DOROTHY UPSETS THE CEREMONY OF THE ISLAND
"A caravan!" whistled the Comfortable Camel, lurching to his feet.
"How nice!"
"I doubt that!" The dromedary's eyes flew open, and he stared
sleepily at the magnificent procession of Silver Islanders.
First came the musicians, playing their shining silver trumpets and
flutes. The Grand Chew Chew and General Mugwump followed, attired in
brilliant silk robes of state. Then came the three Princes,
glittering with jeweled chains and medals, and the fifteen little
Princes, like so many silver butterflies in their satin kimonas. Next
appeared a palanquin bearing the veiled Princess Orange Blossom,
followed by a whole company of splendid courtiers and after them as
many of the everyday Silver Islanders as the hall would hold. There
was a moment of silence. Then the whole assemblage, contrary to the
Scarecrow's edict, fell upon their faces.
"My!" exclaimed Dorothy, impressed in spite of herself. "Are you sure
you want to give up all this?"
"Great Emperor, beautiful as the sun, wise as the stars, and radiant
as the clouds, the Ceremony of Restoration is about to begin!"
quavered the Grand Chew Chew, rising slowly. Then he paused, for he
was suddenly confused by the strange company around the Scarecrow's
throne.
"Treachery!" hissed the eldest Prince to the others. "We left him
tied to the bean pole. Ancient Papa Scarecrow needs watching! Who are
these curious objects he has gathered about him, pray?"
Now by some magic which even I cannot explain, the people from Oz
found they could understand all that was being said. When Dorothy
heard herself called an object and saw the wicked faces of the three
Princes and the stupid little grandsons, she no longer wondered at
the Scarecrow's decision.
The Scarecrow himself bowed calmly. "First," said he cheerfully, "let
me introduce my friends and visitors from Oz."
The Silver Islanders, who really loved the Scarecrow, bowed politely
as he called out the names of Dorothy and the others. But the three
Silver Princes scowled and whispered indignantly among themselves.
"I am growing very wroth!" choked Sir Hokus to the Cowardly Lion.
"Let the ceremony proceed!" called the eldest Prince harshly, before
the Scarecrow had finished his introductions. "Let the proper body of
his Serene Highness be immediately restored. Way for the Grand
Gheewizard! Way for the Grand Gheewizard!"
"One moment," put in the Scarecrow in a dignified voice. "I have
something to say." The Silver Islanders clapped loudly at this, and
Dorothy felt a bit reassured. Perhaps they would listen to reason
after all and let the Scarecrow depart peacefully. How they were ever
to escape if they didn't, the little girl could not see.
"My dear children," began the Scarecrow in his jolly voice, "nothing
could have been more wonderful than my return to this lovely island,
but in the years I have been away from you I have changed very much,
and I find I no longer care for being Emperor. So with your kind
permission, I will keep the excellent body I now have and will
abdicate in favor of my eldest son and return with my friends to Oz.
For in Oz I really belong."
A dead silence followed the Scarecrow's speech--then perfect
pandemonium.
"No! No! You are a good Emperor! We will not let you go!" shrieked
the people. "You are our honorable little Father. The Prince shall be
Emperor after you have peacefully returned to your ancestors, but not
now. No! No! We will not have it!"
"I feared this!" quavered Happy Toko.
"It is not the Emperor, but the Scarecrow who speaks!" shrilled the
Grand Chew Chew craftily. "He knows not what he says. But after the
transformation--Ah, you shall see!"
The company calmed down at this. "Let the ceremony proceed! Way for
the Grand Gheewizard!" they cried exultantly.
"Chew Chew," wailed the Scarecrow, "you're off the track!" But it was
too late. No one would listen.
"I'll have to think of something else," muttered the Scarecrow,
sinking dejectedly back on his throne.
"Oh!" shuddered Dorothy, clutching the Scarecrow, "Here he comes!"
"Way for the Grand Gheewizard! Way for the Grand Gheewizard!"
The crowd parted. Hobbling toward the throne came the ugly little
Gheewizard of the Silver Island holding a large silver vase high
above his head, and after him--!
When Sir Hokus caught a glimpse of what came after, he leaped clean
over the Comfortable Camel.
"Uds daggers!" roared the Knight. "_At last!"_
He rushed forward violently. There was a sharp thrust of his good
sword, then an explosion like twenty giant firecrackers in one,
and the room became quite black with smoke. Before anyone
realized what had happened, Sir Hokus was back, dragging
something after him and shouting exuberantly, "A dragon! I have
slain a dragon! What happiness!"
Everyone was coughing and spluttering from the smoke, but as it
cleared Dorothy saw that it was indeed a dragon Sir Hokus had slain,
the rheumatic dragon of the old Gheewizard himself.
"Why didn't you get the wizard?" rumbled the Cowardly Lion angrily.
"Must have exploded," said the Comfortable Camel, sniffing the skin
daintily.
"Treason!" yelled the three Princes, while the Grand Gheewizard flung
himself on the stone floor and began tearing strand after strand from
his silver pigtail.
"He has killed the little joy of my hearth!" screeched the old man.
"I will turn him to a cat, a miserable yellow cat, and roast him for
dinner!"
