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[Illustration: BOOK END]
[Illustration: BOOK COVER]
[Illustration: THIS BOOK BELONGS
TO]
[Illustration: THE ROAD TO OZ]
[Illustration: CALLING ON JACK PUMPKINHEAD See Chapter 16]
THE ROAD TO OZ
BY
L. FRANK BAUM
AUTHOR OF THE LAND OF OZ, OZMA OF OZ, DOROTHY
AND THE WIZARD IN OZ, ETC.
[Illustration]
ILLUSTRATED BY
JOHN R. NEILL
CHICAGO
THE REILLY & BRITTON CO.
PUBLISHERS
[Illustration: COPYRIGHT
1909
BY L FRANK BAUM
ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED]
[Illustration: _L'istesso tempo_
TO MY FIRST GRANDSON
Joslyn Stanton Baum]
To my readers: Well, my dears, here is what you have asked for: another
"Oz Book" about Dorothy's strange adventures. Toto is in this story,
because you wanted him to be there, and many other characters which you
will recognize are in the story, too. Indeed, the wishes of my little
correspondents have been considered as carefully as possible, and if the
story is not exactly as you would have written it yourselves, you must
remember that a story has to be a story before it can be written down,
and the writer cannot change it much without spoiling it.
In the preface to "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" I said I would like to
write some stories that were not "Oz" stories, because I thought I had
written about Oz long enough; but since that volume was published I have
been fairly deluged with letters from children imploring me to "write
more about Dorothy," and "more about Oz," and since I write only to
please the children I shall try to respect their wishes.
There are some new characters in this book that ought to win your love.
I'm very fond of the shaggy man myself, and I think you will like him,
too. As for Polychrome--the Rainbow's Daughter--and stupid little
Button-Bright, they seem to have brought a new element of fun into these
Oz stories, and I am glad I discovered them. Yet I am anxious to have
you write and tell me how you like them.
Since this book was written I have received some very remarkable news
from The Land of Oz, which has greatly astonished me. I believe it will
astonish you, too, my dears, when you hear it. But it is such a long and
exciting story that it must be saved for another book--and perhaps that
book will be the last story that will ever be told about the Land of Oz.
L FRANK BAUM.
_Coronado, 1909._
[Illustration]
LIST OF CHAPTERS
1 THE WAY TO BUTTERFIELD
2 DOROTHY MEETS BUTTON-BRIGHT
3 A QUEER VILLAGE
4 KING DOX
5 THE RAINBOW'S DAUGHTER
6 THE CITY OF BEASTS
7 THE SHAGGY MAN'S TRANSFORMATION
8 THE MUSICKER
9 FACING THE SCOODLERS
10 ESCAPING THE SOUP-KETTLE
11 JOHNNY DOIT DOES IT
12 THE DEADLY DESERT CROSSED
13 THE TRUTH POND
14 TIK-TOK AND BILLINA
15 THE EMPEROR'S TIN CASTLE
16 VISITING THE PUMPKIN FIELD
17 THE ROYAL CHARIOT ARRIVES
18 THE EMERALD CITY
19 THE SHAGGY MAN'S WELCOME
20 PRINCESS OZMA OF OZ
21 DOROTHY RECEIVES THE GUESTS
22 IMPORTANT ARRIVALS
23 THE GRAND BANQUET
24 THE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
[Illustration]
The Way to Butterfield
[Illustration]
"Please, miss," said the shaggy man, "can you tell me the road to
Butterfield?"
Dorothy looked him over. Yes, he was shaggy, all right; but there was a
twinkle in his eye that seemed pleasant.
"Oh, yes," she replied; "I can tell you. But it isn't this road at all."
"No?"
"You cross the ten-acre lot, follow the lane to the highway, go north to
the five branches, and take--let me see--"
"To be sure, miss; see as far as Butterfield, if you like," said the
shaggy man.
"You take the branch next the willow stump, I b'lieve; or else the
branch by the gopher holes; or else----"
"Won't any of 'em do, miss?"
"'Course not, Shaggy Man. You must take the right road to get to
Butterfield."
"And is that the one by the gopher stump, or----"
"Dear me!" cried Dorothy; "I shall have to show you the way; you're so
stupid. Wait a minute till I run in the house and get my sunbonnet."
The shaggy man waited. He had an oat-straw in his mouth, which he chewed
slowly as if it tasted good; but it didn't. There was an apple-tree
beside the house, and some apples had fallen to the ground. The shaggy
man thought they would taste better than the oat-straw, so he walked
over to get some. A little black dog with bright brown eyes dashed out
of the farm-house and ran madly toward the shaggy man, who had already
picked up three apples and put them in one of the big wide pockets of
his shaggy coat. The little dog barked, and made a dive for the shaggy
man's leg; but he grabbed the dog by the neck and put it in his big
pocket along with the apples. He took more apples, afterward, for many
were on the ground; and each one that he tossed into his pocket hit the
little dog somewhere upon the head or back, and made him growl. The
little dog's name was Toto, and he was sorry he had been put in the
shaggy man's pocket.
[Illustration]
Pretty soon Dorothy came out of the house with her sunbonnet, and she
called out:
"Come on, Shaggy Man, if you want me to show you the road to
Butterfield." She climbed the fence into the ten-acre lot and he
followed her, walking slowly and stumbling over the little hillocks in
the pasture as if he was thinking of something else and did not notice
them.
"My, but you're clumsy!" said the little girl. "Are your feet tired?"
"No, miss; it's my whiskers; they tire very easily this warm weather,"
said he. "I wish it would snow; don't you?"
