Prince Pompadore Proposes
While Peg and Pompa and the Elegant Elephant eyed the box, Wag,
twitching his nose and mumbling very fast under his breath, backed
rapidly away. He was not going to run the risk of any more explosions.
So anxious was the big rabbit to put a good distance between himself and
Glegg’s Mixed Magic, that he never realized that he was backing toward
the giant till a sharp thump on the back of the head brought him up
short.
Trembling in every hair, Wag looked over his shoulder. _Stars!_ He had
run into the terrible, five-toed foot of the giant himself. At first Wag
was too terrified to move. But suddenly the hair on the back of his neck
bristled erect. He peered at the giant’s foot more attentively. His eyes
snapped and, seizing a stout stick that lay near by, he brought it down
with all his might on the giant’s toes.
“It’s Ruggedo!” screamed Wag, hopping up and down with rage. “And I’ll
pound his curly toes off. I don’t care if he is a giant! I’ll pound his
curly toes off!”
The stick whistled through the air and whacked the giant’s toes again.
Now of course we have known all along that the giant was Ruggedo, but it
was a great surprise for the rescuers. Ruggedo was bad enough to deal
with as a gnome—but a giant Ruggedo! _Horrors!_
“Stop him! Stop him!” cried Peg Amy, throwing up her hands and
scattering the contents of the box of magic in every direction.
“What are you trying to do?” roared Kabumpo, plunging forward. “Get us
all trampled on?”
A muffled cry came down from the clouds and, as Kabumpo dragged Wag back
by the ear, something flashed through the air and bounced upon the
Elegant Elephant’s head.
“It’s the Scarecrow!” chattered Wag, wriggling from beneath Kabumpo’s
trunk. Kabumpo opened his eyes and peered down at the limp bundle at his
feet. As he looked the bundle began to pull itself together. It sat up
awkwardly and began clutching itself into shape.
“Where’d you come from?” gasped the Elegant Elephant. Without speaking,
the Scarecrow waved his hand upward and rose unsteadily to his feet.
Then, catching sight of Peg Amy and Pompadore, the Straw Man bowed
politely. Meanwhile Wag, seeing that Kabumpo’s attention was diverted,
began to sidle back toward Ruggedo.
“Stop!” cried the Scarecrow, running after him. “Are you crazy? Don’t
you know Ozma’s palace is on his head? Every time he moves everyone in
the palace tumbles about. Was it you who stirred him up and made him
spill me out of the window?”
“I’ll wake him up some more, the wicked old scrabble-scratch,” muttered
Wag, but Kabumpo jerked him back roughly.
[Illustration: The Scarecrow waved his hand upward]
“Great Grump!” choked the Elegant Elephant, shaking Wag in his
exasperation. “Here we’ve come all this way to save Princess Ozma and
now you want to upset everything.”
“That’s the way to do it,” said the Scarecrow, rolling his eyes wildly.
“Please stop it, Wag,” begged Peg Amy, throwing her wooden arms around
the big rabbit’s neck, and as Pompa added his voice to Peg’s, Wag
finally threw down his stick.
“Who is that beautiful girl?” asked the Scarecrow of Kabumpo. The
Elegant Elephant looked at the Straw Man sharply, to see that he was not
poking fun at the Wooden Doll. Finding he was quite serious, he said
proudly, “That’s Peg Amy, the best little body in Oz. She’s under my
protection,” he added grandly.
Just then Pompa and Peg came over and Wag, who had often seen the
Scarecrow in the Emerald City, introduced them all.
“Did I understand you to say you had come to rescue Ozma?” asked the
Scarecrow, who could not keep his eyes off the Elegant Elephant.
“Did I understand you to say Ozma’s palace was on Ruggedo’s head?”
shuddered Kabumpo, glancing fearfully in the direction of the mountain.
The Scarecrow nodded vigorously and told in a few words of their
terrible journey to Ev and their present perilous position. How the
palace had gotten on Ruggedo’s head, he admitted was a puzzle to him.
Kabumpo and Pompadore listened with amazement, especially to the part
where they had threatened Ruggedo with eggs.
“And he’s kept still for two days just on account of eggs?” gasped the
Elegant Elephant incredulously.
“Well, no,” admitted the Scarecrow, wrinkling up his forehead. “A little
man came flying through the air the first morning and bumped into the
palace and instantly everyone except Scraps and me fell asleep. Ruggedo
was put to sleep, too; we could hear him snoring.”
“Why, it must have been the Sand Man,” breathed Peg Amy. “I have heard
he lived near here.”
“Are they asleep now?” asked Pompa, clutching the Scarecrow’s arm. How
romantic—thought the Prince of Pumperdink—to rescue and waken a sleeping
Princess!
