Oz 06: Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum
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" 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 .

" would they bite on hooks ? " asked aunt Em, curiously .

the tin woodman seemed hurt at_this question .

" madam," said he, " do_you suppose i_would allow anyone to catch my beautiful fishes, even if_they were foolish enough to bite on hooks ? no, indeed ! every created thing is safe from harm in my domain, and i_would as soon think of killing my little friend Dorothy as killing one of_my tin fishes ."

" the emperor is very kind-hearted, MA'am," explained the wizard ." if a fly happens to light upon his tin body he doesn't rudely brush it off, as some people might do; he asks it politely to_find some other resting place ."

" what does the fly do then ? " enquired aunt Em .

" usually it begs his pardon and goes away," said the wizard, gravely ."Flies like to_be treated politely as_well as other creatures, and here in Oz they understand what we say to_them, and behave very nicely ."

" well," said aunt Em, " the flies in Kansas, where I_came from, don't understand anything but a swat . you_have to smash 'em to_make 'em behave; and it's the same way with 'skeeters . do you_have 'skeeters in Oz ? "

" we_have some very large mosquitoes here, which sing as beautifully as song birds," replied the tin woodman ." but they never bite or annoy our people, because they_are well fed and taken care of . the reason they bite people in your country is because they_are hungry-- poor things ! "

" yes," agreed aunt Em; " they're hungry, all right . an' they ain't very particular who they feed on .I'm glad you've got the 'skeeters educated in Oz ."

that evening after dinner they were entertained by_the emperor's tin cornet band, which played for_them several sweet melodies . also the wizard did a few sleight- of- hand tricks to amuse the company; after which they all retired to_their cozy tin bedrooms and slept soundly until morning .

after breakfast Dorothy said to_the tin woodman:

" if_you'll tell us which_way to_go we'll visit the Scarecrow on_our way home ."

" i_will go with_you, and show you the way," replied the emperor; " for I_must journey to- day to_the emerald city ."

he looked so anxious, as he_said this, that_the little girl asked:

" there isn't anything wrong with Ozma, is_there ? "

" not yet," said he; " but I'm afraid the time has_come when I_must tell you some very bad news, little friend ."

"Oh, what_is it ? " cried Dorothy .

" do_you remember the Nome king ? " asked the tin woodman .

"I remember him very_well," she replied .

" the Nome king has_not a kind heart," said the emperor, sadly, " and he has_been harboring wicked thoughts of revenge, because we once defeated him and liberated his slaves and you took away his magic belt . so he has ordered his Nomes to dig a long tunnel underneath the deadly desert, so_that he_may march his hosts right into_the emerald city . when he gets there he intends to destroy our beautiful country ."

Dorothy was much surprised to hear this .

" how did Ozma find out about_the tunnel ? " she asked .

" she saw it in her magic picture ."

" of_course," said Dorothy; " I_might_have known that . and what_is she going to_do ? "

" I_cannot tell," was_the reply .

"Pooh ! " cried the yellow Hen ." we're not afraid of_the Nomes . if_we roll a few of_our eggs down the tunnel they'll run away back home as fast as_they_can go ."

" why, that's true enough ! " exclaimed Dorothy ." the Scarecrow once conquered all the Nome king's army with some of Billina's eggs ."

" but you_do_not understand all of_the dreadful plot," continued the tin woodman ." the Nome king is clever, and he_knows his Nomes would run from eggs; so he has bargained with many terrible creatures to help him . these evil spirits are_not afraid of eggs or anything else, and_they are very powerful . so the Nome king will send_them through_the tunnel first, to conquer and destroy, and then the Nomes will follow after to_get their share of_the plunder and slaves ."

they were all startled to hear this, and every face wore a troubled look .

" is_the tunnel all ready ? " asked Dorothy .

"Ozma sent me word yesterday that_the tunnel was all completed except for a thin crust of earth at_the end . when our enemies break through_this crust, they_will_be in_the gardens of_the royal palace, in_the heart of_the emerald city .I offered to arm all my Winkies and march to Ozma's assistance; but she said no ."

"I wonder why ? " asked Dorothy .

" she answered that all the inhabitants of Oz, gathered together, were_not powerful enough to fight and overcome the evil forces of_the Nome king . therefore she refuses to fight at all ."

" but they_will capture and enslave us, and plunder and ruin all our lovely land ! " exclaimed the wizard, greatly disturbed by_this statement .

" I_fear they_will," said the tin woodman, sorrowfully ." and I also fear that_those who_are_not fairies, such as_the wizard, and Dorothy, and her uncle and aunt, as_well as Toto and Billina, will_be speedily put to death by_the conquerors ."

" what can_be_done ? " asked Dorothy, shuddering a little at_the prospect of_this awful fate .

" nothing can_be_done ! " gloomily replied the emperor of_the Winkies ." but since Ozma refuses my army i_will go myself to_the emerald city . the least I_may do is to perish beside my beloved ruler ."