"'Course not, Shaggy Man," replied Dorothy, giving him a severe look.
"If it snowed in August it would spoil the corn and the oats and the
wheat; and then Uncle Henry wouldn't have any crops; and that would make
him poor; and----"
"Never mind," said the shaggy man. "It won't snow, I guess. Is this the
lane?"
"Yes," replied Dorothy, climbing another fence; "I'll go as far as the
highway with you."
"Thankee, miss; you're very kind for your size, I'm sure," said he
gratefully.
"It isn't everyone who knows the road to Butterfield," Dorothy remarked
as she tripped along the lane; "but I've driven there many a time with
Uncle Henry, and so I b'lieve I could find it blindfolded."
"Don't do that, miss," said the shaggy man, earnestly; "you might make a
mistake."
"I won't," she answered, laughing. "Here's the highway. Now, it's the
second--no, the third turn to the left--or else it's the fourth. Let's
see. The first one is by the elm tree; and the second is by the gopher
holes; and then----"
"Then what?" he inquired, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Toto
grabbed a finger and bit it; the shaggy man took his hand out of that
pocket quickly, and said "Oh!"
Dorothy did not notice. She was shading her eyes from the sun with her
arm, looking anxiously down the road.
"Come on," she commanded. "It's only a little way farther, so I may as
well show you."
After a while they came to the place where five roads branched in
different directions; Dorothy pointed to one, and said:
"That's it, Shaggy Man."
"I'm much obliged, miss," he said, and started along another road.
"Not that one!" she cried; "you're going wrong."
He stopped.
"I thought you said that other was the road to Butterfield," said he,
running his fingers through his shaggy whiskers in a puzzled way.
"So it is."
"But I don't want to go to Butterfield, miss."
"You don't?"
"Of course not. I wanted you to show me the road, so I shouldn't go
there by mistake."
"Oh! Where _do_ you want to go to, then?"
"I'm not particular, miss."
This answer astonished the little girl; and it made her provoked, too,
to think she had taken all this trouble for nothing.
"There are a good many roads here," observed the shaggy man, turning
slowly around, like a human windmill.
"Seems to me a person could go 'most anywhere, from this place."
Dorothy turned around too, and gazed in surprise. There _were_ a good
many roads; more than she had ever seen before. She tried to count them,
knowing there ought to be five; but when she had counted seventeen she
grew bewildered and stopped, for the roads were as many as the spokes of
a wheel and ran in every direction from the place where they stood; so
if she kept on counting she was likely to count some of the roads twice.
"Dear me!" she exclaimed. "There used to be only five roads, highway and
all. And now--why, where's the highway, Shaggy Man?"
"Can't say, miss," he responded, sitting down upon the ground as if
tired with standing. "Wasn't it here a minute ago?"
"I thought so," she answered, greatly perplexed. "And I saw the gopher
holes, too, and the dead stump; but they're not here now. These roads
are all strange--and what a lot of them there are! Where do you suppose
they all go to?"
"Roads," observed the shaggy man, "don't go anywhere. They stay in one
place, so folks can walk on them."
He put his hand in his side-pocket and drew out an apple--quick, before
Toto could bite him again. The little dog got his head out this time
and said "Bow-wow!" so loudly that it made Dorothy jump.
"O Toto!" she cried; "where did you come from?"
"I brought him along," said the shaggy man.
"What for?" she asked.
"To guard these apples in my pocket, miss, so no one would steal them."
With one hand the shaggy man held the apple, which he began eating,
while with the other hand he pulled Toto out of his pocket and dropped
him to the ground. Of course Toto made for Dorothy at once, barking
joyfully at his release from the dark pocket. When the child had patted
his head lovingly, he sat down before her, his red tongue hanging out
one side of his mouth, and looked up into her face with his bright brown
eyes, as if asking her what they should do next.
Dorothy didn't know. She looked around her anxiously for some familiar
landmark; but everything was strange. Between the branches of the many
roads were green meadows and a few shrubs and trees, but she couldn't
see anywhere the farm-house from which she had just come, or anything
she had ever seen before--except the shaggy man and Toto.
Besides this, she had turned around and around so many times, trying to
find out where she was, that now she couldn't even tell which direction
the farm-house ought to be in; and this began to worry her and make her
feel anxious.
"I'm 'fraid, Shaggy Man," she said, with a sigh, "that we're lost!"
"That's nothing to be afraid of," he replied, throwing away the core of
his apple and beginning to eat another one. "Each of these roads must
lead somewhere, or it wouldn't be here. So what does it matter?"
"I want to go home again," she said.
"Well, why don't you?" said he.
"I don't know which road to take."
"That is too bad," he said, shaking his shaggy head gravely. "I wish I
could help you; but I can't. I'm a stranger in these parts."
"Seems as if I were, too," she said, sitting down beside him. "It's
funny. A few minutes ago I was home, and I just came to show you the way
to Butterfield----"
"So I shouldn't make a mistake and go there----"
"And now I'm lost myself and don't now how to get home!"
"Have an apple," suggested the shaggy man, handing her one with pretty
red cheeks.
"I'm not hungry," said Dorothy, pushing it away.
"But you may be, to-morrow; then you'll be sorry you didn't eat the
apple," said he.
"If I am, I'll eat the apple then," promised Dorothy.
"Perhaps there won't be any apple then," he returned, beginning to eat
the red-cheeked one himself. "Dogs sometimes can find their way home
better than people," he went on; "perhaps your dog can lead you back to
the farm."
"Will you, Toto?" asked Dorothy.
Toto wagged his tail vigorously.
"All right," said the girl; "let's go home."
