"Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz\n\n\n A Faithful Record of Their Amazing Adventures\n in an Underground World; and How with the\n Aid of Their Friends Zeb Hugson, Eureka\n the Kitten, and Jim the Cab-Horse,\n They Finally Reached the\n Wonderful Land\n of Oz\n\n\nby\n\nL. Frank Baum\n\n\"Royal Historian of Oz\"\n\n\n\n\n --To My Readers--\n 1. The Earthquake\n 2. The Glass City\n 3. The Arrival of the Wizard\n 4. The Vegetable Kingdom\n 5. Dorothy Picks the Princess\n 6. The Mangaboos Prove Dangerous\n 7. Into the Black Pit and Out Again\n 8. The Valley of Voices\n 9. They Fight the Invisible Bears\n 10. The Braided Man of Pyramid Mountain\n 11. They Meet the Wooden Gargoyles\n 12. A Wonderful Escape\n 13. The Den of the Dragonettes\n 14. Ozma Uses the Magic Belt\n 15. Old Friends are Reunited\n 16. Jim, the Cab-Horse\n 17. The Nine Tiny Piglets\n 18. The Trial of Eureka, the Kitten\n 19. The Wizard Performs Another Trick\n 20. Zeb Returns to the Ranch\n\n\n\n\nTo My Readers\n\n\nIt's no use; no use at all. The children won't let me stop telling\ntales of the Land of Oz. I know lots of other stories, and I hope to\ntell them, some time or another; but just now my loving tyrants won't\nallow me. They cry: \"Oz--Oz! more about Oz, Mr. Baum!\" and what can I\ndo but obey their commands?\n\nThis is Our Book--mine and the children's. For they have flooded me\nwith thousands of suggestions in regard to it, and I have honestly\ntried to adopt as many of these suggestions as could be fitted into one\nstory.\n\nAfter the wonderful success of \"Ozma of Oz\" it is evident that Dorothy\nhas become a firm fixture in these Oz stories. The little ones all\nlove Dorothy, and as one of my small friends aptly states: \"It isn't a\nreal Oz story without her.\" So here she is again, as sweet and gentle\nand innocent as ever, I hope, and the heroine of another strange\nadventure.\n\nThere were many requests from my little correspondents for \"more about\nthe Wizard.\" It seems the jolly old fellow made hosts of friends in\nthe first Oz book, in spite of the fact that he frankly acknowledged\nhimself \"a humbug.\" The children had heard how he mounted into the sky\nin a balloon and they were all waiting for him to come down again. So\nwhat could I do but tell \"what happened to the Wizard afterward\"? You\nwill find him in these pages, just the same humbug Wizard as before.\n\nThere was one thing the children demanded which I found it impossible\nto do in this present book: they bade me introduce Toto, Dorothy's\nlittle black dog, who has many friends among my readers. But you will\nsee, when you begin to read the story, that Toto was in Kansas while\nDorothy was in California, and so she had to start on her adventure\nwithout him. In this book Dorothy had to take her kitten with her\ninstead of her dog; but in the next Oz book, if I am permitted to write\none, I intend to tell a good deal about Toto's further history.\n\nPrincess Ozma, whom I love as much as my readers do, is again\nintroduced in this story, and so are several of our old friends of Oz.\nYou will also become acquainted with Jim the Cab-Horse, the Nine Tiny\nPiglets, and Eureka, the Kitten. I am sorry the kitten was not as well\nbehaved as she ought to have been; but perhaps she wasn't brought up\nproperly. Dorothy found her, you see, and who her parents were nobody\nknows.\n\nI believe, my dears, that I am the proudest story-teller that ever\nlived. Many a time tears of pride and joy have stood in my eyes while\nI read the tender, loving, appealing letters that came to me in almost\nevery mail from my little readers. To have pleased you, to have\ninterested you, to have won your friendship, and perhaps your love,\nthrough my stories, is to my mind as great an achievement as to become\nPresident of the United States. Indeed, I would much rather be your\nstory-teller, under these conditions, than to be the President. So you\nhave helped me to fulfill my life's ambition, and I am more grateful to\nyou, my dears, than I can express in words.\n\nI try to answer every letter of my young correspondents; yet sometimes\nthere are so many letters that a little time must pass before you get\nyour answer. But be patient, friends, for the answer will surely come,\nand by writing to me you more than repay me for the pleasant task of\npreparing these books. Besides, I am proud to acknowledge that the\nbooks are partly yours, for your suggestions often guide me in telling\nthe stories, and I am sure they would not be half so good without your\nclever and thoughtful assistance.\n\nL. FRANK BAUM\n\nCoronado, 1908.\n\n\n\n\n1. The Earthquake\n\n\nThe train from 'Frisco was very late. It should have arrived at\nHugson's Siding at midnight, but it was already five o'clock and the\ngray dawn was breaking in the east when the little train slowly rumbled\nup to the open shed that served for the station-house. As it came to a\nstop the conductor called out in a loud voice:\n\n\"Hugson's Siding!\"\n\nAt once a little girl rose from her seat and walked to the door of the\ncar, carrying a wicker suit-case in one hand and a round bird-cage\ncovered up with newspapers in the other, while a parasol was tucked\nunder her arm. The conductor helped her off the car and then the\nengineer started his train again, so that it puffed and groaned and\nmoved slowly away up the track. The reason he was so late was because\nall through the night there were times when the solid earth shook and\ntrembled under him, and the engineer was afraid that at any moment the\nrails might spread apart and an accident happen to his passengers. So\nhe moved the cars slowly and with caution.\n\nThe little girl stood still to watch until the train had disappeared\naround a curve; then she turned to see where she was.\n\nThe shed at Hugson's Siding was bare save for an old wooden bench, and\ndid not look very inviting. As she peered through the soft gray light\nnot a house of any sort was visible near the station, nor was any\nperson in sight; but after a while the child discovered a horse and\nbuggy standing near a group of trees a short distance away. She walked\ntoward it and found the horse tied to a tree and standing motionless,\nwith its head hanging down almost to the ground. It was a big horse,\ntall and bony, with long legs and large knees and feet. She could\ncount his ribs easily where they showed through the skin of his body,\nand his head was long and seemed altogether too big for him, as if it\ndid not fit. His tail was short and scraggly, and his harness had been\nbroken in many places and fastened together again with cords and bits\nof wire. The buggy seemed almost new, for it had a shiny top and side\ncurtains. Getting around in front, so that she could look inside, the\ngirl saw a boy curled up on the seat, fast asleep.\n\nShe set down the bird-cage and poked the boy with her parasol.\nPresently he woke up, rose to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes\nbriskly.\n\n\"Hello!\" he said, seeing her, \"are you Dorothy Gale?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she answered, looking gravely at his tousled hair and blinking\ngray eyes. \"Have you come to take me to Hugson's Ranch?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" he answered. \"Train in?\"\n\n\"I couldn't be here if it wasn't,\" she said.\n\nHe laughed at that, and his laugh was merry and frank. Jumping out of\nthe buggy he put Dorothy's suit-case under the seat and her bird-cage\non the floor in front.\n\n\"Canary-birds?\" he asked.\n\n\"Oh no; it's just Eureka, my kitten. I thought that was the best way\nto carry her.\"\n\nThe boy nodded.\n\n\"Eureka's a funny name for a cat,\" he remarked.\n\n\"I named my kitten that because I found it,\" she explained. \"Uncle\nHenry says 'Eureka' means 'I have found it.'\"\n\n\"All right; hop in.\"\n\nShe climbed into the buggy and he followed her. Then the boy picked up\nthe reins, shook them, and said \"Gid-dap!\"\n\nThe horse did not stir. Dorothy thought he just wiggled one of his\ndrooping ears, but that was all.\n\n\"Gid-dap!\" called the boy, again.\n\nThe horse stood still.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" said Dorothy, \"if you untied him, he would go.\"\n\nThe boy laughed cheerfully and jumped out.\n\n\"Guess I'm half asleep yet,\" he said, untying the horse. \"But Jim\nknows his business all right--don't you, Jim?\" patting the long nose of\nthe animal.\n\nThen he got into the buggy again and took the reins, and the horse at\nonce backed away from the tree, turned slowly around, and began to trot\ndown the sandy road which was just visible in the dim light.\n\n\"Thought that train would never come,\" observed the boy. \"I've waited\nat that station for five hours.\"\n\n\"We had a lot of earthquakes,\" said Dorothy. \"Didn't you feel the\nground shake?\"\n\n\"Yes; but we're used to such things in California,\" he replied. \"They\ndon't scare us much.\"\n\n\"The conductor said it was the worst quake he ever knew.\"\n\n\"Did he? Then it must have happened while I was asleep,\" he said\nthoughtfully.\n\n\"How is Uncle Henry?\" she enquired, after a pause during which the\nhorse continued to trot with long, regular strides.\n\n\"He's pretty well. He and Uncle Hugson have been having a fine visit.\"\n\n\"Is Mr. Hugson your uncle?\" she asked.\n\n\"Yes. Uncle Bill Hugson married your Uncle Henry's wife's sister; so\nwe must be second cousins,\" said the boy, in an amused tone. \"I work\nfor Uncle Bill on his ranch, and he pays me six dollars a month and my\nboard.\"\n\n\"Isn't that a great deal?\" she asked, doubtfully.\n\n\"Why, it's a great deal for Uncle Hugson, but not for me. I'm a\nsplendid worker. I work as well as I sleep,\" he added, with a laugh.\n\n\"What is your name?\" said Dorothy, thinking she liked the boy's manner\nand the cheery tone of his voice.\n\n\"Not a very pretty one,\" he answered, as if a little ashamed. \"My\nwhole name is Zebediah; but folks just call me 'Zeb.' You've been to\nAustralia, haven't you?\"\n\n\"Yes; with Uncle Henry,\" she answered. \"We got to San Francisco a week\nago, and Uncle Henry went right on to Hugson's Ranch for a visit while\nI stayed a few days in the city with some friends we had met.\"\n\n\"How long will you be with us?\" he asked.\n\n\"Only a day. Tomorrow Uncle Henry and I must start back for Kansas.\nWe've been away for a long time, you know, and so we're anxious to get\nhome again.\"\n\nThe boy flicked the big, boney horse with his whip and looked\nthoughtful. Then he started to say something to his little companion,\nbut before he could speak the buggy began to sway dangerously from side\nto side and the earth seemed to rise up before them. Next minute there\nwas a roar and a sharp crash, and at her side Dorothy saw the ground\nopen in a wide crack and then come together again.\n\n\"Goodness!\" she cried, grasping the iron rail of the seat. \"What was\nthat?\"\n\n\"That was an awful big quake,\" replied Zeb, with a white face. \"It\nalmost got us that time, Dorothy.\"\n\nThe horse had stopped short, and stood firm as a rock. Zeb shook the\nreins and urged him to go, but Jim was stubborn. Then the boy cracked\nhis whip and touched the animal's flanks with it, and after a low moan\nof protest Jim stepped slowly along the road.\n\nNeither the boy nor the girl spoke again for some minutes. There was a\nbreath of danger in the very air, and every few moments the earth would\nshake violently. Jim's ears were standing erect upon his head and\nevery muscle of his big body was tense as he trotted toward home. He\nwas not going very fast, but on his flanks specks of foam began to\nappear and at times he would tremble like a leaf.\n\nThe sky had grown darker again and the wind made queer sobbing sounds\nas it swept over the valley.\n\nSuddenly there was a rending, tearing sound, and the earth split into\nanother great crack just beneath the spot where the horse was standing.\nWith a wild neigh of terror the animal fell bodily into the pit,\ndrawing the buggy and its occupants after him.\n\nDorothy grabbed fast hold of the buggy top and the boy did the same.\nThe sudden rush into space confused them so that they could not think.\n\nBlackness engulfed them on every side, and in breathless silence they\nwaited for the fall to end and crush them against jagged rocks or for\nthe earth to close in on them again and bury them forever in its\ndreadful depths.\n\nThe horrible sensation of falling, the darkness and the terrifying\nnoises, proved more than Dorothy could endure and for a few moments the\nlittle girl lost consciousness. Zeb, being a boy, did not faint, but\nhe was badly frightened, and clung to the buggy seat with a tight grip,\nexpecting every moment would be his last.\n\n\n\n\n2. The Glass City\n\n\nWhen Dorothy recovered her senses they were still falling, but not so\nfast. The top of the buggy caught the air like a parachute or an\numbrella filled with wind, and held them back so that they floated\ndownward with a gentle motion that was not so very disagreeable to\nbear. The worst thing was their terror of reaching the bottom of this\ngreat crack in the earth, and the natural fear that sudden death was\nabout to overtake them at any moment. Crash after crash echoed far\nabove their heads, as the earth came together where it had split, and\nstones and chunks of clay rattled around them on every side. These\nthey could not see, but they could feel them pelting the buggy top, and\nJim screamed almost like a human being when a stone overtook him and\nstruck his boney body. They did not really hurt the poor horse,\nbecause everything was falling together; only the stones and rubbish\nfell faster than the horse and buggy, which were held back by the\npressure of the air, so that the terrified animal was actually more\nfrightened than he was injured.\n\nHow long this state of things continued Dorothy could not even guess,\nshe was so greatly bewildered. But bye and bye, as she stared ahead\ninto the black chasm with a beating heart, she began to dimly see the\nform of the horse Jim--his head up in the air, his ears erect and his\nlong legs sprawling in every direction as he tumbled through space.\nAlso, turning her head, she found that she could see the boy beside\nher, who had until now remained as still and silent as she herself.\n\nDorothy sighed and commenced to breathe easier. She began to realize\nthat death was not in store for her, after all, but that she had merely\nstarted upon another adventure, which promised to be just as queer and\nunusual as were those she had before encountered.\n\nWith this thought in mind the girl took heart and leaned her head over\nthe side of the buggy to see where the strange light was coming from.\nFar below her she found six great glowing balls suspended in the air.\nThe central and largest one was white, and reminded her of the sun.\nAround it were arranged, like the five points of a star, the other five\nbrilliant balls; one being rose colored, one violet, one yellow, one\nblue and one orange. This splendid group of colored suns sent rays\ndarting in every direction, and as the horse and buggy--with Dorothy\nand Zeb--sank steadily downward and came nearer to the lights, the rays\nbegan to take on all the delicate tintings of a rainbow, growing more\nand more distinct every moment until all the space was brilliantly\nilluminated.\n\nDorothy was too dazed to say much, but she watched one of Jim's big\nears turn to violet and the other to rose, and wondered that his tail\nshould be yellow and his body striped with blue and orange like the\nstripes of a zebra. Then she looked at Zeb, whose face was blue and\nwhose hair was pink, and gave a little laugh that sounded a bit nervous.\n\n\"Isn't it funny?\" she said.\n\nThe boy was startled and his eyes were big. Dorothy had a green streak\nthrough the center of her face where the blue and yellow lights came\ntogether, and her appearance seemed to add to his fright.\n\n\"I--I don't s-s-see any-thing funny--'bout it!\" he stammered.\n\nJust then the buggy tipped slowly over upon its side, the body of the\nhorse tipping also. But they continued to fall, all together, and the\nboy and girl had no difficulty in remaining upon the seat, just as they\nwere before. Then they turned bottom side up, and continued to roll\nslowly over until they were right side up again. During this time Jim\nstruggled frantically, all his legs kicking the air; but on finding\nhimself in his former position the horse said, in a relieved tone of\nvoice:\n\n\"Well, that's better!\"\n\nDorothy and Zeb looked at one another in wonder.\n\n\"Can your horse talk?\" she asked.\n\n\"Never knew him to, before,\" replied the boy.\n\n\"Those were the first words I ever said,\" called out the horse, who had\noverheard them, \"and I can't explain why I happened to speak then.\nThis is a nice scrape you've got me into, isn't it?\"\n\n\"As for that, we are in the same scrape ourselves,\" answered Dorothy,\ncheerfully. \"But never mind; something will happen pretty soon.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" growled the horse, \"and then we shall be sorry it\nhappened.\"\n\nZeb gave a shiver. All this was so terrible and unreal that he could\nnot understand it at all, and so had good reason to be afraid.\n\nSwiftly they drew near to the flaming colored suns, and passed close\nbeside them. The light was then so bright that it dazzled their eyes,\nand they covered their faces with their hands to escape being blinded.\nThere was no heat in the colored suns, however, and after they had\npassed below them the top of the buggy shut out many of the piercing\nrays so that the boy and girl could open their eyes again.\n\n\"We've got to come to the bottom some time,\" remarked Zeb, with a deep\nsigh. \"We can't keep falling forever, you know.\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" said Dorothy. \"We are somewhere in the middle of the\nearth, and the chances are we'll reach the other side of it before\nlong. But it's a big hollow, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Awful big!\" answered the boy.\n\n\"We're coming to something now,\" announced the horse.\n\nAt this they both put their heads over the side of the buggy and looked\ndown. Yes; there was land below them; and not so very far away,\neither. But they were floating very, very slowly--so slowly that it\ncould no longer be called a fall--and the children had ample time to\ntake heart and look about them.\n\nThey saw a landscape with mountains and plains, lakes and rivers, very\nlike those upon the earth's surface; but all the scene was splendidly\ncolored by the variegated lights from the six suns. Here and there\nwere groups of houses that seemed made of clear glass, because they\nsparkled so brightly.\n\n\"I'm sure we are in no danger,\" said Dorothy, in a sober voice. \"We\nare falling so slowly that we can't be dashed to pieces when we land,\nand this country that we are coming to seems quite pretty.\"\n\n\"We'll never get home again, though!\" declared Zeb, with a groan.\n\n\"Oh, I'm not so sure of that,\" replied the girl. \"But don't let us\nworry over such things, Zeb; we can't help ourselves just now, you\nknow, and I've always been told it's foolish to borrow trouble.\"\n\nThe boy became silent, having no reply to so sensible a speech, and\nsoon both were fully occupied in staring at the strange scenes spread\nout below them. They seemed to be falling right into the middle of a\nbig city which had many tall buildings with glass domes and\nsharp-pointed spires. These spires were like great spear-points, and\nif they tumbled upon one of them they were likely to suffer serious\ninjury.\n\nJim the horse had seen these spires, also, and his ears stood straight\nup with fear, while Dorothy and Zeb held their breaths in suspense.\nBut no; they floated gently down upon a broad, flat roof, and came to a\nstop at last.\n\nWhen Jim felt something firm under his feet the poor beast's legs\ntrembled so much that he could hardly stand; but Zeb at once leaped out\nof the buggy to the roof, and he was so awkward and hasty that he\nkicked over Dorothy's bird-cage, which rolled out upon the roof so that\nthe bottom came off. At once a pink kitten crept out of the upset\ncage, sat down upon the glass roof, and yawned and blinked its round\neyes.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Dorothy. \"There's Eureka.\"\n\n\"First time I ever saw a pink cat,\" said Zeb.\n\n\"Eureka isn't pink; she's white. It's this queer light that gives her\nthat color.\"\n\n\"Where's my milk?\" asked the kitten, looking up into Dorothy's face.\n\"I'm 'most starved to death.\"\n\n\"Oh, Eureka! Can you talk?\"\n\n\"Talk! Am I talking? Good gracious, I believe I am. Isn't it funny?\"\nasked the kitten.\n\n\"It's all wrong,\" said Zeb, gravely. \"Animals ought not to talk. But\neven old Jim has been saying things since we had our accident.\"\n\n\"I can't see that it's wrong,\" remarked Jim, in his gruff tones. \"At\nleast, it isn't as wrong as some other things. What's going to become\nof us now?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" answered the boy, looking around him curiously.\n\nThe houses of the city were all made of glass, so clear and transparent\nthat one could look through the walls as easily as through a window.\nDorothy saw, underneath the roof on which she stood, several rooms used\nfor rest chambers, and even thought she could make out a number of\nqueer forms huddled into the corners of these rooms.\n\nThe roof beside them had a great hole smashed through it, and pieces of\nglass were lying scattered in every direction. A nearby steeple had\nbeen broken off short and the fragments lay heaped beside it. Other\nbuildings were cracked in places or had corners chipped off from them;\nbut they must have been very beautiful before these accidents had\nhappened to mar their perfection. The rainbow tints from the colored\nsuns fell upon the glass city softly and gave to the buildings many\ndelicate, shifting hues which were very pretty to see.\n\nBut not a sound had broken the stillness since the strangers had\narrived, except that of their own voices. They began to wonder if\nthere were no people to inhabit this magnificent city of the inner\nworld.\n\nSuddenly a man appeared through a hole in the roof next to the one they\nwere on and stepped into plain view. He was not a very large man, but\nwas well formed and had a beautiful face--calm and serene as the face\nof a fine portrait. His clothing fitted his form snugly and was\ngorgeously colored in brilliant shades of green, which varied as the\nsunbeams touched them but was not wholly influenced by the solar rays.\n\nThe man had taken a step or two across the glass roof before he noticed\nthe presence of the strangers; but then he stopped abruptly. There was\nno expression of either fear or surprise upon his tranquil face, yet he\nmust have been both astonished and afraid; for after his eyes had\nrested upon the ungainly form of the horse for a moment he walked\nrapidly to the furthest edge of the roof, his head turned back over his\nshoulder to gaze at the strange animal.\n\n\"Look out!\" cried Dorothy, who noticed that the beautiful man did not\nlook where he was going; \"be careful, or you'll fall off!\"\n\nBut he paid no attention to her warning. He reached the edge of the\ntall roof, stepped one foot out into the air, and walked into space as\ncalmly as if he were on firm ground.\n\nThe girl, greatly astonished, ran to lean over the edge of the roof,\nand saw the man walking rapidly through the air toward the ground.\nSoon he reached the street and disappeared through a glass doorway into\none of the glass buildings.\n\n\"How strange!\" she exclaimed, drawing a long breath.\n\n\"Yes; but it's lots of fun, if it IS strange,\" remarked the small voice\nof the kitten, and Dorothy turned to find her pet walking in the air a\nfoot or so away from the edge of the roof.\n\n\"Come back, Eureka!\" she called, in distress, \"you'll certainly be\nkilled.\"\n\n\"I have nine lives,\" said the kitten, purring softly as it walked\naround in a circle and then came back to the roof; \"but I can't lose\neven one of them by falling in this country, because I really couldn't\nmanage to fall if I wanted to.\"\n\n\"Does the air bear up your weight?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Of course; can't you see?\" and again the kitten wandered into the air\nand back to the edge of the roof.\n\n\"It's wonderful!\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Suppose we let Eureka go down to the street and get some one to help\nus,\" suggested Zeb, who had been even more amazed than Dorothy at these\nstrange happenings.\n\n\"Perhaps we can walk on the air ourselves,\" replied the girl.\n\nZeb drew back with a shiver.\n\n\"I wouldn't dare try,\" he said.\n\n\"Maybe Jim will go,\" continued Dorothy, looking at the horse.\n\n\"And maybe he won't!\" answered Jim. \"I've tumbled through the air long\nenough to make me contented on this roof.\"\n\n\"But we didn't tumble to the roof,\" said the girl; \"by the time we\nreached here we were floating very slowly, and I'm almost sure we could\nfloat down to the street without getting hurt. Eureka walks on the air\nall right.\"\n\n\"Eureka weights only about half a pound,\" replied the horse, in a\nscornful tone, \"while I weigh about half a ton.\"\n\n\"You don't weigh as much as you ought to, Jim,\" remarked the girl,\nshaking her head as she looked at the animal. \"You're dreadfully\nskinny.\"\n\n\"Oh, well; I'm old,\" said the horse, hanging his head despondently,\n\"and I've had lots of trouble in my day, little one. For a good many\nyears I drew a public cab in Chicago, and that's enough to make anyone\nskinny.\"\n\n\"He eats enough to get fat, I'm sure,\" said the boy, gravely.\n\n\"Do I? Can you remember any breakfast that I've had today?\" growled\nJim, as if he resented Zeb's speech.\n\n\"None of us has had breakfast,\" said the boy; \"and in a time of danger\nlike this it's foolish to talk about eating.\"\n\n\"Nothing is more dangerous than being without food,\" declared the\nhorse, with a sniff at the rebuke of his young master; \"and just at\npresent no one can tell whether there are any oats in this queer\ncountry or not. If there are, they are liable to be glass oats!\"\n\n\"Oh, no!\" exclaimed Dorothy. \"I can see plenty of nice gardens and\nfields down below us, at the edge of this city. But I wish we could\nfind a way to get to the ground.\"\n\n\"Why don't you walk down?\" asked Eureka. \"I'm as hungry as the horse\nis, and I want my milk.\"\n\n\"Will you try it, Zeb?\" asked the girl, turning to her companion.\n\nZeb hesitated. He was still pale and frightened, for this dreadful\nadventure had upset him and made him nervous and worried. But he did\nnot wish the little girl to think him a coward, so he advanced slowly\nto the edge of the roof.\n\nDorothy stretched out a hand to him and Zeb put one foot out and let it\nrest in the air a little over the edge of the roof. It seemed firm\nenough to walk upon, so he took courage and put out the other foot.\nDorothy kept hold of his hand and followed him, and soon they were both\nwalking through the air, with the kitten frisking beside them.\n\n\"Come on, Jim!\" called the boy. \"It's all right.\"\n\nJim had crept to the edge of the roof to look over, and being a\nsensible horse and quite experienced, he made up his mind that he could\ngo where the others did. So, with a snort and a neigh and a whisk of\nhis short tail he trotted off the roof into the air and at once began\nfloating downward to the street. His great weight made him fall faster\nthan the children walked, and he passed them on the way down; but when\nhe came to the glass pavement he alighted upon it so softly that he was\nnot even jarred.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said Dorothy, drawing a long breath, \"What a strange\ncountry this is.\"\n\nPeople began to come out of the glass doors to look at the new\narrivals, and pretty soon quite a crowd had assembled. There were men\nand women, but no children at all, and the folks were all beautifully\nformed and attractively dressed and had wonderfully handsome faces.\nThere was not an ugly person in all the throng, yet Dorothy was not\nespecially pleased by the appearance of these people because their\nfeatures had no more expression than the faces of dolls. They did not\nsmile nor did they frown, or show either fear or surprise or curiosity\nor friendliness. They simply started at the strangers, paying most\nattention to Jim and Eureka, for they had never before seen either a\nhorse or a cat and the children bore an outward resemblance to\nthemselves.\n\nPretty soon a man joined the group who wore a glistening star in the\ndark hair just over his forehead. He seemed to be a person of\nauthority, for the others pressed back to give him room. After turning\nhis composed eyes first upon the animals and then upon the children he\nsaid to Zeb, who was a little taller than Dorothy:\n\n\"Tell me, intruder, was it you who caused the Rain of Stones?\"\n\nFor a moment the boy did not know what he meant by this question.\nThen, remembering the stones that had fallen with them and passed them\nlong before they had reached this place, he answered:\n\n\"No, sir; we didn't cause anything. It was the earthquake.\"\n\nThe man with the star stood for a time quietly thinking over this\nspeech. Then he asked:\n\n\"What is an earthquake?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" said Zeb, who was still confused. But Dorothy, seeing\nhis perplexity, answered:\n\n\"It's a shaking of the earth. In this quake a big crack opened and we\nfell through--horse and buggy, and all--and the stones got loose and\ncame down with us.