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Charles Darwin - "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals"

Amelia E. Barr - "The Man Between"

Edgar Rice Burroughs - "Tarzan the Terrible"

B. M. Bower - "The Trail of the White Mule"

The Emerald City of Oz

L >> L. Frank Baum >> The Emerald City of Oz




"Honor bright?" she asked.

"On the royal word of a King I promise it!" he answered.

"All right," said Dorothy. "You'd be a reg'lar lunatic to want to
leave Bunnybury for a wild life in the forest, and I'm sure any rabbit
outside the city would be glad to take your place."

"Forget it, my dear; forget all my foolishness," pleaded the King,
earnestly. "Hereafter I'll try to enjoy myself and do my duty
by my subjects."

So then she left him and entered through the little door into the room
in the wall, where she grew gradually bigger and bigger until she had
resumed her natural size.

The Keeper of the Wicket let them out into the forest and told Dorothy
that she had been of great service to Bunnybury because she had
brought their dismal King to a realization of the pleasure of ruling
so beautiful a city.

"I shall start a petition to have your statue erected beside Glinda's
in the public square," said the Keeper. "I hope you will come again,
some day, and see it."

"Perhaps I shall," she replied.

Then, followed by Toto and Billina, she walked away from the high
marble wall and started back along the narrow path toward the sign-post.



22. How the Wizard Found Dorothy


When they came to the signpost, there, to their joy, were the tents of
the Wizard pitched beside the path and the kettle bubbling merrily
over the fire. The Shaggy Man and Omby Amby were gathering firewood
while Uncle Henry and Aunt Em sat in their camp chairs talking with
the Wizard.

They all ran forward to greet Dorothy, as she approached, and Aunt Em
exclaimed: "Goodness gracious, child! Where have you been?"

"You've played hookey the whole day," added the Shaggy Man, reproachfully.

"Well, you see, I've been lost," explained the little girl, "and I've
tried awful hard to find the way back to you, but just couldn't do it."

"Did you wander in the forest all day?" asked Uncle Henry.

"You must be a'most starved!" said Aunt Em.

"No," said Dorothy, "I'm not hungry. I had a wheelbarrow and a piano
for breakfast, and lunched with a King."

"Ah!" exclaimed the Wizard, nodding with a bright smile. "So you've
been having adventures again."

"She's stark crazy!" cried Aunt Em. "Whoever heard of eating
a wheelbarrow?"

"It wasn't very big," said Dorothy; "and it had a zuzu wheel."

"And I ate the crumbs," said Billina, soberly.

"Sit down and tell us about it," begged the Wizard. "We've hunted for
you all day, and at last I noticed your footsteps in this path--and
the tracks of Billina. We found the path by accident, and seeing it
only led to two places I decided you were at either one or the other
of those places. So we made camp and waited for you to return. And
now, Dorothy, tell us where you have been--to Bunbury or to Bunnybury?"

"Why, I've been to both," she replied; "but first I went to Utensia,
which isn't on any path at all."

She then sat down and related the day's adventures, and you may be
sure Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were much astonished at the story.

"But after seeing the Cuttenclips and the Fuddles," remarked her
uncle, "we ought not to wonder at anything in this strange country."

"Seems like the only common and ordinary folks here are ourselves,"
rejoined Aunt Em, diffidently.

"Now that we're together again, and one reunited party," observed the
Shaggy Man, "what are we to do next?"

"Have some supper and a night's rest," answered the Wizard
promptly, "and then proceed upon our journey."

"Where to?" asked the Captain General.

"We haven't visited the Rigmaroles or the Flutterbudgets yet," said
Dorothy. "I'd like to see them--wouldn't you?"

"They don't sound very interesting," objected Aunt Em. "But perhaps
they are."

"And then," continued the little Wizard, "we will call upon the Tin
Woodman and Jack Pumpkinhead and our old friend the Scarecrow, on our
way home."

"That will be nice!" cried Dorothy, eagerly.

"Can't say THEY sound very interesting, either," remarked Aunt Em.

"Why, they're the best friends I have!" asserted the little girl,
"and you're sure to like them, Aunt Em, 'cause EVER'body likes them."

By this time twilight was approaching, so they ate the fine supper
which the Wizard magically produced from the kettle and then went to
bed in the cozy tents.

They were all up bright and early next morning, but Dorothy didn't
venture to wander from the camp again for fear of more accidents.

"Do you know where there's a road?" she asked the little man.

"No, my dear," replied the Wizard; "but I'll find one."

