Wonderful Wizard of Oz paid you three visits, and what became of the
child, Ozma, which so curiously disappeared."
The Witch looked at Glinda defiantly, but said not a word.
"Answer me!" cried the Sorceress.
But still Mombi remained silent.
"Perhaps she doesn't know," remarked Jack.
"I beg you will keep quiet," said Tip. "You might spoil everything with
your foolishness."
"Very well, dear father!" returned the Pumpkinhead, meekly.
"How glad I am to be a Woggle-Bug!" murmured the Highly Magnified
Insect, softly. "No one can expect wisdom to flow from a pumpkin."
"Well," said the Scarecrow, "what shall we do to make Mombi speak?
Unless she tells us what we wish to know her capture will do us no good
at all."
"Suppose we try kindness," suggested the Tin Woodman. "I've heard that
anyone can be conquered with kindness, no matter how ugly they may be."
At this the Witch turned to glare upon him so horribly that the Tin
Woodman shrank back abashed.
Glinda had been carefully considering what to do, and now she turned to
Mombi and said:
"You will gain nothing, I assure you, by thus defying us. For I am
determined to learn the truth about the girl Ozma, and unless you tell
me all that you know, I will certainly put you to death."
"Oh, no! Don't do that!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman. "It would be an
awful thing to kill anyone--even old Mombi!"
"But it is merely a threat," returned Glinda. "I shall not put Mombi to
death, because she will prefer to tell me the truth."
"Oh, I see!" said the tin man, much relieved.
"Suppose I tell you all that you wish to know," said Mombi, speaking so
suddenly that she startled them all. "What will you do with me then?"
"In that case," replied Glinda, "I shall merely ask you to drink a
powerful draught which will cause you to forget all the magic you have
ever learned."
"Then I would become a helpless old woman!"
"But you would be alive," suggested the Pumpkinhead, consolingly.
"Do try to keep silent!" said Tip, nervously.
"I'll try," responded Jack; "but you will admit that it's a good thing
to be alive."
"Especially if one happens to be Thoroughly Educated," added the
Woggle-Bug, nodding approval.
"You may make your choice," Glinda said to old Mombi, "between death if
you remain silent, and the loss of your magical powers if you tell me
the truth. But I think you will prefer to live."
Mombi cast an uneasy glance at the Sorceress, and saw that she was in
earnest, and not to be trifled with. So she replied, slowly:
"I will answer your questions."
"That is what I expected," said Glinda, pleasantly. "You have chosen
wisely, I assure you."
She then motioned to one of her Captains, who brought her a beautiful
golden casket. From this the Sorceress drew an immense white pearl,
attached to a slender chain which she placed around her neck in such a
way that the pearl rested upon her bosom, directly over her heart.
"Now," said she, "I will ask my first question: Why did the Wizard pay
you three visits?"
"Because I would not come to him," answered Mombi.
"That is no answer," said Glinda, sternly. "Tell me the truth."
"Well," returned Mombi, with downcast eyes, "he visited me to learn the
way I make tea-biscuits."
"Look up!" commanded the Sorceress.
Mombi obeyed.
"What is the color of my pearl?" demanded Glinda.
"Why--it is black!" replied the old Witch, in a tone of wonder.
"Then you have told me a falsehood!" cried Glinda, angrily. "Only when
the truth is spoken will my magic pearl remain a pure white in color."
Mombi now saw how useless it was to try to deceive the Sorceress; so
she said, meanwhile scowling at her defeat:
"The Wizard brought to me the girl Ozma, who was then no more than a
baby, and begged me to conceal the child."
"That is what I thought," declared Glinda, calmly. "What did he give
you for thus serving him?"
"He taught me all the magical tricks he knew. Some were good tricks,
and some were only frauds; but I have remained faithful to my promise."
"What did you do with the girl?" asked Glinda; and at this question
everyone bent forward and listened eagerly for the reply.
"I enchanted her," answered Mombi.
"In what way?"
"I transformed her into--into--"
"Into what?" demanded Glinda, as the Witch hesitated.
"_Into a boy!_" said Mombi, in a low tone.
"A boy!" echoed every voice; and then, because they knew that this old
woman had reared Tip from childhood, all eyes were turned to where the
boy stood.
"Yes," said the old Witch, nodding her head; "that is the Princess
Ozma--the child brought to me by the Wizard who stole her father's
throne. That is the rightful ruler of the Emerald City!" and she
pointed her long bony finger straight at the boy.
