The Witch of the Black Forest
Dorothy and her companion were too stunned to answer, and in two
thumping steps the owner of the voice was upon them.
"Do you dare to defy a member of the Invincible Black Watch?" breathed
the stranger, grasping Pigasus roughly by the right wing.
"No! No! We don't exactly defy you," squealed the pig, flapping his
other wing frantically, "but how can we follow a blackguard whom we
cannot even see?"
"Then how do you know I am a blackguard?" demanded their captor
suspiciously.
"From your voice," screamed Pigasus, jerking this way and that way in
an effort to free himself. "I'd know you for a blackguard anywhere.
Unhand me, you surly black monster."
"You talk a lot for a fellow who cannot see," scoffed the Guard,
tightening his grip on the pig's wing. "Is the girl blind too?"
"We're not blind at all and why should we be,
In this horrid black forest how could we see?"
cried Dorothy, her indignation getting the better of her fright.
"Well, what color are your eyes?" Dorothy felt the hot breath of the
Guardsman on her neck as he leaned over to find out for himself.
"Blue!" he murmured in evident puzzlement. "And the pig's eyes are
blue, too. So _that's_ the reason."
"What has the color to do with it?" grunted Pigasus, growing a little
calmer as the conversation progressed without either of them coming to
actual harm.
"Everything," explained the Guard impressively. "In the Black Forest
one must have black eyes to see. See? Even a pig should know that."
"Well, I suppose I could run into a tree and black my eyes," sniffed
Pigasus bitterly. "But thank you, no. I prefer blue eyes and, now, if
you will kindly conduct us to the edge of this deep, dark, dangerous
and disgusting domain, we'll be delighted to go, leave, depart, and bid
you farewell forever."
"Oh, keep all that for Gloma," drawled the Guard indifferently. "I'm a
plain man and prefer plain language. Furthermore, no one leaves this
forest unless they break the black laws. If you break the law you are
cast out into the utter and awful light of eternal day. Now, then, come
along!" and giving the pig's wing a cruel tweak, he tramped doggedly
forward. Pigasus to save his precious feathers was obliged to come,
suiting his gait to the guard's strides.
"The best thing for us to do is to break the law at once," he whispered
mournfully to Dorothy as he blinked about in a desperate effort to
penetrate the gloom. Dorothy was too depressed to answer, and after
clearing his throat several times the Blackguard began to question
Pigasus.
"Why the wings?" he asked inquiringly. "I've seen many a farmyard
creature in my day, but never a pig with wings. Are you a pig or a kind
of balony bird? What right has a pig to wings?"
"Let go and I'll show you," puffed Pigasus, hoping the fellow's
curiosity would cause him to loosen his hold. But the Guard only
laughed at such an idea.
"Let you go? I should say not," he exclaimed with a little chuckle.
"You can show all your little tricks to Gloma and she can decide
whether to ride or roast you. This girl on your back will make a
splendid slave."
"Slave!" shrilled Pigasus, stumbling angrily along in the dark. "I'll
have you know that she is a Princess of Oz and lives in the palace of
Ozma of Oz."
"Then why did she not stay there?" observed the Guard reasonably
enough. "Anyone coming into this forest comes under the rule of Gloma,
Witch of the Black Forest."
"Witch?" coughed the pig, as Dorothy, tightening her clutch on his
neck, almost choked him.
"Yes, witch," repeated the forester calmly. "Now, then, hold up your
heads, you pale and pinky skins, for you are in for a good blacking."
And before Pigasus knew just what WAS happening the ground slipped away
from under him and he and Dorothy were plunged into the rough chilly
waters of a tumbling forest stream. Striking out with all four feet,
Pigasus managed to breast the flood, when he felt himself and Dorothy
being forced completely under. As a matter of fact, the Guard swimming
beside him had simply put his hand on Dorothy's head and pushed her
and the squealing pig beneath the surface. As they rose, gasping and
sputtering, he again seized Pigasus by the wing and pulled him quickly
to shore.
"There, now you're all right," he boomed heartily as Dorothy rolled off
the pig's back and began shaking the water from her eyes and hair and
wringing out her dripping skirts. "Just blot yourselves on the bank!"
"Bl-blot ourselves?" gurgled Pigasus, giving himself a violent shake.
"Do you take us for letters? You--you'll be sorry for this!" But right
in the middle of his angry sputters he gave a loud and astonished
squall. "Dorothy, Dorothy, I can see!" panted the pink pig exultantly.
"So can I," cried Dorothy, running excitedly toward him. "But
everything looks black--everything IS black, even you. Oh, Oh! You're
perfectly coal black, Piggins, am I black too?"