\"\n\nThe man with the star regarded her with his calm, expressionless eyes.\n\n\"The Rain of Stones has done much damage to our city,\" he said; \"and we\nshall hold you responsible for it unless you can prove your innocence.\"\n\n\"How can we do that?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"That I am not prepared to say. It is your affair, not mine. You must\ngo to the House of the Sorcerer, who will soon discover the truth.\"\n\n\"Where is the House of the Sorcerer?\" the girl enquired.\n\n\"I will lead you to it. Come!\"\n\nHe turned and walked down the street, and after a moment's hesitation\nDorothy caught Eureka in her arms and climbed into the buggy. The boy\ntook his seat beside her and said: \"Gid-dap Jim.\"\n\nAs the horse ambled along, drawing the buggy, the people of the glass\ncity made way for them and formed a procession in their rear. Slowly\nthey moved down one street and up another, turning first this way and\nthen that, until they came to an open square in the center of which was\na big glass palace having a central dome and four tall spires on each\ncorner.\n\n\n\n\n3. The Arrival Of The Wizard\n\n\nThe doorway of the glass palace was quite big enough for the horse and\nbuggy to enter, so Zeb drove straight through it and the children found\nthemselves in a lofty hall that was very beautiful. The people at once\nfollowed and formed a circle around the sides of the spacious room,\nleaving the horse and buggy and the man with the star to occupy the\ncenter of the hall.\n\n\"Come to us, oh, Gwig!\" called the man, in a loud voice.\n\nInstantly a cloud of smoke appeared and rolled over the floor; then it\nslowly spread and ascended into the dome, disclosing a strange\npersonage seated upon a glass throne just before Jim's nose. He was\nformed just as were the other inhabitants of this land and his clothing\nonly differed from theirs in being bright yellow. But he had no hair\nat all, and all over his bald head and face and upon the backs of his\nhands grew sharp thorns like those found on the branches of\nrose-bushes. There was even a thorn upon the tip of his nose and he\nlooked so funny that Dorothy laughed when she saw him.\n\nThe Sorcerer, hearing the laugh, looked toward the little girl with\ncold, cruel eyes, and his glance made her grow sober in an instant.\n\n\"Why have you dared to intrude your unwelcome persons into the secluded\nLand of the Mangaboos?\" he asked, sternly.\n\n\"'Cause we couldn't help it,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Why did you wickedly and viciously send the Rain of Stones to crack\nand break our houses?\" he continued.\n\n\"We didn't,\" declared the girl.\n\n\"Prove it!\" cried the Sorcerer.\n\n\"We don't have to prove it,\" answered Dorothy, indignantly. \"If you\nhad any sense at all you'd known it was the earthquake.\"\n\n\"We only know that yesterday came a Rain of Stones upon us, which did\nmuch damage and injured some of our people. Today came another Rain of\nStones, and soon after it you appeared among us.\"\n\n\"By the way,\" said the man with the star, looking steadily at the\nSorcerer, \"you told us yesterday that there would not be a second Rain\nof Stones. Yet one has just occurred that was even worse than the\nfirst. What is your sorcery good for if it cannot tell us the truth?\"\n\n\"My sorcery does tell the truth!\" declared the thorn-covered man. \"I\nsaid there would be but one Rain of Stones. This second one was a Rain\nof People-and-Horse-and-Buggy. And some stones came with them.\"\n\n\"Will there be any more Rains?\" asked the man with the star.\n\n\"No, my Prince.\"\n\n\"Neither stones nor people?\"\n\n\"No, my Prince.\"\n\n\"Are you sure?\"\n\n\"Quite sure, my Prince. My sorcery tells me so.\"\n\nJust then a man came running into the hall and addressed the Prince\nafter making a low bow.\n\n\"More wonders in the air, my Lord,\" said he.\n\nImmediately the Prince and all of his people flocked out of the hall\ninto the street, that they might see what was about to happen. Dorothy\nand Zeb jumped out of the buggy and ran after them, but the Sorcerer\nremained calmly in his throne.\n\nFar up in the air was an object that looked like a balloon. It was not\nso high as the glowing star of the six colored suns, but was descending\nslowly through the air--so slowly that at first it scarcely seemed to\nmove.\n\nThe throng stood still and waited. It was all they could do, for to go\naway and leave that strange sight was impossible; nor could they hurry\nits fall in any way. The earth children were not noticed, being so\nnear the average size of the Mangaboos, and the horse had remained in\nthe House of the Sorcerer, with Eureka curled up asleep on the seat of\nthe buggy.\n\nGradually the balloon grew bigger, which was proof that it was settling\ndown upon the Land of the Mangaboos. Dorothy was surprised to find how\npatient the people were, for her own little heart was beating rapidly\nwith excitement. A balloon meant to her some other arrival from the\nsurface of the earth, and she hoped it would be some one able to assist\nher and Zeb out of their difficulties.\n\nIn an hour the balloon had come near enough for her to see a basket\nsuspended below it; in two hours she could see a head looking over the\nside of the basket; in three hours the big balloon settled slowly into\nthe great square in which they stood and came to rest on the glass\npavement.\n\nThen a little man jumped out of the basket, took off his tall hat, and\nbowed very gracefully to the crowd of Mangaboos around him. He was\nquite an old little man and his head was long and entirely bald.\n\n\"Why,\" cried Dorothy, in amazement, \"it's Oz!\"\n\nThe little man looked toward her and seemed as much surprised as she\nwas. But he smiled and bowed as he answered:\n\n\"Yes, my dear; I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Eh? And you are\nlittle Dorothy, from Kansas. I remember you very well.\"\n\n\"Who did you say it was?\" whispered Zeb to the girl.\n\n\"It's the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Haven't you heard of him?\"\n\nJust then the man with the star came and stood before the Wizard.\n\n\"Sir,\" said he, \"why are you here, in the Land of the Mangaboos?\"\n\n\"Didn't know what land it was, my son,\" returned the other, with a\npleasant smile; \"and, to be honest, I didn't mean to visit you when I\nstarted out. I live on top of the earth, your honor, which is far\nbetter than living inside it; but yesterday I went up in a balloon, and\nwhen I came down I fell into a big crack in the earth, caused by an\nearthquake. I had let so much gas out of my balloon that I could not\nrise again, and in a few minutes the earth closed over my head. So I\ncontinued to descend until I reached this place, and if you will show\nme a way to get out of it, I'll go with pleasure. Sorry to have\ntroubled you; but it couldn't be helped.\"\n\nThe Prince had listened with attention. Said he:\n\n\"This child, who is from the crust of the earth, like yourself, called\nyou a Wizard. Is not a Wizard something like a Sorcerer?\"\n\n\"It's better,\" replied Oz, promptly. \"One Wizard is worth three\nSorcerers.\"\n\n\"Ah, you shall prove that,\" said the Prince. \"We Mangaboos have, at\nthe present time, one of the most wonderful Sorcerers that ever was\npicked from a bush; but he sometimes makes mistakes. Do you ever make\nmistakes?\"\n\n\"Never!\" declared the Wizard, boldly.\n\n\"Oh, Oz!\" said Dorothy; \"you made a lot of mistakes when you were in\nthe marvelous Land of Oz.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" said the little man, turning red--although just then a ray\nof violet sunlight was on his round face.\n\n\"Come with me,\" said the Prince to him. \"I wish to meet our Sorcerer.\"\n\nThe Wizard did not like this invitation, but he could not refuse to\naccept it. So he followed the Prince into the great domed hall, and\nDorothy and Zeb came after them, while the throng of people trooped in\nalso.\n\nThere sat the thorny Sorcerer in his chair of state, and when the\nWizard saw him he began to laugh, uttering comical little chuckles.\n\n\"What an absurd creature!\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"He may look absurd,\" said the Prince, in his quiet voice; \"but he is\nan excellent Sorcerer. The only fault I find with him is that he is so\noften wrong.\"\n\n\"I am never wrong,\" answered the Sorcerer.\n\n\"Only a short time ago you told me there would be no more Rain of\nStones or of People,\" said the Prince.\n\n\"Well, what then?\"\n\n\"Here is another person descended from the air to prove you were wrong.\"\n\n\"One person cannot be called 'people,'\" said the Sorcerer. \"If two\nshould come out of the sky you might with justice say I was wrong; but\nunless more than this one appears I will hold that I was right.\"\n\n\"Very clever,\" said the Wizard, nodding his head as if pleased. \"I am\ndelighted to find humbugs inside the earth, just the same as on top of\nit. Were you ever with a circus, brother?\"\n\n\"No,\" said the Sorcerer.\n\n\"You ought to join one,\" declared the little man seriously. \"I belong\nto Bailum & Barney's Great Consolidated Shows--three rings in one tent\nand a menagerie on the side. It's a fine aggregation, I assure you.\"\n\n\"What do you do?\" asked the Sorcerer.\n\n\"I go up in a balloon, usually, to draw the crowds to the circus. But\nI've just had the bad luck to come out of the sky, skip the solid\nearth, and land lower down than I intended. But never mind. It isn't\neverybody who gets a chance to see your Land of the Gabazoos.\"\n\n\"Mangaboos,\" said the Sorcerer, correcting him. \"If you are a Wizard\nyou ought to be able to call people by their right names.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm a Wizard; you may be sure of that. Just as good a Wizard as\nyou are a Sorcerer.\"\n\n\"That remains to be seen,\" said the other.\n\n\"If you are able to prove that you are better,\" said the Prince to the\nlittle man, \"I will make you the Chief Wizard of this domain.\nOtherwise--\"\n\n\"What will happen otherwise?\" asked the Wizard.\n\n\"I will stop you from living and forbid you to be planted,\" returned\nthe Prince.\n\n\"That does not sound especially pleasant,\" said the little man, looking\nat the one with the star uneasily. \"But never mind. I'll beat Old\nPrickly, all right.\"\n\n\"My name is Gwig,\" said the Sorcerer, turning his heartless, cruel eyes\nupon his rival. \"Let me see you equal the sorcery I am about to\nperform.\"\n\nHe waved a thorny hand and at once the tinkling of bells was heard,\nplaying sweet music. Yet, look where she would, Dorothy could discover\nno bells at all in the great glass hall.\n\nThe Mangaboo people listened, but showed no great interest. It was one\nof the things Gwig usually did to prove he was a sorcerer.\n\nNow was the Wizard's turn, so he smiled upon the assemblage and asked:\n\n\"Will somebody kindly loan me a hat?\"\n\nNo one did, because the Mangaboos did not wear hats, and Zeb had lost\nhis, somehow, in his flight through the air.\n\n\"Ahem!\" said the Wizard, \"will somebody please loan me a handkerchief?\"\n\nBut they had no handkerchiefs, either.\n\n\"Very good,\" remarked the Wizard. \"I'll use my own hat, if you please.\nNow, good people, observe me carefully. You see, there is nothing up\nmy sleeve and nothing concealed about my person. Also, my hat is quite\nempty.\" He took off his hat and held it upside down, shaking it\nbriskly.\n\n\"Let me see it,\" said the Sorcerer.\n\nHe took the hat and examined it carefully, returning it afterward to\nthe Wizard.\n\n\"Now,\" said the little man, \"I will create something out of nothing.\"\n\nHe placed the hat upon the glass floor, made a pass with his hand, and\nthen removed the hat, displaying a little white piglet no bigger than a\nmouse, which began to run around here and there and to grunt and squeal\nin a tiny, shrill voice.\n\nThe people watched it intently, for they had never seen a pig before,\nbig or little. The Wizard reached out, caught the wee creature in his\nhand, and holding its head between one thumb and finger and its tail\nbetween the other thumb and finger he pulled it apart, each of the two\nparts becoming a whole and separate piglet in an instant.\n\nHe placed one upon the floor, so that it could run around, and pulled\napart the other, making three piglets in all; and then one of these was\npulled apart, making four piglets. The Wizard continued this\nsurprising performance until nine tiny piglets were running about at\nhis feet, all squealing and grunting in a very comical way.\n\n\"Now,\" said the Wizard of Oz, \"having created something from nothing, I\nwill make something nothing again.\"\n\nWith this he caught up two of the piglets and pushed them together, so\nthat the two were one. Then he caught up another piglet and pushed it\ninto the first, where it disappeared. And so, one by one, the nine\ntiny piglets were pushed together until but a single one of the\ncreatures remained. This the Wizard placed underneath his hat and made\na mystic sign above it. When he removed his hat the last piglet had\ndisappeared entirely.\n\nThe little man gave a bow to the silent throng that had watched him,\nand then the Prince said, in his cold, calm voice:\n\n\"You are indeed a wonderful Wizard, and your powers are greater than\nthose of my Sorcerer.\"\n\n\"He will not be a wonderful Wizard long,\" remarked Gwig.\n\n\"Why not?\" enquired the Wizard.\n\n\"Because I am going to stop your breath,\" was the reply. \"I perceive\nthat you are curiously constructed, and that if you cannot breathe you\ncannot keep alive.\"\n\nThe little man looked troubled.\n\n\"How long will it take you to stop my breath?\" he asked.\n\n\"About five minutes. I'm going to begin now. Watch me carefully.\"\n\nHe began making queer signs and passes toward the Wizard; but the\nlittle man did not watch him long. Instead, he drew a leathern case\nfrom his pocket and took from it several sharp knives, which he joined\ntogether, one after another, until they made a long sword. By the time\nhe had attached a handle to this sword he was having much trouble to\nbreathe, as the charm of the Sorcerer was beginning to take effect.\n\nSo the Wizard lost no more time, but leaping forward he raised the\nsharp sword, whirled it once or twice around his head, and then gave a\nmighty stroke that cut the body of the Sorcerer exactly in two.\n\nDorothy screamed and expected to see a terrible sight; but as the two\nhalves of the Sorcerer fell apart on the floor she saw that he had no\nbones or blood inside of him at all, and that the place where he was\ncut looked much like a sliced turnip or potato.\n\n\"Why, he's vegetable!\" cried the Wizard, astonished.\n\n\"Of course,\" said the Prince. \"We are all vegetable, in this country.\nAre you not vegetable, also?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the Wizard. \"People on top of the earth are all meat.\nWill your Sorcerer die?\"\n\n\"Certainly, sir. He is really dead now, and will wither very quickly.\nSo we must plant him at once, that other Sorcerers may grow upon his\nbush,\" continued the Prince.\n\n\"What do you mean by that?\" asked the little Wizard, greatly puzzled.\n\n\"If you will accompany me to our public gardens,\" replied the Prince,\n\"I will explain to you much better than I can here the mysteries of our\nVegetable Kingdom.\"\n\n\n\n\n4. The Vegetable Kingdom\n\n\nAfter the Wizard had wiped the dampness from his sword and taken it\napart and put the pieces into their leathern case again, the man with\nthe star ordered some of his people to carry the two halves of the\nSorcerer to the public gardens.\n\nJim pricked up his ears when he heard they were going to the gardens,\nand wanted to join the party, thinking he might find something proper\nto eat; so Zeb put down the top of the buggy and invited the Wizard to\nride with them. The seat was amply wide enough for the little man and\nthe two children, and when Jim started to leave the hall the kitten\njumped upon his back and sat there quite contentedly.\n\nSo the procession moved through the streets, the bearers of the\nSorcerer first, the Prince next, then Jim drawing the buggy with the\nstrangers inside of it, and last the crowd of vegetable people who had\nno hearts and could neither smile nor frown.\n\nThe glass city had several fine streets, for a good many people lived\nthere; but when the procession had passed through these it came upon a\nbroad plain covered with gardens and watered by many pretty brooks that\nflowed through it. There were paths through these gardens, and over\nsome of the brooks were ornamental glass bridges.\n\nDorothy and Zeb now got out of the buggy and walked beside the Prince,\nso that they might see and examine the flowers and plants better.\n\n\"Who built these lovely bridges?\" asked the little girl.\n\n\"No one built them,\" answered the man with the star. \"They grow.\"\n\n\"That's queer,\" said she. \"Did the glass houses in your city grow,\ntoo?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" he replied. \"But it took a good many years for them to\ngrow as large and fine as they are now. That is why we are so angry\nwhen a Rain of Stones comes to break our towers and crack our roofs.\"\n\n\"Can't you mend them?\" she enquired.\n\n\"No; but they will grow together again, in time, and we must wait until\nthey do.\"\n\nThey first passed through many beautiful gardens of flowers, which grew\nnearest the city; but Dorothy could hardly tell what kind of flowers\nthey were, because the colors were constantly changing under the\nshifting lights of the six suns. A flower would be pink one second,\nwhite the next, then blue or yellow; and it was the same way when they\ncame to the plants, which had broad leaves and grew close to the ground.\n\nWhen they passed over a field of grass Jim immediately stretched down\nhis head and began to nibble.\n\n\"A nice country this is,\" he grumbled, \"where a respectable horse has\nto eat pink grass!\"\n\n\"It's violet,\" said the Wizard, who was in the buggy.\n\n\"Now it's blue,\" complained the horse. \"As a matter of fact, I'm\neating rainbow grass.\"\n\n\"How does it taste?\" asked the Wizard.\n\n\"Not bad at all,\" said Jim. \"If they give me plenty of it I'll not\ncomplain about its color.\"\n\nBy this time the party had reached a freshly plowed field, and the\nPrince said to Dorothy:\n\n\"This is our planting-ground.\"\n\nSeveral Mangaboos came forward with glass spades and dug a hole in the\nground. Then they put the two halves of the Sorcerer into it and\ncovered him up. After that other people brought water from a brook and\nsprinkled the earth.\n\n\"He will sprout very soon,\" said the Prince, \"and grow into a large\nbush, from which we shall in time be able to pick several very good\nsorcerers.\"\n\n\"Do all your people grow on bushes?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Certainly,\" was the reply. \"Do not all people grow upon bushes where\nyou came from, on the outside of the earth?\"\n\n\"Not that I ever hear of.\"\n\n\"How strange! But if you will come with me to one of our folk gardens\nI will show you the way we grow in the Land of the Mangaboos.\"\n\nIt appeared that these odd people, while they were able to walk through\nthe air with ease, usually moved upon the ground in the ordinary way.\nThere were no stairs in their houses, because they did not need them,\nbut on a level surface they generally walked just as we do.\n\nThe little party of strangers now followed the Prince across a few more\nof the glass bridges and along several paths until they came to a\ngarden enclosed by a high hedge. Jim had refused to leave the field of\ngrass, where he was engaged in busily eating; so the Wizard got out of\nthe buggy and joined Zeb and Dorothy, and the kitten followed demurely\nat their heels.\n\nInside the hedge they came upon row after row of large and handsome\nplants with broad leaves gracefully curving until their points nearly\nreached the ground. In the center of each plant grew a daintily\ndressed Mangaboo, for the clothing of all these creatures grew upon\nthem and was attached to their bodies.\n\nThe growing Mangaboos were of all sizes, from the blossom that had just\nturned into a wee baby to the full-grown and almost ripe man or woman.\nOn some of the bushes might be seen a bud, a blossom, a baby, a\nhalf-grown person and a ripe one; but even those ready to pluck were\nmotionless and silent, as if devoid of life. This sight explained to\nDorothy why she had seen no children among the Mangaboos, a thing she\nhad until now been unable to account for.\n\n\"Our people do not acquire their real life until they leave their\nbushes,\" said the Prince. \"You will notice they are all attached to\nthe plants by the soles of their feet, and when they are quite ripe\nthey are easily separated from the stems and at once attain the powers\nof motion and speech. So while they grow they cannot be said to really\nlive, and they must be picked before they can become good citizens.\"\n\n\"How long do you live, after you are picked?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"That depends upon the care we take of ourselves,\" he replied. \"If we\nkeep cool and moist, and meet with no accidents, we often live for five\nyears. I've been picked over six years, but our family is known to be\nespecially long lived.\"\n\n\"Do you eat?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Eat! No, indeed. We are quite solid inside our bodies, and have no\nneed to eat, any more than does a potato.\"\n\n\"But the potatoes sometimes sprout,\" said Zeb.\n\n\"And sometimes we do,\" answered the Prince; \"but that is considered a\ngreat misfortune, for then we must be planted at once.\"\n\n\"Where did you grow?\" asked the Wizard.\n\n\"I will show you,\" was the reply. \"Step this way, please.\"\n\nHe led them within another but smaller circle of hedge, where grew one\nlarge and beautiful bush.\n\n\"This,\" said he, \"is the Royal Bush of the Mangaboos. All of our\nPrinces and Rulers have grown upon this one bush from time immemorial.\"\n\nThey stood before it in silent admiration. On the central stalk stood\npoised the figure of a girl so exquisitely formed and colored and so\nlovely in the expression of her delicate features that Dorothy thought\nshe had never seen so sweet and adorable a creature in all her life.\nThe maiden's gown was soft as satin and fell about her in ample folds,\nwhile dainty lace-like traceries trimmed the bodice and sleeves. Her\nflesh was fine and smooth as polished ivory, and her poise expressed\nboth dignity and grace.\n\n\"Who is this?\" asked the Wizard, curiously.\n\nThe Prince had been staring hard at the girl on the bush. Now he\nanswered, with a touch of uneasiness in his cold tones:\n\n\"She is the Ruler destined to be my successor, for she is a Royal\nPrincess. When she becomes fully ripe I must abandon the sovereignty\nof the Mangaboos to her.\"\n\n\"Isn't she ripe now?\" asked Dorothy.\n\nHe hesitated.\n\n\"Not quite,\" said he, finally. \"It will be several days before she\nneeds to be picked, or at least that is my judgment. I am in no hurry\nto resign my office and be planted, you may be sure.\"\n\n\"Probably not,\" declared the Wizard, nodding.\n\n\"This is one of the most unpleasant things about our vegetable lives,\"\ncontinued the Prince, with a sigh, \"that while we are in our full prime\nwe must give way to another, and be covered up in the ground to sprout\nand grow and give birth to other people.\"\n\n\"I'm sure the Princess is ready to be picked,\" asserted Dorothy, gazing\nhard at the beautiful girl on the bush. \"She's as perfect as she can\nbe.\"\n\n\"Never mind,\" answered the Prince, hastily, \"she will be all right for\na few days longer, and it is best for me to rule until I can dispose of\nyou strangers, who have come to our land uninvited and must be attended\nto at once.\"\n\n\"What are you going to do with us?\" asked Zeb.\n\n\"That is a matter I have not quite decided upon,\" was the reply. \"I\nthink I shall keep this Wizard until a new Sorcerer is ready to pick,\nfor he seems quite skillful and may be of use to us. But the rest of\nyou must be destroyed in some way, and you cannot be planted, because I\ndo not wish horses and cats and meat people growing all over our\ncountry.\"\n\n\"You needn't worry,\" said Dorothy. \"We wouldn't grow under ground, I'm\nsure.\"\n\n\"But why destroy my friends?\" asked the little Wizard. \"Why not let\nthem live?\"\n\n\"They do not belong here,\" returned the Prince. \"They have no right to\nbe inside the earth at all.\"\n\n\"We didn't ask to come down here; we fell,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"That is no excuse,\" declared the Prince, coldly.\n\nThe children looked at each other in perplexity, and the Wizard sighed.\nEureka rubbed her paw on her face and said in her soft, purring voice:\n\n\"He won't need to destroy ME, for if I don't get something to eat\npretty soon I shall starve to death, and so save him the trouble.\"\n\n\"If he planted you, he might grow some cat-tails,\" suggested the Wizard.\n\n\"Oh, Eureka! perhaps we can find you some milk-weeds to eat,\" said the\nboy.\n\n\"Phoo!\" snarled the kitten; \"I wouldn't touch the nasty things!\"\n\n\"You don't need milk, Eureka,\" remarked Dorothy; \"you are big enough\nnow to eat any kind of food.\"\n\n\"If I can get it,\" added Eureka.\n\n\"I'm hungry myself,\" said Zeb. \"But I noticed some strawberries\ngrowing in one of the gardens, and some melons in another place. These\npeople don't eat such things, so perhaps on our way back they will let\nus get them.\"\n\n\"Never mind your hunger,\" interrupted the Prince. \"I shall order you\ndestroyed in a few minutes, so you will have no need to ruin our pretty\nmelon vines and berry bushes. Follow me, please, to meet your doom.\"\n\n\n\n\n5. Dorothy Picks the Princess\n\n\nThe words of the cold and moist vegetable Prince were not very\ncomforting, and as he spoke them he turned away and left the enclosure.\nThe children, feeling sad and despondent, were about to follow him when\nthe Wizard touched Dorothy softly on her shoulder.\n\n\"Wait!\" he whispered.\n\n\"What for?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Suppose we pick the Royal Princess,\" said the Wizard. \"I'm quite sure\nshe's ripe, and as soon as she comes to life she will be the Ruler, and\nmay treat us better than that heartless Prince intends to.\"\n\n\"All right!\" exclaimed Dorothy, eagerly. \"Let's pick her while we have\nthe chance, before the man with the star comes back.\"\n\nSo together they leaned over the great bush and each of them seized one\nhand of the lovely Princess.\n\n\"Pull!\" cried Dorothy, and as they did so the royal lady leaned toward\nthem and the stems snapped and separated from her feet. She was not at\nall heavy, so the Wizard and Dorothy managed to lift her gently to the\nground.\n\nThe beautiful creature passed her hands over her eyes an instant,\ntucked in a stray lock of hair that had become disarranged, and after a\nlook around the garden made those present a gracious bow and said, in a\nsweet but even toned voice:\n\n\"I thank you very much.\"\n\n\"We salute your Royal Highness!\" cried the Wizard, kneeling and kissing\nher hand.\n\nJust then the voice of the Prince was heard calling upon them to\nhasten, and a moment later he returned to the enclosure, followed by a\nnumber of his people.\n\nInstantly the Princess turned and faced him, and when he saw that she\nwas picked the Prince stood still and began to tremble.\n\n\"Sir,\" said the Royal Lady, with much dignity, \"you have wronged me\ngreatly, and would have wronged me still more had not these strangers\ncome to my rescue. I have been ready for picking all the past week,\nbut because you were selfish and desired to continue your unlawful\nrule, you left me to stand silent upon my bush.\"\n\n\"I did not know that you were ripe,\" answered the Prince, in a low\nvoice.\n\n\"Give me the Star of Royalty!\" she commanded.\n\nSlowly he took the shining star from his own brow and placed it upon\nthat of the Princess. Then all the people bowed low to her, and the\nPrince turned and walked away alone. What became of him afterward our\nfriends never knew.\n\nThe people of Mangaboo now formed themselves into a procession and\nmarched toward the glass city to escort their new ruler to her palace\nand to perform those ceremonies proper to the occasion. But while the\npeople in the procession walked upon the ground the Princess walked in\nthe air just above their heads, to show that she was a superior being\nand more exalted than her subjects.\n\nNo one now seemed to pay any attention to the strangers, so Dorothy and\nZeb and the Wizard let the train pass on and then wandered by\nthemselves into the vegetable gardens. They did not bother to cross\nthe bridges over the brooks, but when they came to a stream they\nstepped high and walked in the air to the other side. This was a very\ninteresting experience to them, and Dorothy said:\n\n\"I wonder why it is that we can walk so easily in the air.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" answered the Wizard, \"it is because we are close to the\ncenter of the earth, where the attraction of gravitation is very\nslight. But I've noticed that many queer things happen in fairy\ncountries.\"\n\n\"Is this a fairy country?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Of course it is,\" returned Dorothy promptly. \"Only a fairy country\ncould have veg'table people; and only in a fairy country could Eureka\nand Jim talk as we do.\"\n\n\"That's true,\" said Zeb, thoughtfully.