The Road to Oz Page 23

  Important Arrivals

  First entered a band of Ryls from the Happy Valley, all merry littlesprites like fairy elves. A dozen crooked Knooks followed from the greatForest of Burzee. They had long whiskers and pointed caps and curlingtoes, yet were no taller than Button-Bright's shoulder. With this groupcame a man so easy to recognize and so important and dearly belovedthroughout the known world, that all present rose to their feet andbowed their heads in respectful homage, even before the High Chamberlainknelt to announce his name.

  "The most Mighty and Loyal Friend of Children, His SupremeHighness--Santa Claus!" said the Chamberlain, in an awed voice.

  "Well, well, well! Glad to see you--glad to meet you all!" cried SantaClaus, briskly, as he trotted up the long room.

  He was round as an apple, with a fresh rosy face, laughing eyes, and abushy beard as white as snow. A red cloak trimmed with beautiful erminehung from his shoulders and upon his back was a basket filled withpretty presents for the Princess Ozma.

  "Hello, Dorothy; still having adventures?" he asked in his jolly way, ashe took the girl's hand in both his own.

  "How did you know my name, Santa?" she replied, feeling more shy in thepresence of this immortal saint than she ever had before in her younglife.

  "Why, don't I see you every Christmas Eve, when you're asleep?" herejoined, pinching her blushing cheek.

  "Oh; do you?"

  "And here's Button-Bright, I declare!" cried Santa Claus, holding up theboy to kiss him. "What a long way from home you are; dear me!"

  "Do you know Button-Bright, too?" questioned Dorothy, eagerly.

  "Indeed I do. I've visited his home several Christmas Eves."

  "And do you know his father?" asked the girl.

  MERRY RYLS AND CROOKED KNOOKS]

  "Certainly, my dear. Who else do you suppose brings him his Christmasneckties and stockings?" with a sly wink at the Wizard.

  "Then where does he live? We're just crazy to know, 'causeButton-Bright's lost," she said.

  Santa laughed and laid his finger aside of his nose as if thinking whatto reply. He leaned over and whispered something in the Wizard's ear, atwhich the Wizard smiled and nodded as if he understood.

  Now Santa Claus spied Polychrome, and trotted over to where she stood.

  "Seems to me the Rainbow's Daughter is farther from home than any ofyou," he observed, looking at the pretty maiden admiringly. "I'll haveto tell your father where you are, Polly, and send him to get you."

  "Please do, dear Santa Claus," implored the little maid, beseechingly.

  "But just now we must all have a jolly good time at Ozma's party," saidthe old gentlemen, turning to put his presents on the table with theothers already there. "It isn't often I find time to leave my castle, asyou know; but Ozma invited me and I just couldn't help coming tocelebrate the happy occasion."

  "I'm so glad!" exclaimed Dorothy.

  "These are my Ryls," pointing to the little sprites squatting aroundhim. "Their business is to paint the colors of the flowers when theybud and bloom; but I brought the merry fellows along to see Oz, andthey've left their paint-pots behind them. Also I brought these crookedKnooks, whom I love. My dears, the Knooks are much nicer than they look,for their duty is to water and care for the young trees of the forest,and they do their work faithfully and well. It's hard work, though, andit makes my Knooks crooked and gnarled, like the trees themselves; buttheir hearts are big and kind, as are the hearts of all who do good inour beautiful world."

  "I've read of the Ryls and Knooks," said Dorothy, looking upon theselittle workers with interest.

  Santa Claus turned to talk with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, andhe also said a kind word to the shaggy man, and afterward went away toride the Saw-horse around the Emerald City. "For," said he, "I must seeall the grand sights while I am here and have the chance, and Ozma haspromised to let me ride the Saw-Horse because I'm getting fat and shortof breath."

  "Where are your reindeer?" asked Polychrome.

  "I left them at home, for it is too warm for them in this sunnycountry," he answered. "They're used to winter weather when theytravel."

  In a flash he was gone, and the Ryls and Knooks with him; but they couldall hear the golden hoofs of the Saw-Horse ringing on the marblepavement outside, as he pranced away with his noble rider.

  Presently the band played again, and the High Chamberlain announced:

  "Her Gracious Majesty, the Queen of Merryland."

  They looked earnestly to discover whom this queen might be, and sawadvancing up the room an exquisite wax doll, dressed in dainty fluffsand ruffles and spangled gown. She was almost as big as Button-Bright,and her cheeks and mouth and eyebrow were prettily painted in delicatecolors. Her blue eyes stared a bit, being of glass, yet the expressionupon her Majesty's face was quite pleasant and decidedly winning. Withthe Queen of Merryland were four wooden soldiers, two stalking ahead ofher with much dignity and two following behind, like a royal bodyguard.The soldiers were painted in bright colors and carried wooden guns, andafter them came a fat little man who attracted attention at once,although he seemed modest and retiring. For he was made of candy, andcarried a tin sugar-sifter filled with powdered sugar, with which hedusted himself frequently so that he wouldn't stick to things if hetouched them. The High Chamberlain had called him "The Candy Man ofMerryland," and Dorothy saw that one of his thumbs looked as if it hadbeen bitten off by some who was fond of candy and couldn't resist thetemptation.

