The Tin Woodman of Oz Read online

  Chapter Twelve

  Ozma and Dorothy

  In her magnificent palace in the Emerald City, the beautiful girl Rulerof all the wonderful Land of Oz sat in her dainty boudoir with herfriend Princess Dorothy beside her. Ozma was studying a roll ofmanuscript which she had taken from the Royal Library, while Dorothyworked at her embroidery and at times stooped to pat a shaggy littleblack dog that lay at her feet. The little dog's name was Toto, and hewas Dorothy's faithful companion.

  To judge Ozma of Oz by the standards of our world, you would think hervery young--perhaps fourteen or fifteen years of age--yet for years shehad ruled the Land of Oz and had never seemed a bit older. Dorothyappeared much younger than Ozma. She had been a little girl when firstshe came to the Land of Oz, and she was a little girl still, and wouldnever seem to be a day older while she lived in this wonderfulfairyland.

  Oz was not always a fairyland, I am told. Once it was much like otherlands, except it was shut in by a dreadful desert of sandy wastes thatlay all around it, thus preventing its people from all contact with therest of the world. Seeing this isolation, the fairy band of QueenLurline, passing over Oz while on a journey, enchanted the country andso made it a Fairyland. And Queen Lurline left one of her fairies torule this enchanted Land of Oz, and then passed on and forgot all aboutit.

  From that moment no one in Oz ever died. Those who were old remainedold; those who were young and strong did not change as years passedthem by; the children remained children always, and played and rompedto their hearts' content, while all the babies lived in their cradlesand were tenderly cared for and never grew up. So people in Oz stoppedcounting how old they were in years, for years made no difference intheir appearance and could not alter their station. They did not getsick, so there were no doctors among them. Accidents might happen tosome, on rare occasions, it is true, and while no one could dienaturally, as other people do, it was possible that one might betotally destroyed. Such incidents, however, were very unusual, and soseldom was there anything to worry over that the Oz people were ashappy and contented as can be.

  Another strange thing about this fairy Land of Oz was that whoevermanaged to enter it from the outside world came under the magic spellof the place and did not change in appearance as long as they livedthere. So Dorothy, who now lived with Ozma, seemed just the same sweetlittle girl she had been when first she came to this delightfulfairyland.

  Perhaps all parts of Oz might not be called truly delightful, but itwas surely delightful in the neighborhood of the Emerald City, whereOzma reigned. Her loving influence was felt for many miles around, butthere were places in the mountains of the Gillikin Country, and theforests of the Quadling Country, and perhaps in far-away parts of theMunchkin and Winkie Countries, where the inhabitants were somewhat rudeand uncivilized and had not yet come under the spell of Ozma's wise andkindly rule. Also, when Oz first became a fairyland, it harboredseveral witches and magicians and sorcerers and necromancers, who werescattered in various parts, but most of these had been deprived oftheir magic powers, and Ozma had issued a royal edict forbidding anyonein her dominions to work magic except Glinda the Good and the Wizard ofOz. Ozma herself, being a real fairy, knew a lot of magic, but she onlyused it to benefit her subjects.

  This little explanation will help you to understand better the storyyou are reaching, but most of it is already known to those who arefamiliar with the Oz people whose adventures they have followed inother Oz books.

  Ozma and Dorothy were fast friends and were much together. Everyone inOz loved Dorothy almost as well as they did their lovely Ruler, for thelittle Kansas girl's good fortune had not spoiled her or rendered herat all vain. She was just the same brave and true and adventurous childas before she lived in a royal palace and became the chum of the fairyOzma.