\n\nIn the vegetable gardens they found the strawberries and melons, and\nseveral other unknown but delicious fruits, of which they ate heartily.\nBut the kitten bothered them constantly by demanding milk or meat, and\ncalled the Wizard names because he could not bring her a dish of milk\nby means of his magical arts.\n\nAs they sat upon the grass watching Jim, who was still busily eating,\nEureka said:\n\n\"I don't believe you are a Wizard at all!\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the little man, \"you are quite right. In the strict\nsense of the word I am not a Wizard, but only a humbug.\"\n\n\"The Wizard of Oz has always been a humbug,\" agreed Dorothy. \"I've\nknown him for a long time.\"\n\n\"If that is so,\" said the boy, \"how could he do that wonderful trick\nwith the nine tiny piglets?\"\n\n\"Don't know,\" said Dorothy, \"but it must have been humbug.\"\n\n\"Very true,\" declared the Wizard, nodding at her. \"It was necessary to\ndeceive that ugly Sorcerer and the Prince, as well as their stupid\npeople; but I don't mind telling you, who are my friends, that the\nthing was only a trick.\"\n\n\"But I saw the little pigs with my own eyes!\" exclaimed Zeb.\n\n\"So did I,\" purred the kitten.\n\n\"To be sure,\" answered the Wizard. \"You saw them because they were\nthere. They are in my inside pocket now. But the pulling of them\napart and pushing them together again was only a sleight-of-hand trick.\"\n\n\"Let's see the pigs,\" said Eureka, eagerly.\n\nThe little man felt carefully in his pocket and pulled out the tiny\npiglets, setting them upon the grass one by one, where they ran around\nand nibbled the tender blades.\n\n\"They're hungry, too,\" he said.\n\n\"Oh, what cunning things!\" cried Dorothy, catching up one and petting\nit.\n\n\"Be careful!\" said the piglet, with a squeal, \"you're squeezing me!\"\n\n\"Dear me!\" murmured the Wizard, looking at his pets in astonishment.\n\"They can actually talk!\"\n\n\"May I eat one of them?\" asked the kitten, in a pleading voice. \"I'm\nawfully hungry.\"\n\n\"Why, Eureka,\" said Dorothy, reproachfully, \"what a cruel question! It\nwould be dreadful to eat these dear little things.\"\n\n\"I should say so!\" grunted another of the piglets, looking uneasily at\nthe kitten; \"cats are cruel things.\"\n\n\"I'm not cruel,\" replied the kitten, yawning. \"I'm just hungry.\"\n\n\"You cannot eat my piglets, even if you are starving,\" declared the\nlittle man, in a stern voice. \"They are the only things I have to\nprove I'm a wizard.\"\n\n\"How did they happen to be so little?\" asked Dorothy. \"I never saw\nsuch small pigs before.\"\n\n\"They are from the Island of Teenty-Weent,\" said the Wizard, \"where\neverything is small because it's a small island. A sailor brought them\nto Los Angeles and I gave him nine tickets to the circus for them.\"\n\n\"But what am I going to eat?\" wailed the kitten, sitting in front of\nDorothy and looking pleadingly into her face. \"There are no cows here\nto give milk; or any mice, or even grasshoppers. And if I can't eat\nthe piglets you may as well plant me at once and raise catsup.\"\n\n\"I have an idea,\" said the Wizard, \"that there are fishes in these\nbrooks. Do you like fish?\"\n\n\"Fish!\" cried the kitten. \"Do I like fish? Why, they're better than\npiglets--or even milk!\"\n\n\"Then I'll try to catch you some,\" said he.\n\n\"But won't they be veg'table, like everything else here?\" asked the\nkitten.\n\n\"I think not. Fishes are not animals, and they are as cold and moist\nas the vegetables themselves. There is no reason, that I can see, why\nthey may not exist in the waters of this strange country.\"\n\nThen the Wizard bent a pin for a hook and took a long piece of string\nfrom his pocket for a fish-line. The only bait he could find was a\nbright red blossom from a flower; but he knew fishes are easy to fool\nif anything bright attracts their attention, so he decided to try the\nblossom. Having thrown the end of his line in the water of a nearby\nbrook he soon felt a sharp tug that told him a fish had bitten and was\ncaught on the bent pin; so the little man drew in the string and, sure\nenough, the fish came with it and was landed safely on the shore, where\nit began to flop around in great excitement.\n\nThe fish was fat and round, and its scales glistened like beautifully\ncut jewels set close together; but there was no time to examine it\nclosely, for Eureka made a jump and caught it between her claws, and in\na few moments it had entirely disappeared.\n\n\"Oh, Eureka!\" cried Dorothy, \"did you eat the bones?\"\n\n\"If it had any bones, I ate them,\" replied the kitten, composedly, as\nit washed its face after the meal. \"But I don't think that fish had\nany bones, because I didn't feel them scratch my throat.\"\n\n\"You were very greedy,\" said the girl.\n\n\"I was very hungry,\" replied the kitten.\n\nThe little pigs had stood huddled in a group, watching this scene with\nfrightened eyes.\n\n\"Cats are dreadful creatures!\" said one of them.\n\n\"I'm glad we are not fishes!\" said another.\n\n\"Don't worry,\" Dorothy murmured, soothingly, \"I'll not let the kitten\nhurt you.\"\n\nThen she happened to remember that in a corner of her suit-case were\none or two crackers that were left over from her luncheon on the train,\nand she went to the buggy and brought them. Eureka stuck up her nose\nat such food, but the tiny piglets squealed delightedly at the sight of\nthe crackers and ate them up in a jiffy.\n\n\"Now let us go back to the city,\" suggested the Wizard. \"That is, if\nJim has had enough of the pink grass.\"\n\nThe cab-horse, who was browsing near, lifted his head with a sigh.\n\n\"I've tried to eat a lot while I had the chance,\" said he, \"for it's\nlikely to be a long while between meals in this strange country. But\nI'm ready to go, now, at any time you wish.\"\n\nSo, after the Wizard had put the piglets back into his inside pocket,\nwhere they cuddled up and went to sleep, the three climbed into the\nbuggy and Jim started back to the town.\n\n\"Where shall we stay?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"I think I shall take possession of the House of the Sorcerer,\" replied\nthe Wizard; \"for the Prince said in the presence of his people that he\nwould keep me until they picked another Sorcerer, and the new Princess\nwon't know but that we belong there.\"\n\nThey agreed to this plan, and when they reached the great square Jim\ndrew the buggy into the big door of the domed hall.\n\n\"It doesn't look very homelike,\" said Dorothy, gazing around at the\nbare room. \"But it's a place to stay, anyhow.\"\n\n\"What are those holes up there?\" enquired the boy, pointing to some\nopenings that appeared near the top of the dome.\n\n\"They look like doorways,\" said Dorothy; \"only there are no stairs to\nget to them.\"\n\n\"You forget that stairs are unnecessary,\" observed the Wizard. \"Let us\nwalk up, and see where the doors lead to.\"\n\nWith this he began walking in the air toward the high openings, and\nDorothy and Zeb followed him. It was the same sort of climb one\nexperiences when walking up a hill, and they were nearly out of breath\nwhen they came to the row of openings, which they perceived to be\ndoorways leading into halls in the upper part of the house. Following\nthese halls they discovered many small rooms opening from them, and\nsome were furnished with glass benches, tables and chairs. But there\nwere no beds at all.\n\n\"I wonder if these people never sleep,\" said the girl.\n\n\"Why, there seems to be no night at all in this country,\" Zeb replied.\n\"Those colored suns are exactly in the same place they were when we\ncame, and if there is no sunset there can be no night.\"\n\n\"Very true,\" agreed the Wizard. \"But it is a long time since I have\nhad any sleep, and I'm tired. So I think I shall lie down upon one of\nthese hard glass benches and take a nap.\"\n\n\"I will, too,\" said Dorothy, and chose a little room at the end of the\nhall.\n\nZeb walked down again to unharness Jim, who, when he found himself\nfree, rolled over a few times and then settled down to sleep, with\nEureka nestling comfortably beside his big, boney body. Then the boy\nreturned to one of the upper rooms, and in spite of the hardness of the\nglass bench was soon deep in slumberland.\n\n\n\n\n6. The Mangaboos Prove Dangerous\n\n\nWhen the Wizard awoke the six colored suns were shining down upon the\nLand of the Mangaboos just as they had done ever since his arrival.\nThe little man, having had a good sleep, felt rested and refreshed, and\nlooking through the glass partition of the room he saw Zeb sitting up\non his bench and yawning. So the Wizard went in to him.\n\n\"Zeb,\" said he, \"my balloon is of no further use in this strange\ncountry, so I may as well leave it on the square where it fell. But in\nthe basket-car are some things I would like to keep with me. I wish\nyou would go and fetch my satchel, two lanterns, and a can of kerosene\noil that is under the seat. There is nothing else that I care about.\"\n\nSo the boy went willingly upon the errand, and by the time he had\nreturned Dorothy was awake. Then the three held a counsel to decide\nwhat they should do next, but could think of no way to better their\ncondition.\n\n\"I don't like these veg'table people,\" said the little girl. \"They're\ncold and flabby, like cabbages, in spite of their prettiness.\"\n\n\"I agree with you. It is because there is no warm blood in them,\"\nremarked the Wizard.\n\n\"And they have no hearts; so they can't love anyone--not even\nthemselves,\" declared the boy.\n\n\"The Princess is lovely to look at,\" continued Dorothy, thoughtfully;\n\"but I don't care much for her, after all. If there was any other\nplace to go, I'd like to go there.\"\n\n\"But IS there any other place?\" asked the Wizard.\n\n\"I don't know,\" she answered.\n\nJust then they heard the big voice of Jim the cab-horse calling to\nthem, and going to the doorway leading to the dome they found the\nPrincess and a throng of her people had entered the House of the\nSorcerer.\n\nSo they went down to greet the beautiful vegetable lady, who said to\nthem:\n\n\"I have been talking with my advisors about you meat people, and we\nhave decided that you do not belong in the Land of the Mangaboos and\nmust not remain here.\"\n\n\"How can we go away?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Oh, you cannot go away, of course; so you must be destroyed,\" was the\nanswer.\n\n\"In what way?\" enquired the Wizard.\n\n\"We shall throw you three people into the Garden of the Twining Vines,\"\nsaid the Princess, \"and they will soon crush you and devour your bodies\nto make themselves grow bigger. The animals you have with you we will\ndrive to the mountains and put into the Black Pit. Then our country\nwill be rid of all its unwelcome visitors.\"\n\n\"But you are in need of a Sorcerer,\" said the Wizard, \"and not one of\nthose growing is yet ripe enough to pick. I am greater than any\nthorn-covered sorcerer that every grew in your garden. Why destroy me?\"\n\n\"It is true we need a Sorcerer,\" acknowledged the Princess, \"but I am\ninformed that one of our own will be ready to pick in a few days, to\ntake the place of Gwig, whom you cut in two before it was time for him\nto be planted. Let us see your arts, and the sorceries you are able to\nperform. Then I will decide whether to destroy you with the others or\nnot.\"\n\nAt this the Wizard made a bow to the people and repeated his trick of\nproducing the nine tiny piglets and making them disappear again. He\ndid it very cleverly, indeed, and the Princess looked at the strange\npiglets as if she were as truly astonished as any vegetable person\ncould be. But afterward she said:\n\n\"I have heard of this wonderful magic. But it accomplishes nothing of\nvalue. What else can you do?\"\n\nThe Wizard tried to think. Then he jointed together the blades of his\nsword and balanced it very skillfully upon the end of his nose. But\neven that did not satisfy the Princess.\n\nJust then his eye fell upon the lanterns and the can of kerosene oil\nwhich Zeb had brought from the car of his balloon, and he got a clever\nidea from those commonplace things.\n\n\"Your Highness,\" said he, \"I will now proceed to prove my magic by\ncreating two suns that you have never seen before; also I will exhibit\na Destroyer much more dreadful that your Clinging Vines.\"\n\nSo he placed Dorothy upon one side of him and the boy upon the other\nand set a lantern upon each of their heads.\n\n\"Don't laugh,\" he whispered to them, \"or you will spoil the effect of\nmy magic.\"\n\nThen, with much dignity and a look of vast importance upon his wrinkled\nface, the Wizard got out his match-box and lighted the two lanterns.\nThe glare they made was very small when compared with the radiance of\nthe six great colored suns; but still they gleamed steadily and\nclearly. The Mangaboos were much impressed because they had never\nbefore seen any light that did not come directly from their suns.\n\nNext the Wizard poured a pool of oil from the can upon the glass floor,\nwhere it covered quite a broad surface. When he lighted the oil a\nhundred tongues of flame shot up, and the effect was really imposing.\n\n\"Now, Princess,\" exclaimed the Wizard, \"those of your advisors who\nwished to throw us into the Garden of Clinging Vines must step within\nthis circle of light. If they advised you well, and were in the right,\nthey will not be injured in any way. But if any advised you wrongly,\nthe light will wither him.\"\n\nThe advisors of the Princess did not like this test; but she commanded\nthem to step into the flame and one by one they did so, and were\nscorched so badly that the air was soon filled with an odor like that\nof baked potatoes. Some of the Mangaboos fell down and had to be\ndragged from the fire, and all were so withered that it would be\nnecessary to plant them at once.\n\n\"Sir,\" said the Princess to the Wizard, \"you are greater than any\nSorcerer we have ever known. As it is evident that my people have\nadvised me wrongly, I will not cast you three people into the dreadful\nGarden of the Clinging Vines; but your animals must be driven into the\nBlack Pit in the mountain, for my subjects cannot bear to have them\naround.\"\n\nThe Wizard was so pleased to have saved the two children and himself\nthat he said nothing against this decree; but when the Princess had\ngone both Jim and Eureka protested they did not want to go to the Black\nPit, and Dorothy promised she would do all that she could to save them\nfrom such a fate.\n\nFor two or three days after this--if we call days the periods between\nsleep, there being no night to divide the hours into days--our friends\nwere not disturbed in any way. They were even permitted to occupy the\nHouse of the Sorcerer in peace, as if it had been their own, and to\nwander in the gardens in search of food.\n\nOnce they came near to the enclosed Garden of the Clinging Vines, and\nwalking high into the air looked down upon it with much interest. They\nsaw a mass of tough green vines all matted together and writhing and\ntwisting around like a nest of great snakes. Everything the vines\ntouched they crushed, and our adventurers were indeed thankful to have\nescaped being cast among them.\n\nWhenever the Wizard went to sleep he would take the nine tiny piglets\nfrom his pocket and let them run around on the floor of his room to\namuse themselves and get some exercise; and one time they found his\nglass door ajar and wandered into the hall and then into the bottom\npart of the great dome, walking through the air as easily as Eureka\ncould. They knew the kitten, by this time, so they scampered over to\nwhere she lay beside Jim and commenced to frisk and play with her.\n\nThe cab-horse, who never slept long at a time, sat upon his haunches\nand watched the tiny piglets and the kitten with much approval.\n\n\"Don't be rough!\" he would call out, if Eureka knocked over one of the\nround, fat piglets with her paw; but the pigs never minded, and enjoyed\nthe sport very greatly.\n\nSuddenly they looked up to find the room filled with the silent,\nsolemn-eyed Mangaboos. Each of the vegetable folks bore a branch\ncovered with sharp thorns, which was thrust defiantly toward the horse,\nthe kitten and the piglets.\n\n\"Here--stop this foolishness!\" Jim roared, angrily; but after being\npricked once or twice he got upon his four legs and kept out of the way\nof the thorns.\n\nThe Mangaboos surrounded them in solid ranks, but left an opening to\nthe doorway of the hall; so the animals slowly retreated until they\nwere driven from the room and out upon the street. Here were more of\nthe vegetable people with thorns, and silently they urged the now\nfrightened creatures down the street. Jim had to be careful not to\nstep upon the tiny piglets, who scampered under his feet grunting and\nsquealing, while Eureka, snarling and biting at the thorns pushed\ntoward her, also tried to protect the pretty little things from injury.\nSlowly but steadily the heartless Mangaboos drove them on, until they\nhad passed through the city and the gardens and come to the broad\nplains leading to the mountain.\n\n\"What does all this mean, anyhow?\" asked the horse, jumping to escape a\nthorn.\n\n\"Why, they are driving us toward the Black Pit, into which they\nthreatened to cast us,\" replied the kitten. \"If I were as big as you\nare, Jim, I'd fight these miserable turnip-roots!\"\n\n\"What would you do?\" enquired Jim.\n\n\"I'd kick out with those long legs and iron-shod hoofs.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the horse; \"I'll do it.\"\n\nAn instant later he suddenly backed toward the crowd of Mangaboos and\nkicked out his hind legs as hard as he could. A dozen of them smashed\ntogether and tumbled to the ground, and seeing his success Jim kicked\nagain and again, charging into the vegetable crowd, knocking them in\nall directions and sending the others scattering to escape his iron\nheels. Eureka helped him by flying into the faces of the enemy and\nscratching and biting furiously, and the kitten ruined so many\nvegetable complexions that the Mangaboos feared her as much as they did\nthe horse.\n\nBut the foes were too many to be repulsed for long. They tired Jim and\nEureka out, and although the field of battle was thickly covered with\nmashed and disabled Mangaboos, our animal friends had to give up at\nlast and allow themselves to be driven to the mountain.\n\n\n\n\n7. Into the Black Pit and Out Again\n\n\nWhen they came to the mountain it proved to be a rugged, towering chunk\nof deep green glass, and looked dismal and forbidding in the extreme.\nHalf way up the steep was a yawning cave, black as night beyond the\npoint where the rainbow rays of the colored suns reached into it.\n\nThe Mangaboos drove the horse and the kitten and the piglets into this\ndark hole and then, having pushed the buggy in after them--for it\nseemed some of them had dragged it all the way from the domed\nhall--they began to pile big glass rocks within the entrance, so that\nthe prisoners could not get out again.\n\n\"This is dreadful!\" groaned Jim. \"It will be about the end of our\nadventures, I guess.\"\n\n\"If the Wizard was here,\" said one of the piglets, sobbing bitterly,\n\"he would not see us suffer so.\"\n\n\"We ought to have called him and Dorothy when we were first attacked,\"\nadded Eureka. \"But never mind; be brave, my friends, and I will go and\ntell our masters where you are, and get them to come to your rescue.\"\n\nThe mouth of the hole was nearly filled up now, but the kitten gave a\nleap through the remaining opening and at once scampered up into the\nair. The Mangaboos saw her escape, and several of them caught up their\nthorns and gave chase, mounting through the air after her. Eureka,\nhowever, was lighter than the Mangaboos, and while they could mount\nonly about a hundred feet above the earth the kitten found she could go\nnearly two hundred feet. So she ran along over their heads until she\nhad left them far behind and below and had come to the city and the\nHouse of the Sorcerer. There she entered in at Dorothy's window in the\ndome and aroused her from her sleep.\n\nAs soon as the little girl knew what had happened she awakened the\nWizard and Zeb, and at once preparations were made to go to the rescue\nof Jim and the piglets. The Wizard carried his satchel, which was\nquite heavy, and Zeb carried the two lanterns and the oil can.\nDorothy's wicker suit-case was still under the seat of the buggy, and\nby good fortune the boy had also placed the harness in the buggy when\nhe had taken it off from Jim to let the horse lie down and rest. So\nthere was nothing for the girl to carry but the kitten, which she held\nclose to her bosom and tried to comfort, for its little heart was still\nbeating rapidly.\n\nSome of the Mangaboos discovered them as soon as they left the House of\nthe Sorcerer; but when they started toward the mountain the vegetable\npeople allowed them to proceed without interference, yet followed in a\ncrowd behind them so that they could not go back again.\n\nBefore long they neared the Black Pit, where a busy swarm of Mangaboos,\nheaded by their Princess, was engaged in piling up glass rocks before\nthe entrance.\n\n\"Stop, I command you!\" cried the Wizard, in an angry tone, and at once\nbegan pulling down the rocks to liberate Jim and the piglets. Instead\nof opposing him in this they stood back in silence until he had made a\ngood-sized hole in the barrier, when by order of the Princess they all\nsprang forward and thrust out their sharp thorns.\n\nDorothy hopped inside the opening to escape being pricked, and Zeb and\nthe Wizard, after enduring a few stabs from the thorns, were glad to\nfollow her. At once the Mangaboos began piling up the rocks of glass\nagain, and as the little man realized that they were all about to be\nentombed in the mountain he said to the children:\n\n\"My dears, what shall we do? Jump out and fight?\"\n\n\"What's the use?\" replied Dorothy. \"I'd as soon die here as live much\nlonger among these cruel and heartless people.\"\n\n\"That's the way I feel about it,\" remarked Zeb, rubbing his wounds.\n\"I've had enough of the Mangaboos.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the Wizard; \"I'm with you, whatever you decide. But\nwe can't live long in this cavern, that's certain.\"\n\nNoticing that the light was growing dim he picked up his nine piglets,\npatted each one lovingly on its fat little head, and placed them\ncarefully in his inside pocket.\n\nZeb struck a match and lighted one of the lanterns. The rays of the\ncolored suns were now shut out from them forever, for the last chinks\nhad been filled up in the wall that separated their prison from the\nLand of the Mangaboos.\n\n\"How big is this hole?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"I'll explore it and see,\" replied the boy.\n\nSo he carried the lantern back for quite a distance, while Dorothy and\nthe Wizard followed at his side. The cavern did not come to an end, as\nthey had expected it would, but slanted upward through the great glass\nmountain, running in a direction that promised to lead them to the side\nopposite the Mangaboo country.\n\n\"It isn't a bad road,\" observed the Wizard, \"and if we followed it it\nmight lead us to some place that is more comfortable than this black\npocket we are now in. I suppose the vegetable folk were always afraid\nto enter this cavern because it is dark; but we have our lanterns to\nlight the way, so I propose that we start out and discover where this\ntunnel in the mountain leads to.\"\n\nThe others agreed readily to this sensible suggestion, and at once the\nboy began to harness Jim to the buggy. When all was in readiness the\nthree took their seats in the buggy and Jim started cautiously along\nthe way, Zeb driving while the Wizard and Dorothy each held a lighted\nlantern so the horse could see where to go.\n\nSometimes the tunnel was so narrow that the wheels of the buggy grazed\nthe sides; then it would broaden out as wide as a street; but the floor\nwas usually smooth, and for a long time they travelled on without any\naccident. Jim stopped sometimes to rest, for the climb was rather\nsteep and tiresome.\n\n\"We must be nearly as high as the six colored suns, by this time,\" said\nDorothy. \"I didn't know this mountain was so tall.\"\n\n\"We are certainly a good distance away from the Land of the Mangaboos,\"\nadded Zeb; \"for we have slanted away from it ever since we started.\"\n\nBut they kept steadily moving, and just as Jim was about tired out with\nhis long journey the way suddenly grew lighter, and Zeb put out the\nlanterns to save the oil.\n\nTo their joy they found it was a white light that now greeted them, for\nall were weary of the colored rainbow lights which, after a time, had\nmade their eyes ache with their constantly shifting rays. The sides of\nthe tunnel showed before them like the inside of a long spy-glass, and\nthe floor became more level. Jim hastened his lagging steps at this\nassurance of a quick relief from the dark passage, and in a few moments\nmore they had emerged from the mountain and found themselves face to\nface with a new and charming country.\n\n\n\n\n8. The Valley of Voices\n\n\nBy journeying through the glass mountain they had reached a delightful\nvalley that was shaped like the hollow of a great cup, with another\nrugged mountain showing on the other side of it, and soft and pretty\ngreen hills at the ends. It was all laid out into lovely lawns and\ngardens, with pebble paths leading through them and groves of beautiful\nand stately trees dotting the landscape here and there. There were\norchards, too, bearing luscious fruits that are all unknown in our\nworld. Alluring brooks of crystal water flowed sparkling between their\nflower-strewn banks, while scattered over the valley were dozens of the\nquaintest and most picturesque cottages our travelers had ever beheld.\nNone of them were in clusters, such as villages or towns, but each had\nample grounds of its own, with orchards and gardens surrounding it.\n\nAs the new arrivals gazed upon this exquisite scene they were\nenraptured by its beauties and the fragrance that permeated the soft\nair, which they breathed so gratefully after the confined atmosphere of\nthe tunnel. Several minutes were consumed in silent admiration before\nthey noticed two very singular and unusual facts about this valley.\nOne was that it was lighted from some unseen source; for no sun or moon\nwas in the arched blue sky, although every object was flooded with a\nclear and perfect light. The second and even more singular fact was\nthe absence of any inhabitant of this splendid place. From their\nelevated position they could overlook the entire valley, but not a\nsingle moving object could they see. All appeared mysteriously\ndeserted.\n\nThe mountain on this side was not glass, but made of a stone similar to\ngranite. With some difficulty and danger Jim drew the buggy over the\nloose rocks until he reached the green lawns below, where the paths and\norchards and gardens began. The nearest cottage was still some\ndistance away.\n\n\"Isn't it fine?\" cried Dorothy, in a joyous voice, as she sprang out of\nthe buggy and let Eureka run frolicking over the velvety grass.\n\n\"Yes, indeed!\" answered Zeb. \"We were lucky to get away from those\ndreadful vegetable people.\"\n\n\"It wouldn't be so bad,\" remarked the Wizard, gazing around him, \"if we\nwere obliged to live here always. We couldn't find a prettier place,\nI'm sure.\"\n\nHe took the piglets from his pocket and let them run on the grass, and\nJim tasted a mouthful of the green blades and declared he was very\ncontented in his new surroundings.\n\n\"We can't walk in the air here, though,\" called Eureka, who had tried\nit and failed; but the others were satisfied to walk on the ground, and\nthe Wizard said they must be nearer the surface of the earth then they\nhad been in the Mangaboo country, for everything was more homelike and\nnatural.\n\n\"But where are the people?\" asked Dorothy.\n\nThe little man shook his bald head.\n\n\"Can't imagine, my dear,\" he replied.\n\nThey heard the sudden twittering of a bird, but could not find the\ncreature anywhere. Slowly they walked along the path toward the\nnearest cottage, the piglets racing and gambolling beside them and Jim\npausing at every step for another mouthful of grass.\n\nPresently they came to a low plant which had broad, spreading leaves,\nin the center of which grew a single fruit about as large as a peach.\nThe fruit was so daintily colored and so fragrant, and looked so\nappetizing and delicious that Dorothy stopped and exclaimed:\n\n\"What is it, do you s'pose?\"\n\nThe piglets had smelled the fruit quickly, and before the girl could\nreach out her hand to pluck it every one of the nine tiny ones had\nrushed in and commenced to devour it with great eagerness.\n\n\"It's good, anyway,\" said Zeb, \"or those little rascals wouldn't have\ngobbled it up so greedily.\"\n\n\"Where are they?\" asked Dorothy, in astonishment.\n\nThey all looked around, but the piglets had disappeared.\n\n\"Dear me!\" cried the Wizard; \"they must have run away. But I didn't\nsee them go; did you?\"\n\n\"No!\" replied the boy and the girl, together.\n\n\"Here,--piggy, piggy, piggy!\" called their master, anxiously.\n\nSeveral squeals and grunts were instantly heard at his feet, but the\nWizard could not discover a single piglet.\n\n\"Where are you?\" he asked.\n\n\"Why, right beside you,\" spoke a tiny voice. \"Can't you see us?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the little man, in a puzzled tone.