The Winged
Monkeys
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You will remember there was no road--not even a pathway--between
the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the four
travellers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, and
so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harder
to find their way back through the big fields of buttercups and
yellow daisies than it was being carried. They knew, of course, they
must go straight east, toward the rising sun; and they started off
in the right way. But at noon, when the sun was over their heads,
they did not know which was east and which was west, and that was
the reason they were lost in the great fields. They kept on walking,
however, and at night the moon came out and shone brightly. So they
lay down among the sweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly
until morning--all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started on, as
if they were quite sure which way they were going.
"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "we shall sometime come to
some place, I am sure."
But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before them
but the yellow fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it again
in time to reach the Emerald City I shall never get my brains."
"Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I can
scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a very
long journey."
"You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't the
courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."
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Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at her
companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found that
for the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterfly
that flew past his head; so he put out his tongue and panted and
looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do next.
"Suppose we call the Field Mice," she suggested. "They could probably
tell us the way to the Emerald City."
"To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow; "why didn't we think of
that before?"
Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her neck
since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In a few minutes
they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small grey
mice came running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself, who
asked, in her squeaky little voice,
"What can I do for my friends?"
"We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us where the
Emerald City is?"
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"Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off, for you
have had it at your backs all this time." Then she noticed Dorothy's
Golden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use the charm of the Cap, and
call the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Oz
in less than an hour."
"I didn't know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, in surprise.
"What is it?"
"It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of the Mice;
"but if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away,
for they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us."
"Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl, anxiously.
"Oh, no; they must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!" And she
scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written upon
the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read the
directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
"What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what she
was doing.
"Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time on her
right foot.
"Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman, calmly.
[Illustration: "_The Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew
away with her._"]
"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on both
feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great
chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys
flew up to them. The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked,
"What is your command?"
"We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we have
lost our way."
"We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had he spoken
than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away
with her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, and
one little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog
tried hard to bite him.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at first,
for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated them
before; but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode through
the air quite cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the pretty
gardens and woods far below them.
Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggest
Monkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of their
hands and were careful not to hurt her.
"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.
"That is a long story," answered the King, with a laugh; "but as we
have a long journey before us I will pass the time by telling you
about it, if you wish."
"I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
"Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happily in
the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit,
and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps
some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to
pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and
throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were
careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the
day. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds
to rule over this land.
"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who
was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the
people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her name
was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great
blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that
she could find no one to love in return, since all the men were much
too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last,
however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond
his years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man
she would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace
and used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and
lovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala,
as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all the
land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him
dearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
"My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which
lived in the forest near Gayalette's palace, and the old fellow loved
a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding,
my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala
walking beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink
silk and purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what
he could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala,
carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of the
river, and then dropped him into the water.
"'Swim out, my fine fellow,'" cried my grandfather, "'and see if the
water has spotted your clothes.'" Quelala was much too wise not to
swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He
laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore.
But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and
velvet all ruined by the river.
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"The princess was very angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She
had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first
that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had
treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded
hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings
tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette
finally spared them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever
after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This
Cap had been made for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to
have cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and
all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is
how it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the
Golden Cap, whomsoever he may be."
"And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatly
interested in the story.
"Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," replied the
Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride
could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest
after he had married her and ordered us to always keep where she
could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to
do, for we were all afraid of her.
"This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the
hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the
Winkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West.
Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to
lay your wishes upon us."
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the
green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered
at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey was
over. The strange creatures set the travellers down carefully before
the gate of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew
swiftly away, followed by all his band.
"That was a good ride," said the little girl.
"Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles." replied the Lion. "How
lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"
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