The Great Sorceress
Betsy and Trot, when they heard of the rescue expedition, begged the
Wizard to permit them to join it and he consented. The Glass Cat,
overhearing the conversation, wanted to go also and to this the
Wizard made no objection.
This Glass Cat was one of the real curiosities of Oz. It had been made
and brought to life by a clever magician named Dr. Pipt, who was not
now permitted to work magic and was an ordinary citizen of the Emerald
City. The cat was of transparent glass, through which one could
plainly see its ruby heart beating and its pink brains whirling around
in the top of the head.
The Glass Cat's eyes were emeralds; its fluffy tail was of spun glass
and very beautiful. The ruby heart, while pretty to look at, was hard
and cold and the Glass Cat's disposition was not pleasant at all
times. It scorned to catch mice, did not eat, and was extremely lazy.
If you complimented the remarkable cat on her beauty, she would be
very friendly, for she loved admiration above everything. The pink
brains were always working and their owner was indeed more intelligent
than most common cats.
Three other additions to the rescue party were made the next morning,
just as they were setting out upon their journey. The first was a
little boy called Button Bright, because he had no other name that
anyone could remember. He was a fine, manly little fellow, well
mannered and good humored, who had only one bad fault. He was
continually getting lost. To be sure, Button Bright got found as often
as he got lost, but when he was missing his friends could not help
being anxious about him.
"Some day," predicted the Patchwork Girl, "he won't be found, and that
will be the last of him." But that didn't worry Button Bright, who was
so careless that he did not seem to be able to break the habit of
getting lost.
The second addition to the party was a Munchkin boy of about Button
Bright's age, named Ojo. He was often called "Ojo the Lucky," because
good fortune followed him wherever he went. He and Button Bright were
close friends, although of such different natures, and Trot and Betsy
were fond of both.
The third and last to join the expedition was an enormous lion, one of
Ozma's regular guardians and the most important and intelligent beast
in all Oz. He called himself the Cowardly Lion, saying that every
little danger scared him so badly that his heart thumped against his
ribs, but all who knew him knew that the Cowardly Lion's fears were
coupled with bravery and that however much he might be frightened he
summoned courage to meet every danger he encountered. Often he had
saved Dorothy and Ozma in times of peril, but afterward he moaned and
trembled and wept because he had been so scared.
"If Ozma needs help, I'm going to help her," said the great beast.
"Also, I suspect the rest of you may need me on the journey--especially
Trot and Betsy--for you may pass through a dangerous part of the
country. I know that wild Gillikin country pretty well. Its forests
harbor many ferocious beasts."
They were glad the Cowardly Lion was to join them, and in good spirits
the entire party formed a procession and marched out of the Emerald
City amid the shouts of the people, who wished them success and a safe
return with their beloved Ruler.
They followed a different route from that taken by Ozma and Dorothy,
for they went through the Winkie Country and up north toward Oogaboo.
But before they got there they swerved to the left and entered the
Great Gillikin Forest, the nearest thing to a wilderness in all Oz.
Even the Cowardly Lion had to admit that certain parts of this forest
were unknown to him, although he had often wandered among the trees,
and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, who were great travelers, never had
been there at all.
The forest was only reached after a tedious tramp, for some of the
Rescue Expedition were quite awkward on their feet. The Patchwork Girl
was as light as a feather and very spry; the Tin Woodman covered the
ground as easily as Uncle Henry and the Wizard; but Tik-Tok moved
slowly and the slightest obstruction in the road would halt him until
the others cleared it away. Then, too, Tik-Tok's machinery kept
running down, so Betsy and Trot took turns in winding it up.
The Scarecrow was more clumsy but less bother, for although he often
stumbled and fell he could scramble up again and a little patting of
his straw-stuffed body would put him in good shape again.
Another awkward one was Jack Pumpkinhead, for walking would jar his
head around on his neck and then he would be likely to go in the wrong
direction. But the Frogman took Jack's arm and then he followed the
path more easily.
Cap'n Bill's wooden leg didn't prevent him from keeping up with the
others and the old sailor could walk as far as any of them.
When they entered the forest the Cowardly lion took the lead. There
was no path here for men, but many beasts had made paths of their own
which only the eyes of the lion, practiced in woodcraft, could
discern. So he stalked ahead and wound his way in and out, the others
following in single file, Glinda being next to the Lion.
There are dangers in the forest, of course, but as the huge Lion
headed the party he kept the wild denizens of the wilderness from
bothering the travelers. Once, to be sure, an enormous leopard sprang
upon the Glass Cat and caught her in his powerful jaws, but he broke
several of his teeth and with howls of pain and dismay dropped his
prey and vanished among the trees.
"Are you hurt?" Trot anxiously inquired of the Glass Cat.
