Oz 03: Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
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quite happy to_be so near my old friends . the scarecrow i_told you of, Billina, is_the king of_the land of Oz ."

" par-don me . he_is_not the king now," said Tiktok .

" he_was when I left there," declared Dorothy .

" I_know," said Tiktok, " but there_was arev-o-lu-tion in_the land of Oz, and_the scare- crow was de- posed by asol-dier wo- man named Gen-er-al Jin-jur . and then Jin-jur was de- posed by alit-tle girl named Oz- MA, who was_the right-ful heir to_the throne and now rules the land un-der the ti-tle of Oz- MA of Oz ."

" that_is news to_me," said Dorothy, thoughtfully ." but I s' pose lots of things have happened since I left the land of Oz .I wonder what has become of_the Scarecrow, and of_the tin woodman, and_the cowardly lion . and I wonder who this girl Ozma is, for I never heard of her before ."

but Tiktok did_not reply to_this . he had turned around again to resume his thinking .

Dorothy packed the rest of_the food back into_the pail, so as not to_be wasteful of good things, and_the yellow hen forgot her dignity far enough to pick up all of_the scattered crumbs, which she ate rather greedily, although she had so lately pretended to despise the things that Dorothy preferred as food .

by_this_time Tiktok approached them with_his stiff bow .

" be kind e-nough to fol- low me," he_said, " and_I_will lead you a- way from here to_the town of Ev-na, where you_will_be more com- for-ta-ble, and al- so i_will pro-tect you from_the wheel-ers ."

" all right," answered Dorothy, promptly ."I'm ready ! "

6 . the Heads of Langwidere

they walked slowly down the path between_the rocks, Tiktok going first, Dorothy following him, and_the yellow hen trotting along last of all .

at_the foot of_the path the copper man leaned down and tossed aside with ease the rocks that encumbered the way . then he turned to Dorothy and said:

" let me car-ry your din-ner- pail ."

she placed it in_his right hand at once, and_the copper fingers closed firmly over the stout handle .

then the little procession marched out upon_the level sands .

as_soon_as_the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw them, they began to shout their wild cries and rolled swiftly toward the little group, as_if to capture them or bar their way . but when_the foremost had approached near enough, Tiktok swung the tin dinner- pail and struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head with_the queer weapon . perhaps it did_not hurt very_much, but it made a great noise, and_the Wheeler uttered a howl and tumbled over upon its side . the next minute it scrambled to its wheels and rolled away as fast as it could go, screeching with fear at_the same time .

" i_told you they were harm- less," began Tiktok; but before he could_say more another Wheeler was upon them . crack ! went the dinner- pail against its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen feet away; and_that was enough for_this Wheeler, also . it rolled away after_the first one, and_the third did_not wait to_be pounded with_the pail, but joined its fellows as quickly as its wheels would whirl .

the yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch upon Tiktok's shoulder, she said:

" bravely done, my copper friend ! and wisely thought of, too . now we_are free from those ugly creatures ."

but just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from_the forest, and relying upon their numbers to conquer, they advanced fiercely upon Tiktok . Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her tight, and_the machine embraced the form of_the little girl with_his left arm, the better to protect her . then the Wheelers were upon them .

Rattlety, bang ! bang ! went the dinner- pail in every direction, and it made so_much clatter bumping against the heads of_the Wheelers that_they were much more frightened than hurt and fled in a great panic . all, that_is, except their leader . this Wheeler had stumbled against another and fallen flat upon his back, and before he_could get his wheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had fastened his copper fingers into_the neck of_the gorgeous jacket of_his foe and held him fast .

" tell your peo-ple to_go a- way," commanded the machine .

the leader of_the Wheelers hesitated to_give this order, so Tiktok shook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until the Wheeler's teeth rattled together with a noise like hailstones on a window pane . then, as_soon_as_the creature could get its breath, it shouted to_the others to roll away, which they immediately did .

" now," said Tiktok, " you shall come with_us and tell me what i_want to_know ."

" you'll be sorry for treating me in_this_way," whined the Wheeler ."I'm a terribly fierce person ."

