The Patchwork Girl of Oz Read online

  THE PATCHWORK GIRL

  CHAP. THREE

  Ojo examined this curious contrivance with wonder. The Patchwork Girlwas taller than he, when she stood upright, and her body was plump androunded because it had been so neatly stuffed with cotton. Margolottehad first made the girl's form from the patchwork quilt and then she haddressed it with a patchwork skirt and an apron with pockets in it--usingthe same gay material throughout. Upon the feet she had sewn a pair ofred leather shoes with pointed toes. All the fingers and thumbs of thegirl's hands had been carefully formed and stuffed and stitched at theedges, with gold plates at the ends to serve as finger-nails.

  "She will have to work, when she comes to life," said Margolotte.

  The head of the Patchwork Girl was the most curious part of her. Whileshe waited for her husband to finish making his Powder of Life the womanhad found ample time to complete the head as her fancy dictated, and sherealized that a good servant's head must be properly constructed. Thehair was of brown yarn and hung down on her neck in several neat braids.Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons cut from a pair of theMagician's old trousers, and they were sewed on with black threads,which formed the pupils of the eyes. Margolotte had puzzled over theears for some time, for these were important if the servant was to heardistinctly, but finally she had made them out of thin plates of gold andattached them in place by means of stitches through tiny holes bored inthe metal. Gold is the most common metal in the Land of Oz and is usedfor many purposes because it is soft and pliable.

  The woman had cut a slit for the Patchwork Girl's mouth and sewn tworows of white pearls in it for teeth, using a strip of scarlet plush fora tongue. This mouth Ojo considered very artistic and lifelike, andMargolotte was pleased when the boy praised it. There were almost toomany patches on the face of the girl for her to be considered strictlybeautiful, for one cheek was yellow and the other red, her chin blue,her forehead purple and the center, where her nose had been formed andpadded, a bright yellow.

  "You ought to have had her face all pink," suggested the boy.

  "I suppose so; but I had no pink cloth," replied the woman. "Still, Icannot see as it matters much, for I wish my Patchwork Girl to be usefulrather than ornamental. If I get tired looking at her patched face I canwhitewash it."

  "Has she any brains?" asked Ojo.

  "No; I forgot all about the brains!" exclaimed the woman. "I am glad youreminded me of them, for it is not too late to supply them, by anymeans. Until she is brought to life I can do anything I please with thisgirl. But I must be careful not to give her too much brains, and thoseshe has must be such as are fitted to the station she is to occupy inlife. In other words, her brains mustn't be very good."

  "Wrong," said Unc Nunkie.

  "No; I am sure I am right about that," returned the woman.

  "He means," explained Ojo, "that unless your servant has good brains shewon't know how to obey you properly, nor do the things you ask her todo."

  "Well, that maybe true," agreed Margolotte; "but, on the contrary, aservant with too much brains is sure to become independent andhigh-and-mighty and feel above her work. This is a very delicate task,as I said, and I must take care to give the girl just the right quantityof the right sort of brains. I want her to know just enough, but not toomuch."

  With this she went to another cupboard which was filled with shelves.All the shelves were lined with blue glass bottles, neatly labeled bythe Magician to show what they contained. One whole shelf was marked:"Brain Furniture," and the bottles on this shelf were labeled asfollows: "Obedience," "Cleverness," "Judgment," "Courage," "Ingenuity,""Amiability," "Learning," "Truth," "Poesy," "Self Reliance."

  "Let me see," said Margolotte; "of those qualities she must have'Obedience' first of all," and she took down the bottle bearing thatlabel and poured from it upon a dish several grains of the contents."'Amiability' is also good and 'Truth.'" She poured into the dish aquantity from each of these bottles. "I think that will do," shecontinued, "for the other qualities are not needed in a servant."

  Unc Nunkie, who with Ojo stood beside her, touched the bottle marked"Cleverness."

  "Little," said he.

  "A little 'Cleverness'? Well, perhaps you are right, sir," said she, andwas about to take down the bottle when the Crooked Magician suddenlycalled to her excitedly from the fireplace.

  "Quick, Margolotte! Come and help me."

  She ran to her husband's side at once and helped him lift the fourkettles from the fire. Their contents had all boiled away, leaving inthe bottom of each kettle a few grains of fine white powder. Verycarefully the Magician removed this powder, placing it all together in agolden dish, where he mixed it with a golden spoon. When the mixture wascomplete there was scarcely a handful, all told.

  "That," said Dr. Pipt, in a pleased and triumphant tone, "is thewonderful Powder of Life, which I alone in the world know how to make.It has taken me nearly six years to prepare these precious grains ofdust, but the little heap on that dish is worth the price of a kingdomand many a king would give all he has to possess it. When it has becomecooled I will place it in a small bottle; but meantime I must watch itcarefully, lest a gust of wind blow it away or scatter it."