\n\n\"We can see you,\" said another of the piglets.\n\nThe Wizard stooped down and put out his hand, and at once felt the\nsmall fat body of one of his pets. He picked it up, but could not see\nwhat he held.\n\n\"It is very strange,\" said he, soberly. \"The piglets have become\ninvisible, in some curious way.\"\n\n\"I'll bet it's because they ate that peach!\" cried the kitten.\n\n\"It wasn't a peach, Eureka,\" said Dorothy. \"I only hope it wasn't\npoison.\"\n\n\"It was fine, Dorothy,\" called one of the piglets.\n\n\"We'll eat all we can find of them,\" said another.\n\n\"But WE mus'n't eat them,\" the Wizard warned the children, \"or we too\nmay become invisible, and lose each other. If we come across another of\nthe strange fruit we must avoid it.\"\n\nCalling the piglets to him he picked them all up, one by one, and put\nthem away in his pocket; for although he could not see them he could\nfeel them, and when he had buttoned his coat he knew they were safe for\nthe present.\n\nThe travellers now resumed their walk toward the cottage, which they\npresently reached. It was a pretty place, with vines growing thickly\nover the broad front porch. The door stood open and a table was set in\nthe front room, with four chairs drawn up to it. On the table were\nplates, knives and forks, and dishes of bread, meat and fruits. The\nmeat was smoking hot and the knives and forks were performing strange\nantics and jumping here and there in quite a puzzling way. But not a\nsingle person appeared to be in the room.\n\n\"How funny!\" exclaimed Dorothy, who with Zeb and the Wizard now stood\nin the doorway.\n\nA peal of merry laughter answered her, and the knives and forks fell to\nthe plates with a clatter. One of the chairs pushed back from the\ntable, and this was so astonishing and mysterious that Dorothy was\nalmost tempted to run away in fright.\n\n\"Here are strangers, mama!\" cried the shrill and childish voice of some\nunseen person.\n\n\"So I see, my dear,\" answered another voice, soft and womanly.\n\n\"What do you want?\" demanded a third voice, in a stern, gruff accent.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the Wizard; \"are there really people in this room?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" replied the man's voice.\n\n\"And--pardon me for the foolish question--but, are you all invisible?\"\n\n\"Surely,\" the woman answered, repeating her low, rippling laughter.\n\"Are you surprised that you are unable to see the people of Voe?\"\n\n\"Why, yes,\" stammered the Wizard. \"All the people I have ever met\nbefore were very plain to see.\"\n\n\"Where do you come from, then?\" asked the woman, in a curious tone.\n\n\"We belong upon the face of the earth,\" explained the Wizard, \"but\nrecently, during an earthquake, we fell down a crack and landed in the\nCountry of the Mangaboos.\"\n\n\"Dreadful creatures!\" exclaimed the woman's voice. \"I've heard of\nthem.\"\n\n\"They walled us up in a mountain,\" continued the Wizard; \"but we found\nthere was a tunnel through to this side, so we came here. It is a\nbeautiful place. What do you call it?\"\n\n\"It is the Valley of Voe.\"\n\n\"Thank you. We have seen no people since we arrived, so we came to\nthis house to enquire our way.\"\n\n\"Are you hungry?\" asked the woman's voice.\n\n\"I could eat something,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"So could I,\" added Zeb.\n\n\"But we do not wish to intrude, I assure you,\" the Wizard hastened to\nsay.\n\n\"That's all right,\" returned the man's voice, more pleasantly than\nbefore. \"You are welcome to what we have.\"\n\nAs he spoke the voice came so near to Zeb that he jumped back in alarm.\nTwo childish voices laughed merrily at this action, and Dorothy was\nsure they were in no danger among such light-hearted folks, even if\nthose folks couldn't be seen.\n\n\"What curious animal is that which is eating the grass on my lawn?\"\nenquired the man's voice.\n\n\"That's Jim,\" said the girl. \"He's a horse.\"\n\n\"What is he good for?\" was the next question.\n\n\"He draws the buggy you see fastened to him, and we ride in the buggy\ninstead of walking,\" she explained.\n\n\"Can he fight?\" asked the man's voice.\n\n\"No! he can kick pretty hard with his heels, and bite a little; but Jim\ncan't 'zactly fight,\" she replied.\n\n\"Then the bears will get him,\" said one of the children's voices.\n\n\"Bears!\" exclaimed Dorothy. \"Are these bears here?\"\n\n\"That is the one evil of our country,\" answered the invisible man.\n\"Many large and fierce bears roam in the Valley of Voe, and when they\ncan catch any of us they eat us up; but as they cannot see us, we\nseldom get caught.\"\n\n\"Are the bears invis'ble, too?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Yes; for they eat of the dama-fruit, as we all do, and that keeps them\nfrom being seen by any eye, whether human or animal.\"\n\n\"Does the dama-fruit grow on a low bush, and look something like a\npeach?\" asked the Wizard.\n\n\"Yes,\" was the reply.\n\n\"If it makes you invis'ble, why do you eat it?\" Dorothy enquired.\n\n\"For two reasons, my dear,\" the woman's voice answered. \"The\ndama-fruit is the most delicious thing that grows, and when it makes us\ninvisible the bears cannot find us to eat us up. But now, good\nwanderers, your luncheon is on the table, so please sit down and eat as\nmuch as you like.\"\n\n\n\n\n9. They Fight the Invisible Bears\n\n\nThe strangers took their seats at the table willingly enough, for they\nwere all hungry and the platters were now heaped with good things to\neat. In front of each place was a plate bearing one of the delicious\ndama-fruit, and the perfume that rose from these was so enticing and\nsweet that they were sorely tempted to eat of them and become invisible.\n\nBut Dorothy satisfied her hunger with other things, and her companions\ndid likewise, resisting the temptation.\n\n\"Why do you not eat the damas?\" asked the woman's voice.\n\n\"We don't want to get invis'ble,\" answered the girl.\n\n\"But if you remain visible the bears will see you and devour you,\" said\na girlish young voice, that belonged to one of the children. \"We who\nlive here much prefer to be invisible; for we can still hug and kiss\none another, and are quite safe from the bears.\"\n\n\"And we do not have to be so particular about our dress,\" remarked the\nman.\n\n\"And mama can't tell whether my face is dirty or not!\" added the other\nchildish voice, gleefully.\n\n\"But I make you wash it, every time I think of it,\" said the mother;\n\"for it stands to reason your face is dirty, Ianu, whether I can see it\nor not.\"\n\nDorothy laughed and stretched out her hands.\n\n\"Come here, please--Ianu and your sister--and let me feel of you,\" she\nrequested.\n\nThey came to her willingly, and Dorothy passed her hands over their\nfaces and forms and decided one was a girl of about her own age and the\nother a boy somewhat smaller. The girl's hair was soft and fluffy and\nher skin as smooth as satin. When Dorothy gently touched her nose and\nears and lips they seemed to be well and delicately formed.\n\n\"If I could see you I am sure you would be beautiful,\" she declared.\n\nThe girl laughed, and her mother said:\n\n\"We are not vain in the Valley of Voe, because we can not display our\nbeauty, and good actions and pleasant ways are what make us lovely to\nour companions. Yet we can see and appreciate the beauties of nature,\nthe dainty flowers and trees, the green fields and the clear blue of\nthe sky.\"\n\n\"How about the birds and beasts and fishes?\" asked Zeb.\n\n\"The birds we cannot see, because they love to eat of the damas as much\nas we do; yet we hear their sweet songs and enjoy them. Neither can we\nsee the cruel bears, for they also eat the fruit. But the fishes that\nswim in our brooks we can see, and often we catch them to eat.\"\n\n\"It occurs to me you have a great deal to make you happy, even while\ninvisible,\" remarked the Wizard. \"Nevertheless, we prefer to remain\nvisible while we are in your valley.\"\n\nJust then Eureka came in, for she had been until now wandering outside\nwith Jim; and when the kitten saw the table set with food she cried out:\n\n\"Now you must feed me, Dorothy, for I'm half starved.\"\n\nThe children were inclined to be frightened by the sight of the small\nanimal, which reminded them of the bears; but Dorothy reassured them by\nexplaining that Eureka was a pet and could do no harm even if she\nwished to. Then, as the others had by this time moved away from the\ntable, the kitten sprang upon the chair and put her paws upon the cloth\nto see what there was to eat. To her surprise an unseen hand clutched\nher and held her suspended in the air. Eureka was frantic with terror,\nand tried to scratch and bite, so the next moment she was dropped to\nthe floor.\n\n\"Did you see that, Dorothy?\" she gasped.\n\n\"Yes, dear,\" her mistress replied; \"there are people living in this\nhouse, although we cannot see them. And you must have better manners,\nEureka, or something worse will happen to you.\"\n\nShe placed a plate of food upon the floor and the kitten ate greedily.\n\n\"Give me that nice-smelling fruit I saw on the table,\" she begged, when\nshe had cleaned the plate.\n\n\"Those are damas,\" said Dorothy, \"and you must never even taste them,\nEureka, or you'll get invis'ble, and then we can't see you at all.\"\n\nThe kitten gazed wistfully at the forbidden fruit.\n\n\"Does it hurt to be invis'ble?\" she asked.\n\n\"I don't know,\" Dorothy answered; \"but it would hurt me dre'fully to\nlose you.\"\n\n\"Very well, I won't touch it,\" decided the kitten; \"but you must keep\nit away from me, for the smell is very tempting.\"\n\n\"Can you tell us, sir or ma'am,\" said the Wizard, addressing the air\nbecause he did not quite know where the unseen people stood, \"if there\nis any way we can get out of your beautiful Valley, and on top of the\nEarth again.\"\n\n\"Oh, one can leave the Valley easily enough,\" answered the man's voice;\n\"but to do so you must enter a far less pleasant country. As for\nreaching the top of the earth, I have never heard that it is possible\nto do that, and if you succeeded in getting there you would probably\nfall off.\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" said Dorothy, \"we've been there, and we know.\"\n\n\"The Valley of Voe is certainly a charming place,\" resumed the Wizard;\n\"but we cannot be contented in any other land than our own, for long.\nEven if we should come to unpleasant places on our way it is necessary,\nin order to reach the earth's surface, to keep moving on toward it.\"\n\n\"In that case,\" said the man, \"it will be best for you to cross our\nValley and mount the spiral staircase inside the Pyramid Mountain. The\ntop of that mountain is lost in the clouds, and when you reach it you\nwill be in the awful Land of Naught, where the Gargoyles live.\"\n\n\"What are Gargoyles?\" asked Zeb.\n\n\"I do not know, young sir. Our greatest Champion, Overman-Anu, once\nclimbed the spiral stairway and fought nine days with the Gargoyles\nbefore he could escape them and come back; but he could never be\ninduced to describe the dreadful creatures, and soon afterward a bear\ncaught him and ate him up.\"\n\nThe wanders were rather discouraged by this gloomy report, but Dorothy\nsaid with a sigh:\n\n\"If the only way to get home is to meet the Gurgles, then we've got to\nmeet 'em. They can't be worse than the Wicked Witch or the Nome King.\"\n\n\"But you must remember you had the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman to\nhelp you conquer those enemies,\" suggested the Wizard. \"Just now, my\ndear, there is not a single warrior in your company.\"\n\n\"Oh, I guess Zeb could fight if he had to. Couldn't you, Zeb?\" asked\nthe little girl.\n\n\"Perhaps; if I had to,\" answered Zeb, doubtfully.\n\n\"And you have the jointed sword that you chopped the veg'table Sorcerer\nin two with,\" the girl said to the little man.\n\n\"True,\" he replied; \"and in my satchel are other useful things to fight\nwith.\"\n\n\"What the Gargoyles most dread is a noise,\" said the man's voice. \"Our\nChampion told me that when he shouted his battle-cry the creatures\nshuddered and drew back, hesitating to continue the combat. But they\nwere in great numbers, and the Champion could not shout much because he\nhad to save his breath for fighting.\"\n\n\"Very good,\" said the Wizard; \"we can all yell better than we can\nfight, so we ought to defeat the Gargoyles.\"\n\n\"But tell me,\" said Dorothy, \"how did such a brave Champion happen to\nlet the bears eat him? And if he was invis'ble, and the bears\ninvis'ble, who knows that they really ate him up?\"\n\n\"The Champion had killed eleven bears in his time,\" returned the unseen\nman; \"and we know this is true because when any creature is dead the\ninvisible charm of the dama-fruit ceases to be active, and the slain\none can be plainly seen by all eyes. When the Champion killed a bear\neveryone could see it; and when the bears killed the Champion we all\nsaw several pieces of him scattered about, which of course disappeared\nagain when the bears devoured them.\"\n\nThey now bade farewell to the kind but unseen people of the cottage,\nand after the man had called their attention to a high, pyramid-shaped\nmountain on the opposite side of the Valley, and told them how to\ntravel in order to reach it, they again started upon their journey.\n\nThey followed the course of a broad stream and passed several more\npretty cottages; but of course they saw no one, nor did any one speak\nto them. Fruits and flowers grew plentifully all about, and there were\nmany of the delicious damas that the people of Voe were so fond of.\n\nAbout noon they stopped to allow Jim to rest in the shade of a pretty\norchard, and while they plucked and ate some of the cherries and plums\nthat grew there a soft voice suddenly said to them:\n\n\"There are bears near by. Be careful.\"\n\nThe Wizard got out his sword at once, and Zeb grabbed the horse-whip.\nDorothy climbed into the buggy, although Jim had been unharnessed from\nit and was grazing some distance away.\n\nThe owner of the unseen voice laughed lightly and said:\n\n\"You cannot escape the bears that way.\"\n\n\"How CAN we 'scape?\" asked Dorothy, nervously, for an unseen danger is\nalways the hardest to face.\n\n\"You must take to the river,\" was the reply. \"The bears will not\nventure upon the water.\"\n\n\"But we would be drowned!\" exclaimed the girl.\n\n\"Oh, there is no need of that,\" said the voice, which from its gentle\ntones seemed to belong to a young girl. \"You are strangers in the\nValley of Voe, and do not seem to know our ways; so I will try to save\nyou.\"\n\nThe next moment a broad-leaved plant was jerked from the ground where\nit grew and held suspended in the air before the Wizard.\n\n\"Sir,\" said the voice, \"you must rub these leaves upon the soles of all\nyour feet, and then you will be able to walk upon the water without\nsinking below the surface. It is a secret the bears do not know, and\nwe people of Voe usually walk upon the water when we travel, and so\nescape our enemies.\"\n\n\"Thank you!\" cried the Wizard, joyfully, and at once rubbed a leaf upon\nthe soles of Dorothy's shoes and then upon his own. The girl took a\nleaf and rubbed it upon the kitten's paws, and the rest of the plant\nwas handed to Zeb, who, after applying it to his own feet, carefully\nrubbed it upon all four of Jim's hoofs and then upon the tires of the\nbuggy-wheels. He had nearly finished this last task when a low\ngrowling was suddenly heard and the horse began to jump around and kick\nviciously with his heels.\n\n\"Quick! To the water or you are lost!\" cried their unseen friend, and\nwithout hesitation the Wizard drew the buggy down the bank and out upon\nthe broad river, for Dorothy was still seated in it with Eureka in her\narms. They did not sink at all, owing to the virtues of the strange\nplant they had used, and when the buggy was in the middle of the stream\nthe Wizard returned to the bank to assist Zeb and Jim.\n\nThe horse was plunging madly about, and two or three deep gashes\nappeared upon its flanks, from which the blood flowed freely.\n\n\"Run for the river!\" shouted the Wizard, and Jim quickly freed himself\nfrom his unseen tormenters by a few vicious kicks and then obeyed. As\nsoon as he trotted out upon the surface of the river he found himself\nsafe from pursuit, and Zeb was already running across the water toward\nDorothy.\n\nAs the little Wizard turned to follow them he felt a hot breath against\nhis cheek and heard a low, fierce growl. At once he began stabbing at\nthe air with his sword, and he knew that he had struck some substance\nbecause when he drew back the blade it was dripping with blood. The\nthird time that he thrust out the weapon there was a loud roar and a\nfall, and suddenly at his feet appeared the form of a great red bear,\nwhich was nearly as big as the horse and much stronger and fiercer.\nThe beast was quite dead from the sword thrusts, and after a glance at\nits terrible claws and sharp teeth the little man turned in a panic and\nrushed out upon the water, for other menacing growls told him more\nbears were near.\n\nOn the river, however, the adventurers seemed to be perfectly safe.\nDorothy and the buggy had floated slowly down stream with the current\nof the water, and the others made haste to join her. The Wizard opened\nhis satchel and got out some sticking-plaster with which he mended the\ncuts Jim had received from the claws of the bears.\n\n\"I think we'd better stick to the river, after this,\" said Dorothy.\n\"If our unknown friend hadn't warned us, and told us what to do, we\nwould all be dead by this time.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" agreed the Wizard, \"and as the river seems to be\nflowing in the direction of the Pyramid Mountain it will be the easiest\nway for us to travel.\"\n\nZeb hitched Jim to the buggy again, and the horse trotted along and\ndrew them rapidly over the smooth water. The kitten was at first\ndreadfully afraid of getting wet, but Dorothy let her down and soon\nEureka was frisking along beside the buggy without being scared a bit.\nOnce a little fish swam too near the surface, and the kitten grabbed it\nin her mouth and ate it up as quick as a wink; but Dorothy cautioned\nher to be careful what she ate in this valley of enchantments, and no\nmore fishes were careless enough to swim within reach.\n\nAfter a journey of several hours they came to a point where the river\ncurved, and they found they must cross a mile or so of the Valley\nbefore they came to the Pyramid Mountain. There were few houses in\nthis part, and few orchards or flowers; so our friends feared they\nmight encounter more of the savage bears, which they had learned to\ndread with all their hearts.\n\n\"You'll have to make a dash, Jim,\" said the Wizard, \"and run as fast as\nyou can go.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered the horse; \"I'll do my best. But you must\nremember I'm old, and my dashing days are past and gone.\"\n\nAll three got into the buggy and Zeb picked up the reins, though Jim\nneeded no guidance of any sort. The horse was still smarting from the\nsharp claws of the invisible bears, and as soon as he was on land and\nheaded toward the mountain the thought that more of those fearsome\ncreatures might be near acted as a spur and sent him galloping along in\na way that made Dorothy catch her breath.\n\nThen Zeb, in a spirit of mischief, uttered a growl like that of the\nbears, and Jim pricked up his ears and fairly flew. His boney legs\nmoved so fast they could scarcely be seen, and the Wizard clung fast to\nthe seat and yelled \"Whoa!\" at the top of his voice.\n\n\"I--I'm 'fraid he's--he's running away!\" gasped Dorothy.\n\n\"I KNOW he is,\" said Zeb; \"but no bear can catch him if he keeps up\nthat gait--and the harness or the buggy don't break.\"\n\nJim did not make a mile a minute; but almost before they were aware of\nit he drew up at the foot of the mountain, so suddenly that the Wizard\nand Zeb both sailed over the dashboard and landed in the soft\ngrass--where they rolled over several times before they stopped.\nDorothy nearly went with them, but she was holding fast to the iron\nrail of the seat, and that saved her. She squeezed the kitten, though,\nuntil it screeched; and then the old cab-horse made several curious\nsounds that led the little girl to suspect he was laughing at them all.\n\n\n\n\n10. The Braided Man of Pyramid Mountain\n\n\nThe mountain before them was shaped like a cone and was so tall that\nits point was lost in the clouds. Directly facing the place where Jim\nhad stopped was an arched opening leading to a broad stairway. The\nstairs were cut in the rock inside the mountain, and they were broad\nand not very steep, because they circled around like a cork-screw, and\nat the arched opening where the flight began the circle was quite big.\nAt the foot of the stairs was a sign reading:\n\nWARNING. These steps lead to the Land of the Gargoyles. DANGER! KEEP\nOUT.\n\n\n\"I wonder how Jim is ever going to draw the buggy up so many stairs,\"\nsaid Dorothy, gravely.\n\n\"No trouble at all,\" declared the horse, with a contemptuous neigh.\n\"Still, I don't care to drag any passengers. You'll all have to walk.\"\n\n\"Suppose the stairs get steeper?\" suggested Zeb, doubtfully.\n\n\"Then you'll have to boost the buggy-wheels, that's all,\" answered Jim.\n\n\"We'll try it, anyway,\" said the Wizard. \"It's the only way to get out\nof the Valley of Voe.\"\n\nSo they began to ascend the stairs, Dorothy and the Wizard first, Jim\nnext, drawing the buggy, and then Zeb to watch that nothing happened to\nthe harness.\n\nThe light was dim, and soon they mounted into total darkness, so that\nthe Wizard was obliged to get out his lanterns to light the way. But\nthis enabled them to proceed steadily until they came to a landing\nwhere there was a rift in the side of the mountain that let in both\nlight and air. Looking through this opening they could see the Valley\nof Voe lying far below them, the cottages seeming like toy houses from\nthat distance.\n\nAfter resting a few moments they resumed their climb, and still the\nstairs were broad and low enough for Jim to draw the buggy easily after\nhim. The old horse panted a little, and had to stop often to get his\nbreath. At such times they were all glad to wait for him, for\ncontinually climbing up stairs is sure to make one's legs ache.\n\nThey wound about, always going upward, for some time. The lights from\nthe lanterns dimly showed the way, but it was a gloomy journey, and\nthey were pleased when a broad streak of light ahead assured them they\nwere coming to a second landing.\n\nHere one side of the mountain had a great hole in it, like the mouth of\na cavern, and the stairs stopped at the near edge of the floor and\ncommenced ascending again at the opposite edge.\n\nThe opening in the mountain was on the side opposite to the Valley of\nVoe, and our travellers looked out upon a strange scene. Below them\nwas a vast space, at the bottom of which was a black sea with rolling\nbillows, through which little tongues of flame constantly shot up.\nJust above them, and almost on a level with their platform, were banks\nof rolling clouds which constantly shifted position and changed color.\nThe blues and greys were very beautiful, and Dorothy noticed that on\nthe cloud banks sat or reclined fleecy, shadowy forms of beautiful\nbeings who must have been the Cloud Fairies. Mortals who stand upon\nthe earth and look up at the sky cannot often distinguish these forms,\nbut our friends were now so near to the clouds that they observed the\ndainty fairies very clearly.\n\n\"Are they real?\" asked Zeb, in an awed voice.\n\n\"Of course,\" replied Dorothy, softly. \"They are the Cloud Fairies.\"\n\n\"They seem like open-work,\" remarked the boy, gazing intently. \"If I\nshould squeeze one, there wouldn't be anything left of it.\"\n\nIn the open space between the clouds and the black, bubbling sea far\nbeneath, could be seen an occasional strange bird winging its way\nswiftly through the air. These birds were of enormous size, and\nreminded Zeb of the rocs he had read about in the Arabian Nights. They\nhad fierce eyes and sharp talons and beaks, and the children hoped none\nof them would venture into the cavern.\n\n\"Well, I declare!\" suddenly exclaimed the little Wizard. \"What in the\nworld is this?\"\n\nThey turned around and found a man standing on the floor in the center\nof the cave, who bowed very politely when he saw he had attracted their\nattention. He was a very old man, bent nearly double; but the queerest\nthing about him was his white hair and beard. These were so long that\nthey reached to his feet, and both the hair and the beard were\ncarefully plaited into many braids, and the end of each braid fastened\nwith a bow of colored ribbon.\n\n\"Where did you come from?\" asked Dorothy, wonderingly.\n\n\"No place at all,\" answered the man with the braids; \"that is, not\nrecently. Once I lived on top the earth, but for many years I have had\nmy factory in this spot--half way up Pyramid Mountain.\"\n\n\"Are we only half way up?\" enquired the boy, in a discouraged tone.\n\n\"I believe so, my lad,\" replied the braided man. \"But as I have never\nbeen in either direction, down or up, since I arrived, I cannot be\npositive whether it is exactly half way or not.\"\n\n\"Have you a factory in this place?\" asked the Wizard, who had been\nexamining the strange personage carefully.\n\n\"To be sure,\" said the other. \"I am a great inventor, you must know,\nand I manufacture my products in this lonely spot.\"\n\n\"What are your products?\" enquired the Wizard.\n\n\"Well, I make Assorted Flutters for flags and bunting, and a superior\ngrade of Rustles for ladies' silk gowns.\"\n\n\"I thought so,\" said the Wizard, with a sigh. \"May we examine some of\nthese articles?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed; come into my shop, please,\" and the braided man turned\nand led the way into a smaller cave, where he evidently lived. Here,\non a broad shelf, were several card-board boxes of various sizes, each\ntied with cotton cord.\n\n\"This,\" said the man, taking up a box and handling it gently, \"contains\ntwelve dozen rustles--enough to last any lady a year. Will you buy\nit, my dear?\" he asked, addressing Dorothy.\n\n\"My gown isn't silk,\" she said, smiling.\n\n\"Never mind. When you open the box the rustles will escape, whether\nyou are wearing a silk dress or not,\" said the man, seriously. Then he\npicked up another box. \"In this,\" he continued, \"are many assorted\nflutters. They are invaluable to make flags flutter on a still day,\nwhen there is no wind. You, sir,\" turning to the Wizard, \"ought to\nhave this assortment. Once you have tried my goods I am sure you will\nnever be without them.\"\n\n\"I have no money with me,\" said the Wizard, evasively.\n\n\"I do not want money,\" returned the braided man, \"for I could not spend\nit in this deserted place if I had it. But I would like very much a\nblue hair-ribbon. You will notice my braids are tied with yellow,\npink, brown, red, green, white and black; but I have no blue ribbons.\"\n\n\"I'll get you one!\" cried Dorothy, who was sorry for the poor man; so\nshe ran back to the buggy and took from her suit-case a pretty blue\nribbon. It did her good to see how the braided man's eyes sparkled\nwhen he received this treasure.\n\n\"You have made me very, very happy, my dear!\" he exclaimed; and then he\ninsisted on the Wizard taking the box of flutters and the little girl\naccepting the box of rustles.\n\n\"You may need them, some time,\" he said, \"and there is really no use in\nmy manufacturing these things unless somebody uses them.\"\n\n\"Why did you leave the surface of the earth?\" enquired the Wizard.\n\n\"I could not help it. It is a sad story, but if you will try to\nrestrain your tears I will tell you about it. On earth I was a\nmanufacturer of Imported Holes for American Swiss Cheese, and I will\nacknowledge that I supplied a superior article, which was in great\ndemand. Also I made pores for porous plasters and high-grade holes for\ndoughnuts and buttons. Finally I invented a new Adjustable Post-hole,\nwhich I thought would make my fortune. I manufactured a large quantity\nof these post-holes, and having no room in which to store them I set\nthem all end to end and put the top one in the ground. That made an\nextraordinary long hole, as you may imagine, and reached far down into\nthe earth; and, as I leaned over it to try to see to the bottom, I lost\nmy balance and tumbled in. Unfortunately, the hole led directly into\nthe vast space you see outside this mountain; but I managed to catch a\npoint of rock that projected from this cavern, and so saved myself from\ntumbling headlong into the black waves beneath, where the tongues of\nflame that dart out would certainly have consumed me. Here, then, I\nmade my home; and although it is a lonely place I amuse myself making\nrustles and flutters, and so get along very nicely.\"\n\nWhen the braided man had completed this strange tale Dorothy nearly\nlaughed, because it was all so absurd; but the Wizard tapped his\nforehead significantly, to indicate that he thought the poor man was\ncrazy. So they politely bade him good day, and went back to the outer\ncavern to resume their journey.\n\n\n\n\n11. They Meet the Wooden Gargoyles\n\n\nAnother breathless climb brought our adventurers to a third landing\nwhere there was a rift in the mountain. On peering out all they could\nsee was rolling banks of clouds, so thick that they obscured all else.