The Proper Princess Is Found!
“Is the mirror safe, and have you still got the gold door knob?” asked
Pompa, as the Country swung out onto the Deadly Desert. “The Question
Box said I was to trust them, you know.”
“And by what right did Ozma take that box?” wheezed Kabumpo irritably,
as he felt in his pocket to see whether the magic articles were still
there.
“That’s gratitude for you! We find Glegg’s box of Mixed Magic and rescue
her, and off she goes with all our magic, leaving us to the tender
mercies of a Runaway Country!”
“You find the box!” shrilled Wag. “Well, I like that!”
“Oh, what difference does it make?” groaned Pompa, stretching out upon
the ground. They were all completely exhausted by the day’s adventures
and as cross as three sticks—all except Peg Amy, who never was cross.
“I shall marry this Princess and save my country, but I’m going away as
soon as the wedding is over and spend the rest of my life in travel,”
announced Pompa gloomily.
“Don’t blame you,” rumbled the Elegant Elephant with a sniff.
“Ah, now!” laughed Peg. “That doesn’t sound like you, Pompa. Why, maybe
this Princess will be so lovely you’ll want to carry her straight back
to Pumperdink.”
“I think Princesses are a great bore,” said Wag with a terrific yawn. “I
prefer plain folks like Peg and the Scarecrow.”
“You’re all hungry, that’s what’s the matter,” chuckled the Wooden Doll.
“When you’ve had some supper you’ll be just as anxious to find the
Princess of Sun Top Mountain as you were to find Ozma. Here’s the Winkie
Country now, and there’s a star for good luck.”
Peg waved toward the green fields with one hand and toward the clouds
with the other. It was dusk now and just one star twinkled cheerily in
the sky.
“I’ll set you down, but I’m not going away,” said the Runaway Country
determinedly, “for if that little old gnome doesn’t turn up I’m going to
catch you all again.”
“Ozma never forgets. She’ll keep her promise,” said Peg. “And you must
do just as she told you to do for she has some powerful magic and can
send you right back to where you came from.”
“Can she?” gulped the Country anxiously.
“You might wait a while, though,” suggested Pompa darkly. “After I’ve
seen this new Princess a Runaway Country might be a very good thing.”
“Well, you can’t expect her to marry you if you talk that way,” said Peg
warningly, as the Country came to a stop in a huge field of daisies.
“I’ll wait,” it said hopefully, as the four travelers swung themselves
down.
“I wonder if we are in the North Central part,” murmured Peg Amy,
looking around anxiously. Now it happened the Country had crossed the
Deadly Desert slantwise and although none of the party knew it they were
scarcely a mile from Sun Top Mountain.
“I see a garden!” cried Wag, twitching his nose hungrily. “Come on,
Prince, let’s find some supper.” With head down and dragging his feet,
Pompa followed Wag. Kabumpo began jerking snappishly at some tree tops
and Peg Amy sat down to think.
“I wish,” thought the Wooden Doll, looking up at the bright star, “I
wish I might have asked the box one little question.” Peg Amy looked so
solemn that Kabumpo stopped eating and regarded her anxiously.
“What’s the matter?” asked the Elegant Elephant gruffly, for he quite
counted on Peg’s cheerfulness.
“I was thinking about it again,” admitted Peg apologetically. “About
being alive before. I’m sure I was alive before I was a doll, Kabumpo. I
think I was a person, like Pompa,” she continued softly.
“You’re much better as you are,” said the Elegant Elephant uneasily, for
it had just occurred to him that the Magic Mirror would tell Peg who she
was as well as the Question Box. But should he let her look in it? That
was the question. Poor, tired old Kabumpo shifted from one foot to the
other as he tried to make up his mind. Two huge drops of perspiration
ran down his trunk. What good would it do? he reasoned finally. Suppose
it told something awful! It couldn’t change her and it might make her
unhappy. No, he would not let Peg look in the mirror.
“How would you like to have this pearl bracelet?” he asked in an
embarrassed voice.
“Why, Kabumpo, I’d just adore it!” cried Peg, springing up in a hurry.