Toto looked around a minute, and dashed up one of the roads.
"Good-bye, Shaggy Man," called Dorothy, and ran after Toto. The little
dog pranced briskly along for some distance; when he turned around and
looked at his mistress questioningly.
"Oh, don't 'spect _me_ to tell you anything; I don't know the way," she
said. "You'll have to find it yourself."
But Toto couldn't. He wagged his tail, and sneezed, and shook his ears,
and trotted back where they had left the shaggy man. From here he
started along another road; then came back and tried another; but each
time he found the way strange and decided it would not take them to the
farm house. Finally, when Dorothy had begun to tire with chasing after
him, Toto sat down panting beside the shaggy man and gave up.
Dorothy sat down, too, very thoughtful. The little girl had encountered
some queer adventures since she came to live at the farm; but this was
the queerest of them all. To get lost in fifteen minutes, so near to
her home and in the unromantic State of Kansas, was an experience that
fairly bewildered her.
"Will your folks worry?" asked the shaggy man, his eyes twinkling in a
pleasant way.
"I s'pose so," answered Dorothy, with a sigh. "Uncle Henry says there's
_always_ something happening to me; but I've always come home safe at
the last. So perhaps he'll take comfort and think I'll come home safe
this time."
"I'm sure you will," said the shaggy man, smilingly nodding at her.
"Good little girls never come to any harm, you know. For my part, I'm
good, too; so nothing ever hurts me."
Dorothy looked at him curiously. His clothes were shaggy, his boots were
shaggy and full of holes, and his hair and whiskers were shaggy. But his
smile was sweet and his eyes were kind.
"Why didn't you want to go to Butterfield?" she asked.
"Because a man lives there who owes me fifteen cents, and if I went to
Butterfield and he saw me he'd want to pay me the money. I don't want
money, my dear."
"Why not?" she inquired.
"Money," declared the shaggy man, "makes people proud and haughty; I
don't want to be proud and haughty. All I want is to have people love
me; and as long as I own the Love Magnet everyone I meet is sure to love
me dearly."
[Illustration: "THIS, MY DEAR, IS THE WONDERFUL LOVE MAGNET."]
"The Love Magnet! Why, what's that?"
"I'll show you, if you won't tell anyone," he answered, in a low,
mysterious voice.
"There isn't any one to tell, 'cept Toto," said the girl.
The shaggy man searched in one pocket, carefully; and in another pocket;
and in a third. At last he drew out a small parcel wrapped in crumpled
paper and tied with a cotton string. He unwound the string, opened the
parcel, and took out a bit of metal shaped like a horseshoe. It was dull
and brown, and not very pretty.
"This, my dear," said he, impressively, "is the wonderful Love Magnet.
It was given me by an Eskimo in the Sandwich Islands--where there are no
sandwiches at all--and as long as I carry it every living thing I meet
will love me dearly."
"Why didn't the Eskimo keep it?" she asked, looking at the Magnet with
interest.
"He got tired being loved and longed for some one to hate him. So he
gave me the Magnet and the very next day a grizzly bear ate him."
"Wasn't he sorry then?" she inquired.
"He didn't say," replied the shaggy man, wrapping and tying the Love
Magnet with great care and putting it away in another pocket. "But the
bear didn't seem sorry a bit," he added.
"Did you know the bear?" asked Dorothy.
[Illustration]
"Yes; we used to play ball together in the Caviar Islands. The bear
loved me because I had the Love Magnet. I couldn't blame him for eating
the Eskimo, because it was his nature to do so."
"Once," said Dorothy, "I knew a Hungry Tiger who longed to eat fat
babies, because it was his nature to; but he never ate any because he
had a Conscience."
"This bear," replied the shaggy man, with a sigh, "had no Conscience,
you see."
The shaggy man sat silent for several minutes, apparently considering
the cases of the bear and the tiger, while Toto watched him with an air
of great interest. The little dog was doubtless thinking of his ride in
the shaggy man's pocket and planning to keep out of reach in the future.
At last the shaggy man turned and inquired, "What's your name, little
girl?"
"My name's Dorothy," said she, jumping up again, "but what are we going
to do? We can't stay here forever, you know."
"Let's take the seventh road," he suggested. "Seven is a lucky number
for little girls named Dorothy."
"The seventh from where?"
"From where you begin to count."
So she counted seven roads, and the seventh looked just like all the
others; but the shaggy man got up from the ground where he had been
sitting and started down this road as if sure it was the best way to go;
and Dorothy and Toto followed him.
Dorothy Meets Button-bright
[Illustration]
The seventh road was a good road, and curved this way and that--winding
through green meadows and fields covered with daisies and buttercups and
past groups of shady trees. There were no houses of any sort to be seen,
and for some distance they met with no living creature at all.
Dorothy began to fear they were getting a good way from the
_farm-house_, since here everything was strange to her; but it would do
no good at all to go back where the other roads all met, because the
next one they chose might lead her just as far from home.
She kept on beside the shaggy man, who whistled cheerful tunes to
beguile the journey, until by-and-by they followed a turn in the road
and saw before them a big chestnut tree making a shady spot over the
highway. In the shade sat a little boy dressed in sailor clothes, who
was digging a hole in the earth with a bit of wood. He must have been
digging some time, because the hole was already big enough to drop a
foot-ball into.
Dorothy and Toto and the shaggy man came to a halt before the little
boy, who kept on digging in a sober and persistent fashion.
"Who are you?" asked the girl.
He looked up at her calmly. His face was round and chubby and his eyes
were big, blue, and earnest.
"I'm Button-Bright," said he.
"But what's you real name?" she inquired.