  In the room in which the two sat--which was one of Ozma's private suiteof apartments--hung the famous Magic Picture. This was the source ofconstant interest to little Dorothy. One had but to stand before it andwish to see what any person was doing, and at once a scene would flashupon the magic canvas which showed exactly where that person was, andlike our own moving pictures would reproduce the actions of that personas long as you cared to watch them. So today, when Dorothy tired of herembroidery, she drew the curtains from before the Magic Picture andwished to see what her friend Button Bright was doing. Button Bright,she saw, was playing ball with Ojo, the Munchkin boy, so Dorothy nextwished to see what her Aunt Em was doing. The picture showed Aunt Emquietly engaged in darning socks for Uncle Henry, so Dorothy wished tosee what her old friend the Tin Woodman was doing.

  The Tin Woodman was then just leaving his tin castle in the company ofthe Scarecrow and Woot the Wanderer. Dorothy had never seen this boybefore, so she wondered who he was. Also she was curious to know wherethe three were going, for she noticed Woot's knapsack and guessed theyhad started on a long journey. She asked Ozma about it, but Ozma didnot know.

  That afternoon Dorothy again saw the travelers in the Magic Picture,but they were merely tramping through the country and Dorothy was notmuch interested in them. A couple of days later, however, the girl,being again with Ozma, wished to see her friends, the Scarecrow and theTin Woodman in the Magic Picture, and on this occasion found them inthe great castle of Mrs. Yoop, the Giantess, who was at the time aboutto transform them. Both Dorothy and Ozma now became greatly interestedand watched the transformations with indignation and horror.

  "What a wicked Giantess!" exclaimed Dorothy.

  "Yes," answered Ozma, "she must be punished for this cruelty to ourfriends, and to the poor boy who is with them."

  After this they followed the adventure of the little Brown Bear and theTin Owl and the Green Monkey with breathless interest, and weredelighted when they escaped from Mrs. Yoop. They did not know, then,who the Canary was, but realized it must be the transformation of someperson of consequence, whom the Giantess had also enchanted.

  When, finally, the day came when the adventurers headed south into theMunchkin Country, Dorothy asked anxiously:

  "Can't something be done for them, Ozma? Can't you change 'em back intotheir own shapes? They've suffered enough from these dreadfultransformations, seems to me."

  "I've been studying ways to help them, ever since they weretransformed," replied Ozma. "Mrs. Yoop is now the only yookoohoo in mydominions, and the yookoohoo magic is very peculiar and hard for othersto understand, yet I am resolved to make the attempt to break theseenchantments. I may not succeed, but I shall do the best I can. Fromthe directions our friends are taking, I believe they are going to passby Jinjur's Ranch, so if we start now we may meet them there. Would youlike to go with me, Dorothy?"

  "Of course," answered the little girl; "I wouldn't miss it foranything."

  "Then order the Red Wagon," said Ozma of Oz, "and we will start atonce."

  Dorothy ran to do as she was bid, while Ozma went to her Magic Room tomake ready the things she believed she would need. In half an hour theRed Wagon stood before the grand entrance of the palace, and before itwas hitched the Wooden Sawhorse, which was Ozma's favorite steed.

  This Sawhorse, while made of wood, was very much alive and could travelswiftly and without tiring. To keep the ends of his wooden legs fromwearing down short, Ozma had shod the Sawhorse with plates of puregold. His harness was studded with brilliant emeralds and other jewelsand so, while he himself was not at all handsome, his outfit made asplendid appearance.

  Since the Sawhorse could understand her spoken words, Ozma used noreins to guide him. She merely told him where to go. When she came fromthe palace with Dorothy, they both climbed into the Red Wagon and thenthe little dog, Toto, ran up and asked:

  "Are you going to leave me behind, Dorothy?" Dorothy looked at Ozma,who smiled in return and said:

  "Toto may go with us, if you wish him to."

  So Dorothy lifted the little dog into the wagon, for, while he couldrun fast, he could not keep up with the speed of the wonderful Sawhorse.

  Away they went, over h
ills and through meadows, covering the groundwith astonishing speed. It is not surprising, therefore, that the RedWagon arrived before Jinjur's house just as that energetic young ladyhad finished scrubbing the Green Monkey and was about to lead him tothe caramel patch.