"THE SCARECROW of OZ\n\n\nby\n\nL. Frank Baum\n\n\n\n\n  Dedicated to\n\n  \"The uplifters\" of Los Angeles, California, in\n  grateful appreciation of the pleasure I have derived\n  from association with them, and in recognition of\n  their sincere endeavor to uplift humanity through\n  kindness, consideration and good-fellowship. They are\n  big men--all of them--and all with the generous\n  hearts of little children.\n\n  L. Frank Baum\n\n\n\n\n\n'TWIXT YOU AND ME\n\nThe Army of Children which besieged the Postoffice, conquered the\nPostmen and delivered to me its imperious Commands, insisted that Trot\nand Cap'n Bill be admitted to the Land of Oz, where Trot could enjoy\nthe society of Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin and Ozma, while the one-legged\nsailor-man might become a comrade of the Tin Woodman, the Shaggy Man,\nTik-Tok and all the other quaint people who inhabit this wonderful\nfairyland.\n\nIt was no easy task to obey this order and land Trot and Cap'n Bill\nsafely in Oz, as you will discover by reading this book. Indeed, it\nrequired the best efforts of our dear old friend, the Scarecrow, to\nsave them from a dreadful fate on the journey; but the story leaves\nthem happily located in Ozma's splendid palace and Dorothy has promised\nme that Button-Bright and the three girls are sure to encounter, in the\nnear future, some marvelous adventures in the Land of Oz, which I hope\nto be permitted to relate to you in the next Oz Book.\n\nMeantime, I am deeply grateful to my little readers for their continued\nenthusiasm over the Oz stories, as evinced in the many letters they\nsend me, all of which are lovingly cherished. It takes more and more Oz\nBooks every year to satisfy the demands of old and new readers, and\nthere have been formed many \"Oz Reading Societies,\" where the Oz Books\nowned by different members are read aloud.  All this is very gratifying\nto me and encourages me to write more stories. When the children have\nhad enough of them, I hope they will let me know, and then I'll try to\nwrite something different.\n\nL. Frank Baum\n  \"Royal Historian of Oz.\"\n    \"OZCOT\"\n      at HOLLYWOOD\n        in CALIFORNIA, 1915.\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF CHAPTERS\n\n   1 - The Great Whirlpool\n   2 - The Cavern Under the Sea\n   3 - The Ork\n   4 - Daylight at Last\n   5 - The Little Old Man of the Island\n   6 - The Flight of the Midgets\n   7 - The Bumpy Man\n   8 - Button-Bright is Lost, and Found Again\n   9 - The Kingdom of Jinxland\n  10 - Pon, the Gardener's Boy\n  11 - The Wicked King and Googly-Goo\n  12 - The Wooden-Legged Grass-Hopper\n  13 - Glinda the Good and the Scarecrow of Oz\n  14 - The Frozen Heart\n  15 - Trot Meets the Scarecrow\n  16 - Pon Summons the King to Surrender\n  17 - The Ork Rescues Button-Bright\n  18 - The Scarecrow Meets an Enemy\n  19 - The Conquest of the Witch\n  20 - Queen Gloria\n  21 - Dorothy, Betsy and Ozma\n  22 - The Waterfall\n  23 - The Land of Oz\n  24 - The Royal Reception\n\n\n\n\nChapter One\n\nThe Great Whirlpool\n\n\n\"Seems to me,\" said Cap'n Bill, as he sat beside Trot under the big\nacacia tree, looking out over the blue ocean, \"seems to me, Trot, as\nhow the more we know, the more we find we don't know.\"\n\n\"I can't quite make that out, Cap'n Bill,\" answered the little girl in\na serious voice, after a moment's thought, during which her eyes\nfollowed those of the old sailor-man across the glassy surface of the\nsea. \"Seems to me that all we learn is jus' so much gained.\"\n\n\"I know; it looks that way at first sight,\" said the sailor, nodding\nhis head; \"but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they\nknow all there is to know, while them as knows the most admits what a\nturr'ble big world this is. It's the knowing ones that realize one\nlifetime ain't long enough to git more'n a few dips o' the oars of\nknowledge.\"\n\nTrot didn't answer. She was a very little girl, with big, solemn eyes\nand an earnest, simple manner. Cap'n Bill had been her faithful\ncompanion for years and had taught her almost everything she knew.\n\nHe was a wonderful man, this Cap'n Bill. Not so very old, although his\nhair was grizzled--what there was of it. Most of his head was bald as\nan egg and as shiny as oilcloth, and this made his big ears stick out\nin a funny way. His eyes had a gentle look and were pale blue in color,\nand his round face was rugged and bronzed. Cap'n Bill's left leg was\nmissing, from the knee down, and that was why the sailor no longer\nsailed the seas. The wooden leg he wore was good enough to stump around\nwith on land, or even to take Trot out for a row or a sail on the\nocean, but when it came to \"runnin' up aloft\" or performing active\nduties on shipboard, the old sailor was not equal to the task. The loss\nof his leg had ruined his career and the old sailor found comfort in\ndevoting himself to the education and companionship of the little girl.\n\nThe accident to Cap'n Bill's leg bad happened at about the time Trot\nwas born, and ever since that he had lived with Trot's mother as \"a\nstar boarder,\" having enough money saved up to pay for his weekly\n\"keep.\"  He loved the baby and often held her on his lap; her first\nride was on Cap'n Bill's shoulders, for she had no baby-carriage; and\nwhen she began to toddle around, the child and the sailor became close\ncomrades and enjoyed many strange adventures together. It is said the\nfairies had been present at Trot's birth and had marked her forehead\nwith their invisible mystic signs, so that she was able to see and do\nmany wonderful things.\n\nThe acacia tree was on top of a high bluff, but a path ran down the\nbank in a zigzag way to the water's edge, where Cap'n Bill's boat was\nmoored to a rock by means of a stout cable. It had been a hot, sultry\nafternoon, with scarcely a breath of air stirring, so Cap'n Bill and\nTrot had been quietly sitting beneath the shade of the tree, waiting\nfor the sun to get low enough for them to take a row.\n\nThey had decided to visit one of the great caves which the waves had\nwashed out of the rocky coast during many years of steady effort. The\ncaves were a source of continual delight to both the girl and the\nsailor, who loved to explore their awesome depths.\n\n\"I b'lieve, Cap'n,\" remarked Trot, at last, \"that it's time for us to\nstart.\"\n\nThe old man cast a shrewd glance at the sky, the sea and the motionless\nboat. Then he shook his head.\n\n\"Mebbe it's time, Trot,\" he answered, \"but I don't jes' like the looks\no' things this afternoon.\"\n\n\"What's wrong?\" she asked wonderingly.\n\n\"Can't say as to that. Things is too quiet to suit me, that's all. No\nbreeze, not a ripple a-top the water, nary a gull a-flyin' anywhere,\nan' the end o' the hottest day o' the year. I ain't no weather-prophet,\nTrot, but any sailor would know the signs is ominous.\"\n\n\"There's nothing wrong that I can see,\" said Trot.\n\n\"If there was a cloud in the sky even as big as my thumb, we might\nworry about it; but--look, Cap'n!--the sky is as clear as can be.\"\n\nHe looked again and nodded.\n\n\"P'r'aps we can make the cave, all right,\" he agreed, not wishing to\ndisappoint her.  \"It's only a little way out, an' we'll be on the\nwatch; so come along, Trot.\"\n\nTogether they descended the winding path to the beach. It was no\ntrouble for the girl to keep her footing on the steep way, but Cap'n\nBill, because of his wooden leg, had to hold on to rocks and roots now\nand then to save himself from tumbling. On a level path he was as spry\nas anyone, but to climb up hill or down required some care.\n\nThey reached the boat safely and while Trot was untying the rope Cap'n\nBill reached into a crevice of the rock and drew out several tallow\ncandles and a box of wax matches, which he thrust into the capacious\npockets of his \"sou'wester.\"  This sou'wester was a short coat of\noilskin which the old sailor wore on all occasions--when he wore a coat\nat all--and the pockets always contained a variety of objects, useful\nand ornamental, which made even Trot wonder where they all came from\nand why Cap'n Bill should treasure them. The jackknives--a big one and\na little one--the bits of cord, the fishhooks, the nails: these were\nhandy to have on certain occasions. But bits of shell, and tin boxes\nwith unknown contents, buttons, pincers, bottles of curious stones and\nthe like, seemed quite unnecessary to carry around. That was Cap'n\nBill's business, however, and now that he added the candles and the\nmatches to his collection Trot made no comment, for she knew these last\nwere to light their way through the caves. The sailor always rowed the\nboat, for he handled the oars with strength and skill. Trot sat in the\nstern and steered. The place where they embarked was a little bight or\ncircular bay, and the boat cut across a much larger bay toward a\ndistant headland where the caves were located, right at the water's\nedge. They were nearly a mile from shore and about halfway across the\nbay when Trot suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed: \"What's that,\nCap'n?\"\n\nHe stopped rowing and turned half around to look.\n\n\"That, Trot,\" he slowly replied, \"looks to me mighty like a whirlpool.\"\n\n\"What makes it, Cap'n?\"\n\n\"A whirl in the air makes the whirl in the water. I was afraid as we'd\nmeet with trouble, Trot. Things didn't look right. The air was too\nstill.\"\n\n\"It's coming closer,\" said the girl.\n\nThe old man grabbed the oars and began rowing with all his strength.\n\n\"'Tain't comin' closer to us, Trot,\" he gasped; \"it's we that are\ncomin' closer to the whirlpool. The thing is drawin' us to it like a\nmagnet!\"\n\nTrot's sun-bronzed face was a little paler as she grasped the tiller\nfirmly and tried to steer the boat away; but she said not a word to\nindicate fear.\n\nThe swirl of the water as they came nearer made a roaring sound that\nwas fearful to listen to. So fierce and powerful was the whirlpool that\nit drew the surface of the sea into the form of a great basin, slanting\ndownward toward the center, where a big hole had been made in the\nocean--a hole with walls of water that were kept in place by the rapid\nwhirling of the air.\n\nThe boat in which Trot and Cap'n Bill were riding was just on the outer\nedge of this saucer-like slant, and the old sailor knew very well that\nunless he could quickly force the little craft away from the rushing\ncurrent they would soon be drawn into the great black hole that yawned\nin the middle. So he exerted all his might and pulled as he had never\npulled before. He pulled so hard that the left oar snapped in two and\nsent Cap'n Bill sprawling upon the bottom of the boat.\n\nHe scrambled up quickly enough and glanced over the side. Then he\nlooked at Trot, who sat quite still, with a serious, far-away look in\nher sweet eyes. The boat was now speeding swiftly of its own accord,\nfollowing the line of the circular basin round and round and gradually\ndrawing nearer to the great hole in the center. Any further effort to\nescape the whirlpool was useless, and realizing this fact Cap'n Bill\nturned toward Trot and put an arm around her, as if to shield her from\nthe awful fate before them.  He did not try to speak, because the roar\nof the waters would have drowned the sound of his voice.\n\nThese two faithful comrades had faced dangers before, but nothing to\nequal that which now faced them. Yet Cap'n Bill, noting the look in\nTrot's eyes and remembering how often she had been protected by unseen\npowers, did not quite give way to despair.\n\nThe great hole in the dark water--now growing nearer and nearer--looked\nvery terrifying; but they were both brave enough to face it and await\nthe result of the adventure.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Two\n\nThe Cavern Under the Sea\n\n\nThe circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the\nboat moved so much more swiftly, that Trot was beginning to get dizzy\nwith the motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived headlong\ninto the murky depths of the hole. Whirling like tops, but still\nclinging together, the sailor and the girl were separated from their\nboat and plunged down--down--down--into the farthermost recesses of the\ngreat ocean.\n\nAt first their fall was swift as an arrow, but presently they seemed to\nbe going more moderately and Trot was almost sure that unseen arms were\nabout her, supporting her and protecting her. She could see nothing,\nbecause the water filled her eyes and blurred her vision, but she clung\nfast to Cap'n Bill's sou'wester, while other arms clung fast to her,\nand so they gradually sank down and down until a full stop was made,\nwhen they began to ascend again.\n\nBut it seemed to Trot that they were not rising straight to the surface\nfrom where they had come. The water was no longer whirling them and\nthey seemed to be drawn in a slanting direction through still, cool\nocean depths. And then--in much quicker time than I have told it--up\nthey popped to the surface and were cast at full length upon a sandy\nbeach, where they lay choking and gasping for breath and wondering what\nhad happened to them.\n\nTrot was the first to recover. Disengaging herself from Cap'n Bill's\nwet embrace and sitting up, she rubbed the water from her eyes and then\nlooked around her.  A soft, bluish-green glow lighted the place, which\nseemed to be a sort of cavern, for above and on either side of her were\nrugged rocks. They had been cast upon a beach of clear sand, which\nslanted upward from the pool of water at their feet--a pool which\ndoubtless led into the big ocean that fed it. Above the reach of the\nwaves of the pool were more rocks, and still more and more, into the\ndim windings and recesses of which the glowing light from the water did\nnot penetrate.\n\nThe place looked grim and lonely, but Trot was thankful that she was\nstill alive and had suffered no severe injury during her trying\nadventure under water. At her side Cap'n Bill was sputtering and\ncoughing, trying to get rid of the water he had swallowed. Both of them\nwere soaked through, yet the cavern was warm and comfortable and a\nwetting did not dismay the little girl in the least.\n\nShe crawled up the slant of sand and gathered in her hand a bunch of\ndried seaweed, with which she mopped the face of Cap'n Bill and cleared\nthe water from his eyes and ears. Presently the old man sat up and\nstared at her intently. Then he nodded his bald head three times and\nsaid in a gurgling voice:\n\n\"Mighty good, Trot; mighty good! We didn't reach Davy Jones's locker\nthat time, did we? Though why we didn't, an' why we're here, is more'n\nI kin make out.\"\n\n\"Take it easy, Cap'n,\" she replied. \"We're safe enough, I guess, at\nleast for the time being.\"\n\nHe squeezed the water out of the bottoms of his loose trousers and felt\nof his wooden leg and arms and head, and finding he had brought all of\nhis person with him he gathered courage to examine closely their\nsurroundings.\n\n\"Where d'ye think we are, Trot?\" he presently asked.\n\n\"Can't say, Cap'n. P'r'aps in one of our caves.\"\n\nHe shook his head. \"No,\" said he, \"I don't think that, at all.  The\ndistance we came up didn't seem half as far as the distance we went\ndown; an' you'll notice there ain't any outside entrance to this cavern\nwhatever. It's a reg'lar dome over this pool o' water, and unless\nthere's some passage at the back, up yonder, we're fast pris'ners.\"\n\nTrot looked thoughtfully over her shoulder.\n\n\"When we're rested,\" she said, \"we will crawl up there and see if\nthere's a way to get out.\"\n\nCap'n Bill reached in the pocket of his oilskin coat and took out his\npipe. It was still dry, for he kept it in an oilskin pouch with his\ntobacco. His matches were in a tight tin box, so in a few moments the\nold sailor was smoking contentedly. Trot knew it helped him to think\nwhen he was in any difficulty. Also, the pipe did much to restore the\nold sailor's composure, after his long ducking and his terrible\nfright--a fright that was more on Trot's account than his own.\n\nThe sand was dry where they sat, and soaked up the water that dripped\nfrom their clothing. When Trot had squeezed the wet out of her hair she\nbegan to feel much like her old self again. By and by they got upon\ntheir feet and crept up the incline to the scattered boulders above.\nSome of these were of huge size, but by passing between some and around\nothers, they were able to reach the extreme rear of the cavern.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Trot, with interest, \"here's a round hole.\"\n\n\"And it's black as night inside it,\" remarked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Just the same,\" answered the girl, \"we ought to explore it, and see\nwhere it goes, 'cause it's the only poss'ble way we can get out of this\nplace.\"\n\nCap'n Bill eyed the hole doubtfully\n\n\"It may be a way out o' here, Trot,\" he said, \"but it may be a way into\na far worse place than this. I'm not sure but our best plan is to stay\nright here.\"\n\nTrot wasn't sure, either, when she thought of it in that light. After\nawhile she made her way back to the sands again, and Cap'n Bill\nfollowed her. As they sat down, the child looked thoughtfully at the\nsailor's bulging pockets.\n\n\"How much food have we got, Cap'n?\" she asked.\n\n\"Half a dozen ship's biscuits an' a hunk o' cheese,\" he replied. \"Want\nsome now, Trot?\"\n\nShe shook her head, saying:\n\n\"That ought to keep us alive 'bout three days if we're careful of it.\"\n\n\"Longer'n that, Trot,\" said Cap'n Bill, but his voice was a little\ntroubled and unsteady.\n\n\"But if we stay here we're bound to starve in time,\" continued the\ngirl, \"while if we go into the dark hole--\"\n\n\"Some things are more hard to face than starvation,\" said the\nsailor-man, gravely. \"We don't know what's inside that dark hole: Trot,\nnor where it might lead us to.\"\n\n\"There's a way to find that out,\" she persisted.\n\nInstead of replying, Cap'n Bill began searching in his pockets. He soon\ndrew out a little package of fish-hooks and a long line. Trot watched\nhim join them together. Then he crept a little way up the slope and\nturned over a big rock. Two or three small crabs began scurrying away\nover the sands and the old sailor caught them and put one on his hook\nand the others in his pocket. Coming back to the pool he swung the hook\nover his shoulder and circled it around his head and cast it nearly\ninto the center of the water, where he allowed it to sink gradually,\npaying out the line as far as it would go. When the end was reached, he\nbegan drawing it in again, until the crab bait was floating on the\nsurface.\n\nTrot watched him cast the line a second time, and a third. She decided\nthat either there were no fishes in the pool or they would not bite the\ncrab bait. But Cap'n Bill was an old fisherman and not easily\ndiscouraged. When the crab got away he put another on the hook. When\nthe crabs were all gone he climbed up the rocks and found some more.\n\nMeantime Trot tired of watching him and lay down upon the sands, where\nshe fell fast asleep. During the next two hours her clothing dried\ncompletely, as did that of the old sailor. They were both so used to\nsalt water that there was no danger of taking cold.\n\nFinally the little girl was wakened by a splash beside her and a grunt\nof satisfaction from Cap'n Bill. She opened her eyes to find that the\nCap'n had landed a silver-scaled fish weighing about two pounds. This\ncheered her considerably and she hurried to scrape together a heap of\nseaweed, while Cap'n Bill cut up the fish with his jackknife and got it\nready for cooking.\n\nThey had cooked fish with seaweed before. Cap'n Bill wrapped his fish\nin some of the weed and dipped it in the water to dampen it. Then he\nlighted a match and set fire to Trot's heap, which speedily burned down\nto a glowing bed of ashes. Then they laid the wrapped fish on the\nashes, covered it with more seaweed, and allowed this to catch fire and\nburn to embers. After feeding the fire with seaweed for some time, the\nsailor finally decided that their supper was ready, so he scattered the\nashes and drew out the bits of fish, still encased in their smoking\nwrappings.\n\nWhen these wrappings were removed, the fish was found thoroughly cooked\nand both Trot and Cap'n Bill ate of it freely. It had a slight flavor\nof seaweed and would have been better with a sprinkling of salt.\n\nThe soft glow which until now had lighted the cavern, began to grow\ndim, but there was a great quantity of seaweed in the place, so after\nthey had eaten their fish they kept the fire alive for a time by giving\nit a handful of fuel now and then.\n\nFrom an inner pocket the sailor drew a small flask of battered metal\nand unscrewing the cap handed it to Trot.  She took but one swallow of\nthe water although she wanted more, and she noticed that Cap'n Bill\nmerely wet his lips with it.\n\n\"S'pose,\" said she, staring at the glowing seaweed fire and speaking\nslowly, \"that we can catch all the fish we need; how 'bout the\ndrinking-water, Cap'n?\"\n\nHe moved uneasily but did not reply. Both of them were thinking about\nthe dark hole, but while Trot had little fear of it the old man could\nnot overcome his dislike to enter the place. He knew that Trot was\nright, though. To remain in the cavern, where they now were, could only\nresult in slow but sure death.\n\nIt was nighttime up on the earth's surface, so the little girl became\ndrowsy and soon fell asleep. After a time the old sailor slumbered on\nthe sands beside her. It was very still and nothing disturbed them for\nhours. When at last they awoke the cavern was light again.\n\nThey had divided one of the biscuits and were munching it for breakfast\nwhen they were startled by a sudden splash in the pool. Looking toward\nit they saw emerging from the water the most curious creature either of\nthem had ever beheld. It wasn't a fish, Trot decided, nor was it a\nbeast. It had wings, though, and queer wings they were: shaped like an\ninverted chopping-bowl and covered with tough skin instead of feathers.\nIt had four legs--much like the legs of a stork, only double the\nnumber--and its head was shaped a good deal like that of a poll parrot,\nwith a beak that curved downward in front and upward at the edges, and\nwas half bill and half mouth. But to call it a bird was out of the\nquestion, because it had no feathers whatever except a crest of wavy\nplumes of a scarlet color on the very top of its head. The strange\ncreature must have weighed as much as Cap'n Bill, and as it floundered\nand struggled to get out of the water to the sandy beach it was so big\nand unusual that both Trot and her companion stared at it in wonder--in\nwonder that was not unmixed with fear.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Three\n\nThe Ork\n\n\nThe eyes that regarded them, as the creature stood dripping before\nthem, were bright and mild in expression, and the queer addition to\ntheir party made no attempt to attack them and seemed quite as\nsurprised by the meeting as they were.\n\n\"I wonder,\" whispered Trot, \"what it is.\"\n\n\"Who, me?\" exclaimed the creature in a shrill, high-pitched voice.\n\"Why, I'm an Ork.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the girl. \"But what is an Ork?\"\n\n\"I am,\" he repeated, a little proudly, as he shook the water from his\nfunny wings; \"and if ever an Ork was glad to be out of the water and on\ndry land again, you can be mighty sure that I'm that especial,\nindividual Ork!\"\n\n\"Have you been in the water long?\" inquired Cap'n Bill, thinking it\nonly polite to show an interest in the strange creature.\n\n\"Why, this last ducking was about ten minutes, I believe, and that's\nabout nine minutes and sixty seconds too long for comfort,\" was the\nreply. \"But last night I was in an awful pickle, I assure you. The\nwhirlpool caught me, and--\"\n\n\"Oh, were you in the whirlpool, too?\" asked Trot eagerly.\n\nHe gave her a glance that was somewhat reproachful.\n\n\"I believe I was mentioning the fact, young lady, when your desire to\ntalk interrupted me,\" said the Ork. \"I am not usually careless in my\nactions, but that whirlpool was so busy yesterday that I thought I'd\nsee what mischief it was up to. So I flew a little too near it and the\nsuction of the air drew me down into the depths of the ocean. Water and\nI are natural enemies, and it would have conquered me this time had not\na bevy of pretty mermaids come to my assistance and dragged me away\nfrom the whirling water and far up into a cavern, where they deserted\nme.\"\n\n\"Why, that's about the same thing that happened to us,\" cried Trot.\n\"Was your cavern like this one?\"\n\n\"I haven't examined this one yet,\" answered the Ork; \"but if they\nhappen to be alike I shudder at our fate, for the other one was a\nprison, with no outlet except by means of the water.  I stayed there\nall night, however, and this morning I plunged into the pool, as far\ndown as I could go, and then swam as hard and as far as I could. The\nrocks scraped my back, now and then, and I barely escaped the clutches\nof an ugly sea-monster; but by and by I came to the surface to catch my\nbreath, and found myself here. That's the whole story, and as I see you\nhave something to eat I entreat you to give me a share of it. The truth\nis, I'm half starved.\"\n\nWith these words the Ork squatted down beside them. Very reluctantly\nCap'n Bill drew another biscuit from his pocket and held it out. The\nOrk promptly seized it in one of its front claws and began to nibble\nthe biscuit in much the same manner a parrot might have done.\n\n\"We haven't much grub,\" said the sailor-man, \"but we're willin' to\nshare it with a comrade in distress.\"\n\n\"That's right,\" returned the Ork, cocking its head sidewise in a\ncheerful manner, and then for a few minutes there was silence while\nthey all ate of the biscuits. After a while Trot said:\n\n\"I've never seen or heard of an Ork before. Are there many of you?\"\n\n\"We are rather few and exclusive, I believe,\" was the reply. \"In the\ncountry where I was born we are the absolute rulers of all living\nthings, from ants to elephants.\"\n\n\"What country is that?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Orkland.\"\n\n\"Where does it lie?\"\n\n\"I don't know, exactly. You see, I have a restless nature, for some\nreason, while all the rest of my race are quiet and contented Orks and\nseldom stray far from home. From childhood days I loved to fly long\ndistances away, although father often warned me that I would get into\ntrouble by so doing.\n\n\"'It's a big world, Flipper, my son,' he would say, 'and I've heard\nthat in parts of it live queer two-legged creatures called Men, who war\nupon all other living things and would have little respect for even an\nOrk.'\n\n\"This naturally aroused my curiosity and after I had completed my\neducation and left school I decided to fly out into the world and try\nto get a glimpse of the creatures called Men. So I left home without\nsaying good-bye, an act I shall always regret. Adventures were many, I\nfound. I sighted men several times, but have never before been so close\nto them as now. Also I had to fight my way through the air, for I met\ngigantic birds, with fluffy feathers all over them, which attacked me\nfiercely. Besides, it kept me busy escaping from floating airships. In\nmy rambling I had lost all track of distance or direction, so that when\nI wanted to go home I had no idea where my country was located. I've\nnow been trying to find it for several months and it was during one of\nmy flights over the ocean that I met the whirlpool and became its\nvictim.\"\n\nTrot and Cap'n Bill listened to this recital with much interest, and\nfrom the friendly tone and harmless appearance of the Ork they judged\nhe was not likely to prove so disagreeable a companion as at first they\nhad feared he might be.\n\nThe Ork sat upon its haunches much as a cat does, but used the\nfinger-like claws of its front legs almost as cleverly as if they were\nhands. Perhaps the most curious thing about the creature was its tail,\nor what ought to have been its tail. This queer arrangement of skin,\nbones and muscle was shaped like the propellers used on boats and\nairships, having fan-like surfaces and being pivoted to its body. Cap'n\nBill knew something of mechanics, and observing the propeller-like tail\nof the Ork he said:\n\n\"I s'pose you're a pretty swift flyer?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed; the Orks are admitted to be Kings of the Air.\"\n\n\"Your wings don't seem to amount to much,\" remarked Trot.\n\n\"Well, they are not very big,\" admitted the Ork, waving the four hollow\nskins gently to and fro, \"but they serve to support my body in the air\nwhile I speed along by means of my tail. Still, taken altogether, I'm\nvery handsomely formed, don't you think?\"\n\nTrot did not like to reply, but Cap'n Bill nodded gravely. \"For an\nOrk,\" said he, \"you're a wonder. I've never seen one afore, but I can\nimagine you're as good as any.\"\n\nThat seemed to please the creature and it began walking around the\ncavern, making its way easily up the slope. While it was gone, Trot and\nCap'n Bill each took another sip from the water-flask, to wash down\ntheir breakfast.\n\n\"Why, here's a hole--an exit--an outlet!\" exclaimed the Ork from above.\n\n\"We know,\" said Trot. \"We found it last night.\"\n\n\"Well, then, let's be off,\" continued the Ork, after sticking its head\ninto the black hole and sniffing once or twice. \"The air seems fresh\nand sweet, and it can't lead us to any worse place than this.\"\n\nThe girl and the sailor-man got up and climbed to the side of the Ork.\n\n\"We'd about decided to explore this hole before you came,\" explained\nCap'n Bill; \"but it's a dangerous place to navigate in the dark, so\nwait till I light a candle.\"\n\n\"What is a candle?\" inquired the Ork.\n\n\"You'll see in a minute,\" said Trot.\n\nThe old sailor drew one of the candles from his right-side pocket and\nthe tin matchbox from his left-side pocket. When he lighted the match\nthe Ork gave a startled jump and eyed the flame suspiciously; but Cap'n\nBill proceeded to light the candle and the action interested the Ork\nvery much.\n\n\"Light,\" it said, somewhat nervously, \"is valuable in a hole of this\nsort. The candle is not dangerous, I hope?\"\n\n\"Sometimes it burns your fingers,\" answered Trot, \"but that's about the\nworst it can do--'cept to blow out when you don't want it to.\"\n\nCap'n Bill shielded the flame with his hand and crept into the hole. It\nwasn't any too big for a grown man, but after he had crawled a few feet\nit grew larger.  Trot came close behind him and then the Ork followed.\n\n\"Seems like a reg'lar tunnel,\" muttered the sailor-man, who was\ncreeping along awkwardly because of his wooden leg. The rocks, too,\nhurt his knees.\n\nFor nearly half an hour the three moved slowly along the tunnel, which\nmade many twists and turns and sometimes slanted downward and sometimes\nupward. Finally Cap'n Bill stopped short, with an exclamation of\ndisappointment, and held the flickering candle far ahead to light the\nscene.\n\n\"What's wrong?\" demanded Trot, who could see nothing because the\nsailor's form completely filled the hole.\n\n\"Why, we've come to the end of our travels, I guess,\" he replied.\n\n\"Is the hole blocked?\" inquired the Ork.\n\n\"No; it's wuss nor that,\" replied Cap'n Bill sadly. \"I'm on the edge of\na precipice. Wait a minute an' I'll move along and let you see for\nyourselves. Be careful, Trot, not to fall.\"\n\nThen he crept forward a little and moved to one side, holding the\ncandle so that the girl could see to follow him. The Ork came next and\nnow all three knelt on a narrow ledge of rock which dropped straight\naway and left a huge black space which the tiny flame of the candle\ncould not illuminate.\n\n\"H-m!\" said the Ork, peering over the edge; \"this doesn't look very\npromising, I'll admit. But let me take your candle, and I'll fly down\nand see what's below us.\"\n\n\"Aren't you afraid?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"Certainly I'm afraid,\" responded the Ork. \"But if we intend to escape\nwe can't stay on this shelf forever. So, as I notice you poor creatures\ncannot fly, it is my duty to explore the place for you.