\n\nBut the travellers were obliged to rest, and while they were sitting on\nthe rocky floor the Wizard felt in his pocket and brought out the nine\ntiny piglets. To his delight they were now plainly visible, which\nproved that they had passed beyond the influence of the magical Valley\nof Voe.\n\n\"Why, we can see each other again!\" cried one, joyfully.\n\n\"Yes,\" sighed Eureka; \"and I also can see you again, and the sight\nmakes me dreadfully hungry. Please, Mr. Wizard, may I eat just one of\nthe fat little piglets? You'd never miss ONE of them, I'm sure!\"\n\n\"What a horrid, savage beast!\" exclaimed a piglet; \"and after we've\nbeen such good friends, too, and played with one another!\"\n\n\"When I'm not hungry, I love to play with you all,\" said the kitten,\ndemurely; \"but when my stomach is empty it seems that nothing would\nfill it so nicely as a fat piglet.\"\n\n\"And we trusted you so!\" said another of the nine, reproachfully.\n\n\"And thought you were respectable!\" said another.\n\n\"It seems we were mistaken,\" declared a third, looking at the kitten\ntimorously, \"no one with such murderous desires should belong to our\nparty, I'm sure.\"\n\n\"You see, Eureka,\" remarked Dorothy, reprovingly, \"you are making\nyourself disliked. There are certain things proper for a kitten to\neat; but I never heard of a kitten eating a pig, under ANY cir'stances.\"\n\n\"Did you ever see such little pigs before?\" asked the kitten. \"They\nare no bigger than mice, and I'm sure mice are proper for me to eat.\"\n\n\"It isn't the bigness, dear; its the variety,\" replied the girl.\n\"These are Mr. Wizard's pets, just as you are my pet, and it wouldn't\nbe any more proper for you to eat them than it would be for Jim to eat\nyou.\"\n\n\"And that's just what I shall do if you don't let those little balls of\npork alone,\" said Jim, glaring at the kitten with his round, big eyes.\n\"If you injure any one of them I'll chew you up instantly.\"\n\nThe kitten looked at the horse thoughtfully, as if trying to decide\nwhether he meant it or not.\n\n\"In that case,\" she said, \"I'll leave them alone. You haven't many\nteeth left, Jim, but the few you have are sharp enough to make me\nshudder. So the piglets will be perfectly safe, hereafter, as far as I\nam concerned.\"\n\n\"That is right, Eureka,\" remarked the Wizard, earnestly. \"Let us all\nbe a happy family and love one another.\"\n\nEureka yawned and stretched herself.\n\n\"I've always loved the piglets,\" she said; \"but they don't love me.\"\n\n\"No one can love a person he's afraid of,\" asserted Dorothy. \"If you\nbehave, and don't scare the little pigs, I'm sure they'll grow very\nfond of you.\"\n\nThe Wizard now put the nine tiny ones back into his pocket and the\njourney was resumed.\n\n\"We must be pretty near the top, now,\" said the boy, as they climbed\nwearily up the dark, winding stairway.\n\n\"The Country of the Gurgles can't be far from the top of the earth,\"\nremarked Dorothy. \"It isn't very nice down here. I'd like to get home\nagain, I'm sure.\"\n\nNo one replied to this, because they found they needed all their breath\nfor the climb. The stairs had become narrower and Zeb and the Wizard\noften had to help Jim pull the buggy from one step to another, or keep\nit from jamming against the rocky walls.\n\nAt last, however, a dim light appeared ahead of them, which grew\nclearer and stronger as they advanced.\n\n\"Thank goodness we're nearly there!\" panted the little Wizard.\n\nJim, who was in advance, saw the last stair before him and stuck his\nhead above the rocky sides of the stairway. Then he halted, ducked\ndown and began to back up, so that he nearly fell with the buggy onto\nthe others.\n\n\"Let's go down again!\" he said, in his hoarse voice.\n\n\"Nonsense!\" snapped the tired Wizard. \"What's the matter with you, old\nman?\"\n\n\"Everything,\" grumbled the horse. \"I've taken a look at this place,\nand it's no fit country for real creatures to go to. Everything's\ndead, up there--no flesh or blood or growing thing anywhere.\"\n\n\"Never mind; we can't turn back,\" said Dorothy; \"and we don't intend to\nstay there, anyhow.\"\n\n\"It's dangerous,\" growled Jim, in a stubborn tone.\n\n\"See here, my good steed,\" broke in the Wizard, \"little Dorothy and I\nhave been in many queer countries in our travels, and always escaped\nwithout harm. We've even been to the marvelous Land of Oz--haven't we,\nDorothy?--so we don't much care what the Country of the Gargoyles is\nlike. Go ahead, Jim, and whatever happens we'll make the best of it.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered the horse; \"this is your excursion, and not mine;\nso if you get into trouble don't blame me.\"\n\nWith this speech he bent forward and dragged the buggy up the remaining\nsteps. The others followed and soon they were all standing upon a\nbroad platform and gazing at the most curious and startling sight their\neyes had ever beheld.\n\n\"The Country of the Gargoyles is all wooden!\" exclaimed Zeb; and so it\nwas. The ground was sawdust and the pebbles scattered around were hard\nknots from trees, worn smooth in course of time. There were odd wooden\nhouses, with carved wooden flowers in the front yards. The tree-trunks\nwere of coarse wood, but the leaves of the trees were shavings. The\npatches of grass were splinters of wood, and where neither grass nor\nsawdust showed was a solid wooden flooring. Wooden birds fluttered\namong the trees and wooden cows were browsing upon the wooden grass;\nbut the most amazing things of all were the wooden people--the\ncreatures known as Gargoyles.\n\nThese were very numerous, for the place was thickly inhabited, and a\nlarge group of the queer people clustered near, gazing sharply upon the\nstrangers who had emerged from the long spiral stairway.\n\nThe Gargoyles were very small of stature, being less than three feet in\nheight. Their bodies were round, their legs short and thick and their\narms extraordinarily long and stout. Their heads were too big for\ntheir bodies and their faces were decidedly ugly to look upon. Some\nhad long, curved noses and chins, small eyes and wide, grinning mouths.\nOthers had flat noses, protruding eyes, and ears that were shaped like\nthose of an elephant. There were many types, indeed, scarcely two\nbeing alike; but all were equally disagreeable in appearance. The tops\nof their heads had no hair, but were carved into a variety of fantastic\nshapes, some having a row of points or balls around the top, others\ndesigns resembling flowers or vegetables, and still others having\nsquares that looked like waffles cut criss-cross on their heads. They\nall wore short wooden wings which were fastened to their wooden bodies\nby means of wooden hinges with wooden screws, and with these wings they\nflew swiftly and noiselessly here and there, their legs being of little\nuse to them.\n\nThis noiseless motion was one of the most peculiar things about the\nGargoyles. They made no sounds at all, either in flying or trying to\nspeak, and they conversed mainly by means of quick signals made with\ntheir wooden fingers or lips. Neither was there any sound to be heard\nanywhere throughout the wooden country. The birds did not sing, nor\ndid the cows moo; yet there was more than ordinary activity everywhere.\n\nThe group of these queer creatures which was discovered clustered near\nthe stairs at first remained staring and motionless, glaring with evil\neyes at the intruders who had so suddenly appeared in their land. In\nturn the Wizard and the children, the horse and the kitten, examined\nthe Gargoyles with the same silent attention.\n\n\"There's going to be trouble, I'm sure,\" remarked the horse. \"Unhitch\nthose tugs, Zeb, and set me free from the buggy, so I can fight\ncomfortably.\"\n\n\"Jim's right,\" sighed the Wizard. \"There's going to be trouble, and my\nsword isn't stout enough to cut up those wooden bodies--so I shall have\nto get out my revolvers.\"\n\nHe got his satchel from the buggy and, opening it, took out two deadly\nlooking revolvers that made the children shrink back in alarm just to\nlook at.\n\n\"What harm can the Gurgles do?\" asked Dorothy. \"They have no weapons\nto hurt us with.\"\n\n\"Each of their arms is a wooden club,\" answered the little man, \"and\nI'm sure the creatures mean mischief, by the looks of their eyes. Even\nthese revolvers can merely succeed in damaging a few of their wooden\nbodies, and after that we will be at their mercy.\"\n\n\"But why fight at all, in that case?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"So I may die with a clear conscience,\" returned the Wizard, gravely.\n\"It's every man's duty to do the best he knows how; and I'm going to do\nit.\"\n\n\"Wish I had an axe,\" said Zeb, who by now had unhitched the horse.\n\n\"If we had known we were coming we might have brought along several\nother useful things,\" responded the Wizard. \"But we dropped into this\nadventure rather unexpectedly.\"\n\nThe Gargoyles had backed away a distance when they heard the sound of\ntalking, for although our friends had spoken in low tones their words\nseemed loud in the silence surrounding them. But as soon as the\nconversation ceased, the grinning, ugly creatures arose in a flock and\nflew swiftly toward the strangers, their long arms stretched out before\nthem like the bowsprits of a fleet of sail-boats. The horse had\nespecially attracted their notice, because it was the biggest and\nstrangest creature they had ever seen; so it became the center of their\nfirst attack.\n\nBut Jim was ready for them, and when he saw them coming he turned his\nheels toward them and began kicking out as hard as he could. Crack!\ncrash! bang! went his iron-shod hoofs against the wooden bodies of the\nGargoyles, and they were battered right and left with such force that\nthey scattered like straws in the wind. But the noise and clatter\nseemed as dreadful to them as Jim's heels, for all who were able\nswiftly turned and flew away to a great distance. The others picked\nthemselves up from the ground one by one and quickly rejoined their\nfellows, so for a moment the horse thought he had won the fight with\nease.\n\nBut the Wizard was not so confident.\n\n\"Those wooden things are impossible to hurt,\" he said, \"and all the\ndamage Jim has done to them is to knock a few splinters from their\nnoses and ears. That cannot make them look any uglier, I'm sure, and\nit is my opinion they will soon renew the attack.\"\n\n\"What made them fly away?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"The noise, of course. Don't you remember how the Champion escaped\nthem by shouting his battle-cry?\"\n\n\"Suppose we escape down the stairs, too,\" suggested the boy. \"We have\ntime, just now, and I'd rather face the invis'ble bears than those\nwooden imps.\"\n\n\"No,\" returned Dorothy, stoutly, \"it won't do to go back, for then we\nwould never get home. Let's fight it out.\"\n\n\"That is what I advise,\" said the Wizard. \"They haven't defeated us\nyet, and Jim is worth a whole army.\"\n\nBut the Gargoyles were clever enough not to attack the horse the next\ntime. They advanced in a great swarm, having been joined by many more\nof their kind, and they flew straight over Jim's head to where the\nothers were standing.\n\nThe Wizard raised one of his revolvers and fired into the throng of his\nenemies, and the shot resounded like a clap of thunder in that silent\nplace.\n\nSome of the wooden beings fell flat upon the ground, where they\nquivered and trembled in every limb; but most of them managed to wheel\nand escape again to a distance.\n\nZeb ran and picked up one of the Gargoyles that lay nearest to him.\nThe top of its head was carved into a crown and the Wizard's bullet had\nstruck it exactly in the left eye, which was a hard wooden knot. Half\nof the bullet stuck in the wood and half stuck out, so it had been the\njar and the sudden noise that had knocked the creature down, more than\nthe fact that it was really hurt. Before this crowned Gargoyle had\nrecovered himself Zeb had wound a strap several times around its body,\nconfining its wings and arms so that it could not move. Then, having\ntied the wooden creature securely, the boy buckled the strap and tossed\nhis prisoner into the buggy. By that time the others had all retired.\n\n\n\n\n12. A Wonderful Escape\n\n\nFor a while the enemy hesitated to renew the attack. Then a few of\nthem advanced until another shot from the Wizard's revolver made them\nretreat.\n\n\"That's fine,\" said Zeb. \"We've got 'em on the run now, sure enough.\"\n\n\"But only for a time,\" replied the Wizard, shaking his head gloomily.\n\"These revolvers are good for six shots each, but when those are gone\nwe shall be helpless.\"\n\nThe Gargoyles seemed to realize this, for they sent a few of their band\ntime after time to attack the strangers and draw the fire from the\nlittle man's revolvers. In this way none of them was shocked by the\ndreadful report more than once, for the main band kept far away and\neach time a new company was sent into the battle. When the Wizard had\nfired all of his twelve bullets he had caused no damage to the enemy\nexcept to stun a few by the noise, and so be as no nearer to victory\nthan in the beginning of the fray.\n\n\"What shall we do now?\" asked Dorothy, anxiously.\n\n\"Let's yell--all together,\" said Zeb.\n\n\"And fight at the same time,\" added the Wizard. \"We will get near Jim,\nso that he can help us, and each one must take some weapon and do the\nbest he can. I'll use my sword, although it isn't much account in this\naffair. Dorothy must take her parasol and open it suddenly when the\nwooden folks attack her. I haven't anything for you, Zeb.\"\n\n\"I'll use the king,\" said the boy, and pulled his prisoner out of the\nbuggy. The bound Gargoyle's arms extended far out beyond its head, so\nby grasping its wrists Zeb found the king made a very good club. The\nboy was strong for one of his years, having always worked upon a farm;\nso he was likely to prove more dangerous to the enemy than the Wizard.\n\nWhen the next company of Gargoyles advanced, our adventurers began\nyelling as if they had gone mad. Even the kitten gave a dreadfully\nshrill scream and at the same time Jim the cab-horse neighed loudly.\nThis daunted the enemy for a time, but the defenders were soon out of\nbreath. Perceiving this, as well as the fact that there were no more\nof the awful \"bangs\" to come from the revolvers, the Gargoyles advanced\nin a swarm as thick as bees, so that the air was filled with them.\n\nDorothy squatted upon the ground and put up her parasol, which nearly\ncovered her and proved a great protection. The Wizard's sword-blade\nsnapped into a dozen pieces at the first blow he struck against the\nwooden people. Zeb pounded away with the Gargoyle he was using as a\nclub until he had knocked down dozens of foes; but at the last they\nclustered so thickly about him that he no longer had room in which to\nswing his arms. The horse performed some wonderful kicking and even\nEureka assisted when she leaped bodily upon the Gargoyles and scratched\nand bit at them like a wild-cat.\n\nBut all this bravery amounted to nothing at all. The wooden things\nwound their long arms around Zeb and the Wizard and held them fast.\nDorothy was captured in the same way, and numbers of the Gargoyles\nclung to Jim's legs, so weighting him down that the poor beast was\nhelpless. Eureka made a desperate dash to escape and scampered along\nthe ground like a streak; but a grinning Gargoyle flew after her and\ngrabbed her before she had gone very far.\n\nAll of them expected nothing less than instant death; but to their\nsurprise the wooden creatures flew into the air with them and bore them\nfar away, over miles and miles of wooden country, until they came to a\nwooden city. The houses of this city had many corners, being square\nand six-sided and eight-sided. They were tower-like in shape and the\nbest of them seemed old and weather-worn; yet all were strong and\nsubstantial.\n\nTo one of these houses which had neither doors nor windows, but only\none broad opening far up underneath the roof, the prisoners were\nbrought by their captors. The Gargoyles roughly pushed them into the\nopening, where there was a platform, and then flew away and left them.\nAs they had no wings the strangers could not fly away, and if they\njumped down from such a height they would surely be killed. The\ncreatures had sense enough to reason that way, and the only mistake\nthey made was in supposing the earth people were unable to overcome\nsuch ordinary difficulties.\n\nJim was brought with the others, although it took a good many Gargoyles\nto carry the big beast through the air and land him on the high\nplatform, and the buggy was thrust in after him because it belonged to\nthe party and the wooden folks had no idea what it was used for or\nwhether it was alive or not. When Eureka's captor had thrown the\nkitten after the others the last Gargoyle silently disappeared, leaving\nour friends to breathe freely once more.\n\n\"What an awful fight!\" said Dorothy, catching her breath in little\ngasps.\n\n\"Oh, I don't know,\" purred Eureka, smoothing her ruffled fur with her\npaw; \"we didn't manage to hurt anybody, and nobody managed to hurt us.\"\n\n\"Thank goodness we are together again, even if we are prisoners,\"\nsighed the little girl.\n\n\"I wonder why they didn't kill us on the spot,\" remarked Zeb, who had\nlost his king in the struggle.\n\n\"They are probably keeping us for some ceremony,\" the Wizard answered,\nreflectively; \"but there is no doubt they intend to kill us as dead as\npossible in a short time.\"\n\n\"As dead as poss'ble would be pretty dead, wouldn't it?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Yes, my dear. But we have no need to worry about that just now. Let\nus examine our prison and see what it is like.\"\n\nThe space underneath the roof, where they stood, permitted them to see\non all sides of the tall building, and they looked with much curiosity\nat the city spread out beneath them. Everything visible was made of\nwood, and the scene seemed stiff and extremely unnatural.\n\nFrom their platform a stair descended into the house, and the children\nand the Wizard explored it after lighting a lantern to show them the\nway. Several stories of empty rooms rewarded their search, but nothing\nmore; so after a time they came back to the platform again. Had there\nbeen any doors or windows in the lower rooms, or had not the boards of\nthe house been so thick and stout, escape could have been easy; but to\nremain down below was like being in a cellar or the hold of a ship, and\nthey did not like the darkness or the damp smell.\n\nIn this country, as in all others they had visited underneath the\nearth's surface, there was no night, a constant and strong light coming\nfrom some unknown source. Looking out, they could see into some of the\nhouses near them, where there were open windows in abundance, and were\nable to mark the forms of the wooden Gargoyles moving about in their\ndwellings.\n\n\"This seems to be their time of rest,\" observed the Wizard. \"All\npeople need rest, even if they are made of wood, and as there is no\nnight here they select a certain time of the day in which to sleep or\ndoze.\"\n\n\"I feel sleepy myself,\" remarked Zeb, yawning.\n\n\"Why, where's Eureka?\" cried Dorothy, suddenly.\n\nThey all looked around, but the kitten was no place to be seen.\n\n\"She's gone out for a walk,\" said Jim, gruffly.\n\n\"Where? On the roof?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"No; she just dug her claws into the wood and climbed down the sides of\nthis house to the ground.\"\n\n\"She couldn't climb DOWN, Jim,\" said Dorothy. \"To climb means to go\nup.\"\n\n\"Who said so?\" demanded the horse.\n\n\"My school-teacher said so; and she knows a lot, Jim.\"\n\n\"To 'climb down' is sometimes used as a figure of speech,\" remarked the\nWizard.\n\n\"Well, this was a figure of a cat,\" said Jim, \"and she WENT down,\nanyhow, whether she climbed or crept.\"\n\n\"Dear me! how careless Eureka is,\" exclaimed the girl, much distressed.\n\"The Gurgles will get her, sure!\"\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" chuckled the old cab-horse; \"they're not 'Gurgles,' little\nmaid; they're Gargoyles.\"\n\n\"Never mind; they'll get Eureka, whatever they're called.\"\n\n\"No they won't,\" said the voice of the kitten, and Eureka herself\ncrawled over the edge of the platform and sat down quietly upon the\nfloor.\n\n\"Wherever have you been, Eureka?\" asked Dorothy, sternly.\n\n\"Watching the wooden folks. They're too funny for anything, Dorothy.\nJust now they are all going to bed, and--what do you think?--they\nunhook the hinges of their wings and put them in a corner until they\nwake up again.\"\n\n\"What, the hinges?\"\n\n\"No; the wings.\"\n\n\"That,\" said Zeb, \"explains why this house is used by them for a\nprison. If any of the Gargoyles act badly, and have to be put in jail,\nthey are brought here and their wings unhooked and taken away from them\nuntil they promise to be good.\"\n\nThe Wizard had listened intently to what Eureka had said.\n\n\"I wish we had some of those loose wings,\" he said.\n\n\"Could we fly with them?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"I think so. If the Gargoyles can unhook the wings then the power to\nfly lies in the wings themselves, and not in the wooden bodies of the\npeople who wear them. So, if we had the wings, we could probably fly\nas well as they do--as least while we are in their country and under\nthe spell of its magic.\"\n\n\"But how would it help us to be able to fly?\" questioned the girl.\n\n\"Come here,\" said the little man, and took her to one of the corners of\nthe building. \"Do you see that big rock standing on the hillside\nyonder?\" he continued, pointing with his finger.\n\n\"Yes; it's a good way off, but I can see it,\" she replied.\n\n\"Well, inside that rock, which reaches up into the clouds, is an\narchway very much like the one we entered when we climbed the spiral\nstairway from the Valley of Voe. I'll get my spy-glass, and then you\ncan see it more plainly.\"\n\nHe fetched a small but powerful telescope, which had been in his\nsatchel, and by its aid the little girl clearly saw the opening.\n\n\"Where does it lead to?\" she asked.\n\n\"That I cannot tell,\" said the Wizard; \"but we cannot now be far below\nthe earth's surface, and that entrance may lead to another stairway\nthat will bring us on top of our world again, where we belong. So, if\nwe had the wings, and could escape the Gargoyles, we might fly to that\nrock and be saved.\"\n\n\"I'll get you the wings,\" said Zeb, who had thoughtfully listened to\nall this. \"That is, if the kitten will show me where they are.\"\n\n\"But how can you get down?\" enquired the girl, wonderingly.\n\nFor answer Zeb began to unfasten Jim's harness, strap by strap, and to\nbuckle one piece to another until he had made a long leather strip that\nwould reach to the ground.\n\n\"I can climb down that, all right,\" he said.\n\n\"No you can't,\" remarked Jim, with a twinkle in his round eyes. \"You\nmay GO down, but you can only CLIMB up.\"\n\n\"Well, I'll climb up when I get back, then,\" said the boy, with a\nlaugh. \"Now, Eureka, you'll have to show me the way to those wings.\"\n\n\"You must be very quiet,\" warned the kitten; \"for if you make the least\nnoise the Gargoyles will wake up. They can hear a pin drop.\"\n\n\"I'm not going to drop a pin,\" said Zeb.\n\nHe had fastened one end of the strap to a wheel of the buggy, and now\nhe let the line dangle over the side of the house.\n\n\"Be careful,\" cautioned Dorothy, earnestly.\n\n\"I will,\" said the boy, and let himself slide over the edge.\n\nThe girl and the Wizard leaned over and watched Zeb work his way\ncarefully downward, hand over hand, until he stood upon the ground\nbelow. Eureka clung with her claws to the wooden side of the house and\nlet herself down easily. Then together they crept away to enter the\nlow doorway of a neighboring dwelling.\n\nThe watchers waited in breathless suspense until the boy again\nappeared, his arms now full of the wooden wings.\n\nWhen he came to where the strap was hanging he tied the wings all in a\nbunch to the end of the line, and the Wizard drew them up. Then the\nline was let down again for Zeb to climb up by. Eureka quickly\nfollowed him, and soon they were all standing together upon the\nplatform, with eight of the much prized wooden wings beside them.\n\nThe boy was no longer sleepy, but full of energy and excitement. He\nput the harness together again and hitched Jim to the buggy. Then,\nwith the Wizard's help, he tried to fasten some of the wings to the old\ncab-horse.\n\nThis was no easy task, because half of each one of the hinges of the\nwings was missing, it being still fastened to the body of the Gargoyle\nwho had used it. However, the Wizard went once more to his\nsatchel--which seemed to contain a surprising variety of odds and\nends--and brought out a spool of strong wire, by means of which they\nmanaged to fasten four of the wings to Jim's harness, two near his head\nand two near his tail. They were a bit wiggley, but secure enough if\nonly the harness held together.\n\nThe other four wings were then fastened to the buggy, two on each side,\nfor the buggy must bear the weight of the children and the Wizard as it\nflew through the air.\n\nThese preparations had not consumed a great deal of time, but the\nsleeping Gargoyles were beginning to wake up and move around, and soon\nsome of them would be hunting for their missing wings. So the\nprisoners resolved to leave their prison at once.\n\nThey mounted into the buggy, Dorothy holding Eureka safe in her lap.\nThe girl sat in the middle of the seat, with Zeb and the Wizard on each\nside of her. When all was ready the boy shook the reins and said:\n\n\"Fly away, Jim!\"\n\n\"Which wings must I flop first?\" asked the cab-horse, undecidedly.\n\n\"Flop them all together,\" suggested the Wizard.\n\n\"Some of them are crooked,\" objected the horse.\n\n\"Never mind; we will steer with the wings on the buggy,\" said Zeb.\n\"Just you light out and make for that rock, Jim; and don't waste any\ntime about it, either.\"\n\nSo the horse gave a groan, flopped its four wings all together, and\nflew away from the platform. Dorothy was a little anxious about the\nsuccess of their trip, for the way Jim arched his long neck and spread\nout his bony legs as he fluttered and floundered through the air was\nenough to make anybody nervous. He groaned, too, as if frightened, and\nthe wings creaked dreadfully because the Wizard had forgotten to oil\nthem; but they kept fairly good time with the wings of the buggy, so\nthat they made excellent progress from the start. The only thing that\nanyone could complain of with justice was the fact that they wobbled\nfirst up and then down, as if the road were rocky instead of being as\nsmooth as the air could make it.\n\nThe main point, however, was that they flew, and flew swiftly, if a bit\nunevenly, toward the rock for which they had headed.\n\nSome of the Gargoyles saw them, presently, and lost no time in\ncollecting a band to pursue the escaping prisoners; so that when\nDorothy happened to look back she saw them coming in a great cloud that\nalmost darkened the sky.\n\n\n\n\n13. The Den of the Dragonettes\n\n\nOur friends had a good start and were able to maintain it, for with\ntheir eight wings they could go just as fast as could the Gargoyles.\nAll the way to the great rock the wooden people followed them, and when\nJim finally alighted at the mouth of the cavern the pursuers were still\nsome distance away.\n\n\"But, I'm afraid they'll catch us yet,\" said Dorothy, greatly excited.\n\n\"No; we must stop them,\" declared the Wizard. \"Quick Zeb, help me pull\noff these wooden wings!\"\n\nThey tore off the wings, for which they had no further use, and the\nWizard piled them in a heap just outside the entrance to the cavern.\nThen he poured over them all the kerosene oil that was left in his\noil-can, and lighting a match set fire to the pile.\n\nThe flames leaped up at once and the bonfire began to smoke and roar\nand crackle just as the great army of wooden Gargoyles arrived. The\ncreatures drew back at once, being filled with fear and horror; for\nsuch as dreadful thing as a fire they had never before known in all the\nhistory of their wooden land.\n\nInside the archway were several doors, leading to different rooms built\ninto the mountain, and Zeb and the Wizard lifted these wooden doors\nfrom their hinges and tossed them all on the flames.\n\n\"That will prove a barrier for some time to come,\" said the little man,\nsmiling pleasantly all over his wrinkled face at the success of their\nstratagem. \"Perhaps the flames will set fire to all that miserable\nwooden country, and if it does the loss will be very small and the\nGargoyles never will be missed. But come, my children; let us explore\nthe mountain and discover which way we must go in order to escape from\nthis cavern, which is getting to be almost as hot as a bake-oven.\"\n\nTo their disappointment there was within this mountain no regular\nflight of steps by means of which they could mount to the earth's\nsurface. A sort of inclined tunnel led upward for a way, and they\nfound the floor of it both rough and steep. Then a sudden turn brought\nthem to a narrow gallery where the buggy could not pass. This delayed\nand bothered them for a while, because they did not wish to leave the\nbuggy behind them. It carried their baggage and was useful to ride in\nwherever there were good roads, and since it had accompanied them so\nfar in their travels they felt it their duty to preserve it. So Zeb\nand the Wizard set to work and took off the wheels and the top, and\nthen they put the buggy edgewise, so it would take up the smallest\nspace. In this position they managed, with the aid of the patient\ncab-horse, to drag the vehicle through the narrow part of the passage.