The Hidden Valley of Oz Read online

  So Jam trudged out across the plain, a lonely figure on the vast expanse in that dim morning light.

  He headed away from the rosy glow in the sky that was the forerunner of the sunrise, for he hoped to find help in the land of the Winkies, which lay to the west.

  He had not gone far on the plain when he heard shouts and hoof-beats in the distance. Looking around him, he saw a faint cloud of dust toward the south.

  The cloud grew larger as the sounds of hoofs drew nearer to him, and finally he was able to distinguish the forms of men on horseback, or so it seemed from where he stood.

  "Maybe these people will help me," he said to his friends.

  "And maybe they won't!" Exclaimed Pinny and Gig.

  "Remember what the Gillikens said, "they continued.

  Then Jam did remember that the slaves of Terp the Terrible, had said that they could not escape across the plains because of the dreaded Equinots who lived there. Perhaps the horsemen who were rapidly approaching were none other than those fierce creatures of whom the Gillikens had spoken.

  "What shall we do?" He cried. "How can we escape them?" And he turned first in one direction and then the other. If he went back toward the hidden valley belonging to the giant, he was lost; and if he crossed the plain, the Equinots would get him. He had, however, seen Terp, the Terrible, and knew that he was an enemy to be feared, while all he knew of the Equinots was the tale he had heard from the frightened farmers who toiled in the vineyards for Terp.

  He decided that he would rather risk crossing the plain and meeting the Equinots, than to return to the castle of Terp, the Terrible, and be devoured.

  "We'll run and see if we can escape them," he said to the little guinea pigs, who were cowering in his pockets in terror. So he began racing across the plain as fast as his little legs would carry him, hoping that he might somehow escape the rapidly approaching riders. Soon the thunder of hoofs was behind him and he could hear shouts of, "Stop, stop!" But he dashed on. Suddenly he was jerked from his feet, and thrown to the ground with his arms pinned to his sides by a lasso that had been flung over his head. The Equinots swept up and surrounded the boy.

  Jam struggled to a sitting position and looked at his captors. They were indeed the strangest sight he had ever seen, for they seemed to be part horse and part man, instead of men on horseback as he had thought when he had seen them from a distance. The bodies were horse bodies, but where the neck of the horse should have been, grew a man's body from the waist up. Their arms were powerful and sinewy, and their faces were fierce and cunning. Their hair streamed out behind them like a long mane. Each body was clad in a tight fitting lavender satin jacket with wide lapels of purple velvet and gold buttons down the front. The Equinots wore purple leather gauntlets, and their long hair was bound back with purple cords to keep it out of their eyes. Each horseman carried a coiled lariat like the one binding Jam.

  The creature who had captured Jam seemed to be the leader of the band, for his horse body was larger than the others and was a shiny purple-black. His hair was the same glossy texture as his tail.

  "Ah ha!" He cried. "So you thought that you could trespass upon our domain, oh foolish person," and his followers all gave a loud horselaugh and reared up on their hind legs, prancing close to Jam who feared that they might trample him with their hoofs. "How dare you try to cross our plain?" Continued the leader.

  "We allow no one to walk here except ourselves; and any who dare to defy us are severely punished."

  A shout went up from the band of Equinots. "Punish him! Punish him! Punish the intruder! Make him a slave to wait upon us."

  "An excellent idea," said their leader. "We need some one to keep our bodies glossy and smooth, to make our beds of straw, to comb our hair, and to carry our food to us."

  "But I don't want to be a slave," protested Jam. "I just want to go back to Ohio and never, never leave again."

  "You shall go no place at all except to our stable homes, there to wait upon us as a slave should do,"

  replied the leader. "All prisoners that we capture on the plains become our property, to do with as we wish."

  There was a finality in his tone that frightened Jam. He realized that he had escaped from Terp, the Terrible, only to fall into the clutches of these creatures.

  "What will happen to us?" Moaned Pinny and Gig.