\"\n\nCap'n Bill handed the Ork the candle, which had now burned to about\nhalf its length. The Ork took it in one claw rather cautiously and then\ntipped its body forward and slipped over the edge. They heard a queer\nbuzzing sound, as the tail revolved, and a brisk flapping of the\npeculiar wings, but they were more interested just then in following\nwith their eyes the tiny speck of light which marked the location of\nthe candle. This light first made a great circle, then dropped slowly\ndownward and suddenly was extinguished, leaving everything before them\nblack as ink.\n\n\"Hi, there! How did that happen?\" cried the Ork.\n\n\"It blew out, I guess,\" shouted Cap'n Bill. \"Fetch it here.\"\n\n\"I can't see where you are,\" said the Ork.\n\nSo Cap'n Bill got out another candle and lighted it, and its flame\nenabled the Ork to fly back to them. It alighted on the edge and held\nout the bit of candle.\n\n\"What made it stop burning?\" asked the creature.\n\n\"The wind,\" said Trot. \"You must be more careful, this time.\"\n\n\"What's the place like?\" inquired Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"I don't know, yet; but there must be a bottom to it, so I'll try to\nfind it.\"\n\nWith this the Ork started out again and this time sank downward more\nslowly. Down, down, down it went, till the candle was a mere spark, and\nthen it headed away to the left and Trot and Cap'n Bill lost all sight\nof it.\n\nIn a few minutes, however, they saw the spark of light again, and as\nthe sailor still held the second lighted candle the Ork made straight\ntoward them. It was only a few yards distant when suddenly it dropped\nthe candle with a cry of pain and next moment alighted, fluttering\nwildly, upon the rocky ledge.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"It bit me!\" wailed the Ork. \"I don't like your candles. The thing\nbegan to disappear slowly as soon as I took it in my claw, and it grew\nsmaller and smaller until just now it turned and bit me--a most\nunfriendly thing to do. Oh--oh! Ouch, what a bite!\"\n\n\"That's the nature of candles, I'm sorry to say,\" explained Cap'n Bill,\nwith a grin. \"You have to handle 'em mighty keerful. But tell us, what\ndid you find down there?\"\n\n\"I found a way to continue our journey,\" said the Ork, nursing tenderly\nthe claw which had been burned. \"Just below us is a great lake of black\nwater, which looked so cold and wicked that it made me shudder; but\naway at the left there's a big tunnel, which we can easily walk\nthrough. I don't know where it leads to, of course, but we must follow\nit and find out.\" \"why, we can't get to it,\" protested the little girl.\n\"We can't fly, as you do, you must remember.\"\n\n\"No, that's true,\" replied the Ork musingly. \"Your bodies are built\nvery poorly, it seems to me, since all you can do is crawl upon the\nearth's surface. But you may ride upon my back, and in that way I can\npromise you a safe journey to the tunnel.\"\n\n\"Are you strong enough to carry us?\" asked Cap'n Bill, doubtfully.\n\n\"Yes, indeed; I'm strong enough to carry a dozen of you, if you could\nfind a place to sit,\" was the reply; \"but there's only room between my\nwings for one at a time, so I'll have to make two trips.\"\n\n\"All right; I'll go first,\" decided Cap'n Bill.\n\nHe lit another candle for Trot to hold while they were gone and to\nlight the Ork on his return to her, and then the old sailor got upon\nthe Ork's back, where he sat with his wooden leg sticking straight out\nsidewise.\n\n\"If you start to fall, clasp your arms around my neck,\" advised the\ncreature.\n\n\"If I start to fall, it's good night an' pleasant dreams,\" said Cap'n\nBill.\n\n\"All ready?\" asked the Ork.\n\n\"Start the buzz-tail,\" said Cap'n Bill, with a tremble in his voice.\nBut the Ork flew away so gently that the old man never even tottered in\nhis seat. Trot watched the light of Cap'n Bill's candle till it\ndisappeared in the far distance. She didn't like to be left alone on\nthis dangerous ledge, with a lake of black water hundreds of feet below\nher; but she was a brave little girl and waited patiently for the\nreturn of the Ork. It came even sooner than she had expected and the\ncreature said to her:\n\n\"Your friend is safe in the tunnel. Now, then, get aboard and I'll\ncarry you to him in a jiffy.\"\n\nI'm sure not many little girls would have cared to take that awful ride\nthrough the huge black cavern on the back of a skinny Ork. Trot didn't\ncare for it, herself, but it just had to be done and so she did it as\ncourageously as possible. Her heart beat fast and she was so nervous\nshe could scarcely hold the candle in her fingers as the Ork sped\nswiftly through the darkness.\n\nIt seemed like a long ride to her, yet in reality the Ork covered the\ndistance in a wonderfully brief period of time and soon Trot stood\nsafely beside Cap'n Bill on the level floor of a big arched tunnel. The\nsailor-man was very glad to greet his little comrade again and both\nwere grateful to the Ork for his assistance.\n\n\"I dunno where this tunnel leads to,\" remarked Cap'n Bill, \"but it\nsurely looks more promisin' than that other hole we crept through.\"\n\n\"When the Ork is rested,\" said Trot, \"we'll travel on and see what\nhappens.\"\n\n\"Rested!\" cried the Ork, as scornfully as his shrill voice would allow.\n\"That bit of flying didn't tire me at all. I'm used to flying days at a\ntime, without ever once stopping.\"\n\n\"Then let's move on,\" proposed Cap'n Bill. He still held in his hand\none lighted candle, so Trot blew out the other flame and placed her\ncandle in the sailor's big pocket. She knew it was not wise to burn two\ncandles at once.\n\nThe tunnel was straight and smooth and very easy to walk through, so\nthey made good progress. Trot thought that the tunnel began about two\nmiles from the cavern where they had been cast by the whirlpool, but\nnow it was impossible to guess the miles traveled, for they walked\nsteadily for hours and hours without any change in their surroundings.\n\nFinally Cap'n Bill stopped to rest.\n\n\"There's somethin' queer about this 'ere tunnel, I'm certain,\" he\ndeclared, wagging his head dolefully. \"Here's three candles gone\na'ready, an' only three more left us, yet the tunnel's the same as it\nwas when we started. An' how long it's goin' to keep up, no one knows.\"\n\n\"Couldn't we walk without a light?\" asked Trot. \"The way seems safe\nenough.\"\n\n\"It does right now,\" was the reply, \"but we can't tell when we are\nlikely to come to another gulf, or somethin' jes' as dangerous. In that\ncase we'd be killed afore we knew it.\"\n\n\"Suppose I go ahead?\" suggested the Ork.  \"I don't fear a fall, you\nknow, and if anything happens I'll call out and warn you.\"\n\n\"That's a good idea,\" declared Trot, and Cap'n Bill thought so, too. So\nthe Ork started off ahead, quite in the dark, and hand in band the two\nfollowed him.\n\nWhen they had walked in this way for a good long time the Ork halted\nand demanded food. Cap'n Bill had not mentioned food because there was\nso little left--only three biscuits and a lump of cheese about as big\nas his two fingers--but he gave the Ork half of a biscuit, sighing as\nhe did so. The creature didn't care for the cheese, so the sailor\ndivided it between himself and Trot. They lighted a candle and sat down\nin the tunnel while they ate.\n\n\"My feet hurt me,\" grumbled the Ork.  \"I'm not used to walking and this\nrocky passage is so uneven and lumpy that it hurts me to walk upon it.\"\n\n\"Can't you fly along?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"No; the roof is too low,\" said the Ork.\n\nAfter the meal they resumed their journey, which Trot began to fear\nwould never end. When Cap'n Bill noticed how tired the little girl was,\nhe paused and lighted a match and looked at his big silver watch.\n\n\"Why, it's night!\" he exclaimed. \"We've tramped all day, an' still\nwe're in this awful passage, which mebbe goes straight through the\nmiddle of the world, an' mebbe is a circle--in which case we can keep\nwalkin' till doomsday. Not knowin' what's before us so well as we know\nwhat's behind us, I propose we make a stop, now, an' try to sleep till\nmornin'.\"\n\n\"That will suit me,\" asserted the Ork, with a groan. \"My feet are\nhurting me dreadfully and for the last few miles I've been limping with\npain.\"\n\n\"My foot hurts, too,\" said the sailor, looking for a smooth place on\nthe rocky floor to sit down.\n\n\"Your foot!\" cried the Ork. \"why, you've only one to hurt you, while I\nhave four. So I suffer four times as much as you possibly can. Here;\nhold the candle while I look at the bottoms of my claws. I declare,\" he\nsaid, examining them by the flickering light, \"there are bunches of\npain all over them!\"\n\n\"P'r'aps,\" said Trot, who was very glad to sit down beside her\ncompanions, \"you've got corns.\"\n\n\"Corns? Nonsense! Orks never have corns,\" protested the creature,\nrubbing its sore feet tenderly.\n\n\"Then mebbe they're--they're-- What do you call 'em, Cap'n Bill?\nSomething 'bout the Pilgrim's Progress, you know.\"\n\n\"Bunions,\" said Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Oh, yes; mebbe you've got bunions.\"\n\n\"It is possible,\" moaned the Ork.  \"But whatever they are, another day\nof such walking on them would drive me crazy.\"\n\n\"I'm sure they'll feel better by mornin',\" said Cap'n Bill,\nencouragingly. \"Go to sleep an' try to forget your sore feet.\"\n\nThe Ork cast a reproachful look at the sailor-man, who didn't see it.\nThen the creature asked plaintively: \"Do we eat now, or do we starve?\"\n\n\"There's only half a biscuit left for you,\" answered Cap'n Bill. \"No\none knows how long we'll have to stay in this dark tunnel, where\nthere's nothing whatever to eat; so I advise you to save that morsel o'\nfood till later.\"\n\n\"Give it me now!\" demanded the Ork. \"If I'm going to starve, I'll do it\nall at once--not by degrees.\"\n\nCap'n Bill produced the biscuit and the creature ate it in a trice.\nTrot was rather hungry and whispered to Cap'n Bill that she'd take part\nof her share; but the old man secretly broke his own half-biscuit in\ntwo, saving Trot's share for a time of greater need.\n\nHe was beginning to be worried over the little girl's plight and long\nafter she was asleep and the Ork was snoring in a rather disagreeable\nmanner, Cap'n Bill sat with his back to a rock and smoked his pipe and\ntried to think of some way to escape from this seemingly endless\ntunnel. But after a time he also slept, for hobbling on a wooden leg\nall day was tiresome, and there in the dark slumbered the three\nadventurers for many hours, until the Ork roused itself and kicked the\nold sailor with one foot.\n\n\"It must be another day,\" said he.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Four\n\nDaylight at Last\n\n\nCap'n Bill rubbed his eyes, lit a match and consulted his watch.\n\n\"Nine o'clock.  Yes, I guess it's another day, sure enough. Shall we go\non?\" he asked.\n\n\"Of course,\" replied the Ork. \"Unless this tunnel is different from\neverything else in the world, and has no end, we'll find a way out of\nit sooner or later.\"\n\nThe sailor gently wakened Trot. She felt much rested by her long sleep\nand sprang to her feet eagerly.\n\n\"Let's start, Cap'n,\" was all she said.\n\nThey resumed the journey and had only taken a few steps when the Ork\ncried \"Wow!\" and made a great fluttering of its wings and whirling of\nits tail. The others, who were following a short distance behind,\nstopped abruptly.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Give us a light,\" was the reply. \"I think we've come to the end of the\ntunnel.\" Then, while Cap'n Bill lighted a candle, the creature added:\n\"If that is true, we needn't have wakened so soon, for we were almost\nat the end of this place when we went to sleep.\"\n\nThe sailor-man and Trot came forward with a light. A wall of rock\nreally faced the tunnel, but now they saw that the opening made a sharp\nturn to the left. So they followed on, by a narrower passage, and then\nmade another sharp turn this time to the right.\n\n\"Blow out the light, Cap'n,\" said the Ork, in a pleased voice. \"We've\nstruck daylight.\"\n\nDaylight at last! A shaft of mellow light fell almost at their feet as\nTrot and the sailor turned the corner of the passage, but it came from\nabove, and raising their eyes they found they were at the bottom of a\ndeep, rocky well, with the top far, far above their heads. And here the\npassage ended.\n\nFor a while they gazed in silence, at least two of them being filled\nwith dismay at the sight. But the Ork merely whistled softly and said\ncheerfully:\n\n\"That was the toughest journey I ever had the misfortune to undertake,\nand I'm glad it's over. Yet, unless I can manage to fly to the top of\nthis pit, we are entombed here forever.\"\n\n\"Do you think there is room enough for you to fly in?\" asked the little\ngirl anxiously; and Cap'n Bill added:\n\n\"It's a straight-up shaft, so I don't see how you'll ever manage it.\"\n\n\"Were I an ordinary bird--one of those horrid feathered things--I\nwouldn't even make the attempt to fly out,\" said the Ork.  \"But my\nmechanical propeller tail can accomplish wonders, and whenever you're\nready I'll show you a trick that is worth while.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed Trot; \"do you intend to take us up, too?\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"I thought,\" said Cap'n Bill, \"as you'd go first, an' then send\nsomebody to help us by lettin' down a rope.\"\n\n\"Ropes are dangerous,\" replied the Ork, \"and I might not be able to\nfind one to reach all this distance. Besides, it stands to reason that\nif I can get out myself I can also carry you two with me.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm not afraid,\" said Trot, who longed to be on the earth's\nsurface again.\n\n\"S'pose we fall?\" suggested Cap'n Bill, doubtfully.\n\n\"Why, in that case we would all fall together,\" returned the Ork. \"Get\naboard, little girl; sit across my shoulders and put both your arms\naround my neck.\"\n\nTrot obeyed and when she was seated on the Ork, Cap'n Bill inquired:\n\n\"How 'bout me, Mr. Ork?\"\n\n\"Why, I think you'd best grab hold of my rear legs and let me carry you\nup in that manner,\" was the reply.\n\nCap'n Bill looked way up at the top of the well, and then he looked at\nthe Ork's slender, skinny legs and heaved a deep sigh.\n\n\"It's goin' to be some dangle, I guess; but if you don't waste too much\ntime on the way up, I may be able to hang on,\" said he.\n\n\"All ready, then!\" cried the Ork, and at once his whirling tail began\nto revolve. Trot felt herself rising into the air; when the creature's\nlegs left the ground Cap'n Bill grasped two of them firmly and held on\nfor dear life.  The Ork's body was tipped straight upward, and Trot had\nto embrace the neck very tightly to keep from sliding off. Even in this\nposition the Ork had trouble in escaping the rough sides of the well.\nSeveral times it exclaimed \"Wow!\" as it bumped its back, or a wing hit\nagainst some jagged projection; but the tail kept whirling with\nremarkable swiftness and the daylight grew brighter and brighter. It\nwas, indeed, a long journey from the bottom to the top, yet almost\nbefore Trot realized they had come so far, they popped out of the hole\ninto the clear air and sunshine and a moment later the Ork alighted\ngently upon the ground.\n\nThe release was so sudden that even with the creature's care for its\npassengers Cap'n Bill struck the earth with a shock that sent him\nrolling heel over head; but by the time Trot had slid down from her\nseat the old sailor-man was sitting up and looking around him with much\nsatisfaction.\n\n\"It's sort o' pretty here,\" said he.\n\n\"Earth is a beautiful place!\" cried Trot.\n\n\"I wonder where on earth we are?\" pondered the Ork, turning first one\nbright eye and then the other to this side and that. Trees there were,\nin plenty, and shrubs and flowers and green turf. But there were no\nhouses; there were no paths; there was no sign of civilization whatever.\n\n\"Just before I settled down on the ground I thought I caught a view of\nthe ocean,\" said the Ork. \"Let's see if I was right.\" Then he flew to a\nlittle hill, near by, and Trot and Cap'n Bill followed him more slowly.\nWhen they stood on the top of the hill they could see the blue waves of\nthe ocean in front of them, to the right of them, and at the left of\nthem. Behind the hill was a forest that shut out the view.\n\n\"I hope it ain't an island, Trot,\" said Cap'n Bill gravely.\n\n\"If it is, I s'pose we're prisoners,\" she replied.\n\n\"Ezzackly so, Trot.\"\n\n\"But, 'even so, it's better than those terr'ble underground tunnels and\ncaverns,\" declared the girl.\n\n\"You are right, little one,\" agreed the Ork. \"Anything above ground is\nbetter than the best that lies under ground. So let's not quarrel with\nour fate but be thankful we've escaped.\"\n\n\"We are, indeed!\" she replied. \"But I wonder if we can find something\nto eat in this place?\"\n\n\"Let's explore an' find out,\" proposed Cap'n Bill. \"Those trees over at\nthe left look like cherry-trees.\"\n\nOn the way to them the explorers had to walk through a tangle of vines\nand Cap'n Bill, who went first, stumbled and pitched forward on his\nface.\n\n\"Why, it's a melon!\" cried Trot delightedly, as she saw what had caused\nthe sailor to fall.\n\nCap'n Bill rose to his foot, for he was not at all hurt, and examined\nthe melon. Then he took his big jackknife from his pocket and cut the\nmelon open. It was quite ripe and looked delicious; but the old man\ntasted it before he permitted Trot to eat any. Deciding it was good he\ngave her a big slice and then offered the Ork some. The creature looked\nat the fruit somewhat disdainfully, at first, but once he had tasted\nits flavor he ate of it as heartily as did the others. Among the vines\nthey discovered many other melons, and Trot said gratefully: \"Well,\nthere's no danger of our starving, even if this is an island.\"\n\n\"Melons,\" remarked Cap'n Bill, \"are both food an' water. We couldn't\nhave struck anything better.\"\n\nFarther on they came to the cherry trees, where they obtained some of\nthe fruit, and at the edge of the little forest were wild plums. The\nforest itself consisted entirely of nut trees--walnuts, filberts,\nalmonds and chestnuts--so there would be plenty of wholesome food for\nthem while they remained there.\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot decided to walk through the forest, to discover\nwhat was on the other side of it, but the Ork's feet were still so sore\nand \"lumpy\" from walking on the rocks that the creature said he\npreferred to fly over the tree-tops and meet them on the other side.\nThe forest was not large, so by walking briskly for fifteen minutes\nthey reached its farthest edge and saw before them the shore of the\nocean.\n\n\"It's an island, all right,\" said Trot, with a sigh.\n\n\"Yes, and a pretty island, too,\" said Cap'n Bill, trying to conceal his\ndisappointment on Trot's account. \"I guess, partner, if the wuss comes\nto the wuss, I could build a raft--or even a boat--from those trees,\nso's we could sail away in it.\"\n\nThe little girl brightened at this suggestion. \"I don't see the Ork\nanywhere,\" she remarked, looking around. Then her eyes lighted upon\nsomething and she exclaimed: \"Oh, Cap'n Bill! Isn't that a house, over\nthere to the left?\"\n\nCap'n Bill, looking closely, saw a shed-like structure built at one\nedge of the forest.\n\n\"Seems like it, Trot. Not that I'd call it much of a house, but it's a\nbuildin', all right. Let's go over an' see if it's occypied.\"\n\n\n\n\nChapter Five\n\nThe Little Old Man of the Island\n\n\nA few steps brought them to the shed, which was merely a roof of boughs\nbuilt over a square space, with some branches of trees fastened to the\nsides to keep off the wind. The front was quite open and faced the sea,\nand as our friends came nearer they observed a little man, with a long\npointed beard, sitting motionless on a stool and staring thoughtfully\nout over the water.\n\n\"Get out of the way, please,\" he called in a fretful voice. \"Can't you\nsee you are obstructing my view?\"\n\n\"Good morning,\" said Cap'n Bill, politely.\n\n\"It isn't a good morning!\" snapped the little man. \"I've seen plenty of\nmornings better than this.  Do you call it a good morning when I'm\npestered with such a crowd as you?\"\n\nTrot was astonished to hear such words from a stranger whom they had\ngreeted quite properly, and Cap'n Bill grew red at the little man's\nrudeness. But the sailor said, in a quiet tone of voice:\n\n\"Are you the only one as lives on this 'ere island?\"\n\n\"Your grammar's bad,\" was the reply. \"But this is my own exclusive\nisland, and I'll thank you to get off it as soon as possible.\"\n\n\"We'd like to do that,\" said Trot, and then she and Cap'n Bill turned\naway and walked down to the shore, to see if any other land was in\nsight.\n\nThe little man rose and followed them, although both were now too\nprovoked to pay any attention to him.\n\n\"Nothin' in sight, partner,\" reported Cap'n Bill, shading his eyes with\nhis hand; \"so we'll have to stay here for a time, anyhow. It isn't a\nbad place, Trot, by any means.\"\n\n\"That's all you know about it!\" broke in the little man. \"The trees are\naltogether too green and the rocks are harder than they ought to be. I\nfind the sand very grainy and the water dreadfully wet. Every breeze\nmakes a draught and the sun shines in the daytime, when there's no need\nof it, and disappears just as soon as it begins to get dark. If you\nremain here you'll find the island very unsatisfactory.\"\n\nTrot turned to look at him, and her sweet face was grave and curious.\n\n\"I wonder who you are,\" she said.\n\n\"My name is Pessim,\" said he, with an air of pride. \"I'm called the\nObserver.\"\n\n\"Oh. What do you observe?\" asked the little girl.\n\n\"Everything I see,\" was the reply, in a more surly tone. Then Pessim\ndrew back with a startled exclamation and looked at some footprints in\nthe sand. \"Why, good gracious me!\" he cried in distress.\n\n\"What's the matter now?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Someone has pushed the earth in!  Don't you see it?\n\n\"It isn't pushed in far enough to hurt anything,\" said Trot, examining\nthe footprints.\n\n\"Everything hurts that isn't right,\" insisted the man. \"If the earth\nwere pushed in a mile, it would be a great calamity, wouldn't it?\"\n\n\"I s'pose so,\" admitted the little girl.\n\n\"Well, here it is pushed in a full inch!  That's a twelfth of a foot,\nor a little more than a millionth part of a mile.  Therefore it is\none-millionth part of a calamity--Oh, dear! How dreadful!\" said Pessim\nin a wailing voice.\n\n\"Try to forget it, sir,\" advised Cap'n Bill, soothingly. \"It's\nbeginning to rain. Let's get under your shed and keep dry.\"\n\n\"Raining!  Is it really raining?\" asked Pessim, beginning to weep.\n\n\"It is,\" answered Cap'n Bill, as the drops began to descend, \"and I\ndon't see any way to stop it--although I'm some observer myself.\"\n\n\"No; we can't stop it, I fear,\" said the man. \"Are you very busy just\nnow?\"\n\n\"I won't be after I get to the shed,\" replied the sailor-man.\n\n\"Then do me a favor, please,\" begged Pessim, walking briskly along\nbehind them, for they were hastening to the shed.\n\n\"Depends on what it is,\" said Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"I wish you would take my umbrella down to the shore and hold it over\nthe poor fishes till it stops raining. I'm afraid they'll get wet,\"\nsaid Pessim.\n\nTrot laughed, but Cap'n Bill thought the little man was poking fun at\nhim and so he scowled upon Pessim in a way that showed he was angry.\n\nThey reached the shed before getting very wet, although the rain was\nnow coming down in big drops. The roof of the shed protected them and\nwhile they stood watching the rainstorm something buzzed in and circled\naround Pessim's head. At once the Observer began beating it away with\nhis hands, crying out:\n\n\"A bumblebee! A bumblebee! The queerest bumblebee I ever saw!\"\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot both looked at it and the little girl said in\nsurprise:\n\n\"Dear me! It's a wee little Ork!\"\n\n\"That's what it is, sure enough,\" exclaimed Cap'n Bill.\n\nReally, it wasn't much bigger than a big bumblebee, and when it came\ntoward Trot she allowed it to alight on her shoulder.\n\n\"It's me, all right,\" said a very small voice in her ear; \"but I'm in\nan awful pickle, just the same!\"\n\n\"What, are you our Ork, then?\" demanded the girl, much amazed.\n\n\"No, I'm my own Ork. But I'm the only Ork you know,\" replied the tiny\ncreature.\n\n\"What's happened to you?\" asked the sailor, putting his head close to\nTrot's shoulder in order to hear the reply better. Pessim also put his\nhead close, and the Ork said:\n\n\"You will remember that when I left you I started to fly over the\ntrees, and just as I got to this side of the forest I saw a bush that\nwas loaded down with the most luscious fruit you can imagine.  The\nfruit was about the size of a gooseberry and of a lovely lavender\ncolor. So I swooped down and picked off one in my bill and ate it. At\nonce I began to grow small. I could feel myself shrinking, shrinking\naway, and it frightened me terribly, so that I lighted on the ground to\nthink over what was happening. In a few seconds I had shrunk to the\nsize you now see me; but there I remained, getting no smaller, indeed,\nbut no larger. It is certainly a dreadful affliction! After I had\nrecovered somewhat from the shock I began to search for you. It is not\nso easy to find one's way when a creature is so small, but fortunately\nI spied you here in this shed and came to you at once.\"\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot were much astonished at this story and felt grieved\nfor the poor Ork, but the little man Pessim seemed to think it a good\njoke. He began laughing when he heard the story and laughed until he\nchoked, after which he lay down on the ground and rolled and laughed\nagain, while the tears of merriment coursed down his wrinkled cheeks.\n\n\"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\" he finally gasped, sitting up and wiping his\neyes. \"This is too rich! It's almost too joyful to be true.\"\n\n\"I don't see anything funny about it,\" remarked Trot indignantly.\n\n\"You would if you'd had my experience,\" said Pessim, getting upon his\nfeet and gradually resuming his solemn and dissatisfied expression of\ncountenance. \"The same thing happened to me.\"\n\n\"Oh, did it?  And how did you happen to come to this island?\" asked the\ngirl.\n\n\"I didn't come; the neighbors brought me,\" replied the little man, with\na frown at the recollection. \"They said I was quarrelsome and\nfault-finding and blamed me because I told them all the things that\nwent wrong, or never were right, and because I told them how things\nought to be. So they brought me here and left me all alone, saying that\nif I quarreled with myself, no one else would be made unhappy. Absurd,\nwasn't it?\"\n\n\"Seems to me,\" said Cap'n Bill, \"those neighbors did the proper thing.\"\n\n\"Well,\" resumed Pessim, \"when I found myself King of this island I was\nobliged to live upon fruits, and I found many fruits growing here that\nI had never seen before. I tasted several and found them good and\nwholesome. But one day I ate a lavender berry--as the Ork did--and\nimmediately I grew so small that I was scarcely two inches high. It was\na very unpleasant condition and like the Ork I became frightened. I\ncould not walk very well nor very far, for every lump of earth in my\nway seemed a mountain, every blade of grass a tree and every grain of\nsand a rocky boulder. For several days I stumbled around in an agony of\nfear. Once a tree toad nearly gobbled me up, and if I ran out from the\nshelter of the bushes the gulls and cormorants swooped down upon me.\nFinally I decided to eat another berry and become nothing at all, since\nlife, to one as small as I was, had become a dreary nightmare.\n\n\"At last I found a small tree that I thought bore the same fruit as\nthat I had eaten. The berry was dark purple instead of light lavender,\nbut otherwise it was quite similar. Being unable to climb the tree, I\nwas obliged to wait underneath it until a sharp breeze arose and shook\nthe limbs so that a berry fell. Instantly I seized it and taking a last\nview of the world--as I then thought--I ate the berry in a twinkling.\nThen, to my surprise, I began to grow big again, until I became of my\nformer stature, and so I have since remained. Needless to say, I have\nnever eaten again of the lavender fruit, nor do any of the beasts or\nbirds that live upon this island eat it.\"\n\nThey had all three listened eagerly to this amazing tale, and when it\nwas finished the Ork exclaimed:\n\n\"Do you think, then, that the deep purple berry is the antidote for the\nlavender one?\"\n\n\"I'm sure of it,\" answered Pessim.\n\n\"Then lead me to the tree at once!\" begged the Ork, \"for this tiny form\nI now have terrifies me greatly.\"\n\nPessim examined the Ork closely\n\n\"You are ugly enough as you are,\" said he. \"Were you any larger you\nmight be dangerous.\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" Trot assured him; \"the Ork has been our good friend. Please\ntake us to the tree.\"\n\nThen Pessim consented, although rather reluctantly. He led them to the\nright, which was the east side of the island, and in a few minutes\nbrought them near to the edge of the grove which faced the shore of the\nocean. Here stood a small tree bearing berries of a deep purple color.\nThe fruit looked very enticing and Cap'n Bill reached up and selected\none that seemed especially plump and ripe.\n\nThe Ork had remained perched upon Trot's shoulder but now it flew down\nto the ground. It was so difficult for Cap'n Bill to kneel down, with\nhis wooden leg, that the little girl took the berry from him and held\nit close to the Ork's head.\n\n\"It's too big to go into my mouth,\" said the little creature, looking\nat the fruit sidewise.\n\n\"You'll have to make sev'ral mouthfuls of it, I guess,\" said Trot; and\nthat is what the Ork did. He pecked at the soft, ripe fruit with his\nbill and ate it up very quickly, because it was good.\n\nEven before he had finished the berry they could see the Ork begin to\ngrow. In a few minutes he had regained his natural size and was\nstrutting before them, quite delighted with his transformation.\n\n\"Well, well! What do you think of me now?\" he asked proudly.\n\n\"You are very skinny and remarkably ugly,\" declared Pessim.\n\n\"You are a poor judge of Orks,\" was the reply. \"Anyone can see that I'm\nmuch handsomer than those dreadful things called birds, which are all\nfluff and feathers.\"\n\n\"Their feathers make soft beds,\" asserted Pessim. \"And my skin would\nmake excellent drumheads,\" retorted the Ork. \"Nevertheless, a plucked\nbird or a skinned Ork would be of no value to himself, so we needn't\nbrag of our usefulness after we are dead. But for the sake of argument,\nfriend Pessim, I'd like to know what good you would be, were you not\nalive?\"\n\n\"Never mind that,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"He isn't much good as he is.\"\n\n\"I am King of this Island, allow me to say, and you're intruding on my\nproperty,\" declared the little man, scowling upon them. \"If you don't\nlike me--and I'm sure you don't, for no one else does--why don't you go\naway and leave me to myself?\"\n\n\"Well, the Ork can fly, but we can't,\" explained Trot, in answer. \"We\ndon't want to stay here a bit, but I don't see how we can get away.\"\n\n\"You can go back into the hole you came from.\"\n\nCap'n Bill shook his head; Trot shuddered at the thought; the Ork\nlaughed aloud.\n\n\"You may be King here,\" the creature said to Pessim, \"but we intend to\nrun this island to suit ourselves, for we are three and you are one,\nand the balance of power lies with us.\"\n\nThe little man made no reply to this, although as they walked back to\nthe shed his face wore its fiercest scowl. Cap'n Bill gathered a lot of\nleaves and, assisted by Trot, prepared two nice beds in opposite\ncorners of the shed. Pessim slept in a hammock which he swung between\ntwo trees.