After breakfast he waved his hand toward the tents and they became
handkerchiefs again, which were at once returned to the pockets of
their owners. Then they all climbed into the red wagon and the
Sawhorse inquired:

"Which way?"

"Never mind which way," replied the Wizard. "Just go as you please
and you're sure to be right. I've enchanted the wheels of the wagon,
and they will roll in the right direction, never fear."

As the Sawhorse started away through the trees Dorothy said:

"If we had one of those new-fashioned airships we could float away
over the top of the forest, and look down and find just the places
we want."

"Airship? Pah!" retorted the little man, scornfully. "I hate those
things, Dorothy, although they are nothing new to either you or me. I
was a balloonist for many years, and once my balloon carried me to the
Land of Oz, and once to the Vegetable Kingdom. And once Ozma had a
Gump that flew all over this kingdom and had sense enough to go where
it was told to--which airships won't do. The house which the cyclone
brought to Oz all the way from Kansas, with you and Toto in it--was a
real airship at the time; so you see we've got plenty of experience
flying with the birds."

"Airships are not so bad, after all," declared Dorothy. "Some day
they'll fly all over the world, and perhaps bring people even to the
Land of Oz."

"I must speak to Ozma about that," said the Wizard, with a slight
frown. "It wouldn't do at all, you know, for the Emerald City to
become a way-station on an airship line."

"No," said Dorothy, "I don't s'pose it would. But what can we do
to prevent it?"

"I'm working out a magic recipe to fuddle men's brains, so they'll
never make an airship that will go where they want it to go," the
Wizard confided to her. "That won't keep the things from flying,
now and then, but it'll keep them from flying to the Land of Oz."

Just then the Sawhorse drew the wagon out of the forest and a
beautiful landscape lay spread before the travelers' eyes. Moreover,
right before them was a good road that wound away through the hills
and valleys.

"Now," said the Wizard, with evident delight, "we are on the right
track again, and there is nothing more to worry about."

"It's a foolish thing to take chances in a strange country," observed
the Shaggy Man. "Had we kept to the roads we never would have been
lost. Roads always lead to some place, else they wouldn't be roads."

"This road," added the Wizard, "leads to Rigmarole Town. I'm sure of
that because I enchanted the wagon wheels."

Sure enough, after riding along the road for an hour or two they
entered a pretty valley where a village was nestled among the hills.
The houses were Munchkin shaped, for they were all domes, with windows
wider than they were high, and pretty balconies over the front doors.

Aunt Em was greatly relieved to find this town "neither paper nor
patch-work," and the only surprising thing about it was that it was so
far distant from all other towns.

As the Sawhorse drew the wagon into the main street the travelers
noticed that the place was filled with people, standing in groups and
seeming to be engaged in earnest conversation. So occupied with
themselves were the inhabitants that they scarcely noticed the
strangers at all. So the Wizard stopped a boy and asked:

"Is this Rigmarole Town?"

"Sir," replied the boy, "if you have traveled very much you will have
noticed that every town differs from every other town in one way or
another and so by observing the methods of the people and the way they
live as well as the style of their dwelling places it ought not to be
a difficult thing to make up your mind without the trouble of asking
questions whether the town bears the appearance of the one you
intended to visit or whether perhaps having taken a different road
from the one you should have taken you have made an error in your way
and arrived at some point where--"

"Land sakes!" cried Aunt Em, impatiently; "what's all this
rigmarole about?"

"That's it!" said the Wizard, laughing merrily. "It's a rigmarole
because the boy is a Rigmarole and we've come to Rigmarole Town."

"Do they all talk like that?" asked Dorothy, wonderingly.

"He might have said 'yes' or 'no' and settled the question," observed
Uncle Henry.

"Not here," said Omby Amby. "I don't believe the Rigmaroles know what
'yes' or 'no' means."

While the boy had been talking several other people had approached
the wagon and listened intently to his speech. Then they began
talking to one another in long, deliberate speeches, where many words
were used but little was said. But when the strangers criticized them
so frankly one of the women, who had no one else to talk to, began an
address to them, saying:

"It is the easiest thing in the world for a person to say 'yes' or
'no' when a question that is asked for the purpose of gaining
information or satisfying the curiosity of the one who has given
expression to the inquiry has attracted the attention of an individual
who may be competent either from personal experience or the experience
of others to answer it with more or less correctness or at least an
attempt to satisfy the desire for information on the part of the one
who has made the inquiry by--"

"Dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy, interrupting the speech. "I've lost all
track of what you are saying."

"Don't let her begin over again, for goodness sake!" cried Aunt Em.

But the woman did not begin again. She did not even stop talking,
but went right on as she had begun, the words flowing from her mouth
in a stream.