  "Why did you bring us along?", Conveniently forgetting that they had begged to accompany Jam on his journey of exploration. Jam was so distressed, however, that he paid no attention to the pigs but thought and thought trying to figure out some way to escape from the Equinots. He was still bound by the lasso, and the leader of the troop jerked him roughly to his feet by hauling the rope in.

  "Come, slave, we have tarried long enough," said the leader. "Away to our stables!" And he prepared to gallop away in the direction from which he had come.

  "Wait, wait!" Cried Jam. "I can't run as fast as you do. You have four long, sturdy legs, but I have only two short ones."

  "Never fear. I shall carry you," snorted the leader.

  "It is a small price to pay for so fine a prize as you are."

  The leader trotted closer to Jam in order to be able to pick him up, throw him over his back, and gallop away with him. At this moment, however, there was a commotion in the outer ranks of the Equinots, which spread in toward Jam and the leader, who stopped to see what was happening. Suddenly Jam noticed something small and white, darting in and out between the legs of the Equinots, causing them to jump first one way and then the other.

  "It's Percy!" He cried in excitement. "Percy has found us again.

  "We thought we'd lost-"

  -him for good, "sighed Pinny and Gig, who resented the fact that Percy had called them stupid.

  But Jam was glad to see his old friend again.

  "What happened to you?" He asked. "Where have you been?"

  Percy stopped before Jam, laid the muffin on the ground, and gasped for breath, for he had been running for a long time in order to catch up with his friends whom he had deserted when he went back to Terp's castle for one of the magic muffins.

  "I went back for one of the muffins," he said, still breathing with difficulty, his sides moving in and out rapidly with each breath he took.

  "You shouldn't have done that," scolded Jam.

  "Terp might have caught you or the two-headed monster might have eaten you."

  "Might have, but didn't, kiddo," replied Percy.

  Then, noticing for the first time that Jam was bound with the rope, he said, "Hey, what's going on here?

  Who tied you up, kiddo?"

  "I did," said the huge black Equinot. "He is my prisoner and must become my slave and comb my mane and smooth my back with a curry comb, and bring my meals to me."

  "You can't do this to Jam," said Percy hotly.

  "Oh, yes, we can," echoed the Equinots, and Percy realizing that they were surrounded by the queer creatures, saw that Jam would have no choice in the matter.

  "Can't you think of some way to escape?" Pleaded Jam, well remembering that the quick-witted rat had saved them from one dangerous situation. But Percy could think of nothing. With their enemy closely surrounding them, what chance had they to escape by day?

  Just then, Pinny and Gig poked their little heads out of Jam's pockets and said, "Why not eat the magic muffin?" And jerked back into their dark pockets as if afraid that the Equinots might destroy them at once.

  "Good idea," cried Jam. "I wonder what it will do?"

  "There's only one way to find out, kiddo," replied Percy, and he nibbled off a bit of the muffin, sat up and holding it in his paws, rapidly ate it before the Equinots could stop him.

  Chapter 8

  The Magic Muffin

  NO sooner had Percy swallowed a bite of the magic muffin than a most amazing thing happened. He began to grow. He grew bigger and bigger and bigger, while Jam watched in amazement and the Equinots looked more and more startled. A little white rat is not a very ferocious animal
in appearance, with his cute little red eyes, and his wiggling whiskers, his funny front teeth that he uses for gnawing, and his sharp little claws. But let him grow suddenly to ten times his original size, and he seems very different indeed. And that is exactly what was happening to Percy. The bite of magic muffin that he had devoured had made him grow so rapidly that he shot up in height until he was fully as tall as Jam himself.

  The Equinots were a wild and savage nation, but this sudden display of magic dismayed even their leader. To see a tiny white rat suddenly become a huge, white beast, with long sharp teeth, and long gleaming claws is a fearsome sight indeed, and it frightened the Equinots so that they wheeled sharply and galloped across the plain in confusion. Only the leader held his ground; but when Percy pulled back his lips and showed his long fangs, the leader paled dropped the rope with which he held Jam a prisoner and raced away across the plains in rapid pursuit of his followers. In a few moments, all that remained of the Equinots was a cloud of dust in the distance.

