Peg and Wag To The Rescue
For a long time after the terrific bang following Ruggedo’s final
expansion, Wag and Peg Amy had been too stunned to even move. Crowded
together in the little rock room, they lay perfectly breathless.
“Umpthing sappened,” quavered the rabbit at last.
“That sounds rather queer, but I think I know what you mean,” said Peg,
sitting up cautiously.
“Something has happened. Ruggedo’s been blown up, I guess.”
“Mixed Magic!” groaned Wag gloomily. “I knew it would explode. Say, Peg,
what makes this room so small?”
“I don’t know,” sighed the doll in a puzzled voice, for neither Peg nor
Wag realized how much they had grown. “But let’s go above ground and see
what has become of Ruggedo.” One at a time and with great difficulty
they got through the door.
“Why, there are the stars!” cried Peg Amy, clasping her wooden hands
rapturously. “Real stars!” The top of the cave had gone off with the old
gnome King and the two stood looking up at the lovely skies of Oz.
“It doesn’t seem so high as it used to,” said the rabbit, looking at the
walls. “Why, I believe I could jump out if I took a good run and carry
you, too. Come ashort, Peg!”
“Aren’t you mixed, Wag dear? Don’t you mean come along?” asked Peg,
smoothing down her torn dress.
“Well, now that you mention it, my head does feel queer,” admitted the
rabbit, twitching his nose, “bort of sackwards!”
“Sort of backwards,” corrected Peg gently. “Well, never mind. I know
what you mean. But do let’s try to find that awful box of magic. You
know Ruggedo brought me to life, Wag, with something in that box!”
“Only good thing he ever did,” said Wag, shaking his head. “But I think
you were alive before,” he added solemnly. “You always seemed alive to
me.”
“I think so, too,” whispered Peg excitedly. “I can’t remember just how,
or where, but Oh! Wag! I know I’ve been alive before. I remember
dancing.”
Peg took a few awkward steps and Wag looked on dubiously, too polite to
criticize her efforts. He didn’t even laugh when Peg Amy fell down. Peg
laughed herself, however, as merrily as possible. “It’s going to be such
fun being alive,” she said, picking herself up gaily, “such fun, Wag
dear. Why, there’s Glegg’s box!” She pounced upon the little shining
gold casket. “Ruggedo didn’t take it after all!”
“Is it shut?” asked Wag, clapping both paws to his ears. “Look out for
explosions, say I.”
“No, but I’ll soon close it,” said Peg and, shutting Glegg’s box, she
slipped it into pocket of her dress. It was about half the size of this
book you are reading and as Peg’s pockets were big and old fashioned, it
fitted quite nicely.
“Come ashort,” said Wag again, looking around uneasily, for he was
anxious to get out of the gnome’s cave. So Peg seated herself carefully
on his back and clasped her wooden arms around his neck. Then Wag ran
back a few steps, gave a great jump and sailed up, up and out of the
cave.
“Ten penny tea cups!” shrieked the Soldier with the Green Whiskers,
falling over backwards. “What next?” For Wag with Peg on his back had
leaped straight over his head.
Picking himself up, and with every whisker in his beard prickling
straight on end, the Grand Army of Oz backed toward the royal stable.
When he had backed half the distance he turned and ran for his life. But
he need not have been afraid.
“What a funny little man,” chuckled Wag. “Why, he’s no bigger than we
are. He’s no—!” Then suddenly Wag clutched his ears. “Oh!” he screamed,
beginning to hop up and down, “I forgot all my treasures—my olden goop
soons. Oh! Oh! My urple sool wocks! I’ve forgotten my urple sool wocks!”
“Your what?” cried Peg Amy, clutching him by the fur. “Now Wag, dear,
you’re all mixed up. Perhaps it’s ’cause your ears are crossed. There,
now, do stop wiggling your whiskers and turn out your toes!”
But Wag continued to wiggle his whiskers and turn in his toes and roar
for his urple sool wocks.
