The Marvelous Land of Oz Read online

  "You naughty, sneaking, wicked boy!" she exclaimed, furiously: "I'll teachyou to spy out my secrets and to make fun of me!"

  "I wasn't making fun of you," protested Tip. "I was laughing at oldPumpkinhead! Look at him! Isn't he a picture, though?"

  "I hope you are not reflecting on my personal appearance," said Jack; and itwas so funny to hear his grave voice, while his face continued to wear itsjolly smile, that Tip again burst into a peal of laughter.

  Even Mombi was not without a curious interest in the man her magic hadbrought to life; for, after staring at him intently, she presently asked:

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  OLD MOMBI PUTS JACK IN THE STABLE

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  "What do you know?"

  "Well, that is hard to tell," replied Jack. "For although I feel that Iknow a tremendous lot, I am not yet aware how much there is in the world tofind out about. It will take me a little time to discover whether I am verywise or very foolish."

  "To be sure," said Mombi, thoughtfully.

  "But what are you going to do with him, now he is alive?" asked Tip,wondering.

  "I must think it over," answered Mombi. "But we must get home at once, forit is growing dark. Help the Pumpkinhead to walk."

  "Never mind me," said Jack; "I can walk as well as you can. Haven't I gotlegs and feet, and aren't they jointed?"

  "Are they?" asked the woman, turning to Tip.

  "Of course they are; I made 'em myself," returned the boy, with pride.

  So they started for the house, but when they reached the farm yard oldMombi led the pumpkin man to the cow stable and shut him up in an emptystall, fastening the door securely on the outside.

  "I've got to attend to you, first," she said, nodding her head at Tip.

  Hearing this, the boy became uneasy; for he

  24knew Mombi had a bad and revengeful heart, and would not hesitate to do anyevil thing.

  They entered the house. It was a round, domeshaped structure, as are nearlyall the farm houses in the Land of Oz.

  Mombi bade the boy light a candle, while she put her basket in a cupboardand hung her cloak on a peg. Tip obeyed quickly, for he was afraid of her.

  After the candle had been lighted Mombi ordered him to build a fire in thehearth, and while Tip was thus engaged the old woman ate her supper. Whenthe flames began to crackle the boy came to her and asked a share of thebread and cheese; but Mombi refused him.

  "I'm hungry!" said Tip, in a sulky tone.

  "You won't be hungry long," replied Mombi, with a grim look.

  The boy didn't like this speech, for it sounded like a threat; but hehappened to remember he had nuts in his pocket, so he cracked some of thoseand ate them while the woman rose, shook the crumbs from her apron, and hungabove the fire a small black kettle.

  Then she measured out equal parts of milk and vinegar and poured them intothe kettle. Next she

  25produced several packets of herbs and powders and began adding a portion ofeach to the contents of the kettle. Occasionally she would draw near thecandle and read from a yellow paper the recipe of the mess she wasconcocting.

  As Tip watched her his uneasiness increased.

  "What is that for?" he asked.

  "For you," returned Mombi, briefly.

  Tip wriggled around upon his stool and stared awhile at the kettle, whichwas beginning to bubble. Then he would glance at the stern and wrinkledfeatures of the witch and wish he were any place but in that dim and smokykitchen, where even the shadows cast by the candle upon the wall were enoughto give one the horrors. So an hour passed away, during which the silencewas only broken by the bubbling of the pot and the hissing of the flames.

  Finally, Tip spoke again.

  "Have I got to drink that stuff?" he asked, nodding toward the pot.

  "Yes," said Mombi.

  "What'll it do to me?" asked Tip.

  "If it's properly made," replied Mombi, "it will change or transform youinto a marble statue."

  Tip groaned, and wiped the perspiration from his forehead with his sleeve.

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  "I don't want to be a marble statue!" he protested.

  "That doesn't matter I want you to be one," said the old woman, looking athim severely.

  "What use'll I be then?" asked Tip. "There won't be any one to work foryou."

  "I'll make the Pumpkinhead work for me," said Mombi.

  Again Tip groaned.

  "Why don't you change me into a goat, or a chicken?" he asked, anxiously."You can't do anything with a marble statue."

  "Oh, yes, I can," returned Mombi. "I'm going to plant a flower garden, nextSpring, and I'll put you in the middle of it, for an ornament. I wonder Ihaven't thought of that before; you've been a bother to me for years."

  At this terrible speech Tip felt the beads of perspiration starting allover his body, but he sat still and shivered and looked anxiously at thekettle.

  "Perhaps it won't work," he mutttered, in a voice that sounded weak anddiscouraged.

  "Oh, I think it will," answered Mombi, cheerfully. "I seldom make amistake."

  Again there was a period of silence a silence so long and gloomy that whenMombi finally lifted the kettle from the fire it was close to midnight.

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  "I DON'T WANT TO BE A MARBLE STATUE."

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  "You cannot drink it until it has become quite cold," announced the oldwitch for in spite of the law she had acknowledged practising witchcraft."We must both go to bed now, and at daybreak I will call you and at oncecomplete your transformation into a marble statue."