"How silly!" exclaimed the creature in an irritated tone of voice;
"nothing can hurt glass, and I'm too solid to break easily. But I'm
annoyed at that leopard's impudence. He has no respect for beauty or
intelligence. If he had noticed my pink brains work, I'm sure he would
have realized I'm too important to be grabbed in a wild beast's jaws."
"Never mind," said Trot consolingly; "I'm sure he won't do it again."
They were almost in the center of the forest when Ojo, the Munchkin
boy, suddenly said: "Why, where's Button Bright?"
They halted and looked around them. Button Bright was not with the
party.
"Dear me," remarked Betsy, "I expect he's lost again!"
"When did you see him last, Ojo?" inquired Glinda.
"It was some time ago," replied Ojo. "He was trailing along at the end
and throwing twigs at the squirrels in the trees. Then I went to talk
to Betsy and Trot, and just now I noticed he was gone."
"This is too bad," declared the Wizard, "for it is sure to delay our
journey. We must find Button Bright before we go any farther, for
this forest is full of ferocious beasts that would not hesitate to
tear the boy to pieces."
"But what shall we do?" asked the Scarecrow. "If any of us leaves the
party to search for Button Bright he or she might fall a victim to the
beasts, and if the Lion leaves us we will have no protector.
"The Glass Cat could go," suggested the Frogman. "The beasts can do
her no harm, as we have discovered."
The Wizard turned to Glinda.
"Cannot your sorcery discover where Button Bright is?" he asked.
"I think so," replied the Sorceress.
She called to Uncle Henry, who had been carrying her wicker box, to
bring it to her, and when he obeyed she opened it and drew out a small
round mirror. On the surface of the glass she dusted a white powder
and then wiped it away with her handkerchief and looked in the mirror.
It reflected a part of the forest, and there, beneath a wide-spreading
tree, Button Bright was lying asleep. On one side of him crouched a
tiger, ready to spring; on the other side was a big gray wolf, its
bared fangs glistening in a wicked way.
"Goodness me!" cried Trot, looking over Glinda's shoulder. "They'll
catch and kill him sure."
Everyone crowded around for a glimpse at the magic mirror.
"Pretty bad--pretty bad!" said the Scarecrow sorrowfully.
"Comes of getting lost!" said Cap'n Bill, sighing.
"Guess he's a goner!" said the Frogman, wiping his eyes on his purple
silk handkerchief.
"But where is he? Can't we save him?" asked Ojo the Lucky.
"If we knew where he is we could probably save him," replied the
little Wizard, "but that tree looks so much like all the other trees,
that we can't tell whether it's far away or near by."
"Look at Glinda!" exclaimed Betsy.
Glinda, having handed the mirror to the Wizard, had stepped aside and
was making strange passes with her outstretched arms and reciting in
low, sweet tones a mystical incantation. Most of them watched the
Sorceress with anxious eyes, despair giving way to the hope that she
might be able to save their friend. The Wizard, however, watched the
scene in the mirror, while over his shoulders peered Trot, the
Scarecrow and the Shaggy Man.
What they saw was more strange than Glinda's actions. The tiger
started to spring on the sleeping boy, but suddenly lost its power to
move and lay flat upon the ground. The gray wolf seemed unable to lift
its feet from the ground. It pulled first at one leg and then at
another, and finding itself strangely confined to the spot began to
bark and snarl angrily. They couldn't hear the barkings and snarls,
but they could see the creature's mouth open and its thick lips move.
Button Bright, however, being but a few feet away from the wolf, heard
its cries of rage, which wakened him from his untroubled sleep.
The boy sat up and looked first at the tiger and then at the wolf. His
face showed that for a moment he was quite frightened, but he soon saw
that the beasts were unable to approach him and so he got upon his
feet and examined them curiously, with a mischievous smile upon his
face. Then he deliberately kicked the tiger's head with his foot and
catching up a fallen branch of a tree he went to the wolf and gave it
a good whacking. Both the beasts were furious at such treatment but
could not resent it.
Button Bright now threw down the stick and with his hands in his
pockets wandered carelessly away.
"Now," said Glinda, "let the Glass Cat run and find him. He is in that
direction," pointing the way, "but how far off I do not know. Make
haste and lead him back to us as quickly as you can."
The Glass Cat did not obey everyone's orders, but she really feared
the great Sorceress, so as soon as the words were spoken the crystal
animal darted away and was quickly lost to sight.
The Wizard handed the mirror back to Glinda, for the woodland scene
had now faded from the glass. Then those who cared to rest sat down to
await Button Bright's coming. It was not long before he appeared
through the trees and as he rejoined his friends he said in a peevish
tone:
"Don't ever send that Glass Cat to find me again. She was very
impolite and, if we didn't all know that she had no manners, I'd say
she insulted me."
Glinda turned upon the boy sternly.
"You have caused all of us much anxiety and annoyance," said she.
"Only my magic saved you from destruction. I forbid you to get lost
again."
"Of course," he answered. "It won't be _my_ fault if I get lost again;
but it wasn't my fault _this_ time."