"Of course," answered the Guard in a bored voice, "and much better so.
Since you are black yourselves, you can see in the dark like the rest
of us, and what do you think of our forest now?" But Dorothy, instead
of telling him, held up her shiny black hands, touched a few strands
of her perfectly black hair, and then dropping her head on the pig's
shoulder began to weep bitterly. Like drops of ink the tears coursed
down her ebony cheeks, and though Pigasus did what he could to comfort
her, she continued to sob as if her heart would break.
"Well, I must say I call this ungrateful," the Guard shifted from one
foot to the other. "What's the matter with you, anyway? Black is a
splendid color, doesn't show dirt, doesn't fade or streak. Besides
it's against the law to be any other color in this forest."
"How dare you blacken us against our will?" burst out Pigasus
furiously. "Wait till I get loose, I'll--why, I'll tear you to pieces
and pitch you into a tar barrel."
"Oh, don't make me snort!" The huge Black Forester stared
contemptuously down at the winged pig, and now that Pigasus had a
better look at him he saw the folly of his threats, for the Black
Guard was well over six feet and lean and tough as black leather.
Evidently feeling he had wasted enough time on the pair, he gave them
a very black look and, jerking the pig's wing roughly, started walking
stolidly through the forest. Never had Dorothy felt so blue, or rather
so black and blue--so wet, so discouraged, so thoroughly miserable!
And when, sticking out her tongue to see if it was still pink she
discovered that it, too, was black, she began sobbing softly to herself.
"No one will know us any more," she decided dejectedly. "We're as
badly off now as Ozma and the others. Why, oh why, did we ever come
into this terrible forest?" She could feel Pigasus sniffing with
sympathy, and suddenly realizing that she was not behaving very well,
she straightened up. After all, she still was a Princess, even though
she was black. Princesses did not cry even when they were captured and
enchanted. Ozma was probably in a worse fix than this, and if Ozma was
being brave, she would be brave, too. So, with a great effort, Dorothy
stifled her sobs and began to look around her. To her surprise and
astonishment she discovered that the Black Forest was not dark and
gloomy as it had seemed before, but really quite beautiful. There were
many shades and degrees of blackness in the trees and flowers that
thickly carpeted the ground.
Black birds twittered musically in the branches overhead, and every
now and then a deer peered timidly out at her from the woodsy depths
between the tree trunks. The Guard, glancing over his shoulder and
catching her interested expression, ventured a smile.
"Why, he is not bad looking at all," thought Dorothy, with a pleased
start. "And maybe this witch may be a good witch--her name sounds
rather pretty." Quite comforted by these reflections, Dorothy whispered
a few rhymed remarks in the pig's ear. Pigasus, it must be confessed,
was as interested in what he saw as Dorothy, and when a sudden break
between the trees revealed a great black circular wall with a hundred
black flags floating from its many turrets, he gave an involuntary
grunt of admiration.
"You are about to enter the Royal Circle of Gloma, Witch of the Black
Forest," announced the Guard, raising his hand solemnly. "I trust you
will conduct yourselves in a fitting manner."
"Don't worry about OUR manners," shrilled Pigasus, tossing his head
airily. "We are accustomed to Royalty and move in exclusive circles at
home."
"And talk in circles, too," muttered the Guard impatiently. "Well,
well--do the best you can and bow three times as you approach the
throne."
"Throne?" queried Dorothy, slipping off the pig's back so she would not
have to talk in rhyme, for what she had to say to the black witch was
very serious indeed. "Is Gloma a Queen?"
"Certainly our witch is a Queen, a bewitching Queen," retorted the
Guard, taking Dorothy firmly by the hand and tightening his hold on
Pigasus. "Now, then, smile and look pleasant and perhaps she'll allow
you to be her slave."
"She wouldn't dare make me a slave," cried Dorothy, trying her best to
pull away from her captor.
"Just let her try it!" blustered Pigasus, scuffling unwillingly along
on the other side. But paying no attention to their struggles, the
Guard lifted his foot and kicked three times on a black ebony door in
the wall, and a tall Watchman dressed in a black leather suit admitted
them to the Royal Circle. It was all so different from what Dorothy
had been expecting she almost forgot her anger. Enclosed by the black
marble wall was a strange and enchanting garden. Now, Dorothy had never
seen a black garden, nor dreamed one could be so beautiful. Here sable
willows mirrored their feathery branches in long shining pools, here
black plum and cherry trees flaunted their fragile black blossoms,
and jet black fountains sent their smoking waters high into the quiet
air. Vast satiny expanses of lawn were dotted with a hundred beds of
dusky roses, tulips, velvety pansies and daffodils. Built all round the
circular wall was a low but sumptuous black castle, and seated on an
ebony throne in the center of her stately black garden was the Black
Queen herself, looking, Dorothy was thankful to discover, much more
like a Queen than a witch. Gloma's face was sweet and serious, her
hair fine and glossy as a raven's wing. She was dressed in a trailing
robe of black chiffon that billowed in lacy clouds round her feet. A
sparkling crown of jet and long jet earrings were her only ornaments.