"I'm quite sure that if we waited long enough and listened carefully,
some of these people might be able to tell us something, in time,"
said the Wizard.

"Let's don't wait," returned Dorothy. "I've heard of the Rigmaroles,
and wondered what they were like; but now I know, and I'm ready to
move on."

"So am I," declared Uncle Henry; "we're wasting time here."

"Why, we're all ready to go," said the Shaggy Man, putting his fingers
to his ears to shut out the monotonous babble of those around the wagon.

So the Wizard spoke to the Sawhorse, who trotted nimbly through the
village and soon gained the open country on the other side of it.
Dorothy looked back, as they rode away, and noticed that the woman
had not yet finished her speech but was talking as glibly as ever,
although no one was near to hear her.

"If those people wrote books," Omby Amby remarked with a smile, "it
would take a whole library to say the cow jumped over the moon."

"Perhaps some of 'em do write books," asserted the little Wizard.
"I've read a few rigmaroles that might have come from this very town."

"Some of the college lecturers and ministers are certainly related to
these people," observed the Shaggy Man; "and it seems to me the Land
of Oz is a little ahead of the United States in some of its laws. For
here, if one can't talk clearly, and straight to the point, they send
him to Rigmarole Town; while Uncle Sam lets him roam around wild and
free, to torture innocent people."

Dorothy was thoughtful. The Rigmaroles had made a strong impression
upon her. She decided that whenever she spoke, after this, she would
use only enough words to express what she wanted to say.



23. How They Encountered the Flutterbudgets


They were soon among the pretty hills and valleys again, and the
Sawhorse sped up hill and down at a fast and easy pace, the roads
being hard and smooth. Mile after mile was speedily covered, and
before the ride had grown at all tiresome they sighted another
village. The place seemed even larger than Rigmarole Town, but was
not so attractive in appearance.

"This must be Flutterbudget Center," declared the Wizard. "You see,
it's no trouble at all to find places if you keep to the right road."

"What are the Flutterbudgets like?" inquired Dorothy.

"I do not know, my dear. But Ozma has given them a town all their
own, and I've heard that whenever one of the people becomes a
Flutterbudget he is sent to this place to live."

"That is true," Omby Amby added; "Flutterbudget Center and Rigmarole
Town are called 'the Defensive Settlements of Oz.'"

The village they now approached was not built in a valley, but on top
of a hill, and the road they followed wound around the hill, like a
corkscrew, ascending the hill easily until it came to the town.

"Look out!" screamed a voice. "Look out, or you'll run over my child!"

They gazed around and saw a woman standing upon the sidewalk nervously
wringing her hands as she gazed at them appealingly.

"Where is your child?" asked the Sawhorse.

"In the house," said the woman, bursting into tears; "but if it
should happen to be in the road, and you ran over it, those great
wheels would crush my darling to jelly. Oh dear! oh dear! Think of
my darling child being crushed into jelly by those great wheels!"

"Gid-dap!" said the Wizard sharply, and the Sawhorse started on.

They had not gone far before a man ran out of a house shouting wildly,
"Help! Help!"

The Sawhorse stopped short and the Wizard and Uncle Henry and the
Shaggy Man and Omby Amby jumped out of the wagon and ran to the poor
man's assistance. Dorothy followed them as quickly as she could.

"What's the matter?" asked the Wizard.

"Help! help!" screamed the man; "my wife has cut her finger off and
she's bleeding to death!"

Then he turned and rushed back to the house, and all the party went
with him. They found a woman in the front dooryard moaning and
groaning as if in great pain.

"Be brave, madam!" said the Wizard, consolingly. "You won't die just
because you have cut off a finger, you may be sure."

"But I haven't cut off a finger!" she sobbed.

"Then what HAS happened?" asked Dorothy.

"I--I pricked my finger with a needle while I was sewing, and--and the
blood came!" she replied. "And now I'll have blood-poisoning, and the
doctors will cut off my finger, and that will give me a fever and I
shall die!"

"Pshaw!" said Dorothy; "I've pricked my finger many a time,
and nothing happened."

"Really?" asked the woman, brightening and wiping her eyes
upon her apron.

"Why, it's nothing at all," declared the girl. "You're more scared
than hurt."

"Ah, that's because she's a Flutterbudget," said the Wizard, nodding
wisely. "I think I know now what these people are like."

"So do I," announced Dorothy.

"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!" sobbed the woman, giving way to a fresh burst
of grief.

"What's wrong now?" asked the Shaggy Man.

