Oz 09: The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum
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that's what my brains are for .I don't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are the best that_the wizard of Oz ever turned out, and if I_give them plenty of_time to work, the result usually surprises me ."

" take your time, then," suggested trot ." there's no hurry ."

" thank_you," said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half an hour . during this interval the grasshopper whispered in trot's ear, to_which he_was very close, and trot whispered back to_the grasshopper sitting upon her shoulder .Pon cast loving glances at Gloria, who paid not the slightest heed to_them .

finally the Scarecrow laughed aloud .

"Brains working ? " inquired trot .

" yes . they seem in fine order to- day . we_will conquer king Krewl and put Gloria upon his throne as queen of Jinxland ."

" fine ! " cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully ." but how ? "

" leave the how to_me," said the Scarecrow proudly .

as a conqueror I'm a wonder . we_will, first of all, write a message to send to king Krewl, asking him to surrender . if he refuses, then we_will make him surrender ."

" why ask him . when we_know he'll refuse ? " inquired Pon .

" why, we_must_be polite, whatever we_do," explained the Scarecrow ." it would_be very rude to conquer a king without proper notice ."

they found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink, none of which_was at hand; so it_was decided to send Pon as a messenger, with instructions to ask_the king, politely but firmly, to surrender .

Pon was not anxious to_be the messenger . indeed, he hinted that_it might prove a dangerous mission . but the Scarecrow was now the acknowledged head of_the army of conquest, and he_would listen to no refusal . so off Pon started for_the king's castle, and_the others accompanied him as far as his hut, where they had decided to await the gardener's boy's return .

i_think it_was because Pon had known the Scarecrow such a short time that he lacked confidence in_the straw man's wisdom . it_was easy to_say: " we_will conquer king Krewl," but when Pon drew near to_the great castle he began to doubt the ability of a straw- stuffed man, a girl, a grasshopper and a frozen-hearted princess to_do_it . as for himself, he had never thought of defying the king before .

that was why the gardener's boy was not very bold when he entered the castle and passed through to_the enclosed court where the king was just then seated, with_his favorite courtiers around him . none prevented Pon's entrance, because he_was known to_be the gardener's boy, but when_the king saw him he began to frown fiercely . he considered Pon to_be to blame for all his trouble with princess Gloria, who since her heart had_been frozen had escaped to some unknown place, instead of returning to_the castle to wed Goqgly-Goo, as she had_been expected to_do . so the king bared his teeth angrily as he demanded:

" what have_you done with princess Gloria ? "

" nothing, your majesty ! I_have_done nothing at all," answered Pon in afaltering voice ." she does_not love me any more and even refuses to_speak to_me ."

" then why are_you here, you rascal ? " roared the king .

Pon looked first one_way and then another, but saw no means of escape; so he plucked up courage .

" I_am here to summon your majesty to surrender ."

" what ! " shouted the king ." surrender ? surrender to_whom ? "

Pon's heart sank to_his boots .

" to_the Scarecrow," he replied .

some_of_the courtiers began to titter, but king Krewl was greatly annoyed . he sprang up and began to beat poor Pon with_the golden staff he carried .Pon howled lustily and would_have run away had_not two of_the soldiers held him until his majesty was exhausted with punishing the boy . then they let him go and he left the castle and returned along the road, sobbing at every step because his body was so sore and aching .

" well," said the Scarecrow, " did the king surrender ? "

" no; but he_gave me a good drubbing ! " sobbed poor Pon .

trot was very sorry for Pon, but Gloria did_not seem affected in any_way by her lover's anguish . the grasshopper leaped to_the Scarecrow's shoulder and asked him what he_was going to_do next .

" conquer," was_the reply ." but i_will go alone, this_time, for beatings cannot hurt me at all; nor can lance thrusts -- or sword cuts -- or arrow pricks ."

" why is_that ? " inquired trot .

" because I_have no nerves, such as_you meat people possess . even grasshoppers have nerves, but straw doesn't; so whatever they_do -- except just one_thing -- they_cannot injure me . therefore I expect to conquer king Krewl with ease ."

" what_is that one_thing you excepted ? " asked trot .

" they_will never think of it, so never mind . and now, if_you_will kindly excuse me for a time, I'll go over to_the castle and do my conquering ."

" you_have no weapons," Pon reminded him .

" true," said the Scarecrow ." but if I carried weapons I_might injure someone -- perhaps seriously -- and that_would make me unhappy . i_will just borrow that riding- whip, which I_see in_the corner of your hut, if_you don't mind . it isn't exactly proper to walk with ariding- whip, but I trust you_will excuse the inconsistency ."