25 . how the Scarecrow Displayed his wisdom

this amazing news had saddened every heart and all were now anxious to return to_the emerald city and share Ozma's fate . so they started without loss of_time, and as_the road led past the Scarecrow's new mansion they determined to_make a brief halt there and confer with_him .

" the Scarecrow is probably the wisest man in all Oz," remarked the tin woodman, when_they had started upon their journey ." his brains are plentiful and of excellent quality, and often he has told me things I_might never have thought of myself . I_must say I rely a great deal upon_the Scarecrow's brains in_this emergency ."

the tin woodman rode on_the front seat of_the wagon, where Dorothy sat between him and_the wizard .

" has_the Scarecrow heard of Ozma's trouble ? " asked the captain general .

" I_do_not know, sir," was_the reply .

" when i_was a private," said Omby Amby, " i_was an excellent army, as I fully proved in_our war against the Nomes . but now there_is not a single private left in_our army, since Ozma made me the captain general, so there_is no one to fight and defend our lovely ruler ."

" true," said the wizard ." the present army is composed only of officers, and_the business of an officer is to order his men to fight . since there_are no men there can_be no fighting ."

" poor Ozma ! " whispered Dorothy, with tears in her sweet eyes ." it's dreadful to_think of all her lovely fairy country being destroyed .I wonder if_we couldn't manage to escape and get back to Kansas by_means of_the magic belt ? and we_might take Ozma with_us and all work hard to_get money for her, so she wouldn't be so very lonely and unhappy about_the loss of her fairyland ."

" do_you_think there would_be any work for_me in Kansas ? " asked the tin woodman .

" if_you_are hollow, they_might use you in acanning factory," suggested uncle Henry ." but I_can't see the use of your working for aliving . you never eat or sleep or need a new suit of clothes ."

" i_was not thinking of myself," replied the emperor, with dignity ."I merely wondered if I_could_not help to support Dorothy and Ozma ."

as_they indulged in_these sad plans for_the future they journeyed in sight of_the Scarecrow's new mansion, and even though filled with care and worry over the impending fate of Oz, Dorothy couldn't help afeeling of wonder at_the sight she saw .

the Scarecrow's new house was shaped like an immense ear of corn . the rows of kernels were made of solid gold, and_the green upon_which the ear stood upright was a mass of sparkling emeralds . upon_the very top of_the structure was perched a figure representing the Scarecrow himself, and upon his extended arms, as_well as upon his head, were several crows carved out of ebony and having ruby eyes . you_may imagine how big this ear of corn was when I tell you that a single gold kernel formed a window, swinging outward upon hinges, while a row of four kernels opened to make_the front entrance . inside there were five stories, each story being a single room .

the gardens around the mansion consisted of cornfields, and Dorothy acknowledged that_the place was in all respects a very appropriate home for her good friend the Scarecrow .

" he would_have_been very happy here, I'm sure," she said, " if only the Nome king had left us alone . but if Oz is destroyed of_course this place will_be destroyed too ."

" yes," replied the tin woodman, " and also my beautiful tin castle, that has_been my joy and pride ."

" jack Pumpkinhead's house will go too," remarked the wizard, " as_well as professor Wogglebug's athletic college, and Ozma's royal palace, and all our other handsome buildings ."

" yes, Oz will indeed become a desert when_the Nome king gets through with it," sighed Omby Amby .

the Scarecrow came out to meet them and gave them all a hearty welcome .

"I hear you_have decided always to live in_the land of Oz, after_this," he_said to Dorothy; " and that_will delight my heart, for I_have greatly disliked our frequent partings . but why are_you all so downcast ? "

" have_you heard the news ? " asked the tin woodman .

" no news to_make me sad," replied the Scarecrow .

then nick chopper told his friend of_the Nome king's tunnel, and how the evil creatures of_the north had allied themselves with_the underground monarch for_the_purpose of conquering and destroying Oz ." well," said the Scarecrow, " it certainly looks bad for Ozma, and all of us . but I believe it_is wrong to worry over anything before it happens . it_is surely time enough to_be sad when our country is despoiled and_our people made slaves . so let_us not deprive ourselves of_the few happy hours remaining to_us ."

"Ah ! that_is real wisdom," declared the shaggy man, approvingly ." after we become really unhappy we_shall regret these few hours that_are left to_us, unless we enjoy them to_the utmost ."

" nevertheless," said the Scarecrow, " I_shall go with_you to_the emerald city and offer Ozma my services ."

" she says we_can do nothing to oppose our enemies," announced the tin woodman .

" and doubtless she_is right, sir," answered the Scarecrow ." still, she will appreciate our sympathy, and it_is_the duty of Ozma's friends to stand by her side when_the final disaster occurs ."

he then led them into his queer mansion and showed them the beautiful rooms in all the five stories . the lower room was a grand reception hall, with a hand- organ in one corner . this instrument the Scarecrow, when alone, could turn to amuse himself, as he_was very fond of music . the walls were hung with white silk, upon_which flocks of black crows were embroidered in black diamonds . some_of_the chairs were made in_the shape of big crows and upholstered

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