Oz 03: Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16]
for a thousand years .| | | +--------------------------------------------------+

" well, I declare ! " gasped the yellow hen, in amazement; " if_the copper man can do half of_these things he_is a very wonderful machine . but I suppose it_is all humbug, like so many_other patented articles ."

" we_might wind him up," suggested Dorothy, " and_see what he'll do ."

" where is_the key to_the clock- work ? " asked Billina .

"Hanging on_the Peg where I_found the card ."

" then," said the hen, " let_us try him, and find out if he_will go . he_is warranted for a thousand years, it seems; but we_do_not know how long he has_been standing inside this rock ."

Dorothy had already taken the clock key from_the Peg .

" which shall I wind up first ? " she asked, looking again at_the directions on_the card .

" number one, i_should think," returned Billina ." that makes him think, doesn't it ? "

" yes," said Dorothy, and wound up number one, under the left arm .

" he doesn't seem any different," remarked the hen, critically .

" why, of_course not; he_is only thinking, now," said Dorothy .

"I wonder what he_is thinking about ."

"I'll wind up his talk, and then perhaps he_can tell us," said the girl .

so she wound up number two, and immediately the clock- work man said, without moving any part of_his body except his lips:

" good morn-ing, lit-tle girl . good morn-ing, Mrs Hen ."

the words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and_they were uttered all in_the same tone, without any change of expression whatever; but both Dorothy and Billina understood them perfectly .

" good morning, sir," they answered, politely .

" thank_you_for res-cu-ing me," continued the machine, in_the same monotonous voice, which seemed to_be worked by a bellows inside of him, like the little toy lambs and cats the children squeeze so_that they_will make a noise .

"Don't mention it," answered Dorothy . and then, being very curious, she asked: " how did you come to_be locked up in_this place ? "

" it_is a long sto-ry," replied the copper man; " but i_will tell it to_you brief-ly . i_was pur- chased from smith & tin-ker, my man-u-fac-tur-ers, by acru-el king of Ev, named Ev-ol- do, who used to beat all his serv-ants un-til they died . how-ev-er, he_was not a-ble to kill me, be- cause i_was not a- live, and one must first live in or-der to die . so_that all his beat-ing did me no harm, and mere-ly kept my cop-per bod-y well pol-ished .

" this cru-el king had a love-ly wife and ten beau-ti-ful chil-dren--five boys and five girls-- but in a fit of an-ger he sold them all to_the Nome king, who by_means of_his mag-ic arts changed them all in- to oth-er forms and put them in_his un-der- ground PAL- ace to or-na-ment the rooms .

"Af-ter- ward the king of Ev re-gret-ted his wick-ed AC-tion, and tried to_get his wife and chil-dren a- way from_the Nome king, but with- out a-vail . so, in de-spair, he locked me up in_this rock, threw the key in- to_the o-cean, and then jumped in af-ter it and was drowned ."

" how very dreadful ! " exclaimed Dorothy .

" it_is, in- deed," said the machine ." when I_found my- self im-pris-oned I shout-ed for help un-til my voice ran down; and then I walked back and forth in_this lit-tle room un-til my AC-tion ran down; and then I stood still and thought un-til my thoughts ran down .Af-ter that I re-mem-ber noth-ing un-til you wound me up a- gain ."

" it's a very wonderful story," said Dorothy, " and proves that_the land of Ev is really a fairy land, as i_thought it_was ."

" of_course_it_is," answered the copper man ." I_do_not sup- pose such aper-fect MA- chine as I_am could_be made in an-y place but a fair-y land ."

"I've never seen one in Kansas," said Dorothy .

" but where did you get the key to un- lock this door ? " asked the clock- work voice .

" I_found it on_the shore, where it_was prob'ly washed up by_the waves," she answered ." and now, sir, if_you don't mind, I'll wind up your action ."

" that_will please me ve-ry much," said the machine .

so she wound up number three, and at once the copper man in a somewhat stiff and jerky fashion walked out_of_the rocky cavern, took off his copper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before Dorothy . said he:

" from this_time forth I_am your o- be-di-ent ser-vant . what-ev-er you com-mand, that i_will do will-ing-ly-- if_you keep me wound up ."

" what_is your_name ? " she asked .

"Tik-tok," he replied ." my for-mer mas-ter gave_me that name be- cause my clock- work al-ways ticks when it_is wound up ."

" I_can hear it now," said the yellow hen .

