"Ozma of Oz\n\n  A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of\n  Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin\n      Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and\n       the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good\n          People too Numerous to Mention\n            Faithfully Recorded Herein\n\n\nby\n\nL. Frank Baum\n\n\n\nThe Author of The Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, etc.\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n  --Author's Note--\n   1.  The Girl in the Chicken Coop\n   2.  The Yellow Hen\n   3.  Letters in the Sand\n   4.  Tiktok, the Machine Man\n   5.  Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail\n   6.  The Heads of Langwidere\n   7.  Ozma of Oz to the Rescue\n   8.  The Hungry Tiger\n   9.  The Royal Family of Ev\n  10.  The Giant with the Hammer\n  11.  The Nome King\n  12.  The Eleven Guesses\n  13.  The Nome King Laughs\n  14.  Dorothy Tries to be Brave\n  15.  Billina Frightens the Nome King\n  16.  Purple, Green and Gold\n  17.  The Scarecrow Wins the Fight\n  18.  The Fate of the Tin Woodman\n  19.  The King of Ev\n  20.  The Emerald City\n  21.  Dorothy's Magic Belt\n\n\n\n\nAuthor's Note\n\n\nMy friends the children are responsible for this new \"Oz Book,\" as they\nwere for the last one, which was called The Land of Oz.  Their sweet\nlittle letters plead to know \"more about Dorothy\"; and they ask: \"What\nbecame of the Cowardly Lion?\" and \"What did Ozma do\nafterward?\"--meaning, of course, after she became the Ruler of Oz.  And\nsome of them suggest plots to me, saying: \"Please have Dorothy go to\nthe Land of Oz again\"; or, \"Why don't you make Ozma and Dorothy meet,\nand have a good time together?\"  Indeed, could I do all that my little\nfriends ask, I would be obliged to write dozens of books to satisfy\ntheir demands.  And I wish I could, for I enjoy writing these stories\njust as much as the children say they enjoy reading them.\n\nWell, here is \"more about Dorothy,\" and about our old friends the\nScarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and about the Cowardly Lion, and Ozma,\nand all the rest of them; and here, likewise, is a good deal about some\nnew folks that are queer and unusual.  One little friend, who read this\nstory before it was printed, said to me: \"Billina is REAL OZZY, Mr.\nBaum, and so are Tiktok and the Hungry Tiger.\"\n\nIf this judgment is unbiased and correct, and the little folks find\nthis new story \"real Ozzy,\" I shall be very glad indeed that I wrote\nit.  But perhaps I shall get some more of those very welcome letters\nfrom my readers, telling me just how they like \"Ozma of Oz.\"  I hope\nso, anyway.\n\n\nL. FRANK BAUM.\n\nMACATAWA, 1907.\n\n\n\n\n1.  The Girl in the Chicken Coop\n\n\nThe wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples\nacross its surface.  Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples\nuntil they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became\nbillows.  The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the tops\nof houses.  Some of them, indeed, rolled as high as the tops of tall\ntrees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs between the great\nbillows were like deep valleys.\n\nAll this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean,\nwhich the mischievous wind caused without any good reason whatever,\nresulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is liable to cut\nmany queer pranks and do a lot of damage.\n\nAt the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out upon the\nwaters.  When the waves began to tumble and toss and to grow bigger and\nbigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped sidewise--first one way\nand then the other--and was jostled around so roughly that even the\nsailor-men had to hold fast to the ropes and railings to keep\nthemselves from being swept away by the wind or pitched headlong into\nthe sea.\n\nAnd the clouds were so thick in the sky that the sunlight couldn't get\nthrough them; so that the day grew dark as night, which added to the\nterrors of the storm.\n\nThe Captain of the ship was not afraid, because he had seen storms\nbefore, and had sailed his ship through them in safety; but he knew\nthat his passengers would be in danger if they tried to stay on deck,\nso he put them all into the cabin and told them to stay there until\nafter the storm was over, and to keep brave hearts and not be scared,\nand all would be well with them.\n\nNow, among these passengers was a little Kansas girl named Dorothy\nGale, who was going with her Uncle Henry to Australia, to visit some\nrelatives they had never before seen.  Uncle Henry, you must know, was\nnot very well, because he had been working so hard on his Kansas farm\nthat his health had given way and left him weak and nervous.  So he\nleft Aunt Em at home to watch after the hired men and to take care of\nthe farm, while he traveled far away to Australia to visit his cousins\nand have a good rest.\n\nDorothy was eager to go with him on this journey, and Uncle Henry\nthought she would be good company and help cheer him up; so he decided\nto take her along.  The little girl was quite an experienced traveller,\nfor she had once been carried by a cyclone as far away from home as the\nmarvelous Land of Oz, and she had met with a good many adventures in\nthat strange country before she managed to get back to Kansas again.\nSo she wasn't easily frightened, whatever happened, and when the wind\nbegan to howl and whistle, and the waves began to tumble and toss, our\nlittle girl didn't mind the uproar the least bit.\n\n\"Of course we'll have to stay in the cabin,\" she said to Uncle Henry\nand the other passengers, \"and keep as quiet as possible until the\nstorm is over.  For the Captain says if we go on deck we may be blown\noverboard.\"\n\nNo one wanted to risk such an accident as that, you may be sure; so all\nthe passengers stayed huddled up in the dark cabin, listening to the\nshrieking of the storm and the creaking of the masts and rigging and\ntrying to keep from bumping into one another when the ship tipped\nsidewise.\n\nDorothy had almost fallen asleep when she was aroused with a start to\nfind that Uncle Henry was missing.  She couldn't imagine where he had\ngone, and as he was not very strong she began to worry about him, and\nto fear he might have been careless enough to go on deck.  In that case\nhe would be in great danger unless he instantly came down again.\n\nThe fact was that Uncle Henry had gone to lie down in his little\nsleeping-berth, but Dorothy did not know that.  She only remembered\nthat Aunt Em had cautioned her to take good care of her uncle, so at\nonce she decided to go on deck and find him, in spite of the fact that\nthe tempest was now worse than ever, and the ship was plunging in a\nreally dreadful manner.  Indeed, the little girl found it was as much\nas she could do to mount the stairs to the deck, and as soon as she got\nthere the wind struck her so fiercely that it almost tore away the\nskirts of her dress.  Yet Dorothy felt a sort of joyous excitement in\ndefying the storm, and while she held fast to the railing she peered\naround through the gloom and thought she saw the dim form of a man\nclinging to a mast not far away from her.  This might be her uncle, so\nshe called as loudly as she could:\n\n\"Uncle Henry!  Uncle Henry!\"\n\nBut the wind screeched and howled so madly that she scarce heard her\nown voice, and the man certainly failed to hear her, for he did not\nmove.\n\nDorothy decided she must go to him; so she made a dash forward, during\na lull in the storm, to where a big square chicken-coop had been lashed\nto the deck with ropes.  She reached this place in safety, but no\nsooner had she seized fast hold of the slats of the big box in which\nthe chickens were kept than the wind, as if enraged because the little\ngirl dared to resist its power, suddenly redoubled its fury.  With a\nscream like that of an angry giant it tore away the ropes that held the\ncoop and lifted it high into the air, with Dorothy still clinging to\nthe slats.  Around and over it whirled, this way and that, and a few\nmoments later the chicken-coop dropped far away into the sea, where the\nbig waves caught it and slid it up-hill to a foaming crest and then\ndown-hill into a deep valley, as if it were nothing more than a\nplaything to keep them amused.\n\nDorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she didn't lose her\npresence of mind even for a second.  She kept tight hold of the stout\nslats and as soon as she could get the water out of her eyes she saw\nthat the wind had ripped the cover from the coop, and the poor chickens\nwere fluttering away in every direction, being blown by the wind until\nthey looked like feather dusters without handles.  The bottom of the\ncoop was made of thick boards, so Dorothy found she was clinging to a\nsort of raft, with sides of slats, which readily bore up her weight.\nAfter coughing the water out of her throat and getting her breath\nagain, she managed to climb over the slats and stand upon the firm\nwooden bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.\n\n\"Why, I've got a ship of my own!\" she thought, more amused than\nfrightened at her sudden change of condition; and then, as the coop\nclimbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked eagerly around for the\nship from which she had been blown.\n\nIt was far, far away, by this time.  Perhaps no one on board had yet\nmissed her, or knew of her strange adventure.  Down into a valley\nbetween the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed another\ncrest the ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long way off.\nSoon it had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and then Dorothy gave a\nsigh of regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began to wonder what was\ngoing to happen to her next.\n\nJust now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with nothing to\nkeep her afloat but a miserable wooden hen-coop that had a plank bottom\nand slatted sides, through which the water constantly splashed and\nwetted her through to the skin!  And there was nothing to eat when she\nbecame hungry--as she was sure to do before long--and no fresh water to\ndrink and no dry clothes to put on.\n\n\"Well, I declare!\" she exclaimed, with a laugh.  \"You're in a pretty\nfix, Dorothy Gale, I can tell you! and I haven't the least idea how\nyou're going to get out of it!\"\n\nAs if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and the\ngray clouds overhead changed to inky blackness.  But the wind, as if\nsatisfied at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped blowing this\nocean and hurried away to another part of the world to blow something\nelse; so that the waves, not being joggled any more, began to quiet\ndown and behave themselves.\n\nIt was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided; otherwise,\nbrave though she was, I fear she might have perished.  Many children,\nin her place, would have wept and given way to despair; but because\nDorothy had encountered so many adventures and come safely through them\nit did not occur to her at this time to be especially afraid.  She was\nwet and uncomfortable, it is true; but, after sighing that one sigh I\ntold you of, she managed to recall some of her customary cheerfulness\nand decided to patiently await whatever her fate might be.\n\nBy and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky overhead,\nwith a silver moon shining sweetly in the middle of it and little stars\nwinking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their way.  The coop did not\ntoss around any more, but rode the waves more gently--almost like a\ncradle rocking--so that the floor upon which Dorothy stood was no\nlonger swept by water coming through the slats.  Seeing this, and being\nquite exhausted by the excitement of the past few hours, the little\ngirl decided that sleep would be the best thing to restore her strength\nand the easiest way in which she could pass the time.  The floor was\ndamp and she was herself wringing wet, but fortunately this was a warm\nclimate and she did not feel at all cold.\n\nSo she sat down in a corner of the coop, leaned her back against the\nslats, nodded at the friendly stars before she closed her eyes, and was\nasleep in half a minute.\n\n\n\n\n2.  The Yellow Hen\n\n\nA strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that day had\ndawned and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky.  She had been\ndreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in the old\nbarn-yard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around her; and at\nfirst, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she really imagined she\nwas there.\n\n\"Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut!  Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-kut!\"\n\nAh; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her.  Surely it\nwas a hen cackling!  But her wide-open eyes first saw, through the\nslats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now calm and placid,\nand her thoughts flew back to the past night, so full of danger and\ndiscomfort.  Also she began to remember that she was a waif of the\nstorm, adrift upon a treacherous and unknown sea.\n\n\"Kut-kut-kut, ka-daw-w-w--kut!\"\n\n\"What's that?\" cried Dorothy, starting to her feet.\n\n\"Why, I've just laid an egg, that's all,\" replied a small, but sharp\nand distinct voice, and looking around her the little girl discovered a\nyellow hen squatting in the opposite corner of the coop.\n\n\"Dear me!\" she exclaimed, in surprise; \"have YOU been here all night,\ntoo?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" answered the hen, fluttering her wings and yawning.  \"When\nthe coop blew away from the ship I clung fast to this corner, with\nclaws and beak, for I knew if I fell into the water I'd surely be\ndrowned.  Indeed, I nearly drowned, as it was, with all that water\nwashing over me.  I never was so wet before in my life!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" agreed Dorothy, \"it was pretty wet, for a time, I know.  But do\nyou feel comfor'ble now?\"\n\n\"Not very.  The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it has your\ndress, and I feel better since I laid my morning egg.  But what's to\nbecome of us, I should like to know, afloat on this big pond?\"\n\n\"I'd like to know that, too,\" said Dorothy.  \"But, tell me; how does it\nhappen that you are able to talk?  I thought hens could only cluck and\ncackle.\"\n\n\"Why, as for that,\" answered the yellow hen thoughtfully, \"I've clucked\nand cackled all my life, and never spoken a word before this morning,\nthat I can remember.  But when you asked a question, a minute ago, it\nseemed the most natural thing in the world to answer you.  So I spoke,\nand I seem to keep on speaking, just as you and other human beings do.\nStrange, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Very,\" replied Dorothy.  \"If we were in the Land of Oz, I wouldn't\nthink it so queer, because many of the animals can talk in that fairy\ncountry.  But out here in the ocean must be a good long way from Oz.\"\n\n\"How is my grammar?\" asked the yellow hen, anxiously.  \"Do I speak\nquite properly, in your judgment?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Dorothy, \"you do very well, for a beginner.\"\n\n\"I'm glad to know that,\" continued the yellow hen, in a confidential\ntone; \"because, if one is going to talk, it's best to talk correctly.\nThe red rooster has often said that my cluck and my cackle were quite\nperfect; and now it's a comfort to know I am talking properly.\"\n\n\"I'm beginning to get hungry,\" remarked Dorothy.  \"It's breakfast time;\nbut there's no breakfast.\"\n\n\"You may have my egg,\" said the yellow hen.  \"I don't care for it, you\nknow.\"\n\n\"Don't you want to hatch it?\" asked the little girl, in surprise.\n\n\"No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I've a nice snug nest,\nin some quiet place, with a baker's dozen of eggs under me.  That's\nthirteen, you know, and it's a lucky number for hens.  So you may as\nwell eat this egg.\"\n\n\"Oh, I couldn't POSS'BLY eat it, unless it was cooked,\" exclaimed\nDorothy.  \"But I'm much obliged for your kindness, just the same.\"\n\n\"Don't mention it, my dear,\" answered the hen, calmly, and began\npreening her feathers.\n\nFor a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea.  She was\nstill thinking of the egg, though; so presently she asked:\n\n\"Why do you lay eggs, when you don't expect to hatch them?\"\n\n\"It's a habit I have,\" replied the yellow hen.  \"It has always been my\npride to lay a fresh egg every morning, except when I'm moulting.  I\nnever feel like having my morning cackle till the egg is properly laid,\nand without the chance to cackle I would not be happy.\"\n\n\"It's strange,\" said the girl, reflectively; \"but as I'm not a hen I\ncan't be 'spected to understand that.\"\n\n\"Certainly not, my dear.\"\n\nThen Dorothy fell silent again.  The yellow hen was some company, and a\nbit of comfort, too; but it was dreadfully lonely out on the big ocean,\nnevertheless.\n\nAfter a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat of the\ncoop, which was a little above Dorothy's head when she was sitting upon\nthe bottom, as she had been doing for some moments past.\n\n\"Why, we are not far from land!\" exclaimed the hen.\n\n\"Where?  Where is it?\" cried Dorothy, jumping up in great excitement.\n\n\"Over there a little way,\" answered the hen, nodding her head in a\ncertain direction.  \"We seem to be drifting toward it, so that before\nnoon we ought to find ourselves upon dry land again.\"\n\n\"I shall like that!\" said Dorothy, with a little sigh, for her feet and\nlegs were still wetted now and then by the sea-water that came through\nthe open slats.\n\n\"So shall I,\" answered her companion.  \"There is nothing in the world\nso miserable as a wet hen.\"\n\nThe land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it grew\nmore distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by the little\ngirl in the floating hen-coop.  Next to the water was a broad beach of\nwhite sand and gravel, and farther back were several rocky hills, while\nbeyond these appeared a strip of green trees that marked the edge of a\nforest.  But there were no houses to be seen, nor any sign of people\nwho might inhabit this unknown land.\n\n\"I hope we shall find something to eat,\" said Dorothy, looking eagerly\nat the pretty beach toward which they drifted.  \"It's long past\nbreakfast time, now.\"\n\n\"I'm a trifle hungry, myself,\" declared the yellow hen.\n\n\"Why don't you eat the egg?\" asked the child.  \"You don't need to have\nyour food cooked, as I do.\"\n\n\"Do you take me for a cannibal?\" cried the hen, indignantly.  \"I do not\nknow what I have said or done that leads you to insult me!\"\n\n\"I beg your pardon, I'm sure Mrs.--Mrs.--by the way, may I inquire your\nname, ma'am?\" asked the little girl.\n\n\"My name is Bill,\" said the yellow hen, somewhat gruffly.\n\n\"Bill!  Why, that's a boy's name.\"\n\n\"What difference does that make?\"\n\n\"You're a lady hen, aren't you?\"\n\n\"Of course.  But when I was first hatched out no one could tell whether\nI was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little boy at the farm\nwhere I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of me because I was the\nonly yellow chicken in the whole brood.  When I grew up, and he found\nthat I didn't crow and fight, as all the roosters do, he did not think\nto change my name, and every creature in the barn-yard, as well as the\npeople in the house, knew me as 'Bill.'  So Bill I've always been\ncalled, and Bill is my name.\"\n\n\"But it's all wrong, you know,\" declared Dorothy, earnestly; \"and, if\nyou don't mind, I shall call you 'Billina.'  Putting the 'eena' on the\nend makes it a girl's name, you see.\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't mind it in the least,\" returned the yellow hen.  \"It\ndoesn't matter at all what you call me, so long as I know the name\nmeans ME.\"\n\n\"Very well, Billina.  MY name is Dorothy Gale--just Dorothy to my\nfriends and Miss Gale to strangers.  You may call me Dorothy, if you\nlike.  We're getting very near the shore.  Do you suppose it is too\ndeep for me to wade the rest of the way?\"\n\n\"Wait a few minutes longer.  The sunshine is warm and pleasant, and we\nare in no hurry.\"\n\n\"But my feet are all wet and soggy,\" said the girl.  \"My dress is dry\nenough, but I won't feel real comfor'ble till I get my feet dried.\"\n\nShe waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big wooden\ncoop grated gently on the sandy beach and the dangerous voyage was over.\n\nIt did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may be sure.\nThe yellow hen flew to the sands at once, but Dorothy had to climb over\nthe high slats.  Still, for a country girl, that was not much of a\nfeat, and as soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew off her wet shoes\nand stockings and spread them upon the sun-warmed beach to dry.\n\nThen she sat down and watched Billina, who was pick-pecking away with\nher sharp bill in the sand and gravel, which she scratched up and\nturned over with her strong claws.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Getting my breakfast, of course,\" murmured the hen, busily pecking\naway.\n\n\"What do you find?\" inquired the girl, curiously.\n\n\"Oh, some fat red ants, and some sand-bugs, and once in a while a tiny\ncrab.  They are very sweet and nice, I assure you.\"\n\n\"How dreadful!\" exclaimed Dorothy, in a shocked voice.\n\n\"What is dreadful?\" asked the hen, lifting her head to gaze with one\nbright eye at her companion.\n\n\"Why, eating live things, and horrid bugs, and crawly ants.  You ought\nto be 'SHAMED of yourself!\"\n\n\"Goodness me!\" returned the hen, in a puzzled tone; \"how queer you are,\nDorothy!  Live things are much fresher and more wholesome than dead\nones, and you humans eat all sorts of dead creatures.\"\n\n\"We don't!\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"You do, indeed,\" answered Billina.  \"You eat lambs and sheep and cows\nand pigs and even chickens.\"\n\n\"But we cook 'em,\" said Dorothy, triumphantly.\n\n\"What difference does that make?\"\n\n\"A good deal,\" said the girl, in a graver tone.  \"I can't just 'splain\nthe diff'rence, but it's there.  And, anyhow, we never eat such\ndreadful things as BUGS.\"\n\n\"But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs,\" retorted the yellow hen,\nwith an odd cackle.  \"So you are just as bad as we chickens are.\"\n\nThis made Dorothy thoughtful.  What Billina said was true enough, and\nit almost took away her appetite for breakfast.  As for the yellow hen,\nshe continued to peck away at the sand busily, and seemed quite\ncontented with her bill-of-fare.\n\nFinally, down near the water's edge, Billina stuck her bill deep into\nthe sand, and then drew back and shivered.\n\n\"Ow!\" she cried.  \"I struck metal, that time, and it nearly broke my\nbeak.\"\n\n\"It prob'bly was a rock,\" said Dorothy, carelessly.\n\n\"Nonsense.  I know a rock from metal, I guess,\" said the hen.  \"There's\na different feel to it.\"\n\n\"But there couldn't be any metal on this wild, deserted seashore,\"\npersisted the girl.  \"Where's the place?  I'll dig it up, and prove to\nyou I'm right.\"\n\nBillina showed her the place where she had \"stubbed her bill,\" as she\nexpressed it, and Dorothy dug away the sand until she felt something\nhard.  Then, thrusting in her hand, she pulled the thing out, and\ndiscovered it to be a large sized golden key--rather old, but still\nbright and of perfect shape.\n\n\"What did I tell you?\" cried the hen, with a cackle of triumph.  \"Can I\ntell metal when I bump into it, or is the thing a rock?\"\n\n\"It's metal, sure enough,\" answered the child, gazing thoughtfully at\nthe curious thing she had found.  \"I think it is pure gold, and it must\nhave lain hidden in the sand for a long time.  How do you suppose it\ncame there, Billina?  And what do you suppose this mysterious key\nunlocks?\"\n\n\"I can't say,\" replied the hen.  \"You ought to know more about locks\nand keys than I do.\"\n\nDorothy glanced around.  There was no sign of any house in that part of\nthe country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a lock and every\nlock must have a purpose.  Perhaps the key had been lost by somebody\nwho lived far away, but had wandered on this very shore.\n\nMusing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her dress\nand then slowly drew on her shoes and stockings, which the sun had\nfully dried.\n\n\"I b'lieve, Billina,\" she said, \"I'll have a look 'round, and see if I\ncan find some breakfast.\"\n\n\n\n\n3.  Letters in the Sand\n\n\nWalking a little way back from the water's edge, toward the grove of\ntrees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of white sand that seemed to have\nqueer signs marked upon its surface, just as one would write upon sand\nwith a stick.\n\n\"What does it say?\" she asked the yellow hen, who trotted along beside\nher in a rather dignified fashion.\n\n\"How should I know?\" returned the hen.  \"I cannot read.\"\n\n\"Oh!  Can't you?\"\n\n\"Certainly not; I've never been to school, you know.\"\n\n\"Well, I have,\" admitted Dorothy; \"but the letters are big and far\napart, and it's hard to spell out the words.\"\n\nBut she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered that\nthese words were written in the sand:\n\n\"BEWARE THE WHEELERS!\"\n\n\n\"That's rather strange,\" declared the hen, when Dorothy had read aloud\nthe words.  \"What do you suppose the Wheelers are?\"\n\n\"Folks that wheel, I guess.  They must have wheelbarrows, or baby-cabs\nor hand-carts,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Perhaps they're automobiles,\" suggested the yellow hen.  \"There is no\nneed to beware of baby-cabs and wheelbarrows; but automobiles are\ndangerous things.  Several of my friends have been run over by them.\"\n\n\"It can't be auto'biles,\" replied the girl, \"for this is a new, wild\ncountry, without even trolley-cars or tel'phones.  The people here\nhaven't been discovered yet, I'm sure; that is, if there ARE any\npeople.  So I don't b'lieve there CAN be any auto'biles, Billina.\"\n\n\"Perhaps not,\" admitted the yellow hen.  \"Where are you going now?\"\n\n\"Over to those trees, to see if I can find some fruit or nuts,\"\nanswered Dorothy.\n\nShe tramped across the sand, skirting the foot of one of the little\nrocky hills that stood near, and soon reached the edge of the forest.\n\nAt first she was greatly disappointed, because the nearer trees were\nall punita, or cotton-wood or eucalyptus, and bore no fruit or nuts at\nall.  But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the little girl\ncame upon two trees that promised to furnish her with plenty of food.\n\nOne was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters on all\nthe limbs, and upon the biggest and ripest boxes the word \"Lunch\" could\nbe read, in neat raised letters.  This tree seemed to bear all the year\naround, for there were lunch-box blossoms on some of the branches, and\non others tiny little lunch-boxes that were as yet quite green, and\nevidently not fit to eat until they had grown bigger.\n\nThe leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented a very\npleasing appearance to the hungry little girl.\n\nBut the tree next to the lunch-box tree was even more wonderful, for it\nbore quantities of tin dinner-pails, which were so full and heavy that\nthe stout branches bent underneath their weight.  Some were small and\ndark-brown in color; those larger were of a dull tin color; but the\nreally ripe ones were pails of bright tin that shone and glistened\nbeautifully in the rays of sunshine that touched them.\n\nDorothy was delighted, and even the yellow hen acknowledged that she\nwas surprised.\n\nThe little girl stood on tip-toe and picked one of the nicest and\nbiggest lunch-boxes, and then she sat down upon the ground and eagerly\nopened it.  Inside she found, nicely wrapped in white papers, a ham\nsandwich, a piece of sponge-cake, a pickle, a slice of new cheese and\nan apple.  