  Unc Nunkie, Margolotte and the Magician all stood looking at themarvelous Powder, but Ojo was more interested just then in the PatchworkGirl's brains. Thinking it both unfair and unkind to deprive her of anygood qualities that were handy, the boy took down every bottle on theshelf and poured some of the contents in Margolotte's dish. No one sawhim do this, for all were looking at the Powder of Life; but soon thewoman remembered what she had been doing, and came back to the cupboard.

  "Let's see," she remarked; "I was about to give my girl a little'Cleverness,' which is the Doctor's substitute for 'Intelligence'--aquality he has not yet learned how to manufacture." Taking down thebottle of "Cleverness" she added some of the powder to the heap on thedish. Ojo became a bit uneasy at this, for he had already put quite alot of the "Cleverness" powder in the dish; but he dared not interfereand so he comforted himself with the thought that one cannot have toomuch cleverness.

  Margolotte now carried the dish of brains to the bench. Ripping the seamof the patch on the girl's forehead, she placed the powder within thehead and then sewed up the seam as neatly and securely as before.

  "My girl is all ready for your Powder of Life, my dear," she said to herhusband. But the Magician replied:

  "This powder must not be used before to-morrow morning; but I think itis now cool enough to be bottled."

  He selected a small gold bottle with a pepper-box top, so that thepowder might be sprinkled on any object through the small holes. Verycarefully he placed the Powder of Life in the gold bottle and thenlocked it up in a drawer of his cabinet.

  "At last," said he, rubbing his hands together gleefully, "I have ampleleisure for a good talk with my old friend Unc Nunkie. So let us sitdown cosily and enjoy ourselves. After stirring those four kettles forsix years I am glad to have a little rest."

  "You will have to do most of the talking," said Ojo, "for Unc is calledthe Silent One and uses few words."

  "I know; but that renders your uncle a most agreeable companion andgossip," declared Dr. Pipt. "Most people talk too much, so it is arelief to find one who talks too little."

  Ojo looked at the Magician with much awe and curiosity.

  "Don't you find it very annoying to be so crooked?" he asked.

  "No; I am quite proud of my person," was the reply. "I suppose I am theonly Crooked Magician in all the world. Some others are accused of beingcrooked, but I am the only genuine."

  He was really very crooked and Ojo wondered how he managed to do so manythings with such a twisted body. When he sat down upon a crooked chairthat had been made to fit him, one knee was under his chin and the othernear the small of his back; but he was a cheerful man and his face borea pleasant and agreeable expression.

  "I am not allowed to perform magic, except for my own amusement," hetold his visitors, as he ligh
ted a pipe with a crooked stem and began tosmoke. "Too many people were working magic in the Land of Oz, and so ourlovely Princess Ozma put a stop to it. I think she was quite right.There were several wicked Witches who caused a lot of trouble; but nowthey are all out of business and only the great Sorceress, Glinda theGood, is permitted to practice her arts, which never harm anybody. TheWizard of Oz, who used to be a humbug and knew no magic at all, has beentaking lessons of Glinda, and I'm told he is getting to be a pretty goodWizard; but he is merely the assistant of the great Sorceress. I've theright to make a servant girl for my wife, you know, or a Glass Cat tocatch our mice--which she refuses to do--but I am forbidden to workmagic for others, or to use it as a profession."

  "Magic must be a very interesting study," said Ojo.

  "It truly is," asserted the Magician. "In my time I've performed somemagical feats that were worthy the skill of Glinda the Good. Forinstance, there's the Powder of Life, and my Liquid of Petrifaction,which is contained in that bottle on the shelf yonder--over the window."

  "What does the Liquid of Petrifaction do?" inquired the boy.

  "Turns everything it touches to solid marble. It's an invention of myown, and I find it very useful. Once two of those dreadful Kalidahs,with bodies like bears and heads like tigers, came here from the forestto attack us; but I sprinkled some of that Liquid on them and instantlythey turned to marble. I now use them as ornamental statuary in mygarden. This table looks to you like wood, and once it really was wood;but I sprinkled a few drops of the Liquid of Petrifaction on it and nowit is marble. It will never break nor wear out."

  "Fine!" said Unc Nunkie, wagging his head and stroking his long graybeard.

  "Dear me; what a chatterbox you're getting to be, Unc," remarked theMagician, who was pleased with the compliment. But just then there camea scratching at the back door and a shrill voice cried:

  "Let me in! Hurry up, can't you? Let me in!"

  Margolotte got up and went to the door.

  "Ask like a good cat, then," she said.

  "Mee-ee-ow-w-w! There; does that suit your royal highness?" asked thevoice, in scornful accents.

  "Yes; that's proper cat talk," declared the woman, and opened the door.

  At once a cat entered, came to the center of the room and stopped shortat the sight of strangers. Ojo and Unc Nunkie both stared at it withwide open eyes, for surely no such curious creature had ever existedbefore--even in the Land of Oz.