Ozma of Oz Page 8

  Ozma of Oz to the Rescue

  Nanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper and she slept upona hard stone couch with a single pillow and a silken coverlet.

  In the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the towerto see if there was any way to escape. The room was not so very high up,when compared with our modern buildings, but it was far enough above thetrees and farm houses to give her a good view of the surroundingcountry.

  To the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the oceanbeyond that. There was even a dark speck upon the shore that shethought might be the chicken-coop in which she had arrived at thissingular country.

  Then she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley lyingbetween two rocky mountains, and a third mountain that shut off thevalley at the further end.

  Westward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from thepalace, and the girl could see miles and miles of sandy desert thatstretched further than her eyes could reach. It was this desert, shethought, with much interest, that alone separated her from the wonderfulLand of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that she had been told no onehad ever been able to cross this dangerous waste but herself. Once acyclone had carried her across it, and a magical pair of silver shoeshad carried her back again. But now she had neither a cyclone nor silvershoes to assist her, and her condition was sad indeed. For she hadbecome the prisoner of a disagreeable princess who insisted that shemust exchange her head for another one that she was not used to, andwhich might not fit her at all.

  Really, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old friends in theLand of Oz. Thoughtfully she gazed from her narrow window. On all thedesert not a living thing was stirring.

  Wait, though! Something surely _was_ stirring on the desert--somethingher eyes had not observed at first. Now it seemed like a cloud; now itseemed like a spot of silver; now it seemed to be a mass of rainbowcolors that moved swiftly toward her.

  What _could_ it be, she wondered?

  Then, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the visiondrew near enough to Dorothy to make out what it was.

  A broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, whileadvancing across the carpet was a wonderful procession that made thegirl open her eyes in amazement as she gazed.

  First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion and animmense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted along asgracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses. And standingupright within the chariot was a beautiful girl clothed in flowing robesof silver gauze and wearing a jeweled diadem upon her dainty head. Sheheld in one hand the satin ribbons that guided her astonishing team, andin the other an ivory wand that separated at the top into two prongs,the prongs being tipped by the letters "O" and "Z", made of glisteningdiamonds set closely together.

  The girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself, and atonce the prisoner in the tower guessed, that the lovely driver of thechariot must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so lately heard fromTiktok.

  Following close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend theScarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden Saw-Horse, which pranced andtrotted as naturally as any meat horse could have done.

  And then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his funnel-shaped captipped carelessly over his left ear, his gleaming axe over his rightshoulder, and his whole body sparkling as brightly as it had ever donein the old days when first she knew him.

  The Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company oftwenty-seven soldiers, of whom some were lean and some fat, some shortand some tall; but all the twenty-seven were dressed in handsomeuniforms of various designs and colors, no two being alike in anyrespect.

  Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so thatthere was always just enough of it for the procession to walk upon, inorder that their feet might not come in contact with the deadly,life-destroying sands of the desert.

  THE MAGIC CARPET]

  Dorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her heartbeat high with hope and joy as she realized she was soon to be rescuedand allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of Oz--the Scarecrow,the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.

  Indeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as sherecognized those in the procession, for she well knew the courage andloyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others who camefrom their marvelous country would prove to be pleasant and reliableacquaintances.

  As soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the procession,from the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the last soldier, had reached thegrassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet rolled itselftogether and entirely disappeared.

  Then the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad roadwayleading up to the palace, and the others followed, while Dorothy stillgazed from her tower window in eager excitement.

  They came quite close to the front door of the palace and then halted,the Scarecrow dismounting from his Saw-Horse to approach the signfastened to the door, that he might read what it said.

  Dorothy, just above him, could keep silent no longer.

  "Here I am!" she shouted, as loudly as she could. "Here's Dorothy!"

  "Dorothy who?" asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head to look upwarduntil he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over backward.

  "Dorothy Gale, of course. Your friend from Kansas," she answered.

  "Why, hello, Dorothy!" said the Scarecrow. "What in the world are youdoing up there?"

  "Nothing," she called down, "because there's nothing to do. Save me, myfriend--save me!"

  "You seem to be quite safe now," replied the Scarecrow.

  "But I'm a prisoner. I'm locked in, so that I can't get out," shepleaded.

  "That's all right," said the Scarecrow. "You might be worse off, littleDorothy. Just consider the matter. You can't get drowned, or be run overby a Wheeler, or fall out of an apple-tree. Some folks would think theywere lucky to be up there."

  "Well, I don't," declared the girl, "and I want to get down immed'i'tlyand see you and the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion."

  "Very well," said the Scarecrow, nodding. "It shall be just as you say,little friend. Who locked you up?"

  "The princess Langwidere, who is a horrid creature," she answered.

  At this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the conversation,called to Dorothy from her chariot, asking:

  "Why did the Princess lock you up, my dear?"

  "Because," exclaimed Dorothy, "I wouldn't let her have my head for hercollection, and take an old, cast-off head in exchange for it."

  "SAVE ME, MY FRIEND--SAVE ME!"]