But the Scarecrow shook his head. “A few minutes before I fell out they
began to wake up and I’d just gone to the window to look for Glinda when
Ruggedo gave a howl and ducked his head and here I fell.” The Scarecrow
spread his hands eloquently and smiled at Peg.
“Has Glinda been here?” asked Kabumpo jealously.
“Yes,” said the Scarecrow. “She came this morning and she’s been trying
all sorts of magic to reduce Ruggedo without harm to the palace.”
“Great Grump! Do you hear that?” Kabumpo rolled his eyes anxiously
toward the Prince. “If Glinda’s magic takes effect before ours then
where’ll we be? Peg! Peg! Where’s the box of Mixed Magic?”
“Would you mind telling me,” burst out the Scarecrow, who had been
examining one after another in the party with a puzzled expression,
“would you mind telling me how you happened to know about the palace
disappearing; how you got across the sandy desert; how you expect to
help us; how he (with a jerk at Wag) came to be too large; how she (with
a jerk of his thumb at Peg) came to be alive; and—”
“All in good time; all in good time!” trumpeted Kabumpo testily. “You
sound like the Curious Cottabus! The principal thing to do now is to
save Ozma. Will Ruggedo stay quiet a little longer?”
“If he’s not disturbed,” said the Scarecrow, with a meaning glance at
Wag.
“Well, my hocks and woop soons!” cried the rabbit indignantly. “Isn’t
anyone going to punish him? He shook and shook Peg and he meddled with
magic and blew up into a giant. He’s run off with the palace. Doesn’t he
deserve a pounding?”
“Friend,” said the Scarecrow, “I admire your spirit but my excellent
brains tell me that this is a case where an ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure. But have we the ounce of prevention?”
“Here’s the Question Box,” announced Peg, who had run off at Kabumpo’s
first call. “What shall we ask it first?”
“How to save the lovely Princess of Oz,” spoke up Pompa, running his
hand over his scorched locks. “Where’s my crown, Kabumpo?”
Kabumpo fished the crown from his pocket and Pompa set it gravely upon
his head as Peg asked the Question Box:
“How shall we save the lovely Princess of Oz?”
These maneuvers so astonished the Scarecrow that he lost his balance and
fell flat on his nose. When he recovered Peg was clapping her wooden
hands and Kabumpo was dancing on three legs.
“You’re as good as married, my boy!” cried Kabumpo, thumping the Prince
upon the back.
“What is it? What’s happened?” gasped the Scarecrow.
“Why, the Question Box says to pour three drops of Trick Tea on
Ruggedo’s left foot and two on his right and he will then march back to
the Emerald City, descend into his cave and, after the palace has
settled firmly on its foundations, he will shrink down to his former
size,” read Peg Amy, holding the Question Box close to her eyes, for the
printing was very small.
“Hurrah!” cried the Scarecrow, throwing up his hat. “Peggy, put the
kettle on and we’ll all have some tea! But where’d you get all this
magic stuff?” he asked immediately after.
“Out of a box of Mixed Magic,” puffed Kabumpo, his little eyes twinkling
with anticipation as he watched Peg. First she filled the tiny kettle at
a near-by brook; then she lit the little lamp and dropped some of the
Trick Tea into the kettle. Bright pink clouds arose from the kettle, as
soon as Peg had set it over the flame, and while they waited for it to
boil Pompa put another question.
“Has Pumperdink disappeared?” asked the Prince, in a trembling voice.
“N-o,” spelled the Question Box slowly, and Kabumpo settled back with a
great sigh of relief.
“I told you everything would be all right if you followed my advice,”
said the Elegant Elephant. “Stand up now and try to forget your black
eye. You are the Prince of Pumperdink and I am the Elegant Elephant of
Oz.”
“But why all the ceremony?” asked the Scarecrow, looking mystified.
Kabumpo only chuckled to himself and, as the Trick Tea was now ready,
Peg took the little kettle and began to tip-toe toward Ruggedo.
“I hope it’s red hot,” grumbled Wag resentfully. “He’s getting off easy,
the old scrabble-scratch! Getting off! Say, look here!” He gestured
violently to Kabumpo. “If Ruggedo returns to the Emerald City with the
palace on his head, where does Pompa come in?” He pointed a trembling
paw at the Prince, his nose twitching so fast it made the Scarecrow
blink.
“Stop!” trumpeted the Elegant Elephant, plunging after Peg Amy. He
reached her just in time.
“I’m no better than Pumper,” grunted Kabumpo, mopping his brow with the
tail of his robe. “Suppose, after all our hardships, I had allowed Ozma
and the palace to get away without giving Pompa a chance to ask her—”
“But we ought to save her as quick as we can,” ventured Peg. “Couldn’t
we hurry back to the Emerald City again?”