"Button-Bright."
"That isn't a really-truly name!" she exclaimed.
"Isn't it?" he asked, still digging.
"'Course not. It's just a--a thing to call you by. You must have a
name."
"Must I?"
"To be sure. What does your mamma call you?"
He paused in his digging and tried to think.
"Papa always said I was bright as a button; so mamma always called me
Button-Bright," he said.
"What is your papa's name?"
"Just Papa."
"What else?"
"Don't know."
"Never mind," said the shaggy man, smiling. "We'll call the boy
Button-Bright, as his mamma does. That name is as good as any, and
better than some."
Dorothy watched the boy dig.
"Where do you live?" she asked.
"Don't know," was the reply.
"How did you come here?"
"Don't know," he said again.
"Don't you know where you came from?"
"No," said he.
"Why, he must be lost," she said to the shaggy man. She turned to the
boy once more.
"What are you going to do?" she inquired.
"Dig," said he.
"But you can't dig forever; and what are you going to do then?" she
persisted.
"Don't know," said the boy.
"But you _must_ know _something_," declared Dorothy, getting provoked.
"Must I?" he asked, looking up in surprise.
"Of course you must."
"What must I know?"
"What's going to become of you, for one thing," she answered.
"Do _you_ know what's going to become of me?" he asked.
"Not--not 'zactly," she admitted.
"Do you know what's going to become of _you_?" he continued, earnestly.
[Illustration]
"I can't say I do," replied Dorothy, remembering her present
difficulties.
The shaggy man laughed.
"No one knows everything, Dorothy," he said.
"But Button-Bright doesn't seem to know _anything_," she declared. "Do
you, Button-Bright?"
He shook his head, which had pretty curls all over it, and replied with
perfect calmness:
"Don't know."
Never before had Dorothy met with any one who could give her so little
information. The boy was evidently lost, and his people would be sure to
worry about him. He seemed two or three years younger than Dorothy, and
was prettily dressed, as if some one loved him dearly and took much
pains to make him look well. How, then, did he come to be in this lonely
road? she wondered.
Near Button-Bright, on the ground, lay a sailor hat with a gilt anchor
on the band. His sailor trousers were long and wide at the bottom, and
the broad collar of his blouse had gold anchors sewed on its corners.
The boy was still digging at his hole.
"Have you ever been to sea?" asked Dorothy.
"To see what?" answered Button-Bright.
"I mean have you ever been where there's water?"
"Yes," said Button-Bright; "there's a well in our back yard."
"You don't understand," cried Dorothy. "I mean, have you ever been on a
big ship floating on a big ocean?"
"Don't know," said he.
"Then why do you wear sailor clothes?"
"Don't know," he answered, again.
Dorothy was in despair.
"You're just _awful_ stupid, Button-Bright," she said.
"Am I?" he asked.
"Yes, you are."
"Why?" looking up at her with big eyes.
She was going to say: "Don't know," but stopped herself in time.
"That's for you to answer," she replied.
"It's no use asking Button-Bright questions," said the shaggy man, who
had been eating another apple; "but some one ought to take care of the
poor little chap, don't you think? So he'd better come along with us."
Toto had been looking with great curiosity into the hole which the boy
was digging, and growing more and more excited every minute, perhaps
thinking that Button-Bright was after some wild animal. The little dog
began barking loudly and jumped into the hole himself, where he began to
dig with his tiny paws, making the earth fly in all directions. It
spattered over the boy. Dorothy seized him and raised him to his feet,
brushing his clothes with her hand.
"Stop that, Toto!" she called. "There aren't any mice or woodchucks in
that hole, so don't be foolish."
Toto stopped, sniffed at the hole suspiciously, and jumped out of it,
wagging his tail as if he had done something important.
"Well," said the shaggy man, "let's start on, or we won't get anywhere
before night comes."
"Where do you expect to get to?" asked Dorothy.
"I'm like Button-Bright; I don't know," answered the shaggy man, with a
laugh. "But I've learned from long experience that every road leads
somewhere, or there wouldn't be any road; so it's likely that if we
travel long enough, my dear, we will come to some place or another in
the end. What place it will be we can't even guess at this moment, but
we're sure to find out when we get there."
"Why, yes," said Dorothy; "that seems reas'n'ble, Shaggy Man."
[Illustration]
A Queer Village
[Illustration]
Button-bright took the shaggy man's hand willingly; for the shaggy man
had the Love Magnet, you know, which was the reason Button-Bright had
loved him at once. They started on, with Dorothy on one side, and Toto
on the other, the little party trudging along more cheerfully than you
might have supposed. The girl was getting used to queer adventures,
which interested her very much. Wherever Dorothy went Toto was sure to
go, like Mary's little lamb. Button-Bright didn't seem a bit afraid or
worried because he was lost, and the shaggy man had no home, perhaps,
and was as happy in one place as in another.
Before long they saw ahead of them a fine big arch spanning the road,
and when they came nearer they found that the arch was beautifully
carved and decorated with rich colors. A row of peacocks with spread
tails ran along the top of it, and all the feathers were gorgeously
painted. In the center was a large fox's head, and the fox wore a shrewd
and knowing expression and had large spectacles over its eyes and a
small golden crown with shiny points on top of its head.
While the travellers were looking with curiosity at this beautiful arch
there suddenly marched out of it a company of soldiers--only the
soldiers were all foxes dressed in uniforms. They wore green jackets and
yellow pantaloons, and their little round caps and their high boots were
a bright red color. Also there was a big red bow tied about the middle
of each long, bushy tail. Each soldier was armed with a wooden sword
having an edge of sharp teeth set in a row, and the sight of these teeth
at first caused Dorothy to shudder.