"Oh, suppose I had pricked my foot!" she wailed. "Then the doctors
would have cut my foot off, and I'd be lamed for life!"

"Surely, ma'am," replied the Wizard, "and if you'd pricked your nose
they might cut your head off. But you see you didn't."

"But I might have!" she exclaimed, and began to cry again. So they
left her and drove away in their wagon. And her husband came out and
began calling "Help!" as he had before; but no one seemed to pay any
attention to him.

As the travelers turned into another street they found a man walking
excitedly up and down the pavement. He appeared to be in a very
nervous condition and the Wizard stopped him to ask:

"Is anything wrong, sir?"

"Everything is wrong," answered the man, dismally. "I can't sleep."

"Why not?" inquired Omby Amby.

"If I go to sleep I'll have to shut my eyes," he explained; "and if
I shut my eyes they may grow together, and then I'd be blind for life!"

"Did you ever hear of any one's eyes growing together?" asked Dorothy.

"No," said the man, "I never did. But it would be a dreadful thing,
wouldn't it? And the thought of it makes me so nervous I'm afraid to
go to sleep."

"There's no help for this case," declared the Wizard; and they went on.

At the next street corner a woman rushed up to them crying:

"Save my baby! Oh, good, kind people, save my baby!"

"Is it in danger?" asked Dorothy, noticing that the child was clasped
in her arms and seemed sleeping peacefully.

"Yes, indeed," said the woman, nervously. "If I should go into the
house and throw my child out of the window, it would roll way down to
the bottom of the hill; and then if there were a lot of tigers and bears
down there, they would tear my darling babe to pieces and eat it up!"

"Are there any tigers and bears in this neighborhood?" the Wizard asked.

"I've never heard of any," admitted the woman, "but if there were--"

"Have you any idea of throwing your baby out of the window?"
questioned the little man.

"None at all," she said; "but if--"

"All your troubles are due to those 'ifs'," declared the Wizard.
"If you were not a Flutterbudget you wouldn't worry."

"There's another 'if'," replied the woman. "Are you a Flutterbudget, too?"

"I will be, if I stay here long," exclaimed the Wizard, nervously.

"Another 'if'!" cried the woman.

But the Wizard did not stop to argue with her. He made the Sawhorse
canter all the way down the hill, and only breathed easily when they
were miles away from the village.

After they had ridden in silence for a while Dorothy turned to the
little man and asked:

"Do 'ifs' really make Flutterbudgets?"

"I think the 'ifs' help," he answered seriously. "Foolish fears, and
worries over nothing, with a mixture of nerves and ifs, will soon make
a Flutterbudget of any one."

Then there was another long silence, for all the travelers were
thinking over this statement, and nearly all decided it must be true.

The country they were now passing through was everywhere tinted
purple, the prevailing color of the Gillikin Country; but as the
Sawhorse ascended a hill they found that upon the other side everything
was of a rich yellow hue.

"Aha!" cried the Captain General; "here is the Country of the Winkies.
We are just crossing the boundary line."

"Then we may be able to lunch with the Tin Woodman," announced
the Wizard, joyfully.

"Must we lunch on tin?" asked Aunt Em.

"Oh, no;" replied Dorothy. "Nick Chopper knows how to feed meat
people, and he will give us plenty of good things to eat, never fear.
I've been to his castle before."

"Is Nick Chopper the Tin Woodman's name?" asked Uncle Henry.

"Yes; that's one of his names," answered the little girl; "and another
of his names is 'Emp'ror of the Winkies.' He's the King of this
country, you know, but Ozma rules over all the countries of Oz."

"Does the Tin Woodman keep any Flutterbudgets or Rigmaroles at his
castle?" inquired Aunt Em, uneasily.

"No indeed," said Dorothy, positively. "He lives in a new tin castle,
all full of lovely things."

"I should think it would rust," said Uncle Henry.

"He has thousands of Winkies to keep it polished for him," explained
the Wizard. "His people love to do anything in their power for their
beloved Emperor, so there isn't a particle of rust on all the big castle."

"I suppose they polish their Emperor, too," said Aunt Em.

"Why, some time ago he had himself nickel-plated," the Wizard
answered; "so he only needs rubbing up once in a while. He's
the brightest man in all the world, is dear Nick Chopper; and
the kindest-hearted."

"I helped find him," said Dorothy, reflectively. "Once the Scarecrow
and I found the Tin Woodman in the woods, and he was just rusted
still, that time, an' no mistake. But we oiled his joints an' got
'em good and slippery, and after that he went with us to visit the
Wizard at the Em'rald City."

"Was that the time the Wizard scared you?" asked Aunt Em.

