The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Read online

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  The WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

  BY L. Frank Baum

  W. W. Denslow.

  Geo. M. Hill Co. New York.

  INTRODUCTION.

  Folk lore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhoodthrough the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome andinstinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestlyunreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought morehappiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.

  Yet the old-time fairy tale, having served for generations, maynow be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for thetime has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which thestereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with allthe horrible and blood-curdling incident devised by their authorsto point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includesmorality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in itswonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

  Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard ofOz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires tobeing a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy areretained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.

  L. FRANK BAUM.

  CHICAGO, APRIL, 1900.

  Copyright 1899 By L. Frank Baum and W. W. Denslow. All rights reserved

  LIST OF CHAPTERS.

  CHAPTER I.--The Cyclone.

  CHAPTER II.--The Council with The Munchkins.

  CHAPTER III.--How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow.

  CHAPTER IV.--The Road Through the Forest.

  CHAPTER V.--The Rescue of the Tin Woodman.

  CHAPTER VI.--The Cowardly Lion.

  CHAPTER VII.--The Journey to The Great Oz.

  CHAPTER VIII.--The Deadly Poppy Field.

  CHAPTER IX.--The Queen of the Field Mice.

  CHAPTER X.--The Guardian of the Gates.

  CHAPTER XI.--The Wonderful Emerald City of Oz.

  CHAPTER XII.--The Search for the Wicked Witch.

  CHAPTER XIII.--How the Four were Reunited.

  CHAPTER XIV.--The Winged Monkeys.

  CHAPTER XV.--The Discovery of Oz the Terrible.

  CHAPTER XVI.--The Magic Art of the Great Humbug.

  CHAPTER XVII.--How the Balloon was Launched.

  CHAPTER XVIII.--Away to the South.

  CHAPTER XIX.--Attacked by the Fighting Trees.

  CHAPTER XX.--The Dainty China Country.

  CHAPTER XXI.--The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts.

  CHAPTER XXII.--The Country of the Quadlings.

  CHAPTER XXIII.--The Good Witch grants Dorothy's Wish.

  CHAPTER XXIV.--Home Again.

  _This book is dedicated to my good friend & comrade.

  My Wife

  L.F.B._

  Chapter I.

  The Cyclone.

  Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with UncleHenry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carriedby wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof,which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookingstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs,and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner,and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret atall, and no cellar--except a small hole, dug in the ground, called acyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those greatwhirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. Itwas reached by a trap-door in the middle of the floor, from which aladder led down into the small, dark hole.

  When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could seenothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor ahouse broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached the edge ofthe sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into agray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass wasnot green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades untilthey were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house hadbeen painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed itaway, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

  "_She caught Toto by the ear._"]

  When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. Thesun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle fromher eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from hercheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt,and never smiled, now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first cameto her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter thatshe would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy'smerry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girlwith wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

  Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night anddid not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard tohis rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

  It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing asgray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a littleblack dog, with long, silky hair and small black eyes that twinkledmerrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all daylong, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

  To-day, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon thedoor-step and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer thanusual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked atthe sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

  From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and UncleHenry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in wavesbefore the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in theair from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they sawripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

  Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

  "There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife; "I'll go lookafter the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows andhorses were kept.

  Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her ofthe danger close at hand.

  "Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed; "run for the cellar!"

  Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and thegirl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open thetrap-door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small,dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last, and started to follow heraunt. When she was half way across the room there came a great shriekfrom the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footingand sat down suddenly upon the floor.

  A strange thing then happened.

  The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly throughthe air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

  The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it theexact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air isgenerally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side ofthe house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the verytop of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles andmiles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

  It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, butDorothy found she
was riding quite easily. After the first few whirlsaround, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt asif she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

  Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waitedto see what would happen.

  Once Toto got too near the open trap-door, and fell in; and at firstthe little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of hisears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the airwas keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole,caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again; afterwardclosing the trap-door so that no more accidents could happen.

  Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all abouther that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if shewould be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hourspassed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying andresolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At lastshe crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it;and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

  In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.