The Road to Oz Page 18

  The Royal Chariot Arrives

  The neat yellow houses of the Winkies were now to be seen standing hereand there along the roadway, giving the country a more cheerful andcivilized look. They were farm-houses, though, and set far apart; for inthe Land of Oz there were no towns or villages except the magnificentEmerald City in its center.

  Hedges of evergreen or of yellow roses bordered the broad highway andthe farms showed the care of their industrious inhabitants. The nearerthe travelers came to the great city the more prosperous the countrybecame, and they crossed many bridges over the sparkling streams andrivulets that watered the lands.

  As they walked leisurely along the shaggy man said to the Tin Woodman:

  "What sort of a Magic Powder was it, that made your friend thePumpkinhead live?"

  "It was called the Powder of Life," was the answer; "and it was inventedby a crooked Sorcerer who lived in the mountains of the North Country. AWitch named Mombi got some of this powder from the crooked Sorcerer andtook it home with her. Ozma lived with the Witch then, for it was beforeshe became our Princess, while Mombi had transformed her into the shapeof a boy. Well, while Mombi was gone to the crooked Sorcerer's, the boymade this pumpkin-headed man to amuse himself, and also with the hope offrightening the Witch with it when she returned. But Mombi was notscared, and she sprinkled the Pumpkinhead with her Magic Powder of Life,to see if the Powder would work. Ozma was watching, and saw thePumpkinhead come to life; so that night she took the pepper-boxcontaining the Powder and ran away with it and with Jack, in search ofadventures."

  "Next day they found a wooden Saw-Horse standing by the roadside, andsprinkled it with the Powder. It came to life at once, and JackPumpkinhead rode the Saw-Horse to the Emerald City."

  "What became of the Saw-Horse, afterward?" asked the shaggy man, muchinterested in this story.

  "Oh, it's alive yet, and you will probably meet it presently in theEmerald City. Afterward Ozma used the last of the Powder to bring theFlying Gump to life; but as soon as it had carried her away from herenemies the Gump was taken apart, so it doesn't exist any more."

  "It's too bad the Powder of Life was all used up," remarked the shaggyman; "it would be a handy thing to have around."

  "I am not so sure of that, sir," answered the Tin Woodman. "A while agothe crooked Sorcerer who invented the magic Powder fell down a precipiceand was killed. All his possessions went to a relative--an old womannamed Dyna, who lives in the Emerald City. She went to the mountainswhere the Sorcerer had lived and brought away everything she thought ofvalue. Among them was a small bottle of the Powder of Life; but ofcourse Dyna didn't know it was a magic Powder, at all. It happened shehad once had a big blue bear for a pet; but the bear choked to death ona fishbone one day, and she loved it so dearly that Dyna made a rug ofits skin, leaving the head and four paws on the hide. She kept the rugon the floor of her front parlor."

  "I've seen rugs like that," said the shaggy man, nodding, "but never onemade from a blue bear."

  "Well," continued the Tin Woodman, "the old woman had an idea that thePowder in the bottle must be moth-powder, because it smelled somethinglike moth-powder; so one day she sprinkled it on her bear rug to keepthe moths out of it. She said, looking lovingly at the skin: 'I wish mydear bear were alive again!' To her horror the bear rug at once came tolife, having been sprinkled with the Magic Powder; and now this livebear rug is a great trial to her, and makes her a lot of trouble."

  "Why?" asked the shaggy man.

  "Well, it stands up on its four feet and walks all around, and gets inthe way; and that spoils it for a rug. It can't speak, although it isalive; for, while its head might say words, it has no breath in a solidbody to push the words out of its mouth. It's a very slimpsy affairaltogether, that bear rug, and the old woman is sorry it came to life.Every day she has to scold it, and make it lie down flat on the parlorfloor to be walked upon; but sometimes when she goes to market the rugwill hump up its back skin, and stand on its four feet, and trot alongafter her."

  "I should think Dyna would like that," said Dorothy.

  "Well, she doesn't; because every one knows it isn't a real bear, butjust a hollow skin, and so of no actual use in the world except for arug," answered the Tin Woodman. "Therefore I believe it is a good thingthat all the magic Powder of Life is now used up, as it cannot causeany more trouble."

