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[Illustration]
Tik-Tok OF OZ
[Illustration]
TIK-TOK OF OZ
by
L. FRANK BAUM
Author of
The Road to Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The
Emerald City of Oz, The Land of Oz, Ozma
of Oz, The Patchwork Girl of Oz
[Illustration]
Illustrated by John R. Neill
The Reilly & Lee Co.
Chicago
[Illustration:
COPYRIGHT
1914 BY
L Frank Baum
ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED]
[Illustration:
To
Louis F. Gottschalk,
whose sweet and dainty melodies
breathe the true spirit of
fairyland,
this book is affectionately dedicated]
[Illustration]
TO MY READERS
[Illustration]
The very marked success of my last year's fairy book, "The Patchwork
Girl of Oz," convinces me that my readers like the Oz stories "best of
all," as one little girl wrote me. So here, my dears, is a new Oz story
in which is introduced Ann Soforth, the Queen of Oogaboo, whom Tik-Tok
assisted in conquering our old acquaintance, the Nome King. It also tells
of Betsy Bobbin and how, after many adventures, she finally reached the
marvelous Land of Oz.
There is a play called "The Tik-Tok Man of Oz," but it is not like this
story of "Tik-Tok of Oz," although some of the adventures recorded in
this book, as well as those in several other Oz books, are included
in the play. Those who have seen the play and those who have read the
other Oz books will find in this story a lot of strange characters and
adventures that they have never heard of before.
In the letters I receive from children there has been an urgent appeal
for me to write a story that will take Trot and Cap'n Bill to the Land of
Oz, where they will meet Dorothy and Ozma. Also they think Button-Bright
ought to get acquainted with Ojo the Lucky. As you know, I am obliged
to talk these matters over with Dorothy by means of the "wireless," for
that is the only way I can communicate with the Land of Oz. When I asked
her about this idea, she replied: "Why, haven't you heard?" I said "No."
"Well," came the message over the wireless, "I'll tell you all about it,
by and by, and then you can make a book of that story for the children to
read."
So, if Dorothy keeps her word and I am permitted to write another Oz
book, you will probably discover how all these characters came together
in the famous Emerald City. Meantime, I want to tell all my little
friends--whose numbers are increasing by many thousands every year--that
I am very grateful for the favor they have shown my books and for the
delightful little letters I am constantly receiving. I am almost sure
that I have as many friends among the children of America as any story
writer alive; and this, of course, makes me very proud and happy.
L. Frank Baum.
"OZCOT"
at HOLLYWOOD
in CALIFORNIA,
1914.
[Illustration]
LIST OF CHAPTERS
CHAPTER PAGE
1--Ann's Army 13
2--Out of Oogaboo 24
3--Magic Mystifies the Marchers 28
4--Betsy Braves the Billows 39
5--The Roses Repulse the Refugees 42
6--Shaggy Seeks his Stray Brother 48
7--Polychrome's Pitiful Plight 65
8--Tik-Tok Tackles a Tough Task 78
9--Ruggedo's Rage is Rash and Reckless 92
10--A Terrible Tumble Through a Tube 107
11--The Famous Fellowship of Fairies 120
12--The Lovely Lady of Light 129
13--The Jinjin's Just Judgment 136
14--The Long-Eared Hearer Learns by Listening 149
15--The Dragon Defies Danger 159
16--The Naughty Nome 168
17--A Tragic Transformation 177
18--A Clever Conquest 193
19--King Kaliko 202
20--Quox Quietly Quits 213
21--A Bashful Brother 221
22--Kindly Kisses 233
23--Ruggedo Reforms 245
24--Dorothy is Delighted 251
25--The Land of Love 263
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER 1
Ann's Army
"I won't!" cried Ann; "I won't sweep the floor. It is beneath my
dignity."
"Some one must sweep it," replied Ann's younger sister, Salye; "else we
shall soon be wading in dust. And you are the eldest, and the head of the
family."
"I'm Queen of Oogaboo," said Ann, proudly. "But," she added with a sigh,
"my kingdom is the smallest and the poorest in all the Land of Oz."
This was quite true. Away up in the mountains, in a far corner of the
beautiful fairyland of Oz, lies a small valley which is named Oogaboo,
and in this valley lived a few people who were usually happy and
contented and never cared to wander over the mountain pass into the more
settled parts of the land. They knew that all of Oz, including their own
territory, was ruled by a beautiful Princess named Ozma, who lived in the
splendid Emerald City; yet the simple folk of Oogaboo never visited Ozma.
They had a royal family of their own--not especially to rule over them,
but just as a matter of pride. Ozma permitted the various parts of her
country to have their Kings and Queens and Emperors and the like, but all
were ruled over by the lovely girl Queen of the Emerald City.