  Jam sighed with great relief and said, "Oh, thank you, Percy, and you too, Pinny and Gig, for rescuing me from those awful Equinots," and he quickly freed himself from the noose which was around his arms.

  "Let us hurry across the plain before those creatures decide to come back and recapture us."

  Percy was walking around, still dazed by this rapid growth.

  "I've never seen anyone leave so fast, "giggled the guinea pigs.

  "As the Equinots when Percy started growing."

  Percy stooped and picked up the remainder of the magic muffin which had had such startling results after he ate it.

  "No wonder old Terp guards his tree," he chuckled.

  "This must be what made him a giant."

  "And he wants to be the only giant there, so that he can rule the hidden valley and make slaves of the poor Gilliken people," continued Jam. "I hope we can find the famous woodman of whom they spoke and ask him to chop down the magic muffin tree and save the people from Terp, the Terrible."

  "Let's take along the rest of the muffin, kiddo,"

  said Percy, and he tucked it into the knapsack, a feat he performed easily as he was now as tall as Jam himself. "We may need it again, before we get to the land of the Winkies."

  The travelers now set out across the plain which Was covered with purple sage. They were so anxious to put Terp, the Terrible, and the Equinots behind them, that before many hours had passed they had reached the low rolling hills on the other side of the flat land.

  Jam was by this time very weary, for he had been up nearly all night and part of the day without any sleep, so, finding a mossy bank under a towering oak tree, he lay down to sleep, putting Pinny and Gig on the ground to run about and find food for themselves.

  Percy decided that he, too, needed some rest after the adventures of the past hours, so he stretched out beside Jam and was soon fast asleep. When Pinny and Gig had satisfied their hunger by nibbling at the tender young blades of grass, they curled up by their friends and took a little nap also.

  The shadows were lengthening when Jam woke from his sleep, feeling rested and refreshed. He tickled the end of Percy's nose to wake him up, and as Percy yawned and stretched, the guinea pigs roused.

  "I wish that we could find some place to spend the night," remarked Jam, for he noticed that the sun was sinking in the west, and he longed for a good supper and a more comfortable bed than the mossy ground. "Let us walk on for a while and see if we can find a house in which we can spend the night."

  "Good idea, kiddo," said Percy. "I'm beginning to get a little hungry myself."

  "We ate some grass," piped Pinny and Gig.

  "Well, I don't think I'd like grass for my supper,"

  replied Jam. "I'd like a good hot meal like my mother always has."

  They trudged along through the trees and soon came to a wide, well-worn path, which ran in the direction they were traveling. Deciding that it would probably lead them to civilization, they hurried along it, for night was rapidly approaching. Soon they came to a clearing and saw a little, purple, dome-shaped house that stood in the midst of a well-cared-for vegetable garden. Smoke rose from the chimney, and as they approached the door, a light appeared in the window.

  Jam walked up to the door and knocked timidly.

  In response to his tapping a kind-faced woman opened the door and asked what he wanted.

  "My friends and I are looking for a place to spend the night, "said Jam." We have traveled a long way and are very tired."

  The woman invited them in after Jam had assured her that Percy was not a dangerous beast. The woman's husband questioned the travelers about their adventures while his good wife prepared a steaming delicious supper for the guests.

  During the meal, Jam told his story to the couple.

  They marveled at the tale of Jam's accidental flight in his kite, the subsequent capture and escape from Terp, the Terrible, and the adventure with the Equinots.

  "The Gilliken slaves told me I might get help, both for them and for myself, in the Land of the Winkies,"

  said Jam. "They said that birds who flew over Hidden Valley had told them tales of a famous woodman who might come and chop down the magic muffin tree and free them from the wicked giant."

  "They must have been referring to the Tin Woodman," said their gracious host.

  "Of course," his wife exclaimed. "He is the most famous woodman in all the Land of Oz, for even in this isolated place we have heard of his marvelous exploits."

  "Who is this Tin Woodman?" Asked Jam, as he took a bite of delicious plum pie. "Do you think that he will help us?"

