Ruggedo’s History In Six Rocks
On the same night that Prince Pompa and Kabumpo had disappeared from
Pumperdink, a little gray gnome crouched in a deep chamber, tunneled
under the Emerald City, laboriously carving letters on a big rock. It
was Ruggedo, the old Gnome King, carving and grumbling and grumbling and
carving, and pausing every few minutes to light his pipe with a hot coal
which he kept in his pocket for that purpose. A big emerald lamp cast a
green glow over the strange cavern and made the gnome look like a bad
green goblin, which he was.
“Wag!” screamed the gnome, suddenly throwing down his chisel. “Where are
you, you long-eared villain?” There was a slight stir at the back of the
cave and a rabbit, of about the same size as the gnome, shuffled slowly
forward.
“What you want?” he asked, rubbing one eye with his paw.
“Bring me a cup of melted mud, idiot!” roared the gnome, pounding on the
rock. “And serve it to me on my throne at once!”
“Now, see here,” the rabbit twitched his nose rapidly, “I’ll get you a
cup of melted mud, but don’t you call me an idiot. I don’t mind working
for one, nor digging for one and listening to his foolishness, but
nobody can call me an idiot—not even a make-believe King!”
“Oh, you make me tired!” fumed the gnome.
“Then go to sleep,” advised the rabbit with a yawn. “What’s the use of
trying to pretend you’re a King, Rug? Ho, ho! King over one wooden doll,
six rocks and twenty-seven sofa cushions! You may have been a King once,
but now you’re just a plain gnome and nothing else, and if you go and
sit quietly in your plain rocking chair I’ll bring you a cup of plain
mud.”
With a chuckle, the rabbit retired, and Ruggedo, spluttering with fury,
flounced into a doll’s broken rocker that was set in the exact center of
the cave.
“Here I give that rabbit everything I steal and he won’t even allow me
the little luxury of calling him an idiot or of pulling his ears. How
can I pretend to be a King without an ear to pull?” grumbled the gnome.
“What are you grinning at?” Bouncing out of his chair, Ruggedo flew at a
merry-faced wooden doll who sat propped up against the wall and shook
her till her head turned round backwards and her arms and legs flew
every which way. Then he hurled her violently into a corner. Quite out
of breath he sank back in his chair and stared angrily about.
When Wag returned the gnome snatched the tin cup of melted mud and
tossed it down with one gulp. Then, flinging the cup at the doll, he
went back to work.
The rabbit shook his head mournfully and, picking up the wooden doll,
straightened her out and placed her on a cushion. Then, yawning again,
he lit a candle and started for the passage at the back of the cave.
“How are you getting on?” he asked, pausing to look over the gnome’s
shoulder with a grin.
“Fine!” answered Ruggedo, forgetting to scowl. “I’m up to the sixth rock
and expect to finish to-night.”
“Who do you think will read it?” asked the rabbit, putting back both
ears and stroking his whiskers. Then he gave a great spring, just
escaped the chisel Ruggedo had flung at his head, and pattered away into
the darkness. For several minutes the gnome danced up and down with
fury. Then, as there was no one to pinch or shake, he started to work
harder than ever on the sixth rock of his history. There were six of the
great stones set in a row on one side of the cavern and the carving on
them had taken the old gnome King the best part of two years. The
letters were crooked and roughly chiseled, but quite readable. On the
first rock he had carved:
History of Ruggedo in Six Rocks
Ruggedo the Rough—King of the Gnomes
One time Metal Monarch, at other times a Limoneag, a goose, a nut, and
now a common gnome by order of
_Ozma of Oz._
The second rock told of Ruggedo’s magnificent Kingdom under the
mountains of Ev, of the thousands of gnomes he had ruled and the great
treasure of precious gems he had possessed, in those good old days
before he was banished from his dominions.
The third rock told of his transformation of the Queen of Ev and her
children into ornaments for his palace and of their rescue by a party
from Oz, through the cleverness of Billina, a yellow hen. It told of the
loss of his Magic Belt which was captured at this same time by Dorothy,
a little girl from Kansas.
