The Royal Book of Oz Page 4

  CHAPTER 4

  DOROTHY'S LONELY BREAKFAST

  Dorothy, who occupied one of the coziest apartments in Ozma's palace,wakened the morning after the party with a feeling of greatuneasiness. At breakfast, the Scarecrow was missing. Although he, theTin Woodman and Scraps did not require food, they always livened upthe table with their conversation. Ordinarily Dorothy would havethought nothing of the Scarecrow's absence, but she could not forgethis distressed expression when Professor Wogglebug had so rudelyremarked on his family tree. The Professor himself had left beforebreakfast, and everybody but Dorothy had forgotten all about theRoyal Book of Oz.

  Already many of Ozma's guests who did not live in the palace werepreparing to depart, but Dorothy could not get over her feeling ofuneasiness. The Scarecrow was her very best friend, and it was notlike him to go without saying goodbye. So she hunted through thegardens and in every room of the palace and questioned all theservants. Unfortunately, Jellia Jamb, who was the only one who hadseen the Scarecrow go, was with her mistress. Ozma always breakfastedalone and spent the morning over state matters. Knowing how busy shewas, Dorothy did not like to disturb her. Betsy Bobbin and Trot, reallittle girls like Dorothy, also lived in the Fairy palace, and Ozmawas a great chum for them. But the Kingdom of Oz had to be governedin between times, and they all knew that unless Ozma had the morningsto herself, she could not play with them in the afternoons. SoDorothy searched by herself.

  "Perhaps I didn't look hard enough," thought the little girl, andsearched the palace all over again.

  "Don't worry," advised the Tin Woodman, who was playing checkers withScraps. "He's probably gone home."

  "He is a man of brains; why worry Because he's left us in a hurry?"

  chuckled Scraps with a careless wave of her hand, and Dorothy,laughing in spite of herself, ran out to have another look in thegarden.

  "That is just what he has done, and if I hurry, I may overtake him.Anyway, I believe I'll go and pay him a visit," thought Dorothy.

  Trot and Betsy Bobbin were swinging in one of the royal hammocks, andwhen Dorothy invited them to go along, they explained that they weregoing on a picnic with the Tin Woodman. So without waiting to askanyone else or even whistling for Toto, her little dog, Dorothyskipped out of the garden.

  The Cowardly Lion, half asleep under a rose bush, caught a glimpse ofher blue dress flashing by, and bounding to his feet thudded afterher.

  "Where are you going?" he asked, stifling a giant yawn.

  "To visit the Scarecrow," explained Dorothy. "He looked so unhappylast night. I am afraid he is worrying about his family tree, and Ithought p'raps I could cheer him up."

  The Cowardly Lion stretched luxuriously. "I'll go too," he rumbled,giving himself a shake. "But it's the first time I ever heard of theScarecrow worrying."

  "But you see," Dorothy said gently, "Professor Wogglebug told him hehad no family."

  "Family! Family fiddlesticks! Hasn't he got us?" The Cowardly Lionstopped and waved his tail indignantly.

  "Why, you dear old thing!" Dorothy threw her arms around his neck."You've given me a lovely idea!" The Cowardly Lion tried not to lookpleased.

  "Well, as long as I've given it to you, you might tell me what itis," he suggested mildly.

  "Why," said Dorothy, skipping along happily, "we'll let him adopt usand be his really relations. I'll be his sister, and you'll be--"

  "His cousin--that is, if you think he wouldn't mind having a greatcoward like me for a cousin," finished the Cowardly Lion in ananxious voice.

  "Do you still feel as cowardly as ever?" asked Dorothysympathetically.

  "More so!" sighed the great beast, glancing apprehensively over hisshoulder. This made Dorothy laugh, for although the lion trembledlike a cup custard at the approach of danger, he always managed tofight with great valor, and the little girl felt safer with him thanwith the whole army of Oz, who never were frightened but who alwaysran away.

  Now anyone who is at all familiar with his geozify knows that theFairyland of Oz is divided into four parts, exactly like a parchesiboard, with the Emerald City in the very center, the purple GillikinCountry to the north, the red Quadling Country to the south, the blueMunchkin Country to the east, and the yellow Country of the Winkiesto the west. It was toward the west that Dorothy and the CowardlyLion turned their steps, for it was in the Winkie Country that theScarecrow had built his gorgeous golden tower in exactly the shape ofa huge ear of corn.

  Dorothy ran along beside the Cowardly Lion, chatting over their manyadventures in Oz, and stopping now and then to pick buttercups anddaisies that dotted the roadside. She tied a big bunch to the tip ofher friend's tail and twined some more in his mane, so that hepresented a very festive appearance indeed. Then, when she grewtired, she climbed on his big back, and swiftly they jogged throughthe pleasant land of the Winkies. The people waved to them fromwindows and fields, for everyone loved little Dorothy and the biglion, and as they passed a neat yellow cottage, a little Winkie Ladycame running down the path with a cup of tea in one hand and a bucketin the other.