"He didn't treat us well, at first," acknowledged Dorothy; "for he
made us go away and destroy the Wicked Witch. But after we found out
he was only a humbug wizard we were not afraid of him."

The Wizard sighed and looked a little ashamed.

"When we try to deceive people we always make mistakes," he said.
"But I'm getting to be a real wizard now, and Glinda the Good's magic,
that I am trying to practice, can never harm any one."

"You were always a good man," declared Dorothy, "even when you were a
bad wizard."

"He's a good wizard now," asserted Aunt Em, looking at the little man
admiringly. "The way he made those tents grow out of handkerchiefs
was just wonderful! And didn't he enchant the wagon wheels so they'd
find the road?"

"All the people of Oz," said the Captain General, "are very proud of
their Wizard. He once made some soap-bubbles that astonished the world."

The Wizard blushed at this praise, yet it pleased him. He no longer
looked sad, but seemed to have recovered his usual good humor.

The country through which they now rode was thickly dotted with
farmhouses, and yellow grain waved in all the fields. Many of the
Winkies could be seen working on their farms and the wild and
unsettled parts of Oz were by this time left far behind.

These Winkies appeared to be happy, light-hearted folk, and all
removed their caps and bowed low when the red wagon with its load of
travelers passed by.

It was not long before they saw something glittering in the sunshine
far ahead.

"See!" cried Dorothy; "that's the Tin Castle, Aunt Em!"

And the Sawhorse, knowing his passengers were eager to arrive, broke
into a swift trot that soon brought them to their destination.



24. How the Tin Woodman Told the Sad News


The Tin Woodman received Princess Dorothy's party with much grace and
cordiality, yet the little girl decided that something must be
worrying with her old friend, because he was not so merry as usual.

But at first she said nothing about this, for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em
were fairly bubbling over with admiration for the beautiful tin castle
and its polished tin owner. So her suspicion that something
unpleasant had happened was for a time forgotten.

"Where is the Scarecrow?" she asked, when they had all been ushered
into the big tin drawing-room of the castle, the Sawhorse being led
around to the tin stable in the rear.

"Why, our old friend has just moved into his new mansion," explained
the Tin Woodman. "It has been a long time in building, although my
Winkies and many other people from all parts of the country have been
busily working upon it. At last, however, it is completed, and the
Scarecrow took possession of his new home just two days ago."

"I hadn't heard that he wanted a home of his own," said Dorothy.
"Why doesn't he live with Ozma in the Emerald City? He used to,
you know; and I thought he was happy there."

"It seems," said the Tin Woodman, "that our dear Scarecrow cannot be
contented with city life, however beautiful his surroundings might be.
Originally he was a farmer, for he passed his early life in a
cornfield, where he was supposed to frighten away the crows."

"I know," said Dorothy, nodding. "I found him, and lifted him down
from his pole."

"So now, after a long residence in the Emerald City, his tastes have
turned to farm life again," continued the Tin Man. "He feels that he
cannot be happy without a farm of his own, so Ozma gave him some land
and every one helped him build his mansion, and now he is settled
there for good."

"Who designed his house?" asked the Shaggy Man.

"I believe it was Jack Pumpkinhead, who is also a farmer,"
was the reply.

They were now invited to enter the tin dining room, where luncheon
was served.

Aunt Em found, to her satisfaction, that Dorothy's promise was
more than fulfilled; for, although the Tin Woodman had no appetite of
his own, he respected the appetites of his guests and saw that they
were bountifully fed.

They passed the afternoon in wandering through the beautiful gardens
and grounds of the palace. The walks were all paved with sheets of
tin, brightly polished, and there were tin fountains and tin statues
here and there among the trees. The flowers were mostly natural
flowers and grew in the regular way; but their host showed them one
flower bed which was his especial pride.

"You see, all common flowers fade and die in time," he explained, "and
so there are seasons when the pretty blooms are scarce. Therefore I
decided to make one tin flower bed all of tin flowers, and my workmen
have created them with rare skill. Here you see tin camelias, tin
marigolds, tin carnations, tin poppies and tin hollyhocks growing as
naturally as if they were real."

Indeed, they were a pretty sight, and glistened under the sunlight
like spun silver. "Isn't this tin hollyhock going to seed?" asked the
Wizard, bending over the flowers.

"Why, I believe it is!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman, as if surprised. "I
hadn't noticed that before. But I shall plant the tin seeds and raise
another bed of tin hollyhocks."

In one corner of the gardens Nick Chopper had established a
fish-pond in which they saw swimming and disporting themselves
many pretty tin fishes.

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