“Stop!” screamed Peg at last, with both hands over her wooden ears. “I
know what you mean! Your purple wool socks!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
“Yes,” sobbed the rabbit, slumping down on a rock and holding his head
in both paws.
“Well, don’t you think”—the Wooden Doll shook her head jerkily—“Don’t
you think it’s just as well? Ruggedo stole all those things and you
wouldn’t want stolen soup spoons, now would you?”
Wag took a long breath and regarded Peg uncertainly. Then something in
her pleasant wooden face seemed to brace him up.
“No!” he sighed solemnly—“I s’pose not. I ought to have left Rug long
ago.”
“But then you couldn’t have helped me,” said Peg brightly. “Let’s don’t
think about it any more. You’ve been awfully good to me, Wag.”
“Have I?” said Wag more cheerfully. “Well, you’re a good sort, Peg—a
regular Princess!” he finished, puffing out his chest, “and anything you
say goes.”
“Princess?” laughed the Wooden Doll, pleased nevertheless. “I’m a funny
Princess, in this old dress. Did you ever hear of a wooden Princess,
Wag?”
“You look like a Princess to me,” said the rabbit stoutly. “Dresses
don’t matter.”
This speech so tickled the Wooden Doll that she gave Wag a good hug and
began dancing again. “Being alive is such fun!” she called gaily over
her shoulder, “and you are so wonderful!”
Wag’s chest expanded at least three inches and his whiskers trembled
with emotion. “Hop on my back Peg and I’ll take you anywhere you want to
go,” he puffed magnificently.
But the Wooden Doll had suddenly grown sober. “Wherever is the castle?”
she cried anxiously. She remembered exactly where it had stood when she
was an unalive doll and now not a tower or turret of the castle was to
be seen. “Oh!” groaned Peg Amy, “Ruggedo has done something dreadful
with his Mixed Magic!”
Wag rubbed his eyes and looked all around. “Why, it’s gone!” he cried,
waving his paws. “What shall we do? If only we weren’t so small!”
“We’ve got the magic box,” said Peg hopefully, “and somehow I don’t feel
as small as I used to feel; do you?”
“Well, I feel pretty queer, myself,” said the rabbit, twitching his
nose. “Maybe it’s because I’m hungry. There’s a kitchen garden over
there near the royal stables and I think if I had some carrots I’d feel
better.”
“Of course you would!” cried Peg, jumping up. “I forgot you had to eat.”
So, very cautiously they stole into the royal cook’s garden. Wag had
often helped himself to carrots from this garden before, but now sitting
on his haunches he stared around in dazed surprise.
“Everything’s different!” wailed the rabbit dismally. “You’re the same
and I’m the same but everything else is all mixed up. Look at this
carrot. Why, it’s no bigger than a blade of grass.” Wag held up a carrot
in disgust. “Why, it will take fifty of these to give me even a taste
and the lettuce—look at it! Everything’s shrunk, even the houses!” cried
the big funny bunny, looking around. “My wocks and hoop soons,
sheverything’s hunk!”
Peg Amy had followed Wag’s gaze and now she jumped up in great
excitement. “I see it now!” cried Peg. “It’s us, Wag. Everything’s the
same but we are different. Some of that Mixed Magic has made us grow.
We’re bigger and everything else is the same. I am as tall as the little
girl who used to play with me and you are even bigger and I’m glad,
because now we can help find the castle and Ruggedo and try to make
everything right again.”
Peg clasped her wooden hands. “Aren’t you glad too, Wag?”
The rabbit shook his head. “It’s going to take an awful lot to fill me
up,” he said doubtfully. “I’ll have to eat about six times as much as I
used to.”
“Well, you’re six times as large; isn’t that any comfort?”
“My head doesn’t feel right,” insisted Wag. “As soon as I talk fast the
words all come wrong.”
“Maybe it didn’t grow as fast as the rest of you,” laughed the Wooden
Doll. “But don’t you care, Wag. I know what you mean and I think you’re
just splendid! Now hurry and finish your carrots so we can decide what
to do.