A captain marched in front of the company of fox-soldiers, his uniform
embroidered with gold braid to make it handsomer than the others.
Almost before our friends realized it the soldiers had surrounded them
on all sides, and the captain was calling out in a harsh voice:
"Surrender! You are our prisoners."
"What's a pris'ner?" asked Button-Bright.
"A prisoner is a captive," replied the fox-captain, strutting up and
down with much dignity.
"What's a captive?" asked Button-Bright.
"You're one," said the captain.
That made the shaggy man laugh.
"Good afternoon, captain," he said, bowing politely to all the foxes and
very low to their commander. "I trust you are in good health, and that
your families are all well?"
The fox-captain looked at the shaggy man, and his sharp features grew
pleasant and smiling.
"We're pretty well, thank you, Shaggy Man," said he; and Dorothy knew
that the Love Magnet was working and that all the foxes now loved the
shaggy man because of it. But Toto didn't know this, for he began
barking angrily and tried to bite the captain's hairy leg where it
showed between his red boots and his yellow pantaloons.
"Stop, Toto!" cried the little girl, seizing the dog in her arms. "These
are our friends."
"Why, so we are!" remarked the captain in tones of astonishment. "I
thought at first we were enemies, but it seems you are friends, instead.
You must come with me to see King Dox."
"Who's he?" asked Button-Bright, with earnest eyes.
"King Dox of Foxville; the great and wise sovereign who rules over our
community."
[Illustration]
"What's sov'rin, and what's c'u'nity?" inquired Button-Bright.
"Don't ask so many questions, little boy."
"Why?"
"Ah, why, indeed?" exclaimed the captain, looking at Button-Bright
admiringly. "If you don't ask questions you will learn nothing. True
enough. I was wrong. You're a very clever little boy, come to think of
it--very clever indeed. But now, friends, please come with me, for it is
my duty to escort you at once to the royal palace."
The soldiers marched back through the arch again, and with them marched
the shaggy man, Dorothy, Toto, and Button-Bright. Once through the
opening they found a fine, big city spread out before them, all the
houses of carved marble in beautiful colors. The decorations were mostly
birds and other fowl, such as peacocks, pheasants, turkeys,
prairie-chickens, ducks, and geese. Over each doorway was carved a head
representing the fox who lived in that house, this effect being quite
pretty and unusual.
As our friends marched along, some of the foxes came out on the porches
and balconies to get a view of the strangers. These foxes were all
handsomely dressed, the girl-foxes and women-foxes wearing gowns of
feathers woven together effectively and colored in bright hues which
Dorothy thought were quite artistic and decidedly attractive.
Button-Bright stared until his eyes were big and round, and he would
have stumbled and fallen more than once had not the shaggy man grasped
his hand tightly. They were all interested, and Toto was so excited he
wanted to bark every minute and to chase and fight every fox he caught
sight of; but Dorothy held his little wiggling body fast in her arms and
commanded him to be good and behave himself. So he finally quieted down,
like a wise doggy, deciding there were too many foxes in Foxville to
fight at one time.
By-and-bye they came to a big square, and in the center of the square
stood the royal palace. Dorothy knew it at once because it had over its
great door the carved head of a fox just like the one she had seen on
the arch, and this fox was the only one who wore a golden crown.
There were many fox-soldiers guarding the door, but they bowed to the
captain and admitted him without question. The captain led them through
many rooms, where richly dressed foxes were sitting on beautiful chairs
or sipping tea, which was being passed around by fox-servants in white
aprons. They came to a big doorway covered with heavy curtains of cloth
of gold.
Beside this doorway stood a huge drum. The fox-captain went to this drum
and knocked his knees against it--first one knee and then the other--so
that the drum said; "Boom-boom."
"You must all do exactly what I do," ordered the captain; so the shaggy
man pounded the drum with his knees, and so did Dorothy and so did
Button-Bright. The boy wanted to keep on pounding it with his little fat
knees, because he liked the sound of it; but the captain stopped him.
Toto couldn't pound the drum with his knees and he didn't know enough to
wag his tail against it, so Dorothy pounded the drum for him and that
made him bark, and when the little dog barked the fox-captain scowled.
The golden curtains drew back far enough to make an opening, through
which marched the captain with the others.
The broad, long room they entered was decorated in gold with
stained-glass windows of splendid colors. In the center of the room,
upon a richly carved golden throne, sat the fox-king, surrounded by a
group of other foxes, all of whom wore great spectacles over their eyes,
making them look solemn and important.
[Illustration]
Dorothy knew the King at once, because she had seen his head carved on
the arch and over the doorway of the palace. Having met with several
other kings in her travels she knew what to do, and at once made a low
bow before the throne. The shaggy man bowed, too, and Button-Bright
bobbed his head and said "Hello."
"Most wise and noble Potentate of Foxville," said the captain,
addressing the King in a pompous voice, "I humbly beg to report that I
found these strangers on the road leading to your Foxy Majesty's
dominions, and have therefore brought them before you, as is my duty."
"So--so," said the King, looking at them keenly. "What brought you here,
strangers?"
"Our legs, may it please your Royal Hairiness," replied the shaggy man.
"What is your business here?" was the next question.
"To get away as soon as possible," said the shaggy man.
The King didn't know about the Magnet, of course; but it made him love
the shaggy man at once.
"Do just as you please about going away," he said; "but I'd like to
_show you_ the sights of my city and to entertain your party while you
are here. We feel highly honored to have little Dorothy with us, I
assure you, and we appreciate her kindness in making us a visit. For
whatever country Dorothy visits is sure to become famous."