\n\nThey required no dishes, as all their food consisted of fruits and nuts\npicked from the trees; they made no fire, for the weather was warm and\nthere was nothing to cook; the shed had no furniture other than the\nrude stool which the little man was accustomed to sit upon. He called\nit his \"throne\" and they let him keep it.\n\nSo they lived upon the island for three days, and rested and ate to\ntheir hearts' content. Still, they were not at all happy in this life\nbecause of Pessim. He continually found fault with them, and all that\nthey did, and all their surroundings. He could see nothing good or\nadmirable in all the world and Trot soon came to understand why the\nlittle man's former neighbors had brought him to this island and left\nhim there, all alone, so he could not annoy anyone. It was their\nmisfortune that they had been led to this place by their adventures,\nfor often they would have preferred the company of a wild beast to that\nof Pessim.\n\nOn the fourth day a happy thought came to the Ork. They had all been\nracking their brains for a possible way to leave the island, and\ndiscussing this or that method, without finding a plan that was\npractical. Cap'n Bill had said he could make a raft of the trees, big\nenough to float them all, but he had no tools except those two\npocketknives and it was not possible to chop down tree with such small\nblades.\n\n\"And s'pose we got afloat on the ocean,\" said Trot, \"where would we\ndrift to, and how long would it take us to get there?\"\n\nCap'n Bill was forced to admit he didn't know. The Ork could fly away\nfrom the island any time it wished to, but the queer creature was loyal\nto his new friends and refused to leave them in such a lonely, forsaken\nplace.\n\nIt was when Trot urged him to go, on this fourth morning, that the Ork\nhad his happy thought.\n\n\"I will go,\" said he, \"if you two will agree to ride upon my back.\"\n\n\"We are too heavy; you might drop us,\" objected Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Yes, you are rather heavy for a long journey,\" acknowledged the Ork,\n\"but you might eat of those lavender berries and become so small that I\ncould carry you with ease.\"\n\nThis quaint suggestion startled Trot and she looked gravely at the\nspeaker while she considered it, but Cap'n Bill gave a scornful snort\nand asked:\n\n\"What would become of us afterward? We wouldn't be much good if we were\nsome two or three inches high. No, Mr. Ork, I'd rather stay here, as I\nam, than be a hop-o'-my-thumb somewhere else.\"\n\n\"Why couldn't you take some of the dark purple berries along with you,\nto eat after we had reached our destination?\" inquired the Ork. \"Then\nyou could grow big again whenever you pleased.\"\n\nTrot clapped her hands with delight.\n\n\"That's it!\" she exclaimed. \"Let's do it, Cap'n Bill.\"\n\nThe old sailor did not like the idea at first, but he thought it over\ncarefully and the more he thought the better it seemed.\n\n\"How could you manage to carry us, if we were so small?\" he asked.\n\n\"I could put you in a paper bag, and tie the bag around my neck.\"\n\n\"But we haven't a paper bag,\" objected Trot.\n\nThe Ork looked at her.\n\n\"There's your sunbonnet,\" it said presently, \"which is hollow in the\nmiddle and has two strings that you could tie around my neck.\"\n\nTrot took off her sunbonnet and regarded it critically. Yes, it might\neasily hold both her and Cap'n Bill, after they had eaten the lavender\nberries and been reduced in size. She tied the strings around the Ork's\nneck and the sunbonnet made a bag in which two tiny people might ride\nwithout danger of falling out. So she said:\n\n\"I b'lieve we'll do it that way, Cap'n.\"\n\nCap'n Bill groaned but could make no logical objection except that the\nplan seemed to him quite dangerous--and dangerous in more ways than one.\n\n\"I think so, myself,\" said Trot soberly. \"But nobody can stay alive\nwithout getting into danger sometimes, and danger doesn't mean getting\nhurt, Cap'n; it only means we might get hurt. So I guess we'll have to\ntake the risk.\"\n\n\"Let's go and find the berries,\" said the Ork.\n\nThey said nothing to Pessim, who was sitting on his stool and scowling\ndismally as he stared at the ocean, but started at once to seek the\ntrees that bore the magic fruits. The Ork remembered very well where\nthe lavender berries grew and led his companions quickly to the spot.\n\nCap'n Bill gathered two berries and placed them carefully in his\npocket. Then they went around to the east side of the island and found\nthe tree that bore the dark purple berries.\n\n\"I guess I'll take four of these,\" said the sailor-man, \"so in case one\ndoesn't make us grow big we can eat another.\"\n\n\"Better take six,\" advised the Ork. \"It's well to be on the safe side,\nand I'm sure these trees grow nowhere else in all the world.\"\n\nSo Cap'n Bill gathered six of the purple berries and with their\nprecious fruit they returned to the shed to big good-bye to Pessim.\nPerhaps they would not have granted the surly little man this courtesy\nhad they not wished to use him to tie the sunbonnet around the Ork's\nneck.\n\nWhen Pessim learned they were about to leave him he at first looked\ngreatly pleased, but he suddenly recollected that nothing ought to\nplease him and so began to grumble about being left alone.\n\n\"We knew it wouldn't suit you,\" remarked Cap'n Bill. \"It didn't suit\nyou to have us here, and it won't suit you to have us go away.\"\n\n\"That is quite true,\" admitted Pessim. \"I haven't been suited since I\ncan remember; so it doesn't matter to me in the least whether you go or\nstay.\"\n\nHe was interested in their experiment, however, and willingly agreed to\nassist, although he prophesied they would fall out of the sunbonnet on\ntheir way and be either drowned in the ocean or crushed upon some rocky\nshore. This uncheerful prospect did not daunt Trot, but it made Cap'n\nBill quite nervous.\n\n\"I will eat my berry first,\" said Trot, as she placed her sunbonnet on\nthe ground, in such manner that they could get into it.\n\nThen she ate the lavender berry and in a few seconds became so small\nthat Cap'n Bill picked her up gently with his thumb and one finger and\nplaced her in the middle of the sunbonnet. Then he placed beside her\nthe six purple berries--each one being about as big as the tiny Trot's\nhead--and all preparations being now made the old sailor ate his\nlavender berry and became very small--wooden leg and all!\n\nCap'n Bill stumbled sadly in trying to climb over the edge of the\nsunbonnet and pitched in beside Trot headfirst, which caused the\nunhappy Pessim to laugh with glee. Then the King of the Island picked\nup the sunbonnet--so rudely that he shook its occupants like peas in a\npod--and tied it, by means of its strings, securely around the Ork's\nneck.\n\n\"I hope, Trot, you sewed those strings on tight,\" said Cap'n Bill\nanxiously.\n\n\"Why, we are not very heavy, you know,\" she replied, \"so I think the\nstitches will hold. But be careful and not crush the berries, Cap'n.\"\n\n\"One is jammed already,\" he said, looking at them.\n\n\"All ready?\" asked the Ork.\n\n\"Yes!\" they cried together, and Pessim came close to the sunbonnet and\ncalled out to them: \"You'll be smashed or drowned, I'm sure you will!\nBut farewell, and good riddance to you.\"\n\nThe Ork was provoked by this unkind speech, so he turned his tail\ntoward the little man and made it revolve so fast that the rush of air\ntumbled Pessim over backward and he rolled several times upon the\nground before he could stop himself and sit up. By that time the Ork\nwas high in the air and speeding swiftly over the ocean.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Six\n\nThe Flight of the Midgets\n\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot rode very comfortably in the sunbonnet.  The motion\nwas quite steady, for they weighed so little that the Ork flew without\neffort. Yet they were both somewhat nervous about their future fate and\ncould not help wishing they were safe on land and their natural size\nagain.\n\n\"You're terr'ble small, Trot,\" remarked Cap'n Bill, looking at his\ncompanion.\n\n\"Same to you, Cap'n,\" she said with a laugh; \"but as long as we have\nthe purple berries we needn't worry about our size.\"\n\n\"In a circus,\" mused the old man, \"we'd be curiosities. But in a\nsunbonnet--high up in the air--sailin' over a big, unknown ocean--they\nain't no word in any booktionary to describe us.\"\n\n\"Why, we're midgets, that's all,\" said the little girl. The Ork flew\nsilently for a long time. The slight swaying of the sunbonnet made\nCap'n Bill drowsy, and he began to doze. Trot, however, was wide awake,\nand after enduring the monotonous journey as long as she was able she\ncalled out:\n\n\"Don't you see land anywhere, Mr. Ork?\"\n\n\"Not yet,\" he answered. \"This is a big ocean and I've no idea in which\ndirection the nearest land to that island lies; but if I keep flying in\na straight line I'm sure to reach some place some time.\"\n\nThat seemed reasonable, so the little people in the sunbonnet remained\nas patient as possible; that is, Cap'n Bill dozed and Trot tried to\nremember her geography lessons so she could figure out what land they\nwere likely to arrive at.\n\nFor hours and hours the Ork flew steadily, keeping to the straight line\nand searching with his eyes the horizon of the ocean for land. Cap'n\nBill was fast asleep and snoring and Trot had laid her head on his\nshoulder to rest it when suddenly the Ork exclaimed:\n\n\"There! I've caught a glimpse of land, at last.\"\n\nAt this announcement they roused themselves. Cap'n Bill stood up and\ntried to peek over the edge of the sunbonnet.\n\n\"What does it look like?\" he inquired.\n\n\"Looks like another island,\" said the Ork; \"but I can judge it better\nin a minute or two.\"\n\n\"I don't care much for islands, since we visited that other one,\"\ndeclared Trot.\n\nSoon the Ork made another announcement.\n\n\"It is surely an island, and a little one, too,\" said he. \"But I won't\nstop, because I see a much bigger land straight ahead of it.\"\n\n\"That's right,\" approved Cap'n Bill. \"The bigger the land, the better\nit will suit us.\"\n\n\"It's almost a continent,\" continued the Ork after a brief silence,\nduring which he did not decrease the speed of his flight. \"I wonder if\nit can be Orkland, the place I have been seeking so long?\"\n\n\"I hope not,\" whispered Trot to Cap'n Bill--so softly that the Ork\ncould not hear her--\"for I shouldn't like to be in a country where only\nOrks live. This one Ork isn't a bad companion, but a lot of him\nwouldn't be much fun.\"\n\nAfter a few more minutes of flying the Ork called out in a sad voice:\n\n\"No! this is not my country. It's a place I have never seen before,\nalthough I have wandered far and wide. It seems to be all mountains and\ndeserts and green valleys and queer cities and lakes and rivers--mixed\nup in a very puzzling way.\"\n\n\"Most countries are like that,\" commented Cap'n Bill. \"Are you going to\nland?\"\n\n\"Pretty soon,\" was the reply. \"There is a mountain peak just ahead of\nme. What do you say to our landing on that?\"\n\n\"All right,\" agreed the sailor-man, for both he and Trot were getting\ntired of riding in the sunbonnet and longed to set foot on solid ground\nagain.\n\nSo in a few minutes the Ork slowed down his speed and then came to a\nstop so easily that they were scarcely jarred at all. Then the creature\nsquatted down until the sunbonnet rested on the ground, and began\ntrying to unfasten with its claws the knotted strings.\n\nThis proved a very clumsy task, because the strings were tied at the\nback of the Ork's neck, just where his claws would not easily reach.\nAfter much fumbling he said:\n\n\"I'm afraid I can't let you out, and there is no one near to help me.\"\n\nThis was at first discouraging, but after a little thought Cap'n Bill\nsaid:\n\n\"If you don't mind, Trot, I can cut a slit in your sunbonnet with my\nknife.\"\n\n\"Do,\" she replied. \"The slit won't matter, 'cause I can sew it up again\nafterward, when I am big.\"\n\nSo Cap'n Bill got out his knife, which was just as small, in\nproportion, as he was, and after considerable trouble managed to cut a\nlong slit in the sunbonnet. First he squeezed through the opening\nhimself and then helped Trot to get out.\n\nWhen they stood on firm ground again their first act was to begin\neating the dark purple berries which they had brought with them. Two of\nthese Trot had guarded carefully during the long journey, by holding\nthem in her lap, for their safety meant much to the tiny people.\n\n\"I'm not very hungry,\" said the little girl as she handed a berry to\nCap'n Bill, \"but hunger doesn't count, in this case. It's like taking\nmedicine to make you well, so we must manage to eat 'em, somehow or\nother.\"\n\nBut the berries proved quite pleasant to taste and as Cap'n Bill and\nTrot nibbled at their edges their forms began to grow in size--slowly\nbut steadily. The bigger they grew the easier it was for them to eat\nthe berries, which of course became smaller to them, and by the time\nthe fruit was eaten our friends had regained their natural size.\n\nThe little girl was greatly relieved when she found herself as large as\nshe had ever been, and Cap'n Bill shared her satisfaction; for,\nalthough they had seen the effect of the berries on the Ork, they had\nnot been sure the magic fruit would have the same effect on human\nbeings, or that the magic would work in any other country than that in\nwhich the berries grew.\n\n\"What shall we do with the other four berries?\" asked Trot, as she\npicked up her sunbonnet, marveling that she had ever been small enough\nto ride in it. \"They're no good to us now, are they, Cap'n?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure as to that,\" he replied. \"If they were eaten by one who\nhad never eaten the lavender berries, they might have no effect at all;\nbut then, contrarywise, they might. One of 'em has got badly jammed, so\nI'll throw it away, but the other three I b'lieve I'll carry with me.\nThey're magic things, you know, and may come handy to us some time.\"\n\nHe now searched in his big pockets and drew out a small wooden box with\na sliding cover.  The sailor had kept an assortment of nails, of\nvarious sizes, in this box, but those he now dumped loosely into his\npocket and in the box placed the three sound purple berries.\n\nWhen this important matter was attended to they found time to look\nabout them and see what sort of place the Ork had landed them in.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Seven\n\nThe Bumpy Man\n\n\nThe mountain on which they had alighted was not a barren waste, but had\non its sides patches of green grass, some bushes, a few slender trees\nand here and there masses of tumbled rocks. The sides of the slope\nseemed rather steep, but with care one could climb up or down them with\nease and safety. The view from where they now stood showed pleasant\nvalleys and fertile hills lying below the heights. Trot thought she saw\nsome houses of queer shapes scattered about the lower landscape, and\nthere were moving dots that might be people or animals, yet were too\nfar away for her to see them clearly.\n\nNot far from the place where they stood was the top of the mountain,\nwhich seemed to be flat, so the Ork proposed to his companions that he\nwould fly up and see what was there.\n\n\"That's a good idea,\" said Trot, \"'cause it's getting toward evening\nand we'll have to find a place to sleep.\"\n\nThe Ork had not been gone more than a few minutes when they saw him\nappear on the edge of the top which was nearest them.\n\n\"Come on up!\" he called.\n\nSo Trot and Cap'n Bill began to ascend the steep slope and it did not\ntake them long to reach the place where the Ork awaited them.\n\nTheir first view of the mountain top pleased them very much. It was a\nlevel space of wider extent than they had guessed and upon it grew\ngrass of a brilliant green color. In the very center stood a house\nbuilt of stone and very neatly constructed. No one was in sight, but\nsmoke was coming from the chimney, so with one accord all three began\nwalking toward the house.\n\n\"I wonder,\" said Trot, \"in what country we are, and if it's very far\nfrom my home in California.\"\n\n\"Can't say as to that, partner,\" answered Cap'n Bill, \"but I'm mighty\ncertain we've come a long way since we struck that whirlpool.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she agreed, with a sigh, \"it must be miles and miles!\"\n\n\"Distance means nothing,\" said the Ork. \"I have flown pretty much all\nover the world, trying to find my home, and it is astonishing how many\nlittle countries there are, hidden away in the cracks and corners of\nthis big globe of Earth. If one travels, he may find some new country\nat every turn, and a good many of them have never yet been put upon the\nmaps.\"\n\n\"P'raps this is one of them,\" suggested Trot.\n\nThey reached the house after a brisk walk and Cap'n Bill knocked upon\nthe door. It was at once opened by a rugged looking man who had \"bumps\nall over him,\" as Trot afterward declared. There were bumps on his\nhead, bumps on his body and bumps on his arms and legs and hands. Even\nhis fingers had bumps on the ends of them. For dress he wore an old\ngray suit of fantastic design, which fitted him very badly because of\nthe bumps it covered but could not conceal.\n\nBut the Bumpy Man's eyes were kind and twinkling in expression and as\nsoon as he saw his visitors he bowed low and said in a rather bumpy\nvoice:\n\n\"Happy day!  Come in and shut the door, for it grows cool when the sun\ngoes down. Winter is now upon us.\"\n\n\"Why, it isn't cold a bit, outside,\" said Trot, \"so it can't be winter\nyet.\"\n\n\"You will change your mind about that in a little while,\" declared the\nBumpy Man. \"My bumps always tell me the state of the weather, and they\nfeel just now as if a snowstorm was coming this way. But make\nyourselves at home, strangers. Supper is nearly ready and there is food\nenough for all.\"\n\nInside the house there was but one large room, simply but comfortably\nfurnished. It had benches, a table and a fireplace, all made of stone.\nOn the hearth a pot was bubbling and steaming, and Trot thought it had\na rather nice smell. The visitors seated themselves upon the\nbenches--except the Ork. which squatted by the fireplace--and the Bumpy\nMan began stirring the kettle briskly.\n\n\"May I ask what country this is, sir?\" inquired Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"Goodness me--fruit-cake and apple-sauce!--don't you know where you\nare?\" asked the Bumpy Man, as he stopped stirring and looked at the\nspeaker in surprise.\n\n\"No,\" admitted Cap'n Bill. \"We've just arrived.\"\n\n\"Lost your way?\" questioned the Bumpy Man.\n\n\"Not exactly,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"We didn't have any way to lose.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said the Bumpy Man, nodding his bumpy head. \"This,\" he announced,\nin a solemn, impressive voice, \"is the famous Land of Mo.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed the sailor and the girl, both in one breath. But, never\nhaving heard of the Land of Mo, they were no wiser than before.\n\n\"I thought that would startle you,\" remarked the Bumpy Man, well\npleased, as he resumed his stirring. The Ork watched him a while in\nsilence and then asked:\n\n\"Who may you be?\"\n\n\"Me?\" answered the Bumpy Man. \"Haven't you heard of me? Gingerbread and\nlemon-juice! I'm known, far and wide, as the Mountain Ear.\"\n\nThey all received this information in silence at first, for they were\ntrying to think what he could mean. Finally Trot mustered up courage to\nask:\n\n\"What is a Mountain Ear, please?\"\n\nFor answer the man turned around and faced them, waving the spoon with\nwhich he had been stirring the kettle, as he recited the following\nverses in a singsong tone of voice:\n\n  \"Here's a mountain, hard of hearing,\n  That's sad-hearted and needs cheering,\n  So my duty is to listen to all sounds that Nature makes,\n  So the hill won't get uneasy--\n  Get to coughing, or get sneezy--\n  For this monster bump, when frightened, is quite liable to quakes.\n\n  \"You can hear a bell that's ringing;\n  I can feel some people's singing;\n  But a mountain isn't sensible of what goes on, and so\n  When I hear a blizzard blowing\n  Or it's raining hard, or snowing,\n  I tell it to the mountain and the mountain seems to know.\n\n  \"Thus I benefit all people\n  While I'm living on this steeple,\n  For I keep the mountain steady so my neighbors all may thrive.\n  With my list'ning and my shouting\n  I prevent this mount from spouting,\n  And that makes me so important that I'm glad that I'm alive.\"\n\n\nWhen he had finished these lines of verse the Bumpy Man turned again to\nresume his stirring. The Ork laughed softly and Cap'n Bill whistled to\nhimself and Trot made up her mind that the Mountain Ear must be a\nlittle crazy. But the Bumpy Man seemed satisfied that he had explained\nhis position fully and presently he placed four stone plates upon the\ntable and then lifted the kettle from the fire and poured some of its\ncontents on each of the plates. Cap'n Bill and Trot at once approached\nthe table, for they were hungry, but when she examined her plate the\nlittle girl exclaimed:\n\n\"Why, it's molasses candy!\"\n\n\"To be sure,\" returned the Bumpy Man, with a pleasant smile. \"Eat it\nquick, while it's hot, for it cools very quickly this winter weather.\"\n\nWith this he seized a stone spoon and began putting the hot molasses\ncandy into his mouth, while the others watched him in astonishment.\n\n\"Doesn't it burn you?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"No indeed,\" said he. \"Why don't you eat? Aren't you hungry?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she replied, \"I am hungry. But we usually eat our candy when it\nis cold and hard. We always pull molasses candy before we eat it.\"\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha!\" laughed the Mountain Ear. \"What a funny idea! Where in\nthe world did you come from?\"\n\n\"California,\" she said.\n\n\"California! Pooh! there isn't any such place. I've heard of every\nplace in the Land of Mo, but I never before heard of California.\"\n\n\"It isn't in the Land of Mo,\" she explained.\n\n\"Then it isn't worth talking about,\" declared the Bumpy Man, helping\nhimself again from the steaming kettle, for he had been eating all the\ntime he talked.\n\n\"For my part,\" sighed Cap'n Bill, \"I'd like a decent square meal, once\nmore, just by way of variety. In the last place there was nothing but\nfruit to eat, and here it's worse, for there's nothing but candy.\"\n\n\"Molasses candy isn't so bad,\" said Trot. \"Mine's nearly cool enough to\npull, already. Wait a bit, Cap'n, and you can eat it.\"\n\nA little later she was able to gather the candy from the stone plate\nand begin to work it back and forth with her hands. The Mountain Ear\nwas greatly amazed at this and watched her closely. It was really good\ncandy and pulled beautifully, so that Trot was soon ready to cut it\ninto chunks for eating.\n\nCap'n Bill condescended to eat one or two pieces and the Ork ate\nseveral, but the Bumpy Man refused to try it. Trot finished the plate\nof candy herself and then asked for a drink of water.\n\n\"Water?\" said the Mountain Ear wonderingly. \"What is that?\"\n\n\"Something to drink. Don't you have water in Mo?\"\n\n\"None that ever I heard of,\" said he. \"But I can give you some fresh\nlemonade. I caught it in a jar the last time it rained, which was only\nday before yesterday.\"\n\n\"Oh, does it rain lemonade here?\" she inquired.\n\n\"Always; and it is very refreshing and healthful.\"\n\nWith this he brought from a cupboard a stone jar and a dipper, and the\ngirl found it very nice lemonade, indeed. Cap'n Bill liked it, too; but\nthe Ork would not touch it.\n\n\"If there is no water in this country, I cannot stay here for long,\"\nthe creature declared. \"Water means life to man and beast and bird.\"\n\n\"There must be water in lemonade,\" said Trot.\n\n\"Yes,\" answered the Ork, \"I suppose so; but there are other things in\nit, too, and they spoil the good water.\"\n\nThe day's adventures had made our wanderers tired, so the Bumpy Man\nbrought them some blankets in which they rolled themselves and then lay\ndown before the fire, which their host kept alive with fuel all through\nthe night. Trot wakened several times and found the Mountain Ear always\nalert and listening intently for the slightest sound. But the little\ngirl could hear no sound at all except the snores of Cap'n Bill.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Eight\n\nButton-Bright is Lost and Found Again\n\n\n\"Wake up--wake up!\" called the voice of the Bumpy Man. \"Didn't I tell\nyou winter was coming? I could hear it coming with my left ear, and the\nproof is that it is now snowing hard outside.\"\n\n\"Is it?\" said Trot, rubbing her eyes and creeping out of her blanket.\n\"Where I live, in California, I have never seen snow, except far away\non the tops of high mountains.\"\n\n\"Well, this is the top of a high mountain,\" returned the bumpy one,\n\"and for that reason we get our heaviest snowfalls right here.\"\n\nThe little girl went to  the window and looked out. The air was filled\nwith falling white flakes, so large in size and so queer in form that\nshe was puzzled.\n\n\"Are you certain this is snow?\" she asked.\n\n\"To be sure. I must get my snow-shovel and turn out to shovel a path.\nWould you like to come with me?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, and followed the Bumpy Man out when he opened the\ndoor. Then she exclaimed: \"Why, it isn't cold a bit!\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" replied the man. \"It was cold last night, before the\nsnowstorm; but snow, when it falls, is always crisp and warm.\"\n\nTrot gathered a handful of it.\n\n\"Why, it's popcorn?\" she cried.\n\n\"Certainly; all snow is popcorn. What did you expect it to be?\"\n\n\"Popcorn is not snow in my country.\"\n\n\"Well, it is the only snow we have in the Land of Mo, so you may as\nwell make the best of it,\" said he, a little impatiently. \"I'm not\nresponsible for the absurd things that happen in your country, and when\nyou're in Mo you must do as the Momen do. Eat some of our snow, and you\nwill find it is good. The only fault I find with our snow is that we\nget too much of it at times.\"\n\nWith this the Bumpy Man set to work shoveling a path and he was so\nquick and industrious that he piled up the popcorn in great banks on\neither side of the trail that led to the mountain-top from the plains\nbelow. While he worked, Trot ate popcorn and found it crisp and\nslightly warm, as well as nicely salted and buttered. Presently Cap'n\nBill came out of the house and joined her.\n\n\"What's this?\" he asked.\n\n\"Mo snow,\" said she. \"But it isn't real snow, although it falls from\nthe sky. It's popcorn.\"\n\nCap'n Bill tasted it; then he sat down in the path and began to eat.\nThe Ork came out and pecked away with its bill as fast as it could.\nThey all liked popcorn and they all were hungry this morning.\n\nMeantime the flakes of \"Mo snow\" came down so fast that the number of\nthem almost darkened the air. The Bumpy Man was now shoveling quite a\ndistance down the mountain-side, while the path behind him rapidly\nfilled up with fresh-fallen popcorn. Suddenly Trot heard him call out:\n\n\"Goodness gracious--mince pie and pancakes!--here is some one buried in\nthe snow.\"\n\nShe ran toward him at once and the others followed, wading through the\ncorn and crunching it underneath their feet. The Mo snow was pretty\ndeep where the Bumpy Man was shoveling and from beneath a great bank of\nit he had uncovered a pair of feet.\n\n\"Dear me!  Someone has been lost in the storm,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"I\nhope he is still alive. Let's pull him out and see.\"\n\nHe took hold of one foot and the Bumpy Man took hold of the other. Then\nthey both pulled and out from the heap of popcorn came a little boy. He\nwas dressed in a brown velvet jacket and knickerbockers, with brown\nstockings, buckled shoes and a blue shirt-waist that had frills down\nits front. When drawn from the heap the boy was chewing a mouthful of\npopcorn and both his hands were full of it. So at first he couldn't\nspeak to his rescuers but lay quite still and eyed them calmly until he\nhad swallowed his mouthful. Then he said:\n\n\"Get my cap,\" and stuffed more popcorn into his mouth.\n\nWhile the Bumpy Man began shoveling into the corn-bank to find the\nboy's cap, Trot was laughing joyfully and Cap'n Bill had a broad grin\non his face. The Ork looked from one to another and asked:\n\n\"Who is this stranger?\"\n\n\"Why, it's Button-Bright, of course,\" answered Trot. \"If anyone ever\nfinds a lost boy, he can make up his mind it's Button-Bright. But how\nhe ever came to be lost in this far-away country is more'n I can make\nout.\"\n\n\"Where does he belong?\" inquired the Ork.\n\n\"His home used to be in Philadelphia, I think; but I'm quite sure\nButton-Bright doesn't belong anywhere.\"\n\n\"That's right,\" said the boy, nodding his head as he swallowed the\nsecond mouthful.\n\n\"Everyone belongs somewhere,\" remarked the Ork.\n\n\"Not me,\" insisted Button-Bright. \"I'm half way round the world from\nPhiladelphia, and I've lost my Magic Umbrella, that used to carry me\nanywhere. Stands to reason that if I can't get back I haven't any home.\nBut I don't care much. This is a pretty good country, Trot. I've had\nlots of fun here.\"\n\nBy this time the Mountain Ear had secured the boy's cap and was\nlistening to the conversation with much interest.\n\n\"It seems you know this poor, snow-covered cast-away,\" he said.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" answered Trot.  \"We made a journey together to Sky\nIsland, once, and were good friends.\"\n\n\"Well, then I'm glad I saved his life,\" said the Bumpy Man.\n\n\"Much obliged, Mr. Knobs,\" said Button-Bright, sitting up and staring\nat him, \"but I don't believe you've saved anything except some popcorn\nthat I might have eaten had you not disturbed me. It was nice and warm\nin that bank of popcorn, and there was plenty to eat. What made you dig\nme out? And what makes you so bumpy everywhere?\"\n\n\"As for the bumps,\" replied the man, looking at himself with much\npride, \"I was born with them and I suspect they were a gift from the\nfairies. They make me look rugged and big, like the mountain I serve.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Button-Bright and began eating popcorn again.\n\nIt had stopped snowing, now, and great flocks of birds were gathering\naround the mountain-side, eating the popcorn with much eagerness and\nscarcely noticing the people at all. There were birds of every size and\ncolor, most of them having gorgeous feathers and plumes.\n\n\"Just look at them!\" exclaimed the Ork scornfully. \"Aren't they\ndreadful creatures, all covered with feathers?\"\n\n\"I think they're beautiful,\" said Trot, and this made the Ork so\nindignant that he went back into the house and sulked.\n\nButton-Bright reached out his hand and caught a big bird by the leg. At\nonce it rose into the air and it was so strong that it nearly carried\nthe little boy with it. He let go the leg in a hurry and the bird flew\ndown again and began to eat of the popcorn, not being frightened in the\nleast.\n\nThis gave Cap'n Bill an idea. He felt in his pocket and drew out\nseveral pieces of stout string. Moving very quietly, so as to not alarm\nthe birds, he crept up to several of the biggest ones and tied cords\naround their legs, thus making them prisoners.  The birds were so\nintent on their eating that they did not notice what had happened to\nthem, and when about twenty had been captured in this manner Cap'n Bill\ntied the ends of all the strings together and fastened them to a huge\nstone, so they could not escape.\n\nThe Bumpy Man watched the old sailor's actions with much curiosity.