“And I’m not going to worry about being alive any more, for everyone is
so lovely to me I ought to be the happiest person in Oz.”
“You are,” puffed Kabumpo, clumsily slipping the bracelet on Peg’s
wooden arm, “and if we ever get back to Pumperdink you shall have as
many silk dresses as you want and—” The rest of the sentence was
smothered in a hug.
Peg Amy was growing fonder and fonder of pompous old Kabumpo and by the
time he had recovered his breath Wag and the Prince came ambling back
together. They had found an orchard and a kitchen garden and as they
were no longer hungry, both were more cheerful.
“Let’s play scop hotch,” suggested Wag amiably. “I’m tired of hunting
Princesses.” There was a smooth patch of sand under the trees and Wag
hopped over and began marking out the squares with his paw.
“Scop hotch!” laughed Pompa, While Peg gave a skip of delight.
“Play if you want to,” wheezed Kabumpo, shaking himself wearily, “I feel
about as playful as a stone lion. Besides, hop scotch isn’t an elephant
game.”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
Peg, Wag and Pompa began to hop scotch for dear life. Peg often tumbled
over, for it is hard to keep your balance on wooden legs, but it was Peg
who won in the end and Wag crowned her with daisies.
“I wish we could go on just as we are,” gasped Pompa, mopping his face
with his silk handkerchief. “We’re all good chums and, if it weren’t for
Pumperdink’s disappearing, we might travel all over Oz and have no end
of adventures together.”
“Speaking of disappearing,” said Kabumpo, opening one eye, for he had
dozed off during the game, “I suppose we’d better be starting if we’re
to save the Kingdom at all.”
“Good-bye to pleasure,” sighed Pompa, as Kabumpo lifted him to his back.
“Good-bye to everything!”
“Oh, cheer up,” begged Peg, settling herself on Wag’s back.
“Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” A large yellow bird rose suddenly from a
near-by bush and flapped its wings over Pompa’s head. “Hurrah! Hurrah!”
“Shoo! Get away!” grumbled Kabumpo crossly. “What are you cheering
about?”
“She said to,” cawed the bird, darting over Peg Amy’s head. “Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah! Let me teach you how to be cheerful in three chirps.
First, think of what you might have been; next, think of what you are;
then think of what you are going to be. Do you get it?” The bird put its
head on one side and regarded them anxiously.
“He might have been King of Oz, instead of which he is only a lost
Prince, and he’s going to be married to a mountain top Princess. Do you
see anything cheerful about that?” demanded Kabumpo angrily. “Clear out!
We’ll do our own cheering.”
“Shall I go?” asked the Hurrah Bird, looking very crestfallen and
pointing its claw at Peg Amy.
“Maybe you can tell us the way to Sun Top Mountain,” said Peg politely.
“You can see it from the other side of the hill,” replied the Hurrah
Bird. “I’ll give you a few hurrahs for luck. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”
“Oh, go away,” grumbled Kabumpo.
“Not till you look at my nest. Did you ever see a Hurrah Bird’s nest?”
he chirped brightly.
“Let’s look at it,” said Pompa, smiling in spite of himself. The Hurrah
Bird preened itself proudly as they peered through the bushes. Surely it
had the gayest nest ever built, for it was woven of straw of many
colors, and hung all over the near-by branches were small Oz flags. In
the nest three little yellow chicks were growing up into Hurrahs and
they chirped faintly at the visitors.
“Remember,” called the Father Hurrah, as they bade him good-bye, “you
can always be cheerful in three chirps if you think of what you _might_
have been, what you _are_, and what you are going to be. Hurrah! Hurrah!
Hurrah!”
“There’s something in what you’ve said,” chuckled Wag. “Good-bye!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
The moon had come up brightly and even Kabumpo began to feel more like
himself. “There’s a lot to be learned by traveling, eh, Wag?” He winked
at the rabbit, who was just behind him. “Let’s see—somersaults for
sums—never be gormish—and now, how to be cheerful in three chirps.