  "I do not blame you," exclaimed Ozma, promptly. "I will see the Princessat once, and oblige her to liberate you."

  "Oh, thank you very, very much!" cried Dorothy, who as soon as she heardthe sweet voice of the girlish Ruler of Oz knew that she would soonlearn to love her dearly.

  Ozma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing, uponwhich the Tin Woodman boldly proceeded to knock.

  As soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand her ivorywand, stepped into the hall and made her way at once to thedrawing-room, followed by all her company, except the Lion, and theTiger. And the twenty-seven soldiers made such a noise and a clatterthat the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to her mistress, whereuponthe Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger by this rude invasion ofher palace, came running into the drawing room without any assistancewhatever.

  There she stood before the slight and delicate form of the little girlfrom Oz and cried out;--

  "How dare you enter my palace unbidden? Leave this room at once, or Iwill bind you and all your people in chains, and throw you into mydarkest dungeons!"

  "What a dangerous lady!" murmured the Scarecrow, in a soft voice.

  "She seems a little nervous," replied the Tin Woodman.

  But Ozma only smiled at the angry Princess.
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  "Sit down, please," she said, quietly. "I have traveled a long way tosee you, and you must listen to what I have to say."

  "Must!" screamed the Princess, her black eyes flashing with fury--forshe still wore her No. 17 head. "Must, to _me_!"

  "To be sure," said Ozma. "I am Ruler of the Land of Oz, and I ampowerful enough to destroy all your kingdom, if I so wish. Yet I did notcome here to do harm, but rather to free the royal family of Ev from thethrall of the Noma King, the news having reached me that he is holdingthe Queen and her children prisoners."

  Hearing these words, Langwidere suddenly became quiet.

  "I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal children,"said she, eagerly. "For if they were restored to their proper forms andstation they could rule the Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that wouldsave me a lot of worry and trouble. At present there are at least tenminutes every day that I must devote to affairs of state, and I wouldlike to be able to spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful heads."

  "Then we will presently discuss this matter," said Ozma, "and try tofind a way to liberate your aunt and cousins. But first you mustliberate another prisoner--the little girl you have locked up in yourtower."

  "WHAT A DANGEROUS LADY!" MURMURED THE SCARECROW]

  "Of course," said Langwidere, readily. "I had forgotten all about her.That was yesterday, you know, and a Princess cannot be expected toremember today what she did yesterday. Come with me, and I will releasethe prisoner at once."

  So Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to the roomin the tower.

  While they were gone Ozma's followers remained in the drawing-room, andthe Scarecrow was leaning against a form that he had mistaken for acopper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said suddenly in his ear:

  "Get off my foot, please. You are scratch-ing my pol-ish."

  "Oh, excuse me!" he replied, hastily drawing back. "Are you alive?"

  "No," said Tiktok, "I am on-ly a ma-chine. But I can think and speak andact, when I am pro-per-ly wound up. Just now my ac-tion is run down, andDor-o-thy has the key to it."

  "That's all right," replied the Scarecrow. "Dorothy will soon be free,and then she'll attend to your works. But it must be a great misfortunenot to be alive. I'm sorry for you."

  "Why?" asked Tiktok.

  "Because you have no brains, as I have," said the Scarecrow.

  "Oh, yes, I have," returned Tiktok. "I am fit-ted with Smith & Tin-ker'sImproved Com-bi-na-tion Steel Brains. They are what make me think. Whatsort of brains are you fit-ted with?"

  "I don't know," admitted the Scarecrow. "They were given to me by thegreat Wizard of Oz, and I didn't get a chance to examine them before heput them in. But they work splendidly and my conscience is very active.Have you a conscience?"

  "No," said Tiktok.

  "And no heart, I suppose?" added the Tin Woodman, who had been listeningwith interest to this conversation.

  "No," said Tiktok.

  "Then," continued the Tin Woodman, "I regret to say that you are greatlyinferior to my friend the Scarecrow, and to myself. For we are bothalive, and he has brains which do not need to be wound up, while I havean excellent heart that is continually beating in my bosom."

  "I con-grat-u-late you," replied Tiktok. "I can-not help be-ing yourin-fer-i-or for I am a mere ma-chine. When I am wound up I do my du-tyby go-ing just as my ma-chin-er-y is made to go. You have no i-de-a howfull of ma-chin-er-y I am."

  "I can guess," said the Scarecrow, looking at the machine man curiously."Some day I'd like to take you apart and see just how you are made."

  "Do not do that, I beg of you," said Tiktok; "for you could not put meto-geth-er a-gain, and my use-ful-ness would be de-stroyed."

  "Oh! are you useful?" asked the Scarecrow, surprised.

  "Ve-ry," said Tiktok.

  "In that case," the Scarecrow kindly promised, "I won't fool with yourinterior at all. For I am a poor mechanic, and might mix you up."

  "Thank you," said Tiktok.

  Just then Ozma re-entered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand andfollowed closely by the Princess Langwidere.