The Stone Man of Oz
Bob put his arm around Snorer's neck, and Nick, clapping his nose on
its hook, prepared to fly from this new danger. Dangling from his end
of the rope, Notta sighed mournfully to think he had not disguised
himself, and the Cowardly Lion, after one look at the stone hand that
held them, closed his eyes and began to tremble violently. The Stone
Man was about three times the size of an ordinary man and carved out
of a huge block of granite. His features, though rough hewn, were not
unpleasant and Notta, after a few false starts, ventured a remark.
"It was very kind of you to catch us," faltered the clown.
"It wasn't kindness; it was curiosity," rasped the Stone Man frankly.
"I've been watching you fall for some time, and I must say you're the
oddest looking creatures I've seen in a stone age."
As he said this, the Stone Man placed them on a flat rock that was on
a level with his nose. And as he could not sit down, he leaned up
against another rock and regarded them inquisitively.
"Come on up here," he called gruffly to Snorer, "and bring that little
fellow with you." Rather reluctantly, Nick flew up with Bob, and
the four fallers tried to compose themselves and catch a bit of the
breath they had lost on the trip down. The stone eyes of the Stone Man
rested longest on the Cowardly Lion. "I like you best," he remarked
presently. "You're better made than these others and not so likely to
crumble. They look too soft to last long." He poked his stone finger
experimentally into Notta's ribs, and only the clown's disguises saved
him from serious injury.
"Don't do that," growled the Cowardly Lion sharply.
"What a lovely voice," mused the Stone Man almost to himself. "Tell me,
what are you?"
"I'm a Cowardly Lion," roared the big beast huskily, "so don't frighten
me, for if you do I'll pound you to pebbles."
"I don't believe he could do it," creaked the Stone Man, turning to
Notta. "Do you?"
"Well, he's a terrible fighter," admitted the clown, with a reassuring
wink at Bob, "but let's not talk of such disagreeable things. Since you
were kind enough to catch us perhaps you will tell us who you are."
"Crunch is my name," answered the Stone Man, picking up a rock and
crumbling it to powder in his hand.
"I think we'd better be going," quavered Snorer tremulously. "We're
late as it is." Nick had no desire to fall into the Stone Man's
clutches.
"Don't go," begged Crunch. "I haven't talked to anyone since I was
excavated."
"How long ago was that?" asked Notta, scratching his ear.
"Oh, several ages ago," replied the Stone Man carelessly. "But I'm
much older than that, for I was hacked out by a primitive Oz man to
decorate his cave. But a landslide caved in the cave and I was buried
for several centuries."
"Who dug you up," roared the Cowardly Lion, "and how is it you are
alive?"
"A wizard named Wam dug me up," explained Crunch in his scratchy voice,
"and brought me to life with a shaker of magic powder. I tried to thank
him, but he ran away before I could catch him, so I've stood around
ever since trying to find out what one does with a life."
"Great Grandfathers!" choked the clown. "Fancy being alive for
centuries and not knowing what to do. Why, there are hundreds of things
to interest you, especially in a magic country like Oz. You could
travel, and help other folks not so strong as yourself. You could offer
your services to the Queen, or even build a city!"
"Could I?" gasped Crunch. He stared off into space as if he saw himself
doing all these things, and the idea was almost too amazing to believe.
Then, bringing his stone heels together with a click, he announced
determinedly, "I'll do it! I'll travel, I'll help people, I'll see the
Queen and build a city!"
"Hurrah!" cried Notta. "That's the way to talk. And since we are
traveling, why not join us?" Crunch, he decided, might prove useful in
a battle.
"Can I walk beside him?" asked the Stone Man, pointing at the Cowardly
Lion.
"If you're steady on your pins," rumbled the Cowardly Lion, "and
promise not to fall on me."
"Where does the Queen of this country live?" asked Crunch, after he had
promised not to fall on the Cowardly Lion.
"In the Emerald City," piped up Bob, who had been listening to the
Stone Man's conversation with deep interest.
"Oh, that must be over there," said Crunch, waving toward the east,
"for often at night, when I've climbed Stone Mountain, I've seen bright
green lights twinkling in the darkness."
"Why, of course it is," roared the Cowardly Lion in great excitement,
"though why you have never gone over to find out I cannot imagine!"
"That's because you were never a stone man," sighed Crunch solemnly.
"Then we'll soon see Dorothy and the Scarecrow!" cried Bob, clapping
his hands. "Come on, let's go to the Emerald City right away."
Nick flew off to the top of the mountain to investigate for himself.
"You forget Mustafa's enchantment," sighed Notta, pointing sadly to the
rope that still bound him to the Cowardly Lion. "I daresay if we took a
step toward the Emerald City, Mustafa would ring us up again."
"Who is Mustafa and why has he enchanted you?" demanded Crunch, rubbing
his stone forehead noisily. Notta explained as much of their story as
he thought the Stone Man would understand, and when he had finished
Crunch gave a little spring that almost knocked them from the ledge.
"Why, it is as clear as cobbles," he roared, bringing down his fist
upon a rock and splintering it to fragments. "You are weaker than I
and, as I have fully determined to help someone, let me help you. Where
is this Mustafa of Mudge? Take me to him and I will pound him to powder
and disperse him to the winds."
Before Notta could answer Nick came flying back to assure them that he
had really seen the Emerald City from the mountain top and that it lay
scarcely a half day's journey away.
"Then it seems to me," said Notta, who had been doing some quick
thinking, "that the time has come for us to separate. Bob, Nick and I
will hasten to this Emerald City and appeal to Ozma, Dorothy and the
Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile the Cowardly Lion can start toward Mudge and
thus Mustafa's ring will not betray us. But before he reaches there we
will have found a way to help him."
