The Round-abouties
Stepping into the revolving door was one thing, stepping out,
another. It whirled and spun so rapidly that poor Trot grew giddy
and breathless, and when she did manage to escape she fell headlong.
The Scarecrow and Benny, not being real persons, did not suffer from
giddiness, but they too lost their balance when they stepped out and
lay face down in the sawdust that covered the floor of the round house.
The Scarecrow was first up, also first down again, for no sooner did
they rise and try to walk forward before they were violently flung on
their noses.
"Let's go back," said the Scarecrow, after his sixth tumble. "I can't
stand this."
"I can't stand at all," complained Benny, rolling over and looking
appealingly at Trot.
"Neither can I," confessed Trot, trying to wiggle backwards without
getting up. But this proved impossible and, finding they could not move
backward or forward, the three travelers sat up and looked blankly at
one another.
"Why not try going 'round?" suggested a roguish voice in Trot's ear
and, turning with a start, the little girl saw a perfectly round young
man, smiling amiably down upon her. His head was round and covered with
red ringlets, his legs and arms were short and round and his hands and
feet were regular tennis balls.
"See!" cried the little man, bouncing easily to one side, "we go 'round
in rings here. Won't you join our family circle?" he invited pleasantly.
For the first time Trot became aware of a great clamor and confusion in
the round house. A big ring of Round-abouties was revolving merrily,
twenty yards off. Inside that, she could see still another circle
moving in the opposite direction. The loud ringing voices of these
pudgy little people made her ears ring and, while she was considering
the Round-abouty's invitation, his head began to spin merrily upon his
peg neck.
"Oh, look!" wailed Trot, seizing the Scarecrow's arm. "Whatever shall
we do? Everything's going 'round, even their heads!"
"Your head will soon turn as easily as mine," promised the
Round-abouty, leaning down to take Trot's hand in his own. "Come around
this way please."
In a panic, Trot pulled the Scarecrow with her and he in turn took hold
of Benny. Stepping rapidly to the right, they moved toward the first
circle and were quickly drawn into the ring.
"Did you once say you wanted to dance?" chuckled the Scarecrow, looking
up mischievously at Benny. "Well, now's your chance, old boulder, but
don't step on my foot."
And dance they certainly did, 'round and 'round and 'round, till Trot
really began to suspect that her head was turning too.
"Don't you ever stop?" panted the little girl, raising her voice above
the shouts and yells of the Round-abouties, who seemed to be enjoying
themselves tremendously.
"Nope!" Puffing out his cheeks, the little Round-abouty beamed upon
Trot. "We never stop, we just keep on going 'round together. Isn't it
fun?"
Trot shook her head violently and tried to break out of the circle,
but the little fellows would not let go. After circling so many more
times that she lost all count, a bell clanged out from the center of
the ring. Immediately Trot and her friends were thrust into the second
circle which began revolving in the opposite direction. The second
circle was a singing circle and as each Round-abouty was singing a
different song you can imagine the awful discords. Trot groaned and
would have put her fingers in her ears, but her hands were held so
tightly that this was impossible. After discovering that there were two
more circles and a merry-go-round in the exact center, Trot closed her
eyes and skipped dizzily on.
"If anyone ever asks me to play a round game," reflected Trot grimly,
"I'll, I'll hit them--yes, I will."
Benny and the Scarecrow did not mind so much, but even they grew tired
of the continuous turning and the spinning heads of their strange
comrades.
"We're close to the center," called the Scarecrow, as they were pushed
into the third circle. "Maybe when we reach the middle, something will
happen. I wouldn't mind riding on the merry-go-round."
"Well," rasped the stone man, skipping stiffly as he spoke. "I've never
ridden on a merry-go-round yet, but if riding on one is part of being
alive I suppose I shall have to try it."
"Whoops! Whoops! Of course you will! Wait till our ring leader sees
you," chortled the Round-abouty next to him. Trot opened her eyes as
they were propelled into the last circle. At any other time she might
have enjoyed a merry-go-round ride, but as she went skipping giddily
around the really splendid carrousel in the center of the round house,
she wished herself safely outside or in any place where she could be
still and quiet. When the bell sounded, the merry-go-round stopped. The
Round-abouties who had been on it sidled off and the Round-abouties in
Trot's circle climbed on. Pushed upward by two of the merry little men,
Trot found herself seated on a zebra before she could say a word. The
Scarecrow was already mounted on a tiger. It looked so much like the
Hungry Tiger of Oz it made him quite homesick. Benny, after several
unsuccessful attempts to mount a wooden elephant, stood stiffly beside
Trot's zebra.