This speech greatly surprised the little girl, who asked:
"How did your Majesty know my name?"
"Why, everybody knows you, my dear," said the Fox-King. "Don't you
realize that? You are quite an important personage since Princess Ozma
of Oz made you her friend."
"Do you know Ozma?" she asked, wondering.
"I regret to say that I do not," he answered, sadly; "but I hope to
meet her soon. You know the Princess Ozma is to celebrate her birthday
on the twenty-first of this month."
"Is she?" said Dorothy. "I didn't know that."
"Yes; it is to be the most brilliant royal ceremony ever held in any
city in Fairyland, and I hope you will try to get me an invitation."
Dorothy thought a moment.
"I'm sure Ozma would invite you if I asked her," she said; "but how
could you get to the Land of Oz and the Emerald City? It's a good way
from Kansas."
"Kansas!" he exclaimed, surprised.
"Why, yes; we are in Kansas now, aren't we?" she returned.
[Illustration]
"What a queer notion!" cried the Fox-King, beginning to laugh. "Whatever
made you think this is Kansas?"
"I left Uncle Henry's farm only about two hours ago; that's the reason,"
she said, rather perplexed.
"But, tell me, my dear, did you ever see so wonderful a city as Foxville
in Kansas?" he questioned.
"No, your Majesty."
"And haven't you traveled from Oz to Kansas in less than half a jiffy,
by means of the Silver Shoes and the Magic Belt?"
"Yes, your Majesty," she acknowledged.
"Then why do you wonder that an hour or two could bring you to Foxville,
which is nearer to Oz than it is to Kansas?"
"Dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy; "is this another fairy adventure?"
"It seems to be," said the Fox-King, smiling.
Dorothy turned to the shaggy man, and her face was grave and
reproachful.
"Are you a magician? or a fairy in disguise?" she asked. "Did you
enchant me when you asked the way to Butterfield?"
The shaggy man shook his head.
"Who ever heard of a shaggy fairy?" he replied. "No, Dorothy, my dear;
I'm not to blame for this journey in any way, I assure you. There's
been something strange about me ever since I owned the Love Magnet; but
I don't know what it is any more than you do. I didn't try to get you
away from home, at all. If you want to find your way back to the farm
I'll go with you willingly, and do my best to help you."
"Never mind," said the little girl, thoughtfully. "There isn't so much
to see in Kansas as there is here, and I guess Aunt Em won't be _very_
much worried; that is, if I don't stay away too long."
[Illustration: HIS ROYAL FOXINESS]
"That's right," declared the Fox-King, nodding approval. "Be contented
with your lot, whatever it happens to be, if you are wise. Which reminds
me that you have a new companion on this adventure--he looks very
clever and bright."
"He is," said Dorothy; and the shaggy man added:
"That's his name, your Royal Foxiness--Button Bright."
King Dox
[Illustration]
It was amusing to note the expression on the face of King Dox as he
looked the boy over, from his sailor hat to his stubby shoes; and it was
equally diverting to watch Button-Bright stare at the King in return. No
fox ever beheld a fresher, fairer child's face, and no child had ever
before heard a fox talk, or met with one who dressed so handsomely and
ruled so big a city. I am sorry to say that no one had ever told the
little boy much about fairies of any kind; this being the case, it is
easy to understand how much this strange experience startled and
astonished him.
"How do you like us?" asked the King.
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"Of course you don't. It's too short an acquaintance," returned his
Majesty. "What do you suppose my name is?"
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"How should you? Well, I'll tell you. My private name is Dox, but a King
can't be called by his private name; he has to take one that is
official. Therefore my official name is King Renard the Fourth. Ren-ard
with the accent on the 'Ren'."
"What's 'ren'?" asked Button-Bright.
"How clever!" exclaimed the King, turning a pleased face toward his
counselors. "This boy is indeed remarkably bright. 'What's 'ren''? he
asks; and of course 'ren' is nothing at all, all by itself. Yes; he's
very bright indeed."
"That question is what your Majesty might call foxy," said one of the
counselors, an old grey fox.
"So it is," declared the King. Turning again to Button-Bright, he asked:
"Having told you my name, what would you call me?"
"King Dox," said the boy.
"Why?"
"'Cause 'ren''s nothing at all," was the reply.
"Good! Very good indeed! You certainly have a brilliant mind. Do you
know why two and two make four?"
"No," said Button-Bright.
"Clever! clever indeed. Of course you don't know. Nobody knows why; we
only know it's so, and can't tell why it's so. Button-Bright, those
curls and blue eyes do not go well with so much wisdom. They make you
look too youthful, and hide your real cleverness. Therefore, I will do
you a great favor. I will confer upon you the head of a fox, so that you
may hereafter look as bright as you really are."
[Illustration]
As he spoke the King waved his paw toward the boy, and at once the
pretty curls and fresh round face and big blue eyes were gone, while in
their place a fox's head appeared upon Button-Bright's shoulders--a
hairy head with a sharp nose, pointed ears, and keen little eyes.
"Oh, don't do that!" cried Dorothy, shrinking back from her transformed
companion with a shocked and dismayed face.
"Too late, my dear; it's done. But you also shall have a fox's head if
you can prove you're as clever as Button-Bright."
"I don't want it; it's dreadful!" she exclaimed; and, hearing this
verdict, Button-Bright began to boo-hoo just as if he were still a
little boy.
"How can you call that lovely head dreadful?" asked the King. "It's a
much prettier face than he had before, to my notion, and my wife says
I'm a good judge of beauty. Don't cry, little fox-boy. Laugh and be
proud, because you are so highly favored. How do you like the new head,
Button-Bright?"