Each thing had a separate stem, and so had to be picked off\nthe side of the box; but Dorothy found them all to be delicious, and\nshe ate every bit of luncheon in the box before she had finished.\n\n\"A lunch isn't zactly breakfast,\" she said to Billina, who sat beside\nher curiously watching.  \"But when one is hungry one can eat even\nsupper in the morning, and not complain.\"\n\n\"I hope your lunch-box was perfectly ripe,\" observed the yellow hen, in\na anxious tone.  \"So much sickness is caused by eating green things.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm sure it was ripe,\" declared Dorothy, \"all, that is, 'cept the\npickle, and a pickle just HAS to be green, Billina.  But everything\ntasted perfectly splendid, and I'd rather have it than a church picnic.\nAnd now I think I'll pick a dinner-pail, to have when I get hungry\nagain, and then we'll start out and 'splore the country, and see where\nwe are.\"\n\n\"Haven't you any idea what country this is?\" inquired Billina.\n\n\"None at all.  But listen: I'm quite sure it's a fairy country, or such\nthings as lunch-boxes and dinner-pails wouldn't be growing upon trees.\nBesides, Billina, being a hen, you wouldn't be able to talk in any\nciv'lized country, like Kansas, where no fairies live at all.\"\n\n\"Perhaps we're in the Land of Oz,\" said the hen, thoughtfully.\n\n\"No, that can't be,\" answered the little girl; \"because I've been to\nthe Land of Oz, and it's all surrounded by a horrid desert that no one\ncan cross.\"\n\n\"Then how did you get away from there again?\" asked Billina.\n\n\"I had a pair of silver shoes, that carried me through the air; but I\nlost them,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Ah, indeed,\" remarked the yellow hen, in a tone of unbelief.\n\n\"Anyhow,\" resumed the girl, \"there is no seashore near the Land of Oz,\nso this must surely be some other fairy country.\"\n\nWhile she was speaking she selected a bright and pretty dinner-pail\nthat seemed to have a stout handle, and picked it from its branch.\nThen, accompanied by the yellow hen, she walked out of the shadow of\nthe trees toward the sea-shore.\n\nThey were part way across the sands when Billina suddenly cried, in a\nvoice of terror:\n\n\"What's that?\"\n\nDorothy turned quickly around, and saw coming out of a path that led\nfrom between the trees the most peculiar person her eyes had ever\nbeheld.\n\nIt had the form of a man, except that it walked, or rather rolled, upon\nall fours, and its legs were the same length as its arms, giving them\nthe appearance of the four legs of a beast.  Yet it was no beast that\nDorothy had discovered, for the person was clothed most gorgeously in\nembroidered garments of many colors, and wore a straw hat perched\njauntily upon the side of its head.  But it differed from human beings\nin this respect, that instead of hands and feet there grew at the end\nof its arms and legs round wheels, and by means of these wheels it\nrolled very swiftly over the level ground.  Afterward Dorothy found\nthat these odd wheels were of the same hard substance that our\nfinger-nails and toe-nails are composed of, and she also learned that\ncreatures of this strange race were born in this queer fashion.  But\nwhen our little girl first caught sight of the first individual of a\nrace that was destined to cause her a lot of trouble, she had an idea\nthat the brilliantly-clothed personage was on roller-skates, which were\nattached to his hands as well as to his feet.\n\n\"Run!\" screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in great fright.  \"It's\na Wheeler!\"\n\n\"A Wheeler?\" exclaimed Dorothy.  \"What can that be?\"\n\n\"Don't you remember the warning in the sand: 'Beware the Wheelers'?\nRun, I tell you--run!\"\n\nSo Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came after\nher in full chase.\n\nLooking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great\nprocession of Wheelers emerging from the forest--dozens and dozens of\nthem--all clad in splendid, tight-fitting garments and all rolling\nswiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange cries.\n\n\"They're sure to catch us!\" panted the girl, who was still carrying the\nheavy dinner-pail she had picked.  \"I can't run much farther, Billina.\"\n\n\"Climb up this hill,--quick!\" said the hen; and Dorothy found she was\nvery near to the heap of loose and jagged rocks they had passed on\ntheir way to the forest.  The yellow hen was even now fluttering among\nthe rocks, and Dorothy followed as best she could, half climbing and\nhalf tumbling up the rough and rugged steep.\n\nShe was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill a\nmoment after her; but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the\ncreature stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.\n\nDorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling, henny way.\n\n\"Don't hurry, my dear,\" cried Billina.  \"They can't follow us among\nthese rocks, so we're safe enough now.\"\n\nDorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for she was\nall out of breath.\n\nThe rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, but it\nwas evident that their wheels would not roll upon the rough and jagged\nrocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow Dorothy and the hen\nto where they had taken refuge.  But they circled all around the little\nhill, so the child and Billina were fast prisoners and could not come\ndown without being captured.\n\nThen the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a threatening\nmanner, and it seemed they were able to speak as well as to make their\ndreadful outcries, for several of them shouted:\n\n\"We'll get you in time, never fear!  And when we do get you, we'll tear\nyou into little bits!\"\n\n\"Why are you so cruel to me?\" asked Dorothy.  \"I'm a stranger in your\ncountry, and have done you no harm.\"\n\n\"No harm!\" cried one who seemed to be their leader.  \"Did you not pick\nour lunch-boxes and dinner-pails?  Have you not a stolen dinner-pail\nstill in your hand?\"\n\n\"I only picked one of each,\" she answered.  \"I was hungry, and I didn't\nknow the trees were yours.\"\n\n\"That is no excuse,\" retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most\ngorgeous suit.  \"It is the law here that whoever picks a dinner-pail\nwithout our permission must die immediately.\"\n\n\"Don't you believe him,\" said Billina.  \"I'm sure the trees do not\nbelong to these awful creatures.  They are fit for any mischief, and\nit's my opinion they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn't\npicked a dinner-pail.\"\n\n\"I think so, too,\" agreed Dorothy.  \"But what shall we do now?\"\n\n\"Stay where we are,\" advised the yellow hen.  \"We are safe from the\nWheelers until we starve to death, anyhow; and before that time comes a\ngood many things can happen.\"\n\n\n\n\n4.  Tiktok the Machine Man\n\n\nAfter an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back into the\nforest, leaving only three of their number to guard the hill.  These\ncurled themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go to sleep on the\nsands; but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled by this trick, so\nthey remained in security among the rocks and paid no attention to\ntheir cunning enemies.\n\nFinally the hen, fluttering over the mound, exclaimed: \"Why, here's a\npath!\"\n\nSo Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there, sure\nenough, was a smooth path cut between the rocks.  It seemed to wind\naround the mound from top to bottom, like a cork-screw, twisting here\nand there between the rough boulders but always remaining level and\neasy to walk upon.\n\nIndeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll up this\npath; but when she followed it to the foot of the mound she found that\nseveral big pieces of rock had been placed directly across the end of\nthe way, thus preventing any one outside from seeing it and also\npreventing the Wheelers from using it to climb up the mound.\n\nThen Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she came to\nthe very top of the hill, where a solitary round rock stood that was\nbigger than any of the others surrounding it.  The path came to an end\njust beside this great rock, and for a moment it puzzled the girl to\nknow why the path had been made at all.  But the hen, who had been\ngravely following her around and was now perched upon a point of rock\nbehind Dorothy, suddenly remarked:\n\n\"It looks something like a door, doesn't it?\"\n\n\"What looks like a door?\" enquired the child.\n\n\"Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you,\" replied Billina, whose\nlittle round eyes were very sharp and seemed to see everything.  \"It\nruns up one side and down the other, and across the top and the bottom.\"\n\n\"What does?\"\n\n\"Why, the crack.  So I think it must be a door of rock, although I do\nnot see any hinges.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said Dorothy, now observing for the first time the crack in\nthe rock.  \"And isn't this a key-hole, Billina?\" pointing to a round,\ndeep hole at one side of the door.\n\n\"Of course.  If we only had the key, now, we could unlock it and see\nwhat is there,\" replied the yellow hen.  \"May be it's a treasure\nchamber full of diamonds and rubies, or heaps of shining gold, or--\"\n\n\"That reminds me,\" said Dorothy, \"of the golden key I picked up on the\nshore.  Do you think that it would fit this key-hole, Billina?\"\n\n\"Try it and see,\" suggested the hen.\n\nSo Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the golden\nkey.  And when she had put it into the hole of the rock, and turned it,\na sudden sharp snap was heard; then, with a solemn creak that made the\nshivers run down the child's back, the face of the rock fell outward,\nlike a door on hinges, and revealed a small dark chamber just inside.\n\n\"Good gracious!\" cried Dorothy, shrinking back as far as the narrow\npath would let her.\n\nFor, standing within the narrow chamber of rock, was the form of a\nman--or, at least, it seemed like a man, in the dim light.  He was only\nabout as tall as Dorothy herself, and his body was round as a ball and\nmade out of burnished copper.  Also his head and limbs were copper, and\nthese were jointed or hinged to his body in a peculiar way, with metal\ncaps over the joints, like the armor worn by knights in days of old.\nHe stood perfectly still, and where the light struck upon his form it\nglittered as if made of pure gold.\n\n\"Don't be frightened,\" called Billina, from her perch.  \"It isn't\nalive.\"\n\n\"I see it isn't,\" replied the girl, drawing a long breath.\n\n\"It is only made out of copper, like the old kettle in the barn-yard at\nhome,\" continued the hen, turning her head first to one side and then\nto the other, so that both her little round eyes could examine the\nobject.\n\n\"Once,\" said Dorothy, \"I knew a man made out of tin, who was a woodman\nnamed Nick Chopper.  But he was as alive as we are, 'cause he was born\na real man, and got his tin body a little at a time--first a leg and\nthen a finger and then an ear--for the reason that he had so many\naccidents with his axe, and cut himself up in a very careless manner.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the hen, with a sniff, as if she did not believe the story.\n\n\"But this copper man,\" continued Dorothy, looking at it with big eyes,\n\"is not alive at all, and I wonder what it was made for, and why it was\nlocked up in this queer place.\"\n\n\"That is a mystery,\" remarked the hen, twisting her head to arrange her\nwing-feathers with her bill.\n\nDorothy stepped inside the little room to get a back view of the copper\nman, and in this way discovered a printed card that hung between his\nshoulders, it being suspended from a small copper peg at the back of\nhis neck.  She unfastened this card and returned to the path, where the\nlight was better, and sat herself down upon a slab of rock to read the\nprinting.\n\n\"What does it say?\" asked the hen, curiously.\n\nDorothy read the card aloud, spelling out the big words with some\ndifficulty; and this is what she read:\n\n  +-----------------------------------------------------------------+\n  |                                                                 |\n  |                       SMITH & TINKER'S                          |\n  |          Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,                |\n  |              Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking                  |\n  |                       MECHANICAL MAN                            |\n  |        Fitted with our Special Clock-Work Attachment.           |\n  |        Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.      |\n  |        Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev.      |\n  | All infringements will be promptly Prosecuted according to Law. |\n  |                                                                 |\n  +-----------------------------------------------------------------+\n\n\n\"How queer!\" said the yellow hen.  \"Do you think that is all true, my\ndear?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" answered Dorothy, who had more to read.  \"Listen to\nthis, Billina:\"\n\n  +--------------------------------------------------+\n  |                                                  |\n  |           DIRECTIONS FOR USING:                  |\n  | For THINKING:--Wind the Clock-work Man under his |\n  |       left arm, (marked No. 1.)                  |\n  | For SPEAKING:--Wind the Clock-work Man under his |\n  |       right arm, (marked No. 2.)                 |\n  | For WALKING and ACTION:--Wind Clock-work in the  |\n  |       middle of his back, (marked No. 3.)        |\n  | N. B.--This Mechanism is guaranteed to work      |\n  |       perfectly for a thousand years.            |\n  |                                                  |\n  +--------------------------------------------------+\n\n\n\"Well, I declare!\" gasped the yellow hen, in amazement; \"if the copper\nman can do half of these things he is a very wonderful machine.  But I\nsuppose it is all humbug, like so many other patented articles.\"\n\n\"We might wind him up,\" suggested Dorothy, \"and see what he'll do.\"\n\n\"Where is the key to the clock-work?\" asked Billina.\n\n\"Hanging on the peg where I found the card.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the hen, \"let us try him, and find out if he will go.  He\nis warranted for a thousand years, it seems; but we do not know how\nlong he has been standing inside this rock.\"\n\nDorothy had already taken the clock key from the peg.\n\n\"Which shall I wind up first?\" she asked, looking again at the\ndirections on the card.\n\n\"Number One, I should think,\" returned Billina.  \"That makes him think,\ndoesn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Dorothy, and wound up Number One, under the left arm.\n\n\"He doesn't seem any different,\" remarked the hen, critically.\n\n\"Why, of course not; he is only thinking, now,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"I wonder what he is thinking about.\"\n\n\"I'll wind up his talk, and then perhaps he can tell us,\" said the girl.\n\nSo she wound up Number Two, and immediately the clock-work man said,\nwithout moving any part of his body except his lips:\n\n\"Good morn-ing, lit-tle girl.  Good morn-ing, Mrs. Hen.\"\n\nThe words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and they were uttered all\nin the same tone, without any change of expression whatever; but both\nDorothy and Billina understood them perfectly.\n\n\"Good morning, sir,\" they answered, politely.\n\n\"Thank you for res-cu-ing me,\" continued the machine, in the same\nmonotonous voice, which seemed to be worked by a bellows inside of him,\nlike the little toy lambs and cats the children squeeze so that they\nwill make a noise.\n\n\"Don't mention it,\" answered Dorothy.  And then, being very curious,\nshe asked: \"How did you come to be locked up in this place?\"\n\n\"It is a long sto-ry,\" replied the copper man; \"but I will tell it to\nyou brief-ly.  I was pur-chased from Smith & Tin-ker, my\nman-u-fac-tur-ers, by a cru-el King of Ev, named Ev-ol-do, who used to\nbeat all his serv-ants un-til they died.  How-ev-er, he was not a-ble\nto kill me, be-cause I was not a-live, and one must first live in\nor-der to die.  So that all his beat-ing did me no harm, and mere-ly\nkept my cop-per bod-y well pol-ished.\n\n\"This cru-el king had a love-ly wife and ten beau-ti-ful\nchil-dren--five boys and five girls--but in a fit of an-ger he sold\nthem all to the Nome King, who by means of his mag-ic arts changed them\nall in-to oth-er forms and put them in his un-der-ground pal-ace to\nor-na-ment the rooms.\n\n\"Af-ter-ward the King of Ev re-gret-ted his wick-ed ac-tion, and tried\nto get his wife and chil-dren a-way from the Nome King, but with-out\na-vail.  So, in de-spair, he locked me up in this rock, threw the key\nin-to the o-cean, and then jumped in af-ter it and was drowned.\"\n\n\"How very dreadful!\" exclaimed Dorothy.\n\n\"It is, in-deed,\" said the machine.  \"When I found my-self im-pris-oned\nI shout-ed for help un-til my voice ran down; and then I walked back\nand forth in this lit-tle room un-til my ac-tion ran down; and then I\nstood still and thought un-til my thoughts ran down.  Af-ter that I\nre-mem-ber noth-ing un-til you wound me up a-gain.\"\n\n\"It's a very wonderful story,\" said Dorothy, \"and proves that the Land\nof Ev is really a fairy land, as I thought it was.\"\n\n\"Of course it is,\" answered the copper man.  \"I do not sup-pose such a\nper-fect ma-chine as I am could be made in an-y place but a fair-y\nland.\"\n\n\"I've never seen one in Kansas,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"But where did you get the key to un-lock this door?\" asked the\nclock-work voice.\n\n\"I found it on the shore, where it was prob'ly washed up by the waves,\"\nshe answered.  \"And now, sir, if you don't mind, I'll wind up your\naction.\"\n\n\"That will please me ve-ry much,\" said the machine.\n\nSo she wound up Number Three, and at once the copper man in a somewhat\nstiff and jerky fashion walked out of the rocky cavern, took off his\ncopper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before Dorothy.  Said\nhe:\n\n\"From this time forth I am your o-be-di-ent ser-vant.  What-ev-er you\ncom-mand, that I will do will-ing-ly--if you keep me wound up.\"\n\n\"What is your name?\" she asked.\n\n\"Tik-tok,\" he replied.  \"My for-mer mas-ter gave me that name be-cause\nmy clock-work al-ways ticks when it is wound up.\"\n\n\"I can hear it now,\" said the yellow hen.\n\n\"So can I,\" said Dorothy.  And then she added, with some anxiety: \"You\ndon't strike, do you?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Tiktok; \"and there is no a-larm con-nec-ted with my\nma-chin-er-y.  I can tell the time, though, by speak-ing, and as I\nnev-er sleep I can wak-en you at an-y hour you wish to get up in the\nmorn-ing.\"\n\n\"That's nice,\" said the little girl; \"only I never wish to get up in\nthe morning.\"\n\n\"You can sleep until I lay my egg,\" said the yellow hen.  \"Then, when I\ncackle, Tiktok will know it is time to waken you.\"\n\n\"Do you lay your egg very early?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"About eight o'clock,\" said Billina.  \"And everybody ought to be up by\nthat time, I'm sure.\"\n\n\n\n\n5.  Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail\n\n\n\"Now Tiktok,\" said Dorothy, \"the first thing to be done is to find a\nway for us to escape from these rocks.  The Wheelers are down below,\nyou know, and threaten to kill us.\"\n\n\"There is no rea-son to be a-fraid of the Wheel-ers,\" said Tiktok, the\nwords coming more slowly than before.\n\n\"Why not?\" she asked.\n\n\"Be-cause they are ag-g-g--gr-gr-r-r-\"\n\nHe gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands\nfrantically until suddenly he became motionless, with one arm in the\nair and the other held stiffly before him with all the copper fingers\nof the hand spread out like a fan.\n\n\"Dear me!\" said Dorothy, in a frightened tone.  \"What can the matter\nbe?\"\n\n\"He's run down, I suppose,\" said the hen, calmly.  \"You couldn't have\nwound him up very tight.\"\n\n\"I didn't know how much to wind him,\" replied the girl; \"but I'll try\nto do better next time.\"\n\nShe ran around the copper man to take the key from the peg at the back\nof his neck, but it was not there.\n\n\"It's gone!\" cried Dorothy, in dismay.\n\n\"What's gone?\" asked Billina.\n\n\"The key.\"\n\n\"It probably fell off when he made that low bow to you,\" returned the\nhen.  \"Look around, and see if you cannot find it again.\"\n\nDorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl\ndiscovered the clock-key, which had fallen into a crack of the rock.\n\nAt once she wound up Tiktok's voice, taking care to give the key as\nmany turns as it would go around.  She found this quite a task, as you\nmay imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock, but the machine\nman's first words were to assure Dorothy that he would now run for at\nleast twenty-four hours.\n\n\"You did not wind me much, at first,\" he calmly said, \"and I told you\nthat long sto-ry a-bout King Ev-ol-do; so it is no won-der that I ran\ndown.\"\n\nShe next rewound the action clock-work, and then Billina advised her to\ncarry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would not get lost again.\n\n\"And now,\" said Dorothy, when all this was accomplished, \"tell me what\nyou were going to say about the Wheelers.\"\n\n\"Why, they are noth-ing to be fright-en'd at,\" said the machine.  \"They\ntry to make folks be-lieve that they are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but as a\nmat-ter of fact the Wheel-ers are harm-less e-nough to an-y one that\ndares to fight them.  They might try to hurt a lit-tle girl like you,\nper-haps, be-cause they are ver-y mis-chiev-ous.  But if I had a club\nthey would run a-way as soon as they saw me.\"\n\n\"Haven't you a club?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"No,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"And you won't find such a thing among these rocks, either,\" declared\nthe yellow hen.\n\n\"Then what shall we do?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Wind up my think-works tight-ly, and I will try to think of some\noth-er plan,\" said Tiktok.\n\nSo Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he was thinking she\ndecided to eat her dinner.  Billina was already pecking away at the\ncracks in the rocks, to find something to eat, so Dorothy sat down and\nopened her tin dinner-pail.\n\nIn the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice\nlemonade.  It was covered by a cup, which might also, when removed, be\nused to drink the lemonade from.  Within the pail were three slices of\nturkey, two slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad, four slices of\nbread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and nine large\nstrawberries, and some nuts and raisins.  Singularly enough, the nuts\nin this dinner-pail grew already cracked, so that Dorothy had no\ntrouble in picking out their meats to eat.\n\nShe spread the feast upon the rock beside her and began her dinner,\nfirst offering some of it to Tiktok, who declined because, as he said,\nhe was merely a machine.  Afterward she offered to share with Billina,\nbut the hen murmured something about \"dead things\" and said she\npreferred her bugs and ants.\n\n\"Do the lunch-box trees and the dinner-pail trees belong to the\nWheelers?\" the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in eating her meal.\n\n\"Of course not,\" he answered.  \"They be-long to the roy-al fam-il-y of\nEv, on-ly of course there is no roy-al fam-il-y just now be-cause King\nEv-ol-do jumped in-to the sea and his wife and ten chil-dren have been\ntrans-formed by the Nome King.  So there is no one to rule the Land of\nEv, that I can think of.  Per-haps it is for this rea-son that the\nWheel-ers claim the trees for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and\ndin-ners to eat them-selves.  But they be-long to the King, and you\nwill find the roy-al \"E\" stamped up-on the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner\npail.\"\n\nDorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal mark\nupon it, as Tiktok had said.\n\n\"Are the Wheelers the only folks living in the Land of Ev?\" enquired\nthe girl.\n\n\"No; they on-ly in-hab-it a small por-tion of it just back of the\nwoods,\" replied the machine.  \"But they have al-ways been mis-chiev-ous\nand im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter, King Ev-ol-do, used to car-ry a\nwhip with him, when he walked out, to keep the crea-tures in or-der.\nWhen I was first made the Wheel-ers tried to run o-ver me, and butt me\nwith their heads; but they soon found I was built of too sol-id a\nma-ter-i-al for them to in-jure.\"\n\n\"You seem very durable,\" said Dorothy.  \"Who made you?\"\n\n\"The firm of Smith & Tin-ker, in the town of Evna, where the roy-al\npal-ace stands,\" answered Tiktok.\n\n\"Did they make many of you?\" asked the child.\n\n\"No; I am the on-ly au-to-mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they ev-er\ncom-plet-ed,\" he replied.  \"They were ver-y won-der-ful in-ven-tors,\nwere my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in all they did.\"\n\n\"I am sure of that,\" said Dorothy.  \"Do they live in the town of Evna\nnow?\"\n\n\"They are both gone,\" replied the machine.  \"Mr. Smith was an art-ist,\nas well as an in-vent-or, and he paint-ed a pic-ture of a riv-er which\nwas so nat-ur-al that, as he was reach-ing a-cross it to paint some\nflow-ers on the op-po-site bank, he fell in-to the wa-ter and was\ndrowned.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm sorry for that!\" exclaimed the little girl.\n\n\"Mis-ter Tin-ker,\" continued Tiktok, \"made a lad-der so tall that he\ncould rest the end of it a-gainst the moon, while he stood on the\nhigh-est rung and picked the lit-tle stars to set in the points of the\nking's crown.  But when he got to the moon Mis-ter Tin-ker found it\nsuch a love-ly place that he de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up\nthe lad-der af-ter him and we have nev-er seen him since.\"\n\n\"He must have been a great loss to this country,\" said Dorothy, who was\nby this time eating her custard pie.\n\n\"He was,\" acknowledged Tiktok.  \"Also he is a great loss to me.  For if\nI should get out of or-der I do not know of an-y one a-ble to re-pair\nme, be-cause I am so com-pli-cat-ed.  You have no i-de-a how full of\nma-chin-er-y I am.\"\n\n\"I can imagine it,\" said Dorothy, readily.\n\n\"And now,\" continued the machine, \"I must stop talk-ing and be-gin\nthink-ing a-gain of a way to es-cape from this rock.\"  So he turned\nhalf way around, in order to think without being disturbed.\n\n\"The best thinker I ever knew,\" said Dorothy to the yellow hen, \"was a\nscarecrow.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" snapped Billina.\n\n\"It is true,\" declared Dorothy.  \"I met him in the Land of Oz, and he\ntraveled with me to the city of the great Wizard of Oz, so as to get\nsome brains, for his head was only stuffed with straw.  But it seemed\nto me that he thought just as well before he got his brains as he did\nafterward.\"\n\n\"Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the Land of Oz?\"\nenquired Billina, who seemed a little cross--perhaps because bugs were\nscarce.\n\n\"What rubbish?\" asked the child, who was now finishing her nuts and\nraisins.\n\n\"Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk, and a tin\nwoodman who is alive, and a scarecrow who can think.\"\n\n\"They are all there,\" said Dorothy, \"for I have seen them.\"\n\n\"I don't believe it!\" cried the hen, with a toss of her head.\n\n\"That's 'cause you're so ign'rant,\" replied the girl, who was a little\noffended at her friend Billina's speech.\n\n\"In the Land of Oz,\" remarked Tiktok, turning toward them, \"an-y-thing\nis pos-si-ble.  For it is a won-der-ful fair-y coun-try.\"\n\n\"There, Billina! what did I say?\" cried Dorothy.  And then she turned\nto the machine and asked in an eager tone: \"Do you know the Land of Oz,\nTiktok?