The merry-go-round was so immense that the 'round and 'round motion
grew less and less noticeable and presently Trot, becoming less dizzy,
began to be more interested in her surroundings. In the hollow center
of the merry-go-round stood a large round table and seated about was a
whole company of Round-abouties. One had merry-go-round rings in both
ears and one through his nose. He held a large silver bell and Trot
immediately decided that he must be the ring leader of the riotous
band. His head turned more slowly than the heads of his subjects, and
as Trot passed, he smiled at her pleasantly. Beside the round table, a
round tower rose from the floor to the ceiling of the round house. Trot
glanced at it curiously each time she went by and finally made out a
round door with a black ring in the center at the bottom of the tower.
She had just made this interesting discovery when the ring leader
rang his bell. Taking Benny's hand and motioning for the Scarecrow
to follow, Trot jumped off on the inside of the merry-go-round and
politely approached the ring leader.
"Could you please show us the way out of your house?" asked Trot,
bowing nervously.
"We're on an important mission," put in the Scarecrow, "and must reach
the Emerald City to-night."
"Your mission from now on is to make me laugh," roared the ring leader,
holding his head still with both hands so he could better observe the
Scarecrow. "Ha, ha! You're enough to make a Kookaroo laugh."
"I don't care a cat's whisker for your opinion," exclaimed the
Scarecrow indignantly, as all the other Round-abouties began to roar
with their little round ruler.
"Shall I hit somebody?" asked Benny, stepping close to the round table
and bringing his fist down with a thump that shook the house.
"Ring the bell! Ring the bell!" cried the Round-abouty next to the ring
leader. "Keep 'em going 'round, that's the way to keep them 'round
here." As the leader lifted his arm to ring the silver bell, Trot broke
away and, being careful to run sideways, rushed toward the door in
the round tower. Seizing the ring, she jerked it open and plunged up
the spiral stairway curling aloft. Almost instantly there was a thump
behind her, and turning about, she saw that Benny and the Scarecrow
were right at her heels. 'Round and 'round, up and up, tore Trot, not
daring to look back and growing more breathless at every step. She
could hear the screams and shouts of the Round-abouties down below and
the thud of their rubber soles on the stair. Frightened as she was and
determined though she was to escape, at the one hundred and tenth step
Trot's breath failed her. Sinking down, she covered her face with her
hands and waited for the mischievous little men to seize her. Instead,
two hard arms caught her up and Benny, who never grew tired nor lost
his breath, pounded 'round and 'round, and up and up to the very top of
the flight. Butting a trap door in the center of the tower open with
his head, he ran up the last three steps of the spiral stairway, leaned
down, dragged the Scarecrow through the opening, then slammed down the
trap door and sat on it just as the first Round-abouty reached the top.
"That!" declared the Scarecrow solemnly, "was the funniest race I
ever was in. And now that we're up here, how shall we get down?" The
trap door was bumping up and down from the furious thumps of the
Round-abouties and even Benny's great weight could not hold it down
indefinitely.
"We'll have to slide to earth," muttered the Scarecrow, after an
earnest glance all around. "Do you think you could stand sliding, my
dear? I tell you!" as Trot looked uncertainly down the curving surface
of the huge wooden roof. "Let me sit in Benny's lap and you, Trot,
shall sit in mine, then altogether we'll slide. The splinters won't
hurt Benny."
"Better hurry up," advised the stone man, blinking his round eyes
furiously as the thumps on the trap door grew more and more determined.
"Hurry up!"
"You mean hurry down, don't you?" smiled the Scarecrow, dropping into
Benny's lap. Then Trot sat carefully on top, Benny clasped his arms
around them both and shoved off. Next instant they were tobogganing
down the round house roof, faster and faster and faster! When they
reached the edge they had gained such speed and momentum that they
shot over an entire forest before they came to a stop. Stunned by the
terrific force of their landing, but thanks to the Scarecrow, quite
unhurt, Trot sat up and looked inquiringly around.
"Well, we're still in the Munchkin Country," panted the little girl,
pointing to a blue farm house not far away.
"And we certainly covered a lot of ground, I mean air," coughed the
Scarecrow, making an unsuccessful effort to arise. "Shake me up Trot,
I'm flat as a fritter. Are you all right, Benny, my boulder?"
"My coat tails are a bit chipped," answered the stone man calmly, "but
that is a small price to pay for freedom. This is a curious country, my
dear," he observed, turning to Trot. "Everyone wishes to make us into
a being like himself."
"A fault you will find with people everywhere, even in your own world,"
puffed the Scarecrow, as Trot shook and pounded him into shape.
"Everybody thinks his way is the right way."
"Let's take a straight road this time," interrupted Trot, who disliked
long arguments and, giving the Scarecrow a final pat, pulled him
expertly to his feet. "Have we lost our way, Scarecrow?" The straw man
looked long and earnestly in every direction.
"There's a road," he called finally, waving toward the East, "and I'll
wager it leads right to Jinjur's door."
"Come on then," rumbled Benny impatiently. "I should like to meet the
girl who conquered a city."