  "I saw you coming and thought you might be thirsty," she calledhospitably. Dorothy drank her cup without alighting.

  "We're in an awful hurry; we're visiting the Scarecrow," sheexclaimed apologetically. The lion drank his bucket of tea at onegulp. It was so hot that it made his eyes water.

  "How I loathe tea! If I hadn't been such a coward, I'd have upset thebucket," groaned the lion as the little Winkie Lady went back intoher house. "But no, I was afraid of hurting her feelings. Ugh, what aterrible thing it is to be a coward!"

  "Nonsense!" said Dorothy, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief."You're not a coward, you're just polite. But let's run very fast sowe can reach the Scarecrow's in time for lunch."

  So like the wind away raced the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy holding fastto his mane, with her curls blowing straight out behind, and inexactly two Oz hours and seventeen Winkie minutes they came to thedazzling corn-ear residence of their old friend. Hurrying through thecornfields that surrounded his singular mansion, Dorothy and theCowardly Lion rushed through the open door.

  "We've come for lunch," announced Dorothy.

  "And I'm hungry enough to eat crow," rumbled the lion. Then bothstopped in dismay, for the big reception room was empty. From a roomabove came a shuffling of feet, and Blink, the Scarecrow'sgentlemanly housekeeper, came running down the stairs.

  "Where's the Scarecrow?" asked Dorothy anxiously. "Isn't he here?"

  "Here! Isn't he there? Isn't he in the Emerald City?" gasped thelittle Winkie, putting his specs on upside down.

  "No--at least, I don't think so. Oh, dear, I just felt that somethinghad happened to him!" wailed Dorothy, sinking into an ebony armchairand fanning herself with a silk sofa cushion.

  "Now don't be alarmed." The Cowardly Lion rushed to Dorothy's sideand knocked three vases and a clock off a little table, just to showhow calm he was. "Think of his brains! The Scarecrow has never cometo harm yet, and all we have to do is to return to the Emerald Cityand look in Ozma's Magic Picture. Then, when we know where he is, wecan go and find him and tell him about our little adoption plan," headded, looking hopefully at Dorothy.

  "The Scarecrow himself couldn't have spoken more sensibly," observedBlink with a great sigh of relief, and even Dorothy felt better.

  In Ozma's palace, as many of you know, there is a Magic Picture, andwhen Ozma or Dorothy want to see any of their friends, they havemerely to wish to see them, and instantly the picture shows theperson wished for and exactly what he is doing at that certain time.

  "Of course!" sighed Dorothy. "Why didn't I think of it myself?"

  "Better have some lunch before you start back," suggested Blink, andbustling about had soon set out an appetizing repast. Dorothy was toobusy worrying about the Scarecrow to have much appetite, but theCowardly Lion swallowed seventeen roasts and a bucket of corn syrup.

  "To give me courage!" he explained to Dorothy, licking his chops."There's nothing that
makes me so cowardly as an empty stomach!"

  It was quite late in the afternoon before they could get away. Blinkinsisted on putting up a lunch, and it took some time to make enoughsandwiches for the Cowardly Lion. But at last it was ready and packedinto an old hat box belonging to Mops, the Scarecrow's cook. ThenDorothy, balancing the box carefully on her lap, climbed on theCowardly Lion's back, and assuring Blink that they would return in afew days with his master, they bade him farewell. Blink almostspoiled things by bursting into tears, but he managed to restrainhimself long enough to say goodbye, and Dorothy and the CowardlyLion, feeling a little solemn themselves, started toward the EmeraldCity.

  "My, but it's growing dark," said Dorothy after they had gone severalmiles. "I believe it's going to storm."

  Scarcely had she finished speaking before there was a terrific crashof thunder. The Cowardly Lion promptly sat down. Off of his backbounced the sandwich box and into the sandwich box rolled Dorothy,head first.

  "How terribly upsetting," coughed the Cowardly Lion.

  "I should say it was!" Dorothy crawled indignantly out of the hat boxand began wiping the butter from her nose. "You've simply ruined thesupper!"

  "It was my heart," explained the Cowardly Lion sorrowfully. "Itjumped so hard that it upset me, but climb on my back again, and I'llrun very fast to some place of shelter."

  "But where are you?" Dorothy asked in real alarm, for it had grownabsolutely dark.

  "Here," quavered the Cowardly Lion, and guided by his voice, Dorothystumbled over to him and climbed again on his back. One crash ofthunder followed another, and at each crash the Cowardly Lion leaptforward a bit faster until they fairly flew through the dark.