\"\n\n\"No; but I have heard a-bout it,\" said the cop-per man.  \"For it is\non-ly sep-a-ra-ted from this Land of Ev by a broad des-ert.\"\n\nDorothy clapped her hands together delightedly.\n\n\"I'm glad of that!\" she exclaimed.  \"It makes me quite happy to be so\nnear my old friends.  The scarecrow I told you of, Billina, is the King\nof the Land of Oz.\"\n\n\"Par-don me.  He is not the king now,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"He was when I left there,\" declared Dorothy.\n\n\"I know,\" said Tiktok, \"but there was a rev-o-lu-tion in the Land of\nOz, and the Scare-crow was de-posed by a sol-dier wo-man named\nGen-er-al Jin-jur.  And then Jin-jur was de-posed by a lit-tle girl\nnamed Oz-ma, who was the right-ful heir to the throne and now rules the\nland un-der the ti-tle of Oz-ma of Oz.\"\n\n\"That is news to me,\" said Dorothy, thoughtfully.  \"But I s'pose lots\nof things have happened since I left the Land of Oz.  I wonder what has\nbecome of the Scarecrow, and of the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.\nAnd I wonder who this girl Ozma is, for I never heard of her before.\"\n\nBut Tiktok did not reply to this.  He had turned around again to resume\nhis thinking.\n\nDorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as not to be\nwasteful of good things, and the yellow hen forgot her dignity far\nenough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which she ate rather\ngreedily, although she had so lately pretended to despise the things\nthat Dorothy preferred as food.\n\nBy this time Tiktok approached them with his stiff bow.\n\n\"Be kind e-nough to fol-low me,\" he said, \"and I will lead you a-way\nfrom here to the town of Ev-na, where you will be more com-for-ta-ble,\nand al-so I will pro-tect you from the Wheel-ers.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered Dorothy, promptly.  \"I'm ready!\"\n\n\n\n\n6.  The Heads of Langwidere\n\n\nThey walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going first,\nDorothy following him, and the yellow hen trotting along last of all.\n\nAt the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed aside\nwith ease the rocks that encumbered the way.  Then he turned to Dorothy\nand said:\n\n\"Let me car-ry your din-ner-pail.\"\n\nShe placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers closed\nfirmly over the stout handle.\n\nThen the little procession marched out upon the level sands.\n\nAs soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw them,\nthey began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly toward the\nlittle group, as if to capture them or bar their way.  But when the\nforemost had approached near enough, Tiktok swung the tin dinner-pail\nand struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head with the queer\nweapon.  Perhaps it did not hurt very much, but it made a great noise,\nand the Wheeler uttered a howl and tumbled over upon its side.  The\nnext minute it scrambled to its wheels and rolled away as fast as it\ncould go, screeching with fear at the same time.\n\n\"I told you they were harm-less,\" began Tiktok; but before he could say\nmore another Wheeler was upon them.  Crack! went the dinner-pail\nagainst its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen feet away; and that\nwas enough for this Wheeler, also.  It rolled away after the first one,\nand the third did not wait to be pounded with the pail, but joined its\nfellows as quickly as its wheels would whirl.\n\nThe yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch upon\nTiktok's shoulder, she said:\n\n\"Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of, too.  Now we\nare free from those ugly creatures.\"\n\nBut just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest, and\nrelying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely upon\nTiktok.  Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her tight, and\nthe machine embraced the form of the little girl with his left arm, the\nbetter to protect her.  Then the Wheelers were upon them.\n\nRattlety, bang! bang! went the dinner-pail in every direction, and it\nmade so much clatter bumping against the heads of the Wheelers that\nthey were much more frightened than hurt and fled in a great panic.\nAll, that is, except their leader.  This Wheeler had stumbled against\nanother and fallen flat upon his back, and before he could get his\nwheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had fastened his copper fingers\ninto the neck of the gorgeous jacket of his foe and held him fast.\n\n\"Tell your peo-ple to go a-way,\" commanded the machine.\n\nThe leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so Tiktok\nshook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the Wheeler's teeth\nrattled together with a noise like hailstones on a window pane.  Then,\nas soon as the creature could get its breath, it shouted to the others\nto roll away, which they immediately did.\n\n\"Now,\" said Tiktok, \"you shall come with us and tell me what I want to\nknow.\"\n\n\"You'll be sorry for treating me in this way,\" whined the Wheeler.\n\"I'm a terribly fierce person.\"\n\n\"As for that,\" answered Tiktok, \"I am only a ma-chine, and can-not feel\nsor-row or joy, no mat-ter what hap-pens.  But you are wrong to think\nyour-self ter-ri-ble or fierce.\"\n\n\"Why so?\" asked the Wheeler.\n\n\"Be-cause no one else thinks as you do.  Your wheels make you help-less\nto in-jure an-y one.  For you have no fists and can not scratch or\ne-ven pull hair.  Nor have you an-y feet to kick with.  All you can do\nis to yell and shout, and that does not hurt an-y one at all.\"\n\nThe Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy's great surprise.\n\n\"Now I and my people are ruined forever!\" he sobbed; \"for you have\ndiscovered our secret.  Being so helpless, our only hope is to make\npeople afraid of us, by pretending we are very fierce and terrible, and\nwriting in the sand warnings to Beware the Wheelers.  Until now we have\nfrightened everyone, but since you have discovered our weakness our\nenemies will fall upon us and make us very miserable and unhappy.\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see this beautifully\ndressed Wheeler so miserable; \"Tiktok will keep your secret, and so\nwill Billina and I.  Only, you must promise not to try to frighten\nchildren any more, if they come near to you.\"\n\n\"I won't--indeed I won't!\" promised the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and\nbecoming more cheerful.  \"I'm not really bad, you know; but we have to\npretend to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking us.\"\n\n\"That is not ex-act-ly true,\" said Tiktok, starting to walk toward the\npath through the forest, and still holding fast to his prisoner, who\nrolled slowly along beside him.  \"You and your peo-ple are full of\nmis-chief, and like to both-er those who fear you.  And you are of-ten\nim-pu-dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too.  But if you will try to cure\nthose faults I will not tell any-one how help-less you are.\"\n\n\"I'll try, of course,\" replied the Wheeler, eagerly.  \"And thank you,\nMr. Tiktok, for your kindness.\"\n\n\"I am on-ly a ma-chine,\" said Tiktok.  \"I can not be kind an-y more\nthan I can be sor-ry or glad.  I can on-ly do what I am wound up to do.\"\n\n\"Are you wound up to keep my secret?\" asked the Wheeler, anxiously.\n\n\"Yes; if you be-have your-self.  But tell me: who rules the Land of Ev\nnow?\" asked the machine.\n\n\"There is no ruler,\" was the answer, \"because every member of the royal\nfamily is imprisoned by the Nome King.  But the Princess Langwidere,\nwho is a niece of our late King Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal\npalace and takes as much money out of the royal treasury as she can\nspend.  The Princess Langwidere is not exactly a ruler, you see,\nbecause she doesn't rule; but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we\nhave at present.\"\n\n\"I do not re-mem-ber her,\" said Tiktok.  \"What does she look like?\"\n\n\"That I cannot say,\" replied the Wheeler, \"although I have seen her\ntwenty times.  For the Princess Langwidere is a different person every\ntime I see her, and the only way her subjects can recognize her at all\nis by means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain\nattached to her left wrist.  When we see the key we know we are\nbeholding the Princess.\"\n\n\"That is strange,\" said Dorothy, in astonishment.  \"Do you mean to say\nthat so many different princesses are one and the same person?\"\n\n\"Not exactly,\" answered the Wheeler.  \"There is, of course, but one\nprincess; but she appears to us in many forms, which are all more or\nless beautiful.\"\n\n\"She must be a witch,\" exclaimed the girl.\n\n\"I do not think so,\" declared the Wheeler.  \"But there is some mystery\nconnected with her, nevertheless.  She is a very vain creature, and\nlives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire\nherself whichever way she looks.\"\n\nNo one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of the\nforest and their attention was fixed upon the scene before them--a\nbeautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and green fields, with\npretty farm-houses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads\nthat led in every direction.\n\nIn the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends\nwere standing, rose the tall spires of the royal palace, which\nglittered brightly against their background of blue sky.  The palace\nwas surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery.\nSeveral tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were pleasant walks\nbordered by rows of white marble statuary.\n\nAll these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or admire\nuntil they had advanced along the road to a position quite near to the\npalace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights when her little\nparty entered the grounds and approached the big front door of the\nking's own apartments.  To their disappointment they found the door\ntightly closed.  A sign was tacked to the panel which read as follows:\n\n  +----------------------------+\n  |                            |\n  |       OWNER ABSENT.        |\n  |                            |\n  | Please Knock at the Third  |\n  | Door in the Left Wing.     |\n  |                            |\n  +----------------------------+\n\n\n\"Now,\" said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler, \"you must show us the way to\nthe Left Wing.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" agreed the prisoner, \"it is around here at the right.\"\n\n\"How can the left wing be at the right?\" demanded Dorothy, who feared\nthe Wheeler was fooling them.\n\n\"Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn down, so the\none on the right is the only one left.  It is a trick of the Princess\nLangwidere to prevent visitors from annoying her.\"\n\nThen the captive led them around to the wing, after which the machine\nman, having no further use for the Wheeler, permitted him to depart and\nrejoin his fellows.  He immediately rolled away at a great pace and was\nsoon lost to sight.\n\nTiktok now counted the doors in the wing and knocked loudly upon the\nthird one.\n\nIt was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay ribbons, who\nbowed respectfully and asked:\n\n\"What do you wish, good people?\"\n\n\"Are you the Princess Langwidere?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"No, miss; I am her servant,\" replied the maid.\n\n\"May I see the Princess, please?\"\n\n\"I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant you an\naudience,\" said the maid.  \"Step in, please, and take a seat in the\ndrawing-room.\"\n\nSo Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine.  But as the\nyellow hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried \"Shoo!\" and\nflapped her apron in Billina's face.\n\n\"Shoo, yourself!\" retorted the hen, drawing back in anger and ruffling\nup her feathers.  \"Haven't you any better manners than that?\"\n\n\"Oh, do you talk?\" enquired the maid, evidently surprised.\n\n\"Can't you hear me?\" snapped Billina.  \"Drop that apron, and get out of\nthe doorway, so that I may enter with my friends!\"\n\n\"The Princess won't like it,\" said the maid, hesitating.\n\n\"I don't care whether she likes it or not,\" replied Billina, and\nfluttering her wings with a loud noise she flew straight at the maid's\nface.  The little servant at once ducked her head, and the hen reached\nDorothy's side in safety.\n\n\"Very well,\" sighed the maid; \"if you are all ruined because of this\nobstinate hen, don't blame me for it.  It isn't safe to annoy the\nPrincess Langwidere.\"\n\n\"Tell her we are waiting, if you please,\" Dorothy requested, with\ndignity.  \"Billina is my friend, and must go wherever I go.\"\n\nWithout more words the maid led them to a richly furnished\ndrawing-room, lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in through\nbeautiful stained-glass windows.\n\n\"Remain here,\" she said.  \"What names shall I give the Princess?\"\n\n\"I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas,\" replied the child; \"and this gentleman\nis a machine named Tiktok, and the yellow hen is my friend Billina.\"\n\nThe little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several passages\nand mounting two marble stairways before she came to the apartments\noccupied by her mistress.\n\nPrincess Langwidere's sitting-room was paneled with great mirrors,\nwhich reached from the ceiling to the floor; also the ceiling was\ncomposed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished silver that\nreflected every object upon it.  So when Langwidere sat in her easy\nchair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her form was mirrored\nhundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and floor, and whichever way\nthe lady turned her head she could see and admire her own features.\nThis she loved to do, and just as the maid entered she was saying to\nherself:\n\n\"This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite attractive.  I\nmust wear it more often than I have done of late, although it may not\nbe the best of my collection.\"\n\n\"You have company, Your Highness,\" announced the maid, bowing low.\n\n\"Who is it?\" asked Langwidere, yawning.\n\n\"Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Mr. Tiktok and Billina,\" answered the maid.\n\n\"What a queer lot of names!\" murmured the Princess, beginning to be a\nlittle interested.  \"What are they like?  Is Dorothy Gale of Kansas\npretty?\"\n\n\"She might be called so,\" the maid replied.\n\n\"And is Mr. Tiktok attractive?\" continued the Princess.\n\n\"That I cannot say, Your Highness.  But he seems very bright.  Will\nYour Gracious Highness see them?\"\n\n\"Oh, I may as well, Nanda.  But I am tired admiring this head, and if\nmy visitor has any claim to beauty I must take care that she does not\nsurpass me.  So I will go to my cabinet and change to No. 17, which I\nthink is my best appearance.  Don't you?\"\n\n\"Your No. 17 is exceedingly beautiful,\" answered Nanda, with another\nbow.\n\nAgain the Princess yawned.  Then she said:\n\n\"Help me to rise.\"\n\nSo the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere was the\nstronger of the two; and then the Princess slowly walked across the\nsilver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every step upon Nanda's\narm.\n\nNow I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had thirty\nheads--as many as there are days in the month.  But of course she could\nonly wear one of them at a time, because she had but one neck.  These\nheads were kept in what she called her \"cabinet,\" which was a beautiful\ndressing-room that lay just between Langwidere's sleeping-chamber and\nthe mirrored sitting-room.  Each head was in a separate cupboard lined\nwith velvet.  The cupboards ran all around the sides of the\ndressing-room, and had elaborately carved doors with gold numbers on\nthe outside and jeweled-framed mirrors on the inside of them.\n\nWhen the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she went to\nher cabinet, opened one of the velvet-lined cupboards, and took the\nhead it contained from its golden shelf.  Then, by the aid of the\nmirror inside the open door, she put on the head--as neat and straight\nas could be--and afterward called her maids to robe her for the day.\nShe always wore a simple white costume, that suited all the heads.\nFor, being able to change her face whenever she liked, the Princess had\nno interest in wearing a variety of gowns, as have other ladies who are\ncompelled to wear the same face constantly.\n\nOf course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed alike\nbut all being of exceeding loveliness.  There were heads with golden\nhair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none with gray\nhair.  The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of brown and of\nblack; but there were no red eyes among them, and all were bright and\nhandsome.  The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse and Oriental,\nrepresenting all types of beauty; and the mouths were of assorted sizes\nand shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the heads smiled.  As for\ndimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, wherever they might be most\ncharming, and one or two heads had freckles upon the faces to contrast\nthe better with the brilliancy of their complexions.\n\nOne key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these treasures--a\ncurious key carved from a single blood-red ruby--and this was fastened\nto a strong but slender chain which the Princess wore around her left\nwrist.\n\nWhen Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of cupboard\nNo. 17, the Princess unlocked the door with her ruby key and after\nhanding head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the maid, she took\nNo. 17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck.  It had black hair and\ndark eyes and a lovely pearl-and-white complexion, and when Langwidere\nwore it she knew she was remarkably beautiful in appearance.\n\nThere was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went with it\n(and which was hidden somewhere under the glossy black hair) was fiery,\nharsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led the Princess to do\nunpleasant things which she regretted when she came to wear her other\nheads.\n\nBut she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests in the\ndrawing-room with a feeling of certainty that she would surprise them\nwith her beauty.\n\nHowever, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors were\nmerely a small girl in a gingham dress, a copper man that would only go\nwhen wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting contentedly in\nLangwidere's best work-basket, where there was a china egg used for\ndarning stockings.  (It may surprise you to learn that a princess ever\ndoes such a common thing as darn stockings.  But, if you will stop to\nthink, you will realize that a princess is sure to wear holes in her\nstockings, the same as other people; only it isn't considered quite\npolite to mention the matter.)\n\n\"Oh!\" said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of No. 17.  \"I thought\nsome one of importance had called.\"\n\n\"Then you were right,\" declared Dorothy.  \"I'm a good deal of 'portance\nmyself, and when Billina lays an egg she has the proudest cackle you\never heard.  As for Tiktok, he's the--\"\n\n\"Stop--Stop!\" commanded the Princess, with an angry flash of her\nsplendid eyes.  \"How dare you annoy me with your senseless chatter?\"\n\n\"Why, you horrid thing!\" said Dorothy, who was not accustomed to being\ntreated so rudely.\n\nThe Princess looked at her more closely.\n\n\"Tell me,\" she resumed, \"are you of royal blood?\"\n\n\"Better than that, ma'am,\" said Dorothy.  \"I came from Kansas.\"\n\n\"Huh!\" cried the Princess, scornfully.  \"You are a foolish child, and I\ncannot allow you to annoy me.  Run away, you little goose, and bother\nsome one else.\"\n\nDorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no words to\nreply.  But she rose from her chair, and was about to leave the room\nwhen the Princess, who had been scanning the girl's face, stopped her\nby saying, more gently:\n\n\"Come nearer to me.\"\n\nDorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the\nPrincess while Langwidere examined her face with careful attention.\n\n\"You are rather attractive,\" said the lady, presently.  \"Not at all\nbeautiful, you understand, but you have a certain style of prettiness\nthat is different from that of any of my thirty heads.  So I believe\nI'll take your head and give you No. 26 for it.\"\n\n\"Well, I b'lieve you won't!\" exclaimed Dorothy.\n\n\"It will do you no good to refuse,\" continued the Princess; \"for I need\nyour head for my collection, and in the Land of Ev my will is law.  I\nnever have cared much for No. 26, and you will find that it is very\nlittle worn.  Besides, it will do you just as well as the one you're\nwearing, for all practical purposes.\"\n\n\"I don't know anything about your No. 26, and I don't want to,\" said\nDorothy, firmly.  \"I'm not used to taking cast-off things, so I'll just\nkeep my own head.\"\n\n\"You refuse?\" cried the Princess, with a frown.\n\n\"Of course I do,\" was the reply.\n\n\"Then,\" said Langwidere, \"I shall lock you up in a tower until you\ndecide to obey me.  Nanda,\" turning to her maid, \"call my army.\"\n\nNanda rang a silver bell, and at once a big fat colonel in a bright red\nuniform entered the room, followed by ten lean soldiers, who all looked\nsad and discouraged and saluted the princess in a very melancholy\nfashion.\n\n\"Carry that girl to the North Tower and lock her up!\" cried the\nPrincess, pointing to Dorothy.\n\n\"To hear is to obey,\" answered the big red colonel, and caught the\nchild by her arm.  But at that moment Tiktok raised his dinner-pail and\npounded it so forcibly against the colonel's head that the big officer\nsat down upon the floor with a sudden bump, looking both dazed and very\nmuch astonished.\n\n\"Help!\" he shouted, and the ten lean soldiers sprang to assist their\nleader.\n\nThere was great excitement for the next few moments, and Tiktok had\nknocked down seven of the army, who were sprawling in every direction\nupon the carpet, when suddenly the machine paused, with the dinner-pail\nraised for another blow, and remained perfectly motionless.\n\n\"My ac-tion has run down,\" he called to Dorothy.  \"Wind me up, quick.\"\n\nShe tried to obey, but the big colonel had by this time managed to get\nupon his feet again, so he grabbed fast hold of the girl and she was\nhelpless to escape.\n\n\"This is too bad,\" said the machine.  \"I ought to have run six hours\nlon-ger, at least, but I sup-pose my long walk and my fight with the\nWheel-ers made me run down fast-er than us-u-al.\"\n\n\"Well, it can't be helped,\" said Dorothy, with a sigh.\n\n\"Will you exchange heads with me?\" demanded the Princess.\n\n\"No, indeed!\" cried Dorothy.\n\n\"Then lock her up,\" said Langwidere to her soldiers, and they led\nDorothy to a high tower at the north of the palace and locked her\nsecurely within.\n\nThe soldiers afterward tried to lift Tiktok, but they found the machine\nso solid and heavy that they could not stir it.  So they left him\nstanding in the center of the drawing-room.\n\n\"People will think I have a new statue,\" said Langwidere, \"so it won't\nmatter in the least, and Nanda can keep him well polished.\"\n\n\"What shall we do with the hen?\" asked the colonel, who had just\ndiscovered Billina in the work-basket.\n\n\"Put her in the chicken-house,\" answered the Princess.  \"Someday I'll\nhave her fried for breakfast.\"\n\n\"She looks rather tough, Your Highness,\" said Nanda, doubtfully.\n\n\"That is a base slander!\" cried Billina, struggling frantically in the\ncolonel's arms.  \"But the breed of chickens I come from is said to be\npoison to all princesses.\"\n\n\"Then,\" remarked Langwidere, \"I will not fry the hen, but keep her to\nlay eggs; and if she doesn't do her duty I'll have her drowned in the\nhorse trough.\"\n\n\n\n\n7.  Ozma of Oz to the Rescue\n\n\nNanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper, and she slept\nupon a hard stone couch with a single pillow and a silken coverlet.\n\nIn the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the tower\nto see if there was any way to escape.  The room was not so very high\nup, when compared with our modern buildings, but it was far enough\nabove the trees and farm houses to give her a good view of the\nsurrounding country.\n\nTo the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the ocean\nbeyond that.  There was even a dark speck upon the shore that she\nthought might be the chicken-coop in which she had arrived at this\nsingular country.\n\nThen she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley lying\nbetween two rocky mountains, and a third mountain that shut off the\nvalley at the further end.\n\nWestward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from the\npalace, and the girl could see miles and miles of sandy desert that\nstretched further than her eyes could reach.  It was this desert, she\nthought, with much interest, that alone separated her from the\nwonderful Land of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that she had been\ntold no one had ever been able to cross this dangerous waste but\nherself.  Once a cyclone had carried her across it, and a magical pair\nof silver shoes had carried her back again.  But now she had neither a\ncyclone nor silver shoes to assist her, and her condition was sad\nindeed.  For she had become the prisoner of a disagreeable princess who\ninsisted that she must exchange her head for another one that she was\nnot used to, and which might not fit her at all.\n\nReally, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old friends in\nthe Land of Oz.  Thoughtfully she gazed from her narrow window.  On all\nthe desert not a living thing was stirring.\n\nWait, though!  Something surely WAS stirring on the desert--something\nher eyes had not observed at first.  Now it seemed like a cloud; now it\nseemed like a spot of silver; now it seemed to be a mass of rainbow\ncolors that moved swiftly toward her.\n\nWhat COULD it be, she wondered?\n\nThen, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the vision\ndrew near enough to Dorothy to make out what it was.\n\nA broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, while\nadvancing across the carpet was a wonderful procession that made the\ngirl open her eyes in amazement as she gazed.\n\nFirst came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion and an\nimmense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted along as\ngracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses.  And standing\nupright within the chariot was a beautiful girl clothed in flowing\nrobes of silver gauze and wearing a jeweled diadem upon her dainty\nhead.  She held in one hand the satin ribbons that guided her\nastonishing team, and in the other an ivory wand that separated at the\ntop into two prongs, the prongs being tipped by the letters \"O\" and\n\"Z\", made of glistening diamonds set closely together.\n\nThe girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself, and at\nonce the prisoner in the tower guessed that the lovely driver of the\nchariot must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so lately heard from\nTiktok.\n\nFollowing close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend the\nScarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden Saw-Horse, which pranced and\ntrotted as naturally as any meat horse could have done.\n\nAnd then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his funnel-shaped cap\ntipped carelessly over his left ear, his gleaming axe over his right\nshoulder, and his whole body sparkling as brightly as it had ever done\nin the old days when first she knew him.\n\nThe Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company of\ntwenty-seven soldiers, of whom some were lean and some fat, some short\nand some tall; but all the twenty-seven were dressed in handsome\nuniforms of various designs and colors, no two being alike in any\nrespect.