The fourth rock related how Ruggedo had tried to conquer Oz and recover
his belt; how all of his plans failed and how he tumbled into the
Fountain of Oblivion and forgot all about his campaign.
The fifth rock had taken Ruggedo the longest to carve, for it gave the
story of his banishment by the Great Jinn Titihoochoo. You have probably
read this story yourself. How Tik Tok, Betsy Bobbin, Shaggyman and
Polychrome, trying to find Shaggy’s brother, hidden in the Gnome King’s
metal forest, were thrown down a long tube to the other side of the
world, and how the owner of the tube sent Quox, the dragon, to punish
Ruggedo by banishment from his Kingdom and how Kaliko was made King of
the Gnomes.
The sixth rock told of Ruggedo’s last attempt to capture Oz. Meeting
Kiki Aru, a Highup boy who knew a magic transformation word, Ruggedo
suggested that they change themselves to Limoneags—queer beasts with
lion heads, monkey tails and eagle wings—get all the beasts of Oz to
help and march on the Emerald City. But this plan failed, too. Kiki lost
his temper and changed Ruggedo to a goose, the Wizard of Oz discovered
the magic word and changed both the conspirators to nuts. Later on they
were changed back to their normal shapes, but again Ruggedo was plunged
into the Fountain of Oblivion and again forgot his wicked plans. This
ended the rock history, except for a short sentence stating that Ruggedo
now lived in the Emerald City.
But the magic of the Fountain of Oblivion had soon worn off and it was
not long before Ruggedo began to remember his past wickedness. That is
why he decided to carve his life story in rock, so that it would be
handy should he ever fall into the forgetful fountain again. And it had
taken six rocks to tell all of his adventures. He had not carved these
stories just as they had happened, nor ever called himself wicked, but
he had told most of the facts, leaving out the parts most unflattering
to himself. And now it was finished—his whole history in six rocks.
Throwing down his chisel for the last time, Ruggedo straightened up and
regarded his work with glowing pride.
“I don’t believe there’s another history like this in all Oz,” puffed
the gnome, tugging at his silver beard.
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
“It’s a good thing,” chuckled Wag, who had come back to eat a carrot.
“Oz would not be a very happy place if there were many folks like you.”
He seated himself quietly on the first rock of Ruggedo’s history, and
began nibbling his carrot.
“Get up! How dare you sit on my history?” Ruggedo stamped his foot and
started threateningly toward Wag.
“All right,” said the rabbit, “it’s too hard, anyway.”
“Of course it’s hard,” stormed Ruggedo. “I’ve had a hard life; hard as
those rocks. Everybody’s been against me from the very start, and all
because I’m so little,” he finished bitterly.
“No, because you are so wicked,” said the rabbit calmly. “Now, don’t
throw your pipe at me, for you know it’s the truth.”
Ruggedo glared at the rabbit for a minute, then rushed over to the
wooden doll, and began shaking her furiously. He always vented his rage
on the wooden doll.
“Stop that,” screamed Wag, “or I’ll leave upon the spot. You ought to be
ashamed of yourself. You old scrabble-scratch.”
“She’s not alive,” snapped Ruggedo sulkily.
“How do you know?” retorted the rabbit. “Anyway, she’s a jolly creature.
I’m not going to have her banged around. Here you’ve taken her away from
her little mother, and she hasn’t even anyone to rock her to sleep.”
“I’ll rock her to sleep,” screamed Ruggedo, maliciously. And flinging
the doll on the floor he began hurling small rocks at the helpless
little figure.
Scrambling to his feet, Wag rescued the wooden doll again, and Ruggedo,
who really was afraid the rabbit would leave him, subsided into his
rocking chair. Then reaching up to a small shelf over his head, he
pulled down an accordion. At the first doleful wheeze Wag gave a great
hop, dropped Peg and disappeared into his room in the farthest corner of
the cave.