“It might be too late,” wheezed Kabumpo. “Let—me—see!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
“Hello!” cried the Scarecrow. “Here comes Glinda.” As he spoke the swan
chariot of the good Sorceress floated down beside the little party.
“Bother!” groaned Kabumpo, as Glinda stepped out.
“Some strangers,” called the Scarecrow, gleefully running toward Glinda,
“some strangers with a box of Mixed Magic trying to help.”
“If we could have a few words with Ozma,” put in the Elegant Elephant
hastily, “everything would be all right.”
Glinda looked at Kabumpo gravely. “It’s unlawful to practice magic. You
must know that,” said the Sorceress sternly.
“But it’s not our magic, your Highness,” explained Peg Amy, setting down
the little kettle. “We found it, and we’re only trying to help Ozma.”
“Well, in that case,” Glinda could not help smiling at the Wooden Doll’s
quaint appearance, “I shall be glad to assist you, as all of my magic
has proved useless.”
“Aren’t you the Prince of Pumperdink?” she asked, nodding toward Pompa.
The Prince bowed in his most princely fashion and assured her that he
was and, after a few hasty explanations, Glinda promised to bring Ozma
down in her chariot.
“Tell her,” trumpeted Kabumpo impressively, as the chariot rose in the
air, “tell her that a young Prince waits below!”
While Pompa was still looking after Glinda’s chariot, Peg Amy came up to
him and extended both her wooden hands.
“I wish you much happiness, Pompa dear,” said the Wooden Doll in a low
voice.
Pompa pressed Peg’s hands gratefully. “If it hadn’t been for you I’d
never have succeeded. You shall have everything you wish for now, Peg.
Why, where are you going?”
“Good-bye!” called Peg Amy, trying to keep her voice as cheerful as her
painted face, and before anyone could stop her she began to run toward a
little grove of trees.
“Come back!” cried the Prince, starting after her.
“Come back!” trumpeted Kabumpo in alarm.
“I’ll get her!” coughed Wag, hopping forward jealously. “I’ve known her
the longest.”
Pompa and Kabumpo both started to run, too, but just at that minute down
swooped the chariot and out jumped Ozma, the lovely little Ruler of Oz.
“At last!” gasped Kabumpo, pushing Pompa forward.
If Ozma was startled by their singular appearance, she was too polite to
say so, and she returned Pompa’s deep bow with a still deeper curtsey.
“Glinda tells me you have come a long, long way just to help me,” said
Ozma anxiously. “Is that so?”
“Princess!” cried Pompa, falling on his knee. “I know you are worried
about your palace and your Courtiers and your friends. Two drops of that
Triple Trick Tea (he waved at the small kettle) upon Ruggedo’s right
foot and three on his left will set everything right!”
“But where did you get it—and why?” Ozma looked doubtfully at the
Scarecrow.
“Might as well try it,” advised the Scarecrow.
“We will explain everything later,” puffed the Elegant Elephant. “Trust
old Kabumpo, your Highness, and everything will turn out happily.”
“I believe I will,” smiled Ozma. “Will you try the Trick Tea, Glinda?”
Glinda took the kettle and poured it exactly as directed. First Ruggedo
gave a gusty sigh that blew the clouds about in every direction.
“Look out!” warned Glinda.
Next instant they all fluttered down like a pack of cards, for Ruggedo
had taken a step—a giant step that shook the earth as if it had been a
block of jelly—and when they had picked themselves up Ruggedo was out of
sight, tramping like a giant in a dream, back toward the Emerald City.
[Illustration: Ruggedo, tramping like a giant in a dream, back to the
Emerald City]
“You wait here!” cried Glinda to Ozma. “And I’ll follow him!” She sprang
into her chariot.
“How do you know he’ll go back?” asked the little Ruler of Oz, staring
with straining eyes for a glimpse of the giant.
“Because the Question Box said so,” chuckled Kabumpo triumphantly.
“Good magic!” approved the Scarecrow. “But where is that charming Peg? I
think I’ll run find her.”
No sooner had the Scarecrow disappeared than Pompa, swallowing very
hard, again approached Ozma. But Ozma, still looking after Glinda’s
vanishing chariot, was hardly aware of the Prince of Pumperdink.
Poor Pompa dropped on his knee (which had a large hole in it by this
time) and began mumbling indistinct sentences. Then, as Kabumpo frowned
with disgust, the Prince burst out desperately, “Princess, will you
marry me?”
“Marry you?” gasped the little Ruler of Oz. “Good gracious, _no_!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]