"I!" cried Tip, in amazement. "Why, I'm no Princess Ozma--I'm not a
girl!"
Glinda smiled, and going to Tip she took his small brown hand within
her dainty white one.
[Illustration: MOMBI POINTED HER LONG, BONY FINGER AT THE BOY.]
"You are not a girl just now," said she, gently, "because Mombi
transformed you into a boy. But you were born a girl, and also a
Princess; so you must resume your proper form, that you may become
Queen of the Emerald City."
"Oh, let Jinjur be the Queen!" exclaimed Tip, ready to cry. "I want to
stay a boy, and travel with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and the
Woggle-Bug, and Jack--yes! and my friend the Saw-Horse--and the Gump!
I don't want to be a girl!"
"Never mind, old chap," said the Tin Woodman, soothingly; "it don't
hurt to be a girl, I'm told; and we will all remain your faithful
friends just the same. And, to be honest with you, I've always
considered girls nicer than boys."
"They're just as nice, anyway," added the Scarecrow, patting Tip
affectionately upon the head.
"And they are equally good students," proclaimed the Woggle-Bug. "I
should like to become your tutor, when you are transformed into a girl
again."
"But--see here!" said Jack Pumpkinhead, with a gasp: "if you become a
girl, you can't be my dear father any more!"
"No," answered Tip, laughing in spite of his anxiety; "and I shall not
be sorry to escape the relationship." Then he added, hesitatingly, as
he turned to Glinda: "I might try it for awhile,--just to see how it
seems, you know. But if I don't like being a girl you must promise to
change me into a boy again."
[Illustration]
"Really," said the Sorceress, "that is beyond my magic. I never deal in
transformations, for they are not honest, and no respectable sorceress
likes to make things appear to be what they are not. Only unscrupulous
witches use the art, and therefore I must ask Mombi to effect your
release from her charm, and restore you to your proper form. It will be
the last opportunity she will have to practice magic."
Now that the truth about Princess Ozma had been discovered, Mombi did
not care what became of Tip; but she feared Glinda's anger, and the boy
generously promised to provide for Mombi in her old age if he became
the ruler of the Emerald City. So the Witch consented to effect the
transformation, and preparations for the event were at once made.
Glinda ordered her own royal couch to be placed in the center of the
tent. It was piled high with cushions covered with rose-colored silk,
and from a golden railing above hung many folds of pink gossamer,
completely concealing the interior of the couch.
The first act of the Witch was to make the boy drink a potion which
quickly sent him into a deep and dreamless sleep. Then the Tin Woodman
and the Woggle-Bug bore him gently to the couch, placed him upon the
soft cushions, and drew the gossamer hangings to shut him from all
earthly view.
The Witch squatted upon the ground and kindled a tiny fire of dried
herbs, which she drew from her bosom. When the blaze shot up and burned
clearly old Mombi scattered a handful of magical powder over the fire,
which straightway gave off a rich violet vapor, filling all the tent
with its fragrance and forcing the Saw-Horse to sneeze--although he had
been warned to keep quiet.
[Illustration: MOMBI AT HER MAGICAL INCANTATIONS.]
Then, while the others watched her curiously, the hag chanted a
rhythmical verse in words which no one understood, and bent her lean
body seven times back and forth over the fire. And now the incantation
seemed complete, for the Witch stood upright and cried the one word
"Yeowa!" in a loud voice.
The vapor floated away; the atmosphere became clear again; a whiff of
fresh air filled the tent, and the pink curtains of the couch trembled
slightly, as if stirred from within.
Glinda walked to the canopy and parted the silken hangings. Then she
bent over the cushions, reached out her hand, and from the couch
arose the form of a young girl, fresh and beautiful as a May morning.
Her eyes sparkled as two diamonds, and her lips were tinted like a
tourmaline. All adown her back floated tresses of ruddy gold, with a
slender jeweled circlet confining them at the brow. Her robes of silken
gauze floated around her like a cloud, and dainty satin slippers shod
her feet.