\n\n\"The birds will be quiet until they've eaten up all the snow,\" he said,\n\"but then they will want to fly away to their homes. Tell me, sir, what\nwill the poor things do when they find they can't fly?\"\n\n\"It may worry 'em a little,\" replied Cap'n Bill, \"but they're not going\nto be hurt if they take it easy and behave themselves.\"\n\nOur friends had all made a good breakfast of the delicious popcorn and\nnow they walked toward the house again. Button-Bright walked beside\nTrot and held her hand in his, because they were old friends and he\nliked the little girl very much. The boy was not so old as Trot, and\nsmall as she was he was half a head shorter in height. The most\nremarkable thing about Button-Bright was that he was always quiet and\ncomposed, whatever happened, and nothing was ever able to astonish him.\nTrot liked him because he was not rude and never tried to plague her.\nCap'n Bill liked him because he had found the boy cheerful and brave at\nall times, and willing to do anything he was asked to do.\n\nWhen they came to the house Trot sniffed the air and asked \"Don't I\nsmell perfume?\"\n\n\"I think you do,\" said the Bumpy Man. \"You smell violets, and that\nproves there is a breeze springing up from the south. All our winds and\nbreezes are perfumed and for that reason we are glad to have them blow\nin our direction. The south breeze always has a violet odor; the north\nbreeze has the fragrance of wild roses; the east breeze is perfumed\nwith lilies-of-the-valley and the west wind with lilac blossoms. So we\nneed no weathervane to tell us which way the wind is blowing. We have\nonly to smell the perfume and it informs us at once.\"\n\nInside the house they found the Ork, and Button-Bright regarded the\nstrange, birdlike creature with curious interest. After examining it\nclosely for a time he asked:\n\n\"Which way does your tail whirl?\"\n\n\"Either way,\" said the Ork.\n\nButton-Bright put out his hand and tried to spin it.\n\n\"Don't do that!\" exclaimed the Ork.\n\n\"Why not?\" inquired the boy.\n\n\"Because it happens to be my tail, and I reserve the right to whirl it\nmyself,\" explained the Ork.\n\n\"Let's go out and fly somewhere,\" proposed Button-Bright. \"I want to\nsee how the tail works.\"\n\n\"Not now,\" said the Ork. \"I appreciate your interest in me, which I\nfully deserve; but I only fly when I am going somewhere, and if I got\nstarted I might not stop.\"\n\n\"That reminds me,\" remarked Cap'n Bill, \"to ask you, friend Ork, how we\nare going to get away from here?\"\n\n\"Get away!\" exclaimed the Bumpy Man. \"Why don't you stay here? You\nwon't find any nicer place than Mo.\"\n\n\"Have you been anywhere else, sir?\"\n\n\"No; I can't say that I have,\" admitted the Mountain Ear.\n\n\"Then permit me to say you're no judge,\" declared Cap'n Bill. \"But you\nhaven't answered my question, friend Ork. How are we to get away from\nthis mountain?\"\n\nThe Ork reflected a while before he answered.\n\n\"I might carry one of you--the boy or the girl--upon my back,\" said he,\n\"but three big people are more than I can manage, although I have\ncarried two of you for a short distance. You ought not to have eaten\nthose purple berries so soon.\"\n\n\"P'r'aps we did make a mistake,\" Cap'n Bill acknowledged.\n\n\"Or we might have brought some of those lavender berries with us,\ninstead of so many purple ones,\" suggested Trot regretfully.\n\nCap'n Bill made no reply to this statement, which showed he did not\nfully agree with the little girl; but he fell into deep thought, with\nwrinkled brows, and finally he said:\n\n\"If those purple berries would make anything grow bigger, whether it'd\neaten the lavender ones or not, I could find a way out of our troubles.\"\n\nThey did not understand this speech and looked at the old sailor as if\nexpecting him to explain what he meant. But just then a chorus of\nshrill cries rose from outside.\n\n\"Here! Let me go--let me go!\" the voices seemed to say. \"Why are we\ninsulted in this way? Mountain Ear, come and help us!\"\n\nTrot ran to the window and looked out.\n\n\"It's the birds you caught, Cap'n,\" she said. \"I didn't know they could\ntalk.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes; all the birds in Mo are educated to talk,\" said the Bumpy\nMan. Then he looked at Cap'n Bill uneasily and added: \"Won't you let\nthe poor things go?\"\n\n\"I'll see,\" replied the sailor, and walked out to where the birds were\nfluttering and complaining because the strings would not allow them to\nfly away.\n\n\"Listen to me!\" he cried, and at once they became still. \"We three\npeople who are strangers in your land want to go to some other country,\nand we want three of you birds to carry us there. We know we are asking\na great favor, but it's the only way we can think of--excep' walkin',\nan' I'm not much good at that because I've a wooden leg. Besides, Trot\nan' Button-Bright are too small to undertake a long and tiresome\njourney. Now, tell me: Which three of you birds will consent to carry\nus?\"\n\nThe birds looked at one another as if greatly astonished. Then one of\nthem replied: \"You must be crazy, old man. Not one of us is big enough\nto fly with even the smallest of your party.\"\n\n\"I'll fix the matter of size,\" promised Cap'n Bill. \"If three of you\nwill agree to carry us, I'll make you big an' strong enough to do it,\nso it won't worry you a bit.\"\n\nThe birds considered this gravely.  Living in a magic country, they had\nno doubt but that the strange one-legged man could do what he said.\nAfter a little, one of them asked:\n\n\"If you make us big, would we stay big always?\"\n\n\"I think so,\" replied Cap'n Bill.\n\nThey chattered a while among themselves and then the bird that had\nfirst spoken said: \"I'll go, for one.\"\n\n\"So will I,\" said another; and after a pause a third said: \"I'll go,\ntoo.\"\n\nPerhaps more would have volunteered, for it seemed that for some reason\nthey all longed to be bigger than they were; but three were enough for\nCap'n Bill's purpose and so he promptly released all the others, who\nimmediately flew away.\n\nThe three that remained were cousins, and all were of the same\nbrilliant plumage and in size about as large as eagles. When Trot\nquestioned them she found they were quite young, having only abandoned\ntheir nests a few weeks before. They were strong young birds, with\nclear, brave eyes, and the little girl decided they were the most\nbeautiful of all the feathered creatures she had ever seen.\n\nCap'n Bill now took from his pocket the wooden box with the sliding\ncover and removed the three purple berries, which were still in good\ncondition.\n\n\"Eat these,\" he said, and gave one to each of the birds. They obeyed,\nfinding the fruit very pleasant to taste. In a few seconds they began\nto grow in size and grew so fast that Trot feared they would never\nstop. But they finally did stop growing, and then they were much larger\nthan the Ork, and nearly the size of full-grown ostriches.\n\nCap'n Bill was much pleased by this result.\n\n\"You can carry us now, all right,\" said he.\n\nThe birds strutted around with pride, highly pleased with their immense\nsize.\n\n\"I don't see, though,\" said Trot doubtfully, \"how we're going to ride\non their backs without falling off.\"\n\n\"We're not going to ride on their backs,\" answered Cap'n Bill. \"I'm\ngoing to make swings for us to ride in.\"\n\nHe then asked the Bumpy Man for some rope, but the man had no rope. He\nhad, however, an old suit of gray clothes which he gladly presented to\nCap'n Bill, who cut the cloth into strips and twisted it so that it was\nalmost as strong as rope. With this material he attached to each bird a\nswing that dangled below its feet, and Button-Bright made a trial\nflight in one of them to prove that it was safe and comfortable. When\nall this had been arranged one of the birds asked:\n\n\"Where do you wish us to take you?\"\n\n\"Why, just follow the Ork,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"He will be our leader,\nand wherever the Ork flies you are to fly, and wherever the Ork lands\nyou are to land. Is that satisfactory?\"\n\nThe birds declared it was quite satisfactory, so Cap'n Bill took\ncounsel with the Ork.\n\n\"On our way here,\" said that peculiar creature, \"I noticed a broad,\nsandy desert at the left of me, on which was no living thing.\"\n\n\"Then we'd better keep away from it,\" replied the sailor.\n\n\"Not so,\" insisted the Ork. \"I have found, on my travels, that the most\npleasant countries often lie in the midst of deserts; so I think it\nwould be wise for us to fly over this desert and discover what lies\nbeyond it. For in the direction we came from lies the ocean, as we well\nknow, and beyond here is this strange Land of Mo, which we do not care\nto explore. On one side, as we can see from this mountain, is a broad\nexpanse of plain, and on the other the desert.  For my part, I vote for\nthe desert.\"\n\n\"What do you say, Trot?\" inquired Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"It's all the same to me,\" she replied.\n\nNo one thought of asking Button-Bright's opinion, so it was decided to\nfly over the desert. They bade good-bye to the Bumpy Man and thanked\nhim for his kindness and hospitality. Then they seated themselves in\nthe swings--one for each bird--and told the Ork to start away and they\nwould follow.\n\nThe whirl of the Ork's tail astonished the birds at first, but after he\nhad gone a short distance they rose in the air, carrying their\npassengers easily, and flew with strong, regular strokes of their great\nwings in the wake of their leader.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Nine\n\nThe Kingdom of Jinxland\n\n\nTrot rode with more comfort than she had expected, although the swing\nswayed so much that she had to hold on tight with both hands. Cap'n\nBill's bird followed the Ork, and Trot came next, with Button-Bright\ntrailing behind her. It was quite an imposing procession, but\nunfortunately there was no one to see it, for the Ork had headed\nstraight for the great sandy desert and in a few minutes after starting\nthey were flying high over the broad waste, where no living thing could\nexist.\n\nThe little girl thought this would be a bad place for the birds to lose\nstrength, or for the cloth ropes to give way; but although she could\nnot help feeling a trifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the\nhuge and brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well as in Cap'n\nBill's knowledge of how to twist and fasten a rope so it would hold.\n\nThat was a remarkably big desert. There was nothing to relieve the\nmonotony of view and every minute seemed an hour and every hour a day.\nDisagreeable fumes and gases rose from the sands, which would have been\ndeadly to the travelers had they not been so high in the air. As it\nwas, Trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath of fresher air\nfilled her nostrils and on looking ahead she saw a great cloud of\npink-tinted mist. Even while she wondered what it could be, the Ork\nplunged boldly into the mist and the other birds followed. She could\nsee nothing for a time, nor could the bird which carried her see where\nthe Ork had gone, but it kept flying as sturdily as ever and in a few\nmoments the mist was passed and the girl saw a most beautiful landscape\nspread out below her, extending as far as her eye could reach.\n\nShe saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fields of waving grain,\nfountains, rivers and lakes; and throughout the scene were scattered\ngroups of pretty houses and a few grand castles and palaces.\n\nOver all this delightful landscape--which from Trot's high perch seemed\nlike a magnificent painted picture--was a rosy glow such as we\nsometimes see in the west at sunset. In this case, however, it was not\nin the west only, but everywhere.\n\nNo wonder the Ork paused to circle slowly over this lovely country. The\nother birds followed his action, all eyeing the place with equal\ndelight. Then, as with one accord, the four formed a group and slowly\nsailed downward. This brought them to that part of the newly-discovered\nland which bordered on the desert's edge; but it was just as pretty\nhere as anywhere, so the Ork and the birds alighted and the three\npassengers at once got out of their swings.\n\n\"Oh, Cap'n Bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?\" exclaimed Trot\nrapturously. \"How lucky we were to discover this beautiful country!\"\n\n\"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit, Trot,\" replied the\nold sailor-man, looking around him, \"but we don't know, as yet, what\nits people are like.\"\n\n\"No one could live in such a country without being happy and good--I'm\nsure of that,\" she said earnestly. \"Don't you think so, Button-Bright?\"\n\n\"I'm not thinking, just now,\" answered the little boy. \"It tires me to\nthink, and I never seem to gain anything by it. When we see the people\nwho live here we will know what they are like, and no 'mount of\nthinking will make them any different.\"\n\n\"That's true enough,\" said the Ork. \"But now I want to make a proposal.\nWhile you are getting acquainted with this new country, which looks as\nif it contains everything to make one happy, I would like to fly\nalong--all by myself--and see if I can find my home on the other side\nof the great desert. If I do, I will stay there, of course. But if I\nfail to find Orkland I will return to you in a week, to see if I can do\nanything more to assist you.\"\n\nThey were sorry to lose their queer companion, but could offer no\nobjection to the plan; so the Ork bade them good-bye and rising swiftly\nin the air, he flew over the country and was soon lost to view in the\ndistance.\n\nThe three birds which had carried our friends now begged permission to\nreturn by the way they had come, to their own homes, saying they were\nanxious to show their families how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill\nand Trot and Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for their\nassistance and soon the birds began their long flight toward the Land\nof Mo. Being now left to themselves in this strange land, the three\ncomrades selected a pretty pathway and began walking along it. They\nbelieved this path would lead them to a splendid castle which they\nespied in the distance, the turrets of which towered far above the tops\nof the trees which surrounded it. It did not seem very far away, so\nthey sauntered on slowly, admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that\nlined the pathway and listening to the singing of the birds and the\nsoft chirping of the grasshoppers.\n\nPresently the path wound over a little hill. In a valley that lay\nbeyond the hill was a tiny cottage surrounded by flower beds and fruit\ntrees. On the shady porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached,\na pleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children, to whom she\nwas telling stories. The children quickly discovered the strangers and\nran toward them with exclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and her\nfriends became the center of a curious group, all chattering excitedly.\nCap'n Bill's wooden leg seemed to arouse the wonder of the children, as\nthey could not understand why he had not two meat legs. This attention\nseemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of the children\nkindly and then, raising his hat to the woman, he inquired:\n\n\"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?\"\n\nShe stared hard at all three of the strangers as she replied briefly:\n\"Jinxland.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. \"And where is\nJinxland, please?\"\n\n\"In the Quadling Country,\" said she.\n\n\"What!\" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. \"Do you mean to say this is\nthe Quadling Country of the Land of Oz?\"\n\n\"To be sure I do,\" the woman answered. \"Every bit of land that is\nsurrounded by the great desert is the Land of Oz, as you ought to know\nas well as I do; but I'm sorry to say that Jinxland is separated from\nthe rest of the Quadling Country by that row of high mountains you see\nyonder, which have such steep sides that no one can cross them. So we\nlive here all by ourselves, and are ruled by our own King, instead of\nby Ozma of Oz.\"\n\n\"I've been to the Land of Oz before,\" said Button-Bright, \"but I've\nnever been here.\"\n\n\"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"No,\" said Button-Bright.\n\n\"It is on the Map of Oz, though,\" asserted the woman, \"and it's a fine\ncountry, I assure you. If only,\" she added, and then paused to look\naround her with a frightened expression. \"If only--\" here she stopped\nagain, as if not daring to go on with her speech.\n\n\"If only what, ma'am?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\nThe woman sent the children into the house. Then she came closer to the\nstrangers and whispered: \"If only we had a different King, we would be\nvery happy and contented.\"\n\n\"What's the matter with your King?\" asked Trot, curiously. But the\nwoman seemed frightened to have said so much. She retreated to her\nporch, merely saying:\n\n\"The King punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects.\"\n\n\"What's treason?\" asked Button-Bright.\n\n\"In this case,\" replied Cap'n Bill, \"treason seems to consist of\nknockin' the King; but I guess we know his disposition now as well as\nif the lady had said more.\"\n\n\"I wonder,\" said Trot, going up to the woman, \"if you could spare us\nsomething to eat. We haven't had anything but popcorn and lemonade for\na long time.\"\n\n\"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you some food,\" the woman\nanswered, and entering her cottage she soon returned with a tray loaded\nwith sandwiches, cakes and cheese. One of the children drew a bucket of\nclear, cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate heartily\nand enjoyed the good things immensely.\n\nWhen Button-Bright could eat no more he filled the pockets of his\njacket with cakes and cheese, and not even the children objected to\nthis. Indeed they all seemed pleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n\nBill decided that no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, the\npeople would prove friendly and hospitable.\n\n\"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?\" he asked, waving his hand toward\nthe towers that rose above the trees.\n\n\"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl.\" she said.\n\n\"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?\"\n\n\"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers and war\ncaptains,\" she replied.\n\n\"Is he hunting now?\" Trot inquired.\n\n\"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about the King's actions the\nsafer we are.\"\n\nIt was evident the woman did not like to talk about King Krewl and so,\nhaving finished their meal, they said good-bye and continued along the\npathway.\n\n\"Don't you think we'd better keep away from that King's castle, Cap'n?\"\nasked Trot.\n\n\"Well,\" said he, \"King Krewl would find out, sooner or later, that we\nare in his country, so we may as well face the music now. Perhaps he\nisn't quite so bad as that woman thinks he is. Kings aren't always\npopular with their people, you know, even if they do the best they know\nhow.\"\n\n\"Ozma is pop'lar,\" said Button-Bright.\n\n\"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I've heard,\" remarked\nTrot musingly, as she walked beside the boy. \"And, after all, we are\nreally in the Land of Oz, where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybody\nelse. I never heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,\nButton-Bright?\"\n\n\"Not when she knows about it,\" he replied. \"But those birds landed us\nin just the wrong place, seems to me. They might have carried us right\non, over that row of mountains, to the Em'rald City.\"\n\n\"True enough,\" said Cap'n Bill; \"but they didn't, an' so we must make\nthe best of Jinxland. Let's try not to be afraid.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm not very scared,\" said Button-Bright, pausing to look at a\npink rabbit that popped its head out of a hole in the field near by.\n\n\"Nor am I,\" added Trot. \"Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad to be anywhere at\nall in the wonderful fairyland of Oz that I think I'm the luckiest girl\nin all the world. Dorothy lives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so\ndoes the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the Shaggy\nMan--and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so much about--not to\nmention Ozma, who must be the sweetest and loveliest girl in all the\nworld!\"\n\n\"Take your time, Trot,\" advised Button-Bright. \"You don't have to say\nit all in one breath, you know. And you haven't mentioned half of the\ncurious people in the Em'rald City.\"\n\n\"That 'ere Em'rald City,\" said Cap'n Bill impressively, \"happens to be\non the other side o' those mountains, that we're told no one is able to\ncross. I don't want to discourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most as\nmuch separated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when we lived in\nCaliforny.\"\n\nThere was so much truth in this statement that they all walked on in\nsilence for some time. Finally they reached the grove of stately trees\nthat bordered the grounds of the King's castle. They had gone halfway\nthrough it when the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,\nreached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Ten\n\nPon, the Gardener's Boy\n\n\nIt was Button-Bright who first discovered, lying on his face beneath a\nbroad spreading tree near the pathway, a young man whose body shook\nwith the force of his sobs. He was dressed in a long brown smock and\nhad sandals on his feet, betokening one in humble life. His head was\nbare and showed a shock of brown, curly hair. Button-Bright looked down\non the young man and said:\n\n\"Who cares, anyhow?\"\n\n\"I do!\" cried the young man, interrupting his sobs to roll over, face\nupward, that he might see who had spoken. \"I care, for my heart is\nbroken!\"\n\n\"Can't you get another one?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"I don't want another!\" wailed the young man.\n\nBy this time Trot and Cap'n Bill arrived at the spot and the girl\nleaned over and said in a sympathetic voice:\n\n\"Tell us your troubles and perhaps we may help you.\"\n\nThe youth sat up, then, and bowed politely. Afterward he got upon his\nfeet, but still kept wringing his hands as he tried to choke down his\nsobs. Trot thought he was very brave to control such awful agony so\nwell.\n\n\"My name is Pon,\" he began. \"I'm the gardener's boy.\"\n\n\"Then the gardener of the King is your father, I suppose,\" said Trot.\n\n\"Not my father, but my master,\" was the reply\n\n\"I do the work and the gardener gives the orders. And it was not my\nfault, in the least, that the Princess Gloria fell in love with me.\"\n\n\"Did she, really?\" asked the little girl.\n\n\"I don't see why,\" remarked Button-Bright, staring at the youth.\n\n\"And who may the Princess Gloria be?\" inquired Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"She is the niece of King Krewl, who is her guardian. The Princess\nlives in the castle and is the loveliest and sweetest maiden in all\nJinxland. She is fond of flowers and used to walk in the gardens with\nher attendants. At such times, if I was working at my tasks, I used to\ncast down my eyes as Gloria passed me; but one day I glanced up and\nfound her gazing at me with a very tender look in her eyes. The next\nday she dismissed her attendants and, coming to my side, began to talk\nwith me. She said I had touched her heart as no other young man had\never done. I kissed her hand. Just then the King came around a bend in\nthe walk. He struck me with his fist and kicked me with his foot. Then\nhe seized the arm of the Princess and rudely dragged her into the\ncastle.\"\n\n\"Wasn't he awful!\" gasped Trot indignantly.\n\n\"He is a very abrupt King,\" said Pon, \"so it was the least I could\nexpect. Up to that time I had not thought of loving Princess Gloria,\nbut realizing it would be impolite not to return her love, I did so. We\nmet at evening, now and then, and she told me the King wanted her to\nmarry a rich courtier named Googly-Goo, who is old enough to be\nGloria's father. She has refused Googly-Goo thirty-nine times, but he\nstill persists and has brought many rich presents to bribe the King. On\nthat account King Krewl has commanded his niece to marry the old man,\nbut the Princess has assured me, time and again, that she will wed only\nme. This morning we happened to meet in the grape arbor and as I was\nrespectfully saluting the cheek of the Princess, two of the King's\nguards seized me and beat me terribly before the very eyes of Gloria,\nwhom the King himself held back so she could not interfere.\"\n\n\"Why, this King must be a monster!\" cried Trot.\n\n\"He is far worse than that,\" said Pon, mournfully.\n\n\"But, see here,\" interrupted Cap'n Bill, who had listened carefully to\nPon. \"This King may not be so much to blame, after all. Kings are proud\nfolks, because they're so high an' mighty, an' it isn't reasonable for\na royal Princess to marry a common gardener's boy.\"\n\n\"It isn't right,\" declared Button-Bright. \"A Princess should marry a\nPrince.\"\n\n\"I'm not a common gardener's boy,\" protested Pon. \"If I had my rights I\nwould be the King instead of Krewl. As it is, I'm a Prince, and as\nroyal as any man in Jinxland.\"\n\n\"How does that come?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"My father used to be the King and Krewl was his Prime Minister. But\none day while out hunting, King Phearse--that was my father's name--had\na quarrel with Krewl and tapped him gently on the nose with the\nknuckles of his closed hand. This so provoked the wicked Krewl that he\ntripped my father backward, so that he fell into a deep pond. At once\nKrewl threw in a mass of heavy stones, which so weighted down my poor\nfather that his body could not rise again to the surface. It is\nimpossible to kill anyone in this land, as perhaps you know, but when\nmy father was pressed down into the mud at the bottom of the deep pool\nand the stones held him so he could never escape, he was of no more use\nto himself or the world than if he had died. Knowing this, Krewl\nproclaimed himself King, taking possession of the royal castle and\ndriving all my father's people out. I was a small boy, then, but when I\ngrew up I became a gardener. I have served King Krewl without his\nknowing that I am the son of the same King Phearse whom he so cruelly\nmade away with.\"\n\n\"My, but that's a terr'bly exciting story!\" said Trot, drawing a long\nbreath. \"But tell us, Pon, who was Gloria's father?\"\n\n\"Oh, he was the King before my father,\" replied Pon. \"Father was Prime\nMinister for King Kynd, who was Gloria's father. She was only a baby\nwhen King Kynd fell into the Great Gulf that lies just this side of the\nmountains--the same mountains that separate Jinxland from the rest of\nthe Land of Oz. It is said the Great Gulf has no bottom; but, however\nthat may be, King Kynd has never been seen again and my father became\nKing in his place.\"\n\n\"Seems to me,\" said Trot, \"that if Gloria had her rights she would be\nQueen of Jinxland.\"\n\n\"Well, her father was a King,\" admitted Pon, \"and so was my father; so\nwe are of equal rank, although she's a great lady and I'm a humble\ngardener's boy. I can't see why we should not marry if we want to\nexcept that King Krewl won't let us.\"\n\n\"It's a sort of mixed-up mess, taken altogether,\" remarked Cap'n Bill.\n\"But we are on our way to visit King Krewl, and if we get a chance,\nyoung man, we'll put in a good word for you.\"\n\n\"Do, please!\" begged Pon.\n\n\"Was it the flogging you got that broke your heart?\" inquired\nButton-Bright.\n\n\"Why, it helped to break it, of course,\" said Pon.\n\n\"I'd get it fixed up, if I were you,\" advised the boy, tossing a pebble\nat a chipmunk in a tree. \"You ought to give Gloria just as good a heart\nas she gives you.\"\n\n\"That's common sense,\" agreed Cap'n Bill. So they left the gardener's\nboy standing beside the path, and resumed their journey toward the\ncastle.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Eleven\n\nThe Wicked King and Googly-Goo\n\n\nWhen our friends approached the great doorway of the castle they found\nit guarded by several soldiers dressed in splendid uniforms. They were\narmed with swords and lances. Cap'n Bill walked straight up to them and\nasked:\n\n\"Does the King happen to be at home?\"\n\n\"His Magnificent and Glorious Majesty, King Krewl, is at present\ninhabiting his Royal Castle,\" was the stiff reply.\n\n\"Then I guess we'll go in an' say how-d'ye-do,\" continued Cap'n Bill,\nattempting to enter the doorway. But a soldier barred his way with a\nlance.\n\n\"Who are you, what are your names, and where do you come from?\"\ndemanded the soldier.\n\n\"You wouldn't know if we told you,\" returned the sailor, \"seein' as\nwe're strangers in a strange land.\"\n\n\"Oh, if you are strangers you will be permitted to enter,\" said the\nsoldier, lowering his lance. \"His Majesty is very fond of strangers.\"\n\n\"Do many strangers come here?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"You are the first that ever came to our country,\" said the man. \"But\nhis Majesty has often said that if strangers ever arrived in Jinxland\nhe would see that they had a very exciting time.\"\n\nCap'n Bill scratched his chin thoughtfully. He wasn't very favorably\nimpressed by this last remark. But he decided that as there was no way\nof escape from Jinxland it would be wise to confront the King boldly\nand try to win his favor. So they entered the castle, escorted by one\nof the soldiers.\n\nIt was certainly a fine castle, with many large rooms, all beautifully\nfurnished. The passages were winding and handsomely decorated, and\nafter following several of these the soldier led them into an open\ncourt that occupied the very center of the huge building. It was\nsurrounded on every side by high turreted walls, and contained beds of\nflowers, fountains and walks of many colored marbles which were matched\ntogether in quaint designs. In an open space near the middle of the\ncourt they saw a group of courtiers and their ladies, who surrounded a\nlean man who wore upon his head a jeweled crown. His face was hard and\nsullen and through the slits of his half-closed eyelids the eyes glowed\nlike coals of fire. He was dressed in brilliant satins and velvets and\nwas seated in a golden throne-chair.\n\nThis personage was King Krewl, and as soon as Cap'n Bill saw him the\nold sailor knew at once that he was not going to like the King of\nJinxland.\n\n\"Hello! who's here?\" said his Majesty, with a deep scowl.\n\n\"Strangers, Sire,\" answered the soldier, bowing so low that his\nforehead touched the marble tiles.\n\n\"Strangers, eh? Well, well; what an unexpected visit! Advance,\nstrangers, and give an account of yourselves.\"\n\nThe King's voice was as harsh as his features. Trot shuddered a little\nbut Cap'n Bill calmly replied:\n\n\"There ain't much for us to say, 'cept as we've arrived to look over\nyour country an' see how we like it. Judgin' from the way you speak,\nyou don't know who we are, or you'd be jumpin' up to shake hands an'\noffer us seats. Kings usually treat us pretty well, in the great big\nOutside World where we come from, but in this little kingdom--which\ndon't amount to much, anyhow--folks don't seem to 'a' got much\nculchure.\"\n\nThe King listened with amazement to this bold speech, first with a\nfrown and then gazing at the two children and the old sailor with\nevident curiosity. The courtiers were dumb with fear, for no one had\never dared speak in such a manner to their self-willed, cruel King\nbefore. His Majesty, however, was somewhat frightened, for cruel people\nare always cowards, and he feared these mysterious strangers might\npossess magic powers that would destroy him unless he treated them\nwell. So he commanded his people to give the new arrivals seats, and\nthey obeyed with trembling haste.\n\nAfter being seated, Cap'n Bill lighted his pipe and began puffing smoke\nfrom it, a sight so strange to them that it filled them all with\nwonder. Presently the King asked:\n\n\"How did you penetrate to this hidden country? Did you cross the desert\nor the mountains?