  "Perhaps you're right," said the shaggy man, thoughtfully.

  At noon they stopped at a farm-house, where it delighted the farmer andhis wife to be able to give them a good luncheon. The farm people knewDorothy, having seen her when she was in the country before, and theytreated the little girl with as much respect as they did the Emperor,because she was a friend of the powerful Princess Ozma.

  They had not proceeded far after leaving this farm-house before comingto a high bridge over a broad river. This river, the Tin Woodmaninformed them, was the boundary between the Country of the Winkies andthe territory of the Emerald City. The city itself was still a long wayoff, but all around it was a green meadow, as pretty as a well-keptlawn, and in this were neither houses nor farms to spoil the beauty ofthe scene.

  From the top of the high bridge they could see far away the magnificentspires and splendid domes of the superb city, sparkling like brilliantjewels as they towered above the emerald walls. The shaggy man drew adeep breath of awe and amazement, for never had he dreamed that such agrand and beautiful place could exist--even in the fairyland of Oz.

  Polly was so pleased that her violet eyes sparkled like amethysts, andshe danced away from her companions across the bridge and into a groupof feathery trees lining both the roadsides. These trees she stopped tolook at with pleasure and surprise, for their leaves were shaped likeostrich plumes, their feather edges beautifully curled; and all theplumes were tinted in the same dainty rainbow hues that appeared inPolychrome's own pretty gauze gown.

  "Father ought to see these trees," she murmured; "they are almost aslovely as his own rainbows."

  Then she gave a start of terror, for beneath the trees came stalking twogreat beasts, either one big enough to crush the little Daughter of theRainbow with one blow of his paws, or to eat her up with one snap of hisenormous jaws. One was a tawny lion, as tall as a horse, nearly; theother a striped tiger almost the same size.

  Polly was too frightened to scream or to stir; she stood still with awildly beating heart until Dorothy rushed past her and with a glad crythrew her arms around the huge lion's neck, hugging and kissing thebeast with evident joy.

  "Oh, I'm _so_ glad to see you again!" cried the little Kansas girl. "Andthe Hungry Tiger, too! How fine you're both looking. Are you well andhappy?"

  DOROTHY THREW HER ARMS AROUND THE LION'S NECK]

  "We certainly are, Dorothy," answered the Lion, in a deep voice thatsounded pleasant and kind; "and we are greatly pleased that you havecome to Ozma's party. It's going to be a grand affair, I promise you."

  "There will be lots of fat babies at the celebration, I hear," remarkedthe Hungry Tiger, yawning so that his mouth opened dreadfully wide andshowed all his big, sharp teeth; "but of course I can't eat any of 'em."

  "Is your Conscience still in good order?" asked Dorothy, anxiously.

  "Yes; it rules me like a tyrant," answered the Tiger, sorrowfully. "Ican imagine nothing more unpleasant than to own a Conscience," and hewinked slyly at his friend the Lion.

  "You're fooling me!" said Dorothy, with a laugh. "I don't b'lieve you'deat a baby if you lost your Conscience. Come here, Polly," she called,"and be introduced to my friends."

  Polly advanced rather shyly.

  "You have some queer friends, Dorothy," she said.

  "The queerness doesn't matter, so long as they're friends," was theanswer. "This is the Cowardly Lion, who isn't a coward at all, but justthinks he is. The Wizard gave him some courage once, and he has part ofit left."

  The Lion bowed with great dignity to Polly.

  "You are very lovely, my dear," said he. "I hope we shall be friendswhen we ar
e better acquainted."

  "And this is the Hungry Tiger," continued Dorothy. "He says he longs toeat fat babies; but the truth is he is never hungry at all, 'cause hegets plenty to eat; and I don't s'pose he'd hurt anybody even if he washungry."

  "Hush, Dorothy," whispered the Tiger; "you'll ruin my reputation if youare not more discreet. It isn't what we are, but what folks think weare, that counts in this world. And come to think of it Miss Polly wouldmake a fine variegated breakfast, I'm sure."