At this exquisite vision Tip's old comrades stared in wonder for
the space of a full minute, and then every head bent low in honest
admiration of the lovely Princess Ozma. The girl herself cast one look
into Glinda's bright face, which glowed with pleasure and satisfaction,
and then turned upon the others. Speaking the words with sweet
diffidence, she said:
"I hope none of you will care less for me than you did before. I'm just
the same Tip, you know; only--only--"
"Only you're different!" said the Pumpkinhead; and everyone thought it
was the wisest speech he had ever made.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
The Riches of
Content
]
When the wonderful tidings reached the ears of Queen Jinjur--how Mombi
the Witch had been captured; how she had confessed her crime to Glinda;
and how the long-lost Princess Ozma had been discovered in no less a
personage than the boy Tip--she wept real tears of grief and despair.
"To think," she moaned, "that after having ruled as Queen, and lived in
a palace, I must go back to scrubbing floors and churning butter again!
It is too horrible to think of! I will never consent!"
So when her soldiers, who spent most of their time making fudge in the
palace kitchens, counseled Jinjur to resist, she listened to their
foolish prattle and sent a sharp defiance to Glinda the Good and the
Princess Ozma. The result was a declaration of war, and the very next
day Glinda marched upon the Emerald City with pennants flying and bands
playing, and a forest of shining spears sparkling brightly beneath the
sun's rays.
But when it came to the walls this brave assembly made a sudden halt;
for Jinjur had closed and barred every gateway, and the walls of the
Emerald City were builded high and thick with many blocks of green
marble. Finding her advance thus baffled, Glinda bent her brows in deep
thought, while the Woggle-Bug said, in his most positive tone:
"We must lay siege to the city, and starve it into submission. It is
the only thing we can do."
"Not so," answered the Scarecrow. "We still have the Gump, and the Gump
can still fly."
The Sorceress turned quickly at this speech, and her face now wore a
bright smile.
"You are right," she exclaimed, "and certainly have reason to be proud
of your brains. Let us go to the Gump at once!"
So they passed through the ranks of the army until they came to the
place, near the Scarecrow's tent, where the Gump lay. Glinda and
Princess Ozma mounted first, and sat upon the sofas. Then the Scarecrow
and his friends climbed aboard, and still there was room for a Captain
and three soldiers, which Glinda considered sufficient for a guard.
[Illustration]
Now, at a word from the Princess, the queer Thing they had called
the Gump flopped its palm-leaf wings and rose into the air, carrying
the party of adventurers high above the walls. They hovered over
the palace, and soon perceived Jinjur reclining in a hammock in the
courtyard, where she was comfortably reading a novel with a green cover
and eating green chocolates, confident that the walls would protect her
from her enemies. Obeying a quick command, the Gump alighted safely in
this very courtyard, and before Jinjur had time to do more than scream,
the Captain and three soldiers leaped out and made the former Queen a
prisoner, locking strong chains upon both her wrists.
That act really ended the war; for the Army of Revolt submitted as
soon as they knew Jinjur to be a captive, and the Captain marched in
safety through the streets and up to the gates of the city, which
she threw wide open. Then the bands played their most stirring music
while Glinda's army marched into the city, and heralds proclaimed the
conquest of the audacious Jinjur and the accession of the beautiful
Princess Ozma to the throne of her royal ancestors.
[Illustration]
At once the men of the Emerald City cast off their aprons. And it is
said that the women were so tired eating of their husbands' cooking
that they all hailed the conquest of Jinjur with joy. Certain it is
that, rushing one and all to the kitchens of their houses, the good
wives prepared so delicious a feast for the weary men that harmony was
immediately restored in every family.
Ozma's first act was to oblige the Army of Revolt to return to
her every emerald or other gem stolen from the public streets and
buildings; and so great was the number of precious stones picked
from their settings by these vain girls, that every one of the royal
jewelers worked steadily for more than a month to replace them in their
settings.
Meantime the Army of Revolt was disbanded and the girls sent home to
their mothers. On promise of good behavior Jinjur was likewise released.
Ozma made the loveliest Queen the Emerald City had ever known; and,
although she was so young and inexperienced, she ruled her people with
wisdom and justice. For Glinda gave her good advice on all occasions;
and the Woggle-Bug, who was appointed to the important post of Public
Educator, was quite helpful to Ozma when her royal duties grew
perplexing.
The girl, in her gratitude to the Gump for its services, offered the
creature any reward it might name.
"Then," replied the Gump, "please take me to pieces. I did not wish
to be brought to life, and I am greatly ashamed of my conglomerate
personality. Once I was a monarch of the forest, as my antlers fully
prove; but now, in my present upholstered condition of servitude, I
am compelled to fly through the air--my legs being of no use to me
whatever. Therefore I beg to be dispersed."