" so can I," said Dorothy . and then she added, with some anxiety: " you don't strike, do_you ? "

" no," answered Tiktok; " and there_is no a-larm con-nec-ted with my MA- chin-er-y . I_can tell the time, though, by speak-ing, and as I nev-er sleep I_can wak-en you at an-y hour you wish to_get up in_the morn-ing ."

" that's nice," said the little girl; " only I never wish to_get up in_the morning ."

" you_can sleep until I lay my egg," said the yellow hen ." then, when I cackle, Tiktok will know it_is time to waken you ."

" do_you lay your egg very early ? " asked Dorothy .

" about eight o'clock," said Billina ." and everybody ought_to_be up by_that_time, I'm sure ."

5 . Dorothy Opens the dinner pail

" now Tiktok," said Dorothy, " the first thing to_be_done is to_find a way for_us to escape from_these rocks . the Wheelers are down below, you_know, and threaten to kill us ."

" there_is no REA- son to_be a-fraid of_the wheel-ers," said Tiktok, the words coming more slowly than before .

" why_not ? " she asked .

" be- cause they_are ag-g-g--gr-gr-r-r-"

he_gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands frantically until suddenly he became motionless, with one arm in_the air and_the other held stiffly before him with all the copper fingers of_the hand spread out like a fan .

" dear me ! " said Dorothy, in a frightened tone ." what can the matter be ? "

" he's run down, I suppose," said the hen, calmly ." you couldn't have wound him up very tight ."

"I didn't know how_much to wind him," replied the girl; " but I'll try to_do better next_time ."

she ran around the copper man to take_the key from_the Peg at_the back of_his neck, but it_was not there .

" it's gone ! " cried Dorothy, in dismay .

" what's gone ? " asked Billina .

" the key ."

" it probably fell off when he_made that low bow to_you," returned the hen ." look around, and_see if_you_cannot find it again ."

Dorothy looked, and_the hen helped her, and by and by_the girl discovered the clock- key, which had fallen into a crack of_the rock .

at once she wound up Tiktok's voice, taking care to_give the key as_many turns as it would go around . she found this quite a task, as_you_may imagine if_you_have ever tried to wind aclock, but the machine man's first words were to assure Dorothy that he_would now run for at_least twenty-four hours .

" you_did_not wind me much, at first," he calmly said, " and i_told you that long sto-ry a- bout king Ev-ol- do; so it_is no won-der that I ran down ."

she next rewound the action clock- work, and then Billina advised her to carry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would_not get lost again .

" and now," said Dorothy, when all this_was accomplished, " tell me what you were going to_say about_the Wheelers ."

" why, they_are noth-ing to_be fright-en'd at," said the machine ." they try to_make folks be-lieve that_they_are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but as a mat-ter of fact the wheel-ers are harm- less e-nough to an-y one that dares to fight them . they_might try to hurt alit-tle girl like you, per-haps, be- cause they_are ver-y mis-chiev-ous . but if I had a club they_would run a- way as_soon_as they saw me ."

" haven't you a club ? " asked Dorothy .

" no," said Tiktok .

" and you won't find such a thing among_these rocks, either," declared the yellow hen .

" then what shall we_do ? " asked the girl .

" wind up my think-works tight-ly, and_I_will try to_think of some oth-er plan," said Tiktok .

so Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he_was thinking she decided to eat her dinner .Billina was already pecking away at_the cracks in_the rocks, to_find something to eat, so Dorothy sat down and opened her tin dinner- pail .

in_the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice lemonade . it_was covered by a cup, which might also, when removed, be used to drink the lemonade from . within_the pail were three slices of turkey, two slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad, four slices of bread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and nine large strawberries, and some nuts and raisins . singularly enough, the nuts in_this dinner- pail grew already cracked, so_that Dorothy had no trouble in picking out their meats to eat .

she spread the feast upon_the rock beside her and began her dinner, first offering some of it to Tiktok, who declined because, as he_said, he_was merely a machine .Afterward she offered to share with Billina, but the hen murmured something about " dead things" and said she preferred her bugs and ants .

" do_the lunch- box trees and_the dinner- pail trees belong to_the Wheelers ? " the child asked Tiktok, while engaged in eating her meal .