\"\n\n\"Desert,\" answered Cap'n Bill, as if the task were too easy to be worth\ntalking about.\n\n\"Indeed! No one has ever been able to do that before,\" said the King.\n\n\"Well, it's easy enough, if you know how,\" asserted Cap'n Bill, so\ncarelessly that it greatly impressed his hearers. The King shifted in\nhis throne uneasily. He was more afraid of these strangers than before.\n\n\"Do you intend to stay long in Jinxland?\" was his next anxious question.\n\n\"Depends on how we like it,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"Just now I might suggest\nto your Majesty to order some rooms got ready for us in your dinky\nlittle castle here. And a royal banquet, with some fried onions an'\npickled tripe, would set easy on our stomicks an' make us a bit happier\nthan we are now.\"\n\n\"Your wishes shall be attended to,\" said King Krewl, but his eyes\nflashed from between their slits in a wicked way that made Trot hope\nthe food wouldn't be poisoned. At the King's command several of his\nattendants hastened away to give the proper orders to the castle\nservants and no sooner were they gone than a skinny old man entered the\ncourtyard and bowed before the King.\n\nThis disagreeable person was dressed in rich velvets, with many\nfurbelows and laces. He was covered with golden chains, finely wrought\nrings and jeweled ornaments. He walked with mincing steps and glared at\nall the courtiers as if he considered himself far superior to any or\nall of them.\n\n\"Well, well, your Majesty; what news--what news?\" he demanded, in a\nshrill, cracked voice.\n\nThe King gave him a surly look.\n\n\"No news, Lord Googly-Goo, except that strangers have arrived,\" he said.\n\nGoogly-Goo cast a contemptuous glance at Cap'n Bill and a disdainful\none at Trot and Button-Bright. Then he said:\n\n\"Strangers do not interest me, your Majesty. But the Princess Gloria is\nvery interesting--very interesting, indeed!  What does she say, Sire?\nWill she marry me?\"\n\n\"Ask her,\" retorted the King.\n\n\"I have, many times; and every time she has refused.\"\n\n\"Well?\" said the King harshly.\n\n\"Well,\" said Googly-Goo in a jaunty tone, \"a bird that can sing, and\nwon't sing, must be made to sing.\"\n\n\"Huh!\" sneered the King. \"That's easy, with a bird; but a girl is\nharder to manage.\"\n\n\"Still,\" persisted Googly-Goo, \"we must overcome difficulties. The\nchief trouble is that Gloria fancies she loves that miserable\ngardener's boy, Pon. Suppose we throw Pon into the Great Gulf, your\nMajesty?\"\n\n\"It would do you no good,\" returned the King. \"She would still love\nhim.\"\n\n\"Too bad, too bad!\" sighed Googly-Goo. \"I have laid aside more than a\nbushel of precious gems--each worth a king's ransom--to present to your\nMajesty on the day I wed Gloria.\"\n\nThe King's eyes sparkled, for he loved wealth above everything; but the\nnext moment he frowned deeply again.\n\n\"It won't help us to kill Pon,\" he muttered. \"What we must do is kill\nGloria's love for Pon.\"\n\n\"That is better, if you can find a way to do it,\" agreed Googly-Goo.\n\"Everything would come right if you could kill Gloria's love for that\ngardener's boy. Really, Sire, now that I come to think of it, there\nmust be fully a bushel and a half of those jewels!\"\n\nJust then a messenger entered the court to say that the banquet was\nprepared for the strangers. So Cap'n Bill, Trot and Button-Bright\nentered the castle and were taken to a room where a fine feast was\nspread upon the table.\n\n\"I don't like that Lord Googly-Goo,\" remarked Trot as she was busily\neating.\n\n\"Nor I,\" said Cap'n Bill. \"But from the talk we heard I guess the\ngardener's boy won't get the Princess.\"\n\n\"Perhaps not,\" returned the girl; \"but I hope old Googly doesn't get\nher, either.\"\n\n\"The King means to sell her for all those jewels,\" observed\nButton-Bright, his mouth half full of cake and jam.\n\n\"Poor Princess!\" sighed Trot. \"I'm sorry for her, although I've never\nseen her. But if she says no to Googly-Goo, and means it, what can they\ndo?\"\n\n\"Don't let us worry about a strange Princess,\" advised Cap'n Bill.\n\"I've a notion we're not too safe, ourselves, with this cruel King.\"\n\nThe two children felt the same way and all three were rather solemn\nduring the remainder of the meal.\n\nWhen they had eaten, the servants escorted them to their rooms. Cap'n\nBill's room was way to one end of the castle, very high up, and Trot's\nroom was at the opposite end, rather low down. As for Button-Bright,\nthey placed him in the middle, so that all were as far apart as they\ncould possibly be. They didn't like this arrangement very well, but all\nthe rooms were handsomely furnished and being guests of the King they\ndared not complain.\n\nAfter the strangers had left the courtyard the King and Googly-Goo had\na long talk together, and the King said:\n\n\"I cannot force Gloria to marry you just now, because those strangers\nmay interfere. I suspect that the wooden-legged man possesses great\nmagical powers, or he would never have been able to carry himself and\nthose children across the deadly desert.\"\n\n\"I don't like him; he looks dangerous,\" answered Googly-Goo. \"But\nperhaps you are mistaken about his being a wizard. Why don't you test\nhis powers?\"\n\n\"How?\" asked the King.\n\n\"Send for the Wicked Witch. She will tell you in a moment whether that\nwooden-legged person is a common man or a magician.\"\n\n\"Ha! that's a good idea,\" cried the King. \"Why didn't I think of the\nWicked Witch before? But the woman demands rich rewards for her\nservices.\"\n\n\"Never mind; I will pay her,\" promised the wealthy Googly-Goo.\n\nSo a servant was dispatched to summon the Wicked Witch, who lived but a\nfew leagues from King Krewl's castle. While they awaited her, the\nwithered old courtier proposed that they pay a visit to Princess Gloria\nand see if she was not now in a more complaisant mood. So the two\nstarted away together and searched the castle over without finding\nGloria.\n\nAt last Googly-Goo suggested she might be in the rear garden, which was\na large park filled with bushes and trees and surrounded by a high\nwall. And what was their anger, when they turned a corner of the path,\nto find in a quiet nook the beautiful Princess, and kneeling before\nher, Pon, the gardener's boy! With a roar of rage the King dashed\nforward; but Pon had scaled the wall by means of a ladder, which still\nstood in its place, and when he saw the King coming he ran up the\nladder and made good his escape. But this left Gloria confronted by her\nangry guardian, the King, and by old Googly-Goo, who was trembling with\na fury he could not express in words.\n\nSeizing the Princess by her arm the King dragged her back to the\ncastle. Pushing her into a room on the lower floor he locked the door\nupon the unhappy girl. And at that moment the arrival of the Wicked\nWitch was announced.\n\nHearing this, the King smiled, as a tiger smiles, showing his teeth.\nAnd Googly-Goo smiled, as a serpent smiles, for he had no teeth except\na couple of fangs. And having frightened each other with these smiles\nthe two dreadful men went away to the Royal Council Chamber to meet the\nWicked Witch.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twelve\n\nThe Wooden-Legged Grass-Hopper\n\n\nNow it so happened that Trot, from the window of her room, had\nwitnessed the meeting of the lovers in the garden and had seen the King\ncome and drag Gloria away. The little girl's heart went out in sympathy\nfor the poor Princess, who seemed to her to be one of the sweetest and\nloveliest young ladies she had ever seen, so she crept along the\npassages and from a hidden niche saw Gloria locked in her room.\n\nThe key was still in the lock, so when the King had gone away, followed\nby Googly-Goo, Trot stole up to the door, turned the key and entered.\nThe Princess lay prone upon a couch, sobbing bitterly. Trot went up to\nher and smoothed her hair and tried to comfort her.\n\n\"Don't cry,\" she said. \"I've unlocked the door, so you can go away any\ntime you want to.\"\n\n\"It isn't that,\" sobbed the Princess. \"I am unhappy because they will\nnot let me love Pon, the gardener's boy!\"\n\n\"Well, never mind; Pon isn't any great shakes, anyhow, seems to me,\"\nsaid Trot soothingly. \"There are lots of other people you can love.\"\n\nGloria rolled over on the couch and looked at the little girl\nreproachfully.\n\n\"Pon has won my heart, and I can't help loving him,\" she explained.\nThen with sudden indignation she added: \"But I'll never love\nGoogly-Goo--never, as long as I live!\"\n\n\"I should say not!\" replied Trot. \"Pon may not be much good, but old\nGoogly is very, very bad. Hunt around, and I'm sure you'll find someone\nworth your love. You're very pretty, you know, and almost anyone ought\nto love you.\"\n\n\"You don't understand, my dear,\" said Gloria, as she wiped the tears\nfrom her eyes with a dainty lace handkerchief bordered with pearls.\n\"When you are older you will realize that a young lady cannot decide\nwhom she will love, or choose the most worthy. Her heart alone decides\nfor her, and whomsoever her heart selects, she must love, whether he\namounts to much or not.\"\n\nTrot was a little puzzled by this speech, which seemed to her\nunreasonable; but she made no reply and presently Gloria's grief\nsoftened and she began to question the little girl about herself and\nher adventures. Trot told her how they had happened to come to\nJinxland, and all about Cap'n Bill and the Ork and Pessim and the Bumpy\nMan.\n\nWhile they were thus conversing together, getting more and more\nfriendly as they became better acquainted, in the Council Chamber the\nKing and Googly-Goo were talking with the Wicked Witch.\n\nThis evil creature was old and ugly. She had lost one eye and wore a\nblack patch over it, so the people of Jinxland had named her \"Blinkie.\"\nOf course witches are forbidden to exist in the Land of Oz, but\nJinxland was so far removed from the center of Ozma's dominions, and so\nabsolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the bottomless\ngulf, that the laws of Oz were not obeyed very well in that country. So\nthere were several witches in Jinxland who were the terror of the\npeople, but King Krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise\ntheir evil sorcery.\n\nBlinkie was the leader of all the other witches and therefore the most\nhated and feared. The King used her witchcraft at times to assist him\nin carrying out his cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to\npay Blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels before she\nwould undertake an enchantment. This made him hate the old woman almost\nas much as his subjects did, but to-day Lord Googly-Goo had agreed to\npay the witch's price, so the King greeted her with gracious favor.\n\n\"Can you destroy the love of Princess Gloria for the gardener's boy?\"\ninquired his Majesty.\n\nThe Wicked Witch thought about it before she replied:\n\n\"That's a hard question to answer. I can do lots of clever magic, but\nlove is a stubborn thing to conquer. When you think you've killed it,\nit's liable to bob up again as strong as ever. I believe love and cats\nhave nine lives. In other words, killing love is a hard job, even for a\nskillful witch, but I believe I can do something that will answer your\npurpose just as well.\"\n\n\"What is that?\" asked the King.\n\n\"I can freeze the girl's heart. I've got a special incantation for\nthat, and when Gloria's heart is thoroughly frozen she can no longer\nlove Pon.\"\n\n\"Just the thing!\" exclaimed Googly-Goo, and the King was likewise much\npleased.\n\nThey bargained a long time as to the price, but finally the old\ncourtier agreed to pay the Wicked Witch's demands. It was arranged that\nthey should take Gloria to Blinkie's house the next day, to have her\nheart frozen.\n\nThen King Krewl mentioned to the old hag the strangers who had that day\narrived in Jinxland, and said to her:\n\n\"I think the two children--the boy and the girl--are unable to harm me,\nbut I have a suspicion that the wooden-legged man is a powerful wizard.\"\n\nThe witch's face wore a troubled look when she heard this.\n\n\"If you are right,\" she said, \"this wizard might spoil my incantation\nand interfere with me in other ways. So it will be best for me to meet\nthis stranger at once and match my magic against his, to decide which\nis the stronger.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the King. \"Come with me and I will lead you to the\nman's room.\"\n\nGoogly-Goo did not accompany them, as he was obliged to go home to get\nthe money and jewels he had promised to pay old Blinkie, so the other\ntwo climbed several flights of stairs and went through many passages\nuntil they came to the room occupied by Cap'n Bill.\n\nThe sailor-man, finding his bed soft and inviting, and being tired with\nthe adventures he had experienced, had decided to take a nap. When the\nWicked Witch and the King softly opened his door and entered, Cap'n\nBill was snoring with such vigor that he did not hear them at all.\n\nBlinkie approached the bed and with her one eye anxiously stared at the\nsleeping stranger.\n\n\"Ah,\" she said in a soft whisper, \"I believe you are right, King Krewl.\nThe man looks to me like a very powerful wizard. But by good luck I\nhave caught him asleep, so I shall transform him before he wakes up,\ngiving him such a form that he will be unable to oppose me.\"\n\n\"Careful!\" cautioned the King, also speaking low. \"If he discovers what\nyou are doing he may destroy you, and that would annoy me because I\nneed you to attend to Gloria.\"\n\nBut the Wicked Witch realized as well as he did that she must be\ncareful. She carried over her arm a black bag, from which she now drew\nseveral packets carefully wrapped in paper. Three of these she\nselected, replacing the others in the bag. Two of the packets she mixed\ntogether, and then she cautiously opened the third.\n\n\"Better stand back, your Majesty,\" she advised, \"for if this powder\nfalls on you you might be transformed yourself.\"\n\nThe King hastily retreated to the end of the room. As Blinkie mixed the\nthird powder with the others she waved her hands over it, mumbled a few\nwords, and then backed away as quickly as she could.\n\nCap'n Bill was slumbering peacefully, all unconscious of what was going\non. Puff! A great cloud of smoke rolled over the bed and completely hid\nhim from view. When the smoke rolled away, both Blinkie and the King\nsaw that the body of the stranger had quite disappeared, while in his\nplace, crouching in the middle of the bed, was a little gray\ngrasshopper.\n\nOne curious thing about this grasshopper was that the last joint of its\nleft leg was made of wood. Another curious thing--considering it was a\ngrasshopper--was that it began talking, crying out in a tiny but sharp\nvoice:\n\n\"Here--you people! What do you mean by treating me so? Put me back\nwhere I belong, at once, or you'll be sorry!\"\n\nThe cruel King turned pale at hearing the grasshopper's threats, but\nthe Wicked Witch merely laughed in derision. Then she raised her stick\nand aimed a vicious blow at the grasshopper, but before the stick\nstruck the bed the tiny hopper made a marvelous jump--marvelous,\nindeed, when we consider that it had a wooden leg. It rose in the air\nand sailed across the room and passed right through the open window,\nwhere it disappeared from their view.\n\n\"Good!\" shouted the King. \"We are well rid of this desperate wizard.\"\nAnd then they both laughed heartily at the success of the incantation,\nand went away to complete their horrid plans.\n\nAfter Trot had visited a time with Princess Gloria, the little girl\nwent to Button-Bright's room but did not find him there. Then she went\nto Cap'n Bill's room, but he was not there because the witch and the\nKing had been there before her. So she made her way downstairs and\nquestioned the servants. They said they had seen the little boy go out\ninto the garden, some time ago, but the old man with the wooden leg\nthey had not seen at all.\n\nTherefore Trot, not knowing what else to do, rambled through the great\ngardens, seeking for Button-Bright or Cap'n Bill and not finding either\nof them. This part of the garden, which lay before the castle, was not\nwalled in, but extended to the roadway, and the paths were open to the\nedge of the forest; so, after two hours of vain search for her friends,\nthe little girl returned to the castle.\n\nBut at the doorway a soldier stopped her.\n\n\"I live here,\" said Trot, \"so it's all right to let me in. The King has\ngiven me a room.\"\n\n\"Well, he has taken it back again,\" was the soldier's reply. \"His\nMajesty's orders are to turn you away if you attempt to enter. I am\nalso ordered to forbid the boy, your companion, to again enter the\nKing's castle.\"\n\n\"How 'bout Cap'n Bill?\" she inquired.\n\n\"Why, it seems he has mysteriously disappeared,\" replied the soldier,\nshaking his head ominously. \"Where he has gone to, I can't make out,\nbut I can assure you he is no longer in this castle. I'm sorry, little\ngirl, to disappoint you. Don't blame me; I must obey my master's\norders.\"\n\nNow, all her life Trot had been accustomed to depend on Cap'n Bill, so\nwhen this good friend was suddenly taken from her she felt very\nmiserable and forlorn indeed. She was brave enough not to cry before\nthe soldier, or even to let him see her grief and anxiety, but after\nshe was turned away from the castle she sought a quiet bench in the\ngarden and for a time sobbed as if her heart would break.\n\nIt was Button-Bright who found her, at last, just as the sun had set\nand the shades of evening were falling. He also had been turned away\nfrom the King's castle, when he tried to enter it, and in the park he\ncame across Trot.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the boy. \"We can find a place to sleep.\"\n\n\"I want Cap'n Bill,\" wailed the girl.\n\n\"Well, so do I,\" was the reply. \"But we haven't got him. Where do you\ns'pose he is, Trot?\n\n\"I don't s'pose anything. He's gone, an' that's all I know 'bout it.\"\n\nButton-Bright sat on the bench beside her and thrust his hands in the\npockets of his knickerbockers. Then he reflected somewhat gravely for\nhim.\n\n\"Cap'n Bill isn't around here,\" he said, letting his eyes wander over\nthe dim garden, \"so we must go somewhere else if we want to find him.\nBesides, it's fast getting dark, and if we want to find a place to\nsleep we must get busy while we can see where to go.\"\n\nHe rose from the bench as he said this and Trot also jumped up, drying\nher eyes on her apron. Then she walked beside him out of the grounds of\nthe King's castle. They did not go by the main path, but passed through\nan opening in a hedge and found themselves in a small but well-worn\nroadway. Following this for some distance, along a winding way, they\ncame upon no house or building that would afford them refuge for the\nnight. It became so dark that they could scarcely see their way, and\nfinally Trot stopped and suggested that they camp under a tree.\n\n\"All right,\" said Button-Bright, \"I've often found that leaves make a\ngood warm blanket. But--look there, Trot!--isn't that a light flashing\nover yonder?\"\n\n\"It certainly is, Button-Bright. Let's go over and see if it's a house.\nWhoever lives there couldn't treat us worse than the King did.\"\n\nTo reach the light they had to leave the road, so they stumbled over\nhillocks and brushwood, hand in hand, keeping the tiny speck of light\nalways in sight.\n\nThey were rather forlorn little waifs, outcasts in a strange country\nand forsaken by their only friend and guardian, Cap'n Bill. So they\nwere very glad when finally they reached a small cottage and, looking\nin through its one window, saw Pon, the gardener's boy, sitting by a\nfire of twigs.\n\nAs Trot opened the door and walked boldly in, Pon sprang up to greet\nthem. They told him of Cap'n Bill's disappearance and how they had been\nturned out of the King's castle. As they finished the story Pon shook\nhis head sadly.\n\n\"King Krewl is plotting mischief, I fear,\" said he, \"for to-day he sent\nfor old Blinkie, the Wicked Witch, and with my own eyes I saw her come\nfrom the castle and hobble away toward her hut. She had been with the\nKing and Googly-Goo, and I was afraid they were going to work some\nenchantment on Gloria so she would no longer love me. But perhaps the\nwitch was only called to the castle to enchant your friend, Cap'n Bill.\"\n\n\"Could she do that?\" asked Trot, horrified by the suggestion.\n\n\"I suppose so, for old Blinkie can do a lot of wicked magical things.\"\n\n\"What sort of an enchantment could she put on Cap'n Bill?\"\n\n\"I don't know. But he has disappeared, so I'm pretty certain she has\ndone something dreadful to him. But don't worry. If it has happened, it\ncan't be helped, and if it hasn't happened we may be able to find him\nin the morning.\"\n\nWith this Pon went to the cupboard and brought food for them. Trot was\nfar too worried to eat, but Button-Bright made a good supper from the\nsimple food and then lay down before the fire and went to sleep. The\nlittle girl and the gardener's boy, however, sat for a long time\nstaring into the fire, busy with their thoughts. But at last Trot, too,\nbecame sleepy and Pon gently covered her with the one blanket he\npossessed. Then he threw more wood on the fire and laid himself down\nbefore it, next to Button-Bright. Soon all three were fast asleep. They\nwere in a good deal of trouble; but they were young, and sleep was good\nto them because for a time it made them forget.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Thirteen\n\nGlinda the Good and the Scarecrow of Oz\n\n\nThat country south of the Emerald City, in the Land of Oz, is known as\nthe Quadling Country, and in the very southernmost part of it stands a\nsplendid palace in which lives Glinda the Good.\n\nGlinda is the Royal Sorceress of Oz. She has wonderful magical powers\nand uses them only to benefit the subjects of Ozma's kingdom. Even the\nfamous Wizard of Oz pays tribute to her, for Glinda taught him all the\nreal magic he knows, and she is his superior in all sorts of sorcery\nEveryone loves Glinda, from the dainty and exquisite Ruler, Ozma, down\nto the humblest inhabitant of Oz, for she is always kindly and helpful\nand willing to listen to their troubles, however busy she may be. No\none knows her age, but all can see how beautiful and stately she is.\nHer hair is like red gold and finer than the finest silken strands. Her\neyes are blue as the sky and always frank and smiling. Her cheeks are\nthe envy of peach-blows and her mouth is enticing as a rosebud. Glinda\nis tall and wears splendid gowns that trail behind her as she walks.\nShe wears no jewels, for her beauty would shame them.\n\nFor attendants Glinda has half a hundred of the loveliest girls in Oz.\nThey are gathered from all over Oz, from among the Winkies, the\nMunchkins, the Gillikins and the Quadlings, as well as from Ozma's\nmagnificent Emerald City, and it is considered a great favor to be\nallowed to serve the Royal Sorceress.\n\nAmong the many wonderful things in Glinda's palace is the Great Book of\nRecords. In this book is inscribed everything that takes place in all\nthe world, just the instant it happens; so that by referring to its\npages Glinda knows what is taking place far and near, in every country\nthat exists. In this way she learns when and where she can help any in\ndistress or danger, and although her duties are confined to assisting\nthose who inhabit the Land of Oz, she is always interested in what\ntakes place in the unprotected outside world.\n\nSo it was that on a certain evening Glinda sat in her library,\nsurrounded by a bevy of her maids, who were engaged in spinning,\nweaving and embroidery, when an attendant announced the arrival at the\npalace of the Scarecrow.\n\nThis personage was one of the most famous and popular in all the Land\nof Oz. His body was merely a suit of Munchkin clothes stuffed with\nstraw, but his head was a round sack filled with bran, with which the\nWizard of Oz had mixed some magic brains of a very superior sort. The\neyes, nose and mouth of the Scarecrow were painted upon the front of\nthe sack, as were his ears, and since this quaint being had been\nendowed with life, the expression of his face was very interesting, if\nsomewhat comical.\n\nThe Scarecrow was good all through, even to his brains, and while he\nwas naturally awkward in his movements and lacked the neat symmetry of\nother people, his disposition was so kind and considerate and he was so\nobliging and honest, that all who knew him loved him, and there were\nfew people in Oz who had not met our Scarecrow and made his\nacquaintance. He lived part of the time in Ozma's palace at the Emerald\nCity, part of the time in his own corncob castle in the Winkie Country,\nand part of the time he traveled over all Oz, visiting with the people\nand playing with the children, whom he dearly loved.\n\nIt was on one of his wandering journeys that the Scarecrow had arrived\nat Glinda's palace, and the Sorceress at once made him welcome. As he\nsat beside her, talking of his adventures, he asked:\n\n\"What's new in the way of news?\"\n\nGlinda opened her Great Book of Records and read some of the last pages.\n\n\"Here is an item quite curious and interesting,\" she announced, an\naccent of surprise in her voice. \"Three people from the big Outside\nWorld have arrived in Jinxland.\"\n\n\"Where is Jinxland?\" inquired the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Very near here, a little to the east of us,\" she said. \"In fact,\nJinxland is a little slice taken off the Quadling Country, but\nseparated from it by a range of high mountains, at the foot of which\nlies a wide, deep gulf that is supposed to be impassable.\"\n\n\"Then Jinxland is really a part of the Land of Oz,\" said he.\n\n\"Yes,\" returned Glinda, \"but Oz people know nothing of it, except what\nis recorded here in my book.\"\n\n\"What does the Book say about it?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"It is ruled by a wicked man called King Krewl, although he has no\nright to the title. Most of the people are good, but they are very\ntimid and live in constant fear of their fierce ruler. There are also\nseveral Wicked Witches who keep the inhabitants of Jinxland in a state\nof terror.\"\n\n\"Do those witches have any magical powers?\" inquired the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Yes, they seem to understand witchcraft in its most evil form, for one\nof them has just transformed a respectable and honest old sailor--one\nof the strangers who arrived there--into a grasshopper. This same\nwitch, Blinkie by name, is also planning to freeze the heart of a\nbeautiful Jinxland girl named Princess Gloria.\"\n\n\"Why, that's a dreadful thing to do!\" exclaimed the Scarecrow.\n\nGlinda's face was very grave. She read in her book how Trot and\nButton-Bright were turned out of the King's castle, and how they found\nrefuge in the hut of Pon, the gardener's boy.\n\n\"I'm afraid those helpless earth people will endure much suffering in\nJinxland, even if the wicked King and the witches permit them to live,\"\nsaid the good Sorceress, thoughtfully. \"I wish I might help them.\"\n\n\"Can I do anything?\" asked the Scarecrow, anxiously. \"If so, tell me\nwhat to do, and I'll do it.\"\n\nFor a few moments Glinda did not reply, but sat musing over the\nrecords. Then she said: \"I am going to send you to Jinxland, to protect\nTrot and Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered the Scarecrow in a cheerful voice. \"I know\nButton-Bright already, for he has been in the Land of Oz before. You\nremember he went away from the Land of Oz in one of our Wizard's big\nbubbles.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Glinda, \"I remember that.\" Then she carefully instructed\nthe Scarecrow what to do and gave him certain magical things which he\nplaced in the pockets of his ragged Munchkin coat.\n\n\"As you have no need to sleep,\" said she, \"you may as well start at\nonce.\"\n\n\"The night is the same as day to me,\" he replied, \"except that I cannot\nsee my way so well in the dark.\"\n\n\"I will furnish a light to guide you,\" promised the Sorceress.\n\nSo the Scarecrow bade her good-bye and at once started on his journey.\nBy morning he had reached the mountains that separated the Quadling\nCountry from Jinxland. The sides of these mountains were too steep to\nclimb, but the Scarecrow took a small rope from his pocket and tossed\none end upward, into the air. The rope unwound itself for hundreds of\nfeet, until it caught upon a peak of rock at the very top of a\nmountain, for it was a magic rope furnished him by Glinda. The\nScarecrow climbed the rope and, after pulling it up, let it down on the\nother side of the mountain range. When he descended the rope on this\nside he found himself in Jinxland, but at his feet yawned the Great\nGulf, which must be crossed before he could proceed any farther.\n\nThe Scarecrow knelt down and examined the ground carefully, and in a\nmoment he discovered a fuzzy brown spider that had rolled itself into a\nball. So he took two tiny pills from his pocket and laid them beside\nthe spider, which unrolled itself and quickly ate up the pills. Then\nthe Scarecrow said in a voice of command:\n\n\"Spin!\" and the spider obeyed instantly.\n\nIn a few moments the little creature had spun two slender but strong\nstrands that reached way across the gulf, one being five or six feet\nabove the other. When these were completed the Scarecrow started across\nthe tiny bridge, walking upon one strand as a person walks upon a rope,\nand holding to the upper strand with his hands to prevent him from\nlosing his balance and toppling over into the gulf. The tiny threads\nheld him safely, thanks to the strength given them by the magic pills.\n\nPresently he was safe across and standing on the plains of Jinxland.\nFar away he could see the towers of the King's castle and toward this\nhe at once began to walk.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Fourteen\n\nThe Frozen Heart\n\n\nIn the hut of Pon, the gardener's boy, Button-Bright was the first to\nwaken in the morning. Leaving his companions still asleep, he went out\ninto the fresh morning air and saw some blackberries growing on bushes\nin a field not far away. Going to the bushes he found the berries ripe\nand sweet, so he began eating them. More bushes were scattered over the\nfields, so the boy wandered on, from bush to bush, without paying any\nheed to where he was wandering. Then a butterfly fluttered by. He gave\nchase to it and followed it a long way. When finally he paused to look\naround him, Button-Bright could see no sign of Pon's house, nor had he\nthe slightest idea in which direction it lay.\n\n\"Well, I'm lost again,\" he remarked to himself. \"But never mind; I've\nbeen lost lots of times. Someone is sure to find me.\"\n\nTrot was a little worried about Button-Bright when she awoke and found\nhim gone. Knowing how careless he was, she believed that he had strayed\naway, but felt that he would come back in time, because he had a habit\nof not staying lost. Pon got the little girl some food for her\nbreakfast and then together they went out of the hut and stood in the\nsunshine.\n\nPon's house was some distance off the road, but they could see it from\nwhere they stood and both gave a start of surprise when they discovered\ntwo soldiers walking along the roadway and escorting Princess Gloria\nbetween them. The poor girl had her hands bound together, to prevent\nher from struggling, and the soldiers rudely dragged her forward when\nher steps seemed to lag.\n\nBehind this group came King Krewl, wearing his jeweled crown and\nswinging in his hand a slender golden staff with a ball of clustered\ngems at one end.\n\n\"Where are they going?\" asked Trot. \"To the house of the Wicked Witch,\nI fear,\" Pon replied. \"Come, let us follow them, for I am sure they\nintend to harm my dear Gloria.\"\n\n\"Won't they see us?\" she asked timidly.\n\n\"We won't let them. I know a short cut through the trees to Blinkie's\nhouse,\" said he.