"D-d-don't n-n-n-know!" sobbed the child.
"Please, _please_ change him back again, your Majesty!" begged Dorothy.
King Renard IV shook his head.
"I can't do that," he said; "I haven't the power, even if I wanted to.
No, Button-Bright must wear his fox head, and he'll be sure to love it
dearly as soon as he gets used to it."
Both the shaggy man and Dorothy looked grave and anxious, for they were
sorrowful that such a misfortune had overtaken their little companion.
Toto barked at the fox-boy once or twice, not realizing it was his
former friend who now wore the animal head; but Dorothy cuffed the dog
and made him stop. As for the foxes, they all seemed to think
Button-Bright's new head very becoming and that their King had conferred
a great honor on this little stranger.
It was funny to see the boy reach up to feel of his sharp nose and wide
mouth, and wail afresh with grief. He wagged his ears in a comical
manner and tears were in his little black eyes. But Dorothy couldn't
laugh at her friend just yet, because she felt so sorry.
Just then three little fox-princesses, daughters of the King, entered
the room, and when they saw Button-Bright one exclaimed: "How lovely he
is!" and the next one cried in delight: "How sweet he is!" and the third
princess clapped her hands with pleasure and said, "How beautiful he
is!"
Button-Bright stopped crying and asked timidly:
"Am I?"
"In all the world there is not another face so pretty," declared the
biggest fox-princess.
"You must live with us always, and be our brother," said the next.
"We shall all love you dearly," the third said.
This praise did much to comfort the boy, and he looked around and tried
to smile. It was a pitiful attempt, because the fox face was new and
stiff, and Dorothy thought his expression more stupid than before the
transformation.
"I think we ought to be going now," said the shaggy man, uneasily, for
he didn't know what the King might take into his head to do next.
"Don't leave us yet, I beg of you," pleaded King Renard. "I intend to
have several days of feasting and merrymaking, in honor of your visit."
"Have it after we're gone, for we can't wait," said Dorothy, decidedly.
But seeing this displeased the King, she added: "If I'm going to get
Ozma to invite you to her party I'll have to find her as soon as
poss'ble, you know."
In spite of all the beauty of Foxville and the gorgeous dresses of its
inhabitants, both the girl and the shaggy man felt they were not quite
safe there, and would be glad to see the last of it.
"But it is now evening," the King reminded them, "and you must stay with
us until morning, anyhow. Therefore I invite you to be my guests at
dinner, and to attend the theater afterward and sit in the royal box.
To-morrow morning, if you really insist upon it, you may resume your
journey."
They consented to this, and some of the fox-servants led them to a suite
of lovely rooms in the big palace.
Button-Bright was afraid to be left alone, so Dorothy took him into her
own room. While a maid-fox dressed the little girl's hair--which was a
bit tangled--and put some bright, fresh ribbons in it, another maid-fox
combed the hair on poor Button-Bright's face and head and brushed it
carefully, tying a pink bow to each of his pointed ears. The maids
wanted to dress the children in fine costumes of woven feathers, such as
all the foxes wore; but neither of them consented to that.
[Illustration]
"A sailor suit and a fox head do not go well together," said one of the
maids; "for no fox was ever a sailor that I can remember."
"I'm not a fox!" cried Button-Bright.
"Alas, no," agreed the maid. "But you've got a lovely fox head on your
skinny shoulders, and that's _almost_ as good as being a fox."
The boy, reminded of his misfortune, began to cry again. Dorothy petted
and comforted him and promised to find some way to restore him his own
head.
"If we can manage to get to Ozma," she said, "the Princess will change
you back to yourself in half a second; so you just wear that fox head as
comf't'bly as you can, dear, and don't worry about it at all. It isn't
nearly as pretty as your own head, no matter what the foxes say; but you
can get along with it for a little while longer, can't you?"
"Don't know," said Button-Bright, doubtfully; but he didn't cry any more
after that.
Dorothy let the maids pin ribbons to her shoulders, after which they
were ready for the King's dinner. When they met the shaggy man in the
splendid drawing-room of the palace they found him just the same as
before. He had refused to give up his shaggy clothes for new ones,
because if he did that he would no longer be the shaggy man, he said,
and he might have to get acquainted with himself all over again.
He told Dorothy he had brushed his shaggy hair and whiskers; but she
thought he must have brushed them the wrong way, for they were quite as
shaggy as before.
As for the company of foxes assembled to dine with the strangers, they
were most beautifully costumed, and their rich dresses made Dorothy's
simple gown and Button-Bright's sailor suit and the shaggy man's shaggy
clothes look commonplace. But they treated their guests with great
respect and the King's dinner was a very good dinner indeed.
Foxes, as you know, are fond of chicken and other fowl; so they served
chicken soup and roasted turkey and stewed duck and fried grouse and
broiled quail and goose pie, and as the cooking was excellent the King's
guests enjoyed the meal and ate heartily of the various dishes.
The party went to the theater, where they saw a play acted by foxes
dressed in costumes of brilliantly colored feathers. The play was about
a fox-girl who was stolen by some wicked wolves and carried to their
cave; and just as they were about to kill her and eat her a company of
fox-soldiers marched up, saved the girl, and put all the wicked wolves
to death.
"How do you like it?" the King asked Dorothy.
"Pretty well," she answered. "It reminds me of one of Mr. Aesop's
fables."
"Don't mention Aesop to me, I beg of you!" exclaimed King Dox. "I hate
that man's name. He wrote a good deal about foxes, but always made them
out cruel and wicked, whereas we are gentle and kind, as you may see."