  "The Tin Woodman," answered the farmer, "is the Emperor of the Winkies, who live in the country adjoining ours. He once was a real man-a wood chopper by trade. But every time he hurt himself chopping wood he was patched up with tin. Finally his whole body was made of this metal."

  "But is he alive?" Asked Percy in amazement.

  "Certainly," replied the good wife to the oversized rodent "That's impossible," declared Jam, "for he would have died when he chopped his body up with his axe."

  "Oh, no," she laughed, "for no one dies in the Land of Oz."

  "No one dies?" Exclaimed the boy. "I never heard of any place like that."

  "This is a fairyland, kiddo," said Percy. "You should know it by now. Where else would I eat a tree-grown muffin that would make me as big as you?"

  "Or where else could we talk?" Shrilled Pinny and Gig from the floor, where the farmer's children were playing gaily with them.

  "I guess that's so," said Jam.

  "You should be able to reach the land of the Winkies by tomorrow evening if you have good luck," said the farmer, "for the border between the land of the Gillikens here in the north and the land of the Winkies to the west is not many hours' journey from here."

  "How will I know when I have reached it?" Inquired Jam.

  "That's easy," replied the friendly woman. "You'll know by the color."

  "The color?"

  "Certainly. Here in the Gilliken country, purple is the favorite color, as you have no doubt noticed. We wear purple clothing, paint our houses and barns and fences purple, and grow lovely purple flowers in our gardens. But the people of the Winkie country like yellow; so when you begin to see yellow flowers and yellow farm houses, you will know that you are nearing your destination."

  Jam was surprised at this color scheme. However when the man explained to him that the Land of Oz was made up of four kingdoms, the Gillikens in the north, the Winkies to the west, the land of the Munchkins to the east, the Quadlings in the southern part, and that each country had its own color, he began to understand how the system worked.

  "The Quadlings are the red country, while the Munchkins, in the east, prefer blue, "said the wife" and in the very center of all the Land of Oz is the Emerald City, where our fair and lovely ruler, Ozma dwells. If the Tin Woodman cannot help you, perhaps he will take you to Ozma, in the glittering capitol of our land, and beg her to do somet
hing for you; for he is a great favorite with our girl ruler, and she would help you for his sake."

  Jam was greatly encouraged by this information and felt that most of his troubles were over.

  After supper, the farmer's wife showed Jam to pleasant little bedroom where he was to spend night. Percy lay down on the round, braided rag rug by the bed, while Jam slipped between the lavender sheets and was soon fast asleep. The farmer's children made a soft bed for Pinny and Gig by placing an old pillow in a box, and soon the weary travelers were sleeping peacefully. Jam dreamed that he had reached the castle of the Tin Woodman, and found him to be made of tin cans; while Percy dreamed of huge rats, ten times his own great size.

  Chapter 9

  Kite Island

  JAM was awakened next morning shortly after daybreak by the smell of bacon frying. He could hear the farmer's wife in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, so he hopped out of bed, washed his face in the clear cool water from the pitcher by his bed dressed quickly, and then woke Percy. After the huge rat had stretched and yawned widely, he said "Well, kiddo, today's the day. We're on the last lap of our journey."

  "Yes," replied Jam. "I do hope that everything turns out as we want it to. What shall I do if this Tin Woodman cannot find a way to send me back to my home?"

  "Don't worry about it is my advice to you," said Percy cheerfully. "This country isn't so bad; so if you can't get home, we'll just live on here. I think that I will, no matter what you do."

  "But my mother and father must be worried about me," wailed Jam. "They'll think that something terrible has happened to me."

  "Now, now, Jam, forget it," said the rat sympathetically. "Come on, let's go down to breakfast You'll feel much better after you've eaten some of that good food that I smell cooking."

  Percy was right, for after an excellent breakfast Jam felt much happier. As he strapped on his knapsack in preparation for the journey, he thanked the Gilliken farmer and his wife for their kind hospitality. The woman, knowing the appetite of small boys had packed a lunch for Jam and gave him cookies and apples, also, to go in his pack.