  "It won't take us long to reach the Emerald City at this rate!"called Dorothy, but the wind tossed the words far behind her, andseeing that conversation was impossible, she clung fast to the lion'smane and began thinking about the Scarecrow. The thunder continued atfrequent intervals, but there was no rain, and after they had beenrunning for what seemed to Dorothy hours and hours, a sudden terrificbump sent her flying over the lion's head into a bush. Too breathlessto speak, she felt herself carefully all over. Then, finding that shewas still in one piece, she called to the Cowardly Lion. She couldhear him moaning and muttering about his heart.

  "Any bones broken?" she asked anxiously.

  "Only my head," groaned the lion dismally. Just then the darknesslifted as suddenly as it had fallen, and Dorothy saw him leaningagainst a tree with his eyes closed. There was a big bump on hishead. With a little cry of sympathy, Dorothy hurried toward him, whenall at once something strange about their surroundings struck her.

  "Why, where are we?" cried the little girl, stopping short. Thelion's eyes flew open, and forgetting all about his bump, he lookedaround in dismay. No sign of the Emerald City anywhere. Indeed, theywere in a great, dim forest, and considering the number of trees, itis a wonder that they had not run into one long ago.

  "I must have run the wrong way," faltered the Cowardly Lion in adistressed voice.

  "You couldn't help that; anyone would lose his way in the dark," saidDorothy generously. "But I wish we hadn't fallen in the sandwiches.I'm hungry!"

  "So am I. Do you think anyone lives in this forest, Dorothy?"

  Dorothy did not answer, for just then she caught sight of a big signnailed to one of the trees.

  "Turn to the right," directed the sign.

  "Oh, come on!" cried Dorothy, cheering up immediately. "I believewe're going to have another adventure."

  "I'd rather have some supper," sighed the Cowardly Lion wistfully,"but unless we want to spend the night here, we might as well movealong. I'm to be fed up on adventure, I suppose."

  "Turn to the left," advised the next sign, and the two turnedobediently and hurried on, trying to keep a straight course throughthe trees. In a Fairyland like Oz, where there are no trains ortrolleys or even horses for traveling ('cepting Ozma's sawhorse),there are bound to be unexplored portions. And though Dorothy hadbeen at one time or another in almost every part of Oz, the countrythrough which they were now passing was totally unfamiliar to her.Night was coming on, and it was growing so dark that she could hardlyread the third sign when they presently came upon it.

  "Don't sing," directed the sign sternly.

  "Sing!" snapped Dorothy indignantly, "Who wants to sing?"

  "We might as well keep to the left," said the Cowardly Lion in aresigned voice, and they walked along for some time in silence. Thetrees were thinning out, and as they came to the edge of the forest,another sign confronted them.

  "Slow down," read Dorothy with great difficulty. "What nonsense! Ifwe slow down, how shall we ever get anywhere?"

  "Wait a minute," mused the Cowardly Lion, half closing his eyes."Aren't there two roads just ahead, one going up and one going down?We're to take the down road, I suppose. 'Slow down,' isn't that whatit says?"

  Slow down it surely was, for the road was so steep and full of stonesthat Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion had to pick their way with utmostcare. But even bad roads must end somewhere, and coming suddenly tothe edge of the woods, they saw a great city lying just below. A dimlight burned over the main gate, and toward this the Cowardly Lionand Dorothy hurried as fast as they could. This was not very fast,for an unaccountable drowsiness was stealing over them.

  Slowly and more slowly, the tired little girl and her greatfour-footed companion advanced toward the dimly lighted gate. They wereso drowsy that they had ceased to talk. But they dragged on.

  "Hah, hoh, hum!" yawned the Cowardly Lion. "What makes my feet soheavy?"

  He stopped short and examined each of his four feet sleepily.

  Dorothy swallowed a yawn and tried to run, but a walk was all shecould manage.

  "Hah, hoh, hum!" she gaped, stumbling along with her eyes closed.

  By the time they had reached the gate, they were yawning so hard thatthe Cowardly Lion had nearly dislocated his jaw, and Dorothy wasperfectly breathless. Holding to the lion's mane to steady herself,Dorothy blinked up uncertainly at the sign over the gate.

  "Hah--here we are--Hoh!" She held her hand wearily before her mouth.

  Then, with a great effort, she read the words of the sign.

  "Um--Great--Grand and Mighty Slow Kingdom of Pokes! Uh-hah--Pokes! Doyou hear? Hah, hoh, hu, uum!"

  Dorothy looked about in alarm, despite her sleepiness.

  "Do you hear?" she repeated anxiously as no answer came through thegloom.

  The Cowardly Lion did not hear. He had fallen down and was fastasleep, and so in another minute was Dorothy, her head pillowedagainst his kind, comfortable, cowardly heart. Fast asleep at thegates of a strange gray city!