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
After his last attempt to capture Oz, the gnome had been given a small
cottage to live in, just outside the Emerald City. But Ruggedo could not
bear life above ground. The sunlight hurt his eyes, and the contented,
happy faces of the people hurt his feelings, for he was exactly what Wag
had called him—an old scrabble-scratch. So, while he pretended to live
in the little cottage, according to Ozma’s orders, he really spent most
of his time in this deep, dark cave. He entered it by a secret passage,
opening from his cellar.
Digging the long passage had been the hardest work Ruggedo had ever done
in his bad little life. While toiling one day, he had bumped into the
underground burrow of Wag, a wandering rabbit of Oz, and after a deal of
bargaining, the rabbit had agreed to help him. Wag was to receive a ruby
a month for his services, for the gnome still had a large bag of
precious stones, which he had brought from the old Kingdom. After the
bargain with Wag was made, the passage progressed rapidly, for the
rabbit was an expert digger.
It was Ruggedo’s idea to tunnel himself out a secret chamber, directly
under Ozma’s palace, and there establish a kingdom of his own. But when
they had almost reached the spot, the earth began to crumble away, and a
few strokes of Ruggedo’s spade revealed a great dark cavern, already
tunneled by someone else. It was huge and the exact shape of the royal
palace. This Ruggedo discovered by careful measurement, and also that it
was directly beneath the gorgeous green edifice, so that the footsteps
of the servants could be heard faintly, pattering to and fro.
This dark, underground retreat suited the former Gnome King exactly and,
without stopping to wonder to whom it had belonged, Ruggedo gleefully
took possession. For almost two years he had lived here without anyone
suspecting it, but so far his kingdom had not progressed very well. Wag
had tried to coax some of his rabbit relations to serve the old gnome as
subjects, but Ruggedo, besides his terrible temper, had a mean habit of
pulling their ears, so that the whole crew had deserted the first week.
He had pulled Wag’s ears once, but the rabbit tore out a pawful of his
whiskers, and bit him so severely in the leg that Ruggedo had never
dared to try it again.
Wag had stayed partly because Ruggedo amused him and partly because of
the bribes, for every day, in fear of losing his only retainer, Ruggedo
brought Wag something from the Emerald City—something he had stolen! In
return, Wag waited on the bad little gnome and listened to his
grumblings against everybody in Oz. All the furnishings of this strange
cave had been stolen from various houses in the Emerald City. The
twenty-seven brocade cushions had been taken, one at a time from the
palace; the green emerald lamp also. Every day Ruggedo ran innocently
about the city, pretending to visit this one and that, and every day
cups, spoons, and candlesticks disappeared.
The doll’s rocker, which Ruggedo insisted upon calling his throne, had
been taken from Betsy Bobbin, a little girl who lived with Ozma in the
palace. He had lugged it through the secret passage with great
difficulty. The wooden doll had been stolen from Trot, another of Ozma’s
companions. She was Trot’s favorite doll, for she had been carved out of
wood by Captain Bill, an old one-legged sailor, who was one of the most
celebrated characters in all Oz. He had carved her for Trot one day when
they were on a picnic in the Winkie Country, from the wood of a small
yellow tree, and as Captain Bill had old-fashioned notions, Peg was a
very old-fashioned doll. But she had splendid joints and could sit down
and stand up. Her face was painted and as pleasant as laughing blue
eyes, a turned-up nose, and a smiling mouth could make it. Trot had
dressed her in a funny, old-fashioned dress, with pantalettes, and then,
thinking Peg too short a name, the little girl had added Amy, because
she was so amiable, she confided laughingly to the old sailor. Captain
Bill had wagged his head understandingly, and Peg Amy had straightway
become the most popular doll in the palace; that is, until she
disappeared, for Ruggedo had found her one day in the garden and,
chuckling wickedly, had carried her off to his cave.
How Trot would have felt if she had seen her poor doll being shaken and
scolded by the old Gnome King! But Trot never knew. She hunted and
hunted for her doll, and finally gave up in despair. Fortunately, Peg
was well made, or she would have been shaken to bits, but her joints
held bravely, and nothing—not even the terrible scolding of the bad old
gnome—could change her pleasant expression.