So Ozma ordered the Gump taken apart. The antlered head was again
hung over the mantle-piece in the hall, and the sofas were untied and
placed in the reception parlors. The broom tail resumed its accustomed
duties in the kitchen, and finally, the Scarecrow replaced all the
clotheslines and ropes on the pegs from which he had taken them on the
eventful day when the Thing was constructed.
You might think that was the end of the Gump; and so it was, as a
flying-machine. But the head over the mantle-piece continued to talk
whenever it took a notion to do so, and it frequently startled, with
its abrupt questions, the people who waited in the hall for an audience
with the Queen.
The Saw-Horse, being Ozma's personal property, was tenderly cared for;
and often she rode the queer creature along the streets of the Emerald
City. She had its wooden legs shod with gold, to keep them from
wearing out, and the tinkle of these golden shoes upon the pavement
always filled the Queen's subjects with awe as they thought upon this
evidence of her magical powers.
"The Wonderful Wizard was never so wonderful as Queen Ozma," the people
said to one another, in whispers; "for he claimed to do many things he
could not do; whereas our new Queen does many things no one would ever
expect her to accomplish."
Jack Pumpkinhead remained with Ozma to the end of his days; and he
did not spoil as soon as he had feared, although he always remained
as stupid as ever. The Woggle-Bug tried to teach him several arts and
sciences; but Jack was so poor a student that any attempt to educate
him was soon abandoned.
After Glinda's army had marched back home, and peace was restored to
the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman announced his intention to return to
his own Kingdom of the Winkies.
"It isn't a very big Kingdom," said he to Ozma, "but for that very
reason it is easier to rule; and I have called myself an Emperor
because I am an Absolute Monarch, and no one interferes in any way
with my conduct of public or personal affairs. When I get home I shall
have a new coat of nickel plate; for I have become somewhat marred and
scratched lately; and then I shall be glad to have you pay me a visit."
"Thank you," replied Ozma. "Some day I may accept the invitation. But
what is to become of the Scarecrow?"
"I shall return with my friend the Tin Woodman," said the stuffed one,
seriously. "We have decided never to be parted in the future."
"And I have made the Scarecrow my Royal Treasurer," explained the Tin
Woodman. "For it has occurred to me that it is a good thing to have a
Royal Treasurer who is made of money. What do you think?"
"I think," said the little Queen, smiling, "that your friend must be
the richest man in all the world."
"I am," returned the Scarecrow; "but not on account of my money. For
I consider brains far superior to money, in every way. You may have
noticed that if one has money without brains, he cannot use it to
advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will enable him to
live comfortably to the end of his days."
"At the same time," declared the Tin Woodman, "you must acknowledge
that a good heart is a thing that brains can not create, and that money
can not buy. Perhaps, after all, it is I who am the richest man in all
the world."
"You are both rich, my friends," said Ozma, gently; "and your riches
are the only riches worth having--the riches of content!"
[Illustration:
The End
]
THE OZ BOOKS
BY
L. FRANK BAUM
_The Wizard of Oz_
[Originally published as _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_]
It is in this book that Oz is "discovered." A little Kansas
girl--Dorothy Gale--is carried in her house to Oz when a cyclone whisks
it through the sky. As the house lands in the Munchkin Country (one of
the four great countries of Oz) it destroys a wicked witch and sends
Dorothy off on her first adventure in Oz. She finds the Scarecrow,
meets the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, melts a second wicked
witch with a pail of water and finds her way home. Since this book
appeared a half-century ago, we have learned many marvelous things
about the Land of Oz.
_The Land of Oz_
[Originally published as _The Marvelous Land of Oz_]
This sequel to _The Wizard of Oz_ deals entirely with the early history
of Oz. No one from the United States or any other part of the "great
outside world" appears in it. It takes its readers on a series of
incredible adventures with Tip, a small boy who runs away from old
Mombi, the witch, taking with him Jack Pumpkinhead and the wooden
Saw-Horse. The Scarecrow is King of the Emerald City until he, Tip,
Jack, and the Tin Woodman are forced to flee the royal palace when it
is invaded by General Jinjur and her army of rebelling girls. The _Land
of Oz_ ends with an amazing surprise, and from that moment on Ozma is
princess of all Oz.