\n\nBehind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so that\nthere was always just enough of it for the procession to walk upon, in\norder that their feet might not come in contact with the deadly,\nlife-destroying sands of the desert.\n\nDorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her heart\nbeat high with hope and joy as she realized she was soon to be rescued\nand allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of Oz--the Scarecrow,\nthe Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.\n\nIndeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as she\nrecognized those in the procession, for she well knew the courage and\nloyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others who came\nfrom their marvelous country would prove to be pleasant and reliable\nacquaintances.\n\nAs soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the procession,\nfrom the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the last soldier, had reached the\ngrassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet rolled itself\ntogether and entirely disappeared.\n\nThen the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad roadway\nleading up to the palace, and the others followed, while Dorothy still\ngazed from her tower window in eager excitement.\n\nThey came quite close to the front door of the palace and then halted,\nthe Scarecrow dismounting from his Saw-Horse to approach the sign\nfastened to the door, that he might read what it said.\n\nDorothy, just above him, could keep silent no longer.\n\n\"Here I am!\" she shouted, as loudly as she could.  \"Here's Dorothy!\"\n\n\"Dorothy who?\" asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head to look upward\nuntil he nearly lost his balance and tumbled over backward.\n\n\"Dorothy Gale, of course.  Your friend from Kansas,\" she answered.\n\n\"Why, hello, Dorothy!\" said the Scarecrow.  \"What in the world are you\ndoing up there?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" she called down, \"because there's nothing to do.  Save me,\nmy friend--save me!\"\n\n\"You seem to be quite safe now,\" replied the Scarecrow.\n\n\"But I'm a prisoner.  I'm locked in, so that I can't get out,\" she\npleaded.\n\n\"That's all right,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"You might be worse off,\nlittle Dorothy.  Just consider the matter.  You can't get drowned, or\nbe run over by a Wheeler, or fall out of an apple-tree.  Some folks\nwould think they were lucky to be up there.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't,\" declared the girl, \"and I want to get down immed'i'tly\nand see you and the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the Scarecrow, nodding.  \"It shall be just as you\nsay, little friend.  Who locked you up?\"\n\n\"The princess Langwidere, who is a horrid creature,\" she answered.\n\nAt this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the conversation,\ncalled to Dorothy from her chariot, asking:\n\n\"Why did the Princess lock you up, my dear?\"\n\n\"Because,\" exclaimed Dorothy, \"I wouldn't let her have my head for her\ncollection, and take an old, cast-off head in exchange for it.\"\n\n\"I do not blame you,\" exclaimed Ozma, promptly.  \"I will see the\nPrincess at once, and oblige her to liberate you.\"\n\n\"Oh, thank you very, very much!\" cried Dorothy, who as soon as she\nheard the sweet voice of the girlish Ruler of Oz knew that she would\nsoon learn to love her dearly.\n\nOzma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing, upon\nwhich the Tin Woodman boldly proceeded to knock.\n\nAs soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand her ivory\nwand, stepped into the hall and made her way at once to the\ndrawing-room, followed by all her company, except the Lion and the\nTiger.  And the twenty-seven soldiers made such a noise and a clatter\nthat the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to her mistress,\nwhereupon the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger by this rude\ninvasion of her palace, came running into the drawing-room without any\nassistance whatever.\n\nThere she stood before the slight and delicate form of the little girl\nfrom Oz and cried out;--\n\n\"How dare you enter my palace unbidden?  Leave this room at once, or I\nwill bind you and all your people in chains, and throw you into my\ndarkest dungeons!\"\n\n\"What a dangerous lady!\" murmured the Scarecrow, in a soft voice.\n\n\"She seems a little nervous,\" replied the Tin Woodman.\n\nBut Ozma only smiled at the angry Princess.\n\n\"Sit down, please,\" she said, quietly.  \"I have traveled a long way to\nsee you, and you must listen to what I have to say.\"\n\n\"Must!\" screamed the Princess, her black eyes flashing with fury--for\nshe still wore her No. 17 head.  \"Must, to ME!\"\n\n\"To be sure,\" said Ozma.  \"I am Ruler of the Land of Oz, and I am\npowerful enough to destroy all your kingdom, if I so wish.  Yet I did\nnot come here to do harm, but rather to free the royal family of Ev\nfrom the thrall of the Nome King, the news having reached me that he is\nholding the Queen and her children prisoners.\"\n\nHearing these words, Langwidere suddenly became quiet.\n\n\"I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal children,\"\nsaid she, eagerly.  \"For if they were restored to their proper forms\nand station they could rule the Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that\nwould save me a lot of worry and trouble.  At present there are at\nleast ten minutes every day that I must devote to affairs of state, and\nI would like to be able to spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful\nheads.\"\n\n\"Then we will presently discuss this matter,\" said Ozma, \"and try to\nfind a way to liberate your aunt and cousins.  But first you must\nliberate another prisoner--the little girl you have locked up in your\ntower.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" said Langwidere, readily.  \"I had forgotten all about her.\nThat was yesterday, you know, and a Princess cannot be expected to\nremember today what she did yesterday.  Come with me, and I will\nrelease the prisoner at once.\"\n\nSo Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to the\nroom in the tower.\n\nWhile they were gone Ozma's followers remained in the drawing-room, and\nthe Scarecrow was leaning against a form that he had mistaken for a\ncopper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said suddenly in his ear:\n\n\"Get off my foot, please.  You are scratch-ing my pol-ish.\"\n\n\"Oh, excuse me!\" he replied, hastily drawing back.  \"Are you alive?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Tiktok, \"I am on-ly a ma-chine.  But I can think and speak\nand act, when I am pro-per-ly wound up.  Just now my ac-tion is run\ndown, and Dor-o-thy has the key to it.\"\n\n\"That's all right,\" replied the Scarecrow.  \"Dorothy will soon be free,\nand then she'll attend to your works.  But it must be a great\nmisfortune not to be alive.  I'm sorry for you.\"\n\n\"Why?\" asked Tiktok.\n\n\"Because you have no brains, as I have,\" said the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Oh, yes, I have,\" returned Tiktok.  \"I am fit-ted with Smith &\nTin-ker's Im-proved Com-bi-na-tion Steel Brains.  They are what make me\nthink.  What sort of brains are you fit-ted with?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" admitted the Scarecrow.  \"They were given to me by the\ngreat Wizard of Oz, and I didn't get a chance to examine them before he\nput them in.  But they work splendidly and my conscience is very\nactive.  Have you a conscience?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"And no heart, I suppose?\" added the Tin Woodman, who had been\nlistening with interest to this conversation.\n\n\"No,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"Then,\" continued the Tin Woodman, \"I regret to say that you are\ngreatly inferior to my friend the Scarecrow, and to myself.  For we are\nboth alive, and he has brains which do not need to be wound up, while I\nhave an excellent heart that is continually beating in my bosom.\"\n\n\"I con-grat-u-late you,\" replied Tiktok.  \"I can-not help be-ing your\nin-fer-i-or for I am a mere ma-chine.  When I am wound up I do my du-ty\nby go-ing just as my ma-chin-er-y is made to go.  You have no i-de-a\nhow full of ma-chin-er-y I am.\"\n\n\"I can guess,\" said the Scarecrow, looking at the machine man\ncuriously.  \"Some day I'd like to take you apart and see just how you\nare made.\"\n\n\"Do not do that, I beg of you,\" said Tiktok; \"for you could not put me\nto-geth-er a-gain, and my use-ful-ness would be de-stroyed.\"\n\n\"Oh! are you useful?\" asked the Scarecrow, surprised.\n\n\"Ve-ry,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"In that case,\" the Scarecrow kindly promised, \"I won't fool with your\ninterior at all.  For I am a poor mechanic, and might mix you up.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Tiktok.\n\nJust then Ozma re-entered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand and\nfollowed closely by the Princess Langwidere.\n\n\n\n\n8.  The Hungry Tiger\n\n\nThe first thing Dorothy did was to rush into the embrace of the\nScarecrow, whose painted face beamed with delight as he pressed her\nform to his straw-padded bosom.  Then the Tin Woodman embraced\nher--very gently, for he knew his tin arms might hurt her if he\nsqueezed too roughly.\n\nThese greetings having been exchanged, Dorothy took the key to Tiktok\nfrom her pocket and wound up the machine man's action, so that he could\nbow properly when introduced to the rest of the company.  While doing\nthis she told them how useful Tiktok had been to her, and both the\nScarecrow and the Tin Woodman shook hands with the machine once more\nand thanked him for protecting their friend.\n\nThen Dorothy asked: \"Where is Billina?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"Who is Billina?\"\n\n\"She's a yellow hen who is another friend of mine,\" answered the girl,\nanxiously.  \"I wonder what has become of her?\"\n\n\"She is in the chicken house, in the back yard,\" said the Princess.\n\"My drawing-room is no place for hens.\"\n\nWithout waiting to hear more Dorothy ran to get Billina, and just\noutside the door she came upon the Cowardly Lion, still hitched to the\nchariot beside the great Tiger.  The Cowardly Lion had a big bow of\nblue ribbon fastened to the long hair between his ears, and the Tiger\nwore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in front of the bushy end.\n\nIn an instant Dorothy was hugging the huge Lion joyfully.\n\n\"I'm SO glad to see you again!\" she cried.\n\n\"I am also glad to see you, Dorothy,\" said the Lion.  \"We've had some\nfine adventures together, haven't we?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" she replied.  \"How are you?\"\n\n\"As cowardly as ever,\" the beast answered in a meek voice.  \"Every\nlittle thing scares me and makes my heart beat fast.  But let me\nintroduce to you a new friend of mine, the Hungry Tiger.\"\n\n\"Oh!  Are you hungry?\" she asked, turning to the other beast, who was\njust then yawning so widely that he displayed two rows of terrible\nteeth and a mouth big enough to startle anyone.\n\n\"Dreadfully hungry,\" answered the Tiger, snapping his jaws together\nwith a fierce click.\n\n\"Then why don't you eat something?\" she asked.\n\n\"It's no use,\" said the Tiger sadly.  \"I've tried that, but I always\nget hungry again.\"\n\n\"Why, it is the same with me,\" said Dorothy.  \"Yet I keep on eating.\"\n\n\"But you eat harmless things, so it doesn't matter,\" replied the Tiger.\n\"For my part, I'm a savage beast, and have an appetite for all sorts of\npoor little living creatures, from a chipmunk to fat babies.\"\n\n\"How dreadful!\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Isn't it, though?\" returned the Hungry Tiger, licking his lips with\nhis long red tongue.  \"Fat babies!  Don't they sound delicious?  But\nI've never eaten any, because my conscience tells me it is wrong.  If I\nhad no conscience I would probably eat the babies and then get hungry\nagain, which would mean that I had sacrificed the poor babies for\nnothing.  No; hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die.  But I'll not\nhave any cruel deeds on my conscience to be sorry for.\"\n\n\"I think you are a very good tiger,\" said Dorothy, patting the huge\nhead of the beast.\n\n\"In that you are mistaken,\" was the reply.  \"I am a good beast,\nperhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger.  For it is the nature of tigers\nto be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to eat harmless living\ncreatures I am acting as no good tiger has ever before acted.  That is\nwhy I left the forest and joined my friend the Cowardly Lion.\"\n\n\"But the Lion is not really cowardly,\" said Dorothy.  \"I have seen him\nact as bravely as can be.\"\n\n\"All a mistake, my dear,\" protested the Lion gravely.  \"To others I may\nhave seemed brave, at times, but I have never been in any danger that I\nwas not afraid.\"\n\n\"Nor I,\" said Dorothy, truthfully. \"But I must go and set free Billina,\nand then I will see you again.\"\n\nShe ran around to the back yard of the palace and soon found the\nchicken house, being guided to it by a loud cackling and crowing and a\ndistracting hubbub of sounds such as chickens make when they are\nexcited.\n\nSomething seemed to be wrong in the chicken house, and when Dorothy\nlooked through the slats in the door she saw a group of hens and\nroosters huddled in one corner and watching what appeared to be a\nwhirling ball of feathers.  It bounded here and there about the chicken\nhouse, and at first Dorothy could not tell what it was, while the\nscreeching of the chickens nearly deafened her.\n\nBut suddenly the bunch of feathers stopped whirling, and then, to her\namazement, the girl saw Billina crouching upon the prostrate form of a\nspeckled rooster.  For an instant they both remained motionless, and\nthen the yellow hen shook her wings to settle the feathers and walked\ntoward the door with a strut of proud defiance and a cluck of victory,\nwhile the speckled rooster limped away to the group of other chickens,\ntrailing his crumpled plumage in the dust as he went.\n\n\"Why, Billina!\" cried Dorothy, in a shocked voice; \"have you been\nfighting?\"\n\n\"I really think I have,\" retorted Billina.  \"Do you think I'd let that\nspeckled villain of a rooster lord it over ME, and claim to run this\nchicken house, as long as I'm able to peck and scratch?  Not if my name\nis Bill!\"\n\n\"It isn't Bill, it's Billina; and you're talking slang, which is very\nundig'n'fied,\" said Dorothy, reprovingly.  \"Come here, Billina, and\nI'll let you out; for Ozma of Oz is here, and has set us free.\"\n\nSo the yellow hen came to the door, which Dorothy unlatched for her to\npass through, and the other chickens silently watched them from their\ncorner without offering to approach nearer.\n\nThe girl lifted her friend in her arms and exclaimed:\n\n\"Oh, Billina! how dreadful you look.  You've lost a lot of feathers,\nand one of your eyes is nearly pecked out, and your comb is bleeding!\"\n\n\"That's nothing,\" said Billina.  \"Just look at the speckled rooster!\nDidn't I do him up brown?\"\n\nDorothy shook her head.\n\n\"I don't 'prove of this, at all,\" she said, carrying Billina away\ntoward the palace.  \"It isn't a good thing for you to 'sociate with\nthose common chickens.  They would soon spoil your good manners, and\nyou wouldn't be respec'able any more.\"\n\n\"I didn't ask to associate with them,\" replied Billina.  \"It is that\ncross old Princess who is to blame.  But I was raised in the United\nStates, and I won't allow any one-horse chicken of the Land of Ev to\nrun over me and put on airs, as long as I can lift a claw in\nself-defense.\"\n\n\"Very well, Billina,\" said Dorothy.  \"We won't talk about it any more.\"\n\nSoon they came to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to whom the\ngirl introduced the Yellow Hen.\n\n\"Glad to meet any friend of Dorothy's,\" said the Lion, politely.  \"To\njudge by your present appearance, you are not a coward, as I am.\"\n\n\"Your present appearance makes my mouth water,\" said the Tiger, looking\nat Billina greedily.  \"My, my! how good you would taste if I could only\ncrunch you between my jaws.  But don't worry.  You would only appease\nmy appetite for a moment; so it isn't worth while to eat you.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the hen, nestling closer in Dorothy's arms.\n\n\"Besides, it wouldn't be right,\" continued the Tiger, looking steadily\nat Billina and clicking his jaws together.\n\n\"Of course not,\" cried Dorothy, hastily.  \"Billina is my friend, and\nyou mustn't ever eat her under any circ'mstances.\"\n\n\"I'll try to remember that,\" said the Tiger; \"but I'm a little\nabsent-minded, at times.\"\n\nThen Dorothy carried her pet into the drawing-room of the palace, where\nTiktok, being invited to do so by Ozma, had seated himself between the\nScarecrow and the Tin Woodman.  Opposite to them sat Ozma herself and\nthe Princess Langwidere, and beside them there was a vacant chair for\nDorothy.\n\nAround this important group was ranged the Army of Oz, and as Dorothy\nlooked at the handsome uniforms of the Twenty-Seven she said:\n\n\"Why, they seem to be all officers.\"\n\n\"They are, all except one,\" answered the Tin Woodman.  \"I have in my\nArmy eight Generals, six Colonels, seven Majors and five Captains,\nbesides one private for them to command.  I'd like to promote the\nprivate, for I believe no private should ever be in public life; and\nI've also noticed that officers usually fight better and are more\nreliable than common soldiers.  Besides, the officers are more\nimportant looking, and lend dignity to our army.\"\n\n\"No doubt you are right,\" said Dorothy, seating herself beside Ozma.\n\n\"And now,\" announced the girlish Ruler of Oz, \"we will hold a solemn\nconference to decide the best manner of liberating the royal family of\nthis fair Land of Ev from their long imprisonment.\"\n\n\n\n\n9.  The Royal Family of Ev\n\n\nThe Tin Woodman was the first to address the meeting.\n\n\"To begin with,\" said he, \"word came to our noble and illustrious\nRuler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten children--five boys and five\ngirls--of the former King of Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by\nthe Nome King and are held prisoners in his underground palace.  Also\nthat there was no one in Ev powerful enough to release them.  Naturally\nour Ozma wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the poor\nprisoners; but for a long time she could find no way to cross the great\ndesert between the two countries.  Finally she went to a friendly\nsorceress of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the story and at\nonce presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would continually unroll\nbeneath our feet and so make a comfortable path for us to cross the\ndesert.  As soon as she had received the carpet our gracious Ruler\nordered me to assemble our army, which I did.  You behold in these bold\nwarriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of Oz; and, if we are\nobliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as well as the private,\nwill battle fiercely unto death.\"\n\nThen Tiktok spoke.\n\n\"Why should you fight the Nome King?\" he asked.  \"He has done no wrong.\"\n\n\"No wrong!\" cried Dorothy.  \"Isn't it wrong to imprison a queen mother\nand her ten children?\"\n\n\"They were sold to the Nome King by King Ev-ol-do,\" replied Tiktok.\n\"It was the King of Ev who did wrong, and when he re-al-ized what he\nhad done he jumped in-to the sea and drowned him-self.\"\n\n\"This is news to me,\" said Ozma, thoughtfully.  \"I had supposed the\nNome King was all to blame in the matter.  But, in any case, he must be\nmade to liberate the prisoners.\"\n\n\"My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man,\" declared the Princess\nLangwidere.  \"If he had drowned himself before he sold his family, no\none would have cared.  But he sold them to the powerful Nome King in\nexchange for a long life, and afterward destroyed the life by jumping\ninto the sea.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Ozma, \"he did not get the long life, and the Nome King\nmust give up the prisoners.  Where are they confined?\"\n\n\"No one knows, exactly,\" replied the Princess.  \"For the king, whose\nname is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a splendid palace underneath the\ngreat mountain which is at the north end of this kingdom, and he has\ntransformed the queen and her children into ornaments and bric-a-brac\nwith which to decorate his rooms.\"\n\n\"I'd like to know,\" said Dorothy, \"who this Nome King is?\"\n\n\"I will tell you,\" replied Ozma.  \"He is said to be the Ruler of the\nUnderground World, and commands the rocks and all that the rocks\ncontain.  Under his rule are many thousands of the Nomes, who are\nqueerly shaped but powerful sprites that labor at the furnaces and\nforges of their king, making gold and silver and other metals which\nthey conceal in the crevices of the rocks, so that those living upon\nthe earth's surface can only find them with great difficulty.  Also\nthey make diamonds and rubies and emeralds, which they hide in the\nground; so that the kingdom of the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all\nwe have of precious stones and silver and gold is what we take from the\nearth and rocks where the Nome King has hidden them.\"\n\n\"I understand,\" said Dorothy, nodding her little head wisely.\n\n\"For the reason that we often steal his treasures,\" continued Ozma,\n\"the Ruler of the Underground World is not fond of those who live upon\nthe earth's surface, and never appears among us.  If we wish to see\nKing Roquat of the Rocks, we must visit his own country, where he is\nall powerful, and therefore it will be a dangerous undertaking.\"\n\n\"But, for the sake of the poor prisoners,\" said Dorothy, \"we ought to\ndo it.\"\n\n\"We shall do it,\" replied the Scarecrow, \"although it requires a lot of\ncourage for me to go near to the furnaces of the Nome King.  For I am\nonly stuffed with straw, and a single spark of fire might destroy me\nentirely.\"\n\n\"The furnaces may also melt my tin,\" said the Tin Woodman; \"but I am\ngoing.\"\n\n\"I can't bear heat,\" remarked the Princess Langwidere, yawning lazily,\n\"so I shall stay at home.  But I wish you may have success in your\nundertaking, for I am heartily tired of ruling this stupid kingdom, and\nI need more leisure in which to admire my beautiful heads.\"\n\n\"We do not need you,\" said Ozma.  \"For, if with the aid of my brave\nfollowers I cannot accomplish my purpose, then it would be useless for\nyou to undertake the journey.\"\n\n\"Quite true,\" sighed the Princess.  \"So, if you'll excuse me, I will\nnow retire to my cabinet.  I've worn this head quite awhile, and I want\nto change it for another.\"\n\nWhen she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to see her\ngo) Ozma said to Tiktok:\n\n\"Will you join our party?\"\n\n\"I am the slave of the girl Dor-oth-y, who rescued me from pris-on,\"\nreplied the machine.  \"Where she goes I will go.\"\n\n\"Oh, I am going with my friends, of course,\" said Dorothy, quickly.  \"I\nwouldn't miss the fun for anything.  Will you go, too, Billina?\"\n\n\"To be sure,\" said Billina in a careless tone.  She was smoothing down\nthe feathers of her back and not paying much attention.\n\n\"Heat is just in her line,\" remarked the Scarecrow.  \"If she is nicely\nroasted, she will be better than ever.\"\n\n\"Then\" said Ozma, \"we will arrange to start for the Kingdom of the\nNomes at daybreak tomorrow.  And, in the meantime, we will rest and\nprepare ourselves for the journey.\"\n\nAlthough Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests, the\npalace servants waited upon the strangers from Oz and did everything in\ntheir power to make the party comfortable.  There were many vacant\nrooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of twenty-seven was easily\nprovided for and liberally feasted.\n\nThe Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the\nchariot and allowed to roam at will throughout the palace, where they\nnearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no harm at\nall.  At one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda crouching in\nterror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing before her.\n\n\"You certainly look delicious,\" the beast was saying.  \"Will you kindly\ngive me permission to eat you?\"\n\n\"No, no, no!\" cried the maid in reply.\n\n\"Then,\" said the Tiger, yawning frightfully, \"please to get me about\nthirty pounds of tenderloin steak, cooked rare, with a peck of boiled\npotatoes on the side, and five gallons of ice-cream for dessert.\"\n\n\"I--I'll do the best I can!\" said Nanda, and she ran away as fast as\nshe could go.\n\n\"Are you so very hungry?\" asked Dorothy, in wonder.\n\n\"You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite,\" replied the Tiger,\nsadly.  \"It seems to fill my whole body, from the end of my throat to\nthe tip of my tail.  I am very sure the appetite doesn't fit me, and is\ntoo large for the size of my body.  Some day, when I meet a dentist\nwith a pair of forceps, I'm going to have it pulled.\"\n\n\"What, your tooth?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"No, my appetite,\" said the Hungry Tiger.\n\nThe little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the Scarecrow\nand the Tin Woodman, who related to her all that had taken place in the\nLand of Oz since Dorothy had left it.  She was much interested in the\nstory of Ozma, who had been, when a baby, stolen by a wicked old witch\nand transformed into a boy.  She did not know that she had ever been a\ngirl until she was restored to her natural form by a kind sorceress.\nThen it was found that she was the only child of the former Ruler of\nOz, and was entitled to rule in his place.  Ozma had many adventures,\nhowever, before she regained her father's throne, and in these she was\naccompanied by a pumpkin-headed man, a highly magnified and thoroughly\neducated Woggle-Bug, and a wonderful sawhorse that had been brought to\nlife by means of a magic powder.  The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman had\nalso assisted her; but the Cowardly Lion, who ruled the great forest as\nthe King of Beasts, knew nothing of Ozma until after she became the\nreigning princess of Oz.  Then he journeyed to the Emerald City to see\nher, and on hearing she was about to visit the Land of Ev to set free\nthe royal family of that country, the Cowardly Lion begged to go with\nher, and brought along his friend, the Hungry Tiger, as well.\n\nHaving heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own adventures,\nand then went out with her friends to find the Sawhorse, which Ozma had\ncaused to be shod with plates of gold, so that its legs would not wear\nout.\n\nThey came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the garden gate,\nbut when Dorothy was introduced to him he bowed politely and blinked\nhis eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged his tail, which was only\nthe branch of a tree.\n\n\"What a remarkable thing, to be alive!\" exclaimed Dorothy.\n\n\"I quite agree with you,\" replied the Sawhorse, in a rough but not\nunpleasant voice.  \"A creature like me has no business to live, as we\nall know.  But it was the magic powder that did it, so I cannot justly\nbe blamed.\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" said Dorothy.  \"And you seem to be of some use, 'cause\nI noticed the Scarecrow riding upon your back.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes; I'm of use,\" returned the Sawhorse; \"and I never tire, never\nhave to be fed, or cared for in any way.\"\n\n\"Are you intel'gent?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Not very,\" said the creature.  \"It would be foolish to waste\nintelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so many professors need it.