"But his fables showed you to be wise and clever, and more shrewd than
other animals," said the shaggy man, thoughtfully.
[Illustration]
"So we are. There is no question about our knowing more than men do,"
replied the King, proudly. "But we employ our wisdom to do good, instead
of harm; so that horrid Aesop did not know what he was talking about."
They did not like to contradict him, because they felt he ought to know
the nature of foxes better than men did; so they sat still and watched
the play, and Button-Bright became so interested that for the time he
forgot he wore a fox head.
Afterward they went back to the palace and slept in soft beds stuffed
with feathers; for the foxes raised many fowl for food, and used their
feathers for clothing and to sleep upon.
Dorothy wondered why the animals living in Foxville did not wear just
their own hairy skins, as wild foxes do; when she mentioned it to King
Dox he said they clothed themselves because they were civilized.
"But you were born without clothes," she observed, "and you don't seem
to me to need them."
"So were human beings born without clothes," he replied; "and until they
became civilized they wore only their natural skins. But to become
civilized means to dress as elaborately and prettily as possible, and to
make a show of your clothes so your neighbors will envy you, and for
that reason both civilized foxes and civilized humans spend most of
their time dressing themselves."
"I don't," declared the shaggy man.
"That is true," said the King, looking at him carefully: "but perhaps
you are not civilized."
After a sound sleep and a good night's rest they had their breakfast
with the King and then bade his Majesty good-bye.
"You've been kind to us--'cept poor Button-Bright," said Dorothy, "and
we've had a nice time in Foxville."
"Then," said King Dox, "perhaps you'll be good enough to get me an
invitation to Princess Ozma's birthday celebration."
"I'll try," she promised; "if I see her in time."
"It's on the twenty-first, remember," he continued; "and if you'll just
see that I'm invited I'll find a way to cross the Dreadful Desert into
the marvelous Land of Oz. I've always wanted to visit the Emerald City,
so I'm sure it was fortunate you arrived here just when you did, you
being Princess Ozma's friend and able to assist me in getting the
invitation."
"If I see Ozma I'll ask her to invite you," she replied.
The Fox-King had a delightful luncheon put up for them, which the shaggy
man shoved in his pocket, and the fox-captain escorted them to an arch
at the side of the village opposite the one by which they had entered.
Here they found more soldiers guarding the road.
"Are you afraid of enemies?" asked Dorothy.
"No; because we are watchful and able to protect ourselves," answered
the captain. "But this road leads to another village peopled by big,
stupid beasts who might cause us trouble if they thought we were afraid
of them."
"What beasts are they?" asked the shaggy man.
The captain hesitated to answer. Finally he said:
"You will learn all about them when you arrive at their city. But do not
be afraid of them. Button-Bright is so wonderfully clever and has now
such an intelligent face that I'm sure he will manage to find a way to
protect you."
This made Dorothy and the shaggy man rather uneasy, for they had not so
much confidence in the fox-boy's wisdom as the captain seemed to have.
But as their escort would say no more about the beasts, they bade him
good-bye and proceeded on their journey.
[Illustration]
The Rainbow's Daughter
[Illustration]
Toto, now allowed to run about as he pleased, was glad to be free again
and able to bark at the birds and chase the butterflies. The country
around them was charming, yet in the pretty fields of wild-flowers and
groves of leafy trees were no houses whatever, or sign of any
inhabitants. Birds flew through the air and cunning white rabbits darted
amongst the tall grasses and green bushes; Dorothy noticed even the ants
toiling busily along the roadway, bearing gigantic loads of clover seed;
but of people there were none at all.
They walked briskly on for an hour or two, for even little Button-Bright
was a good walker and did not tire easily. At length as they turned a
curve in the road they beheld just before them a curious sight.
A little girl, radiant and beautiful, shapely as a fairy and exquisitely
dressed, was dancing gracefully in the middle of the lonely road,
whirling slowly this way and that, her dainty feet twinkling in
sprightly fashion. She was clad in flowing, fluffy robes of soft
material that reminded Dorothy of woven cobwebs, only it was colored in
soft tintings of violet, rose, topaz, olive, azure, and white, mingled
together most harmoniously in stripes which melted one into the other
with soft blendings. Her hair was like spun gold and floated around her
in a cloud, no strand being fastened or confined by either pin or
ornament or ribbon.
Filled with wonder and admiration our friends approached and stood
watching this fascinating dance. The girl was no taller than Dorothy,
although more slender; nor did she seem any older than our little
heroine.
Suddenly she paused and abandoned the dance, as if for the first time
observing the presence of strangers. As she faced them, shy as a
frightened fawn, poised upon one foot as if to fly the next instant,
Dorothy was astonished to see tears flowing from her violet eyes and
trickling down her lovely rose-hued cheeks. That the dainty maiden
should dance and weep at the same time was indeed surprising; so Dorothy
asked in a soft, sympathetic voice:
[Illustration: POLYCHROME--THE RAINBOW'S DAUGHTER]
"Are you unhappy, little girl?"
"Very!" was the reply; "I am lost."
"Why, so are we," said Dorothy, smiling; "but we don't cry about it."
"Don't you? Why not?"
"'Cause I've been lost before, and always got found again," answered
Dorothy, simply.
"But I've never been lost before," murmured the dainty maiden, "and I'm
worried and afraid."
"You were dancing," remarked Dorothy, in a puzzled tone of voice.
"Oh, that was just to keep warm," explained the maiden, quickly. "It was
not because I felt happy or gay, I assure you."