\n\nSo they hurried away through the trees and reached the house of the\nwitch ahead of the King and his soldiers. Hiding themselves in the\nshrubbery, they watched the approach of poor Gloria and her escort, all\nof whom passed so near to them that Pon could have put out a hand and\ntouched his sweetheart, had he dared to.\n\nBlinkie's house had eight sides, with a door and a window in each side.\nSmoke was coming out of the chimney and as the guards brought Gloria to\none of the doors it was opened by the old witch in person. She chuckled\nwith evil glee and rubbed her skinny hands together to show the delight\nwith which she greeted her victim, for Blinkie was pleased to be able\nto perform her wicked rites on one so fair and sweet as the Princess.\n\nGloria struggled to resist when they bade her enter the house, so the\nsoldiers forced her through the doorway and even the King gave her a\nshove as he followed close behind. Pon was so incensed at the cruelty\nshown Gloria that he forgot all caution and rushed forward to enter the\nhouse also; but one of the soldiers prevented him, pushing the\ngardener's boy away with violence and slamming the door in his face.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said Trot soothingly, as Pon rose from where he had\nfallen. \"You couldn't do much to help the poor Princess if you were\ninside. How unfortunate it is that you are in love with her!\"\n\n\"True,\" he answered sadly, \"it is indeed my misfortune. If I did not\nlove her, it would be none of my business what the King did to his\nniece Gloria; but the unlucky circumstance of my loving her makes it my\nduty to defend her.\"\n\n\"I don't see how you can, duty or no duty,\" observed Trot.\n\n\"No; I am powerless, for they are stronger than I. But we might peek in\nthrough the window and see what they are doing.\"\n\nTrot was somewhat curious, too, so they crept up to one of the windows\nand looked in, and it so happened that those inside the witch's house\nwere so busy they did not notice that Pon and Trot were watching them.\n\nGloria had been tied to a stout post in the center of the room and the\nKing was giving the Wicked Witch a quantity of money and jewels, which\nGoogly-Goo had provided in payment. When this had been done the King\nsaid to her:\n\n\"Are you perfectly sure you can freeze this maiden's heart, so that she\nwill no longer love that low gardener's boy?\"\n\n\"Sure as witchcraft, your Majesty,\" the creature replied.\n\n\"Then get to work,\" said the King. \"There may be some unpleasant\nfeatures about the ceremony that would annoy me, so I'll bid you good\nday and leave you to carry out your contract. One word, however: If you\nfail, I shall burn you at the stake!\" Then he beckoned to his soldiers\nto follow him, and throwing wide the door of the house walked out.\n\nThis action was so sudden that King Krewl almost caught Trot and Pon\neavesdropping, but they managed to run around the house before he saw\nthem. Away he marched, up the road, followed by his men, heartlessly\nleaving Gloria to the mercies of old Blinkie.\n\nWhen they again crept up to the window, Trot and Pon saw Blinkie\ngloating over her victim. Although nearly fainting from fear, the proud\nPrincess gazed with haughty defiance into the face of the wicked\ncreature; but she was bound so tightly to the post that she could do no\nmore to express her loathing.\n\nPretty soon Blinkie went to a kettle that was swinging by a chain over\nthe fire and tossed into it several magical compounds. The kettle gave\nthree flashes, and at every flash another witch appeared in the room.\n\nThese hags were very ugly but when one-eyed Blinkie whispered her\norders to them they grinned with joy as they began dancing around\nGloria. First one and then another cast something into the kettle, when\nto the astonishment of the watchers at the window all three of the old\nwomen were instantly transformed into maidens of exquisite beauty,\ndressed in the daintiest costumes imaginable. Only their eyes could not\nbe disguised, and an evil glare still shone in their depths. But if the\neyes were cast down or hidden, one could not help but admire these\nbeautiful creatures, even with the knowledge that they were mere\nillusions of witchcraft.\n\nTrot certainly admired them, for she had never seen anything so dainty\nand bewitching, but her attention was quickly drawn to their deeds\ninstead of their persons, and then horror replaced admiration. Into the\nkettle old Blinkie poured another mess from a big brass bottle she took\nfrom a chest, and this made the kettle begin to bubble and smoke\nviolently. One by one the beautiful witches approached to stir the\ncontents of the kettle and to mutter a magic charm. Their movements\nwere graceful and rhythmic and the Wicked Witch who had called them to\nher aid watched them with an evil grin upon her wrinkled face.\n\nFinally the incantation was complete. The kettle ceased bubbling and\ntogether the witches lifted it from the fire. Then Blinkie brought a\nwooden ladle and filled it from the contents of the kettle. Going with\nthe spoon to Princess Gloria she cried:\n\n\"Love no more! Magic art Now will freeze your mortal heart!\"\n\nWith this she dashed the contents of the ladle full upon Gloria's\nbreast.\n\nTrot saw the body of the Princess become transparent, so that her\nbeating heart showed plainly. But now the heart turned from a vivid red\nto gray, and then to white. A layer of frost formed about it and tiny\nicicles clung to its surface. Then slowly the body of the girl became\nvisible again and the heart was hidden from view. Gloria seemed to have\nfainted, but now she recovered and, opening her beautiful eyes, stared\ncoldly and without emotion at the group of witches confronting her.\n\nBlinkie and the others knew by that one cold look that their charm had\nbeen successful. They burst into a chorus of wild laughter and the\nthree beautiful ones began dancing again, while Blinkie unbound the\nPrincess and set her free.\n\nTrot rubbed her eyes to prove that she was wide awake and seeing\nclearly, for her astonishment was great when the three lovely maidens\nturned into ugly, crooked hags again, leaning on broomsticks and canes.\nThey jeered at Gloria, but the Princess regarded them with cold\ndisdain. Being now free, she walked to a door, opened it and passed\nout. And the witches let her go.\n\nTrot and Pon had been so intent upon this scene that in their eagerness\nthey had pressed quite hard against the window. Just as Gloria went out\nof the house the window-sash broke loose from its fastenings and fell\nwith a crash into the room. The witches uttered a chorus of screams and\nthen, seeing that their magical incantation had been observed, they\nrushed for the open window with uplifted broomsticks and canes. But Pon\nwas off like the wind, and Trot followed at his heels. Fear lent them\nstrength to run, to leap across ditches, to speed up the hills and to\nvault the low fences as a deer would.\n\nThe band of witches had dashed through the window in pursuit; but\nBlinkie was so old, and the others so crooked and awkward, that they\nsoon realized they would be unable to overtake the fugitives. So the\nthree who had been summoned by the Wicked Witch put their canes or\nbroomsticks between their legs and flew away through the air, quickly\ndisappearing against the blue sky. Blinkie, however, was so enraged at\nPon and Trot that she hobbled on in the direction they had taken, fully\ndetermined to catch them, in time, and to punish them terribly for\nspying upon her witchcraft.\n\nWhen Pon and Trot had run so far that they were confident they had made\ngood their escape, they sat down near the edge of a forest to get their\nbreath again, for both were panting hard from their exertions. Trot was\nthe first to recover speech, and she said to her companion:\n\n\"My! wasn't it terr'ble?\"\n\n\"The most terrible thing I ever saw,\" Pon agreed.\n\n\"And they froze Gloria's heart; so now she can't love you any more.\"\n\n\"Well, they froze her heart, to be sure,\" admitted Pon, \"but I'm in\nhopes I can melt it with my love.\"\n\n\"Where do you s'pose Gloria is?\" asked the girl, after a pause.\n\n\"She left the witch's house just before we did. Perhaps she has gone\nback to the King's castle,\" he said.\n\n\"I'm pretty sure she started off in a diff'rent direction,\" declared\nTrot. \"I looked over my shoulder, as I ran, to see how close the\nwitches were, and I'm sure I saw Gloria walking slowly away toward the\nnorth.\"\n\n\"Then let us circle around that way,\" proposed Pon, \"and perhaps we\nshall meet her.\"\n\nTrot agreed to this and they left the grove and began to circle around\ntoward the north, thus drawing nearer and nearer to old Blinkie's house\nagain. The Wicked Witch did not suspect this change of direction, so\nwhen she came to the grove she passed through it and continued on.\n\nPon and Trot had reached a place less than half a mile from the witch's\nhouse when they saw Gloria walking toward them. The Princess moved with\ngreat dignity and with no show of haste whatever, holding her head high\nand looking neither to right nor left.\n\nPon rushed forward, holding out his arms as if to embrace her and\ncalling her sweet names. But Gloria gazed upon him coldly and repelled\nhim with a haughty gesture. At this the poor gardener's boy sank upon\nhis knees and hid his face in his arms, weeping bitter tears; but the\nPrincess was not at all moved by his distress. Passing him by, she drew\nher skirts aside, as if unwilling they should touch him, and then she\nwalked up the path a way and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go\nnext.\n\nTrot was grieved by Pon's sobs and indignant because Gloria treated him\nso badly. But she remembered why.\n\n\"I guess your heart is frozen, all right,\" she said to the Princess.\nGloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then turned her back upon the\nlittle girl. \"Can't you like even me?\" asked Trot, half pleadingly.\n\n\"No,\" said Gloria.\n\n\"Your voice sounds like a refrig'rator,\" sighed the little girl. \"I'm\nawful sorry for you, 'cause you were sweet an' nice to me before this\nhappened. You can't help it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus'\nthe same.\"\n\n\"My heart is frozen to all mortal loves,\" announced Gloria, calmly. \"I\ndo not love even myself.\"\n\n\"That's too bad,\" said Trot, \"for, if you can't love anybody, you can't\nexpect anybody to love you.\"\n\n\"I do!\" cried Pon. \"I shall always love her.\"\n\n\"Well, you're just a gardener's boy,\" replied Trot, \"and I didn't think\nyou 'mounted to much, from the first. I can love the old Princess\nGloria, with a warm heart an' nice manners, but this one gives me the\nshivers.\"\n\n\"It's her icy heart, that's all,\" said Pon.\n\n\"That's enough,\" insisted Trot. \"Seeing her heart isn't big enough to\nskate on, I can't see that she's of any use to anyone. For my part, I'm\ngoin' to try to find Button-Bright an' Cap'n Bill.\"\n\n\"I will go with you,\" decided Pon. \"It is evident that Gloria no longer\nloves me and that her heart is frozen too stiff for me to melt it with\nmy own love; therefore I may as well help you to find your friends.\"\n\nAs Trot started off, Pon cast one more imploring look at the Princess,\nwho returned it with a chilly stare. So he followed after the little\ngirl.\n\nAs for the Princess, she hesitated a moment and then turned in the same\ndirection the others had taken, but going far more slowly. Soon she\nheard footsteps pattering behind her, and up came Googly-Goo, a little\nout of breath with running.\n\n\"Stop, Gloria!\" he cried. \"I have come to take you back to my mansion,\nwhere we are to be married.\"\n\nShe looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her head\ndisdainfully and walked on. But Googly-Goo kept beside her.\n\n\"What does this mean?\" he demanded. \"Haven't you discovered that you no\nlonger love that gardener's boy, who stood in my way?\"\n\n\"Yes; I have discovered it,\" she replied. \"My heart is frozen to all\nmortal loves. I cannot love you, or Pon, or the cruel King my uncle, or\neven myself. Go your way, Googly-Goo, for I will wed no one at all.\"\n\nHe stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another minute he\nexclaimed angrily:\n\n\"You must wed me, Princess Gloria, whether you want to or not! I paid\nto have your heart frozen; I also paid the King to permit our marriage.\nIf you now refuse me it will mean that I have been\nrobbed--robbed--robbed of my precious money and jewels!\"\n\nHe almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold, bitter laugh and\npassed on. Googly-Goo caught at her arm, as if to restrain her, but she\nwhirled and dealt him a blow that sent him reeling into a ditch beside\nthe path. Here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water,\ndazed with surprise.\n\nFinally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed from the ditch.\nThe Princess had gone; so, muttering threats of vengeance upon her,\nupon the King and upon Blinkie, old Googly-Goo hobbled back to his\nmansion to have the mud removed from his costly velvet clothes.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Fifteen\n\nTrot Meets the Scarecrow\n\n\nTrot and Pon covered many leagues of ground, searching through forests,\nin fields and in many of the little villages of Jinxland, but could\nfind no trace of either Cap'n Bill or Button-Bright. Finally they\npaused beside a cornfield and sat upon a stile to rest. Pon took some\napples from his pocket and gave one to Trot. Then he began eating\nanother himself, for this was their time for luncheon. When his apple\nwas finished Pon tossed the core into the field.\n\n\"Tchuk-tchuk!\" said a strange voice. \"What do you mean by hitting me in\nthe eye with an apple-core?\"\n\nThen rose up the form of the Scarecrow, who had hidden himself in the\ncornfield while he examined Pon and Trot and decided whether they were\nworthy to be helped.\n\n\"Excuse me,\" said Pon. \"I didn't know you were there.\"\n\n\"How did you happen to be there, anyhow?\" asked Trot.\n\nThe Scarecrow came forward with awkward steps and stood beside them.\n\n\"Ah, you are the gardener's boy,\" he said to Pon. Then he turned to\nTrot. \"And you are the little girl who came to Jinxland riding on a big\nbird, and who has had the misfortune to lose her friend, Cap'n Bill,\nand her chum, Button-Bright.\"\n\n\"Why, how did you know all that?\" she inquired.\n\n\"I know a lot of things,\" replied the Scarecrow, winking at her\ncomically. \"My brains are the Carefully-Assorted, Double-Distilled,\nHigh-Efficiency sort that the Wizard of Oz makes. He admits, himself,\nthat my brains are the best he ever manufactured.\"\n\n\"I think I've heard of you,\" said Trot slowly, as she looked the\nScarecrow over with much interest; \"but you used to live in the Land of\nOz.\"\n\n\"Oh, I do now,\" he replied cheerfully. \"I've just come over the\nmountains from the Quadling Country to see if I can be of any help to\nyou.\"\n\n\"Who, me?\" asked Pon.\n\n\"No, the strangers from the big world. It seems they need looking\nafter.\"\n\n\"I'm doing that myself,\" said Pon, a little ungraciously. \"If you will\npardon me for saying so, I don't see how a Scarecrow with painted eyes\ncan look after anyone.\"\n\n\"If you don't see that, you are more blind than the Scarecrow,\"\nasserted Trot. \"He's a fairy man, Pon, and comes from the fairyland of\nOz, so he can do 'most anything. I hope,\" she added, turning to the\nScarecrow, \"you can find Cap'n Bill for me.\"\n\n\"I will try, anyhow,\" he promised. \"But who is that old woman who is\nrunning toward us and shaking her stick at us?\"\n\nTrot and Pon turned around and both uttered an exclamation of fear. The\nnext instant they took to their heels and ran fast up the path. For it\nwas old Blinkie, the Wicked Witch, who had at last traced them to this\nplace. Her anger was so great that she was determined not to abandon\nthe chase of Pon and Trot until she had caught and punished them. The\nScarecrow understood at once that the old woman meant harm to his new\nfriends, so as she drew near he stepped before her. His appearance was\nso sudden and unexpected that Blinkie ran into him and toppled him\nover, but she tripped on his straw body and went rolling in the path\nbeside him.\n\nThe Scarecrow sat up and said: \"I beg your pardon!\" but she whacked him\nwith her stick and knocked him flat again. Then, furious with rage, the\nold witch sprang upon her victim and began pulling the straw out of his\nbody. The poor Scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few moments\nall that was left of him was an empty suit of clothes and a heap of\nstraw beside it. Fortunately, Blinkie did not harm his head, for it\nrolled into a little hollow and escaped her notice. Fearing that Pon\nand Trot would escape her, she quickly resumed the chase and\ndisappeared over the brow of a hill, following the direction in which\nshe had seen them go.\n\nOnly a short time elapsed before a gray grasshopper with a wooden leg\ncame hopping along and lit directly on the upturned face of the\nScarecrow's head.\n\n\"Pardon me, but you are resting yourself upon my nose,\" remarked the\nScarecrow.\n\n\"Oh! are you alive?\" asked the grasshopper.\n\n\"That is a question I have never been able to decide,\" said the\nScarecrow's head. \"When my body is properly stuffed I have animation\nand can move around as well as any live person. The brains in the head\nyou are now occupying as a throne, are of very superior quality and do\na lot of very clever thinking. But whether that is being alive, or not,\nI cannot prove to you; for one who lives is liable to death, while I am\nonly liable to destruction.\"\n\n\"Seems to me,\" said the grasshopper, rubbing his nose with his front\nlegs, \"that in your case it doesn't matter--unless you're destroyed\nalready.\"\n\n\"I am not; all I need is re-stuffing,\" declared the Scarecrow; \"and if\nPon and Trot escape the witch, and come back here, I am sure they will\ndo me that favor.\"\n\n\"Tell me! Are Trot and Pon around here?\" inquired the grasshopper, its\nsmall voice trembling with excitement.\n\nThe Scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes were staring\nstraight upward at a beautiful face that was slightly bent over his\nhead. It was, indeed, Princess Gloria, who had wandered to this spot,\nvery much surprised when she heard the Scarecrow's head talk and the\ntiny gray grasshopper answer it.\n\n\"This,\" said the Scarecrow, still staring at her, \"must be the Princess\nwho loves Pon, the gardener's boy.\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed!\" exclaimed the grasshopper--who of course was Cap'n\nBill--as he examined the young lady curiously.\n\n\"No,\" said Gloria frigidly, \"I do not love Pon, or anyone else, for the\nWicked Witch has frozen my heart.\"\n\n\"What a shame!\" cried the Scarecrow. \"One so lovely should be able to\nlove. But would you mind, my dear, stuffing that straw into my body\nagain?\"\n\nThe dainty Princess glanced at the straw and at the well-worn blue\nMunchkin clothes and shrank back in disdain. But she was spared from\nrefusing the Scarecrow's request by the appearance of Trot and Pon, who\nhad hidden in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited\nuntil old Blinkie had passed them by. Their hiding place was on the\nsame side as the witch's blind eye, and she rushed on in the chase of\nthe girl and the youth without being aware that they had tricked her.\n\nTrot was shocked at the Scarecrow's sad condition and at once began\nputting the straw back into his body. Pon, at sight of Gloria, again\nappealed to her to take pity on him, but the frozen-hearted Princess\nturned coldly away and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist\nTrot.\n\nNeither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper, which at their\nappearance had skipped off the Scarecrow's nose and was now clinging to\na wisp of grass beside the path, where he was not likely to be stepped\nupon. Not until the Scarecrow had been neatly restuffed and set upon\nhis feet again--when he bowed to his restorers and expressed his\nthanks--did the grasshopper move from his perch. Then he leaped lightly\ninto the path and called out:\n\n\"Trot--Trot! Look at me. I'm Cap'n Bill! See what the Wicked Witch has\ndone to me.\"\n\nThe voice was small, to be sure, but it reached Trot's ears and\nstartled her greatly. She looked intently at the grasshopper, her eyes\nwide with fear at first; then she knelt down and, noticing the wooden\nleg, she began to weep sorrowfully.\n\n\"Oh, Cap'n Bill--dear Cap'n Bill! What a cruel thing to do!\" she sobbed.\n\n\"Don't cry, Trot,\" begged the grasshopper. \"It didn't hurt any, and it\ndoesn't hurt now. But it's mighty inconvenient an' humiliatin', to say\nthe least.\"\n\n\"I wish,\" said the girl indignantly, while trying hard to restrain her\ntears, \"that I was big 'nough an' strong 'nough to give that horrid\nwitch a good beating. She ought to be turned into a toad for doing this\nto you, Cap'n Bill!\"\n\n\"Never mind,\" urged the Scarecrow, in a comforting voice, \"such a\ntransformation doesn't last always, and as a general thing there's some\nway to break the enchantment. I'm sure Glinda could do it, in a jiffy.\"\n\n\"Who is Glinda?\" inquired Cap'n Bill.\n\nThen the Scarecrow told them all about Glinda, not forgetting to\nmention her beauty and goodness and her wonderful powers of magic. He\nalso explained how the Royal Sorceress had sent him to Jinxland\nespecially to help the strangers, whom she knew to be in danger because\nof the wiles of the cruel King and the Wicked Witch.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Sixteen\n\nPon Summons the King to Surrender\n\n\nGloria had drawn near to the group to listen to their talk, and it\nseemed to interest her in spite of her frigid manner. They knew, of\ncourse, that the poor Princess could not help being cold and reserved,\nso they tried not to blame her.\n\n\"I ought to have come here a little sooner,\" said the Scarecrow,\nregretfully; \"but Glinda sent me as soon as she discovered you were\nhere and were likely to get into trouble. And now that we are all\ntogether--except Button-Bright, over whom it is useless to worry--I\npropose we hold a council of war, to decide what is best to be done.\"\n\nThat seemed a wise thing to do, so they all sat down upon the grass,\nincluding Gloria, and the grasshopper perched upon Trot's shoulder and\nallowed her to stroke him gently with her hand.\n\n\"In the first place,\" began the Scarecrow, \"this King Krewl is a\nusurper and has no right to rule this Kingdom of Jinxland.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" said Pon, eagerly. \"My father was King before him, and\nI--\"\n\n\"You are a gardener's boy,\" interrupted the Scarecrow. \"Your father had\nno right to rule, either, for the rightful King of this land was the\nfather of Princess Gloria, and only she is entitled to sit upon the\nthrone of Jinxland.\"\n\n\"Good!\" exclaimed Trot. \"But what'll we do with King Krewl? I s'pose he\nwon't give up the throne unless he has to.\"\n\n\"No, of course not,\" said the Scarecrow. \"Therefore it will be our duty\nto make him give up the throne.\"\n\n\"How?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"Give me time to think,\" was the reply. \"That's what my brains are for.\nI don't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are\nthe best that the Wizard of Oz ever turned out, and if I give them\nplenty of time to work, the result usually surprises me.\"\n\n\"Take your time, then,\" suggested Trot. \"There's no hurry.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half an\nhour. During this interval the grasshopper whispered in Trot's ear, to\nwhich he was very close, and Trot whispered back to the grasshopper\nsitting upon her shoulder. Pon cast loving glances at Gloria, who paid\nnot the slightest heed to them.\n\nFinally the Scarecrow laughed aloud.\n\n\"Brains working?\" inquired Trot.\n\n\"Yes. They seem in fine order to-day. We will conquer King Krewl and\nput Gloria upon his throne as Queen of Jinxland.\"\n\n\"Fine!\" cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully.\n\"But how?\"\n\n\"Leave the how to me,\" said the Scarecrow proudly. \"As a conqueror I'm\na wonder. We will, first of all, write a message to send to King Krewl,\nasking him to surrender. If he refuses, then we will make him\nsurrender.\"\n\n\"Why ask him, when we know he'll refuse?\" inquired Pon.\n\n\"Why, we must be polite, whatever we do,\" explained the Scarecrow. \"It\nwould be very rude to conquer a King without proper notice.\"\n\nThey found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink,\nnone of which was at hand; so it was decided to send Pon as a\nmessenger, with instructions to ask the King, politely but firmly, to\nsurrender.\n\nPon was not anxious to be the messenger. Indeed, he hinted that it\nmight prove a dangerous mission. But the Scarecrow was now the\nacknowledged head of the Army of Conquest, and he would listen to no\nrefusal. So off Pon started for the King's castle, and the others\naccompanied him as far as his hut, where they had decided to await the\ngardener's boy's return.\n\nI think it was because Pon had known the Scarecrow such a short time\nthat he lacked confidence in the straw man's wisdom. It was easy to\nsay: \"We will conquer King Krewl,\" but when Pon drew near to the great\ncastle he began to doubt the ability of a straw-stuffed man, a girl, a\ngrasshopper and a frozen-hearted Princess to do it. As for himself, he\nhad never thought of defying the King before.\n\nThat was why the gardener's boy was not very bold when he entered the\ncastle and passed through to the enclosed court where the King was just\nthen seated, with his favorite courtiers around him. None prevented\nPon's entrance, because he was known to be the gardener's boy, but when\nthe King saw him he began to frown fiercely. He considered Pon to be to\nblame for all his trouble with Princess Gloria, who since her heart had\nbeen frozen had escaped to some unknown place, instead of returning to\nthe castle to wed Googly-Goo, as she had been expected to do. So the\nKing bared his teeth angrily as he demanded:\n\n\"What have you done with Princess Gloria?\"\n\n\"Nothing, your Majesty! I have done nothing at all,\" answered Pon in a\nfaltering voice. \"She does not love me any more and even refuses to\nspeak to me.\"\n\n\"Then why are you here, you rascal?\" roared the King.\n\nPon looked first one way and then another, but saw no means of escape;\nso he plucked up courage.\n\n\"I am here to summon your Majesty to surrender.\"\n\n\"What!\" shouted the King. \"Surrender?  Surrender to whom?\"\n\nPon's heart sank to his boots.\n\n\"To the Scarecrow,\" he replied.\n\nSome of the courtiers began to titter, but King Krewl was greatly\nannoyed. He sprang up and began to beat poor Pon with the golden staff\nhe carried. Pon howled lustily and would have run away had not two of\nthe soldiers held him until his Majesty was exhausted with punishing\nthe boy. Then they let him go and he left the castle and returned along\nthe road, sobbing at every step because his body was so sore and aching.\n\n\"Well,\" said the Scarecrow, \"did the King surrender?\"\n\n\"No; but he gave me a good drubbing!\" sobbed poor Pon.\n\nTrot was very sorry for Pon, but Gloria did not seem affected in any\nway by her lover's anguish. The grasshopper leaped to the Scarecrow's\nshoulder and asked him what he was going to do next.\n\n\"Conquer,\" was the reply. \"But I will go alone, this time, for beatings\ncannot hurt me at all; nor can lance thrusts--or sword cuts--or arrow\npricks.\"\n\n\"Why is that?\" inquired Trot.\n\n\"Because I have no nerves, such as you meat people possess. Even\ngrasshoppers have nerves, but straw doesn't; so whatever they\ndo--except just one thing--they cannot injure me. Therefore I expect to\nconquer King Krewl with ease.\"\n\n\"What is that one thing you excepted?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"They will never think of it, so never mind. And now, if you will\nkindly excuse me for a time, I'll go over to the castle and do my\nconquering.\"\n\n\"You have no weapons,\" Pon reminded him.\n\n\"True,\" said the Scarecrow. \"But if I carried weapons I might injure\nsomeone--perhaps seriously--and that would make me unhappy. I will just\nborrow that riding-whip, which I see in the corner of your hut, if you\ndon't mind. It isn't exactly proper to walk with a riding-whip, but I\ntrust you will excuse the inconsistency.\"\n\nPon handed him the whip and the Scarecrow bowed to all the party and\nleft the hut, proceeding leisurely along the way to the King's castle.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Seventeen\n\nThe Ork Rescues Button-Bright\n\n\nI must now tell you what had become of Button-Bright since he wandered\naway in the morning and got lost. This small boy, as perhaps you have\ndiscovered, was almost as destitute of nerves as the Scarecrow. Nothing\never astonished him much; nothing ever worried him or made him unhappy.\nGood fortune or bad fortune he accepted with a quiet smile, never\ncomplaining, whatever happened. This was one reason why Button-Bright\nwas a favorite with all who knew him--and perhaps it was the reason why\nhe so often got into difficulties, or found himself lost.\n\nTo-day, as he wandered here and there, over hill and down dale, he\nmissed Trot and Cap'n Bill, of whom he was fond, but nevertheless he\nwas not unhappy. The birds sang merrily and the wildflowers were\nbeautiful and the breeze had a fragrance of new-mown hay.\n\n\"The only bad thing about this country is its King,\" he reflected; \"but\nthe country isn't to blame for that.\"\n\nA prairie-dog stuck its round head out of a mound of earth and looked\nat the boy with bright eyes.\n\n\"Walk around my house, please,\" it said, \"and then you won't harm it or\ndisturb the babies.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered Button-Bright, and took care not to step on the\nmound. He went on, whistling merrily, until a petulant voice cried:\n\n\"Oh, stop it! Please stop that noise. It gets on my nerves.\"\n\nButton-Bright saw an old gray owl sitting in the crotch of a tree, and\nhe replied with a laugh: \"All right, old Fussy,\" and stopped whistling\nuntil he had passed out of the owl's hearing. At noon he came to a\nfarmhouse where an aged couple lived. They gave him a good dinner and\ntreated him kindly, but the man was deaf and the woman was dumb, so\nthey could answer no questions to guide him on the way to Pon's house.\nWhen he left them he was just as much lost as he had been before.\n\nEvery grove of trees he saw from a distance he visited, for he\nremembered that the King's castle was near a grove of trees and Pon's\nhut was near the King's castle; but always he met with disappointment.\nFinally, passing through one of these groves, he came out into the open\nand found himself face to face with the Ork.\n\n\"Hello!\" said Button-Bright. \"Where did you come from?\"\n\n\"From Orkland,\" was the reply. \"I've found my own country, at last, and\nit is not far from here, either. I would have come back to you sooner,\nto see how you are getting along, had not my family and friends\nwelcomed my return so royally that a great celebration was held in my\nhonor. So I couldn't very well leave Orkland again until the excitement\nwas over.\"\n\n\"Can you find your way back home again?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Yes, easily; for now I know exactly where it is. But where are Trot\nand Cap'n Bill?\"\n\nButton-Bright related to the Ork their adventures since it had left\nthem in Jinxland, telling of Trot's fear that the King had done\nsomething wicked to Cap'n Bill, and of Pon's love for Gloria, and how\nTrot and Button-Bright had been turned out of the King's castle. That\nwas all the news that the boy had, but it made the Ork anxious for the\nsafety of his friends.\n\n\"We must go to them at once, for they may need us,\" he said.\n\n\"I don't know where to go,\" confessed Button-Bright. \"I'm lost.\"\n\n\"Well, I can take you back to the hut of the gardener's boy,\" promised\nthe Ork, \"for when I fly high in the air I can look down and easily spy\nthe King's castle. That was how I happened to spy you, just entering\nthe grove; so I flew down and waited until you came out.