\nBut I know enough to obey my masters, and to gid-dup, or whoa, when I'm\ntold to.  So I'm pretty well satisfied.\"\n\nThat night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bed-chamber next to that\noccupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina perched upon the foot of the bed\nand tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly in that\nposition as did Dorothy upon her soft cushions.\n\nBut before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon the\nadventurers were eating a hasty breakfast in the great dining-room of\nthe palace.  Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on a raised\nplatform, with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow on her left.\nThe Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but Ozma placed him near her so\nthat she might ask his advice about the journey while she ate.\n\nLower down the table were the twenty-seven warriors of Oz, and at the\nend of the room the Lion and the Tiger were eating out of a kettle that\nhad been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered around to pick\nup any scraps that might be scattered.\n\nIt did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and the\nTiger were harnessed to the chariot and the party was ready to start\nfor the Nome King's Palace.\n\nFirst rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot and\nholding Billina fast in her arms.  Then came the Scarecrow on the\nSawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side just\nbehind him.  After these tramped the Army, looking brave and handsome\nin their splendid uniforms.  The generals commanded the colonels and\nthe colonels commanded the majors and the majors commanded the captains\nand the captains commanded the private, who marched with an air of\nproud importance because it required so many officers to give him his\norders.\n\nAnd so the magnificent procession left the palace and started along the\nroad just as day was breaking, and by the time the sun came out they\nhad made good progress toward the valley that led to the Nome King's\ndomain.\n\n\n\n\n10.  The Giant with the Hammer\n\n\nThe road led for a time through a pretty farm country, and then past a\npicnic grove that was very inviting.  But the procession continued to\nsteadily advance until Billina cried in an abrupt and commanding manner:\n\n\"Wait--wait!\"\n\nOzma stopped her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow's Sawhorse\nnearly ran into it, and the ranks of the army tumbled over one another\nbefore they could come to a halt.  Immediately the yellow hen struggled\nfrom Dorothy's arms and flew into a clump of bushes by the roadside.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" called the Tin Woodman, anxiously.\n\n\"Why, Billina wants to lay her egg, that's all,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Lay her egg!\" repeated the Tin Woodman, in astonishment.\n\n\"Yes; she lays one every morning, about this time; and it's quite\nfresh,\" said the girl.\n\n\"But does your foolish old hen suppose that this entire cavalcade,\nwhich is bound on an important adventure, is going to stand still while\nshe lays her egg?\" enquired the Tin Woodman, earnestly.\n\n\"What else can we do?\" asked the girl.  \"It's a habit of Billina's and\nshe can't break herself of it.\"\n\n\"Then she must hurry up,\" said the Tin Woodman, impatiently.\n\n\"No, no!\" exclaimed the Scarecrow.  \"If she hurries she may lay\nscrambled eggs.\"\n\n\"That's nonsense,\" said Dorothy.  \"But Billina won't be long, I'm sure.\"\n\nSo they stood and waited, although all were restless and anxious to\nproceed.  And by and by the yellow hen came from the bushes saying:\n\n\"Kut-kut, kut, ka-daw-kutt!  Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kut!\"\n\n\"What is she doing--singing her lay?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"For-ward--march!\" shouted the Tin Woodman, waving his axe, and the\nprocession started just as Dorothy had once more grabbed Billina in her\narms.\n\n\"Isn't anyone going to get my egg?\" cried the hen, in great excitement.\n\n\"I'll get it,\" said the Scarecrow; and at his command the Sawhorse\npranced into the bushes.  The straw man soon found the egg, which he\nplaced in his jacket pocket.  The cavalcade, having moved rapidly on,\nwas even then far in advance; but it did not take the Sawhorse long to\ncatch up with it, and presently the Scarecrow was riding in his\naccustomed place behind Ozma's chariot.\n\n\"What shall I do with the egg?\" he asked Dorothy.\n\n\"I do not know,\" the girl answered.  \"Perhaps the Hungry Tiger would\nlike it.\"\n\n\"It would not be enough to fill one of my back teeth,\" remarked the\nTiger.  \"A bushel of them, hard boiled, might take a little of the edge\noff my appetite; but one egg isn't good for anything at all, that I\nknow of.\"\n\n\"No; it wouldn't even make a sponge cake,\" said the Scarecrow,\nthoughtfully.  \"The Tin Woodman might carry it with his axe and hatch\nit; but after all I may as well keep it myself for a souvenir.\"  So he\nleft it in his pocket.\n\nThey had now reached that part of the valley that lay between the two\nhigh mountains which Dorothy had seen from her tower window.  At the\nfar end was the third great mountain, which blocked the valley and was\nthe northern edge of the Land of Ev.  It was underneath this mountain\nthat the Nome King's palace was said to be; but it would be some time\nbefore they reached that place.\n\nThe path was becoming rocky and difficult for the wheels of the chariot\nto pass over, and presently a deep gulf appeared at their feet which\nwas too wide for them to leap.  So Ozma took a small square of green\ncloth from her pocket and threw it upon the ground.  At once it became\nthe magic carpet, and unrolled itself far enough for all the cavalcade\nto walk upon.  The chariot now advanced, and the green carpet unrolled\nbefore it, crossing the gulf on a level with its banks, so that all\npassed over in safety.\n\n\"That's easy enough,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"I wonder what will happen\nnext.\"\n\nHe was not long in making the discovery, for the sides of the mountain\ncame closer together until finally there was but a narrow path between\nthem, along which Ozma and her party were forced to pass in single file.\n\nThey now heard a low and deep \"thump!--thump!--thump!\" which echoed\nthroughout the valley and seemed to grow louder as they advanced.\nThen, turning a corner of rock, they saw before them a huge form, which\ntowered above the path for more than a hundred feet.  The form was that\nof a gigantic man built out of plates of cast iron, and it stood with\none foot on either side of the narrow road and swung over its right\nshoulder an immense iron mallet, with which it constantly pounded the\nearth.  These resounding blows explained the thumping sounds they had\nheard, for the mallet was much bigger than a barrel, and where it\nstruck the path between the rocky sides of the mountain it filled all\nthe space through which our travelers would be obliged to pass.\n\nOf course they at once halted, a safe distance away from the terrible\niron mallet.  The magic carpet would do them no good in this case, for\nit was only meant to protect them from any dangers upon the ground\nbeneath their feet, and not from dangers that appeared in the air above\nthem.\n\n\"Wow!\" said the Cowardly Lion, with a shudder.  \"It makes me dreadfully\nnervous to see that big hammer pounding so near my head.  One blow\nwould crush me into a door-mat.\"\n\n\"The ir-on gi-ant is a fine fel-low,\" said Tiktok, \"and works as\nstead-i-ly as a clock.  He was made for the Nome King by Smith &\nTin-ker, who made me, and his du-ty is to keep folks from find-ing the\nun-der-ground pal-ace.  Is he not a great work of art?\"\n\n\"Can he think, and speak, as you do?\" asked Ozma, regarding the giant\nwith wondering eyes.\n\n\"No,\" replied the machine; \"he is on-ly made to pound the road, and has\nno think-ing or speak-ing at-tach-ment.  But he pounds ve-ry well, I\nthink.\"\n\n\"Too well,\" observed the Scarecrow.  \"He is keeping us from going\nfarther.  Is there no way to stop his machinery?\"\n\n\"On-ly the Nome King, who has the key, can do that,\" answered Tiktok.\n\n\"Then,\" said Dorothy, anxiously, \"what shall we do?\"\n\n\"Excuse me for a few minutes,\" said the Scarecrow, \"and I will think it\nover.\"\n\nHe retired, then, to a position in the rear, where he turned his\npainted face to the rocks and began to think.\n\nMeantime the giant continued to raise his iron mallet high in the air\nand to strike the path terrific blows that echoed through the mountains\nlike the roar of a cannon.  Each time the mallet lifted, however, there\nwas a moment when the path beneath the monster was free, and perhaps\nthe Scarecrow had noticed this, for when he came back to the others he\nsaid:\n\n\"The matter is a very simple one, after all.  We have but to run under\nthe hammer, one at a time, when it is lifted, and pass to the other\nside before it falls again.\"\n\n\"It will require quick work, if we escape the blow,\" said the Tin\nWoodman, with a shake of his head.  \"But it really seems the only thing\nto be done.  Who will make the first attempt?\"\n\nThey looked at one another hesitatingly for a moment.  Then the\nCowardly Lion, who was trembling like a leaf in the wind, said to them:\n\n\"I suppose the head of the procession must go first--and that's me.\nBut I'm terribly afraid of the big hammer!\"\n\n\"What will become of me?\" asked Ozma.  \"You might rush under the hammer\nyourself, but the chariot would surely be crushed.\"\n\n\"We must leave the chariot,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"But you two girls\ncan ride upon the backs of the Lion and the Tiger.\"\n\nSo this was decided upon, and Ozma, as soon as the Lion was unfastened\nfrom the chariot, at once mounted the beast's back and said she was\nready.\n\n\"Cling fast to his mane,\" advised Dorothy.  \"I used to ride him myself,\nand that's the way I held on.\"\n\nSo Ozma clung fast to the mane, and the lion crouched in the path and\neyed the swinging mallet carefully until he knew just the instant it\nwould begin to rise in the air.\n\nThen, before anyone thought he was ready, he made a sudden leap\nstraight between the iron giant's legs, and before the mallet struck\nthe ground again the Lion and Ozma were safe on the other side.\n\nThe Tiger went next.  Dorothy sat upon his back and locked her arms\naround his striped neck, for he had no mane to cling to.  He made the\nleap straight and true as an arrow from a bow, and ere Dorothy realized\nit she was out of danger and standing by Ozma's side.\n\nNow came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, and while they made the dash in\nsafety they were within a hair's breadth of being caught by the\ndescending hammer.\n\nTiktok walked up to the very edge of the spot the hammer struck, and as\nit was raised for the next blow he calmly stepped forward and escaped\nits descent.  That was an idea for the Tin Woodman to follow, and he\nalso crossed in safety while the great hammer was in the air.  But when\nit came to the twenty-six officers and the private, their knees were so\nweak that they could not walk a step.\n\n\"In battle we are wonderfully courageous,\" said one of the generals,\n\"and our foes find us very terrible to face.  But war is one thing and\nthis is another.  When it comes to being pounded upon the head by an\niron hammer, and smashed into pancakes, we naturally object.\"\n\n\"Make a run for it,\" urged the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Our knees shake so that we cannot run,\" answered a captain.  \"If we\nshould try it we would all certainly be pounded to a jelly.\"\n\n\"Well, well,\" sighed the Cowardly Lion, \"I see, friend Tiger, that we\nmust place ourselves in great danger to rescue this bold army.  Come\nwith me, and we will do the best we can.\"\n\nSo, Ozma and Dorothy having already dismounted from their backs, the\nLion and the Tiger leaped back again under the awful hammer and\nreturned with two generals clinging to their necks.  They repeated this\ndaring passage twelve times, when all the officers had been carried\nbeneath the giant's legs and landed safely on the further side.  By\nthat time the beasts were very tired, and panted so hard that their\ntongues hung out of their great mouths.\n\n\"But what is to become of the private?\" asked Ozma.\n\n\"Oh, leave him there to guard the chariot,\" said the Lion.  \"I'm tired\nout, and won't pass under that mallet again.\"\n\nThe officers at once protested that they must have the private with\nthem, else there would be no one for them to command.  But neither the\nLion or the Tiger would go after him, and so the Scarecrow sent the\nSawhorse.\n\nEither the wooden horse was careless, or it failed to properly time the\ndescent of the hammer, for the mighty weapon caught it squarely upon\nits head, and thumped it against the ground so powerfully that the\nprivate flew off its back high into the air, and landed upon one of the\ngiant's cast-iron arms.  Here he clung desperately while the arm rose\nand fell with each one of the rapid strokes.\n\nThe Scarecrow dashed in to rescue his Sawhorse, and had his left foot\nsmashed by the hammer before he could pull the creature out of danger.\nThey then found that the Sawhorse had been badly dazed by the blow; for\nwhile the hard wooden knot of which his head was formed could not be\ncrushed by the hammer, both his ears were broken off and he would be\nunable to hear a sound until some new ones were made for him.  Also his\nleft knee was cracked, and had to be bound up with a string.\n\nBillina having fluttered under the hammer, it now remained only to\nrescue the private who was riding upon the iron giant's arm, high in\nthe air.\n\nThe Scarecrow lay flat upon the ground and called to the man to jump\ndown upon his body, which was soft because it was stuffed with straw.\nThis the private managed to do, waiting until a time when he was\nnearest the ground and then letting himself drop upon the Scarecrow.\nHe accomplished the feat without breaking any bones, and the Scarecrow\ndeclared he was not injured in the least.\n\nTherefore, the Tin Woodman having by this time fitted new ears to the\nSawhorse, the entire party proceeded upon its way, leaving the giant to\npound the path behind them.\n\n\n\n\n11.  The Nome King\n\n\nBy and by, when they drew near to the mountain that blocked their path\nand which was the furthermost edge of the Kingdom of Ev, the way grew\ndark and gloomy for the reason that the high peaks on either side shut\nout the sunshine.  And it was very silent, too, as there were no birds\nto sing or squirrels to chatter, the trees being left far behind them\nand only the bare rocks remaining.\n\nOzma and Dorothy were a little awed by the silence, and all the others\nwere quiet and grave except the Sawhorse, which, as it trotted along\nwith the Scarecrow upon his back, hummed a queer song, of which this\nwas the chorus:\n\n  \"Would a wooden horse in a woodland go?\n    Aye, aye!  I sigh, he would, although\n  Had he not had a wooden head\n    He'd mount the mountain top instead.\"\n\n\nBut no one paid any attention to this because they were now close to\nthe Nome King's dominions, and his splendid underground palace could\nnot be very far away.\n\nSuddenly they heard a shout of jeering laughter, and stopped short.\nThey would have to stop in a minute, anyway, for the huge mountain\nbarred their further progress and the path ran close up to a wall of\nrock and ended.\n\n\"Who was that laughing?\" asked Ozma.\n\nThere was no reply, but in the gloom they could see strange forms flit\nacross the face of the rock.  Whatever the creations might be they\nseemed very like the rock itself, for they were the color of rocks and\ntheir shapes were as rough and rugged as if they had been broken away\nfrom the side of the mountain.  They kept close to the steep cliff\nfacing our friends, and glided up and down, and this way and that, with\na lack of regularity that was quite confusing.  And they seemed not to\nneed places to rest their feet, but clung to the surface of the rock as\na fly does to a window-pane, and were never still for a moment.\n\n\"Do not mind them,\" said Tiktok, as Dorothy shrank back.  \"They are\non-ly the Nomes.\"\n\n\"And what are Nomes?\" asked the girl, half frightened.\n\n\"They are rock fair-ies, and serve the Nome King,\" replied the machine.\n\"But they will do us no harm.  You must call for the King, be-cause\nwith-out him you can ne-ver find the en-trance to the pal-ace.\"\n\n\"YOU call,\" said Dorothy to Ozma.\n\nJust then the Nomes laughed again, and the sound was so weird and\ndisheartening that the twenty-six officers commanded the private to\n\"right-about-face!\" and they all started to run as fast as they could.\n\nThe Tin Woodman at once pursued his army and cried \"halt!\" and when\nthey had stopped their flight he asked: \"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"I--I find I've forgotten the brush for my whiskers,\" said a general,\ntrembling with fear.  \"S-s-so we are g-going back after it!\"\n\n\"That is impossible,\" replied the Tin Woodman.  \"For the giant with the\nhammer would kill you all if you tried to pass him.\"\n\n\"Oh! I'd forgotten the giant,\" said the general, turning pale.\n\n\"You seem to forget a good many things,\" remarked the Tin Woodman.  \"I\nhope you won't forget that you are brave men.\"\n\n\"Never!\" cried the general, slapping his gold-embroidered chest.\n\n\"Never!\" cried all the other officers, indignantly slapping their\nchests.\n\n\"For my part,\" said the private, meekly, \"I must obey my officers; so\nwhen I am told to run, I run; and when I am told to fight, I fight.\"\n\n\"That is right,\" agreed the Tin Woodman.  \"And now you must all come\nback to Ozma, and obey HER orders.  And if you try to run away again I\nwill have her reduce all the twenty-six officers to privates, and make\nthe private your general.\"\n\nThis terrible threat so frightened them that they at once returned to\nwhere Ozma was standing beside the Cowardly Lion.\n\nThen Ozma cried out in a loud voice:\n\n\"I demand that the Nome King appear to us!\"\n\nThere was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the mountain\nlaughed in derision.\n\n\"You must not command the Nome King,\" said Tiktok, \"for you do not rule\nhim, as you do your own peo-ple.\"\n\nSo Ozma called again, saying:\n\n\"I request the Nome King to appear to us.\"\n\nOnly the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes\ncontinued to flit here and there upon the rocky cliff.\n\n\"Try en-treat-y,\" said Tiktok to Ozma.  \"If he will not come at your\nre-quest, then the Nome King may list-en to your plead-ing.\"\n\nOzma looked around her proudly.\n\n\"Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome King?\" she\nasked.  \"Shall Ozma of Oz humble herself to a creature who lives in an\nunderground kingdom?\"\n\n\"No!\" they all shouted, with big voices; and the Scarecrow added:\n\n\"If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole, like a fox, and\nconquer his stubbornness.  But our sweet little ruler must always\nmaintain her dignity, just as I maintain mine.\"\n\n\"I'm not afraid to plead with him,\" said Dorothy.  \"I'm only a little\ngirl from Kansas, and we've got more dignity at home than we know what\nto do with.  I'LL call the Nome King.\"\n\n\"Do,\" said the Hungry Tiger; \"and if he makes hash of you I'll\nwillingly eat you for breakfast tomorrow morning.\"\n\nSo Dorothy stepped forward and said:\n\n\"PLEASE Mr. Nome King, come here and see us.\"\n\nThe Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the\nmountain, and in a flash they had all vanished from sight and were\nsilent.\n\nThen a door in the rock opened, and a voice cried:\n\n\"Enter!\"\n\n\"Isn't it a trick?\" asked the Tin Woodman.\n\n\"Never mind,\" replied Ozma.  \"We came here to rescue the poor Queen of\nEv and her ten children, and we must run some risks to do so.\"\n\n\"The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured,\" said Tiktok.  \"You can\ntrust him to do what is right.\"\n\nSo Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed through\nthe arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which was lighted\nby jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind them.  There was no\none to escort them, or to show them the way, but all the party pressed\nthrough the passage until they came to a round, domed cavern that was\ngrandly furnished.\n\nIn the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid boulder\nof rock, rude and rugged in shape but glittering with great rubies and\ndiamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface.  And upon the\nthrone sat the Nome King.\n\nThis important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat man\nclothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the rock\nthrone in which he was seated.  His bushy hair and flowing beard were\nalso colored like the rocks, and so was his face.  He wore no crown of\nany sort, and his only ornament was a broad, jewel-studded belt that\nencircled his fat little body.  As for his features, they seemed kindly\nand good humored, and his eyes were turned merrily upon his visitors as\nOzma and Dorothy stood before him with their followers ranged in close\norder behind them.\n\n\"Why, he looks just like Santa Claus--only he isn't the same color!\"\nwhispered Dorothy to her friend; but the Nome King heard the speech,\nand it made him laugh aloud.\n\n  \"'He had a red face and a round little belly\n    That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!'\"\n\n\nquoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see that he\nreally did shake like jelly when he laughed.\n\nBoth Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King so\njolly, and a minute later he waved his right hand and the girls each\nfound a cushioned stool at her side.\n\n\"Sit down, my dears,\" said the King, \"and tell me why you have come all\nthis way to see me, and what I can do to make you happy.\"\n\nWhile they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and taking\na glowing red coal out of his pocket he placed it in the bowl of the\npipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled in rings above\nhis head.  Dorothy thought this made the little monarch look more like\nSanta Claus than ever; but Ozma now began speaking, and every one\nlistened intently to her words.\n\n\"Your Majesty,\" said she, \"I am the ruler of the Land of Oz, and I have\ncome here to ask you to release the good Queen of Ev and her ten\nchildren, whom you have enchanted and hold as your prisoners.\"\n\n\"Oh, no; you are mistaken about that,\" replied the King.  \"They are not\nmy prisoners, but my slaves, whom I purchased from the King of Ev.\"\n\n\"But that was wrong,\" said Ozma.\n\n\"According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no wrong,\" answered the\nmonarch, eying a ring of smoke he had just blown from his mouth; \"so\nthat he had a perfect right to sell his family to me in exchange for a\nlong life.\"\n\n\"You cheated him, though,\" declared Dorothy; \"for the King of Ev did\nnot have a long life.  He jumped into the sea and was drowned.\"\n\n\"That was not my fault,\" said the Nome King, crossing his legs and\nsmiling contentedly.  \"I gave him the long life, all right; but he\ndestroyed it.\"\n\n\"Then how could it be a long life?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Easily enough,\" was the reply.  \"Now suppose, my dear, that I gave you\na pretty doll in exchange for a lock of your hair, and that after you\nhad received the doll you smashed it into pieces and destroyed it.\nCould you say that I had not given you a pretty doll?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Dorothy.\n\n\"And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the lock of hair,\njust because you had smashed the doll?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Dorothy, again.\n\n\"Of course not,\" the Nome King returned.  \"Nor will I give up the Queen\nand her children because the King of Ev destroyed his long life by\njumping into the sea.  They belong to me and I shall keep them.\"\n\n\"But you are treating them cruelly,\" said Ozma, who was much distressed\nby the King's refusal.\n\n\"In what way?\" he asked.\n\n\"By making them your slaves,\" said she.\n\n\"Cruelty,\" remarked the monarch, puffing out wreathes of smoke and\nwatching them float into the air, \"is a thing I can't abide.  So, as\nslaves must work hard, and the Queen of Ev and her children were\ndelicate and tender, I transformed them all into articles of ornament\nand bric-a-brac and scattered them around the various rooms of my\npalace.  Instead of being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my\napartments, and I really think I have treated them with great kindness.\"\n\n\"But what a dreadful fate is theirs!\" exclaimed Ozma, earnestly.  \"And\nthe Kingdom of Ev is in great need of its royal family to govern it.\nIf you will liberate them, and restore them to their proper forms, I\nwill give you ten ornaments to replace each one you lose.\"\n\nThe Nome King looked grave.\n\n\"Suppose I refuse?\" he asked.\n\n\"Then,\" said Ozma, firmly, \"I am here with my friends and my army to\nconquer your kingdom and oblige you to obey my wishes.\"\n\nThe Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he coughed;\nand he coughed until his face turned from grayish-brown to bright red.\nAnd then he wiped his eyes with a rock-colored handkerchief and grew\ngrave again.\n\n\"You are as brave as you are pretty, my dear,\" he said to Ozma.  \"But\nyou have little idea of the extent of the task you have undertaken.\nCome with me for a moment.\"\n\nHe arose and took Ozma's hand, leading her to a little door at one side\nof the room.  This he opened and they stepped out upon a balcony, from\nwhence they obtained a wonderful view of the Underground World.\n\nA vast cave extended for miles and miles under the mountain, and in\nevery direction were furnaces and forges glowing brightly and Nomes\nhammering upon precious metals or polishing gleaming jewels.  All\naround the walls of the cave were thousands of doors of silver and\ngold, built into the solid rock, and these extended in rows far away\ninto the distance, as far as Ozma's eyes could follow them.\n\nWhile the little maid from Oz gazed wonderingly upon this scene the\nNome King uttered a shrill whistle, and at once all the silver and gold\ndoors flew open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers marched out from every\none.  So great were their numbers that they quickly filled the immense\nunderground cavern and forced the busy workmen to abandon their tasks.\n\nAlthough this tremendous army consisted of rock-colored Nomes, all\nsquat and fat, they were clothed in glittering armor of polished steel,\ninlaid with beautiful gems.  Upon his brow each wore a brilliant\nelectric light, and they bore sharp spears and swords and battle-axes\nof solid bronze.  It was evident they were perfectly trained, for they\nstood in straight rows, rank after rank, with their weapons held erect\nand true, as if awaiting but the word of command to level them upon\ntheir foes.\n\n\"This,\" said the Nome King, \"is but a small part of my army.  No ruler\nupon Earth has ever dared to fight me, and no ruler ever will, for I am\ntoo powerful to oppose.\"\n\nHe whistled again, and at once the martial array filed through the\nsilver and gold doorways and disappeared, after which the workmen again\nresumed their labors at the furnaces.\n\nThen, sad and discouraged, Ozma of Oz turned to her friends, and the\nNome King calmly reseated himself on his rock throne.\n\n\"It would be foolish for us to fight,\" the girl said to the Tin\nWoodman.  \"For our brave Twenty-Seven would be quickly destroyed.  I'm\nsure I do not know how to act in this emergency.\"\n\n\"Ask the King where his kitchen is,\" suggested the Tiger.  \"I'm hungry\nas a bear.\"\n\n\"I might pounce upon the King and tear him in pieces,\" remarked the\nCowardly Lion.\n\n\"Try it,\" said the monarch, lighting his pipe with another hot coal\nwhich he took from his pocket.