" as for_that," answered Tiktok, " I_am only a MA- chine, and can- not feel sor- row or joy, no mat-ter what hap-pens . but you_are wrong to_think your- self ter-ri-ble or fierce ."

" why so ? " asked the Wheeler .

" be- cause no one else thinks as_you_do . your wheels make you help- less to in-jure an-y one . for you_have no fists and can not scratch or e-ven pull hair . nor have_you an-y feet to kick with . all you_can do is to yell and shout, and that_does_not hurt an-y one at all ."

the Wheeler burst into a flood of tears, to Dorothy's great surprise .

" now I and my people are ruined forever ! " he sobbed; " for you_have discovered our secret . being so helpless, our only hope is to_make people afraid of us, by pretending we_are very fierce and terrible, and writing in_the sand warnings to beware the Wheelers . until now we_have frightened everyone, but since you_have discovered our weakness our enemies will fall upon us and make us very miserable and unhappy ."

"Oh, no," exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to_see this beautifully dressed Wheeler so miserable; "Tiktok will keep your secret, and so will Billina and I . only, you_must promise not to_try to frighten children any more, if they_come near to_you ."

"I won't-- indeed I won't ! " promised the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and becoming more cheerful ."I'm not really bad, you_know; but we_have to pretend to_be terrible in_order to_prevent others from attacking us ."

" that_is_not ex- act-ly true," said Tiktok, starting to walk toward the path through_the forest, and still holding fast to_his prisoner, who rolled slowly along beside him ." you and your peo-ple are full of mis- chief, and like to both-er those who fear you . and you_are of-ten im-pu- dent and dis-a-gree-a-ble, too . but if_you_will try to cure those faults i_will_not tell any- one how help- less you_are ."

"I'll try, of_course," replied the Wheeler, eagerly ." and thank_you, Mr Tiktok, for your kindness ."

" I_am on-ly a MA- chine," said Tiktok ." I_can not be kind an-y more than I_can_be sor-ry or glad . I_can on-ly do what I_am wound up to_do ."

" are_you wound up to_keep my secret ? " asked the Wheeler, anxiously .

" yes; if_you be- have your- self . but tell me: who rules the land of Ev now ? " asked the machine .

" there_is no ruler," was_the answer, " because every member of_the royal family is imprisoned by_the Nome king . but the princess Langwidere, who_is a niece of_our late king Evoldo, lives in a part of_the royal palace and takes as_much money out_of_the royal treasury as she_can spend . the princess Langwidere is_not exactly a ruler, you_see, because she doesn't rule; but she is_the nearest approach to a ruler we_have at present ."

" I_do_not re-mem-ber her," said Tiktok ." what does she look like ? "

" that I cannot_say," replied the Wheeler, " although I_have_seen her twenty times . for_the princess Langwidere is a different person every time I_see her, and_the only way her subjects can recognize her at all is by_means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain attached to her left wrist . when we see the key we_know we_are beholding the princess ."

" that_is strange," said Dorothy, in astonishment ." do_you_mean to_say that so_many different princesses are one and_the same person ? "

" not exactly," answered the Wheeler ." there_is, of_course, but one princess; but she appears to_us in many forms, which are all more or less beautiful ."

" she_must be a witch," exclaimed the girl .

" I_do_not_think so," declared the Wheeler ." but there_is some mystery connected with her, nevertheless . she_is a very vain creature, and lives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so_that she_can admire herself whichever way she looks ."

no one answered this speech, because they had just passed out_of_the forest and their attention was fixed upon_the scene before them--a beautiful vale in_which were many fruit trees and green fields, with pretty farm-houses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads that led in every direction .

in_the center of_this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends were standing, rose the tall spires of_the royal palace, which glittered brightly against their background of blue sky . the palace was surrounded by charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery . several tinkling fountains could_be seen, and there were pleasant walks bordered by rows of white marble statuary .

all these details Dorothy was, of_course, unable to notice or admire until they had advanced along the road to a position quite near to_the palace, and she was still looking at_the pretty sights when her little party entered the grounds and approached the big front door of_the king's own apartments . to_their disappointment they found the door tightly closed .a sign was tacked to_the panel which read as follows:

+----------------------------+ | | | owner absent .| | | | please knock at_the third | | door in_the left wing .| | | +----------------------------+

" now," said Tiktok to_the captive Wheeler, " you_must show us the way to_the left wing ."