"Oh!" cried Dorothy, looking at Sir Hokus sorrowfully. "How could
you?"
The slaying of the dragon had thrown the whole hall into utmost
confusion. Sir Hokus turned a little pale under his armor, but faced
the angry mob without flinching.
"Oh, my dear Karwan Bashi, this is so uncomfortable!" wheezed the
camel, glancing back of him with frightened eyes.
"There's a shiny dagger in my left-hand saddlesack. I doubt very much
whether they would like it," coughed the Doubtful Dromedary, pressing
close to the Knight.
"On with the ceremony!" cried the eldest Prince, seeing that the
excitement was giving the Scarecrow's friends too much time to think.
"The son of an iron pot shall be punished later!"
"That's right!" cried a voice from the crowd. "Let the Emperor be
restored!"
"I guess it's all over," gulped the Scarecrow. "Give my love to Ozma
and tell her I tried to come back."
In helpless terror, the little company watched the Gheewizard
approach. One could fight real enemies, but _magic!_ Even Sir Hokus,
brave as he was, felt that nothing could be done.
"One move and you shall be so many prunes," shrilled the angry old
man, fixing the people from Oz with his wicked little eyes. The great
room was so still you could have heard a pin drop. Even the Doubtful
Dromedary had not the heart to doubt the wizard's power, but stood
rigid as a statue.
The wizard advanced slowly, holding the sealed vase carefully over
his head. The poor Scarecrow regarded it with gloomy fascination. One
more moment and he would be an old, old Silverman. Better to be lost
forever! He held convulsively to Dorothy.
As for Dorothy herself, she was trembling with fright and grief. When
the Grand Gheewizard raised the vase higher and higher and made ready
to hurl it at the Scarecrow, disregarding his dire threat she gave a
shrill scream and threw up both hands.
"Great grandmothers!" gasped the Scarecrow, jumping to his feet. As
Dorothy had thrown up her arms, the little parasol swinging at her
wrist had jerked open. Up, up, up, and out through the broken
skylight in the roof sailed the little Princess of Oz!
The Grand Gheewizard, startled as anyone, failed to throw the vase.
Every neck was craned upward, and everyone was gasping with
astonishment.
The oldest Prince, as usual, was the first to recover. "Don't stand
staring like an idiot! Now's your chance!" he hissed angrily in the
Gheewizard's ear.
"I didn't come here to be harried and hurried by foreigners," sobbed
the little man. "How is one to work magic when interrupted every
other minute? I want my little dragon."
"Oh, come on now, just throw it. I'll get you another dragon," begged
the Prince, his hands trembling with excitement.
In the face of this new disaster, the Scarecrow had forgotten all
about the Gheewizard. He and the Cowardly Lion and Sir Hokus were
running distractedly around the great throne trying to think up a way
to rescue Dorothy. As for the Doubtful Dromedary, he was doubting
everything in a loud, bitter voice, while the Comfortable Camel
fairly snorted with sorrow.
"There! Now's your chance," whispered the Prince. The Scarecrow, with
his back to the crowd, was gesturing frantically.
Taking a firm hold on the neck of the vase and with a long
incantation which there is no use at all in repeating, the Gheewizard
flung the bottle straight at the Scarecrow's head. But scarcely had
it left his hand before there was a flash and a flutter and down came
Dorothy and the magic parasol right on top of the vase.
Zip! The vase flew in quite another direction, and next minute had
burst over the luckless heads of the three plotting Princes, while
Dorothy floated gently to earth.
Sir Hokus embraced the Scarecrow, and the Scarecrow hugged the
Cowardly Lion, and I don't wonder at all. For no sooner had the magic
elixir touched the Princes, than two of them became silver pigs and
the eldest a weasel. They had been turned to their true shapes
instead of the Scarecrow. And while the company hopped about in
alarm, they ran squealing from the hall and disappeared in the
gardens.
"Seize the Gheewizard and take him to his cave," ordered the
Scarecrow, asserting his authority for the first time since the
proceedings has started. He had noticed the old man making queer
signs and passes toward Sir Hokus. A dozen took hold of the
struggling Gheewizard and hurried him out of the hall.
Sir Hokus, at the request of the Scarecrow, clapped his iron
gauntlets for silence.
"You will agree with me, I'm sure," said the Scarecrow in a slightly
unsteady voice, "that magic is a serious matter to meddle with. If
you will all return quietly to your homes, I will try to find a way
out of our difficulties."
The Silver Islanders listened respectfully and after a little arguing
among themselves backed out of the throne room. To tell the truth,
they were anxious to spread abroad the tale of the morning's
happenings.
Princess Orange Blossom, however, refused to depart. Magic or no
magic, she had come to marry the Emperor, and she would not leave
till the ceremony had been performed.
"But my dear old Lady, would you wish to marry a Scarecrow?" coaxed
the Emperor.
"All men are Scarecrows," snapped the Princess sourly.
"Then why marry at all?" rumbled the Cowardly Lion, making a playful
leap at her palanquin. This was too much. The Princess swooned on the
spot, and the Scarecrow, taking advantage of her unconscious
condition, ordered her chair bearers to carry her away as far and as
fast as they could run.
"Now," said the Scarecrow when the last of the company had
disappeared, "let us talk this over."