]
The little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several passages
and mounting two marble stairways before she came to the apartments
occupied by her mistress.
Princess Langwidere's sitting-room was panelled with great mirrors,
which reached from the ceiling to the floor; also the ceiling was
composed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished silver that reflected
every object upon it. So when Langwidere sat in her easy chair and
played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her form was mirrored hundreds
of times, in walls and ceiling and floor, and whichever way the lady
turned her head she could see and admire her own features. This she
loved to do, and just as the maid entered she was saying to herself:
"This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite attractive. I
must wear it more often than I have done of late, although it may not be
the best of my collection."
"You have company, Your Highness," announced the maid, bowing low.
"Who is it?" asked Langwidere, yawning.
"Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Mr. Tiktok and Billina," answered the maid.
"What a queer lot of names!" murmured the Princess, beginning to be a
little interested. "What are they like? Is Dorothy Gale of Kansas
pretty?"
"She might be called so," the maid replied.
"And is Mr. Tiktok attractive?" continued the Princess.
"That I cannot say, Your Highness. But he seems very bright. Will Your
Gracious Highness see them?"
"Oh, I may as well, Nanda. But I am tired admiring this head, and if my
visitor has any claim to beauty I must take care that she does not
surpass me. So I will go to my cabinet and change to No. 17, which I
think is my best appearance. Don't you?"
"Your No. 17 is exceedingly beautiful," answered Nanda, with another
bow.
Again the Princess yawned. Then she said:
"Help me to rise."
So the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere was the
stronger of the two; and then the Princess slowly walked across the
silver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every step upon Nanda's
arm.
Now I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had thirty
heads--as many as there are days in the month. But of course she could
only wear one of them at a time, because she had but one neck. These
heads were kept in what she called her "cabinet," which was a beautiful
dressing-room that lay just between Langwidere's sleeping-chamber and
the mirrored sitting-room. Each head was in a separate cupboard lined
with velvet. The cupboards ran all around the sides of the
dressing-room, and had elaborately carved doors with gold numbers on the
outside and jewelled-framed mirrors on the inside of them.
When the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she went to
her cabinet, opened one of the velvet-lined cupboards, and took the head
it contained from its golden shelf. Then, by the aid of the mirror
inside the open door, she put on the head--as neat and straight as could
be--and afterward called her maids to robe her for the day. She always
wore a simple white costume, that suited all the heads. For, being able
to change her face whenever she liked, the Princess had no interest in
wearing a variety of gowns, as have other ladies who are compelled to
wear the same face constantly.
[Illustration: BY THE AID OF THE MIRROR SHE PUT ON THE HEAD]
Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed alike
but all being of exceeding loveliness. There were heads with golden
hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none with gray
hair. The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of brown and of
black; but there were no red eyes among them, and all were bright and
handsome. The noses were Grecian, Roman, retroussé and Oriental,
representing all types of beauty; and the mouths were of assorted sizes
and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the heads smiled. As for
dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, wherever they might be most
charming, and one or two heads had freckles upon the faces to contrast
the better with the brilliancy of their complexions.
One key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these treasures--a
curious key carved from a single blood-red ruby--and this was fastened
to a strong but slender chain which the Princess wore around her left
wrist.
When Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of cupboard
No. 17, the Princess unlocked the door with her ruby key and after
handing head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the maid, she took
No. 17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck. It had black hair and
dark eyes and a lovely pearl-and-white complexion, and when Langwidere
wore it she knew she was remarkably beautiful in appearance.
There was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went with it
(and which was hidden somewhere under the glossy black hair) was fiery,
harsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led the Princess to do
unpleasant things which she regretted when she came to wear her other
heads.
But she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests in the
drawing-room with a feeling of certainty that she would surprise them
with her beauty.
However, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors were
merely a small girl in a gingham dress, a copper man that would only go
when wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting contentedly in
Langwidere's best work-basket, where there was a china egg used for
darning stockings.[A]
[Footnote A: It may surprise you to learn that a princess ever does such
a common thing as darn stockings. But, if you will stop to think, you
will realize that a princess is sure to wear holes in her stockings, the
same as other people; only it isn't considered quite polite to mention
the matter.]
"Oh!" said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of No. 17. "I thought
some one of importance had called."
"Then you were right," declared Dorothy. "I'm a good deal of 'portance
myself, and when Billina lays an egg she has the proudest cackle you
ever heard. As for Tiktok, he's the----"
"Stop--Stop!" commanded the Princess, with an angry flash of her
splendid eyes. "How dare you annoy me with your senseless chatter?"
"Why, you horrid thing!" said Dorothy, who was not accustomed to being
treated so rudely.
The Princess looked at her more closely.
"Tell me," she resumed, "are you of royal blood?"
"Better than that, ma'am," said Dorothy. "I came from Kansas."
"Huh!" cried the Princess, scornfully. "You are a foolish child, and I
cannot allow you to annoy me. Run away, you little goose, and bother
some one else."
Dorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no words to
reply. But she rose from her chair, and was about to leave the room when
the Princess, who had been scanning the girl's face, stopped her by
saying, more gently:
"Come nearer to me."
Dorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the Princess
while Langwidere examined her face with careful attention.
"You are rather attractive," said the lady, presently. "Not at all
beautiful, you understand, but you have a certain style of prettiness
that is different from that of any of my thirty heads. So I believe I'll
take your head and give you No. 26 for it."
"Well, I b'lieve you won't!" exclaimed Dorothy.
[Illustration: "WELL I B'LIEVE YOU WONT!" EXCLAIMED DOROTHY]
"It will do you no good to refuse," continued the Princess; "for I
need your head for my collection, and in the Land of Ev my will is law.
I never have cared much for No. 26, and you will find that it is very
little worn. Besides, it will do you just as well as the one you're
wearing, for all practical purposes."