\"\n\n\"How can you carry me?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"You'll have to sit straddle my shoulders and put your arms around my\nneck. Do you think you can keep from falling off?\"\n\n\"I'll try,\" said Button-Bright. So the Ork squatted down and the boy\ntook his seat and held on tight. Then the skinny creature's tail began\nwhirling and up they went, far above all the tree-tops.\n\nAfter the Ork had circled around once or twice, its sharp eyes located\nthe towers of the castle and away it flew, straight toward the place.\nAs it hovered in the air, near by the castle, Button-Bright pointed out\nPon's hut, so they landed just before it and Trot came running out to\ngreet them.\n\nGloria was introduced to the Ork, who was surprised to find Cap'n Bill\ntransformed into a grasshopper.\n\n\"How do you like it?\" asked the creature.\n\n\"Why, it worries me good deal,\" answered Cap'n Bill, perched upon\nTrot's shoulder. \"I'm always afraid o' bein' stepped on, and I don't\nlike the flavor of grass an' can't seem to get used to it. It's my\nnature to eat grass, you know, but I begin to suspect it's an acquired\ntaste.\"\n\n\"Can you give molasses?\" asked the Ork.\n\n\"I guess I'm not that kind of a grasshopper,\" replied Cap'n Bill. \"But\nI can't say what I might do if I was squeezed--which I hope I won't be.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the Ork, \"it's a great pity, and I'd like to meet that\ncruel King and his Wicked Witch and punish them both severely. You're\nawfully small, Cap'n Bill, but I think I would recognize you anywhere\nby your wooden leg.\"\n\nThen the Ork and Button-Bright were told all about Gloria's frozen\nheart and how the Scarecrow had come from the Land of Oz to help them.\nThe Ork seemed rather disturbed when it learned that the Scarecrow had\ngone alone to conquer King Krewl.\n\n\"I'm afraid he'll make a fizzle of it,\" said the skinny creature, \"and\nthere's no telling what that terrible King might do to the poor\nScarecrow, who seems like a very interesting person. So I believe I'll\ntake a hand in this conquest myself.\"\n\n\"How?\" asked Trot.\n\n\"Wait and see,\" was the reply. \"But, first of all, I must fly home\nagain--back to my own country--so if you'll forgive my leaving you so\nsoon, I'll be off at once. Stand away from my tail, please, so that the\nwind from it, when it revolves, won't knock you over.\"\n\nThey gave the creature plenty of room and away it went like a flash and\nsoon disappeared in the sky.\n\n\"I wonder,\" said Button-Bright, looking solemnly after the Ork,\n\"whether he'll ever come back again.\"\n\n\"Of course he will!\" returned Trot. \"The Ork's a pretty good fellow,\nand we can depend on him. An' mark my words, Button-Bright, whenever\nour Ork does come back, there's one cruel King in Jinxland that'll wish\nhe hadn't.\"\n\n\n\n\nChapter Eighteen\n\nThe Scarecrow Meets an Enemy\n\n\nThe Scarecrow was not a bit afraid of King Krewl. Indeed, he rather\nenjoyed the prospect of conquering the evil King and putting Gloria on\nthe throne of Jinxland in his place. So he advanced boldly to the royal\ncastle and demanded admittance.\n\nSeeing that he was a stranger, the soldiers allowed him to enter. He\nmade his way straight to the throne room, where at that time his\nMajesty was settling the disputes among his subjects.\n\n\"Who are you?\" demanded the King.\n\n\"I'm the Scarecrow of Oz, and I command you to surrender yourself my\nprisoner.\"\n\n\"Why should I do that?\" inquired the King, much astonished at the straw\nman's audacity.\n\n\"Because I've decided you are too cruel a King to rule so beautiful a\ncountry. You must remember that Jinxland is a part of Oz, and therefore\nyou owe allegiance to Ozma of Oz, whose friend and servant I am.\"\n\nNow, when he heard this, King Krewl was much disturbed in mind, for he\nknew the Scarecrow spoke the truth. But no one had ever before come to\nJinxland from the Land of Oz and the King did not intend to be put out\nof his throne if he could help it. Therefore he gave a harsh, wicked\nlaugh of derision and said:\n\n\"I'm busy, now. Stand out of my way, Scarecrow, and I'll talk with you\nby and by.\"\n\nBut the Scarecrow turned to the assembled courtiers and people and\ncalled in a loud voice:\n\n\"I hereby declare, in the name of Ozma of Oz, that this man is no\nlonger ruler of Jinxland. From this moment Princess Gloria is your\nrightful Queen, and I ask all of you to be loyal to her and to obey her\ncommands.\"\n\nThe people looked fearfully at the King, whom they all hated in their\nhearts, but likewise feared. Krewl was now in a terrible rage and he\nraised his golden sceptre and struck the Scarecrow so heavy a blow that\nhe fell to the floor.\n\nBut he was up again, in an instant, and with Pon's riding-whip he\nswitched the King so hard that the wicked monarch roared with pain as\nmuch as with rage, calling on his soldiers to capture the Scarecrow.\n\nThey tried to do that, and thrust their lances and swords into the\nstraw body, but without doing any damage except to make holes in the\nScarecrow's clothes. However, they were many against one and finally\nold Googly-Goo brought a rope which he wound around the Scarecrow,\nbinding his legs together and his arms to his sides, and after that the\nfight was over.\n\nThe King stormed and danced around in a dreadful fury, for he had never\nbeen so switched since he was a boy--and perhaps not then. He ordered\nthe Scarecrow thrust into the castle prison, which was no task at all\nbecause one man could carry him easily, bound as he was.\n\nEven after the prisoner was removed the King could not control his\nanger. He tried to figure out some way to be revenged upon the straw\nman, but could think of nothing that could hurt him. At last, when the\nterrified people and the frightened courtiers had all slunk away, old\nGoogly-Goo approached the king with a malicious grin upon his face.\n\n\"I'll tell you what to do,\" said he. \"Build a big bonfire and burn the\nScarecrow up, and that will be the end of him.\"\n\nThe King was so delighted with this suggestion that he hugged old\nGoogly-Goo in his joy.\n\n\"Of course!\" he cried. \"The very thing. Why did I not think of it\nmyself?\"\n\nSo he summoned his soldiers and retainers and bade them prepare a great\nbonfire in an open space in the castle park. Also he sent word to all\nhis people to assemble and witness the destruction of the Scarecrow who\nhad dared to defy his power. Before long a vast throng gathered in the\npark and the servants had heaped up enough fuel to make a fire that\nmight be seen for miles away--even in the daytime.\n\nWhen all was prepared, the King had his throne brought out for him to\nsit upon and enjoy the spectacle, and then he sent his soldiers to\nfetch the Scarecrow.\n\nNow the one thing in all the world that the straw man really feared was\nfire. He knew he would burn very easily and that his ashes wouldn't\namount to much afterward. It wouldn't hurt him to be destroyed in such\na manner, but he realized that many people in the Land of Oz, and\nespecially Dorothy and the Royal Ozma, would feel sad if they learned\nthat their old friend the Scarecrow was no longer in existence.\n\nIn spite of this, the straw man was brave and faced his fiery fate like\na hero. When they marched him out before the concourse of people he\nturned to the King with great calmness and said:\n\n\"This wicked deed will cost you your throne, as well as much suffering,\nfor my friends will avenge my destruction.\"\n\n\"Your friends are not here, nor will they know what I have done to you,\nwhen you are gone and can-not tell them,\" answered the King in a\nscornful voice.\n\nThen he ordered the Scarecrow bound to a stout stake that he had had\ndriven into the ground, and the materials for the fire were heaped all\naround him. When this had been done, the King's brass band struck up a\nlively tune and old Googly-Goo came forward with a lighted match and\nset fire to the pile.\n\nAt once the flames shot up and crept closer and closer toward the\nScarecrow. The King and all his people were so intent upon this\nterrible spectacle that none of them noticed how the sky grew suddenly\ndark. Perhaps they thought that the loud buzzing sound--like the noise\nof a dozen moving railway trains--came from the blazing fagots; that\nthe rush of wind was merely a breeze. But suddenly down swept a flock\nof Orks, half a hundred of them at the least, and the powerful currents\nof air caused by their revolving tails sent the bonfire scattering in\nevery direction, so that not one burning brand ever touched the\nScarecrow.\n\nBut that was not the only effect of this sudden tornado. King Krewl was\nblown out of his throne and went tumbling heels over head until he\nlanded with a bump against the stone wall of his own castle, and before\nhe could rise a big Ork sat upon him and held him pressed flat to the\nground. Old Googly-Goo shot up into the air like a rocket and landed on\na tree, where he hung by the middle on a high limb, kicking the air\nwith his feet and clawing the air with his hands, and howling for mercy\nlike the coward he was.\n\nThe people pressed back until they were jammed close together, while\nall the soldiers were knocked over and sent sprawling to the earth. The\nexcitement was great for a few minutes, and every frightened inhabitant\nof Jinxland looked with awe and amazement at the great Orks whose\ndescent had served to rescue the Scarecrow and conquer King Krewl at\none and the same time.\n\nThe Ork, who was the leader of the band, soon had the Scarecrow free of\nhis bonds. Then he said: \"Well, we were just in time to save you, which\nis better than being a minute too late. You are now the master here,\nand we are determined to see your orders obeyed.\"\n\nWith this the Ork picked up Krewl's golden crown, which had fallen off\nhis head, and placed it upon the head of the Scarecrow, who in his\nawkward way then shuffled over to the throne and sat down in it.\n\nSeeing this, a rousing cheer broke from the crowd of people, who tossed\ntheir hats and waved their handkerchiefs and hailed the Scarecrow as\ntheir King. The soldiers joined the people in the cheering, for now\nthey fully realized that their hated master was conquered and it would\nbe wise to show their good will to the conqueror. Some of them bound\nKrewl with ropes and dragged him forward, dumping his body on the\nground before the Scarecrow's throne. Googly-Goo struggled until he\nfinally slid off the limb of the tree and came tumbling to the ground.\nHe then tried to sneak away and escape, but the soldiers seized and\nbound him beside Krewl.\n\n\"The tables are turned,\" said the Scarecrow, swelling out his chest\nuntil the straw within it crackled pleasantly, for he was highly\npleased; \"but it was you and your people who did it, friend Ork, and\nfrom this time you may count me your humble servant.\"\n\n\n\n\nChapter Nineteen\n\nThe Conquest of the Witch\n\n\nNow as soon as the conquest of King Krewl had taken place, one of the\nOrks had been dispatched to Pon's house with the joyful news. At once\nGloria and Pon and Trot and Button-Bright hastened toward the castle.\nThey were somewhat surprised by the sight that met their eyes, for\nthere was the Scarecrow, crowned King, and all the people kneeling\nhumbly before him. So they likewise bowed low to the new ruler and then\nstood beside the throne. Cap'n Bill, as the gray grasshopper, was still\nperched upon Trot's shoulder, but now he hopped to the shoulder of the\nScarecrow and whispered into the painted ear:\n\n\"I thought Gloria was to be Queen of Jinxland.\"\n\nThe Scarecrow shook his head.\n\n\"Not yet,\" he answered. \"No Queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule\nany country.\" Then he turned to his new friend, the Ork, who was\nstrutting about, very proud of what he had done, and said: \"Do you\nsuppose you, or your followers, could find old Blinkie the Witch?\"\n\n\"Where is she?\" asked the Ork.\n\n\"Somewhere in Jinxland, I'm sure.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the Ork, \"we shall certainly be able to find her.\"\n\n\"It will give me great pleasure,\" declared the Scarecrow. \"When you\nhave found her, bring her here to me, and I will then decide what to do\nwith her.\"\n\nThe Ork called his followers together and spoke a few words to them in\na low tone. A moment after they rose into the air--so suddenly that the\nScarecrow, who was very light in weight, was blown quite out of his\nthrone and into the arms of Pon, who replaced him carefully upon his\nseat. There was an eddy of dust and ashes, too, and the grasshopper\nonly saved himself from being whirled into the crowd of people by\njumping into a tree, from where a series of hops soon brought him back\nto Trot's shoulder again. The Orks were quite out of sight by this\ntime, so the Scarecrow made a speech to the people and presented Gloria\nto them, whom they knew well already and were fond of. But not all of\nthem knew of her frozen heart, and when the Scarecrow related the story\nof the Wicked Witch's misdeeds, which had been encouraged and paid for\nby Krewl and Googly-Goo, the people were very indignant.\n\nMeantime the fifty Orks had scattered all over Jinx land, which is not\na very big country, and their sharp eyes were peering into every valley\nand grove and gully. Finally one of them spied a pair of heels sticking\nout from underneath some bushes, and with a shrill whistle to warn his\ncomrades that the witch was found the Ork flew down and dragged old\nBlinkie from her hiding-place. Then two or three of the Orks seized the\nclothing of the wicked woman in their strong claws and, lifting her\nhigh in the air, where she struggled and screamed to no avail, they\nflew with her straight to the royal castle and set her down before the\nthrone of the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Good!\" exclaimed the straw man, nodding his stuffed head with\nsatisfaction. \"Now we can proceed to business. Mistress Witch, I am\nobliged to request, gently but firmly, that you undo all the wrongs you\nhave done by means of your witchcraft.\"\n\n\"Pah!\" cried old Blinkie in a scornful voice. \"I defy you all! By my\nmagic powers I can turn you all into pigs, rooting in the mud, and I'll\ndo it if you are not careful.\"\n\n\"I think you are mistaken about that,\" said the Scarecrow, and rising\nfrom his throne he walked with wobbling steps to the side of the Wicked\nWitch. \"Before I left the Land of Oz, Glinda the Royal Sorceress gave\nme a box, which I was not to open except in an emergency. But I feel\npretty sure that this occasion is an emergency; don't you, Trot?\" he\nasked, turning toward the little girl.\n\n\"Why, we've got to do something,\" replied Trot seriously. \"Things seem\nin an awful muddle here, jus' now, and they'll be worse if we don't\nstop this witch from doing more harm to people.\"\n\n\"That is my idea, exactly,\" said the Scarecrow, and taking a small box\nfrom his pocket he opened the cover and tossed the contents toward\nBlinkie.\n\nThe old woman shrank back, pale and trembling, as a fine white dust\nsettled all about her. Under its influence she seemed to the eyes of\nall observers to shrivel and grow smaller.\n\n\"Oh, dear--oh, dear!\" she wailed, wringing her hands in fear. \"Haven't\nyou the antidote, Scarecrow? Didn't the great Sorceress give you\nanother box?\"\n\n\"She did,\" answered the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Then give it me--quick!\" pleaded the witch. \"Give it me--and I'll do\nanything you ask me to!\"\n\n\"You will do what I ask first,\" declared the Scarecrow, firmly.\n\nThe witch was shriveling and growing smaller every moment.\n\n\"Be quick, then!\" she cried. \"Tell me what I must do and let me do it,\nor it will be too late.\"\n\n\"You made Trot's friend, Cap'n Bill, a grasshopper. I command you to\ngive him back his proper form again,\" said the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Where is he? Where's the grasshopper? Quick--quick!\" she screamed.\n\nCap'n Bill, who had been deeply interested in this conversation, gave a\ngreat leap from Trot's shoulder and landed on that of the Scarecrow.\nBlinkie saw him alight and at once began to make magic passes and to\nmumble magic incantations. She was in a desperate hurry, knowing that\nshe had no time to waste, and the grasshopper was so suddenly\ntransformed into the old sailor-man, Cap'n Bill, that he had no\nopportunity to jump off the Scarecrow's shoulder; so his great weight\nbore the stuffed Scarecrow to the ground. No harm was done, however,\nand the straw man got up and brushed the dust from his clothes while\nTrot delightedly embraced Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"The other box! Quick! Give me the other box,\" begged Blinkie, who had\nnow shrunk to half her former size.\n\n\"Not yet,\" said the Scarecrow. \"You must first melt Princess Gloria's\nfrozen heart.\"\n\n\"I can't; it's an awful job to do that! I can't,\" asserted the witch,\nin an agony of fear--for still she was growing smaller.\n\n\"You must!\" declared the Scarecrow, firmly.\n\nThe witch cast a shrewd look at him and saw that he meant it; so she\nbegan dancing around Gloria in a frantic manner. The Princess looked\ncoldly on, as if not at all interested in the proceedings, while\nBlinkie tore a handful of hair from her own head and ripped a strip of\ncloth from the bottom of her gown. Then the witch sank upon her knees,\ntook a purple powder from her black bag and sprinkled it over the hair\nand cloth.\n\n\"I hate to do it--I  hate to do it!\" she wailed, \"for there is no more\nof this magic compound in all the world. But I must sacrifice it to\nsave my own life. A match! Give me a match, quick!\" and panting from\nlack of breath she gazed imploringly from one to another.\n\nCap'n Bill was the only one who had a match, but he lost no time in\nhanding it to Blinkie, who quickly set fire to the hair and the cloth\nand the purple powder. At once a purple cloud enveloped Gloria, and\nthis gradually turned to a rosy pink color--brilliant and quite\ntransparent. Through the rosy cloud they could all see the beautiful\nPrincess, standing proud and erect. Then her heart became visible, at\nfirst frosted with ice but slowly growing brighter and warmer until all\nthe frost had disappeared and it was beating as softly and regularly as\nany other heart. And now the cloud dispersed and disclosed Gloria, her\nface suffused with joy, smiling tenderly upon the friends who were\ngrouped about her.\n\nPoor Pon stepped forward--timidly, fearing a repulse, but with pleading\neyes and arms fondly outstretched toward his former sweetheart--and the\nPrincess saw him and her sweet face lighted with a radiant smile.\nWithout an instant's hesitation she threw herself into Pon's arms and\nthis reunion of two loving hearts was so affecting that the people\nturned away and lowered their eyes so as not to mar the sacred joy of\nthe faithful lovers.\n\nBut Blinkie's small voice was shouting to the Scarecrow for help.\n\n\"The antidote!\" she screamed. \"Give me the other box--quick!\"\n\nThe Scarecrow looked at the witch with his quaint, painted eyes and saw\nthat she was now no taller than his knee. So he took from his pocket\nthe second box and scattered its contents on Blinkie. She ceased to\ngrow any smaller, but she could never regain her former size, and this\nthe wicked old woman well knew.\n\nShe did not know, however, that the second powder had destroyed all her\npower to work magic, and seeking to be revenged upon the Scarecrow and\nhis friends she at once began to mumble a charm so terrible in its\neffect that it would have destroyed half the population of\nJinxland--had it worked. But it did not work at all, to the amazement\nof old Blinkie. And by this time the Scarecrow noticed what the little\nwitch was trying to do, and said to her:\n\n\"Go home, Blinkie, and behave yourself. You are no longer a witch, but\nan ordinary old woman, and since you are powerless to do more evil I\nadvise you to try to do some good in the world. Believe me, it is more\nfun to accomplish a good act than an evil one, as you will discover\nwhen once you have tried it.\"\n\nBut Blinkie was at that moment filled with grief and chagrin at losing\nher magic powers. She started away toward her home, sobbing and\nbewailing her fate, and not one who saw her go was at all sorry for her.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twenty\n\nQueen Gloria\n\n\nNext morning the Scarecrow called upon all the courtiers and the people\nto assemble in the throne room of the castle, where there was room\nenough for all that were able to attend. They found the straw man\nseated upon the velvet cushions of the throne, with the King's\nglittering crown still upon his stuffed head. On one side of the\nthrone, in a lower chair, sat Gloria, looking radiantly beautiful and\nfresh as a new-blown rose. On the other side sat Pon, the gardener's\nboy, still dressed in his old smock frock and looking sad and solemn;\nfor Pon could not make himself believe that so splendid a Princess\nwould condescend to love him when she had come to her own and was\nseated upon a throne. Trot and Cap'n Bill sat at the feet of the\nScarecrow and were much interested in the proceedings. Button-Bright\nhad lost himself before breakfast, but came into the throne room before\nthe ceremonies were over. Back of the throne stood a row of the great\nOrks, with their leader in the center, and the entrance to the palace\nwas guarded by more Orks, who were regarded with wonder and awe.\n\nWhen all were assembled, the Scarecrow stood up and made a speech. He\ntold how Gloria's father, the good King Kynd, who had once ruled them\nand been loved by everyone, had been destroyed by King Phearce, the\nfather of Pon, and how King Phearce had been destroyed by King Krewl.\nThis last King had been a bad ruler, as they knew very well, and the\nScarecrow declared that the only one in all Jinxland who had the right\nto sit upon the throne was Princess Gloria, the daughter of King Kynd.\n\n\"But,\" he added, \"it is not for me, a stranger, to say who shall rule\nyou. You must decide for yourselves, or you will not be content. So\nchoose now who shall be your future ruler.\"\n\nAnd they all shouted:  \"The Scarecrow!  The Scarecrow shall rule us!\"\n\nWhich proved that the stuffed man had made himself very popular by his\nconquest of King Krewl, and the people thought they would like him for\ntheir King. But the Scarecrow shook his head so vigorously that it\nbecame loose, and Trot had to pin it firmly to his body again.\n\n\"No,\" said he, \"I belong in the Land of Oz, where I am the humble\nservant of the lovely girl who rules us all--the royal Ozma. You must\nchoose one of your own inhabitants to rule over Jinxland. Who shall it\nbe?\"\n\nThey hesitated for a moment, and some few cried: \"Pon!\" but many more\nshouted: \"Gloria!\"\n\nSo the Scarecrow took Gloria's hand and led her to the throne, where he\nfirst seated her and then took the glittering crown off his own head\nand placed it upon that of the young lady, where it nestled prettily\namongst her soft curls. The people cheered and shouted then, kneeling\nbefore their new Queen; but Gloria leaned down and took Pon's hand in\nboth her own and raised him to the seat beside her.\n\n\"You shall have both a King and a Queen to care for you and to protect\nyou, my dear subjects,\" she said in a sweet voice, while her face\nglowed with happiness; \"for Pon was a King's son before he became a\ngardener's boy, and because I love him he is to be my Royal Consort.\"\n\nThat pleased them all, especially Pon, who realized that this was the\nmost important moment of his life. Trot and Button-Bright and Cap'n\nWill all congratulated him on winning the beautiful Gloria; but the Ork\nsneezed twice and said that in his opinion the young lady might have\ndone better.\n\nThen the Scarecrow ordered the guards to bring in the wicked Krewl,\nKing no longer, and when he appeared, loaded with chains and dressed in\nfustian, the people hissed him and drew back as he passed so their\ngarments would not touch him.\n\nKrewl was not haughty or overbearing any more; on the contrary he\nseemed very meek and in great fear of the fate his conquerors had in\nstore for him. But Gloria and Pon were too happy to be revengeful and\nso they offered to appoint Krewl to the position of gardener's boy at\nthe castle, Pon having resigned to become King. But they said he must\npromise to reform his wicked ways and to do his duty faithfully, and he\nmust change his name from Krewl to Grewl. All this the man eagerly\npromised to do, and so when Pon retired to a room in the castle to put\non princely raiment, the old brown smock he had formerly worn was given\nto Grewl, who then went out into the garden to water the roses.\n\nThe remainder of that famous day, which was long remembered in\nJinxland, was given over to feasting and merrymaking. In the evening\nthere was a grand dance in the courtyard, where the brass band played a\nnew piece of music called the \"Ork Trot\" which was dedicated to \"Our\nGlorious Gloria, the Queen.\"\n\nWhile the Queen and Pon were leading this dance, and all the Jinxland\npeople were having a good time, the strangers were gathered in a group\nin the park outside the castle. Cap'n Bill, Trot, Button-Bright and the\nScarecrow were there, and so was their old friend the Ork; but of all\nthe great flock of Orks which had assisted in the conquest but three\nremained in Jinxland, besides their leader, the others having returned\nto their own country as soon as Gloria was crowned Queen. To the young\nOrk who had accompanied them in their adventures Cap'n Bill said:\n\n\"You've surely been a friend in need, and we're mighty grateful to you\nfor helping us. I might have been a grasshopper yet if it hadn't been\nfor you, an' I might remark that bein' a grasshopper isn't much fun.\"\n\n\"If it hadn't been for you, friend Ork,\" said the Scarecrow, \"I fear I\ncould not have conquered King Krewl.\"\n\n\"No,\" agreed Trot, \"you'd have been just a heap of ashes by this time.\"\n\n\"And I might have been lost yet,\" added Button-Bright. \"Much obliged,\nMr. Ork.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's all right,\" replied the Ork. \"Friends must stand together,\nyou know, or they wouldn't be friends. But now I must leave you and be\noff to my own country, where there's going to be a surprise party on my\nuncle, and I've promised to attend it.\"\n\n\"Dear me,\" said the Scarecrow, regretfully. \"That is very unfortunate.\"\n\n\"Why so?\" asked the Ork.\n\n\"I hoped you would consent to carry us over those mountains, into the\nLand of Oz. My mission here is now finished and I want to get back to\nthe Emerald City.\"\n\n\"How did you cross the mountains before?\" inquired the Ork.\n\n\"I scaled the cliffs by means of a rope, and crossed the Great Gulf on\na strand of spider web. Of course I can return in the same manner, but\nit would be a hard journey--and perhaps an impossible one--for Trot and\nButton-Bright and Cap'n Bill. So I thought that if you had the time you\nand your people would carry us over the mountains and land us all\nsafely on the other side, in the Land of Oz.\"\n\nThe Ork thoughtfully considered the matter for a while. Then he said:\n\n\"I mustn't break my promise to be present at the surprise party; but,\ntell me, could you go to Oz to-night?\"\n\n\"What, now?\" exclaimed Trot.\n\n\"It is a fine moonlight night,\" said the Ork, \"and I've found in my\nexperience that there's no time so good as right away. The fact is,\" he\nexplained, \"it's a long journey to Orkland and I and my cousins here\nare all rather tired by our day's work. But if you will start now, and\nbe content to allow us to carry you over the mountains and dump you on\nthe other side, just say the word and--off we go!\"\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot looked at one another questioningly. The little\ngirl was eager to visit the famous fairyland of Oz and the old sailor\nhad endured such hardships in Jinxland that he would be glad to be out\nof it.\n\n\"It's rather impolite of us not to say good-bye to the new King and\nQueen,\" remarked the Scarecrow, \"but I'm sure they're too happy to miss\nus, and I assure you it will be much easier to fly on the backs of the\nOrks over those steep mountains than to climb them as I did.\"\n\n\"All right; let's go!\" Trot decided. \"But where's Button-Bright?\"\n\nJust at this important moment Button-Bright was lost again, and they\nall scattered in search of him. He had been standing beside them just a\nfew minutes before, but his friends had an exciting hunt for him before\nthey finally discovered the boy seated among the members of the band,\nbeating the end of the bass drum with the bone of a turkey-leg that he\nhad taken from the table in the banquet room.\n\n\"Hello, Trot,\" he said, looking up at the little girl when she found\nhim. \"This is the first chance I ever had to pound a drum with a\nreg'lar drum stick. And I ate all the meat off the bone myself.\"\n\n\"Come quick. We're going to the Land of Oz.\"\n\n\"Oh, what's the hurry?\" said Button-Bright; but she seized his arm and\ndragged him away to the park, where the others were waiting.\n\nTrot climbed upon the back of her old friend, the Ork leader, and the\nothers took their seats on the backs of his three cousins. As soon as\nall were placed and clinging to the skinny necks of the creatures, the\nrevolving tails began to whirl and up rose the four monster Orks and\nsailed away toward the mountains. They were so high in the air that\nwhen they passed the crest of the highest peak it seemed far below\nthem. No sooner were they well across the barrier than the Orks swooped\ndownward and landed their passengers upon the ground.\n\n\"Here we are, safe in the Land of Oz!\" cried the Scarecrow joyfully.\n\n\"Oh, are we?\" asked Trot, looking around her curiously.\n\nShe could see the shadows of stately trees and the outlines of rolling\nhills; beneath her feet was soft turf, but otherwise the subdued light\nof the moon disclosed nothing clearly.\n\n\"Seems jus' like any other country,\" was Cap'n Bill's comment.\n\n\"But it isn't,\" the Scarecrow assured him. \"You are now within the\nborders of the most glorious fairyland in all the world. This part of\nit is just a corner of the Quadling Country, and the least interesting\nportion of it. It's not very thickly settled, around here, I'll admit,\nbut--\"\n\nHe was interrupted by a sudden whir and a rush of air as the four Orks\nmounted into the sky.\n\n\"Good night!\" called the shrill voices of the strange creatures, and\nalthough Trot shouted \"Good night!\" as loudly as she could, the little\ngirl was almost ready to cry because the Orks had not waited to be\nproperly thanked for all their kindness to her and to Cap'n Bill.\n\nBut the Orks were gone, and thanks for good deeds do not amount to much\nexcept to prove one's politeness.\n\n\"Well, friends,\" said the Scarecrow, \"we mustn't stay here in the\nmeadows all night, so let us find a pleasant place to sleep. Not that\nit matters to me, in the least, for I never sleep; but I know that meat\npeople like to shut their eyes and lie still during the dark hours.\"\n\n\"I'm pretty tired,\" admitted Trot, yawning as she followed the straw\nman along a tiny path, \"so, if you don't find a house handy, Cap'n Bill\nand I will sleep under the trees, or even on this soft grass.\"\n\nBut a house was not very far off, although when the Scarecrow stumbled\nupon it there was no light in it whatever. Cap'n Bill knocked on the\ndoor several times, and there being no response the Scarecrow boldly\nlifted the latch and walked in, followed by the others. And no sooner\nhad they entered than a soft light filled the room. Trot couldn't tell\nwhere it came from, for no lamp of any sort was visible, but she did\nnot waste much time on this problem, because directly in the center of\nthe room stood a table set for three, with lots of good food on it and\nseveral of the dishes smoking hot.\n\nThe little girl and Button-Bright both uttered exclamations of\npleasure, but they looked in vain for any cook stove or fireplace, or\nfor any person who might have prepared for them this delicious feast.