" very_well," agreed the prisoner, " it_is around here at_the right ."

" how can the left wing be at_the right ? " demanded Dorothy, who feared the Wheeler was fooling them .

" because there used to_be three wings, and two were torn down, so the one on_the right is_the only_one left . it_is a trick of_the princess Langwidere to_prevent visitors from annoying her ."

then the captive led them around to_the wing, after which the machine man, having no further use for_the Wheeler, permitted him to depart and rejoin his fellows . he immediately rolled away at a great pace and was soon lost to sight .

Tiktok now counted the doors in_the wing and knocked loudly upon_the third one .

it_was opened by a little maid in acap trimmed with gay ribbons, who bowed respectfully and asked:

" what do_you wish, good people ? "

" are_you the princess Langwidere ? " asked Dorothy .

" no, miss; I_am her servant," replied the maid .

" may I_see the princess, please ? "

" i_will tell her you_are here, miss, and ask her to grant you an audience," said the maid ." step in, please, and take a seat in_the drawing- room ."

so Dorothy walked in, followed closely by_the machine . but as_the yellow hen tried to enter after them, the little maid cried "Shoo ! " and flapped her apron in Billina's face .

"Shoo, yourself ! " retorted the hen, drawing back in anger and ruffling up her feathers ." haven't you any better manners than that ? "

"Oh, do_you talk ? " enquired the maid, evidently surprised .

" can't you hear me ? " snapped Billina ." drop that apron, and get out_of_the doorway, so_that I_may enter with my friends ! "

" the princess won't like it," said the maid, hesitating .

"I don't care whether she likes it or not," replied Billina, and fluttering her wings with a loud noise she flew straight at_the maid's face . the little servant at once ducked her head, and_the hen reached Dorothy's side in safety .

" very_well," sighed the maid; " if_you_are all ruined because of_this obstinate hen, don't blame me for_it . it isn't safe to annoy the princess Langwidere ."

" tell her we_are waiting, if_you please," Dorothy requested, with dignity ."Billina is my friend, and must go wherever I go ."

without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished drawing- room, lighted with subdued rainbow tints that came in through beautiful stained- glass windows .

" remain here," she said ." what names shall I_give the princess ? "

" I_am Dorothy gale, of Kansas," replied the child; " and this gentleman is a machine named Tiktok, and_the yellow hen is my friend Billina ."

the little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several passages and mounting two marble stairways before she came to_the apartments occupied by her mistress .

princess Langwidere's sitting- room was paneled with great mirrors, which reached from_the ceiling to_the floor; also the ceiling was composed of mirrors, and_the floor was of polished silver that reflected every object upon it . so when Langwidere sat in her easy chair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her form was mirrored hundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and floor, and whichever way the lady turned her head she_could see and admire her own features . this she loved to_do, and just as_the maid entered she was saying to herself:

" this head with_the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite attractive . I_must wear it more often than I_have_done of late, although it may not be the best of_my collection ."

" you_have company, your highness," announced the maid, bowing low .

" who_is it ? " asked Langwidere, yawning .

" Dorothy gale of Kansas, Mr Tiktok and Billina," answered the maid .

" what a queer lot of names ! " murmured the princess, beginning to_be a little interested ." what_are they like ? is Dorothy gale of Kansas pretty ? "

" she might_be called so," the maid replied .

" and_is Mr Tiktok attractive ? " continued the princess .

" that I cannot_say, your highness . but he seems very bright . will your gracious highness see them ? "

"Oh, I_may as_well, Nanda . but I_am tired admiring this head, and if_my visitor has any claim to beauty I_must take care that she does_not surpass

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