"And I will go with the Cowardly Lion," declared Crunch promptly, "for
I would rather help him than any one else."
"Hurrah!" cried Bob Up, and so it was all decided. Then Notta sat on
the Cowardly Lion's back and he sprang down from the ledge. Next Snorer
flew down with Bob, and the clown untied the rope that tied him to
the lion. Immediately he and Bob turned blue, but when the Cowardly
Lion took a few steps south, the blue quickly faded out. Notta was so
relieved to be free that he turned six somersaults, stood on his head,
and ran several paces on his hands, while Bob and Nick shouted with
glee.
"Crush and crumble me!" rasped the Stone Man, eying the clown in alarm,
"is that the way men get about nowdays? The men I watched in the stone
age never did that and I simply could not manage it, you know."
"Don't try," begged Notta, and Nick hastened to assure him that most
men walked in the usual fashion--one foot before the other.
"Mudge should be exactly southwest from here, so come on, old Cave Man,
let's be moving. Together we'll conquer the whole tribe of Mudgers,"
said the lion.
"You won't have to," cried Notta, giving the Cowardly Lion an
affectionate hug, "if this Wizard of Oz is as clever as he's said to
be."
Crunch waited impatiently while Nick and Bob bade the Cowardly Lion
good-bye. Having stood around for seven centuries, he could not bear
to waste another second, and when the Cowardly Lion at last declared
himself ready to go he tramped off joyfully, each step shaking the
ground like a small earthquake and enveloping the poor lion in a cloud
of dust.
"Good-bye!" called Bob Up shrilly, as they turned into a narrow rocky
path and disappeared behind a small mountain.
"Good-bye!" roared the Cowardly Lion, bravely waving his tail in
farewell.
So much had happened since their flight from Un that Notta had
forgotten all about the time of day, but when he started up the
mountain, he grew so faint, he had to sit down on a rock. Bob, too,
looked pale and weary, and every few hops Nick would close his eyes and
indulge in a tremulous snore.
"Great Elephants!" puffed Notta at last, squinting up at the sun. "It
must be nearly five o'clock and we've had nothing to eat since morning.
Have you still got those eggs, Bob Up?"
Bob felt hurriedly in his blouse and, with a triumphant smile, produced
the eggs they had picked from the travelers' tree. They were somewhat
squashed, but when the shells had been removed they tasted delicious
to the famished travelers. Washed down with some water from a little
spring, the food renewed their strength and courage for the journey
ahead.
"I hope nothing happens to the Cowardly Lion," said Bob, as they
started up the mountain again, "for I love him."
"So do I," croaked the Snorer, who was flying a little ahead, "and I
shall miss him very much when we go to America to make our fortune.
But, of course I could not leave _that_ beautiful person." He rolled
his eyes proudly at Notta, and the clown quite unconsciously sighed.
Life in a circus would seem terribly tame after this marvelous trip
through Oz.
"We ought to be home to-morrow, if everything works out," he remarked
soberly, with an anxious glance at Bob. At the word "home" the
little boy shivered slightly, for home to him meant a great, dreary
institution where little boys whom nobody wanted were grudgingly
sheltered and eternally shaken. In his heart he hoped the magic of
this Wizard of Oz would not be strong enough to send them back. Notta
was wondering to himself whether the managers of the home would trust
a little boy's future to a clown and resolving darkly that, if they
wouldn't, he'd take him anyhow. But he said nothing of this to Bob Up,
and presently broke into such a comical song Bob forgot all about
going back. This was the song:
"A goblin's ears are very long,
A goblin's nose goes wabble,
But what I'd really like to know
Is what makes goblins gobble?
"Perhaps they gobble 'cause they're imps--
And dreadfully imp-olite!
Pshaw, all they do is squabble hobble,
Gobble through the night!"
"Speaking of night," chuckled Snorer, balancing on the branch of a low
tree, "we'll probably have to spend it in that forest below, for it
would hardly be safe to travel in the dark and it'll be dark by the
time we're down this mountain."
"Well," laughed Notta, "it wouldn't be the first time Bob and I have
slept in a forest, and your snores ought to scare off any wild animals."
"That's so," sighed Nick, adjusting his nose, and quite satisfied he
flew on ahead. The path was rough and uneven and, though Notta and Bob
frequently slipped and slid, in another hour they were safely down
the mountain. It was dusk as they stepped into the strange forest,
and Bob fancied the trees were peering down at him kindly. They were
so tired Notta paused under an immense maple tree and Nick leaned up
against the trunk and fell instantly to snoring and stamping, while
Notta began gathering branches and leaves for beds. The clown spread
his old lion disguise over Bob's pile and the little boy, stretching
out comfortably, gazed up at the first star twinkling merrily in the
evening sky and thought how strange his narrow bed at the home would
seem after this. The wind sighed in the tree tops with a gentle and
soothing sound, and even Nick's snoring seemed comforting and pleasant
to Bob Up.
"Bob," said Notta, as he dropped down beside him, "this is the
friendliest forest I was ever in."
Bob nodded, and at this a little rustle went rippling through the
forest as if the trees had actually heard him, and in the same instant
each tree quietly opened its trunk and drew forth a fiddle. Before
Notta and Bob had recovered from their surprise a wave of music swept
through the wood, now soft, now loud, but more entrancing than any
they had ever heard. And the trees, swaying and bending in the dim
starlight, plied their bows with more skill than any orchestra in the
mortal world. For Bob and Notta, you see, had come to the Fiddlestick
Forest of Oz.