Being the sole subject of so wicked a King, however, was wearing even
for a wooden doll, and Peg was beginning to show signs of wear. Her nose
was badly chipped, one pantalette was missing, and both sleeves had been
jerked from her dress by the furious old gnome. If the rabbit was
around, Ruggedo did not shake Peg as hard as he wanted to, but when the
rabbit was gone, he pretended she was his old steward, Kaliko, and
scolded and flung her about to his heart’s content.
[Illustration: Ruggedo scolded and flung Peg about furiously]
When not carving his history or shaking Peg, Ruggedo had spent most of
his time digging new tunnels and chambers, so that leading off from the
main cavern was a perfect network of underground passages. In the back
of Ruggedo’s head was a notion that some day he would conquer the
Emerald City, regain his magic powers and then, after changing all the
inhabitants to mouldy muffins, return to his dominions and oust Kaliko
from his throne. Just how this was to be done, he had not decided, but
the secret passages would be useful. So meanwhile he dug secret
passages.
Above ground the little rascal went about so meekly and pretended to be
so delighted with his life among the inhabitants of the Emerald City,
that Ozma really thought he had reformed. Wag, to whom he confided his
plans, would shake his head gloomily and often planned to leave the
services of the wicked old gnome. There was no real harm in Wag, but the
rabbit had a weakness for collecting, and the spoons, cups and odds and
ends that Ruggedo brought him from the Emerald City filled him with
delight. He felt that they were not gotten honestly, but his work for
Ruggedo was honest and hard, “and it’s not my fault if the old
scrabble-scratch steals ’em,” Wag would mumble to himself. In his heart
he knew that he was doing wrong to stay with Ruggedo, but like all
foolish creatures he could not make up his mind to go. So this very
night, while the old gnome sat playing the accordion and howling doleful
snatches of the Gnome National Air, Wag was gloating over his treasures.
They quite filled his little dug-out room. There were two emerald
plates, a gold pencil, a dozen china cups and saucers, twenty thimbles
stolen from the work baskets of the good dames of Oz, scraps of silk,
pictures and almost everything you could imagine.
“I’ll soon have enough to marry and go to house-keeping on,” murmured
the rabbit, clasping his paws and twitching his nose very fast. He
picked up a pair of purple wool socks that had once belonged to a little
girl’s doll and regarded them rapturously. Out of all the articles
Ruggedo had given him, Wag considered these purple socks the most
valuable, perhaps because they exactly fitted him and were the only
things he could really use. The squeaking of the accordion stopped at
last and, supposing his wicked little master had retired for the night,
Wag prepared to enjoy himself. Draping a green silk scarf over his
shoulders, he strutted before the mirror, pretending he was a Courtier
of Oz. Then, throwing down the scarf, he sat down on the floor and had
just drawn on one of the socks when a loud shrill scream from Ruggedo
made his ears stand straight on end in amazement.
“What now?” coughed the rabbit, seizing the candle. Ruggedo was on his
knees before the rocking chair.
“As I was sitting here, playing and singing,” spluttered the old gnome,
“I noticed a little ring in one of the rocks on the floor!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
“Well, what of it?” sniffed Wag, leaning down to pull up his sock.
“What of it?” shrieked the gnome. “What of it, you poor, puny earth
worm! Look!” Leaning over Ruggedo’s shoulder and dropping hot candle
grease down the gnome’s neck, Wag peered into a square opening in the
floor. There lay a small gold box. Studded in gems on the lid were these
words:
Glegg’s Box of Mixed Magic.
“Mixed magic!” stuttered Wag, dropping the candle. “Oh, my socks and
soup spoons!”
Ruggedo said nothing, but his little red eyes blazed maliciously.
Reaching down, he lifted out the box and, clasping it to his fat little
stomach, shook his fist at the high domed ceiling of the cave.
“Now!” hissed Ruggedo triumphantly. “Now we shall see what mixed magic
will do to the Emerald City of Oz!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]