\n\nThe Lion crouched low and tried to spring upon the Nome King; but he\nhopped only a little way into the air and came down again in the same\nplace, not being able to approach the throne by even an inch.\n\n\"It seems to me,\" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, \"that our best plan\nis to wheedle his Majesty into giving up his slaves, since he is too\ngreat a magician to oppose.\"\n\n\"This is the most sensible thing any of you have suggested,\" declared\nthe Nome King.  \"It is folly to threaten me, but I'm so kind-hearted\nthat I cannot stand coaxing or wheedling.  If you really wish to\naccomplish anything by your journey, my dear Ozma, you must coax me.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Ozma, more cheerfully.  \"Let us be friends, and talk\nthis over in a friendly manner.\"\n\n\"To be sure,\" agreed the King, his eyes twinkling merrily.\n\n\"I am very anxious,\" she continued, \"to liberate the Queen of Ev and\nher children who are now ornaments and bric-a-brac in your Majesty's\npalace, and to restore them to their people.  Tell me, sir, how this\nmay be accomplished.\"\n\nThe king remained thoughtful for a moment, after which he asked:\n\n\"Are you willing to take a few chances and risks yourself, in order to\nset free the people of Ev?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed!\" answered Ozma, eagerly.\n\n\"Then,\" said the Nome King, \"I will make you this offer: You shall go\nalone and unattended into my palace and examine carefully all that the\nrooms contain.  Then you shall have permission to touch eleven\ndifferent objects, pronouncing at the time the word 'Ev,' and if any\none of them, or more than one, proves to be the transformation of the\nQueen of Ev or any of her ten children, then they will instantly be\nrestored to their true forms and may leave my palace and my kingdom in\nyour company, without any objection whatever.  It is possible for you,\nin this way, to free the entire eleven; but if you do not guess all the\nobjects correctly, and some of the slaves remain transformed, then each\none of your friends and followers may, in turn, enter the palace and\nhave the same privileges I grant you.\"\n\n\"Oh, thank you! thank you for this kind offer!\" said Ozma, eagerly.\n\n\"I make but one condition,\" added the Nome King, his eyes twinkling.\n\n\"What is it?\" she enquired.\n\n\"If none of the eleven objects you touch proves to be the\ntransformation of any of the royal family of Ev, then, instead of\nfreeing them, you will yourself become enchanted, and transformed into\nan article of bric-a-brac or an ornament.  This is only fair and just,\nand is the risk you declared you were willing to take.\"\n\n\n\n\n12.  The Eleven Guesses\n\n\nHearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became silent and\nthoughtful, and all her friends looked at her uneasily.\n\n\"Don't you do it!\" exclaimed Dorothy.  \"If you guess wrong, you will be\nenslaved yourself.\"\n\n\"But I shall have eleven guesses,\" answered Ozma.  \"Surely I ought to\nguess one object in eleven correctly; and, if I do, I shall rescue one\nof the royal family and be safe myself.  Then the rest of you may\nattempt it, and soon we shall free all those who are enslaved.\"\n\n\"What if we fail?\" enquired the Scarecrow.  \"I'd look nice as a piece\nof bric-a-brac, wouldn't I?\"\n\n\"We must not fail!\" cried Ozma, courageously.  \"Having come all this\ndistance to free these poor people, it would be weak and cowardly in us\nto abandon the adventure.  Therefore I will accept the Nome King's\noffer, and go at once into the royal palace.\"\n\n\"Come along, then, my dear,\" said the King, climbing down from his\nthrone with some difficulty, because he was so fat; \"I'll show you the\nway.\"\n\nHe approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand.  Instantly an\nopening appeared, through which Ozma, after a smiling farewell to her\nfriends, boldly passed.\n\nShe found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and grand\nthan anything she had ever beheld.  The ceilings were composed of great\narches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and floors were\nof polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors.  Thick velvet\ncarpets were on the floor and heavy silken draperies covered the arches\nleading to the various rooms of the palace.  The furniture was made of\nrare old woods richly carved and covered with delicate satins, and the\nentire palace was lighted by a mysterious rosy glow that seemed to come\nfrom no particular place but flooded each apartment with its soft and\npleasing radiance.\n\nOzma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all she saw.\nThe lovely palace had no other occupant, for the Nome King had left her\nat the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all the magnificent\nrooms there appeared to be no other person.\n\nUpon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were\nclustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out of all\nsorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles.  There were vases,\nand figures of men and animals, and graven platters and bowls, and\nmosaics of precious gems, and many other things.  Pictures, too, were\non the walls, and the underground palace was quite a museum of rare and\ncurious and costly objects.\n\nAfter her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to wonder\nwhich of all the numerous ornaments they contained were the\ntransformations of the royal family of Ev.  There was nothing to guide\nher, for everything seemed without a spark of life.  So she must guess\nblindly; and for the first time the girl came to realize how dangerous\nwas her task, and how likely she was to lose her own freedom in\nstriving to free others from the bondage of the Nome King.  No wonder\nthe cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his visitors, when he\nknew how easily they might be entrapped.\n\nBut Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it.  She\nlooked at a silver candelabra that had ten branches, and thought: \"This\nmay be the Queen of Ev and her ten children.\" So she touched it and\nuttered aloud the word \"Ev,\" as the Nome King had instructed her to do\nwhen she guessed.  But the candelabra remained as it was before.\n\nThen she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb, thinking\nit might be one of the children she sought.  But again she was\nunsuccessful.  Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven, eight,\nnine and ten she made, and still not one of them was right!\n\nThe girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy light; for\nnow but one guess remained, and her own fate depended upon the result.\n\nShe resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms once\nmore, gazing earnestly upon the various ornaments and trying to decide\nwhich she would touch.  Finally, in despair, she decided to leave it\nentirely to chance.  She faced the doorway of a room, shut her eyes\ntightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy draperies, she advanced\nblindly with her right arm outstretched before her.\n\nSlowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact with an\nobject upon a small round table.  She did not know what it was, but in\na low voice she pronounced the word \"Ev.\"\n\nThe rooms were quite empty of life after that.  The Nome King had\ngained a new ornament.  For upon the edge of the table rested a pretty\ngrasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single emerald.  It\nwas all that remained of Ozma of Oz.\n\nIn the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly looked\nup and smiled.\n\n\"Next!\" he said, in his pleasant voice.\n\nDorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been sitting in\nanxious silence, each gave a start of dismay and stared into one\nanother's eyes.\n\n\"Has she failed?\" asked Tiktok.\n\n\"So it seems,\" answered the little monarch, cheerfully.  \"But that is\nno reason one of you should not succeed.  The next may have twelve\nguesses, instead of eleven, for there are now twelve persons\ntransformed into ornaments.  Well, well!  Which of you goes next?\"\n\n\"I'll go,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"Not so,\" replied the Tin Woodman.  \"As commander of Ozma's army, it is\nmy privilege to follow her and attempt her rescue.\"\n\n\"Away you go, then,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"But be careful, old friend.\"\n\n\"I will,\" promised the Tin Woodman; and then he followed the Nome King\nto the entrance to the palace and the rock closed behind him.\n\n\n\n\n13.  The Nome King Laughs\n\n\nIn a moment the King returned to his throne and relighted his pipe, and\nthe rest of the little band of adventurers settled themselves for\nanother long wait.  They were greatly disheartened by the failure of\ntheir girl Ruler, and the knowledge that she was now an ornament in the\nNome King's palace--a dreadful, creepy place in spite of all its\nmagnificence.  Without their little leader they did not know what to do\nnext, and each one, down to the trembling private of the army, began to\nfear he would soon be more ornamental than useful.\n\nSuddenly the Nome King began laughing.\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha!  He, he, he!  Ho, ho, ho!\"\n\n\"What's happened?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Why, your friend, the Tin Woodman, has become the funniest thing you\ncan imagine,\" replied the King, wiping the tears of merriment from his\neyes.  \"No one would ever believe he could make such an amusing\nornament.  Next!\"\n\nThey gazed at each other with sinking hearts.  One of the generals\nbegan to weep dolefully.\n\n\"What are you crying for?\" asked the Scarecrow, indignant at such a\ndisplay of weakness.\n\n\"He owed me six weeks back pay,\" said the general, \"and I hate to lose\nhim.\"\n\n\"Then you shall go and find him,\" declared the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Me!\" cried the general, greatly alarmed.\n\n\"Certainly.  It is your duty to follow your commander.  March!\"\n\n\"I won't,\" said the general.  \"I'd like to, of course; but I just\nsimply WON'T.\"\n\nThe Scarecrow looked enquiringly at the Nome King.\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the jolly monarch.  \"If he doesn't care to enter the\npalace and make his guesses I'll throw him into one of my fiery\nfurnaces.\"\n\n\"I'll go!--of course I'm going,\" yelled the general, as quick as scat.\n\"Where is the entrance--where is it?  Let me go at once!\"\n\nSo the Nome King escorted him into the palace, and again returned to\nawait the result.  What the general did, no one can tell; but it was\nnot long before the King called for the next victim, and a colonel was\nforced to try his fortune.\n\nThus, one after another, all of the twenty-six officers filed into the\npalace and made their guesses--and became ornaments.\n\nMeantime the King ordered refreshments to be served to those waiting,\nand at his command a rudely shaped Nome entered, bearing a tray.  This\nNome was not unlike the others that Dorothy had seen, but he wore a\nheavy gold chain around his neck to show that he was the Chief Steward\nof the Nome King, and he assumed an air of much importance, and even\ntold his majesty not to eat too much cake late at night, or he would be\nill.\n\nDorothy, however, was hungry, and she was not afraid of being ill; so\nshe ate several cakes and found them good, and also she drank a cup of\nexcellent coffee made of a richly flavored clay, browned in the\nfurnaces and then ground fine, and found it most refreshing and not at\nall muddy.\n\nOf all the party which had started upon this adventure, the little\nKansas girl was now left alone with the Scarecrow, Tiktok, and the\nprivate for counsellors and companions.  Of course the Cowardly Lion\nand the Hungry Tiger were still there, but they, having also eaten some\nof the cakes, had gone to sleep at one side of the cave, while upon the\nother side stood the Sawhorse, motionless and silent, as became a mere\nthing of wood.  Billina had quietly walked around and picked up the\ncrumbs of cake which had been scattered, and now, as it was long after\nbed-time, she tried to find some dark place in which to go to sleep.\n\nPresently the hen espied a hollow underneath the King's rocky throne,\nand crept into it unnoticed.  She could still hear the chattering of\nthose around her, but it was almost dark underneath the throne, so that\nsoon she had fallen fast asleep.\n\n\"Next!\" called the King, and the private, whose turn it was to enter\nthe fatal palace, shook hands with Dorothy and the Scarecrow and bade\nthem a sorrowful good-bye, and passed through the rocky portal.\n\nThey waited a long time, for the private was in no hurry to become an\nornament and made his guesses very slowly.  The Nome King, who seemed\nto know, by some magical power, all that took place in his beautiful\nrooms of his palace, grew impatient finally and declared he would sit\nup no longer.\n\n\"I love ornaments,\" said he, \"but I can wait until tomorrow to get more\nof them; so, as soon as that stupid private is transformed, we will all\ngo to bed and leave the job to be finished in the morning.\"\n\n\"Is it so very late?\" asked Dorothy.\n\n\"Why, it is after midnight,\" said the King, \"and that strikes me as\nbeing late enough.  There is neither night nor day in my kingdom,\nbecause it is under the earth's surface, where the sun does not shine.\nBut we have to sleep, just the same as the up-stairs people do, and for\nmy part I'm going to bed in a few minutes.\"\n\nIndeed, it was not long after this that the private made his last\nguess.  Of course he guessed wrongly, and of course he at once became\nan ornament.  So the King was greatly pleased, and clapped his hands to\nsummon his Chief Steward.\n\n\"Show these guests to some of the sleeping apartments,\" he commanded,\n\"and be quick about it, too, for I'm dreadfully sleepy myself.\"\n\n\"You've no business to sit up so late,\" replied the Steward, gruffly.\n\"You'll be as cross as a griffin tomorrow morning.\"\n\nHis Majesty made no answer to this remark, and the Chief Steward led\nDorothy through another doorway into a long hall, from which several\nplain but comfortable sleeping rooms opened.  The little girl was given\nthe first room, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok the next--although they\nnever slept--and the Lion and the Tiger the third.  The Sawhorse\nhobbled after the Steward into a fourth room, to stand stiffly in the\ncenter of it until morning.  Each night was rather a bore to the\nScarecrow, Tiktok and the Sawhorse; but they had learned from\nexperience to pass the time patiently and quietly, since all their\nfriends who were made of flesh had to sleep and did not like to be\ndisturbed.\n\nWhen the Chief Steward had left them alone the Scarecrow remarked,\nsadly:\n\n\"I am in great sorrow over the loss of my old comrade, the Tin Woodman.\nWe have had many dangerous adventures together, and escaped them all,\nand now it grieves me to know he has become an ornament, and is lost to\nme forever.\"\n\n\"He was al-ways an or-na-ment to so-ci-e-ty,\" said Tiktok.\n\n\"True; but now the Nome King laughs at him, and calls him the funniest\nornament in all the palace.  It will hurt my poor friend's pride to be\nlaughed at,\" continued the Scarecrow, sadly.\n\n\"We will make rath-er ab-surd or-na-ments, our-selves, to-mor-row,\"\nobserved the machine, in his monotonous voice.\n\nJust then Dorothy ran into their room, in a state of great anxiety,\ncrying:\n\n\"Where's Billina?  Have you seen Billina?  Is she here?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Then what has become of her?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Why, I thought she was with you,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"Yet I do not\nremember seeing the yellow hen since she picked up the crumbs of cake.\"\n\n\"We must have left her in the room where the King's throne is,\" decided\nDorothy, and at once she turned and ran down the hall to the door\nthrough which they had entered.  But it was fast closed and locked on\nthe other side, and the heavy slab of rock proved to be so thick that\nno sound could pass through it.  So Dorothy was forced to return to her\nchamber.\n\nThe Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console the\ngirl for the loss of her feathered friend.\n\n\"The yellow hen is well able to take care of herself,\" said he; \"so\ndon't worry about her, but try to get all the sleep you can.  It has\nbeen a long and weary day, and you need rest.\"\n\n\"I'll prob'ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when I become an orn'ment,\"\nsaid Dorothy, sleepily.  But she lay down upon her couch, nevertheless,\nand in spite of all her worries was soon in the land of dreams.\n\n\n\n\n14.  Dorothy Tries to be Brave\n\n\nMeantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room, where he\nsaid to the King:\n\n\"You are a fool to waste so much time upon these people.\"\n\n\"What!\" cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice that it awoke Billina,\nwho was asleep under his throne.  \"How dare you call me a fool?\"\n\n\"Because I like to speak the truth,\" said the Steward.  \"Why didn't you\nenchant them all at once, instead of allowing them to go one by one\ninto the palace and guess which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her\nchildren?\"\n\n\"Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way,\" returned the King,\n\"and it serves to keep me amused for a long time.\"\n\n\"But suppose some of them happen to guess aright,\" persisted the\nSteward; \"then you would lose your old ornaments and these new ones,\ntoo.\"\n\n\"There is no chance of their guessing aright,\" replied the monarch,\nwith a laugh.  \"How could they know that the Queen of Ev and her family\nare all ornaments of a royal purple color?\"\n\n\"But there are no other purple ornaments in the palace,\" said the\nSteward.\n\n\"There are many other colors, however, and the purple ones are\nscattered throughout the rooms, and are of many different shapes and\nsizes.  Take my word for it, Steward, they will never think of choosing\nthe purple ornaments.\"\n\nBillina, squatting under the throne, had listened carefully to all this\ntalk, and now chuckled softly to herself as she heard the King disclose\nhis secret.\n\n\"Still, you are acting foolishly by running the chance,\" continued the\nSteward, roughly; \"and it is still more foolish of you to transform all\nthose people from Oz into green ornaments.\"\n\n\"I did that because they came from the Emerald City,\" replied the King;\n\"and I had no green ornaments in my collection until now.  I think they\nwill look quite pretty, mixed with the others.  Don't you?\"\n\nThe Steward gave an angry grunt.\n\n\"Have your own way, since you are the King,\" he growled.  \"But if you\ncome to grief through your carelessness, remember that I told you so.\nIf I wore the magic belt which enables you to work all your\ntransformations, and gives you so much other power, I am sure I would\nmake a much wiser and better King than you are.\"\n\n\"Oh, cease your tiresome chatter!\" commanded the King, getting angry\nagain.  \"Because you are my Chief Steward you have an idea you can\nscold me as much as you please.  But the very next time you become\nimpudent, I will send you to work in the furnaces, and get another Nome\nto fill your place.  Now follow me to my chamber, for I am going to\nbed.  And see that I am wakened early tomorrow morning.  I want to\nenjoy the fun of transforming the rest of these people into ornaments.\"\n\n\"What color will you make the Kansas girl?\" asked the Steward.\n\n\"Gray, I think,\" said his Majesty.\n\n\"And the Scarecrow and the machine man?\"\n\n\"Oh, they shall be of solid gold, because they are so ugly in real\nlife.\"\n\nThen the voices died away, and Billina knew that the King and his\nSteward had left the room.  She fixed up some of her tail feathers that\nwere not straight, and then tucked her head under her wing again and\nwent to sleep.\n\nIn the morning Dorothy and the Lion and Tiger were given their\nbreakfast in their rooms, and afterward joined the King in his throne\nroom.  The Tiger complained bitterly that he was half starved, and\nbegged to go into the palace and become an ornament, so that he would\nno longer suffer the pangs of hunger.\n\n\"Haven't you had your breakfast?\" asked the Nome King.\n\n\"Oh, I had just a bite,\" replied the beast.  \"But what good is a bite,\nto a hungry tiger?\"\n\n\"He ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter full of fried sausages,\neleven loaves of bread and twenty-one mince pies,\" said the Steward.\n\n\"What more do you want?\" demanded the King.\n\n\"A fat baby.  I want a fat baby,\" said the Hungry Tiger.  \"A nice,\nplump, juicy, tender, fat baby.  But, of course, if I had one, my\nconscience would not allow me to eat it.  So I'll have to be an\nornament and forget my hunger.\"\n\n\"Impossible!\" exclaimed the King.  \"I'll have no clumsy beasts enter my\npalace, to overturn and break all my pretty nick-nacks.  When the rest\nof your friends are transformed you can return to the upper world, and\ngo about your business.\"\n\n\"As for that, we have no business, when our friends are gone,\" said the\nLion.  \"So we do not care much what becomes of us.\"\n\nDorothy begged to be allowed to go first into the palace, but Tiktok\nfirmly maintained that the slave should face danger before the\nmistress.  The Scarecrow agreed with him in that, so the Nome King\nopened the door for the machine man, who tramped into the palace to\nmeet his fate.  Then his Majesty returned to his throne and puffed his\npipe so contentedly that a small cloud of smoke formed above his head.\n\nBye and bye he said:\n\n\"I'm sorry there are so few of you left.  Very soon, now, my fun will\nbe over, and then for amusement I shall have nothing to do but admire\nmy new ornaments.\"\n\n\"It seems to me,\" said Dorothy, \"that you are not so honest as you\npretend to be.\"\n\n\"How's that?\" asked the King.\n\n\"Why, you made us think it would be easy to guess what ornaments the\npeople of Ev were changed into.\"\n\n\"It IS easy,\" declared the monarch, \"if one is a good guesser.  But it\nappears that the members of your party are all poor guessers.\"\n\n\"What is Tiktok doing now?\" asked the girl, uneasily.\n\n\"Nothing,\" replied the King, with a frown.  \"He is standing perfectly\nstill, in the middle of a room.\"\n\n\"Oh, I expect he's run down,\" said Dorothy.  \"I forgot to wind him up\nthis morning.  How many guesses has he made?\"\n\n\"All that he is allowed except one,\" answered the King.  \"Suppose you\ngo in and wind him up, and then you can stay there and make your own\nguesses.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"It is my turn next,\" declared the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Why, you don't want to go away and leave me all alone, do you?\" asked\nthe girl.  \"Besides, if I go now I can wind up Tiktok, so that he can\nmake his last guess.\"\n\n\"Very well, then,\" said the Scarecrow, with a sigh.  \"Run along, little\nDorothy, and may good luck go with you!\"\n\nSo Dorothy, trying to be brave in spite of her fears, passed through\nthe doorway into the gorgeous rooms of the palace.  The stillness of\nthe place awed her, at first, and the child drew short breaths, and\npressed her hand to her heart, and looked all around with wondering\neyes.\n\nYes, it was a beautiful place; but enchantments lurked in every nook\nand corner, and she had not yet grown accustomed to the wizardries of\nthese fairy countries, so different from the quiet and sensible\ncommon-places of her own native land.\n\nSlowly she passed through several rooms until she came upon Tiktok,\nstanding motionless.  It really seemed, then, that she had found a\nfriend in this mysterious palace, so she hastened to wind up the\nmachine man's action and speech and thoughts.\n\n\"Thank you, Dor-oth-y,\" were his first words.  \"I have now one more\nguess to make.\"\n\n\"Oh, be very careful, Tiktok; won't you?\" cried the girl.\n\n\"Yes.  But the Nome King has us in his power, and he has set a trap for\nus.  I fear we are all lost.\" he answered.\n\n\"I fear so, too,\" said Dorothy, sadly.\n\n\"If Smith & Tin-ker had giv-en me a guess-ing clock-work at-tach-ment,\"\ncontinued Tiktok, \"I might have de-fied the Nome King.  But my thoughts\nare plain and sim-ple, and are not of much use in this case.\"\n\n\"Do the best you can,\" said Dorothy, encouragingly, \"and if you fail I\nwill watch and see what shape you are changed into.\"\n\nSo Tiktok touched a yellow glass vase that had daisies painted on one\nside, and he spoke at the same time the word \"Ev.\"\n\nIn a flash the machine man had disappeared, and although the girl\nlooked quickly in every direction, she could not tell which of the many\nornaments the room contained had a moment before been her faithful\nfriend and servant.\n\nSo all she could do was to accept the hopeless task set her, and make\nher guesses and abide by the result.\n\n\"It can't hurt very much,\" she thought, \"for I haven't heard any of\nthem scream or cry out--not even the poor officers.  Dear me!  I wonder\nif Uncle Henry or Aunt Em will ever know I have become an orn'ment in\nthe Nome King's palace, and must stand forever and ever in one place\nand look pretty--'cept when I'm moved to be dusted.  It isn't the way I\nthought I'd turn out, at all; but I s'pose it can't be helped.\"\n\nShe walked through all the rooms once more, and examined with care all\nthe objects they contained; but there were so many, they bewildered\nher, and she decided, after all, as Ozma had done, that it could be\nonly guess work at the best, and that the chances were much against her\nguessing aright.\n\nTimidly she touched an alabaster bowl and said: \"Ev.\"\n\n\"That's one failure, anyhow,\" she thought.  \"But how am I to know which\nthing is enchanted, and which is not?\"\n\nNext she touched the image of a purple kitten that stood on the corner\nof a mantel, and as she pronounced the word \"Ev\" the kitten\ndisappeared, and a pretty, fair-haired boy stood beside her.  At the\nsame time a bell rang somewhere in the distance, and as Dorothy started\nback, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the little one exclaimed:\n\n\"Where am I?  And who are you?  And what has happened to me?\"\n\n\"Well, I declare!\" said Dorothy.  \"I've really done it.\"\n\n\"Done what?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Saved myself from being an ornament,\" replied the girl, with a laugh,\n\"and saved you from being forever a purple kitten.\"\n\n\"A purple kitten?\" he repeated.  \"There IS no such thing.\"\n\n\"I know,\" she answered.  \"But there was, a minute ago.  Don't you\nremember standing on a corner of the mantel?\"\n\n\"Of course not.  I am a Prince of Ev, and my name is Evring,\" the\nlittle one announced, proudly.  \"But my father, the King, sold my\nmother and all her children to the cruel ruler of the Nomes, and after\nthat I remember nothing at all.\"\n\n\"A purple kitten can't be 'spected to remember, Evring,\" said Dorothy.\n\"But now you are yourself again, and I'm going to try to save some of\nyour brothers and sisters, and perhaps your mother, as well.  So come\nwith me.\"\n\nShe seized the child's hand and eagerly hurried here and there, trying\nto decide which object to choose next.  The third guess was another\nfailure, and so was the fourth and the fifth.\n\nLittle Evring could not imagine what she was doing, but he trotted\nalong beside her very willingly, for he liked the new companion he had\nfound.\n\nDorothy's further quest proved unsuccessful; but after her first\ndisappointment was over, the little girl was filled with joy and\nthankfulness to think that after all she had been able to save one\nmember of the royal family of Ev, and could restore the little Prince\nto his sorrowing country.  Now she might return to the terrible Nome\nKing in safety, carrying with her the prize she had won in the person\nof the fair-haired boy.\n\nSo she retraced her steps until she found the entrance to the palace,\nand as she approached, the massive doors of rock opened of their own\naccord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the portals and enter\nthe throne room.