\nIt was not a great distance, fortunately, and when the path grew\nbroader they put the buggy together again and proceeded more\ncomfortably. But the road was nothing more than a series of rifts or\ncracks in the mountain, and it went zig-zag in every direction,\nslanting first up and then down until they were puzzled as to whether\nthey were any nearer to the top of the earth than when they had\nstarted, hours before.\n\n\"Anyhow,\" said Dorothy, \"we've 'scaped those awful Gurgles, and that's\nONE comfort!\"\n\n\"Probably the Gargoyles are still busy trying to put out the fire,\"\nreturned the Wizard. \"But even if they succeeded in doing that it\nwould be very difficult for them to fly amongst these rocks; so I am\nsure we need fear them no longer.\"\n\nOnce in a while they would come to a deep crack in the floor, which\nmade the way quite dangerous; but there was still enough oil in the\nlanterns to give them light, and the cracks were not so wide but that\nthey were able to jump over them. Sometimes they had to climb over\nheaps of loose rock, where Jim could scarcely drag the buggy. At such\ntimes Dorothy, Zeb and the Wizard all pushed behind, and lifted the\nwheels over the roughest places; so they managed, by dint of hard work,\nto keep going. But the little party was both weary and discouraged\nwhen at last, on turning a sharp corner, the wanderers found themselves\nin a vast cave arching high over their heads and having a smooth, level\nfloor.\n\nThe cave was circular in shape, and all around its edge, near to the\nground, appeared groups of dull yellow lights, two of them being always\nside by side. These were motionless at first, but soon began to\nflicker more brightly and to sway slowly from side to side and then up\nand down.\n\n\"What sort of place is this?\" asked the boy, trying to see more clearly\nthrough the gloom.\n\n\"I cannot imagine, I'm sure,\" answered the Wizard, also peering about.\n\n\"Woogh!\" snarled Eureka, arching her back until her hair stood straight\non end; \"it's den of alligators, or crocodiles, or some other dreadful\ncreatures! Don't you see their terrible eyes?\"\n\n\"Eureka sees better in the dark than we can,\" whispered Dorothy. \"Tell\nus, dear, what do the creatures look like?\" she asked, addressing her\npet.\n\n\"I simply can't describe 'em,\" answered the kitten, shuddering. \"Their\neyes are like pie-plates and their mouths like coal-scuttles. But\ntheir bodies don't seem very big.\"\n\n\"Where are they?\" enquired the girl.\n\n\"They are in little pockets all around the edge of this cavern. Oh,\nDorothy--you can't imagine what horrid things they are! They're uglier\nthan the Gargoyles.\"\n\n\"Tut-tut! be careful how you criticise your neighbors,\" spoke a rasping\nvoice near by. \"As a matter of fact you are rather ugly-looking\ncreatures yourselves, and I'm sure mother has often told us we were the\nloveliest and prettiest things in all the world.\"\n\nHearing these words our friends turned in the direction of the sound,\nand the Wizard held his lanterns so that their light would flood one of\nthe little pockets in the rock.\n\n\"Why, it's a dragon!\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"No,\" answered the owner of the big yellow eyes which were blinking at\nthem so steadily; \"you are wrong about that. We hope to grow to be\ndragons some day, but just now we're only dragonettes.\"\n\n\"What's that?\" asked Dorothy, gazing fearfully at the great scaley\nhead, the yawning mouth and the big eyes.\n\n\"Young dragons, of course; but we are not allowed to call ourselves\nreal dragons until we get our full growth,\" was the reply. \"The big\ndragons are very proud, and don't think children amount to much; but\nmother says that some day we will all be very powerful and important.\"\n\n\"Where is your mother?\" asked the Wizard, anxiously looking around.\n\n\"She has gone up to the top of the earth to hunt for our dinner. If\nshe has good luck she will bring us an elephant, or a brace of\nrhinoceri, or perhaps a few dozen people to stay our hunger.\"\n\n\"Oh; are you hungry?\" enquired Dorothy, drawing back.\n\n\"Very,\" said the dragonette, snapping its jaws.\n\n\"And--and--do you eat people?\"\n\n\"To be sure, when we can get them. But they've been very scarce for a\nfew years and we usually have to be content with elephants or\nbuffaloes,\" answered the creature, in a regretful tone.\n\n\"How old are you?\" enquired Zeb, who stared at the yellow eyes as if\nfascinated.\n\n\"Quite young, I grieve to say; and all of my brothers and sisters that\nyou see here are practically my own age. If I remember rightly, we\nwere sixty-six years old the day before yesterday.\"\n\n\"But that isn't young!\" cried Dorothy, in amazement.\n\n\"No?\" drawled the dragonette; \"it seems to me very babyish.\"\n\n\"How old is your mother?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Mother's about two thousand years old; but she carelessly lost track\nof her age a few centuries ago and skipped several hundreds. She's a\nlittle fussy, you know, and afraid of growing old, being a widow and\nstill in her prime.\"\n\n\"I should think she would be,\" agreed Dorothy. Then, after a moment's\nthought, she asked: \"Are we friends or enemies? I mean, will you be\ngood to us, or do you intend to eat us?\"\n\n\"As for that, we dragonettes would love to eat you, my child; but\nunfortunately mother has tied all our tails around the rocks at the\nback of our individual caves, so that we can not crawl out to get you.\nIf you choose to come nearer we will make a mouthful of you in a wink;\nbut unless you do you will remain quite safe.\"\n\nThere was a regretful accent in the creature's voice, and at the words\nall the other dragonettes sighed dismally.\n\nDorothy felt relieved. Presently she asked:\n\n\"Why did your mother tie your tails?\"\n\n\"Oh, she is sometimes gone for several weeks on her hunting trips, and\nif we were not tied we would crawl all over the mountain and fight with\neach other and get into a lot of mischief. Mother usually knows what\nshe is about, but she made a mistake this time; for you are sure to\nescape us unless you come too near, and you probably won't do that.\"\n\n\"No, indeed!\" said the little girl. \"We don't wish to be eaten by such\nawful beasts.\"\n\n\"Permit me to say,\" returned the dragonette, \"that you are rather\nimpolite to call us names, knowing that we cannot resent your insults.\nWe consider ourselves very beautiful in appearance, for mother has told\nus so, and she knows. And we are of an excellent family and have a\npedigree that I challenge any humans to equal, as it extends back about\ntwenty thousand years, to the time of the famous Green Dragon of\nAtlantis, who lived in a time when humans had not yet been created.\nCan you match that pedigree, little girl?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Dorothy, \"I was born on a farm in Kansas, and I guess\nthat's being just as 'spectable and haughty as living in a cave with\nyour tail tied to a rock. If it isn't I'll have to stand it, that's\nall.\"\n\n\"Tastes differ,\" murmured the dragonette, slowly drooping its scaley\neyelids over its yellow eyes, until they looked like half-moons.\n\nBeing reassured by the fact that the creatures could not crawl out of\ntheir rock-pockets, the children and the Wizard now took time to\nexamine them more closely. The heads of the dragonettes were as big as\nbarrels and covered with hard, greenish scales that glittered brightly\nunder the light of the lanterns. Their front legs, which grew just\nback of their heads, were also strong and big; but their bodies were\nsmaller around than their heads, and dwindled away in a long line until\ntheir tails were slim as a shoe-string. Dorothy thought, if it had\ntaken them sixty-six years to grow to this size, that it would be fully\na hundred years more before they could hope to call themselves dragons,\nand that seemed like a good while to wait to grow up.\n\n\"It occurs to me,\" said the Wizard, \"that we ought to get out of this\nplace before the mother dragon comes back.\"\n\n\"Don't hurry,\" called one of the dragonettes; \"mother will be glad to\nmeet you, I'm sure.\"\n\n\"You may be right,\" replied the Wizard, \"but we're a little particular\nabout associating with strangers. Will you kindly tell us which way\nyour mother went to get on top the earth?\"\n\n\"That is not a fair question to ask us,\" declared another dragonette.\n\"For, if we told you truly, you might escape us altogether; and if we\ntold you an untruth we would be naughty and deserve to be punished.\"\n\n\"Then,\" decided Dorothy, \"we must find our way out the best we can.\"\n\nThey circled all around the cavern, keeping a good distance away from\nthe blinking yellow eyes of the dragonettes, and presently discovered\nthat there were two paths leading from the wall opposite to the place\nwhere they had entered. They selected one of these at a venture and\nhurried along it as fast as they could go, for they had no idea when\nthe mother dragon would be back and were very anxious not to make her\nacquaintance.\n\n\n\n\n14. Ozma Uses the Magic Belt\n\n\nFor a considerable distance the way led straight upward in a gentle\nincline, and the wanderers made such good progress that they grew\nhopeful and eager, thinking they might see sunshine at any minute. But\nat length they came unexpectedly upon a huge rock that shut off the\npassage and blocked them from proceeding a single step farther.\n\nThis rock was separate from the rest of the mountain and was in motion,\nturning slowly around and around as if upon a pivot. When first they\ncame to it there was a solid wall before them; but presently it\nrevolved until there was exposed a wide, smooth path across it to the\nother side. This appeared so unexpectedly that they were unprepared to\ntake advantage of it at first, and allowed the rocky wall to swing\naround again before they had decided to pass over. But they knew now\nthat there was a means of escape and so waited patiently until the path\nappeared for the second time.\n\nThe children and the Wizard rushed across the moving rock and sprang\ninto the passage beyond, landing safely though a little out of breath.\nJim the cab-horse came last, and the rocky wall almost caught him; for\njust as he leaped to the floor of the further passage the wall swung\nacross it and a loose stone that the buggy wheels knocked against fell\ninto the narrow crack where the rock turned, and became wedged there.\n\nThey heard a crunching, grinding sound, a loud snap, and the turn-table\ncame to a stop with its broadest surface shutting off the path from\nwhich they had come.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said Zeb, \"we don't want to get back, anyhow.\"\n\n\"I'm not so sure of that,\" returned Dorothy. \"The mother dragon may\ncome down and catch us here.\"\n\n\"It is possible,\" agreed the Wizard, \"if this proves to be the path she\nusually takes. But I have been examining this tunnel, and I do not see\nany signs of so large a beast having passed through it.\"\n\n\"Then we're all right,\" said the girl, \"for if the dragon went the\nother way she can't poss'bly get to us now.\"\n\n\"Of course not, my dear. But there is another thing to consider. The\nmother dragon probably knows the road to the earth's surface, and if\nshe went the other way then we have come the wrong way,\" said the\nWizard, thoughtfully.\n\n\"Dear me!\" cried Dorothy. \"That would be unlucky, wouldn't it?\"\n\n\"Very. Unless this passage also leads to the top of the earth,\" said\nZeb. \"For my part, if we manage to get out of here I'll be glad it\nisn't the way the dragon goes.\"\n\n\"So will I,\" returned Dorothy. \"It's enough to have your pedigree\nflung in your face by those saucy dragonettes. No one knows what the\nmother might do.\"\n\nThey now moved on again, creeping slowly up another steep incline. The\nlanterns were beginning to grow dim, and the Wizard poured the\nremaining oil from one into the other, so that the one light would last\nlonger. But their journey was almost over, for in a short time they\nreached a small cave from which there was no further outlet.\n\nThey did not realize their ill fortune at first, for their hearts were\ngladdened by the sight of a ray of sunshine coming through a small\ncrack in the roof of the cave, far overhead. That meant that their\nworld--the real world--was not very far away, and that the succession\nof perilous adventures they had encountered had at last brought them\nnear the earth's surface, which meant home to them. But when the\nadventurers looked more carefully around them they discovered that\nthere were in a strong prison from which there was no hope of escape.\n\n\"But we're ALMOST on earth again,\" cried Dorothy, \"for there is the\nsun--the most BEAU'FUL sun that shines!\" and she pointed eagerly at the\ncrack in the distant roof.\n\n\"Almost on earth isn't being there,\" said the kitten, in a discontented\ntone. \"It wouldn't be possible for even me to get up to that crack--or\nthrough it if I got there.\"\n\n\"It appears that the path ends here,\" announced the Wizard, gloomily.\n\n\"And there is no way to go back,\" added Zeb, with a low whistle of\nperplexity.\n\n\"I was sure it would come to this, in the end,\" remarked the old\ncab-horse. \"Folks don't fall into the middle of the earth and then get\nback again to tell of their adventures--not in real life. And the\nwhole thing has been unnatural because that cat and I are both able to\ntalk your language, and to understand the words you say.\"\n\n\"And so can the nine tiny piglets,\" added Eureka. \"Don't forget them,\nfor I may have to eat them, after all.\"\n\n\"I've heard animals talk before,\" said Dorothy, \"and no harm came of\nit.\"\n\n\"Were you ever before shut up in a cave, far under the earth, with no\nway of getting out?\" enquired the horse, seriously.\n\n\"No,\" answered Dorothy. \"But don't you lose heart, Jim, for I'm sure\nthis isn't the end of our story, by any means.\"\n\nThe reference to the piglets reminded the Wizard that his pets had not\nenjoyed much exercise lately, and must be tired of their prison in his\npocket. So he sat down upon the floor of the cave, brought the piglets\nout one by one, and allowed them to run around as much as they pleased.\n\n\"My dears,\" he said to them, \"I'm afraid I've got you into a lot of\ntrouble, and that you will never again be able to leave this gloomy\ncave.\"\n\n\"What's wrong?\" asked a piglet. \"We've been in the dark quite a while,\nand you may as well explain what has happened.\"\n\nThe Wizard told them of the misfortune that had overtaken the wanderers.\n\n\"Well,\" said another piglet, \"you are a wizard, are you not?\"\n\n\"I am,\" replied the little man.\n\n\"Then you can do a few wizzes and get us out of this hole,\" declared\nthe tiny one, with much confidence.\n\n\"I could if I happened to be a real wizard,\" returned the master sadly.\n\"But I'm not, my piggy-wees; I'm a humbug wizard.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" cried several of the piglets, together.\n\n\"You can ask Dorothy,\" said the little man, in an injured tone.\n\n\"It's true enough,\" returned the girl, earnestly. \"Our friend Oz is\nmerely a humbug wizard, for he once proved it to me. He can do several\nvery wonderful things--if he knows how. But he can't wiz a single\nthing if he hasn't the tools and machinery to work with.\"\n\n\"Thank you, my dear, for doing me justice,\" responded the Wizard,\ngratefully. \"To be accused of being a real wizard, when I'm not, is a\nslander I will not tamely submit to. But I am one of the greatest\nhumbug wizards that ever lived, and you will realize this when we have\nall starved together and our bones are scattered over the floor of this\nlonely cave.\"\n\n\"I don't believe we'll realize anything, when it comes to that,\"\nremarked Dorothy, who had been deep in thought. \"But I'm not going to\nscatter my bones just yet, because I need them, and you prob'ly need\nyours, too.\"\n\n\"We are helpless to escape,\" sighed the Wizard.\n\n\"WE may be helpless,\" answered Dorothy, smiling at him, \"but there are\nothers who can do more than we can. Cheer up, friends. I'm sure Ozma\nwill help us.\"\n\n\"Ozma!\" exclaimed the Wizard. \"Who is Ozma?\"\n\n\"The girl that rules the marvelous Land of Oz,\" was the reply. \"She's\na friend of mine, for I met her in the Land of Ev, not long ago, and\nwent to Oz with her.\"\n\n\"For the second time?\" asked the Wizard, with great interest.\n\n\"Yes. The first time I went to Oz I found you there, ruling the\nEmerald City. After you went up in a balloon, and escaped us, I got\nback to Kansas by means of a pair of magical silver shoes.\"\n\n\"I remember those shoes,\" said the little man, nodding. \"They once\nbelonged to the Wicked Witch. Have you them here with you?\"\n\n\"No; I lost them somewhere in the air,\" explained the child. \"But the\nsecond time I went to the Land of Oz I owned the Nome King's Magic\nBelt, which is much more powerful than were the Silver Shoes.\"\n\n\"Where is that Magic Belt?\" enquired the Wizard, who had listened with\ngreat interest.\n\n\"Ozma has it; for its powers won't work in a common, ordinary country\nlike the United States. Anyone in a fairy country like the Land of Oz\ncan do anything with it; so I left it with my friend the Princess Ozma,\nwho used it to wish me in Australia with Uncle Henry.\"\n\n\"And were you?\" asked Zeb, astonished at what he heard.\n\n\"Of course; in just a jiffy. And Ozma has an enchanted picture hanging\nin her room that shows her the exact scene where any of her friends may\nbe, at any time she chooses. All she has to do is to say: 'I wonder\nwhat So-and-so is doing,' and at once the picture shows where her\nfriend is and what the friend is doing. That's REAL magic, Mr. Wizard;\nisn't it? Well, every day at four o'clock Ozma has promised to look at\nme in that picture, and if I am in need of help I am to make her a\ncertain sign and she will put on the Nome King's Magic Belt and wish me\nto be with her in Oz.\"\n\n\"Do you mean that Princess Ozma will see this cave in her enchanted\npicture, and see all of us here, and what we are doing?\" demanded Zeb.\n\n\"Of course; when it is four o'clock,\" she replied, with a laugh at his\nstartled expression.\n\n\"And when you make a sign she will bring you to her in the Land of Oz?\"\ncontinued the boy.\n\n\"That's it, exactly; by means of the Magic Belt.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the Wizard, \"you will be saved, little Dorothy; and I am\nvery glad of it. The rest of us will die much more cheerfully when we\nknow you have escaped our sad fate.\"\n\n\"I won't die cheerfully!\" protested the kitten. \"There's nothing\ncheerful about dying that I could ever see, although they say a cat has\nnine lives, and so must die nine times.\"\n\n\"Have you ever died yet?\" enquired the boy.\n\n\"No, and I'm not anxious to begin,\" said Eureka.\n\n\"Don't worry, dear,\" Dorothy exclaimed, \"I'll hold you in my arms, and\ntake you with me.\"\n\n\"Take us, too!\" cried the nine tiny piglets, all in one breath.\n\n\"Perhaps I can,\" answered Dorothy. \"I'll try.\"\n\n\"Couldn't you manage to hold me in your arms?\" asked the cab-horse.\n\nDorothy laughed.\n\n\"I'll do better than that,\" she promised, \"for I can easily save you\nall, once I am myself in the Land of Oz.\"\n\n\"How?\" they asked.\n\n\"By using the Magic Belt. All I need do is to wish you with me, and\nthere you'll be--safe in the royal palace!\"\n\n\"Good!\" cried Zeb.\n\n\"I built that palace, and the Emerald City, too,\" remarked the Wizard,\nin a thoughtful tone, \"and I'd like to see them again, for I was very\nhappy among the Munchkins and Winkies and Quadlings and Gillikins.\"\n\n\"Who are they?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"The four nations that inhabit the Land of Oz,\" was the reply. \"I\nwonder if they would treat me nicely if I went there again.\"\n\n\"Of course they would!\" declared Dorothy. \"They are still proud of\ntheir former Wizard, and often speak of you kindly.\"\n\n\"Do you happen to know whatever became of the Tin Woodman and the\nScarecrow?\" he enquired.\n\n\"They live in Oz yet,\" said the girl, \"and are very important people.\"\n\n\"And the Cowardly Lion?\"\n\n\"Oh, he lives there too, with his friend the Hungry Tiger; and Billina\nis there, because she liked the place better than Kansas, and wouldn't\ngo with me to Australia.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I don't know the Hungry Tiger and Billina,\" said the\nWizard, shaking his head. \"Is Billina a girl?\"\n\n\"No; she's a yellow hen, and a great friend of mine. You're sure to\nlike Billina, when you know her,\" asserted Dorothy.\n\n\"Your friends sound like a menagerie,\" remarked Zeb, uneasily.\n\"Couldn't you wish me in some safer place than Oz.\"\n\n\"Don't worry,\" replied the girl. \"You'll just love the folks in Oz,\nwhen you get acquainted. What time is it, Mr. Wizard?\"\n\nThe little man looked at his watch--a big silver one that he carried in\nhis vest pocket.\n\n\"Half-past three,\" he said.\n\n\"Then we must wait for half an hour,\" she continued; \"but it won't take\nlong, after that, to carry us all to the Emerald City.\"\n\nThey sat silently thinking for a time. Then Jim suddenly asked:\n\n\"Are there any horses in Oz?\"\n\n\"Only one,\" replied Dorothy, \"and he's a sawhorse.\"\n\n\"A what?\"\n\n\"A sawhorse. Princess Ozma once brought him to life with a\nwitch-powder, when she was a boy.\"\n\n\"Was Ozma once a boy?\" asked Zeb, wonderingly.\n\n\"Yes; a wicked witch enchanted her, so she could not rule her kingdom.\nBut she's a girl now, and the sweetest, loveliest girl in all the\nworld.\"\n\n\"A sawhorse is a thing they saw boards on,\" remarked Jim, with a sniff.\n\n\"It is when it's not alive,\" acknowledged the girl. \"But this sawhorse\ncan trot as fast as you can, Jim; and he's very wise, too.\"\n\n\"Pah! I'll race the miserable wooden donkey any day in the week!\"\ncried the cab-horse.\n\nDorothy did not reply to that. She felt that Jim would know more about\nthe Saw-Horse later on.\n\nThe time dragged wearily enough to the eager watchers, but finally the\nWizard announced that four o'clock had arrived, and Dorothy caught up\nthe kitten and began to make the signal that had been agreed upon to\nthe far-away invisible Ozma.\n\n\"Nothing seems to happen,\" said Zeb, doubtfully.\n\n\"Oh, we must give Ozma time to put on the Magic Belt,\" replied the girl.\n\nShe had scarcely spoken the words then she suddenly disappeared from\nthe cave, and with her went the kitten. There had been no sound of any\nkind and no warning. One moment Dorothy sat beside them with the\nkitten in her lap, and a moment later the horse, the piglets, the\nWizard and the boy were all that remained in the underground prison.\n\n\"I believe we will soon follow her,\" announced the Wizard, in a tone of\ngreat relief; \"for I know something about the magic of the fairyland\nthat is called the Land of Oz. Let us be ready, for we may be sent for\nany minute.\"\n\nHe put the piglets safely away in his pocket again and then he and Zeb\ngot into the buggy and sat expectantly upon the seat.\n\n\"Will it hurt?\" asked the boy, in a voice that trembled a little.\n\n\"Not at all,\" replied the Wizard. \"It will all happen as quick as a\nwink.\"\n\nAnd that was the way it did happen.\n\nThe cab-horse gave a nervous start and Zeb began to rub his eyes to\nmake sure he was not asleep. For they were in the streets of a\nbeautiful emerald-green city, bathed in a grateful green light that was\nespecially pleasing to their eyes, and surrounded by merry faced people\nin gorgeous green-and-gold costumes of many extraordinary designs.\n\nBefore them were the jewel-studded gates of a magnificent palace, and\nnow the gates opened slowly as if inviting them to enter the courtyard,\nwhere splendid flowers were blooming and pretty fountains shot their\nsilvery sprays into the air.\n\nZeb shook the reins to rouse the cab-horse from his stupor of\namazement, for the people were beginning to gather around and stare at\nthe strangers.\n\n\"Gid-dap!\" cried the boy, and at the word Jim slowly trotted into the\ncourtyard and drew the buggy along the jewelled driveway to the great\nentrance of the royal palace.\n\n\n\n\n15. Old Friends are Reunited\n\n\nMany servants dressed in handsome uniforms stood ready to welcome the\nnew arrivals, and when the Wizard got out of the buggy a pretty girl in\na green gown cried out in surprise:\n\n\"Why, it's Oz, the Wonderful Wizard, come back again!\"\n\nThe little man looked at her closely and then took both the maiden's\nhands in his and shook them cordially.\n\n\"On my word,\" he exclaimed, \"it's little Jellia Jamb--as pert and\npretty as ever!\"\n\n\"Why not, Mr. Wizard?\" asked Jellia, bowing low. \"But I'm afraid you\ncannot rule the Emerald City, as you used to, because we now have a\nbeautiful Princess whom everyone loves dearly.\"\n\n\"And the people will not willingly part with her,\" added a tall soldier\nin a Captain-General's uniform.\n\nThe Wizard turned to look at him.\n\n\"Did you not wear green whiskers at one time?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" said the soldier; \"but I shaved them off long ago, and since\nthen I have risen from a private to be the Chief General of the Royal\nArmies.\"\n\n\"That's nice,\" said the little man. \"But I assure you, my good people,\nthat I do not wish to rule the Emerald City,\" he added, earnestly.\n\n\"In that case you are very welcome!\" cried all the servants, and it\npleased the Wizard to note the respect with which the royal retainers\nbowed before him. His fame had not been forgotten in the Land of Oz,\nby any means.\n\n\"Where is Dorothy?\" enquired Zeb, anxiously, as he left the buggy and\nstood beside his friend the little Wizard.\n\n\"She is with the Princess Ozma, in the private rooms of the palace,\"\nreplied Jellia Jamb. \"But she has ordered me to make you welcome and\nto show you to your apartments.\"\n\nThe boy looked around him with wondering eyes. Such magnificence and\nwealth as was displayed in this palace was more than he had ever\ndreamed of, and he could scarcely believe that all the gorgeous glitter\nwas real and not tinsel.\n\n\"What's to become of me?\" asked the horse, uneasily. He had seen\nconsiderable of life in the cities in his younger days, and knew that\nthis regal palace was no place for him.\n\nIt perplexed even Jellia Jamb, for a time, to know what to do with the\nanimal. The green maiden was much astonished at the sight of so\nunusual a creature, for horses were unknown in this Land; but those who\nlived in the Emerald City were apt to be astonished by queer sights, so\nafter inspecting the cab-horse and noting the mild look in his big eyes\nthe girl decided not to be afraid of him.\n\n\"There are no stables here,\" said the Wizard, \"unless some have been\nbuilt since I went away.\"\n\n\"We have never needed them before,\" answered Jellia; \"for the Sawhorse\nlives in a room of the palace, being much smaller and more natural in\nappearance than this great beast you have brought with you.\"\n\n\"Do you mean that I'm a freak?\" asked Jim, angrily.\n\n\"Oh, no,\" she hastened to say, \"there may be many more like you in the\nplace you came from, but in Oz any horse but a Sawhorse is unusual.\"\n\nThis mollified Jim a little, and after some thought the green maiden\ndecided to give the cab-horse a room in the palace, such a big building\nhaving many rooms that were seldom in use.\n\nSo Zeb unharnessed Jim, and several of the servants then led the horse\naround to the rear, where they selected a nice large apartment that he\ncould have all to himself.\n\nThen Jellia said to the Wizard:\n\n\"Your own room--which was back of the great Throne Room--has been\nvacant ever since you left us. Would you like it again?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed!\" returned the little man. \"It will seem like being at\nhome again, for I lived in that room for many, many years.\"\n\nHe knew the way to it, and a servant followed him, carrying his\nsatchel. Zeb was also escorted to a room--so grand and beautiful that\nhe almost feared to sit in the chairs or lie upon the bed, lest he\nmight dim their splendor. In the closets he discovered many fancy\ncostumes of rich velvets and brocades, and one of the attendants told\nhim to dress himself in any of the clothes that pleased him and to be\nprepared to dine with the Princess and Dorothy in an hour's time.\n\nOpening from the chamber was a fine bathroom having a marble tub with\nperfumed water; so the boy, still dazed by the novelty of his\nsurroundings, indulged in a good bath and then selected a maroon velvet\ncostume with silver buttons to replace his own soiled and much worn\nclothing. There were silk stockings and soft leather slippers with\ndiamond buckles to accompany his new costume, and when he was fully\ndressed Zeb looked much more dignified and imposing than ever before in\nhis life.\n\nHe was all ready when an attendant came to escort him to the presence\nof the Princess; he followed bashfully and was ushered into a room more\ndainty and attractive than it was splendid. Here he found Dorothy\nseated beside a young girl so marvelously beautiful that the boy\nstopped suddenly with a gasp of admiration.