_Ozma of Oz_
Few of the Oz books are as crowded with exciting Oz happenings as this
one. Not only does it bring Dorothy back to Oz on her second visit,
but it introduces Dorothy to Ozma, relates Ozma's first important
adventure, and introduces for the first time such famous Oz characters
as Tik-Tok, the mechanical man, Billina the hen, the Hungry Tiger,
and--_the Nome King_! Most of the adventures in this book take place
outside Oz, in the Land of Ev and the Nome Kingdom. Scarcely a page
fails to quiver with excitement, magic and adventure.
_Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz_
Of course, everyone always predicted it would happen! And in this book
it does--the Wizard comes back to Oz to stay. Best of all, he comes
with Dorothy, who is having adventure number three that leads her
to Oz, this time via a California earthquake. In this book we meet
Dorothy's pink kitten, Eureka, whose manners need adjusting badly,
and two good friends who we are sorry did not remain in Oz--Jim the
cabhorse, and Zeb, Dorothy's young cousin, who works on a ranch as a
hired boy.
_The Road to Oz_
We like to think of this volume as "The Party Book of Oz." Almost
everyone loves a party, and when Ozma has a birthday party with
notables from every part of fairyland attending--well! It is just like
attending Ozma's party in person. You meet the famous of Oz, and lots
of others, such as Queen Zixi of Ix, John Dough, Chick the Cherub, the
Queen of Merryland, Para Bruin the rubber bear and--best of all--Santa
Claus himself! Of course there are lots of adventures on that famous
road to Oz before the party, during which Dorothy, on her way to Oz for
the fourth time, meets such heart-warming characters as the Shaggy Man,
Button-Bright, and lovely Polychrome, daughter of the rainbow.
_The Emerald City of Oz_
Here is a "double" story of Oz. While Dorothy, her Aunt Em and Uncle
Henry experience the events that lead to their going to Oz to make
their home in the Emerald City, the wicked Nome King is plotting to
conquer Oz and enslave its people. Later we go with Dorothy and her
friends in the Red Wagon on a grand tour of Oz that is simply packed
with excitement and events. While this transpires, we learn also of the
Nome King's elaborate preparations to conquer Oz. As Dorothy and her
friends return to the Emerald City, the Nome King and his hordes of
warriors are about to invade it. How Oz is saved is an ending that will
amaze and delight you.
_The Patchwork Girl of Oz_
Here, the Patchwork Girl is brought to life by Dr. Pipt's magic Powder
of Life. From that moment on the action never slows down in this
exciting book. It tells of Ojo's quest for the strange ingredients
necessary to brew a magic liquid that will release his Unk Nunkie from
a spell--the spell cast by the Liquid of Petrifaction, which has turned
him into a marble statue. In addition to the Patchwork Girl, Ojo and
Unk Nunkie, this book introduces those famous Oz creatures, the Woozy,
and Bungle the glass cat. Oz certainly has become a merrier, happier
land since the Patchwork Girl came to life, and this is the book that
tells how Scraps came to be made, how she was brought to life, and all
about her early adventures.
_Tik-Tok of Oz_
For the second time a little girl from the United States comes to Oz.
Betsy Bobbin is shipwrecked in the Nonestic Ocean with her friend Hank
the mule. The two drift to shore in the Rose Kingdom on a fragment of
wreckage. Betsy meets the Shaggy Man and accompanies him to the Nome
Kingdom, where Shaggy hopes to release his brother, a prisoner of the
Nome King. On their way to the Nome Kingdom, one fascinating adventure
follows another. They meet Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo and her army,
and lovely Polychrome, who had lost her rainbow again; they rescue
Tik-Tok from a well; and are dropped through a Hollow Tube to the other
side of the world where they meet Quox, the dragon. You'll find it one
of the most exciting of all the Oz books.
_The Scarecrow of Oz_
This is the Oz book which L. Frank Baum considered his best. It starts
quietly enough with Trot and Cap'n Bill rowing along a shore of the
Pacific Ocean to visit one of the many caves near their home on the
California coast. Suddenly, a mighty whirlpool engulfs them. The
old sailorman and the little girl are miraculously saved and regain
consciousness to find themselves in a sea cavern. (To this day, Trot
asserts she felt mermaid arms about her during those terrible moments
under water.) From here on, one perilous adventure crowds in upon
another. In Jinxland they meet the Scarecrow who takes charge of things
once Cap'n Bill is transformed into a tiny grasshopper with a wooden
leg. An exciting royal reception greets the adventurers upon their
return to the Emerald City.
_Rinkitink in Oz_