\n\n\n\n\n15.  Billina Frightens the Nome King\n\n\nNow when Dorothy had entered the palace to make her guesses and the\nScarecrow was left with the Nome King, the two sat in moody silence for\nseveral minutes.  Then the monarch exclaimed, in a tone of satisfaction:\n\n\"Very good!\"\n\n\"Who is very good?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"The machine man.  He won't need to be wound up any more, for he has\nnow become a very neat ornament.  Very neat, indeed.\"\n\n\"How about Dorothy?\" the Scarecrow enquired.\n\n\"Oh, she will begin to guess, pretty soon,\" said the King, cheerfully.\n\"And then she will join my collection, and it will be your turn.\"\n\nThe good Scarecrow was much distressed by the thought that his little\nfriend was about to suffer the fate of Ozma and the rest of their\nparty; but while he sat in gloomy reverie a shrill voice suddenly cried:\n\n\"Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kutt!  Kut, kut, kut--ka-daw-kutt!\"\n\nThe Nome King nearly jumped off his seat, he was so startled.\n\n\"Good gracious!  What's that?\" he yelled.\n\n\"Why, it's Billina,\" said the Scarecrow.\n\n\"What do you mean by making a noise like that?\" shouted the King,\nangrily, as the yellow hen came from under the throne and strutted\nproudly about the room.\n\n\"I've got a right to cackle, I guess,\" replied Billina.  \"I've just\nlaid my egg.\"\n\n\"What!  Laid an egg!  In my throne room!  How dare you do such a\nthing?\" asked the King, in a voice of fury.\n\n\"I lay eggs wherever I happen to be,\" said the hen, ruffling her\nfeathers and then shaking them into place.\n\n\"But--thunder-ation!  Don't you know that eggs are poison?\" roared the\nKing, while his rock-colored eyes stuck out in great terror.\n\n\"Poison! well, I declare,\" said Billina, indignantly.  \"I'll have you\nknow all my eggs are warranted strictly fresh and up to date.  Poison,\nindeed!\"\n\n\"You don't understand,\" retorted the little monarch, nervously.  \"Eggs\nbelong only to the outside world--to the world on the earth's surface,\nwhere you came from.  Here, in my underground kingdom, they are rank\npoison, as I said, and we Nomes can't bear them around.\"\n\n\"Well, you'll have to bear this one around,\" declared Billina; \"for\nI've laid it.\"\n\n\"Where?\" asked the King.\n\n\"Under your throne,\" said the hen.\n\nThe King jumped three feet into the air, so anxious was he to get away\nfrom the throne.\n\n\"Take it away!  Take it away at once!\" he shouted.\n\n\"I can't,\" said Billina.  \"I haven't any hands.\"\n\n\"I'll take the egg,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"I'm making a collection of\nBillina's eggs.  There's one in my pocket now, that she laid yesterday.\"\n\nHearing this, the monarch hastened to put a good distance between\nhimself and the Scarecrow, who was about to reach under the throne for\nthe egg when the hen suddenly cried:\n\n\"Stop!\"\n\n\"What's wrong?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"Don't take the egg unless the King will allow me to enter the palace\nand guess as the others have done,\" said Billina.\n\n\"Pshaw!\" returned the King.  \"You're only a hen.  How could you guess\nmy enchantments?\"\n\n\"I can try, I suppose,\" said Billina.  \"And, if I fail, you will have\nanother ornament.\"\n\n\"A pretty ornament you'd make, wouldn't you?\" growled the King.  \"But\nyou shall have your way.  It will properly punish you for daring to lay\nan egg in my presence.  After the Scarecrow is enchanted you shall\nfollow him into the palace.  But how will you touch the objects?\"\n\n\"With my claws,\" said the hen; \"and I can speak the word 'Ev' as\nplainly as anyone.  Also I must have the right to guess the\nenchantments of my friends, and to release them if I succeed.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the King.  \"You have my promise.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Billina to the Scarecrow, \"you may get the egg.\"\n\nHe knelt down and reached underneath the throne and found the egg,\nwhich he placed in another pocket of his jacket, fearing that if both\neggs were in one pocket they would knock together and get broken.\n\nJust then a bell above the throne rang briskly, and the King gave\nanother nervous jump.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said he, with a rueful face; \"the girl has actually done\nit.\"\n\n\"Done what?\" asked the Scarecrow.\n\n\"She has made one guess that is right, and broken one of my neatest\nenchantments.  By ricketty, it's too bad!  I never thought she would do\nit.\"\n\n\"Do I understand that she will now return to us in safety?\" enquired\nthe Scarecrow, joyfully wrinkling his painted face into a broad smile.\n\n\"Of course,\" said the King, fretfully pacing up and down the room.  \"I\nalways keep my promises, no matter how foolish they are.  But I shall\nmake an ornament of the yellow hen to replace the one I have just lost.\"\n\n\"Perhaps you will, and perhaps you won't,\" murmured Billina, calmly.\n\"I may surprise you by guessing right.\"\n\n\"Guessing right?\" snapped the King.  \"How could you guess right, where\nyour betters have failed, you stupid fowl?\"\n\nBillina did not care to answer this question, and a moment later the\ndoors flew open and Dorothy entered, leading the little Prince Evring\nby the hand.\n\nThe Scarecrow welcomed the girl with a close embrace, and he would have\nembraced Evring, too, in his delight.  But the little Prince was shy,\nand shrank away from the painted Scarecrow because he did not yet know\nhis many excellent qualities.\n\nBut there was little time for the friends to talk, because the\nScarecrow must now enter the palace.  Dorothy's success had greatly\nencouraged him, and they both hoped he would manage to make at least\none correct guess.\n\nHowever, he proved as unfortunate as the others except Dorothy, and\nalthough he took a good deal of time to select his objects, not one did\nthe poor Scarecrow guess aright.\n\nSo he became a solid gold card-receiver, and the beautiful but terrible\npalace awaited its next visitor.\n\n\"It's all over,\" remarked the King, with a sigh of satisfaction; \"and\nit has been a very amusing performance, except for the one good guess\nthe Kansas girl made.  I am richer by a great many pretty ornaments.\"\n\n\"It is my turn, now,\" said Billina, briskly.\n\n\"Oh, I'd forgotten you,\" said the King.  \"But you needn't go if you\ndon't wish to.  I will be generous, and let you off.\"\n\n\"No you won't,\" replied the hen.  \"I insist upon having my guesses, as\nyou promised.\"\n\n\"Then go ahead, you absurd feathered fool!\" grumbled the King, and he\ncaused the opening that led to the palace to appear once more.\n\n\"Don't go, Billina,\" said Dorothy, earnestly.  \"It isn't easy to guess\nthose orn'ments, and only luck saved me from being one myself.  Stay\nwith me and we'll go back to the Land of Ev together.  I'm sure this\nlittle Prince will give us a home.\"\n\n\"Indeed I will,\" said Evring, with much dignity.\n\n\"Don't worry, my dear,\" cried Billina, with a cluck that was meant for\na laugh.  \"I may not be human, but I'm no fool, if I AM a chicken.\"\n\n\"Oh, Billina!\" said Dorothy, \"you haven't been a chicken in a long\ntime.  Not since you--you've been--grown up.\"\n\n\"Perhaps that's true,\" answered Billina, thoughtfully.  \"But if a\nKansas farmer sold me to some one, what would he call me?--a hen or a\nchicken!\"\n\n\"You are not a Kansas farmer, Billina,\" replied the girl, \"and you\nsaid--\"\n\n\"Never mind that, Dorothy.  I'm going.  I won't say good-bye, because\nI'm coming back.  Keep up your courage, for I'll see you a little\nlater.\"\n\nThen Billina gave several loud \"cluck-clucks\" that seemed to make the\nfat little King MORE nervous than ever, and marched through the\nentrance into the enchanted palace.\n\n\"I hope I've seen the last of THAT bird,\" declared the monarch, seating\nhimself again in his throne and mopping the perspiration from his\nforehead with his rock-colored handkerchief.  \"Hens are bothersome\nenough at their best, but when they can talk they're simply dreadful.\"\n\n\"Billina's my friend,\" said Dorothy quietly.  \"She may not always be\n'zactly polite; but she MEANS well, I'm sure.\"\n\n\n\n\n16.  Purple, Green, and Gold\n\n\nThe yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast importance,\nwalked slowly over the rich velvet carpets of the splendid palace,\nexamining everything she met with her sharp little eyes.\n\nBillina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the Nome\nKing's secret and knew how to tell the objects that were\ntransformations from those that had never been alive.  She was very\nsure that her guesses would be correct, but before she began to make\nthem she was curious to behold all the magnificence of this underground\npalace, which was perhaps one of the most splendid and beautiful places\nin any fairyland.\n\nAs she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments; and\nalthough some were small and hidden in queer places, Billina spied them\nall, and found the entire ten scattered about the various rooms.  The\ngreen ornaments she did not bother to count, for she thought she could\nfind them all when the time came.\n\nFinally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed its\nsplendor, the yellow hen returned to one of the rooms where she had\nnoticed a large purple footstool.  She placed a claw upon this and said\n\"Ev,\" and at once the footstool vanished and a lovely lady, tall and\nslender and most beautifully robed, stood before her.\n\nThe lady's eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, for she\ncould not remember her transformation, nor imagine what had restored\nher to life.\n\n\"Good morning, ma'am,\" said Billina, in her sharp voice.  \"You're\nlooking quite well, considering your age.\"\n\n\"Who speaks?\" demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing herself up proudly.\n\n\"Why, my name's Bill, by rights,\" answered the hen, who was now perched\nupon the back of a chair; \"although Dorothy has put scollops on it and\nmade it Billina.  But the name doesn't matter.  I've saved you from the\nNome King, and you are a slave no longer.\"\n\n\"Then I thank you for the gracious favor,\" said the Queen, with a\ngraceful courtesy.  \"But, my children--tell me, I beg of you--where are\nmy children?\" and she clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.\n\n\"Don't worry,\" advised Billina, pecking at a tiny bug that was crawling\nover the chair back.  \"Just at present they are out of mischief and\nperfectly safe, for they can't even wiggle.\"\n\n\"What mean you, O kindly stranger?\" asked the Queen, striving to\nrepress her anxiety.\n\n\"They're enchanted,\" said Billina, \"just as you have been--all, that\nis, except the little fellow Dorothy picked out.  And the chances are\nthat they have been good boys and girls for some time, because they\ncouldn't help it.\"\n\n\"Oh, my poor darlings!\" cried the Queen, with a sob of anguish.\n\n\"Not at all,\" returned the hen.  \"Don't let their condition make you\nunhappy, ma'am, because I'll soon have them crowding 'round to bother\nand worry you as naturally as ever.  Come with me, if you please, and\nI'll show you how pretty they look.\"\n\nShe flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the Queen\nfollowing.  As she passed a low table a small green grasshopper caught\nher eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in her\nsharp bill.  For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and they\nusually must be caught quickly, before they can hop away.  It might\neasily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real grasshopper\ninstead of an emerald one.  But Billina found the grasshopper hard and\nlifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat she quickly dropped it\ninstead of letting it slide down her throat.\n\n\"I might have known better,\" she muttered to herself, \"for where there\nis no grass there can be no live grasshoppers.  This is probably one of\nthe King's transformations.\"\n\nA moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and while\nthe Queen watched her curiously the hen broke the Nome King's\nenchantment and a sweet-faced girl, whose golden hair fell in a cloud\nover her shoulders, stood beside them.\n\n\"Evanna!\" cried the Queen, \"my own Evanna!\" and she clasped the girl to\nher bosom and covered her face with kisses.\n\n\"That's all right,\" said Billina, contentedly.  \"Am I a good guesser,\nMr. Nome King?  Well, I guess!\"\n\nThen she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as Evrose,\nand afterwards a boy named Evardo, who was older than his brother\nEvring.  Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen exclaiming and\nembracing for some time, until five Princesses and four Princes, all\nlooking very much alike except for the difference in size, stood in a\nrow beside their happy mother.\n\nThe Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and Evedna,\nwhile the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and Evroland.  Of these\nEvardo was the eldest and would inherit his father's throne and be\ncrowned King of Ev when he returned to his own country.  He was a grave\nand quiet youth, and would doubtless rule his people wisely and with\njustice.\n\nBillina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their proper\nforms, now began to select the green ornaments which were the\ntransformations of the people of Oz.  She had little trouble in finding\nthese, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well as the\nprivate, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully congratulating\nher upon their release.  The thirty-seven people who were now alive in\nthe rooms of the palace knew very well that they owed their freedom to\nthe cleverness of the yellow hen, and they were earnest in thanking her\nfor saving them from the magic of the Nome King.\n\n\"Now,\" said Billina, \"I must find Ozma.  She is sure to be here,\nsomewhere, and of course she is green, being from Oz.  So look around,\nyou stupid soldiers, and help me in my search.\"\n\nFor a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was green.\nBut the Queen, who had kissed all her nine children once more and could\nnow find time to take an interest in what was going on, said to the hen:\n\n\"Mayhap, my gentle friend, it is the grasshopper whom you seek.\"\n\n\"Of course it's the grasshopper!\" exclaimed Billina.  \"I declare, I'm\nnearly as stupid as these brave soldiers.  Wait here for me, and I'll\ngo back and get it.\"\n\nSo she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper, and\npresently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and dainty as ever, entered and\napproached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princess\ngreets another.\n\n\"But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman?\" asked\nthe girl Ruler, when these courtesies had been exchanged.\n\n\"I'll hunt them up,\" replied Billina.  \"The Scarecrow is solid gold,\nand so is Tiktok; but I don't exactly know what the Tin Woodman is,\nbecause the Nome King said he had been transformed into something\nfunny.\"\n\nOzma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the Scarecrow and\nthe machine man, being ornaments of shining gold, were discovered and\nrestored to their accustomed forms.  But, search as they might, in no\nplace could they find a funny ornament that might be the transformation\nof the Tin Woodman.\n\n\"Only one thing can be done,\" said Ozma, at last, \"and that is to\nreturn to the Nome King and oblige him to tell us what has become of\nour friend.\"\n\n\"Perhaps he won't,\" suggested Billina.\n\n\"He must,\" returned Ozma, firmly.  \"The King has not treated us\nhonestly, for under the mask of fairness and good nature he entrapped\nus all, and we would have been forever enchanted had not our wise and\nclever friend, the yellow hen, found a way to save us.\"\n\n\"The King is a villain,\" declared the Scarecrow.\n\n\"His laugh is worse than another man's frown,\" said the private, with a\nshudder.\n\n\"I thought he was hon-est, but I was mis-tak-en,\" remarked Tiktok.  \"My\nthoughts are us-u-al-ly cor-rect, but it is Smith & Tin-ker's fault if\nthey some-times go wrong or do not work prop-er-ly.\"\n\n\"Smith & Tinker made a very good job of you,\" said Ozma, kindly.  \"I do\nnot think they should be blamed if you are not quite perfect.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" replied Tiktok.\n\n\"Then,\" said Billina, in her brisk little voice, \"let us all go back to\nthe Nome King, and see what he has to say for himself.\"\n\nSo they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the Queen and\nher train of little Princes and Princesses following.  Then came\nTiktok, and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his straw-stuffed\nshoulder.  The twenty-seven officers and the private brought up the\nrear.\n\nAs they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but then they\nall stopped and stared into the domed cavern with faces of astonishment\nand dismay.  For the room was filled with the mail-clad warriors of the\nNome King, rank after rank standing in orderly array.  The electric\nlights upon their brows gleamed brightly, their battle-axes were poised\nas if to strike down their foes; yet they remained motionless as\nstatues, awaiting the word of command.\n\nAnd in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon his\nthrone of rock.  But he neither smiled nor laughed.  Instead, his face\nwas distorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.\n\n\n\n\n17.  The Scarecrow Wins the Fight\n\n\nAfter Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down to\nawait the success or failure of her mission, and the Nome King occupied\nhis throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a cheerful and\ncontented mood.\n\nThen the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an enchantment\nwas broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of annoyance and\nexclaimed, \"Rocketty-ricketts!\"\n\nWhen the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, \"Smudge and\nblazes!\" and at a third ring he screamed in a fury, \"Hippikaloric!\"\nwhich must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.\n\nAfter that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the King was\nnow so violently enraged that he could not utter a word, but hopped out\nof his throne and all around the room in a mad frenzy, so that he\nreminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.\n\nThe girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the bell,\nfor it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one more\nornament into a living person.  Dorothy was also amazed at Billina's\nsuccess, for she could not imagine how the yellow hen was able to guess\ncorrectly from all the bewildering number of articles clustered in the\nrooms of the palace.  But after she had counted ten, and the bell\ncontinued to ring, she knew that not only the royal family of Ev, but\nOzma and her followers also, were being restored to their natural\nforms, and she was so delighted that the antics of the angry King only\nmade her laugh merrily.\n\nPerhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was\nbefore, but the girl's laughter nearly drove him frantic, and he roared\nat her like a savage beast.  Then, as he found that all his\nenchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every one set\nfree, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the balcony\nand gave the shrill whistle that summoned his warriors.\n\nAt once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great\nnumbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room, led\nby a stern featured Nome who was their captain.  When they had nearly\nfilled the throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern\nbelow, and then stood still until they were told what to do next.\n\nDorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors\nentered, and now she stood holding little Prince Evring's hand while\nthe great Lion crouched upon one side and the enormous Tiger crouched\non the other side.\n\n\"Seize that girl!\" shouted the King to his captain, and a group of\nwarriors sprang forward to obey.  But both the Lion and Tiger snarled\nso fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth so threateningly, that\nthe men drew back in alarm.\n\n\"Don't mind them!\" cried the Nome King; \"they cannot leap beyond the\nplaces where they now stand.\"\n\n\"But they can bite those who attempt to touch the girl,\" said the\ncaptain.\n\n\"I'll fix that,\" answered the King.  \"I'll enchant them again, so that\nthey can't open their jaws.\"\n\nHe stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the Sawhorse ran\nup behind him and gave the fat monarch a powerful kick with both his\nwooden hind legs.\n\n\"Ow!  Murder!  Treason!\" yelled the King, who had been hurled against\nseveral of his warriors and was considerably bruised.  \"Who did that?\"\n\n\"I did,\" growled the Sawhorse, viciously.  \"You let Dorothy alone, or\nI'll kick you again.\"\n\n\"We'll see about that,\" replied the King, and at once he waved his hand\ntoward the Sawhorse and muttered a magical word.  \"Aha!\" he continued;\n\"NOW let us see you move, you wooden mule!\"\n\nBut in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so quickly\ntoward the King, that the fat little man could not get out of his way.\nThump--BANG! came the wooden heels, right against his round body, and\nthe King flew into the air and fell upon the head of his captain, who\nlet him drop flat upon the ground.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the King, sitting up and looking surprised.  \"Why\ndidn't my magic belt work, I wonder?\"\n\n\"The creature is made of wood,\" replied the captain.  \"Your magic will\nnot work on wood, you know.\"\n\n\"Ah, I'd forgotten that,\" said the King, getting up and limping to his\nthrone.  \"Very well, let the girl alone.  She can't escape us, anyway.\"\n\nThe warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents, now\nformed their ranks again, and the Sawhorse pranced across the room to\nDorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.\n\nAt that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and the\npeople of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view.  They paused,\nastonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome King, seated in\ntheir midst.\n\n\"Surrender!\" cried the King, in a loud voice.  \"You are my prisoners.\"\n\n\"Go 'long!\" answered Billina, from the Scarecrow's shoulder.  \"You\npromised me that if I guessed correctly my friends and I might depart\nin safety.  And you always keep your promises.\"\n\n\"I said you might leave the palace in safety,\" retorted the King; \"and\nso you may, but you cannot leave my dominions.  You are my prisoners,\nand I will hurl you all into my underground dungeons, where the\nvolcanic fires glow and the molten lava flows in every direction, and\nthe air is hotter than blue blazes.\"\n\n\"That will be the end of me, all right,\" said the Scarecrow,\nsorrowfully.  \"One small blaze, blue or green, is enough to reduce me\nto an ash-heap.\"\n\n\"Do you surrender?\" demanded the King.\n\nBillina whispered something in the Scarecrow's ear that made him smile\nand put his hands in his jacket pockets.\n\n\"No!\" returned Ozma, boldly answering the King.  Then she said to her\narmy:\n\n\"Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and yourselves,\nunto death!\"\n\n\"Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma,\" replied one of her generals; \"but I find\nthat I and my brother officers all suffer from heart disease, and the\nslightest excitement might kill us.  If we fight we may get excited.\nWould it not be well for us to avoid this grave danger?\"\n\n\"Soldiers should not have heart disease,\" said Ozma.\n\n\"Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that way,\" declared\nanother general, twirling his moustache thoughtfully.  \"If your Royal\nHighness desires, we will order our private to attack yonder warriors.\"\n\n\"Do so,\" replied Ozma.\n\n\"For-ward--march!\" cried all the generals, with one voice.\n\"For-ward--march!\" yelled the colonels.  \"For-ward--march!\" shouted the\nmajors.  \"For-ward--march!\" commanded the captains.\n\nAnd at that the private leveled his spear and dashed furiously upon the\nfoe.\n\nThe captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden onslaught that\nhe forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that the ten men in the\nfirst row, who stood in front of the private's spear, fell over like so\nmany toy soldiers.  The spear could not go through their steel armor,\nhowever, so the warriors scrambled to their feet again, and by that\ntime the private had knocked over another row of them.\n\nThen the captain brought down his battle-axe with such a strong blow\nthat the private's spear was shattered and knocked from his grasp, and\nhe was helpless to fight any longer.\n\nThe Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his warriors to\nthe front ranks, so he could see what was going on; but as he faced\nOzma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to action by the\nvalor of the private, drew one of Billina's eggs from his right jacket\npocket and hurled it straight at the little monarch's head.\n\nIt struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed and\nscattered, as eggs will, and covered his face and hair and beard with\nits sticky contents.\n\n\"Help, help!\" screamed the King, clawing with his fingers at the egg,\nin a struggle to remove it.\n\n\"An egg! an egg!  Run for your lives!\" shouted the captain of the\nNomes, in a voice of horror.\n\nAnd how they DID run!  The warriors fairly tumbled over one another in\ntheir efforts to escape the fatal poison of that awful egg, and those\nwho could not rush down the winding stair fell off the balcony into the\ngreat cavern beneath, knocking over those who stood below them.\n\nEven while the King was still yelling for help his throne room became\nemptied of every one of his warriors, and before the monarch had\nmanaged to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow threw the\nsecond egg against his right eye, where it smashed and blinded him\nentirely.  The King was unable to flee because he could not see which\nway to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted and screamed in\nabject fear.\n\nWhile this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and perching\nherself upon the Lion's back the hen whispered eagerly to the girl:\n\n\"Get his belt!  Get the Nome King's jeweled belt!  It unbuckles in the\nback.  Quick, Dorothy--quick!\"\n\n\n\n\n18.  The Fate of the Tin Woodman\n\n\nDorothy obeyed.  She ran at once behind the Nome King, who was still\ntrying to free his eyes from the egg, and in a twinkling she had\nunbuckled his splendid jeweled belt and carried it away with her to her\nplace beside the Tiger and Lion, where, because she did not know what\nelse to do with it, she fastened it around her own slim waist.\n\nJust then the Chief Steward rushed in with a sponge and a bowl of\nwater, and began mopping away the broken eggs from his master's face.\nIn a few minutes, and while all the party stood looking on, the King\nregained the use of his eyes, and the first thing he did was to glare\nwickedly upon the Scarecrow and exclaim:\n\n\"I'll make you suffer for this, you hay-stuffed dummy!  Don't you know\neggs are poison to Nomes?\"\n\n\"Really,\" said the Scarecrow, \"they DON'T seem to agree with you,\nalthough I wonder why.\"\n\n\"They were strictly fresh and above suspicion,\" said Billina.  \"You\nought to be glad to get them.\"\n\n\"I'll transform you all into scorpions!\" cried the King, angrily, and\nbegan waving his arms and muttering magic words.\n\nBut none of the people became scorpions, so the King stopped and looked\nat them in surprise.\n\n\"What's wrong?\" he asked.\n\n\"Why, you are not wearing your magic belt,\" replied the Chief Steward,\nafter looking the King over carefully.  \"Where is it?  What have you\ndone with it?\"\n\nThe Nome King clapped his hand to his waist, and his rock colored face\nturned white as chalk.