  With this she hobbled into her room, bearing the steaming kettle with her,and Tip heard her close and lock the door.

  The boy did not go to bed, as he had been commanded to do, but still satglaring at the embers of the dying fire.

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  29 The Flight of the Fugitives

  Tip reflected.

  "It's a hard thing, to be a marble statue," he thought, rebelliously, "andI'm not going to stand it. For years I've been a bother to her, she says; soshe's going to get rid of me. Well, there's an easier way than to become astatue. No boy could have any fun forever standing in the middle of a flowergarden! I'll run away, that's what I'll do--and I may as well go beforeshe makes me drink that nasty stuff in the kettle." He waited until thesnores of the old witch announced she was fast asleep, and then he arosesoftly and went to the cupboard to find something to eat.

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  "No use starting on a journey without food," he decided, searching upon thenarrow shelves.

  He found some crusts of bread; but he had to look into Mombi's basket tofind the cheese she had brought from the village. While turning over thecontents of the basket he came upon the pepper-box which contained the"Powder of Life."

  "I may as well take this with me," he thought, "or Mombi'll be using it tomake more mischief with." So he put the box in his pocket, together with thebread and cheese.

  Then he cautiously left the house and latched the door behind him. Outsideboth moon and stars shone brightly, and the night seemed peaceful andinviting after the close and ill-smelling kitchen.

  "I'll be glad to get away," said Tip, softly; "for I never did like that oldwoman. I wonder how I ever came to live with her."

  He was walking slowly toward the road when a thought made him pause.

  "I don't like to leave Jack Pumpkinhead to the tender mercies of old Mombi,"he muttered. "And Jack belongs to me, for I made him even if the old witchdid bring him to life."

  He retraced his steps to the cow-stable and opened the door of the stallwhere the pumpkin-

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  "TIP LED HIM ALONG THE PATH."

  32headed man had been left.

  Jack was standing in the middle of the stall, and by the moonlight Tip couldsee he was smiling just as jovially
as ever.

  "Come on!" said the boy, beckoning.

  "Where to?" asked Jack.

  "You'll know as soon as I do," answered Tip, smiling sympathetically intothe pumpkin face.

  "All we've got to do now is to tramp."

  "Very well," returned Jack, and walked awkwardly out of the stable and intothe moonlight.

  Tip turned toward the road and the man followed him. Jack walked with a sortof limp, and occasionally one of the joints of his legs would turn backward,instead of frontwise, almost causing him to tumble. But the Pumpkinhead wasquick to notice this, and began to take more pains to step carefully; sothat he met with few accidents.

  Tip led him along the path without stopping an instant. They could not govery fast, but they walked steadily; and by the time the moon sank away andthe sun peeped over the hills they had travelled so great a distance thatthe boy had no reason to fear pursuit from the old witch. Moreover, he hadturned first into one path, and then into another, so that should anyonefollow them it

  33would prove very difficult to guess which way they had gone, or where toseek them.

  Fairly satisfied that he had escaped--for a time, at least--being turnedinto a marble statue, the boy stopped his companion and seated himself upona rock by the roadside.

  "Let's have some breakfast," he said.

  Jack Pumpkinhead watched Tip curiously, but refused to join in the repast."I don't seem to be made the same way you are," he said.

  "I know you are not," returned Tip; "for I made you."

  "Oh! Did you?" asked Jack.

  "Certainly. And put you together. And carved your eyes and nose and ears and

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  mouth," said Tip proudly. "And dressed you."

  Jack looked at his body and limbs critically.

  "It strikes me you made a very good job of it," he remarked.

  "Just so-so," replied Tip, modestly; for he began to see certain defects inthe construction of his man. "If I'd known we were going to travel togetherI might have been a little more particular."

  "Why, then," said the Pumpkinhead, in a tone that expressed surprise, "youmust be my creator my parent my father!"

  "Or your inventor," replied the boy with a laugh. "Yes, my son; I reallybelieve I am!"

  "Then I owe you obedience," continued the man, "and you owe me--support."

  "That's it, exactly", declared Tip, jumping up. "So let us be off."

  "Where are we going?" asked Jack, when they had resumed their journey.

  "I'm not exactly sure," said the boy; "but I believe we are headed South,and that will bring us, sooner or later, to the Emerald City."

  "What city is that?" enquired the Pumpkinhead.

  "Why, it's the center of the Land of Oz, and the biggest town in all thecountry. I've never been there, myself, but I've heard all about its

  35history. It was built by a mighty and wonderful Wizard named Oz, andeverything there is of a green color--just as everything in this Countryof the Gillikins is of a purple color."

  "Is everything here purple?" asked Jack.

  "Of course it is. Can't you see?" returned the boy.

  "I believe I must be color-blind," said the Pumpkinhead, after staring abouthim.