  The wax doll Queen spoke prettily to Dorothy and the others, and senther loving greetings to Ozma before she retired to the rooms preparedfor her. She had brought a birthday present wrapped in tissue paper andtied with pink and blue ribbons, and one of the wooden soldiers placedit on the table with the other gifts. But the Candy Man did not go tohis room, because he said he preferred to stay and talk with theScarecrow and Tik-tok and the Wizard and Tin Woodman, whom he declaredthe queerest people he had ever met. Button-Bright was glad the CandyMan stayed in the Throne-room, because the boy thought this guestsmelled deliciously of wintergreen and maple sugar.

  The Braided Man now entered the room, having been fortunate enough toreceive an invitation to the Princess Ozma's party. He was from a cavehalfway between the Invisible Valley and the Country of the Gargoyles,and his hair and whiskers were so long that he was obliged to plait theminto many braids that hung to his feet, and every braid was tied with abow of colored ribbon.

  "I've brought Princess Ozma a box of flutters for her birthday," saidthe Braided Man, earnestly; "and I hope she will like them, for they arethe finest quality I have ever made."

  "I'm sure she will be greatly pleased," said Dorothy, who rememberedthe Braided Man well; and the Wizard introduced the guest to the rest ofthe company and made him sit down in a chair and keep quiet, for, ifallowed, he would talk continually about his flutters.

  The band then played a welcome to another set of guests, and into theThrone-Room swept the handsome and stately Queen of Ev. Beside her wasyoung King Evardo, and following them came the entire royal family offive Princesses and four Princes of Ev. The Kingdom of Ev lay justacross the Deadly Desert to the North of Oz, and once Ozma and herpeople had rescued the Queen of Ev and her ten children from the NomeKing, who had enslaved them. Dorothy had been present on this adventure,so she greeted the royal family cordially; and all the visitors weredelighted to meet the little Kansas girl again. They knew Tik-tok andBillina, too, and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as the Lion andTiger; so there was a joyful reunion, as you may imagine, and it wasfully an hour before the Queen and her train retired to their rooms.Perhaps they would not have gone then had not the band begun to play toannounce new arrivals; but before they left the great Throne-Room KingEvardo added to Ozma's birthday presents a diadem of diamonds set inradium.

  The next comer proved to be King Renard of Foxville; or King Dox, as hepreferred to be called. He was magnificently dressed in a new feathercostume and wore white kid mittens over his paws and a flower in hisbut
ton-hole and had his hair parted in the middle.

  King Dox thanked Dorothy fervently for getting him the invitation tocome to Oz, which he had all his life longed to visit. He struttedaround rather absurdly as he was introduced to all the famous peopleassembled in the Throne-Room, and when he learned that Dorothy was aPrincess of Oz the Fox King insisted on kneeling at her feet andafterward retired backward--a dangerous thing to do, as he might havestubbed his paw and tumbled over.

  No sooner was he gone than the blasts of bugles and clatter of drums andcymbals announced important visitors, and the High Chamberlain assumedhis most dignified tone as he threw open the door and said proudly:

  "Her Sublime and Resplendent Majesty, Queen Zixi of Ix! His Serene andTremendous Majesty, King Bud of Noland. Her Royal Highness, the PrincessFluff."

  HER MAJESTY, QUEEN ZIXI OF IX]

  That three such high and mighty royal personages should arrive at oncewas enough to make Dorothy and her companions grow solemn and assumetheir best company manners; but when the exquisite beauty of Queen Ziximet their eyes they thought they had never beheld anything so charming.Dorothy decided that Zixi must be about sixteen years old, but theWizard whispered to her that this wonderful queen had lived thousandsof years, but knew the secret of remaining always fresh and beautiful.

  King Bud of Noland and his dainty fair-haired sister, the PrincessFluff, were friends of Zixi, as their kingdoms were adjoining, so theyhad traveled together from their far-off domains to do honor to Ozma ofOz on the occasion of her birthday. They brought many splendid gifts; sothe table was now fairly loaded down with presents.

  Dorothy and Polly loved the Princess Fluff the moment they saw her, andlittle King Bud was so frank and boyish that Button-Bright accepted himas a chum at once and did not want him to go away. But it was after noonnow, and the royal guests must prepare their toilets for the grandbanquet at which they were to assemble that evening to meet the reigningPrincess of this Fairyland; so Queen Zixi was shown to her room by atroop of maidens led by Jellia Jamb, and Bud and Fluff presentlywithdrew to their own apartments.

  "My! what a big party Ozma is going to have," exclaimed Dorothy. "Iguess the palace will be chock full, Button-Bright; don't you think so?"

  "Don't know," said the boy.

  "But we must go to our rooms, pretty soon, to dress for the banquet,"continued the girl.

  "I don't have to dress," said the Candy Man from Merryland. "All I needdo is to dust myself with fresh sugar."

  "Tik-tok and I always wear the same suits of clothes," said the TinWoodman; "and so does our friend the Scarecrow."

  "My feathers are good enough for any occasion," cried Billina, from hercorner.

  "Then I shall leave you four to welcome any new guests that come," saidDorothy; "for Button-Bright and I must look our very best at Ozma'sbanquet."

  "Who is still to come?" asked the Scarecrow.

  "Well, there's King Kika-bray of Dunkiton, and Johnny Dooit, and theGood Witch of the North. But Johnny Dooit may not get here until late,he's so very busy."

  "We will receive them and give them a proper welcome," promised theScarecrow. "So run along, little Dorothy, and get yourself dressed."