\n\n\"It's gone,\" he cried, helplessly.  \"It's gone, and I am ruined!\"\n\nDorothy now stepped forward and said:\n\n\"Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your people back\nto the land of the living.  Billina has saved you from your troubles,\nand now we will leave this drea'ful place, and return to Ev as soon as\nposs'ble.\"\n\nWhile the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic belt,\nand a great cheer went up from all her friends, which was led by the\nvoices of the Scarecrow and the private.  But the Nome King did not\njoin them.  He crept back onto his throne like a whipped dog, and lay\nthere bitterly bemoaning his defeat.\n\n\"But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin Woodman,\" said\nOzma to Dorothy, \"and without him I do not wish to go away.\"\n\n\"Nor I,\" replied Dorothy, quickly.  \"Wasn't he in the palace?\"\n\n\"He must be there,\" said Billina; \"but I had no clue to guide me in\nguessing the Tin Woodman, so I must have missed him.\"\n\n\"We will go back into the rooms,\" said Dorothy.  \"This magic belt, I am\nsure, will help us to find our dear old friend.\"\n\nSo she re-entered the palace, the doors of which still stood open, and\neveryone followed her except the Nome King, the Queen of Ev and Prince\nEvring.  The mother had taken the little Prince in her lap and was\nfondling and kissing him lovingly, for he was her youngest born.\n\nBut the others went with Dorothy, and when she came to the middle of\nthe first room the girl waved her hand, as she had seen the King do,\nand commanded the Tin Woodman, whatever form he might then have, to\nresume his proper shape.  No result followed this attempt, so Dorothy\nwent into another room and repeated it, and so through all the rooms of\nthe palace.  Yet the Tin Woodman did not appear to them, nor could they\nimagine which among the thousands of ornaments was their transformed\nfriend.\n\nSadly they returned to the throne room, where the King, seeing that\nthey had met with failure, jeered at Dorothy, saying:\n\n\"You do not know how to use my belt, so it is of no use to you.  Give\nit back to me and I will let you go free--you and all the people who\ncame with you.  As for the royal family of Ev, they are my slaves, and\nshall remain here.\"\n\n\"I shall keep the belt,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"But how can you escape, without my consent?\"  asked the King.\n\n\"Easily enough,\" answered the girl.  \"All we need to do is to walk out\nthe way that we came in.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's all, is it?\" sneered the King.  \"Well, where is the passage\nthrough which you entered this room?\"\n\nThey all looked around, but could not discover the place, for it had\nlong since been closed.  Dorothy, however, would not be dismayed.  She\nwaved her hand toward the seemingly solid wall of the cavern and said:\n\n\"I command the passage to open!\"\n\nInstantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and the passage\nlay plainly before them.\n\nThe King was amazed, and all the others overjoyed.\n\n\"Why, then, if the belt obeys you, were we unable to discover the Tin\nWoodman?\" asked Ozma.\n\n\"I can't imagine,\" said Dorothy.\n\n\"See here, girl,\" proposed the King, eagerly; \"give me the belt, and I\nwill tell you what shape the Tin Woodman was changed into, and then you\ncan easily find him.\"\n\nDorothy hesitated, but Billina cried out:\n\n\"Don't you do it!  If the Nome King gets the belt again he will make\nevery one of us prisoners, for we will be in his power.  Only by\nkeeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to leave this place in\nsafety.\"\n\n\"I think that is true,\" said the Scarecrow.  \"But I have another idea,\ndue to my excellent brains.  Let Dorothy transform the King into a\ngoose-egg unless he agrees to go into the palace and bring out to us\nthe ornament which is our friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman.\"\n\n\"A goose-egg!\" echoed the horrified King.  \"How dreadful!\"\n\n\"Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us the ornament\nwe want,\" declared Billina, with a joyful chuckle.\n\n\"You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the magic belt\nall right,\" added the Scarecrow.\n\nThe Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did not\nwant to be a goose-egg.  So he went into the palace to get the ornament\nwhich was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they all awaited\nhis return with considerable impatience, for they were anxious to leave\nthis underground cavern and see the sunshine once more.  But when the\nNome King came back he brought nothing with him except a puzzled and\nanxious expression upon his face.\n\n\"He's gone!\" he said.  \"The Tin Woodman is nowhere in the palace.\"\n\n\"Are you sure?\" asked Ozma, sternly.\n\n\"I'm very sure,\" answered the King, trembling, \"for I know just what I\ntransformed him into, and exactly where he stood.  But he is not there,\nand please don't change me into a goose-egg, because I've done the best\nI could.\"\n\nThey were all silent for a time, and then Dorothy said:\n\n\"There is no use punishing the Nome King any more, and I'm 'fraid we'll\nhave to go away without our friend.\"\n\n\"If he is not here, we cannot rescue him,\" agreed the Scarecrow, sadly.\n\"Poor Nick!  I wonder what has become of him.\"\n\n\"And he owed me six weeks back pay!\" said one of the generals, wiping\nthe tears from his eyes with his gold-laced coat sleeve.\n\nVery sorrowfully they determined to return to the upper world without\ntheir former companion, and so Ozma gave the order to begin the march\nthrough the passage.\n\nThe army went first, and then the royal family of Ev, and afterward\ncame Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, the Scarecrow and Tiktok.\n\nThey left the Nome King scowling at them from his throne, and had no\nthought of danger until Ozma chanced to look back and saw a large\nnumber of the warriors following them in full chase, with their swords\nand spears and axes raised to strike down the fugitives as soon as they\ndrew near enough.\n\nEvidently the Nome King had made this last attempt to prevent their\nescaping him; but it did him no good, for when Dorothy saw the danger\nthey were in she stopped and waved her hand and whispered a command to\nthe magic belt.\n\nInstantly the foremost warriors became eggs, which rolled upon the\nfloor of the cavern in such numbers that those behind could not advance\nwithout stepping upon them.  But, when they saw the eggs, all desire to\nadvance departed from the warriors, and they turned and fled madly into\nthe cavern, and refused to go back again.\n\nOur friends had no further trouble in reaching the end of the passage,\nand soon were standing in the outer air upon the gloomy path between\nthe two high mountains.  But the way to Ev lay plainly before them, and\nthey fervently hoped that they had seen the last of the Nome King and\nof his dreadful palace.\n\nThe cavalcade was led by Ozma, mounted on the Cowardly Lion, and the\nQueen of Ev, who rode upon the back of the Tiger.  The children of the\nQueen walked behind her, hand in hand.  Dorothy rode the Sawhorse,\nwhile the Scarecrow walked and commanded the army in the absence of the\nTin Woodman.\n\nPresently the way began to lighten and more of the sunshine to come in\nbetween the two mountains.  And before long they heard the \"thump!\nthump! thump!\" of the giant's hammer upon the road.\n\n\"How may we pass the monstrous man of iron?\" asked the Queen, anxious\nfor the safety of her children.  But Dorothy solved the problem by a\nword to the magic belt.\n\nThe giant paused, with his hammer held motionless in the air, thus\nallowing the entire party to pass between his cast-iron legs in safety.\n\n\n\n\n19.  The King of Ev\n\n\nIf there were any shifting, rock-colored Nomes on the mountain side\nnow, they were silent and respectful, for our adventurers were not\nannoyed, as before, by their impudent laughter.  Really the Nomes had\nnothing to laugh at, since the defeat of their King.\n\nOn the other side they found Ozma's golden chariot, standing as they\nhad left it.  Soon the Lion and the Tiger were harnessed to the\nbeautiful chariot, in which was enough room for Ozma and the Queen and\nsix of the royal children.\n\nLittle Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse, which\nhad a long back.  The Prince had recovered from his shyness and had\nbecome very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they were fast\nfriends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode along.  Billina\nwas also perched upon the head of the wooden steed, which seemed not to\nmind the added weight in the least, and the boy was full of wonder that\na hen could talk, and say such sensible things.\n\nWhen they came to the gulf, Ozma's magic carpet carried them all over\nin safety; and now they began to pass the trees, in which birds were\nsinging; and the breeze that was wafted to them from the farms of Ev\nwas spicy with flowers and new-mown hay; and the sunshine fell full\nupon them, to warm them and drive away from their bodies the chill and\ndampness of the underground kingdom of the Nomes.\n\n\"I would be quite content,\" said the Scarecrow to Tiktok, \"were only\nthe Tin Woodman with us.  But it breaks my heart to leave him behind.\"\n\n\"He was a fine fel-low,\" replied Tiktok, \"al-though his ma-ter-i-al was\nnot ve-ry du-ra-ble.\"\n\n\"Oh, tin is an excellent material,\" the Scarecrow hastened to say; \"and\nif anything ever happened to poor Nick Chopper he was always easily\nsoldered.  Besides, he did not have to be wound up, and was not liable\nto get out of order.\"\n\n\"I some-times wish,\" said Tiktok, \"that I was stuffed with straw, as\nyou are.  It is hard to be made of cop-per.\"\n\n\"I have no reason to complain of my lot,\" replied the Scarecrow.  \"A\nlittle fresh straw, now and then, makes me as good as new.  But I can\nnever be the polished gentleman that my poor departed friend, the Tin\nWoodman, was.\"\n\nYou may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother were\ndelighted at seeing again their beloved country; and when the towers of\nthe palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear cheering at the\nsight.  Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy, was so overjoyed\nthat he took a curious tin whistle from his pocket and blew a shrill\nblast that made the Sawhorse leap and prance in sudden alarm.\n\n\"What is that?\" asked Billina, who had been obliged to flutter her\nwings in order to keep her seat upon the head of the frightened\nSawhorse.\n\n\"That's my whistle,\" said Prince Evring, holding it out upon his hand.\n\nIt was in the shape of a little fat pig, made of tin and painted green.\nThe whistle was in the tail of the pig.\n\n\"Where did you get it?\" asked the yellow hen, closely examining the toy\nwith her bright eyes.\n\n\"Why, I picked it up in the Nome King's palace, while Dorothy was\nmaking her guesses, and I put it in my pocket,\" answered the little\nPrince.\n\nBillina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that served\nher for a laugh.\n\n\"No wonder I couldn't find the Tin Woodman,\" she said; \"and no wonder\nthe magic belt didn't make him appear, or the King couldn't find him,\neither!\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" questioned Dorothy.\n\n\"Why, the Prince had him in his pocket,\" cried Billina, cackling again.\n\n\"I did not!\" protested little Evring.  \"I only took the whistle.\"\n\n\"Well, then, watch me,\" returned the hen, and reaching out a claw she\ntouched the whistle and said \"Ev.\"\n\nSwish!\n\n\"Good afternoon,\" said the Tin Woodman, taking off his funnel cap and\nbowing to Dorothy and the Prince.  \"I think I must have been asleep for\nthe first time since I was made of tin, for I do not remember our\nleaving the Nome King.\"\n\n\"You have been enchanted,\" answered the girl, throwing an arm around\nher old friend and hugging him tight in her joy.  \"But it's all right,\nnow.\"\n\n\"I want my whistle!\" said the little Prince, beginning to cry.\n\n\"Hush!\" cautioned Billina.  \"The whistle is lost, but you may have\nanother when you get home.\"\n\nThe Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his old\ncomrade, so surprised and delighted was he to see him again, and Tiktok\nsqueezed the Tin Woodman's hand so earnestly that he dented some of his\nfingers.  Then they had to make way for Ozma to welcome the tin man,\nand the army caught sight of him and set up a cheer, and everybody was\ndelighted and happy.\n\nFor the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him, and his\nsudden recovery after they had thought he was lost to them forever was\nindeed a pleasant surprise.\n\nBefore long the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a great\ncrowd of people had gathered to welcome their Queen and her ten\nchildren.  There was much shouting and cheering, and the people threw\nflowers in their path, and every face wore a happy smile.\n\nThey found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber, where she\nwas admiring one of her handsomest heads--one with rich chestnut hair,\ndreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut nose.  She was very glad to\nbe relieved of her duties to the people of Ev, and the Queen graciously\npermitted her to retain her rooms and her cabinet of heads as long as\nshe lived.\n\nThen the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that overlooked\nthe crowd of subjects gathered below, and said to them:\n\n\"Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth.  He is fifteen years\nof age, has fifteen silver buckles on his jacket and is the fifteenth\nEvardo to rule the land of Ev.\"\n\nThe people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the Wheelers,\nsome of whom were present, loudly promised to obey the new King.\n\nSo the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon Evardo's\nhead, and threw an ermine robe over his shoulders, and proclaimed him\nKing; and he bowed gratefully to all his subjects and then went away to\nsee if he could find any cake in the royal pantry.\n\nOzma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and Billina, were\nsplendidly entertained by the Queen mother, who owed all her happiness\nto their kind offices; and that evening the yellow hen was publicly\npresented with a beautiful necklace of pearls and sapphires, as a token\nof esteem from the new King.\n\n\n\n\n20.  The Emerald City\n\n\nDorothy decided to accept Ozma's invitation to return with her to the\nLand of Oz.  There was no greater chance of her getting home from Ev\nthan from Oz, and the little girl was anxious to see once more the\ncountry where she had encountered such wonderful adventures.  By this\ntime Uncle Henry would have reached Australia in his ship, and had\nprobably given her up for lost; so he couldn't worry any more than he\ndid if she stayed away from him a while longer.  So she would go to Oz.\n\nThey bade good-bye to the people of Ev, and the King promised Ozma that\nhe would ever be grateful to her and render the Land of Oz any service\nthat might lie within his power.\n\nAnd then they approached the edge of the dangerous desert, and Ozma\nthrew down the magic carpet, which at once unrolled far enough for all\nof them to walk upon it without being crowded.\n\nTiktok, claiming to be Dorothy's faithful follower because he belonged\nto her, had been permitted to join the party, and before they started\nthe girl wound up his machinery as far as possible, and the copper man\nstepped off as briskly as any one of them.\n\nOzma also invited Billina to visit the Land of Oz, and the yellow hen\nwas glad enough to go where new sights and scenes awaited her.\n\nThey began the trip across the desert early in the morning, and as they\nstopped only long enough for Billina to lay her daily egg, before\nsunset they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of the beautiful\nLand of Oz.  They entered it in the Munchkin territory, and the King of\nthe Munchkins met them at the border and welcomed Ozma with great\nrespect, being very pleased by her safe return.  For Ozma of Oz ruled\nthe King of the Munchkins, the King of the Winkies, the King of the\nQuadlings and the King of the Gillikins just as those kings ruled their\nown people; and this supreme ruler of the Land of Oz lived in a great\ntown of her own, called the Emerald City, which was in the exact center\nof the four kingdoms of the Land of Oz.\n\nThe Munchkin king entertained them at his palace that night, and in the\nmorning they set out for the Emerald City, travelling over a road of\nyellow brick that led straight to the jewel-studded gates.  Everywhere\nthe people turned out to greet their beloved Ozma, and to hail joyfully\nthe Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, who were popular\nfavorites.  Dorothy, too, remembered some of the people, who had\nbefriended her on the occasion of her first visit to Oz, and they were\nwell pleased to see the little Kansas girl again, and showered her with\ncompliments and good wishes.\n\nAt one place, where they stopped to refresh themselves, Ozma accepted a\nbowl of milk from the hands of a pretty dairy-maid.  Then she looked at\nthe girl more closely, and exclaimed:\n\n\"Why, it's Jinjur--isn't it!\"\n\n\"Yes, your Highness,\" was the reply, as Jinjur dropped a low curtsy.\nAnd Dorothy looked wonderingly at this lively appearing person, who had\nonce assembled an army of women and driven the Scarecrow from the\nthrone of the Emerald City, and even fought a battle with the powerful\narmy of Glinda the Sorceress.\n\n\"I've married a man who owns nine cows,\" said Jinjur to Ozma, \"and now\nI am happy and contented and willing to lead a quiet life and mind my\nown business.\"\n\n\"Where is your husband?\" asked Ozma.\n\n\"He is in the house, nursing a black eye,\" replied Jinjur, calmly.\n\"The foolish man would insist upon milking the red cow when I wanted\nhim to milk the white one; but he will know better next time, I am\nsure.\"\n\nThen the party moved on again, and after crossing a broad river on a\nferry and passing many fine farm houses that were dome shaped and\npainted a pretty green color, they came in sight of a large building\nthat was covered with flags and bunting.\n\n\"I don't remember that building,\" said Dorothy.  \"What is it?\"\n\n\"That is the College of Art and Athletic Perfection,\" replied Ozma.  \"I\nhad it built quite recently, and the Woggle-Bug is its president.  It\nkeeps him busy, and the young men who attend the college are no worse\noff than they were before.  You see, in this country are a number of\nyouths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place\nfor them.\"\n\nAnd now they came in sight of the Emerald City, and the people flocked\nout to greet their lovely ruler.  There were several bands and many\nofficers and officials of the realm, and a crowd of citizens in their\nholiday attire.\n\nThus the beautiful Ozma was escorted by a brilliant procession to her\nroyal city, and so great was the cheering that she was obliged to\nconstantly bow to the right and left to acknowledge the greetings of\nher subjects.\n\nThat evening there was a grand reception in the royal palace, attended\nby the most important persons of Oz, and Jack Pumpkinhead, who was a\nlittle overripe but still active, read an address congratulating Ozma\nof Oz upon the success of her generous mission to rescue the royal\nfamily of a neighboring kingdom.\n\nThen magnificent gold medals set with precious stones were presented to\neach of the twenty-six officers; and the Tin Woodman was given a new\naxe studded with diamonds; and the Scarecrow received a silver jar of\ncomplexion powder.  Dorothy was presented with a pretty coronet and\nmade a Princess of Oz, and Tiktok received two bracelets set with eight\nrows of very clear and sparkling emeralds.\n\nAfterward they sat down to a splendid feast, and Ozma put Dorothy at\nher right and Billina at her left, where the hen sat upon a golden\nroost and ate from a jeweled platter.  Then were placed the Scarecrow,\nthe Tin Woodman and Tiktok, with baskets of lovely flowers before them,\nbecause they did not require food.  The twenty-six officers were at the\nlower end of the table, and the Lion and the Tiger also had seats, and\nwere served on golden platters, that held a half a bushel at one time.\n\nThe wealthiest and most important citizens of the Emerald City were\nproud to wait upon these famous adventurers, and they were assisted by\na sprightly little maid named Jellia Jamb, whom the Scarecrow pinched\nupon her rosy cheeks and seemed to know very well.\n\nDuring the feast Ozma grew thoughtful, and suddenly she asked:\n\n\"Where is the private?\"\n\n\"Oh, he is sweeping out the barracks,\" replied one of the generals, who\nwas busy eating a leg of a turkey.  \"But I have ordered him a dish of\nbread and molasses to eat when his work is done.\"\n\n\"Let him be sent for,\" said the girl ruler.\n\nWhile they waited for this command to be obeyed, she enquired:\n\n\"Have we any other privates in the armies?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" replied the Tin Woodman, \"I believe there are three,\naltogether.\"\n\nThe private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal Ozma very\nrespectfully.\n\n\"What is your name, my man?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"Omby Amby,\" answered the private.\n\n\"Then, Omby Amby,\" said she, \"I promote you to be Captain General of\nall the armies of my kingdom, and especially to be Commander of my Body\nGuard at the royal palace.\"\n\n\"It is very expensive to hold so many offices,\" said the private,\nhesitating.  \"I have no money with which to buy uniforms.\"\n\n\"You shall be supplied from the royal treasury,\" said Ozma.\n\nThen the private was given a seat at the table, where the other\nofficers welcomed him cordially, and the feasting and merriment were\nresumed.\n\nSuddenly Jellia Jamb exclaimed:\n\n\"There is nothing more to eat!  The Hungry Tiger has consumed\neverything!\"\n\n\"But that is not the worst of it,\" declared the Tiger, mournfully.\n\"Somewhere or somehow, I've actually lost my appetite!\"\n\n\n\n\n21.  Dorothy's Magic Belt\n\n\nDorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the guest\nof the royal Ozma, who delighted to please and interest the little\nKansas girl.  Many new acquaintances were formed and many old ones\nrenewed, and wherever she went Dorothy found herself among friends.\n\nOne day, however, as she sat in Ozma's private room, she noticed\nhanging upon the wall a picture which constantly changed in appearance,\nat one time showing a meadow and at another time a forest, a lake or a\nvillage.\n\n\"How curious!\" she exclaimed, after watching the shifting scenes for a\nfew moments.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Ozma, \"that is really a wonderful invention in magic.  If I\nwish to see any part of the world or any person living, I need only\nexpress the wish and it is shown in the picture.\"\n\n\"May I use it?\" asked Dorothy, eagerly.\n\n\"Of course, my dear.\"\n\n\"Then I'd like to see the old Kansas farm, and Aunt Em,\" said the girl.\n\nInstantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture, and\nAunt Em could be seen quite plainly.  She was engaged in washing dishes\nby the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented.  The hired\nmen and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the house, and the\ncorn and wheat seemed to the child to be in prime condition.  On the\nside porch Dorothy's pet dog, Toto, was lying fast asleep in the sun,\nand to her surprise old Speckles was running around with a brood of\ntwelve new chickens trailing after her.\n\n\"Everything seems all right at home,\" said Dorothy, with a sigh of\nrelief.  \"Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is doing.\"\n\nThe scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in a\npleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair,\nsolemnly smoking his briar pipe.  He looked sad and lonely, and his\nhair was now quite white and his hands and face thin and wasted.\n\n\"Oh!\" cried Dorothy, in an anxious voice, \"I'm sure Uncle Henry isn't\ngetting any better, and it's because he is worried about me.  Ozma,\ndear, I must go to him at once!\"\n\n\"How can you?\" asked Ozma.\n\n\"I don't know,\" replied Dorothy; \"but let us go to Glinda the Good.\nI'm sure she will help me, and advise me how to get to Uncle Henry.\"\n\nOzma readily agreed to this plan and caused the Sawhorse to be\nharnessed to a pretty green and pink phaeton, and the two girls rode\naway to visit the famous sorceress.\n\nGlinda received them graciously, and listened to Dorothy's story with\nattention.\n\n\"I have the magic belt, you know,\" said the little girl.  \"If I buckled\nit around my waist and commanded it to take me to Uncle Henry, wouldn't\nit do it?\"\n\n\"I think so,\" replied Glinda, with a smile.\n\n\"And then,\" continued Dorothy, \"if I ever wanted to come back here\nagain, the belt would bring me.\"\n\n\"In that you are wrong,\" said the sorceress.  \"The belt has magical\npowers only while it is in some fairy country, such as the Land of Oz,\nor the Land of Ev.  Indeed, my little friend, were you to wear it and\nwish yourself in Australia, with your uncle, the wish would doubtless\nbe fulfilled, because it was made in fairyland.  But you would not find\nthe magic belt around you when you arrived at your destination.\"\n\n\"What would become of it?\" asked the girl.\n\n\"It would be lost, as were your silver shoes when you visited Oz\nbefore, and no one would ever see it again.  It seems too bad to\ndestroy the use of the magic belt in that way, doesn't it?\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, \"I will give the magic\nbelt to Ozma, for she can use it in her own country.  And she can wish\nme transported to Uncle Henry without losing the belt.\"\n\n\"That is a wise plan,\" replied Glinda.\n\nSo they rode back to the Emerald City, and on the way it was arranged\nthat every Saturday morning Ozma would look at Dorothy in her magic\npicture, wherever the little girl might chance to be.  And, if she saw\nDorothy make a certain signal, then Ozma would know that the little\nKansas girl wanted to revisit the Land of Oz, and by means of the Nome\nKing's magic belt would wish that she might instantly return.\n\nThis having been agreed upon, Dorothy bade good-bye to all her friends.\nTiktok wanted to go to Australia; too, but Dorothy knew that the\nmachine man would never do for a servant in a civilized country, and\nthe chances were that his machinery wouldn't work at all.  So she left\nhim in Ozma's care.\n\nBillina, on the contrary, preferred the Land of Oz to any other\ncountry, and refused to accompany Dorothy.\n\n\"The bugs and ants that I find here are the finest flavored in the\nworld,\" declared the yellow hen, \"and there are plenty of them.  So\nhere I shall end my days; and I must say, Dorothy, my dear, that you\nare very foolish to go back into that stupid, humdrum world again.\"\n\n\"Uncle Henry needs me,\" said Dorothy, simply; and every one except\nBillina thought it was right that she should go.\n\nAll Dorothy's friends of the Land of Oz--both old and new--gathered in\na group in front of the palace to bid her a sorrowful good-bye and to\nwish her long life and happiness.  After much hand shaking, Dorothy\nkissed Ozma once more, and then handed her the Nome King's magic belt,\nsaying:\n\n\"Now, dear Princess, when I wave my handkerchief, please wish me with\nUncle Henry.  I'm aw'fly sorry to leave you--and the Scarecrow--and the\nTin Woodman--and the Cowardly Lion--and Tiktok--and--and everybody--but\nI do want my Uncle Henry!  So good-bye, all of you.\"\n\nThen the little girl stood on one of the big emeralds which decorated\nthe courtyard, and after looking once again at each of her friends,\nwaved her handkerchief.\n\n\n\"No,\" said Dorothy, \"I wasn't drowned at all.  And I've come to nurse\nyou and take care of you, Uncle Henry, and you must promise to get well\nas soon as poss'ble.\"\n\nUncle Henry smiled and cuddled his little niece close in his lap.\n\n\"I'm better already, my darling,\" said he."