The King of Oogaboo used to be a man named Jol Jemkiph Soforth, who for
many years did all the drudgery of deciding disputes and telling his
people when to plant cabbages and pickle onions. But the King's wife had
a sharp tongue and small respect for the King, her husband; therefore one
night King Jol crept over the pass into the Land of Oz and disappeared
from Oogaboo for good and all. The Queen waited a few years for him to
return and then started in search of him, leaving her eldest daughter,
Ann Soforth, to act as Queen.
Now, Ann had not forgotten when her birthday came, for that meant a party
and feasting and dancing, but she had quite forgotten how many years
the birthdays marked. In a land where people live always, this is not
considered a cause for regret, so we may justly say that Queen Ann of
Oogaboo was old enough to make jelly--and let it go at that.
But she didn't make jelly, or do any more of the housework than she could
help. She was an ambitious woman and constantly resented the fact that
her kingdom was so tiny and her people so stupid and unenterprising.
Often she wondered what had become of her father and mother, out beyond
the pass, in the wonderful Land of Oz, and the fact that they did not
return to Oogaboo led Ann to suspect that they had found a better place
to live. So, when Salye refused to sweep the floor of the living room in
the palace, and Ann would not sweep it, either, she said to her sister:
"I'm going away. This absurd Kingdom of Oogaboo tires me."
"Go, if you want to," answered Salye; "but you are very foolish to leave
this place."
"Why?" asked Ann.
"Because in the Land of Oz, which is Ozma's country, you will be a
nobody, while here you are a Queen."
"Oh, yes! Queen over eighteen men, twenty-seven women and forty-four
children!" returned Ann bitterly.
"Well, there are certainly more people than that in the great Land of
Oz," laughed Salye. "Why don't you raise an army and conquer them, and
be Queen of all Oz?" she asked, trying to taunt Ann and so to anger her.
Then she made a face at her sister and went into the back yard to swing
in the hammock.
Her jeering words, however, had given Queen Ann an idea. She reflected
that Oz was reported to be a peaceful country and Ozma a mere girl who
ruled with gentleness to all and was obeyed because her people loved her.
Even in Oogaboo the story was told that Ozma's sole army consisted of
twenty-seven fine officers, who wore beautiful uniforms but carried no
weapons, because there was no one to fight. Once there had been a private
soldier, besides the officers, but Ozma had made him a Captain-General
and taken away his gun for fear it might accidentally hurt some one.
The more Ann thought about the matter the more she was convinced it would
be easy to conquer the Land of Oz and set herself up as Ruler in Ozma's
place, if she but had an Army to do it with. Afterward she could go
out into the world and conquer other lands, and then perhaps she could
find a way to the moon, and conquer that. She had a warlike spirit that
preferred trouble to idleness.
It all depended on an Army, Ann decided. She carefully counted in her
mind all the men of her kingdom. Yes; there were exactly eighteen of
them, all told. That would not make a very big Army, but by surprising
Ozma's unarmed officers her men might easily subdue them. "Gentle people
are always afraid of those that bluster," Ann told herself. "I don't wish
to shed any blood, for that would shock my nerves and I might faint; but
if we threaten and flash our weapons I am sure the people of Oz will
fall upon their knees before me and surrender."
This argument, which she repeated to herself more than once, finally
determined the Queen of Oogaboo to undertake the audacious venture.
"Whatever happens," she reflected, "can make me no more unhappy than
my staying shut up in this miserable valley and sweeping floors and
quarreling with Sister Salye; so I will venture all, and win what I may."
That very day she started out to organize her Army.
The first man she came to was Jo Apple, so called because he had an apple
orchard.
"Jo," said Ann, "I am going to conquer the world, and I want you to join
my Army."
"Don't ask me to do such a fool thing, for I must politely refuse Your
Majesty," said Jo Apple.
"I have no intention of asking you. I shall command you, as Queen of
Oogaboo, to join," said Ann.
"In that case, I suppose I must obey," the man remarked, in a sad voice.
"But I pray you to consider that I am a very important citizen, and for
that reason am entitled to an office of high rank."
"You shall be a General," promised Ann.
"With gold epaulets and a sword?" he asked.
"Of course," said the Queen.
Then she went to the next man, whose name was Jo Bunn, as he owned an
orchard where graham-buns and wheat-buns, in great variety, both hot and
cold, grew on the trees.
"Jo," said Ann, "I am going to conquer the world, and I command you to
join my Army."
"Impossible!" he exclaimed. "The bun crop has to be picked."
"Let your wife and children do the picking," said Ann.
"But I'm a man of great importance, Your Majesty," he protested.