“If Mixed Magic caused all this trouble,” added Peg half to herself,
“Mixed Magic’s got to fix it. I’m going to look at that box.” Wag,
nibbling industriously, had not heard Peg’s last speech or he would
doubtless have taken to his heels.
Sitting unconcernedly in a cabbage bed, the Wooden Doll took the gold
box from her pocket. Fortunately she had not snapped the magic snap and
it opened quite easily. Her fingers were stiff and clumsy and the moon
was the only light she had to see by, but it did not take Peg Amy long
to realize the importance of Glegg’s magic.
“I wonder if he rubbed this on the castle,” she murmured, holding up the
bottle of Vanishing Cream. “And how would one bring it back? Let me see,
now.” One after the other, she took out the bottles and boxes and the
tiny tea set. The Re-animating Rays she passed over, without realizing
they were responsible for bringing her to life, but the Question Box,
Peg pounced upon with eager curiosity.
“Oh, if it only would answer questions!” fluttered Peg. Then, holding
the box close to her mouth, she whispered, “Where is Ruggedo?”
“Who are you talking to?” asked Wag, looking up in alarm. “Now don’t
_you_ get mixed up, Peg!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
“It’s a Question Box,” said the Wooden Doll, “but it’s not working very
well.” She shook it vigorously and held it up so that the light
streaming down from the stable window fell directly on it. In silver
letters on the lid of the box was one word—Ev!
“Ev—Ruggedo’s in Ev!” cried Peg Amy, rushing over to the rabbit. “Can
you take me to Ev, Wag dear?”
“Of course,” said Wag, nibbling faster and faster at his carrots. “I’ll
take you anywhere, Peg.”
“Then it’s going to be all right; I know it,” chuckled the Wooden Doll,
and putting all the magic appliances back into the box she closed the
lid with a snap. And this time the magic catch caught.
“Is it far to Ev?” asked Peg Amy, looking thoughtfully at the place
where the castle had once been.
“Quite a long journey,” said Wag, “but we’ll go a hopping. Ev is near
Ruggedo’s old home and it’s across the Deadly Desert, but we’ll get
there somehow. Trust me. And when I do!” spluttered Wag, thumping his
hind feet determinedly, “I’ll pound his curly toes off—the wicked little
monster!”
“Did you ask the Question Box where the castle was?” he inquired
hastily, for he saw Peg was going to tell him he must not pound Ruggedo.
“Why, no! How silly of me!” Peg felt in her pocket and brought out the
gold box. She tried to open it as she had done before but it was no use.
She pulled and tugged and shook it. Then Wag tried.
“There’s a secret to it,” puffed the rabbit at last. “Took Rug a whole
night and day to discover it. Can’t you remember how you opened it
before, Peg?”
The Wooden Doll shook her head sadly.
“Well, never mind,” said Wag comfortingly. “Once we find Ruggedo we can
make him tell. We’d better start right off, because if any of the people
around here saw us they might try to capture us and put us in a circus.
We are rather unusual, you know.” The rabbit regarded Peg Amy
complacently. “One doesn’t see six-foot rabbits and live dolls every
day, even in Oz!”
“No,” agreed Peg Amy slowly, “I s’pose not!”
The moon, looking down on the strange pair, ducked behind a cloud to
hide her smile, for the giant funny bunny, strutting about pompously,
and old-fashioned wooden Peg, in her torn frock, were enough to make
anyone smile.
“You think of everything,” sighed Peg, looking affectionately at Wag.
“Who wouldn’t for a girl like you? You’re a Princess, Peg—a regular
Princess.” The rabbit said it with conviction and again Peg happily
smoothed her dress.
“Hop on,” chuckled Wag, “and then I’ll hop off.”
Seating herself on his back and holding tight to one of his long ears,
Peg announced herself ready. Then away through the night shot the giant
bunny—away toward the western country of the Winkies—and each hop
carried him twelve feet forward and sent up great spurts of dust behind.
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]