Conjo in Control
"Conjo!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man. "Of course that's who it is. He used
Ozma's Magic Compass to bring him to the Emerald City and then started
his mischief!"
"I wonder what he wants--what his purpose is in hiding my Black Bag and
then locking himself in the tower?" mused the Wizard.
"Perhaps," said Dorothy, "it would be a good thing if Twiffle told us
all he knows about this Conjo, since he seems to be better acquainted
with him than anyone else is."
"A good idea," agreed the Wizard, and they all turned to Twiffle.
The little clown recounted his life with Conjo, telling all he could
remember from the time when Conjo brought him to life to his escape
with Shaggy and Twink and Tom in the Airmobile.
The Wizard considered. "Apparently the only really bad thing Conjo
has done is to take these children out of their home and plan to make
them prisoners. Outside of that he has been merely selfish, lazy, and
foolishly vain. Perhaps if we tried to talk with him, we could prove
the folly of his latest actions. He must know that as soon as Ozma
returns he will be helpless before her fairy powers."
The Wizard led the way to Ozma's Grand Throne Room, on one side of
which was the door that led to the tower and Magic Workroom. The young
beavers and their King hurried along after the Wizard and Shaggy and
the rest.
"Perhaps Conjo would listen to you," the Wizard suggested to Twiffle,
"if you asked him to come out and talk with us."
Twiffle walked to the tower door, knocked as loudly as he could on it,
and said: "Come out, Conjo. It is foolish of you to hide away in there.
These people want to talk with you and try to be your friends."
Everyone waited with hushed breath. Had Conjo heard? Would he come out?
After a few moments the door opened a crack, then slowly farther and
farther, until Conjo stood revealed in the doorway. The little man was
quivering with excitement.
"Yes," Conjo said with what was meant to be a smile, "I will talk to
you. But don't any one of you come one step nearer this door. If you
do, I will transform you all into door-mats and jumping-jacks."
"What do you want?" asked the Wizard quietly. "Why have you hidden my
Black Bag of Magic Tools and shut me off from my Magic Workroom?"
"You should be able to figure that out," replied Conjo. "I had to do
that to render you helpless. Without your magic you are powerless to
defend yourselves. I now have at my command all of your magic as well
as my own. So, I rather think you will be glad enough to do as I say."
"And just what is that?" asked the Wizard.
"From now on," said Conjo, "_I_ am the Wizard of Oz, and _you_," Conjo
pointed to the Wizard, "are my assistant!"
Dorothy gasped at the audacity of the little man, while the Shaggy Man
laughed aloud. The Wizard could only whisper unbelievingly: "_You_ want
to be _me_?"
"No," said Conjo, who seemed relaxed now and enjoying the consternation
he had created, "I want to be the _Wizard of Oz_--it's only a title
you know, and I deserve it just as much as you. I'm tired of being a
wizard nobody knows about. Now I have all your magic so who is there
to say I am not the Wizard of Oz? Ho, ho, ho--ha, ha, he, he, he!" The
little man seemed vastly amused.
"Ozma will have something to say about this," said Dorothy indignantly.
"If you think she'll let you come in here and steal all the Wizard's
magic and then try to steal his name on top of all that you're very
badly mistaken."
"I'll take care of Ozma when the time comes. After all, she's only a
girl," said Conjo easily. "And now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go
up and study the Wizard's magic. Please set a place for me at dinner, I
shall be quite hungry. And don't bother to look for the Wizard's Black
Bag. You'll never find it. Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, he, he, he!"
Conjo was about to close the door, when the King of the Fairy Beavers
raised his beechwood wand. From the tip of it came a stream of water
that played directly on Conjo's face. Conjo gasped and sputtered,
opened his mouth to cry out, and the stream of water filled his mouth.
He choked and swallowed a large amount of the water. Immediately the
stream ceased flowing from the beaver King's wand.
Conjo stared at them all with innocent wonder in his eyes.
"Where am I?" he said.