\n\n\"It's fairyland,\" muttered the boy, tossing his cap in a corner and\nseating himself at the table. \"This supper smells 'most as good as that\nturkey-leg I had in Jinxland. Please pass the muffins, Cap'n Bill.\"\n\nTrot thought it was strange that no people but themselves were in the\nhouse, but on the wall opposite the door was a gold frame bearing in\nbig letters the word:\n\n\"WELCOME.\"\n\nSo she had no further hesitation in eating of the food so mysteriously\nprepared for them.\n\n\"But there are only places for three!\" she exclaimed.\n\n\"Three are quite enough,\" said the Scarecrow. \"I never eat, because I\nam stuffed full already, and I like my nice clean straw better than I\ndo food.\"\n\nTrot and the sailor-man were hungry and made a hearty meal, for not\nsince they had left home had they tasted such good food. It was\nsurprising that Button-Bright could eat so soon after his feast in\nJinxland, but the boy always ate whenever there was an opportunity. \"If\nI don't eat now,\" he said, \"the next time I'm hungry I'll wish I had.\"\n\n\"Really, Cap'n,\" remarked Trot, when she found a dish of ice-cream\nappear beside her plate, \"I b'lieve this is fairyland, sure enough.\"\n\n\"There's no doubt of it, Trot,\" he answered gravely\n\n\"I've been here before,\" said Button-Bright, \"so I know.\"\n\nAfter supper they discovered three tiny bedrooms adjoining the big\nliving room of the house, and in each room was a comfortable white bed\nwith downy pillows. You may be sure that the tired mortals were not\nlong in bidding the Scarecrow good night and creeping into their beds,\nwhere they slept soundly until morning.\n\nFor the first time since they set eyes on the terrible whirlpool, Trot\nand Cap'n Bill were free from anxiety and care. Button-Bright never\nworried about anything. The Scarecrow, not being able to sleep, looked\nout of the window and tried to count the stars.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twenty-One\n\nDorothy, Betsy and Ozma\n\n\nI suppose many of my readers have read descriptions of the beautiful\nand magnificent Emerald City of Oz, so I need not describe it here,\nexcept to state that never has any city in any fairyland ever equalled\nthis one in stately splendor. It lies almost exactly in the center of\nthe Land of Oz, and in the center of the Emerald City rises the wall of\nglistening emeralds that surrounds the palace of Ozma. The palace is\nalmost a city in itself and is inhabited by many of the Ruler's\nespecial friends and those who have won her confidence and favor. As\nfor Ozma herself, there are no words in any dictionary I can find that\nare fitted to describe this young girl's beauty of mind and person.\nMerely to see her is to love her for her charming face and manners; to\nknow her is to love her for her tender sympathy, her generous nature,\nher truth and honor. Born of a long line of Fairy Queens, Ozma is as\nnearly perfect as any fairy may be, and she is noted for her wisdom as\nwell as for her other qualities. Her happy subjects adore their girl\nRuler and each one considers her a comrade and protector.\n\nAt the time of which I write, Ozma's best friend and most constant\ncompanion was a little Kansas girl named Dorothy, a mortal who had come\nto the Land of Oz in a very curious manner and had been offered a home\nin Ozma's palace. Furthermore, Dorothy had been made a Princess of Oz,\nand was as much at home in the royal palace as was the gentle Ruler.\nShe knew almost every part of the great country and almost all of its\nnumerous inhabitants. Next to Ozma she was loved better than anyone in\nall Oz, for Dorothy was simple and sweet, seldom became angry and had\nsuch a friendly, chummy way that she made friends where-ever she\nwandered. It was she who first brought the Scarecrow and the Tin\nWoodman and the Cowardly Lion to the Emerald City. Dorothy had also\nintroduced to Ozma the Shaggy Man and the Hungry Tiger, as well as\nBillina the Yellow Hen, Eureka the Pink Kitten, and many other\ndelightful characters and creatures. Coming as she did from our world,\nDorothy was much like many other girls we know; so there were times\nwhen she was not so wise as she might have been, and other times when\nshe was obstinate and got herself into trouble. But life in a\nfairy-land had taught the little girl to accept all sorts of surprising\nthings as matters-of-course, for while Dorothy was no fairy--but just\nas mortal as we are--she had seen more wonders than most mortals ever\ndo.\n\nAnother little girl from our outside world also lived in Ozma's palace.\nThis was Betsy Bobbin, whose strange adventures had brought her to the\nEmerald City, where Ozma had cordially welcomed her. Betsy was a shy\nlittle thing and could never get used to the marvels that surrounded\nher, but she and Dorothy were firm friends and thought themselves very\nfortunate in being together in this delightful country.\n\nOne day Dorothy and Betsy were visiting Ozma in the girl Ruler's\nprivate apartment, and among the things that especially interested them\nwas Ozma's Magic Picture, set in a handsome frame and hung upon the\nwall of the room. This picture was a magic one because it constantly\nchanged its scenes and showed events and adventures happening in all\nparts of the world. Thus it was really a \"moving picture\" of life, and\nif the one who stood before it wished to know what any absent person\nwas doing, the picture instantly showed that person, with his or her\nsurroundings.\n\nThe two girls were not wishing to see anyone in particular, on this\noccasion, but merely enjoyed watching the shifting scenes, some of\nwhich were exceedingly curious and remarkable. Suddenly Dorothy\nexclaimed: \"Why, there's Button-Bright!\" and this drew Ozma also to\nlook at the picture, for she and Dorothy knew the boy well.\n\n\"Who is Button-Bright?\" asked Betsy, who had never met him.\n\n\"Why, he's the little boy who is just getting off the back of that\nstrange flying creature,\" exclaimed Dorothy. Then she turned to Ozma\nand asked: \"What is that thing, Ozma? A bird? I've never seen anything\nlike it before.\"\n\n\"It is an Ork,\" answered Ozma, for they were watching the scene where\nthe Ork and the three big birds were first landing their passengers in\nJinxland after the long flight across the desert. \"I wonder,\" added the\ngirl Ruler, musingly, \"why those strangers dare venture into that\nunfortunate country, which is ruled by a wicked King.\"\n\n\"That girl, and the one-legged man, seem to be mortals from the outside\nworld,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"The man isn't one-legged,\" corrected Betsy; \"he has one wooden leg.\"\n\n\"It's almost as bad,\" declared Dorothy, watching Cap'n Bill stump\naround.\n\n\"They are three mortal adventurers,\" said Ozma, \"and they seem worthy\nand honest. But I fear they will be treated badly in Jinxland, and if\nthey meet with any misfortune there it will reflect upon me, for\nJinxland is a part of my dominions.\"\n\n\"Can't we help them in any way?\" inquired Dorothy. \"That seems like a\nnice little girl. I'd be sorry if anything happened to her.\"\n\n\"Let us watch the picture for awhile,\" suggested Ozma, and so they all\ndrew chairs before the Magic Picture and followed the adventures of\nTrot and Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright. Presently the scene shifted and\nshowed their friend the Scarecrow crossing the mountains into Jinxland,\nand that somewhat relieved Ozma's anxiety, for she knew at once that\nGlinda the Good had sent the Scarecrow to protect the strangers.\n\nThe adventures in Jinxland proved very interesting to the three girls\nin Ozma's palace, who during the succeeding days spent much of their\ntime in watching the picture. It was like a story to them.\n\n\"That girl's a reg'lar trump!\" exclaimed Dorothy, referring to Trot,\nand Ozma answered:\n\n\"She's a dear little thing, and I'm sure nothing very bad will happen\nto her. The old sailor is a fine character, too, for he has never once\ngrumbled over being a grasshopper, as so many would have done.\"\n\nWhen the Scarecrow was so nearly burned up the girls all shivered a\nlittle, and they clapped their hands in joy when the flock of Orks came\nand saved him.\n\nSo it was that when all the exciting adventures in Jinxland were over\nand the four Orks had begun their flight across the mountains to carry\nthe mortals into the Land of Oz, Ozma called the Wizard to her and\nasked him to prepare a place for the strangers to sleep.\n\nThe famous Wizard of Oz was a quaint little man who inhabited the royal\npalace and attended to all the magical things that Ozma wanted done. He\nwas not as powerful as Glinda, to be sure, but he could do a great many\nwonderful things. He proved this by placing a house in the uninhabited\npart of the Quadling Country where the Orks landed Cap'n Bill and Trot\nand Button-Bright, and fitting it with all the comforts I have\ndescribed in the last chapter.\n\nNext morning Dorothy said to Ozma:\n\n\"Oughtn't we to go meet the strangers, so we can show them the way to\nthe Emerald City? I'm sure that little girl will feel shy in this\nbeautiful land, and I know if 'twas me I'd like somebody to give me a\nwelcome.\"\n\nOzma smiled at her little friend and answered:\n\n\"You and Betsy may go to meet them, if you wish, but I can not leave my\npalace just now, as I am to have a conference with Jack Pumpkinhead and\nProfessor Wogglebug on important matters. You may take the Sawhorse and\nthe Red Wagon, and if you start soon you will be able to meet the\nScarecrow and the strangers at Glinda's palace.\"\n\n\"Oh, thank you!\" cried Dorothy, and went away to tell Betsy and to make\npreparations for the journey.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twenty-Two\n\nThe Waterfall\n\n\nGlinda's castle was a long way from the mountains, but the Scarecrow\nbegan the journey cheerfully, since time was of no great importance in\nthe Land of Oz and he had recently made the trip and knew the way. It\nnever mattered much to Button-Bright where he was or what he was doing;\nthe boy was content in being alive and having good companions to share\nhis wanderings. As for Trot and Cap'n Bill, they now found themselves\nso comfortable and free from danger, in this fine fairyland, and they\nwere so awed and amazed by the adventures they were encountering, that\nthe journey to Glinda's castle was more like a pleasure trip than a\nhardship, so many wonderful things were there to see.\n\nButton-Bright had been in Oz before, but never in this part of it, so\nthe Scarecrow was the only one who knew the paths and could lead them.\nThey had eaten a hearty breakfast, which they found already prepared\nfor them and awaiting them on the table when they arose from their\nrefreshing sleep, so they left the magic house in a contented mood and\nwith hearts lighter and more happy than they had known for many a day.\nAs they marched along through the fields, the sun shone brightly and\nthe breeze was laden with delicious fragrance, for it carried with it\nthe breath of millions of wildflowers.\n\nAt noon, when they stopped to rest by the bank of a pretty river, Trot\nsaid with a long-drawn breath that was much like a sigh:\n\n\"I wish we'd brought with us some of the food that was left from our\nbreakfast, for I'm getting hungry again.\"\n\nScarcely had she spoken when a table rose up before them, as if from\nthe ground itself, and it was loaded with fruits and nuts and cakes and\nmany other good things to eat. The little girl's eyes opened wide at\nthis display of magic, and Cap'n Bill was not sure that the things were\nactually there and fit to eat until he had taken them in his hand and\ntasted them. But the Scarecrow said with a laugh:\n\n\"Someone is looking after your welfare, that is certain, and from the\nlooks of this table I suspect my friend the Wizard has taken us in his\ncharge. I've known him to do things like this before, and if we are in\nthe Wizard's care you need not worry about your future.\"\n\n\"Who's worrying?\" inquired Button-Bright, already at the table and\nbusily eating.\n\nThe Scarecrow looked around the place while the others were feasting,\nand finding many things unfamiliar to him he shook his head and\nremarked:\n\n\"I must have taken the wrong path, back in that last valley, for on my\nway to Jinxland I remember that I passed around the foot of this river,\nwhere there was a great waterfall.\"\n\n\"Did the river make a bend, after the waterfall?\" asked Cap'n Bill.\n\n\"No, the river disappeared. Only a pool of whirling water showed what\nhad become of the river; but I suppose it is under ground, somewhere,\nand will come to the surface again in another part of the country.\"\n\n\"Well,\" suggested Trot, as she finished her luncheon, \"as there is no\nway to cross this river, I s'pose we'll have to find that waterfall,\nand go around it.\"\n\n\"Exactly,\" replied the Scarecrow; so they soon renewed their journey,\nfollowing the river for a long time until the roar of the waterfall\nsounded in their ears. By and by they came to the waterfall itself, a\nsheet of silver dropping far, far down into a tiny lake which seemed to\nhave no outlet. From the top of the fall, where they stood, the banks\ngradually sloped away, so that the descent by land was quite easy,\nwhile the river could do nothing but glide over an edge of rock and\ntumble straight down to the depths below.\n\n\"You see,\" said the Scarecrow, leaning over the brink, \"this is called\nby our Oz people the Great Waterfall, because it is certainly the\nhighest one in all the land; but I think--Help!\"\n\nHe had lost his balance and pitched headforemost into the river. They\nsaw a flash of straw and blue clothes, and the painted face looking\nupward in surprise. The next moment the Scarecrow was swept over the\nwaterfall and plunged into the basin below.\n\nThe accident had happened so suddenly that for a moment they were all\ntoo horrified to speak or move.\n\n\"Quick! We must go to help him or he will be drowned,\" Trot exclaimed.\n\nEven while speaking she began to descend the bank to the pool below,\nand Cap'n Bill followed as swiftly as his wooden leg would let him.\nButton-Bright came more slowly, calling to the girl:\n\n\"He can't drown, Trot; he's a Scarecrow.\"\n\nBut she wasn't sure a Scarecrow couldn't drown and never relaxed her\nspeed until she stood on the edge of the pool, with the spray dashing\nin her face. Cap'n Bill, puffing and panting, had just voice enough to\nask, as he reached her side:\n\n\"See him, Trot?\"\n\n\"Not a speck of him.  Oh, Cap'n, what do you s'pose has become of him?\"\n\n\"I s'pose,\" replied the sailor, \"that he's in that water, more or less\nfar down, and I'm 'fraid it'll make his straw pretty soggy. But as fer\nhis bein' drowned, I agree with Button-Bright that it can't be done.\"\n\nThere was small comfort in this assurance and Trot stood for some time\nsearching with her eyes the bubbling water, in the hope that the\nScarecrow would finally come to the surface. Presently she heard\nButton-Bright calling: \"Come here, Trot!\" and looking around she saw\nthat the boy had crept over the wet rocks to the edge of the waterfall\nand seemed to be peering behind it. Making her way toward him, she\nasked:\n\n\"What do you see?\"\n\n\"A cave,\" he answered. \"Let's go in. P'r'aps we'll find the Scarecrow\nthere.\"\n\nShe was a little doubtful of that, but the cave interested her, and so\ndid it Cap'n Bill. There was just space enough at the edge of the sheet\nof water for them to crowd in behind it, but after that dangerous\nentrance they found room enough to walk upright and after a time they\ncame to an opening in the wall of rock. Approaching this opening, they\ngazed within it and found a series of steps, cut so that they might\neasily descend into the cavern.\n\nTrot turned to look inquiringly at her companions. The falling water\nmade such din and roaring that her voice could not be heard. Cap'n Bill\nnodded his head, but before he could enter the cave, Button-Bright was\nbefore him, clambering down the steps without a particle of fear. So\nthe others followed the boy.\n\nThe first steps were wet with spray, and slippery, but the remainder\nwere quite dry. A rosy light seemed to come from the interior of the\ncave, and this lighted their way. After the steps there was a short\ntunnel, high enough for them to walk erect in, and then they reached\nthe cave itself and paused in wonder and admiration.\n\nThey stood on the edge of a vast cavern, the walls and domed roof of\nwhich were lined with countless rubies, exquisitely cut and flashing\nsparkling rays from one to another. This caused a radiant light that\npermitted the entire cavern to be distinctly seen, and the effect was\nso marvelous that Trot drew in her breath with a sort of a gasp, and\nstood quite still in wonder.\n\nBut the walls and roof of the cavern were merely a setting for a more\nwonderful scene. In the center was a bubbling caldron of water, for\nhere the river rose again, splashing and dashing till its spray rose\nhigh in the air, where it took the ruby color of the jewels and seemed\nlike a seething mass of flame. And while they gazed into the tumbling,\ntossing water, the body of the Scarecrow suddenly rose in the center,\nstruggling and kicking, and the next instant wholly disappeared from\nview.\n\n\"My, but he's wet!\" exclaimed Button-Bright; but none of the others\nheard him.\n\nTrot and Cap'n Bill discovered that a broad ledge--covered, like the\nwalls, with glittering rubies--ran all around the cavern; so they\nfollowed this gorgeous path to the rear and found where the water made\nits final dive underground, before it disappeared entirely. Where it\nplunged into this dim abyss the river was black and dreary looking, and\nthey stood gazing in awe until just beside them the body of the\nScarecrow again popped up from the water.\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twenty Three\n\nThe Land of Oz\n\n\nThe straw man's appearance on the water was so sudden that it startled\nTrot, but Cap'n Bill had the presence of mind to stick his wooden leg\nout over the water and the Scarecrow made a desperate clutch and\ngrabbed the leg with both hands. He managed to hold on until Trot and\nButton-Bright knelt down and seized his clothing, but the children\nwould have been powerless to drag the soaked Scarecrow ashore had not\nCap'n Bill now assisted them. When they laid him on the ledge of rubies\nhe was the most useless looking Scarecrow you can imagine--his straw\nsodden and dripping with water, his clothing wet and crumpled, while\neven the sack upon which his face was painted had become so wrinkled\nthat the old jolly expression of their stuffed friend's features was\nentirely gone. But he could still speak, and when Trot bent down her\near she heard him say:\n\n\"Get me out of here as soon as you can.\"\n\nThat seemed a wise thing to do, so Cap'n Bill lifted his head and\nshoulders, and Trot and Button-Bright each took a leg; among them they\npartly carried and partly dragged the damp Scarecrow out of the Ruby\nCavern, along the tunnel, and up the flight of rock steps. It was\nsomewhat difficult to get him past the edge of the waterfall, but they\nsucceeded, after much effort, and a few minutes later laid their poor\ncomrade on a grassy bank where the sun shone upon him freely and he was\nbeyond the reach of the spray.\n\nCap'n Bill now knelt down and examined the straw that the Scarecrow was\nstuffed with.\n\n\"I don't believe it'll be of much use to him, any more,\" said he, \"for\nit's full of polliwogs an' fish eggs, an' the water has took all the\ncrinkle out o' the straw an ruined it. I guess, Trot, that the best\nthing for us to do is to empty out all his body an' carry his head an'\nclothes along the road till we come to a field or a house where we can\nget some fresh straw.\"\n\n\"Yes, Cap'n,\" she agreed, \"there's nothing else to be done. But how\nshall we ever find the road to Glinda's palace, without the Scarecrow\nto guide us?\"\n\n\"That's easy,\" said the Scarecrow, speaking in a rather feeble but\ndistinct voice. \"If Cap'n Bill will carry my head on his shoulders,\neyes front, I can tell him which way to go.\"\n\nSo they followed that plan and emptied all the old, wet straw out of\nthe Scarecrow's body. Then the sailor-man wrung out the clothes and\nlaid them in the sun till they were quite dry. Trot took charge of the\nhead and pressed the wrinkles out of the face as it dried, so that\nafter a while the Scarecrow's expression became natural again, and as\njolly as before.\n\nThis work consumed some time, but when it was completed they again\nstarted upon their journey, Button-Bright carrying the boots and hat,\nTrot the bundle of clothes, and Cap'n Bill the head. The Scarecrow,\nhaving regained his composure and being now in a good humor, despite\nhis recent mishaps, beguiled their way with stories of the Land of Oz.\n\nIt was not until the next morning, however, that they found straw with\nwhich to restuff the Scarecrow. That evening they came to the same\nlittle house they had slept in before, only now it was magically\ntransferred to a new place. The same bountiful supper as before was\nfound smoking hot upon the table and the same cosy beds were ready for\nthem to sleep in.\n\nThey rose early and after breakfast went out of doors, and there, lying\njust beside the house, was a heap of clean, crisp straw. Ozma had\nnoticed the Scarecrow's accident in her Magic Picture and had notified\nthe Wizard to provide the straw, for she knew the adventurers were not\nlikely to find straw in the country through which they were now\ntraveling.\n\nThey lost no time in stuffing the Scarecrow anew, and he was greatly\ndelighted at being able to walk around again and to assume the\nleadership of the little party.\n\n\"Really,\" said Trot, \"I think you're better than you were before, for\nyou are fresh and sweet all through and rustle beautifully when you\nmove.\"\n\n\"Thank you, my dear,\" he replied gratefully. \"I always feel like a new\nman when I'm freshly stuffed. No one likes to get musty, you know, and\neven good straw may be spoiled by age.\"\n\n\"It was water that spoiled you, the last time,\" remarked Button-Bright,\n\"which proves that too much bathing is as bad as too little. But, after\nall, Scarecrow, water is not as dangerous for you as fire.\"\n\n\"All things are good in moderation,\" declared the Scarecrow. \"But now,\nlet us hurry on, or we shall not reach Glinda's palace by nightfall.\"\n\n\n\n\nChapter Twenty-Four\n\nThe Royal Reception\n\n\nAt about four o'clock of that same day the Red Wagon drew up at the\nentrance to Glinda's palace and Dorothy and Betsy jumped out. Ozma's\nRed Wagon was almost a chariot, being inlaid with rubies and pearls,\nand it was drawn by Ozma's favorite steed, the wooden Sawhorse.\n\n\"Shall I unharness you,\" asked Dorothy, \"so you can come in and visit?\"\n\n\"No,\" replied the Sawhorse. \"I'll just stand here and think. Take your\ntime. Thinking doesn't seem to bore me at all.\"\n\n\"What will you think of?\" inquired Betsy.\n\n\"Of the acorn that grew the tree from which I was made.\"\n\nSo they left the wooden animal and went in to see Glinda, who welcomed\nthe little girls in her most cordial manner.\n\n\"I knew you were on your way,\" said the good Sorceress when they were\nseated in her library, \"for I learned from my Record Book that you\nintended to meet Trot and Button-Bright on their arrival here.\"\n\n\"Is the strange little girl named Trot?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Yes; and her companion, the old sailor, is named Cap'n Bill. I think\nwe shall like them very much, for they are just the kind of people to\nenjoy and appreciate our fairyland and I do not see any way, at\npresent, for them to return again to the outside world.\"\n\n\"Well, there's room enough here for them, I'm sure,\" said Dorothy.\n\"Betsy and I are already eager to welcome Trot. It will keep us busy\nfor a year, at least, showing her all the wonderful things in Oz.\"\n\nGlinda smiled.\n\n\"I have lived here many years,\" said she, \"and I have not seen all the\nwonders of Oz yet.\"\n\nMeantime the travelers were drawing near to the palace, and when they\nfirst caught sight of its towers Trot realized that it was far more\ngrand and imposing than was the King's castle in Jinxland. The nearer\nthey came, the more beautiful the palace appeared, and when finally the\nScarecrow led them up the great marble steps, even Button-Bright was\nfilled with awe.\n\n\"I don't see any soldiers to guard the place,\" said the little girl.\n\n\"There is no need to guard Glinda's palace,\" replied the Scarecrow. \"We\nhave no wicked people in Oz, that we know of, and even if there were\nany, Glinda's magic would be powerful enough to protect her.\"\n\nButton-Bright was now standing on the top steps of the entrance, and he\nsuddenly exclaimed:\n\n\"Why, there's the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon! Hip, hooray!\" and next\nmoment he was rushing down to throw his arms around the neck of the\nwooden horse, which good-naturedly permitted this familiarity when it\nrecognized in the boy an old friend.\n\nButton-Bright's shout had been heard inside the palace, so now Dorothy\nand Betsy came running out to embrace their beloved friend, the\nScarecrow, and to welcome Trot and Cap'n Bill to the Land of Oz.\n\n\"We've been watching you for a long time, in Ozma's Magic Picture,\"\nsaid Dorothy, \"and Ozma has sent us to invite you to her own palace in\nthe Em'rald City. I don't know if you realize how lucky you are to get\nthat invitation, but you'll understand it better after you've seen the\nroyal palace and the Em'rald City.\"\n\nGlinda now appeared in person to lead all the party into her Azure\nReception Room. Trot was a little afraid of the stately Sorceress, but\ngained courage by holding fast to the hands of Betsy and Dorothy. Cap'n\nBill had no one to help him feel at ease, so the old sailor sat stiffly\non the edge of his chair and said:\n\n\"Yes, ma'am,\" or \"No, ma'am,\" when he was spoken to, and was greatly\nembarrassed by so much splendor.\n\nThe Scarecrow had lived so much in palaces that he felt quite at home,\nand he chatted to Glinda and the Oz girls in a merry, light-hearted\nway. He told all about his adventures in Jinxland, and at the Great\nWaterfall, and on the journey hither--most of which his hearers knew\nalready--and then he asked Dorothy and Betsy what had happened in the\nEmerald City since he had left there.\n\nThey all passed the evening and the night at Glinda's palace, and the\nSorceress was so gracious to Cap'n Bill that the old man by degrees\nregained his self-possession and began to enjoy himself. Trot had\nalready come to the conclusion that in Dorothy and Betsy she had found\ntwo delightful comrades, and Button-Bright was just as much at home\nhere as he had been in the fields of Jinxland or when he was buried in\nthe popcorn snow of the Land of Mo.\n\nThe next morning they arose bright and early and after breakfast bade\ngood-bye to the kind Sorceress, whom Trot and Cap'n Bill thanked\nearnestly for sending the Scarecrow to Jinxland to rescue them. Then\nthey all climbed into the Red Wagon.\n\nThere was room for all on the broad seats, and when all had taken their\nplaces--Dorothy, Trot and Betsy on the rear seat and Cap'n Bill,\nButton-Bright and the Scarecrow in front--they called \"Gid-dap!\" to the\nSawhorse and the wooden steed moved briskly away, pulling the Red Wagon\nwith ease.\n\nIt was now that the strangers began to perceive the real beauties of\nthe Land of Oz, for they were passing through a more thickly settled\npart of the country and the population grew more dense as they drew\nnearer to the Emerald City. Everyone they met had a cheery word or a\nsmile for the Scarecrow, Dorothy and Betsy Bobbin, and some of them\nremembered Button-Bright and welcomed him back to their country.\n\nIt was a happy party, indeed, that journeyed in the Red Wagon to the\nEmerald City, and Trot already began to hope that Ozma would permit her\nand Cap'n Bill to live always in the Land of Oz.\n\nWhen they reached the great city they were more amazed than ever, both\nby the concourse of people in their quaint and picturesque costumes,\nand by the splendor of the city itself. But the magnificence of the\nRoyal Palace quite took their breath away, until Ozma received them in\nher own pretty apartment and by her charming manners and assuring\nsmiles made them feel they were no longer strangers.\n\nTrot was given a lovely little room next to that of Dorothy, while\nCap'n Bill had the cosiest sort of a room next to Trot's and\noverlooking the gardens. And that evening Ozma gave a grand banquet and\nreception in honor of the new arrivals. While Trot had read of many of\nthe people she then met, Cap'n Bill was less familiar with them and\nmany of the unusual characters introduced to him that evening caused\nthe old sailor to open his eyes wide in astonishment.\n\nHe had thought the live Scarecrow about as curious as anyone could be,\nbut now he met the Tin Woodman, who was all made of tin, even to his\nheart, and carried a gleaming axe over his shoulder wherever he went.\nThen there was Jack Pumpkinhead, whose head was a real pumpkin with the\nface carved upon it; and Professor Wogglebug, who had the shape of an\nenormous bug but was dressed in neat fitting garments. The Professor\nwas an interesting talker and had very polite manners, but his face was\nso comical that it made Cap'n Bill smile to look at it. A great friend\nof Dorothy and Ozma seemed to be a machine man called Tik-Tok, who ran\ndown several times during the evening and had to be wound up again by\nsomeone before he could move or speak.\n\nAt the reception appeared the Shaggy Man and his brother, both very\npopular in Oz, as well as Dorothy's Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, two happy\nold people who lived in a pretty cottage near the palace.\n\nBut what perhaps seemed most surprising to both Trot and Cap'n Bill was\nthe number of peculiar animals admitted into Ozma's parlors, where they\nnot only conducted themselves quite properly but were able to talk as\nwell as anyone.\n\nThere was the Cowardly Lion, an immense beast with a beautiful mane;\nand the Hungry Tiger, who smiled continually; and Eureka the Pink\nKitten, who lay curled upon a cushion and had rather supercilious\nmanners; and the wooden Sawhorse; and nine tiny piglets that belonged\nto the Wizard; and a mule named Hank, who belonged to Betsy Bobbin. A\nfuzzy little terrier dog, named Toto, lay at Dorothy's feet but seldom\ntook part in the conversation, although he listened to every word that\nwas said. But the most wonderful of all to Trot was a square beast with\na winning smile, that squatted in a corner of the room and wagged his\nsquare head at everyone in quite a jolly way. Betsy told Trot that this\nunique beast was called the Woozy, and there was no other like him in\nall the world.\n\nCap'n Bill and Trot had both looked around expectantly for the Wizard\nof Oz, but the evening was far advanced before the famous little man\nentered the room. But he went up to the strangers at once and said:\n\n\"I know you, but you don't know me; so let's get acquainted.\"\n\nAnd they did get acquainted, in a very short time, and before the\nevening was over Trot felt that she knew every person and animal\npresent at the reception, and that they were all her good friends.\n\nSuddenly they looked around for Button-Bright, but he was nowhere to be\nfound.\n\n\"Dear me!\" cried Trot. \"He's lost again.\"\n\n\"Never mind, my dear,\" said Ozma, with her charming smile, \"no one can\ngo far astray in the Land of Oz, and if Button-Bright isn't lost\noccasionally, he isn't happy.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Wonderful Oz Books by L. Frank Baum\n\n  THE WIZARD OF OZ\n  THE LAND OF OZ\n  OZMA OF OZ\n  DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD IN OZ\n  THE ROAD TO OZ\n  THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ\n  THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ\n  TIK-TOK OF OZ\n  THE SCARECROW OF OZ\n  RINKITINK IN OZ\n  THE LOST PRINCESS OF OZ\n  THE TIN WOODMAN OF OZ\n  THE MAGIC OF OZ\n  GLINDA OF OZ"