"For that reason you shall be one of my Generals, and wear a cocked hat
with gold braid, and curl your mustaches and clank a long sword," she
promised.
So he consented, although sorely against his will, and the Queen walked
on to the next cottage. Here lived Jo Cone, so called because the trees
in his orchard bore crops of excellent ice-cream cones.
"Jo," said Ann, "I am going to conquer the world, and you must join my
Army."
"Excuse me, please," said Jo Cone. "I am a bad fighter. My good wife
conquered me years ago, for she can fight better than I. Take her, Your
Majesty, instead of me, and I'll bless you for the favor."
"This must be an army of men--fierce, ferocious warriors," declared Ann,
looking sternly upon the mild little man.
"And you will leave my wife here in Oogaboo?" he asked.
"Yes; and make you a General."
"I'll go," said Jo Cone, and Ann went on to the cottage of Jo Clock, who
had an orchard of clock-trees. This man at first insisted that he would
not join the army, but Queen Ann's promise to make him a General finally
won his consent.
"How many Generals are there in your army?" he asked.
"Four, so far," replied Ann.
"And how big will the army be?" was his next question.
"I intend to make every one of the eighteen men in Oogaboo join it," she
said.
"Then four Generals are enough," announced Jo Clock. "I advise you to
make the rest of them Colonels."
Ann tried to follow his advice. The next four men she visited--who were
Jo Plum, Jo Egg, Jo Banjo and Jo Cheese, named after the trees in their
orchards--she made Colonels of her Army; but the fifth one, Jo Nails,
said Colonels and Generals were getting to be altogether too common in
the Army of Oogaboo and he preferred to be a Major. So Jo Nails, Jo
Cake, Jo Ham and Jo Stockings were all four made Majors, while the next
four--Jo Sandwich, Jo Padlocks, Jo Sundae and Jo Buttons--were appointed
Captains of the Army.
But now Queen Ann was in a quandary. There remained but two other men in
all Oogaboo, and if she made these two Lieutenants, while there were four
Captains, four Majors, four Colonels and four Generals, there was likely
to be jealousy in her army, and perhaps mutiny and desertions.
One of these men, however, was Jo Candy, and he would not go at all.
No promises could tempt him, nor could threats move him. He said he
must remain at home to harvest his crop of jackson-balls, lemon-drops,
bonbons and chocolate-creams. Also he had large fields of crackerjack and
buttered pop corn to be mowed and threshed, and he was determined not to
disappoint the children of Oogaboo by going away to conquer the world and
so let the candy crop spoil.
Finding Jo Candy so obstinate, Queen Ann let him have his own way and
continued her journey to the house of the eighteenth and last man in
Oogaboo, who was a young fellow named Jo Files. This Files had twelve
trees which bore steel files of various sorts; but also he had nine
book-trees, on which grew a choice selection of story-books. In case you
have never seen books growing upon trees, I will explain that those in
Jo Files' orchard were enclosed in broad green husks which, when fully
ripe, turned to a deep red color. Then the books were picked and husked
and were ready to read. If they were picked too soon, the stories were
found to be confused and uninteresting and the spelling bad. However,
if allowed to ripen perfectly, the stories were fine reading and the
spelling and grammar excellent.
[Illustration]
Files freely gave his books to all who wanted them, but the people
of Oogaboo cared little for books and so he had to read most of them
himself, before they spoiled. For, as you probably know, as soon as
the books were read the words disappeared and the leaves withered and
faded--which is the worst fault of all books which grow upon trees.
When Queen Ann spoke to this young man Files, who was both intelligent
and ambitious, he said he thought it would be great fun to conquer the
world. But he called her attention to the fact that he was far superior
to the other men of her army. Therefore, he would not be one of her
Generals or Colonels or Majors or Captains, but claimed the honor of
being sole Private.
Ann did not like this idea at all.
"I hate to have a Private Soldier in my army," she said; "they're so
common. I am told that Princess Ozma once had a private soldier, but she
made him her Captain-General, which is good evidence that the private was
unnecessary."
"Ozma's army doesn't fight," returned Files; "but your army must fight
like fury in order to conquer the world. I have read in my books that it
is always the private soldiers who do the fighting, for no officer is
ever brave enough to face the foe. Also, it stands to reason that your
officers must have some one to command and to issue their orders to;
therefore I'll be the one. I long to slash and slay the enemy and become
a hero. Then, when we return to Oogaboo, I'll take all the marbles away
from the children and melt them up and make a marble statue of myself for
all to look upon and admire."
Ann was much pleased with Private Files. He seemed indeed to be such a
warrior as she needed in her enterprise, and her hopes of success took a
sudden bound when Files told her he knew where a gun-tree grew and would
go there at once and pick the ripest and biggest musket the tree bore.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]