  "Well, the grass is purple, and the trees are purple, and the houses andfences are purple," explained Tip. "Even the mud in the roads is purple. Butin the Emerald City everything is green that is purple here. And in theCountry of the Munchkins, over at the East, everything is blue; and in theSouth country of the Quadlings everything is red; and in the West country ofthe Winkies, where the Tin Woodman rules, everything is yellow."

  "Oh!" said Jack. Then, after a pause, he asked: "Did you say a Tin Woodmanrules the Winkies?"

  "Yes; he was one of those who helped Dorothy to destroy the Wicked Witch ofthe West, and the Winkies were so grateful that they invited him to becometheir ruler,--just as the people of the Emerald City invited the Scarecrowto rule them."

  "Dear me!" said Jack. "I'm getting confused with all this history. Who isthe Scarecrow?"

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  "Another friend of Dorothy's," replied Tip.

  "And who is Dorothy?"

  "She was a girl that came here from Kansas, a place in the big, outsideWorld. She got blown to the Land of Oz by a cyclone, and while she was herethe Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman accompanied her on her travels."

  "And where is she now?" inquired the Pumpkinhead.

  "Glinda the Good, who rules the Quadlings, sent her home again," said theboy.

  "Oh. And what became of the Scarecrow?"

  "I told you. He rules the Emerald City," answered Tip.

  "I thought you said it was ruled by a wonderful Wizard," objected Jack,seeming more and more confused.

  "Well, so I did. Now, pay attention, and I'll explain it," said Tip,speaking slowly and looking the smiling Pumpkinhead squarely in the eye."Dorothy went to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard to send her back toKansas; and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman went with her. But the Wizardcouldn't send her back, because he wasn't so much of a Wizard as he mighthave been. And then they got angry at the Wizard, and threatened

  37to expose him; so the Wizard made a big balloon and escaped in it, andno one has ever seen him since."

  "Now, that is very interesting history," said Jack, well pleased; "and Iunderstand it perfectly all but the explanation."

  "I'm glad you do," responded Tip. "After the Wizard was gone, the people ofthe Emerald City made His Majesty, the Scarecrow, their King; "and I haveheard that he became a very popular ruler."

  "Are we going to see this queer King?" asked Jack, with interest.

  "I think we may as well," replied the boy; "unless you have something betterto do."

  "Oh, no, dear father," said the Pumpkinhead. "I am quite willing to gowherever you please."

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  39 Tip Makes an Experiment in Magic

  The boy, small and rather delicate in appearance seemed somewhat embarrassedat being called "father" by the tall, awkward, pumpkinheaded man, but todeny the relationship would involve another long and tedious explanation; sohe changed the subject by asking, abruptly:

  "Are you tired?"

  "Of course not!" replied the other. "But," he continued, after a pause, "itis quite certain I shall wear out my wooden joints if I keep on walking."

  Tip reflected, as they journeyed on, that this was true. He began to regretthat he had not constructed the wooden limbs more carefully andsubstantially. Yet how could he ever have guessed

  40that the man he had made merely to scare old Mombi with would be brought tolife by means of a magical powder contained in an old pepper-box?

  So he ceased to reproach himself, and began to think how he might yet remedythe deficiencies of Jack's weak joints.

  While thus engaged they came to the edge of a wood, and the boy sat down torest upon an old sawhorse that some woodcutter had left there.

  "Why don't you sit down?" he asked the Pumpkinhead.

  "Won't it strain my joints?" inquired the other.

  "Of course not. It'll rest them," declared the boy.

  So Jack tried to sit down; but as soon as he bent his joints farther thanusual they gave way altogether, and he came clattering to the ground withsuch a crash that Tip feared he was entirely ruined.

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  He rushed to the man, lifted him to his feet, straightened his arms andlegs, and felt of his head to see if by chance it had become cracked. ButJack seemed to be in pretty good shape, after all, and Tip said to him:

  "I guess you'd better remain standing, hereafter. It seems the safest way."

  "Very well, dear father." just as you say, replied the smiling Jack, who hadbeen in no wise confused by his tumble.

  Tip sat down aga
in. Presently the Pumpkinhead asked:

  "What is that thing you are sitting on?"

  "Oh, this is a horse," replied the boy, carelessly.

  "What is a horse?" demanded Jack.

  "A horse? Why, there are two kinds of horses," returned Tip, slightlypuzzled how to explain. "One kind of horse is alive, and has four legs and ahead and a tail. And people ride upon its back."

  "I understand," said Jack, cheerfully "That's the kind of horse you are nowsitting on."

  "No, it isn't," answered Tip, promptly.

  "Why not? That one has four legs, and a head, and a tail." Tip looked at thesaw-horse more carefully, and found that the Pumpkinhead was right. The body

  42had been formed from a tree-trunk, and a branch had been left sticking up atone end that looked very much like a tail. In the other end were two bigknots that resembled eyes, and a place had been chopped away that mighteasily be mistaken for the horse's mouth. As for the legs, they were fourstraight limbs cut from trees and stuck fast into the body, being spreadwide apart so that the saw-horse would stand firmly when a log was laidacross it to be sawed.