On each side of the Black Queen crouched a sleek black leopard and
behind the ebony throne stood ten tall foresters with gleaming axes.
"Like headsmen in a medieval history book," thought Dorothy as she and
Pigasus were dragged rapidly forward. Gloma, gazing dreamily into a
black crystal set on a marble stand before the throne, seemed entirely
unaware of their presence till the harsh voice of the Black Guard
announced them.
"Hail! Black and Imperial Majesty!" called the Guard deferentially,
approaching the throne. "Two prisoners, a pig and a Princess, whom I
found wandering unlawfully in our forest, and whom I took the liberty
of blacking."
Dorothy, jerking away from the Guard, was about to explain how she and
Pigasus had lost their way, when Gloma jumped to her feet with a sharp,
agonized scream.
"Blotz, General Blotz, what have you done?" panted the Black Queen,
beating her hands wildly together. "Your stupidity has ruined us all!
You have blackened and insulted my most dangerous and mortal enemy!
Go! Leave! Begone and never darken my doors again! Oh, why--why did
you do it? Why have you brought her here? After all these years must I
too be destroyed and obliterated?" Sinking back on her throne, Gloma
covered her face with her hair and began rocking backward and forward
in agitation and sorrow.
"Why, why--I believe she's afraid of you!" puffed Pigasus, twitching
his tail with excitement and interest as General Blotz, looking quite
dazed, began to move unhappily toward the gate in the wall.
"Quick!" he grunted as the ten foresters back of the throne rushed
forward to surround them. "Do something, Dorothy, while she is still
afraid of you. Make her unblacken us. Tell her to set us free. Hurry!
Hurry, before she discovers you are only a harmless little girl."
But Dorothy, only half listening to the pig, boldly thrust aside the
foresters and ran over to the Black Queen.
"Why are you afraid of ME?" asked Dorothy, speaking rapidly but
distinctly. "I did not come here on purpose. Pigasus and I are lost and
need your help."
"Help?" shivered Gloma, shrinking as far away from Dorothy as possible.
"Why should I help you? Are you not Dorothy, the mortal girl who
destroyed the powerful Witches of the East and West?"
"But that was long ago," explained Dorothy breathlessly as two of the
Queen's henchmen seized her roughly by the arms. "And they were bad and
wicked witches. Why should I wish to destroy a good and beautiful witch
like you?"
"Do not listen to her. Do not let her touch you. She means to destroy
and ensnare you," hissed the foresters as they dragged Dorothy away
from the throne. "Down with all mortals! Away to the dungeons with
her! Wing that pig! Chop off their heads!" At these loud savage cries,
startled faces appeared at the windows of the black palace, and
struggling in the midst of the foresters Dorothy heartily wished she
had taken the pig's advice.
"Shall we take off her head _now_ or later?" puffed the fellow who had
hold of her left arm.
"Now!" roared the axman who had hold of her right.
"Stop!" commanded the Queen, rising suddenly. "You cannot harm this
girl. Do you not see the star of protection on her forehead?" At these
words the woodsmen stared fearfully down at Dorothy, and sure enough,
shining in the center of her black forehead was a pure white star.
Pigasus, who had not noticed it before himself, gave a grunt of relief
and began kicking out in every direction.
"How about the pig?" yelled a forester, leaning down to rub his shins.
"Shall we take off his head?"
"If you dare touch Pigasus," screamed Dorothy, resolved to use the
powers she was supposed to have, "I'll turn you all to bats and beetles
and horrid black ants." A breathless silence followed Dorothy's threat.
The foresters still kept their hold on the prisoner, but at as great a
distance as they could manage.
"Do as you wish, comrades," the tallest of the axmen solemnly broke the
silence, "but I'm for letting them alone. I've never been an ant yet
and don't intend to begin now. Come--away to the dungeons with them.
This is not for us to settle with axes, it is a case for witch work."
"You are right." The Queen, who had been standing motionless as a
statue, took a decisive step forward. "Take them away, but not to the
dungeons! Take them to the dark room in my imperial palace. They shall
see what happens to those who defy Gloma, Witch of the Black Forest."
"Aye! Aye! They shall see," muttered the foresters, pushing Dorothy and
Pigasus roughly along ahead of them.