\n\nBut Dorothy sprang up and ran to seize her friend's hand drawing him\nimpulsively toward the lovely Princess, who smiled most graciously upon\nher guest. Then the Wizard entered, and his presence relieved the\nboy's embarrassment. The little man was clothed in black velvet, with\nmany sparkling emerald ornaments decorating his breast; but his bald\nhead and wrinkled features made him appear more amusing than impressive.\n\nOzma had been quite curious to meet the famous man who had built the\nEmerald City and united the Munchkins, Gillikins, Quadlings and Winkies\ninto one people; so when they were all four seated at the dinner table\nthe Princess said:\n\n\"Please tell me, Mr. Wizard, whether you called yourself Oz after this\ngreat country, or whether you believe my country is called Oz after\nyou. It is a matter that I have long wished to enquire about, because\nyou are of a strange race and my own name is Ozma. No, one, I am sure,\nis better able to explain this mystery than you.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" answered the little Wizard; \"therefore it will give me\npleasure to explain my connection with your country. In the first\nplace, I must tell you that I was born in Omaha, and my father, who was\na politician, named me Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle\nEmmannuel Ambroise Diggs, Diggs being the last name because he could\nthink of no more to go before it. Taken altogether, it was a\ndreadfully long name to weigh down a poor innocent child, and one of\nthe hardest lessons I ever learned was to remember my own name. When I\ngrew up I just called myself O. Z., because the other initials were\nP-I-N-H-E-A-D; and that spelled 'pinhead,' which was a reflection on my\nintelligence.\"\n\n\"Surely no one could blame you for cutting your name short,\" said Ozma,\nsympathetically. \"But didn't you cut it almost too short?\"\n\n\"Perhaps so,\" replied the Wizard. \"When a young man I ran away from\nhome and joined a circus. I used to call myself a Wizard, and do\ntricks of ventriloquism.\"\n\n\"What does that mean?\" asked the Princess.\n\n\"Throwing my voice into any object I pleased, to make it appear that\nthe object was speaking instead of me. Also I began to make balloon\nascensions. On my balloon and on all the other articles I used in the\ncircus I painted the two initials: 'O. Z.', to show that those things\nbelonged to me.\n\n\"One day my balloon ran away with me and brought me across the deserts\nto this beautiful country. When the people saw me come from the sky\nthey naturally thought me some superior creature, and bowed down before\nme. I told them I was a Wizard, and showed them some easy tricks that\namazed them; and when they saw the initials painted on the balloon they\ncalled me Oz.\"\n\n\"Now I begin to understand,\" said the Princess, smiling.\n\n\"At that time,\" continued the Wizard, busily eating his soup while\ntalking, \"there were four separate countries in this Land, each one of\nthe four being ruled by a Witch. But the people thought my power was\ngreater than that of the Witches; and perhaps the Witches thought so\ntoo, for they never dared oppose me. I ordered the Emerald City to be\nbuilt just where the four countries cornered together, and when it was\ncompleted I announced myself the Ruler of the Land of Oz, which\nincluded all the four countries of the Munchkins, the Gillikins, the\nWinkies and the Quadlings. Over this Land I ruled in peace for many\nyears, until I grew old and longed to see my native city once again.\nSo when Dorothy was first blown to this place by a cyclone I arranged\nto go away with her in a balloon; but the balloon escaped too soon and\ncarried me back alone. After many adventures I reached Omaha, only to\nfind that all my old friends were dead or had moved away. So, having\nnothing else to do, I joined a circus again, and made my balloon\nascensions until the earthquake caught me.\"\n\n\"That is quite a history,\" said Ozma; \"but there is a little more\nhistory about the Land of Oz that you do not seem to\nunderstand--perhaps for the reason that no one ever told it you. Many\nyears before you came here this Land was united under one Ruler, as it\nis now, and the Ruler's name was always 'Oz,' which means in our\nlanguage 'Great and Good'; or, if the Ruler happened to be a woman, her\nname was always 'Ozma.' But once upon a time four Witches leagued\ntogether to depose the king and rule the four parts of the kingdom\nthemselves; so when the Ruler, my grandfather, was hunting one day, one\nWicked Witch named Mombi stole him and carried him away, keeping him a\nclose prisoner. Then the Witches divided up the kingdom, and ruled the\nfour parts of it until you came here. That was why the people were so\nglad to see you, and why they thought from your initials that you were\ntheir rightful ruler.\"\n\n\"But, at that time,\" said the Wizard, thoughtfully, \"there were two\nGood Witches and two Wicked Witches ruling in the land.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Ozma, \"because a good Witch had conquered Mombi in the\nNorth and Glinda the Good had conquered the evil Witch in the South.\nBut Mombi was still my grandfather's jailor, and afterward my father's\njailor. When I was born she transformed me into a boy, hoping that no\none would ever recognize me and know that I was the rightful Princess\nof the Land of Oz. But I escaped from her and am now the Ruler of my\npeople.\"\n\n\"I am very glad of that,\" said the Wizard, \"and hope you will consider\nme one of your most faithful and devoted subjects.\"\n\n\"We owe a great deal to the Wonderful Wizard,\" continued the Princess,\n\"for it was you who built this splendid Emerald City.\"\n\n\"Your people built it,\" he answered. \"I only bossed the job, as we say\nin Omaha.\"\n\n\"But you ruled it wisely and well for many years,\" said she, \"and made\nthe people proud of your magical art. So, as you are now too old to\nwander abroad and work in a circus, I offer you a home here as long as\nyou live. You shall be the Official Wizard of my kingdom, and be\ntreated with every respect and consideration.\"\n\n\"I accept your kind offer with gratitude, gracious Princess,\" the\nlittle man said, in a soft voice, and they could all see that\ntear-drops were standing in his keen old eyes. It meant a good deal to\nhim to secure a home like this.\n\n\"He's only a humbug Wizard, though,\" said Dorothy, smiling at him.\n\n\"And that is the safest kind of a Wizard to have,\" replied Ozma,\npromptly.\n\n\"Oz can do some good tricks, humbug or no humbug,\" announced Zeb, who\nwas now feeling more at ease.\n\n\"He shall amuse us with his tricks tomorrow,\" said the Princess. \"I\nhave sent messengers to summon all of Dorothy's old friends to meet her\nand give her welcome, and they ought to arrive very soon, now.\"\n\nIndeed, the dinner was no sooner finished than in rushed the Scarecrow,\nto hug Dorothy in his padded arms and tell her how glad he was to see\nher again. The Wizard was also most heartily welcomed by the straw\nman, who was an important personage in the Land of Oz.\n\n\"How are your brains?\" enquired the little humbug, as he grasped the\nsoft, stuffed hands of his old friend.\n\n\"Working finely,\" answered the Scarecrow. \"I'm very certain, Oz, that\nyou gave me the best brains in the world, for I can think with them day\nand night, when all other brains are fast asleep.\"\n\n\"How long did you rule the Emerald City, after I left here?\" was the\nnext question.\n\n\"Quite awhile, until I was conquered by a girl named General Jinjur.\nBut Ozma soon conquered her, with the help of Glinda the Good, and\nafter that I went to live with Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman.\"\n\nJust then a loud cackling was heard outside; and, when a servant threw\nopen the door with a low bow, a yellow hen strutted in. Dorothy sprang\nforward and caught the fluffy fowl in her arms, uttering at the same\ntime a glad cry.\n\n\"Oh, Billina!\" she said; \"how fat and sleek you've grown.\"\n\n\"Why shouldn't I?\" asked the hen, in a sharp, clear voice. \"I live on\nthe fat of the land--don't I, Ozma?\"\n\n\"You have everything you wish for,\" said the Princess.\n\nAround Billina's neck was a string of beautiful pearls, and on her legs\nwere bracelets of emeralds. She nestled herself comfortably in\nDorothy's lap until the kitten gave a snarl of jealous anger and leaped\nup with a sharp claw fiercely bared to strike Billina a blow. But the\nlittle girl gave the angry kitten such a severe cuff that it jumped\ndown again without daring to scratch.\n\n\"How horrid of you, Eureka!\" cried Dorothy. \"Is that the way to treat\nmy friends?\"\n\n\"You have queer friends, seems to me,\" replied the kitten, in a surly\ntone.\n\n\"Seems to me the same way,\" said Billina, scornfully, \"if that beastly\ncat is one of them.\"\n\n\"Look here!\" said Dorothy, sternly. \"I won't have any quarrelling in\nthe Land of Oz, I can tell you! Everybody lives in peace here, and\nloves everybody else; and unless you two, Billina and Eureka, make up\nand be friends, I'll take my Magic Belt and wish you both home again,\nIMMEJITLY. So, there!\"\n\nThey were both much frightened at the threat, and promised meekly to be\ngood. But it was never noticed that they became very warm friends, for\nall of that.\n\nAnd now the Tin Woodman arrived, his body most beautifully\nnickle-plated, so that it shone splendidly in the brilliant light of\nthe room. The Tin Woodman loved Dorothy most tenderly, and welcomed\nwith joy the return of the little old Wizard.\n\n\"Sir,\" said he to the latter, \"I never can thank you enough for the\nexcellent heart you once gave me. It has made me many friends, I\nassure you, and it beats as kindly and lovingly today as it every did.\"\n\n\"I'm glad to hear that,\" said the Wizard. \"I was afraid it would get\nmoldy in that tin body of yours.\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" returned Nick Chopper. \"It keeps finely, being preserved\nin my air-tight chest.\"\n\nZeb was a little shy when first introduced to these queer people; but\nthey were so friendly and sincere that he soon grew to admire them very\nmuch, even finding some good qualities in the yellow hen. But he\nbecame nervous again when the next visitor was announced.\n\n\"This,\" said Princess Ozma, \"is my friend Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E.,\nwho assisted me one time when I was in great distress, and is now the\nDean of the Royal College of Athletic Science.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said the Wizard; \"I'm pleased to meet so distinguished a\npersonage.\"\n\n\"H. M.,\" said the Woggle-Bug, pompously, \"means Highly Magnified; and\nT. E. means Thoroughly Educated. I am, in reality, a very big bug, and\ndoubtless the most intelligent being in all this broad domain.\"\n\n\"How well you disguise it,\" said the Wizard. \"But I don't doubt your\nword in the least.\"\n\n\"Nobody doubts it, sir,\" replied the Woggle-Bug, and drawing a book\nfrom its pocket the strange insect turned its back on the company and\nsat down in a corner to read.\n\nNobody minded this rudeness, which might have seemed more impolite in\none less thoroughly educated; so they straightway forgot him and joined\nin a merry conversation that kept them well amused until bed-time\narrived.\n\n\n\n\n16. Jim, The Cab-Horse\n\n\nJim the Cab-horse found himself in possession of a large room with a\ngreen marble floor and carved marble wainscoting, which was so stately\nin its appearance that it would have awed anyone else. Jim accepted it\nas a mere detail, and at his command the attendants gave his coat a\ngood rubbing, combed his mane and tail, and washed his hoofs and\nfetlocks. Then they told him dinner would be served directly and he\nreplied that they could not serve it too quickly to suit his\nconvenience. First they brought him a steaming bowl of soup, which the\nhorse eyed in dismay.\n\n\"Take that stuff away!\" he commanded. \"Do you take me for a\nsalamander?\"\n\nThey obeyed at once, and next served a fine large turbot on a silver\nplatter, with drawn gravy poured over it.\n\n\"Fish!\" cried Jim, with a sniff. \"Do you take me for a tom-cat? Away\nwith it!\"\n\nThe servants were a little discouraged, but soon they brought in a\ngreat tray containing two dozen nicely roasted quail on toast.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the horse, now thoroughly provoked. \"Do you take me\nfor a weasel? How stupid and ignorant you are, in the Land of Oz, and\nwhat dreadful things you feed upon! Is there nothing that is decent to\neat in this palace?\"\n\nThe trembling servants sent for the Royal Steward, who came in haste\nand said:\n\n\"What would your Highness like for dinner?\"\n\n\"Highness!\" repeated Jim, who was unused to such titles.\n\n\"You are at least six feet high, and that is higher than any other\nanimal in this country,\" said the Steward.\n\n\"Well, my Highness would like some oats,\" declared the horse.\n\n\"Oats? We have no whole oats,\" the Steward replied, with much\ndeference. \"But there is any quantity of oatmeal, which we often cook\nfor breakfast. Oatmeal is a breakfast dish,\" added the Steward, humbly.\n\n\"I'll make it a dinner dish,\" said Jim. \"Fetch it on, but don't cook\nit, as you value your life.\"\n\nYou see, the respect shown the worn-out old cab-horse made him a little\narrogant, and he forgot he was a guest, never having been treated\notherwise than as a servant since the day he was born, until his\narrival in the Land of Oz. But the royal attendants did not heed the\nanimal's ill temper. They soon mixed a tub of oatmeal with a little\nwater, and Jim ate it with much relish.\n\nThen the servants heaped a lot of rugs upon the floor and the old horse\nslept on the softest bed he had ever known in his life.\n\nIn the morning, as soon as it was daylight, he resolved to take a walk\nand try to find some grass for breakfast; so he ambled calmly through\nthe handsome arch of the doorway, turned the corner of the palace,\nwherein all seemed asleep, and came face to face with the Sawhorse.\n\nJim stopped abruptly, being startled and amazed. The Sawhorse stopped\nat the same time and stared at the other with its queer protruding\neyes, which were mere knots in the log that formed its body. The legs\nof the Sawhorse were four sticks driving into holes bored in the log;\nits tail was a small branch that had been left by accident and its\nmouth a place chopped in one end of the body which projected a little\nand served as a head. The ends of the wooden legs were shod with\nplates of solid gold, and the saddle of the Princess Ozma, which was of\nred leather set with sparkling diamonds, was strapped to the clumsy\nbody.\n\nJim's eyes stuck out as much as those of the Sawhorse, and he stared at\nthe creature with his ears erect and his long head drawn back until it\nrested against his arched neck.\n\nIn this comical position the two horses circled slowly around each\nother for a while, each being unable to realize what the singular thing\nmight be which it now beheld for the first time. Then Jim exclaimed:\n\n\"For goodness sake, what sort of a being are you?\"\n\n\"I'm a Sawhorse,\" replied the other.\n\n\"Oh; I believe I've heard of you,\" said the cab-horse; \"but you are\nunlike anything that I expected to see.\"\n\n\"I do not doubt it,\" the Sawhorse observed, with a tone of pride. \"I\nam considered quite unusual.\"\n\n\"You are, indeed. But a rickety wooden thing like you has no right to\nbe alive.\"\n\n\"I couldn't help it,\" returned the other, rather crestfallen. \"Ozma\nsprinkled me with a magic powder, and I just had to live. I know I'm\nnot much account; but I'm the only horse in all the Land of Oz, so they\ntreat me with great respect.\"\n\n\"You, a horse!\"\n\n\"Oh, not a real one, of course. There are no real horses here at all.\nBut I'm a splendid imitation of one.\"\n\nJim gave an indignant neigh.\n\n\"Look at me!\" he cried. \"Behold a real horse!\"\n\nThe wooden animal gave a start, and then examined the other intently.\n\n\"Is it possible that you are a Real Horse?\" he murmured.\n\n\"Not only possible, but true,\" replied Jim, who was gratified by the\nimpression he had created. \"It is proved by my fine points. For\nexample, look at the long hairs on my tail, with which I can whisk away\nthe flies.\"\n\n\"The flies never trouble me,\" said the Saw-Horse.\n\n\"And notice my great strong teeth, with which I nibble the grass.\"\n\n\"It is not necessary for me to eat,\" observed the Sawhorse.\n\n\"Also examine my broad chest, which enables me to draw deep, full\nbreaths,\" said Jim, proudly.\n\n\"I have no need to breathe,\" returned the other.\n\n\"No; you miss many pleasures,\" remarked the cab-horse, pityingly. \"You\ndo not know the relief of brushing away a fly that has bitten you, nor\nthe delight of eating delicious food, nor the satisfaction of drawing a\nlong breath of fresh, pure air. You may be an imitation of a horse,\nbut you're a mighty poor one.\"\n\n\"Oh, I cannot hope ever to be like you,\" sighed the Sawhorse. \"But I\nam glad to meet a last a Real Horse. You are certainly the most\nbeautiful creature I ever beheld.\"\n\nThis praise won Jim completely. To be called beautiful was a novelty\nin his experience. Said he:\n\n\"Your chief fault, my friend, is in being made of wood, and that I\nsuppose you cannot help. Real horses, like myself, are made of flesh\nand blood and bones.\"\n\n\"I can see the bones all right,\" replied the Sawhorse, \"and they are\nadmirable and distinct. Also I can see the flesh. But the blood, I\nsuppose is tucked away inside.\"\n\n\"Exactly,\" said Jim.\n\n\"What good is it?\" asked the Sawhorse.\n\nJim did not know, but he would not tell the Sawhorse that.\n\n\"If anything cuts me,\" he replied, \"the blood runs out to show where I\nam cut. You, poor thing! cannot even bleed when you are hurt.\"\n\n\"But I am never hurt,\" said the Sawhorse. \"Once in a while I get\nbroken up some, but I am easily repaired and put in good order again.\nAnd I never feel a break or a splinter in the least.\"\n\nJim was almost tempted to envy the wooden horse for being unable to\nfeel pain; but the creature was so absurdly unnatural that he decided\nhe would not change places with it under any circumstances.\n\n\"How did you happen to be shod with gold?\" he asked.\n\n\"Princess Ozma did that,\" was the reply; \"and it saves my legs from\nwearing out. We've had a good many adventures together, Ozma and I,\nand she likes me.\"\n\nThe cab-horse was about to reply when suddenly he gave a start and a\nneigh of terror and stood trembling like a leaf. For around the corner\nhad come two enormous savage beasts, treading so lightly that they were\nupon him before he was aware of their presence. Jim was in the act of\nplunging down the path to escape when the Sawhorse cried out:\n\n\"Stop, my brother! Stop, Real Horse! These are friends, and will do\nyou no harm.\"\n\nJim hesitated, eyeing the beasts fearfully. One was an enormous Lion\nwith clear, intelligent eyes, a tawney mane bushy and well kept, and a\nbody like yellow plush. The other was a great Tiger with purple\nstripes around his lithe body, powerful limbs, and eyes that showed\nthrough the half closed lids like coals of fire. The huge forms of\nthese monarchs of the forest and jungle were enough to strike terror to\nthe stoutest heart, and it is no wonder Jim was afraid to face them.\n\nBut the Sawhorse introduced the stranger in a calm tone, saying:\n\n\"This, noble Horse, is my friend the Cowardly Lion, who is the valiant\nKing of the Forest, but at the same time a faithful vassal of Princess\nOzma. And this is the Hungry Tiger, the terror of the jungle, who\nlongs to devour fat babies but is prevented by his conscience from\ndoing so. These royal beasts are both warm friends of little Dorothy\nand have come to the Emerald City this morning to welcome her to our\nfairyland.\"\n\nHearing these words Jim resolved to conquer his alarm. He bowed his\nhead with as much dignity as he could muster toward the savage looking\nbeasts, who in return nodded in a friendly way.\n\n\"Is not the Real Horse a beautiful animal?\" asked the Sawhorse\nadmiringly.\n\n\"That is doubtless a matter of taste,\" returned the Lion. \"In the\nforest he would be thought ungainly, because his face is stretched out\nand his neck is uselessly long. His joints, I notice, are swollen and\novergrown, and he lacks flesh and is old in years.\"\n\n\"And dreadfully tough,\" added the Hungry Tiger, in a sad voice. \"My\nconscience would never permit me to eat so tough a morsel as the Real\nHorse.\"\n\n\"I'm glad of that,\" said Jim; \"for I, also, have a conscience, and it\ntells me not to crush in your skull with a blow of my powerful hoof.\"\n\nIf he thought to frighten the striped beast by such language he was\nmistaken. The Tiger seemed to smile, and winked one eye slowly.\n\n\"You have a good conscience, friend Horse,\" it said, \"and if you attend\nto its teachings it will do much to protect you from harm. Some day I\nwill let you try to crush in my skull, and afterward you will know more\nabout tigers than you do now.\"\n\n\"Any friend of Dorothy,\" remarked the Cowardly Lion, \"must be our\nfriend, as well. So let us cease this talk of skull crushing and\nconverse upon more pleasant subjects. Have you breakfasted, Sir Horse?\"\n\n\"Not yet,\" replied Jim. \"But here is plenty of excellent clover, so if\nyou will excuse me I will eat now.\"\n\n\"He's a vegetarian,\" remarked the Tiger, as the horse began to munch\nthe clover. \"If I could eat grass I would not need a conscience, for\nnothing could then tempt me to devour babies and lambs.\"\n\nJust then Dorothy, who had risen early and heard the voices of the\nanimals, ran out to greet her old friends. She hugged both the Lion\nand the Tiger with eager delight, but seemed to love the King of Beasts\na little better than she did his hungry friend, having known him longer.\n\nBy this time they had indulged in a good talk and Dorothy had told them\nall about the awful earthquake and her recent adventures, the breakfast\nbell rang from the palace and the little girl went inside to join her\nhuman comrades. As she entered the great hall a voice called out, in a\nrather harsh tone:\n\n\"What! are YOU here again?\"\n\n\"Yes, I am,\" she answered, looking all around to see where the voice\ncame from.\n\n\"What brought you back?\" was the next question, and Dorothy's eye\nrested on an antlered head hanging on the wall just over the fireplace,\nand caught its lips in the act of moving.\n\n\"Good gracious!\" she exclaimed. \"I thought you were stuffed.\"\n\n\"So I am,\" replied the head. \"But once on a time I was part of the\nGump, which Ozma sprinkled with the Powder of Life. I was then for a\ntime the Head of the finest Flying Machine that was ever known to\nexist, and we did many wonderful things. Afterward the Gump was taken\napart and I was put back on this wall; but I can still talk when I feel\nin the mood, which is not often.\"\n\n\"It's very strange,\" said the girl. \"What were you when you were first\nalive?\"\n\n\"That I have forgotten,\" replied the Gump's Head, \"and I do not think\nit is of much importance. But here comes Ozma; so I'd better hush up,\nfor the Princess doesn't like me to chatter since she changed her name\nfrom Tip to Ozma.\"\n\nJust then the girlish Ruler of Oz opened the door and greeted Dorothy\nwith a good-morning kiss. The little Princess seemed fresh and rosy\nand in good spirits.\n\n\"Breakfast is served, dear,\" she said, \"and I am hungry. So don't let\nus keep it waiting a single minute.\"\n\n\n\n\n17. The Nine Tiny Piglets\n\n\nAfter breakfast Ozma announced that she had ordered a holiday to be\nobserved throughout the Emerald City, in honor of her visitors. The\npeople had learned that their old Wizard had returned to them and all\nwere anxious to see him again, for he had always been a rare favorite.\nSo first there was to be a grand procession through the streets, after\nwhich the little old man was requested to perform some of his\nwizardries in the great Throne Room of the palace. In the afternoon\nthere were to be games and races.\n\nThe procession was very imposing. First came the Imperial Cornet Band\nof Oz, dressed in emerald velvet uniforms with slashes of pea-green\nsatin and buttons of immense cut emeralds. They played the National\nair called \"The Oz Spangled Banner,\" and behind them were the standard\nbearers with the Royal flag. This flag was divided into four quarters,\none being colored sky-blue, another pink, a third lavender and a fourth\nwhite. In the center was a large emerald-green star, and all over the\nfour quarters were sewn spangles that glittered beautifully in the\nsunshine. The colors represented the four countries of Oz, and the\ngreen star the Emerald City.\n\nJust behind the royal standard-bearers came the Princess Ozma in her\nroyal chariot, which was of gold encrusted with emeralds and diamonds\nset in exquisite designs. The chariot was drawn on this occasion by\nthe Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, who were decorated with immense\npink and blue bows. In the chariot rode Ozma and Dorothy, the former\nin splendid raiment and wearing her royal coronet, while the little\nKansas girl wore around her waist the Magic Belt she had once captured\nfrom the Nome King.\n\nFollowing the chariot came the Scarecrow mounted on the Sawhorse, and\nthe people cheered him almost as loudly as they did their lovely Ruler.\nBehind him stalked with regular, jerky steps, the famous machine-man\ncalled Tik-tok, who had been wound up by Dorothy for the occasion.\nTik-tok moved by clockwork, and was made all of burnished copper. He\nreally belonged to the Kansas girl, who had much respect for his\nthoughts after they had been properly wound and set going; but as the\ncopper man would be useless in any place but a fairy country Dorothy\nhad left him in charge of Ozma, who saw that he was suitably cared for.\n\nThere followed another band after this, which was called the Royal\nCourt Band, because the members all lived in the palace. They wore\nwhite uniforms with real diamond buttons and played \"What is Oz without\nOzma\" very sweetly.\n\nThen came Professor Woggle-Bug, with a group of students from the Royal\nCollege of Scientific Athletics. The boys wore long hair and striped\nsweaters and yelled their college yell every other step they took, to\nthe great satisfaction of the populace, which was glad to have this\nevidence that their lungs were in good condition.\n\nThe brilliantly polished Tin Woodman marched next, at the head of the\nRoyal Army of Oz which consisted of twenty-eight officers, from\nGenerals down to Captains. There were no privates in the army because\nall were so courageous and skillful that they had been promoted one by\none until there were no privates left. Jim and the buggy followed, the\nold cab-horse being driven by Zeb while the Wizard stood up on the seat\nand bowed his bald head right and left in answer to the cheers of the\npeople, who crowded thick about him.\n\nTaken altogether the procession was a grand success, and when it had\nreturned to the palace the citizens crowded into the great Throne Room\nto see the Wizard perform his tricks.\n\nThe first thing the little humbug did was to produce a tiny white\npiglet from underneath his hat and pretend to pull it apart, making\ntwo. This act he repeated until all of the nine tiny piglets were\nvisible, and they were so glad to get out of his pocket that they ran\naround in a very lively manner. The pretty little creatures would have\nbeen a novelty anywhere, so the people were as amazed and delighted at\ntheir appearance as even the Wizard could have desired. When he had\nmade them all disappear again Ozma declared she was sorry they were\ngone, for she wanted one of them to pet and play with. So the Wizard\npretended to take one of the piglets out of the hair of the Princess\n(while really he slyly took it from his inside pocket) and Ozma smiled\njoyously as the creature nestled in her arms, and she promised to have\nan emerald collar made for its fat neck and to keep the little squealer\nalways at hand to amuse her.\n\nAfterward it was noticed that the Wizard always performed his famous\ntrick with eight piglets, but it seemed to please the people just as\nwell as if there had been nine of them.\n\nIn his little room back of the Throne Room the Wizard had found a lot\nof things he had left behind him when he went away in the balloon, for\nno one had occupied the apartment in his absence. There was enough\nmaterial there to enable him to prepare several new tricks which he had\nlearned from some of the jugglers in the circus, and he had passed part\nof the night in getting them ready. So he followed the trick of the\nnine tiny piglets with several other wonderful feats that greatly\ndelighted his audience and the people did not seem to care a bit\nwhether the little man was a humbug Wizard or not, so long as he\nsucceeded in amusing them. They applauded all his tricks and at the\nend of the performance begged him earnestly not to go away again and\nleave them.\n\n\"In that case,\" said the little man, gravely, \"I will cancel all of my\nengagements before the crowned heads of Europe and America and devote\nmyself to the people of Oz, for I love you all so well that I can deny\nyou nothing.\"\n\nAfter the people had been dismissed with this promise our friends\njoined Princess Ozma at an elaborate luncheon in the palace, where even\nthe Tiger and the Lion were sumptuously fed and Jim the Cab-horse ate\nhis oatmeal out of a golden bowl with seven rows of rubies, sapphires\nand diamonds set around the rim of it.