" of_course not," he answered ." they be- long to_the roy-al fam-il-y of Ev, on-ly of_course there_is no roy-al fam-il-y just now be- cause king Ev-ol- do jumped in- to_the sea and_his wife and ten chil-dren have_been trans- formed by_the Nome king . so there_is no one to rule the land of Ev, that I_can think of .Per-haps it_is for_this REA- son that_the wheel-ers claim the trees for their own, and pick the lunch-eons and din-ners to eat them-selves . but they be- long to_the king, and you_will_find the roy-al "E" stamped up- on_the bot-tom of ev-er-y din-ner pail ."

Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal mark upon it, as Tiktok had said .

" are the Wheelers the only folks living in_the land of Ev ? " enquired the girl .

" no; they on-ly in-hab- it a small por-tion of it just back of_the woods," replied the machine ." but they_have al-ways been mis-chiev-ous and im-per-ti-nent, and my old mas-ter, king Ev-ol- do, used to car-ry a whip with_him, when he walked out, to_keep the crea-tures in or-der . when i_was first made the wheel-ers tried to run o-ver me, and butt me with their heads; but they soon found i_was built of too sol- ID a MA-ter-i-al for_them to in-jure ."

" you seem very durable," said Dorothy ." who_made you ? "

" the firm of smith & tin-ker, in_the town of Evna, where the roy-al PAL- ace stands," answered Tiktok .

" did they make many of you ? " asked the child .

" no; I_am the on-ly au- to- mat-ic me-chan-i-cal man they ev-er com-plet-ed," he replied ." they were ver-y won-der-ful in-ven-tors, were my mak-ers, and quite ar-tis-tic in all they_did ."

" I_am_sure of_that," said Dorothy ." do they live in_the town of Evna now ? "

" they_are both gone," replied the machine ." Mr smith was an art-ist, as_well as an in- vent- or, and he paint-ed apic-ture of ariv-er which_was so nat-ur-al that, as he_was reach-ing a- cross it to paint some flow-ers on_the op-po- site bank, he fell in- to_the wa-ter and was drowned ."

"Oh, I'm sorry for_that ! " exclaimed the little girl .

"Mis-ter tin-ker," continued Tiktok, " made alad-der so tall that he_could rest the end of it a-gainst the moon, while he stood on_the high- EST rung and picked the lit-tle stars to set in_the points of_the king's crown . but when he got to_the moon Mis-ter tin-ker found it such a love-ly place that he de-cid-ed to live there, so he pulled up the lad-der af-ter him and we_have nev-er seen him since ."

" he_must_have been a great loss to_this country," said Dorothy, who was by_this_time eating her custard pie .

" he_was," acknowledged Tiktok ." also he_is a great loss to_me . for if i_should get out of or-der I_do_not know of an-y one a-ble to re- pair me, be- cause I_am so com-pli-cat-ed . you_have no i-de-a how full of MA- chin-er-y I_am ."

" I_can imagine it," said Dorothy, readily .

" and now," continued the machine, " I_must stop talk-ing and be- gin think-ing a- gain of a way to es- cape from_this rock ." so he turned half way around, in_order to_think without being disturbed .

" the best thinker I ever knew," said Dorothy to_the yellow hen, " was ascarecrow ."

" nonsense ! " snapped Billina .

" it_is true," declared Dorothy ."I met him in_the land of Oz, and he traveled with me to_the city of_the great wizard of Oz, so as to_get some brains, for_his head was only stuffed with straw . but it seemed to_me that he thought just as_well before he got his brains as he_did afterward ."

" do_you expect me to_believe all that rubbish about_the land of Oz ? " enquired Billina, who seemed a little cross-- perhaps because bugs were scarce .

" what rubbish ? " asked the child, who was now finishing her nuts and raisins .

" why, your impossible stories about animals that_can talk, and a tin woodman who_is alive, and ascarecrow who_can think ."

" they_are all there," said Dorothy, " for I_have_seen them ."

"I don't believe it ! " cried the hen, with a toss of her head .

" that's ' cause you're so ign' rant," replied the girl, who was a little offended at her friend Billina's speech .

" in_the land of Oz," remarked Tiktok, turning toward them, " an-y- thing is pos-si-ble . for_it is a won-der-ful fair-y coun- try ."

" there, Billina ! what did I_say ? " cried Dorothy . and then she turned to_the machine and asked in an eager tone: " do_you_know the land of Oz, Tiktok ? "

" no; but I_have heard a- bout it," said the cop-per man ." for_it is on-ly sep-a-ra-ted from_this land of Ev by a broad des-ert ."

Dorothy clapped her hands together delightedly .

"I'm glad of_that ! " she exclaimed ." it makes me quite

Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16]