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” The Elegant Elephant began to plow swiftly
through the daisy field, so that in almost no time they reached the top
of the little hill and as they did so Peg gave a little scream of
delight. As for the others, they were simply speechless.
A purple mountain rose steeply ahead, and set like a crown upon its
summit was a glittering gold castle, the loveliest, laciest gold castle
you could imagine, with a hundred fluttering pennants. All down the
mountain side spread its lovely gardens, its golden arbors and flower
bordered paths.
[Illustration: At the top of the mountain the loveliest castle you could
imagine]
“I’ve seen it before!” cried the Wooden Doll softly, but no one heard
her. Pompa drew a deep breath, for the castle, shimmering in the
moonlight, seemed almost too beautiful to believe.
“Whe-ew!” whistled Wag, breaking the silence. “The Princess of Tun Sop
Wountain must be wonderful.”
“Shall we start up now?” gasped Kabumpo, swinging his trunk nervously.
“I don’t believe she’ll ever marry me. Let’s don’t go at all,” muttered
the Prince of Pumperdink in a shaking voice.
“Oh, come on!” called Wag, who was curious to see the owner of so grand
a castle.
“But we mustn’t go, Wag,” gasped Peg Amy. “How would it look to have a
shabby old doll tagging along when he’s trying to talk to the Princess?”
“If Peg doesn’t go, I’m not going,” declared Pompa stubbornly.
“You’re just as good as any Princess,” said Kabumpo, “and I’m not going
without you, either.”
As the Elegant Elephant refused to budge and there seemed no other way
out of it, Peg Amy finally consented and the four adventurers started
fearfully up the winding path, almost expecting the castle to disappear
before they reached the top, so unreal did it seem in the moonlight.
There was no one in the garden but there were lights in the castle
windows. “Just as if they expected us,” said the Elegant Elephant, as
they reached the tall gates. Pompa opened the gates and next instant
they were standing before the great castle door.
“Shall we knock?” chattered Wag, his eyes sticking out with excitement.
“No! Wait a minute,” begged the Prince, who was becoming more agitated
every minute.
“Here’s the mirror and the door knob,” quavered Kabumpo. “Didn’t the
Question Box say to trust them? Why, look here, Pompa, my boy, it fits!”
Clumsily, Kabumpo held up the glittering door knob he had brought all
the way from Pumperdink; then he slipped it easily on the small gold bar
projecting from the door.
But instead of looking joyful Pompa groaned dismally. He started to
protest but Kabumpo had already turned the knob and they found
themselves in a glittering gold court room.
“Now for the Princess,” puffed Kabumpo, looking around with his
twinkling little eyes. “Here, take the mirror, Pompa.” The room was
empty, although brilliantly lighted, and the Prince stood uncertainly in
the very center. Suddenly, with a determined little cry, Pompa rushed
over to Peg Amy, who stood leaning against a tall gold chair.
“Peg,” choked Pompa, dropping on his knees beside the Wooden Doll, “I’ll
have to find some other way to save Pumperdink. I’m not going to marry
this Princess and have you taken away from me. You’re a proper enough
Princess for me and we’ll just go back to Pumperdink and be—”
“The mirror! Look in the mirror!” screamed Wag, who was sitting beside
Peg Amy.
[Illustration: There stood Peg Amy, the Loveliest Little Princess in the
world]
Unconsciously, Pompa had held out the gold mirror and Peg, leaning over
to listen, had looked directly into it. Above Peg’s pleasant reflection
in the mirror they read these startling and important words:
This is Peg Amy, Princess of Sun Top Mountain.
While Pompa stared with round eyes the words faded out and this new
legend formed in the glass:
This is the Proper Princess.
“I always knew you were a Princess,” cried Wag, turning a somersault.
The big rabbit had just come right-side-up, when a still more amazing
thing happened. The wooden body of Peg melted before their eyes and in
its place stood the loveliest little Princess in the world. And yet,
with all her beauty, she was strangely like the old Peg. Her eyes had
the same merry twinkle and her mouth the same pleasant curve.
“Oh!” cried Princess Peg, holding her arms out to her friends. “Now I am
the happiest person in Oz!”
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]