\n\nIn the afternoon they all went to a great field outside the city gates\nwhere the games were to be held. There was a beautiful canopy for Ozma\nand her guests to sit under and watch the people run races and jump and\nwrestle. You may be sure the folks of Oz did their best with such a\ndistinguished company watching them, and finally Zeb offered to wrestle\nwith a little Munchkin who seemed to be the champion. In appearance he\nwas twice as old as Zeb, for he had long pointed whiskers and wore a\npeaked hat with little bells all around the brim of it, which tinkled\ngaily as he moved. But although the Munchkin was hardly tall enough to\ncome to Zeb's shoulder he was so strong and clever that he laid the boy\nthree times on his back with apparent ease.\n\nZeb was greatly astonished at his defeat, and when the pretty Princess\njoined her people in laughing at him he proposed a boxing-match with\nthe Munchkin, to which the little Ozite readily agreed. But the first\ntime that Zeb managed to give him a sharp box on the ears the Munchkin\nsat down upon the ground and cried until the tears ran down his\nwhiskers, because he had been hurt. This made Zeb laugh, in turn, and\nthe boy felt comforted to find that Ozma laughed as merrily at her\nweeping subject as she had at him.\n\nJust then the Scarecrow proposed a race between the Sawhorse and the\nCab-horse; and although all the others were delighted at the suggestion\nthe Sawhorse drew back, saying:\n\n\"Such a race would not be fair.\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" added Jim, with a touch of scorn; \"those little wooden\nlegs of yours are not half as long as my own.\"\n\n\"It isn't that,\" said the Sawhorse, modestly; \"but I never tire, and\nyou do.\"\n\n\"Bah!\" cried Jim, looking with great disdain at the other; \"do you\nimagine for an instant that such a shabby imitation of a horse as you\nare can run as fast as I?\"\n\n\"I don't know, I'm sure,\" replied the Sawhorse.\n\n\"That is what we are trying to find out,\" remarked the Scarecrow. \"The\nobject of a race is to see who can win it--or at least that is what my\nexcellent brains think.\"\n\n\"Once, when I was young,\" said Jim, \"I was a race horse, and defeated\nall who dared run against me. I was born in Kentucky, you know, where\nall the best and most aristocratic horses come from.\"\n\n\"But you're old, now, Jim,\" suggested Zeb.\n\n\"Old! Why, I feel like a colt today,\" replied Jim. \"I only wish there\nwas a real horse here for me to race with. I'd show the people a fine\nsight, I can tell you.\"\n\n\"Then why not race with the Sawhorse?\" enquired the Scarecrow.\n\n\"He's afraid,\" said Jim.\n\n\"Oh, no,\" answered the Sawhorse. \"I merely said it wasn't fair. But\nif my friend the Real Horse is willing to undertake the race I am quite\nready.\"\n\nSo they unharnessed Jim and took the saddle off the Sawhorse, and the\ntwo queerly matched animals were stood side by side for the start.\n\n\"When I say 'Go!'\" Zeb called to them, \"you must dig out and race until\nyou reach those three trees you see over yonder. Then circle 'round\nthem and come back again. The first one that passes the place where\nthe Princess sits shall be named the winner. Are you ready?\"\n\n\"I suppose I ought to give the wooden dummy a good start of me,\"\ngrowled Jim.\n\n\"Never mind that,\" said the Sawhorse. \"I'll do the best I can.\"\n\n\"Go!\" cried Zeb; and at the word the two horses leaped forward and the\nrace was begun.\n\nJim's big hoofs pounded away at a great rate, and although he did not\nlook very graceful he ran in a way to do credit to his Kentucky\nbreeding. But the Sawhorse was swifter than the wind. Its wooden legs\nmoved so fast that their twinkling could scarcely be seen, and although\nso much smaller than the cab-horse it covered the ground much faster.\nBefore they had reached the trees the Sawhorse was far ahead, and the\nwooden animal returned to the starting place as was being lustily\ncheered by the Ozites before Jim came panting up to the canopy where\nthe Princess and her friends were seated.\n\nI am sorry to record the fact that Jim was not only ashamed of his\ndefeat but for a moment lost control of his temper. As he looked at\nthe comical face of the Sawhorse he imagined that the creature was\nlaughing at him; so in a fit of unreasonable anger he turned around and\nmade a vicious kick that sent his rival tumbling head over heels upon\nthe ground, and broke off one of its legs and its left ear.\n\nAn instant later the Tiger crouched and launched its huge body through\nthe air swift and resistless as a ball from a cannon. The beast struck\nJim full on his shoulder and sent the astonished cab-horse rolling over\nand over, amid shouts of delight from the spectators, who had been\nhorrified by the ungracious act he had been guilty of.\n\nWhen Jim came to himself and sat upon his haunches he found the\nCowardly Lion crouched on one side of him and the Hungry Tiger on the\nother, and their eyes were glowing like balls of fire.\n\n\"I beg your pardon, I'm sure,\" said Jim, meekly. \"I was wrong to kick\nthe Sawhorse, and I am sorry I became angry at him. He has won the\nrace, and won it fairly; but what can a horse of flesh do against a\ntireless beast of wood?\"\n\nHearing this apology the Tiger and the Lion stopped lashing their tails\nand retreated with dignified steps to the side of the Princess.\n\n\"No one must injure one of our friends in our presence,\" growled the\nLion; and Zeb ran to Jim and whispered that unless he controlled his\ntemper in the future he would probably be torn to pieces.\n\nThen the Tin Woodman cut a straight and strong limb from a tree with\nhis gleaming axe and made a new leg and a new ear for the Sawhorse; and\nwhen they had been securely fastened in place Princess Ozma took the\ncoronet from her own head and placed it upon that of the winner of the\nrace. Said she:\n\n\"My friend, I reward you for your swiftness by proclaiming you Prince\nof Horses, whether of wood or of flesh; and hereafter all other\nhorses--in the Land of Oz, at least--must be considered imitations, and\nyou the real Champion of your race.\"\n\nThere was more applause at this, and then Ozma had the jewelled saddle\nreplaced upon the Sawhorse and herself rode the victor back to the city\nat the head of the grand procession.\n\n\"I ought to be a fairy,\" grumbled Jim, as he slowly drew the buggy\nhome; \"for to be just an ordinary horse in a fairy country is to be of\nno account whatever. It's no place for us, Zeb.\"\n\n\"It's lucky we got here, though,\" said the boy; and Jim thought of the\ndark cave, and agreed with him.\n\n\n\n\n18. The Trial of Eureka the Kitten\n\n\nSeveral days of festivity and merry-making followed, for such old\nfriends did not often meet and there was much to be told and talked\nover between them, and many amusements to be enjoyed in this delightful\ncountry.\n\nOzma was happy to have Dorothy beside her, for girls of her own age\nwith whom it was proper for the Princess to associate were very few,\nand often the youthful Ruler of Oz was lonely for lack of companionship.\n\nIt was the third morning after Dorothy's arrival, and she was sitting\nwith Ozma and their friends in a reception room, talking over old\ntimes, when the Princess said to her maid:\n\n\"Please go to my boudoir, Jellia, and get the white piglet I left on\nthe dressing-table. I want to play with it.\"\n\nJellia at once departed on the errand, and she was gone so long that\nthey had almost forgotten her mission when the green robed maiden\nreturned with a troubled face.\n\n\"The piglet is not there, your Highness,\" said she.\n\n\"Not there!\" exclaimed Ozma. \"Are you sure?\"\n\n\"I have hunted in every part of the room,\" the maid replied.\n\n\"Was not the door closed?\" asked the Princess.\n\n\"Yes, your Highness; I am sure it was; for when I opened it Dorothy's\nwhite kitten crept out and ran up the stairs.\"\n\nHearing this, Dorothy and the Wizard exchanged startled glances, for\nthey remembered how often Eureka had longed to eat a piglet. The\nlittle girl jumped up at once.\n\n\"Come, Ozma,\" she said, anxiously; \"let us go ourselves to search for\nthe piglet.\"\n\nSo the two went to the dressing-room of the Princess and searched\ncarefully in every corner and among the vases and baskets and ornaments\nthat stood about the pretty boudoir. But not a trace could they find\nof the tiny creature they sought.\n\nDorothy was nearly weeping, by this time, while Ozma was angry and\nindignant. When they returned to the others the Princess said:\n\n\"There is little doubt that my pretty piglet has been eaten by that\nhorrid kitten, and if that is true the offender must be punished.\"\n\n\"I don't b'lieve Eureka would do such a dreadful thing!\" cried Dorothy,\nmuch distressed. \"Go and get my kitten, please, Jellia, and we'll hear\nwhat she has to say about it.\"\n\nThe green maiden hastened away, but presently returned and said:\n\n\"The kitten will not come. She threatened to scratch my eyes out if I\ntouched her.\"\n\n\"Where is she?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Under the bed in your own room,\" was the reply.\n\nSo Dorothy ran to her room and found the kitten under the bed.\n\n\"Come here, Eureka!\" she said.\n\n\"I won't,\" answered the kitten, in a surly voice.\n\n\"Oh, Eureka! Why are you so bad?\"\n\nThe kitten did not reply.\n\n\"If you don't come to me, right away,\" continued Dorothy, getting\nprovoked, \"I'll take my Magic Belt and wish you in the Country of the\nGurgles.\"\n\n\"Why do you want me?\" asked Eureka, disturbed by this threat.\n\n\"You must go to Princess Ozma. She wants to talk to you.\"\n\n\"All right,\" returned the kitten, creeping out. \"I'm not afraid of\nOzma--or anyone else.\"\n\nDorothy carried her in her arms back to where the others sat in grieved\nand thoughtful silence.\n\n\"Tell me, Eureka,\" said the Princess, gently: \"did you eat my pretty\npiglet?\"\n\n\"I won't answer such a foolish question,\" asserted Eureka, with a snarl.\n\n\"Oh, yes you will, dear,\" Dorothy declared. \"The piglet is gone, and\nyou ran out of the room when Jellia opened the door. So, if you are\ninnocent, Eureka, you must tell the Princess how you came to be in her\nroom, and what has become of the piglet.\"\n\n\"Who accuses me?\" asked the kitten, defiantly.\n\n\"No one,\" answered Ozma. \"Your actions alone accuse you. The fact is\nthat I left my little pet in my dressing-room lying asleep upon the\ntable; and you must have stolen in without my knowing it. When next\nthe door was opened you ran out and hid yourself--and the piglet was\ngone.\"\n\n\"That's none of my business,\" growled the kitten.\n\n\"Don't be impudent, Eureka,\" admonished Dorothy.\n\n\"It is you who are impudent,\" said Eureka, \"for accusing me of such a\ncrime when you can't prove it except by guessing.\"\n\nOzma was now greatly incensed by the kitten's conduct. She summoned\nher Captain-General, and when the long, lean officer appeared she said:\n\n\"Carry this cat away to prison, and keep her in safe confinement until\nshe is tried by law for the crime of murder.\"\n\nSo the Captain-General took Eureka from the arms of the now weeping\nDorothy and in spite of the kitten's snarls and scratches carried it\naway to prison.\n\n\"What shall we do now?\" asked the Scarecrow, with a sigh, for such a\ncrime had cast a gloom over all the company.\n\n\"I will summon the Court to meet in the Throne Room at three o'clock,\"\nreplied Ozma. \"I myself will be the judge, and the kitten shall have a\nfair trial.\"\n\n\"What will happen if she is guilty?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"She must die,\" answered the Princess.\n\n\"Nine times?\" enquired the Scarecrow.\n\n\"As many times as is necessary,\" was the reply. \"I will ask the Tin\nWoodman to defend the prisoner, because he has such a kind heart I am\nsure he will do his best to save her. And the Woggle-Bug shall be the\nPublic Accuser, because he is so learned that no one can deceive him.\"\n\n\"Who will be the jury?\" asked the Tin Woodman.\n\n\"There ought to be several animals on the jury,\" said Ozma, \"because\nanimals understand each other better than we people understand them.\nSo the jury shall consist of the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Jim\nthe Cab-horse, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, Tik-tok the\nMachine Man, the Sawhorse and Zeb of Hugson's Ranch. That makes the\nnine which the law requires, and all my people shall be admitted to\nhear the testimony.\"\n\nThey now separated to prepare for the sad ceremony; for whenever an\nappeal is made to law sorrow is almost certain to follow--even in a\nfairyland like Oz. But is must be stated that the people of that Land\nwere generally so well-behaved that there was not a single lawyer\namongst them, and it had been years since any Ruler had sat in judgment\nupon an offender of the law. The crime of murder being the most\ndreadful crime of all, tremendous excitement prevailed in the Emerald\nCity when the news of Eureka's arrest and trial became known.\n\nThe Wizard, when he returned to his own room, was exceedingly\nthoughtful. He had no doubt Eureka had eaten his piglet, but he\nrealized that a kitten cannot be depended upon at all times to act\nproperly, since its nature is to destroy small animals and even birds\nfor food, and the tame cat that we keep in our houses today is\ndescended from the wild cat of the jungle--a very ferocious creature,\nindeed. The Wizard knew that if Dorothy's pet was found guilty and\ncondemned to death the little girl would be made very unhappy; so,\nalthough he grieved over the piglet's sad fate as much as any of them,\nhe resolved to save Eureka's life.\n\nSending for the Tin Woodman the Wizard took him into a corner and\nwhispered:\n\n\"My friend, it is your duty to defend the white kitten and try to save\nher, but I fear you will fail because Eureka has long wished to eat a\npiglet, to my certain knowledge, and my opinion is that she has been\nunable to resist the temptation. Yet her disgrace and death would not\nbring back the piglet, but only serve to make Dorothy unhappy. So I\nintend to prove the kitten's innocence by a trick.\"\n\nHe drew from his inside pocket one of the eight tiny piglets that were\nremaining and continued:\n\n\"This creature you must hide in some safe place, and if the jury\ndecides that Eureka is guilty you may then produce this piglet and\nclaim it is the one that was lost. All the piglets are exactly alike,\nso no one can dispute your word. This deception will save Eureka's\nlife, and then we may all be happy again.\"\n\n\"I do not like to deceive my friends,\" replied the Tin Woodman; \"still,\nmy kind heart urges me to save Eureka's life, and I can usually trust\nmy heart to do the right thing. So I will do as you say, friend\nWizard.\"\n\nAfter some thought he placed the little pig inside his funnel-shaped\nhat, and then put the hat upon his head and went back to his room to\nthink over his speech to the jury.\n\n\n\n\n19. The Wizard Performs Another Trick\n\n\nAt three o'clock the Throne Room was crowded with citizens, men, women\nand children being eager to witness the great trial.\n\nPrincess Ozma, dressed in her most splendid robes of state, sat in the\nmagnificent emerald throne, with her jewelled sceptre in her hand and\nher sparkling coronet upon her fair brow. Behind her throne stood the\ntwenty-eight officers of her army and many officials of the royal\nhousehold. At her right sat the queerly assorted Jury--animals,\nanimated dummies and people--all gravely prepared to listen to what was\nsaid. The kitten had been placed in a large cage just before the\nthrone, where she sat upon her haunches and gazed through the bars at\nthe crowds around her, with seeming unconcern.\n\nAnd now, at a signal from Ozma, the Woggle-Bug arose and addressed the\njury. His tone was pompous and he strutted up and down in an absurd\nattempt to appear dignified.\n\n\"Your Royal Highness and Fellow Citizens,\" he began; \"the small cat you\nsee a prisoner before you is accused of the crime of first murdering\nand then eating our esteemed Ruler's fat piglet--or else first eating\nand then murdering it. In either case a grave crime has been committed\nwhich deserves a grave punishment.\"\n\n\"Do you mean my kitten must be put in a grave?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Don't interrupt, little girl,\" said the Woggle-Bug. \"When I get my\nthoughts arranged in good order I do not like to have anything upset\nthem or throw them into confusion.\"\n\n\"If your thoughts were any good they wouldn't become confused,\"\nremarked the Scarecrow, earnestly. \"My thoughts are always--\"\n\n\"Is this a trial of thoughts, or of kittens?\" demanded the Woggle-Bug.\n\n\"It's a trial of one kitten,\" replied the Scarecrow; \"but your manner\nis a trial to us all.\"\n\n\"Let the Public Accuser continue,\" called Ozma from her throne, \"and I\npray you do not interrupt him.\"\n\n\"The criminal who now sits before the court licking her paws,\" resumed\nthe Woggle-Bug, \"has long desired to unlawfully eat the fat piglet,\nwhich was no bigger than a mouse. And finally she made a wicked plan\nto satisfy her depraved appetite for pork. I can see her, in my mind's\neye--\"\n\n\"What's that?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"I say I can see her in my mind's eye--\"\n\n\"The mind has no eye,\" declared the Scarecrow. \"It's blind.\"\n\n\"Your Highness,\" cried the Woggle-Bug, appealing to Ozma, \"have I a\nmind's eye, or haven't I?\"\n\n\"If you have, it is invisible,\" said the Princess.\n\n\"Very true,\" returned the Woggle-Bug, bowing. \"I say I see the\ncriminal, in my mind's eye, creeping stealthily into the room of our\nOzma and secreting herself, when no one was looking, until the Princess\nhad gone away and the door was closed. Then the murderer was alone\nwith her helpless victim, the fat piglet, and I see her pounce upon the\ninnocent creature and eat it up--\"\n\n\"Are you still seeing with your mind's eye?\" enquired the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Of course; how else could I see it? And we know the thing is true,\nbecause since the time of that interview there is no piglet to be found\nanywhere.\"\n\n\"I suppose, if the cat had been gone, instead of the piglet, your\nmind's eye would see the piglet eating the cat,\" suggested the\nScarecrow.\n\n\"Very likely,\" acknowledged the Woggle-Bug. \"And now, Fellow Citizens\nand Creatures of the Jury, I assert that so awful a crime deserves\ndeath, and in the case of the ferocious criminal before you--who is now\nwashing her face--the death penalty should be inflicted nine times.\"\n\nThere was great applause when the speaker sat down. Then the Princess\nspoke in a stern voice:\n\n\"Prisoner, what have you to say for yourself? Are you guilty, or not\nguilty?\"\n\n\"Why, that's for you to find out,\" replied Eureka. \"If you can prove\nI'm guilty, I'll be willing to die nine times, but a mind's eye is no\nproof, because the Woggle-Bug has no mind to see with.\"\n\n\"Never mind, dear,\" said Dorothy.\n\nThen the Tin Woodman arose and said:\n\n\"Respected Jury and dearly beloved Ozma, I pray you not to judge this\nfeline prisoner unfeelingly. I do not think the innocent kitten can be\nguilty, and surely it is unkind to accuse a luncheon of being a murder.\nEureka is the sweet pet of a lovely little girl whom we all admire, and\ngentleness and innocence are her chief virtues. Look at the kitten's\nintelligent eyes;\" (here Eureka closed her eyes sleepily) \"gaze at her\nsmiling countenance!\" (here Eureka snarled and showed her teeth) \"mark\nthe tender pose of her soft, padded little hands!\" (Here Eureka bared\nher sharp claws and scratched at the bars of the cage.) \"Would such a\ngentle animal be guilty of eating a fellow creature? No; a thousand\ntimes, no!\"\n\n\"Oh, cut it short,\" said Eureka; \"you've talked long enough.\"\n\n\"I'm trying to defend you,\" remonstrated the Tin Woodman.\n\n\"Then say something sensible,\" retorted the kitten. \"Tell them it\nwould be foolish for me to eat the piglet, because I had sense enough\nto know it would raise a row if I did. But don't try to make out I'm\ntoo innocent to eat a fat piglet if I could do it and not be found out.\nI imagine it would taste mighty good.\"\n\n\"Perhaps it would, to those who eat,\" remarked the Tin Woodman. \"I\nmyself, not being built to eat, have no personal experience in such\nmatters. But I remember that our great poet once said:\n\n 'To eat is sweet\n When hunger's seat\n Demands a treat\n Of savory meat.'\"\n\n\n\"Take this into consideration, friends of the Jury, and you will\nreadily decide that the kitten is wrongfully accused and should be set\nat liberty.\"\n\nWhen the Tin Woodman sat down no one applauded him, for his arguments\nhad not been very convincing and few believed that he had proved\nEureka's innocence. As for the Jury, the members whispered to each\nother for a few minutes and then they appointed the Hungry Tiger their\nspokesman. The huge beast slowly arose and said:\n\n\"Kittens have no consciences, so they eat whatever pleases them. The\njury believes the white kitten known as Eureka is guilty of having\neaten the piglet owned by Princess Ozma, and recommends that she be put\nto death in punishment of the crime.\"\n\nThe judgment of the jury was received with great applause, although\nDorothy was sobbing miserably at the fate of her pet. The Princess was\njust about to order Eureka's head chopped off with the Tin Woodman's\naxe when that brilliant personage once more arose and addressed her.\n\n\"Your Highness,\" said he, \"see how easy it is for a jury to be\nmistaken. The kitten could not have eaten your piglet--for here it is!\"\n\nHe took off his funnel hat and from beneath it produced a tiny white\npiglet, which he held aloft that all might see it clearly.\n\nOzma was delighted and exclaimed, eagerly:\n\n\"Give me my pet, Nick Chopper!\"\n\nAnd all the people cheered and clapped their hands, rejoicing that the\nprisoner had escaped death and been proved to be innocent.\n\nAs the Princess held the white piglet in her arms and stroked its soft\nhair she said: \"Let Eureka out of the cage, for she is no longer a\nprisoner, but our good friend. Where did you find my missing pet, Nick\nChopper?\"\n\n\"In a room of the palace,\" he answered.\n\n\"Justice,\" remarked the Scarecrow, with a sigh, \"is a dangerous thing\nto meddle with. If you hadn't happened to find the piglet, Eureka\nwould surely have been executed.\"\n\n\"But justice prevailed at the last,\" said Ozma, \"for here is my pet,\nand Eureka is once more free.\"\n\n\"I refuse to be free,\" cried the kitten, in a sharp voice, \"unless the\nWizard can do his trick with eight piglets. If he can produce but\nseven, then this is not the piglet that was lost, but another one.\"\n\n\"Hush, Eureka!\" warned the Wizard.\n\n\"Don't be foolish,\" advised the Tin Woodman, \"or you may be sorry for\nit.\"\n\n\"The piglet that belonged to the Princess wore an emerald collar,\" said\nEureka, loudly enough for all to hear.\n\n\"So it did!\" exclaimed Ozma. \"This cannot be the one the Wizard gave\nme.\"\n\n\"Of course not; he had nine of them, altogether,\" declared Eureka; \"and\nI must say it was very stingy of him not to let me eat just a few. But\nnow that this foolish trial is ended, I will tell you what really\nbecame of your pet piglet.\"\n\nAt this everyone in the Throne Room suddenly became quiet, and the\nkitten continued, in a calm, mocking tone of voice:\n\n\"I will confess that I intended to eat the little pig for my breakfast;\nso I crept into the room where it was kept while the Princess was\ndressing and hid myself under a chair. When Ozma went away she closed\nthe door and left her pet on the table. At once I jumped up and told\nthe piglet not to make a fuss, for he would be inside of me in half a\nsecond; but no one can teach one of these creatures to be reasonable.\nInstead of keeping still, so I could eat him comfortably, he trembled\nso with fear that he fell off the table into a big vase that was\nstanding on the floor. The vase had a very small neck, and spread out\nat the top like a bowl. At first the piglet stuck in the neck of the\nvase and I thought I should get him, after all, but he wriggled himself\nthrough and fell down into the deep bottom part--and I suppose he's\nthere yet.\"\n\nAll were astonished at this confession, and Ozma at once sent an\nofficer to her room to fetch the vase. When he returned the Princess\nlooked down the narrow neck of the big ornament and discovered her lost\npiglet, just as Eureka had said she would.\n\nThere was no way to get the creature out without breaking the vase, so\nthe Tin Woodman smashed it with his axe and set the little prisoner\nfree.\n\nThen the crowd cheered lustily and Dorothy hugged the kitten in her\narms and told her how delighted she was to know that she was innocent.\n\n\"But why didn't you tell us at first?\" she asked.\n\n\"It would have spoiled the fun,\" replied the kitten, yawning.\n\nOzma gave the Wizard back the piglet he had so kindly allowed Nick\nChopper to substitute for the lost one, and then she carried her own\ninto the apartments of the palace where she lived. And now, the trial\nbeing over, the good citizens of the Emerald City scattered to their\nhomes, well content with the day's amusement.\n\n\n\n\n20. Zeb Returns to the Ranch\n\n\nEureka was much surprised to find herself in disgrace; but she was, in\nspite of the fact that she had not eaten the piglet. For the folks of\nOz knew the kitten had tried to commit the crime, and that only an\naccident had prevented her from doing so; therefore even the Hungry\nTiger preferred not to associate with her. Eureka was forbidden to\nwander around the palace and was made to stay in confinement in\nDorothy's room; so she began to beg her mistress to send her to some\nother place where she could enjoy herself better.\n\nDorothy was herself anxious to get home, so she promised Eureka they\nwould not stay in the Land of Oz much longer.\n\nThe next evening after the trial the little girl begged Ozma to allow\nher to look in the enchanted picture, and the Princess readily\nconsented. She took the child to her room and said: \"Make your wish,\ndear, and the picture will show the scene you desire to behold.\"\n\nThen Dorothy found, with the aid of the enchanted picture, that Uncle\nHenry had returned to the farm in Kansas, and she also saw that both he\nand Aunt Em were dressed in mourning, because they thought their little\nniece had been killed by the earthquake.\n\n\"Really,\" said the girl, anxiously, \"I must get back as soon as\nposs'ble to my own folks.\"\n\nZeb also wanted to see his home, and although he did not find anyone\nmorning for him, the sight of Hugson's Ranch in the picture made him\nlong to get back there.\n\n\"This is a fine country, and I like all the people that live in it,\" he\ntold Dorothy. \"But the fact is, Jim and I don't seem to fit into a\nfairyland, and the old horse has been begging me to go home again ever\nsince he lost the race. So, if you can find a way to fix it, we'll be\nmuch obliged to you.\"\n\n\"Ozma can do it, easily,\" replied Dorothy. \"Tomorrow morning I'll go\nto Kansas and you can go to Californy.\"\n\nThat last evening was so delightful that the boy will never forget it\nas long as he lives. They were all together (except Eureka) in the\npretty rooms of the Princess, and the Wizard did some new tricks, and\nthe Scarecrow told stories, and the Tin Woodman sang a love song in a\nsonorous, metallic voice, and everybody laughed and had a good time.\nThen Dorothy wound up Tik-tok and he danced a jig to amuse the company,\nafter which the Yellow Hen related some of her adventures with the Nome\nKing in the Land of Ev.\n\nThe Princess served delicious refreshments to those who were in the\nhabit of eating, and when Dorothy's bed time arrived the company\nseparated after exchanging many friendly sentiments.\n\nNext morning they all assembled for the final parting, and many of the\nofficials and courtiers came to look upon the impressive ceremonies.\n\nDorothy held Eureka in her arms and bade her friends a fond good-bye.\n\n\"You must come again, some time,\" said the little Wizard; and she\npromised she would if she found it possible to do so.\n\n\"But Uncle Henry and Aunt Em need me to help them,\" she added, \"so I\ncan't ever be very long away from the farm in Kansas.\"\n\nOzma wore the Magic Belt; and, when she had kissed Dorothy farewell and\nhad made her wish, the little girl and her kitten disappeared in a\ntwinkling.\n\n\"Where is she?\" asked Zeb, rather bewildered by the suddenness of it.\n\n\"Greeting her uncle and aunt in Kansas, by this time,\" returned Ozma,\nwith a smile.\n\nThen Zeb brought out Jim, all harnessed to the buggy, and took his seat.\n\n\"I'm much obliged for all your kindness,\" said the boy, \"and very\ngrateful to you for saving my life and sending me home again after all\nthe good times I've had. I think this is the loveliest country in the\nworld; but not being fairies Jim and I feel we ought to be where we\nbelong--and that's at the ranch. Good-bye, everybody!\"\n\nHe gave a start and rubbed his eyes. Jim was trotting along the\nwell-known road, shaking his ears and whisking his tail with a\ncontented motion. Just ahead of them were the gates of Hugson's Ranch,\nand Uncle Hugson now came out and stood with uplifted arms and wide\nopen mouth, staring in amazement.\n\n\"Goodness gracious! It's Zeb--and Jim, too!\" he exclaimed. \"Where in\nthe world have you been, my lad?\"\n\n\"Why, in the world, Uncle,\" answered Zeb, with a laugh."