Pon handed him the whip and_the Scarecrow bowed to all the party and left the hut, proceeding leisurely along the way to_the king's castle .

chapter Seventeen

the Ork Rescues button- bright

I_must now tell you what had become of button- bright since he wandered away in_the morning and got lost . this small boy, as perhaps you_have discovered, was almost as destitute of nerves as_the Scarecrow . nothing ever astonished him much; nothing ever worried him or made him unhappy . good fortune or bad fortune he accepted with a quiet smile, never complaining, whatever happened . this_was one reason why button- bright was a favorite with all who knew him -- and perhaps it was_the reason why he so often got into difficulties, or found himself lost .

to- day, as he wandered here and there, over hill and down dale, he missed trot and Cap'n bill, of whom he_was fond, but nevertheless he_was not unhappy . the birds sang merrily and_the wildflowers were beautiful and_the breeze had a fragrance of new-mown hay

" the only bad thing about_this country is its king," he reflected; " but the country isn't to blame for_that ."

a prairie- dog stuck its round head out of a mound of earth and looked at_the boy with bright eyes .

" walk around my house, please," it said, " and then you won't harm it or disturb the babies ."

" all right," answered button- bright, and took care not to step on_the mound . he went on, whistling merrily, until a petulant voice cried:

"Oh, stop it ! please stop that noise . it gets on my nerves ."

button- bright saw an old gray owl sitting in_the crotch of a tree, and he replied with a laugh: " all right, old fussy," and stopped whistling until he had passed out_of_the owl's hearing . at noon he_came to a farmhouse where an aged couple lived . they gave him a good dinner and treated him kindly, but the man was deaf and_the woman was dumb, so they_could answer no questions to guide him on_the way to Pon's house . when he left them he_was just as_much lost as he had_been before .

every grove of trees he_saw from a distance he visited, for he remembered that_the king's castle was near a grove of trees and Pon's hut was near the king's castle; but always he met with disappointment . finally, passing through one_of_these groves, he_came out into_the open and found himself face_to_face with_the Ork .

"Hello ! " said button- bright ." where did you come from ? "

" from Orkland," was_the reply ."I've found my own country, at last, and it_is_not far from here, either . i_would_have come back to_you sooner, to_see how you_are getting along, had_not my family and friends welcomed my return so royally that a great celebration was held in my honor . so I couldn't very_well leave Orkland again until the excitement was over ."

" can_you find your way back home again ? " asked the boy .

" yes, easily; for now I_know exactly where it_is . but where are trot and Cap'n bill ? "

button- bright related to_the Ork their adventures since it had left them in Jinxland, telling of trot's fear that_the king had done something wicked to Cap'n bill, and of Pon's love for Gloria, and how trot and button- bright had_been turned out_of_the king's castle . that was all the news that_the boy had, but it made the Ork anxious for_the safety of_his friends .

" we_must go to_them at once, for they_may need us," he_said .

"I don't know where to_go," confessed button- bright ."I'm lost ."

" well, I_can take you back to_the hut of_the gardener's boy," promised the Ork, " for when I fly high in_the air I_can look down and easily spy the king's castle . that was how I happened to spy you, just entering the grove; so I flew down and waited until you came out ."

" how can_you carry me ? " asked the boy .

" you'll have to sit straddle my shoulders and put your arms around my neck . do_you_think you_can keep from falling off ? "

"I'll try," said button- bright . so the Ork squatted down and_the boy took his seat and held on tight . then the skinny creature's tail began whirling and up they went, far above all the tree-tops .

after_the Ork had circled around once_or_twice, its sharp eyes located the towers of_the castle and away it flew, straight toward the place . as it hovered in_the air, near by_the castle, button- bright pointed out Pon's hut, so they landed just before it and trot came running out to greet them .

Gloria was introduced to_the Ork, who was surprised to_find Cap'n bill transformed into a grasshopper .

" how do_you like it ? " asked the creature .

" why, it worries me good_deal," answered Cap'n bill, perched upon trot's shoulder ."I'm always afraid o' bein' stepped on, and I don't like the flavor of grass an' can't seem to_get used to_it . it's my nature to eat grass, you_know, but I begin to suspect it's an acquired taste ."

" can_you_give molasses ? " asked the Ork .

"I guess I'm not that kind of a grasshopper," replied Cap'n bill ." but I_can't say what I_might do if i_was squeezed -- which I_hope I won't be ."

" well," said the Ork, " it's a great pity, and I'd like to meet that cruel king and_his wicked witch and punish them both severely . you're awfully small, Cap'n bill, but i_think i_would recognize you anywhere by your wooden leg ."

then the Ork and button- bright were told all about Gloria's frozen heart and how the Scarecrow had come from_the land of Oz to help them . the Ork seemed rather disturbed when it learned that_the Scarecrow had gone alone to conquer king Krewl .

"I'm afraid he'll make a fizzle of it," said the skinny creature, " and there's no telling what that terrible king might do to_the poor Scarecrow, who seems like a very interesting person . so I believe I'll take a hand in_this conquest myself ."

" how ? " asked trot .

" wait and_see," was_the reply ." but, first of all, I_must fly home again -- back to my own country -- so if_you'll forgive my leaving you so soon, I'll be off at once . stand away from my tail, please, so that_the wind from_it, when it revolves, won't knock you over ."

they gave the creature plenty of room and away it went like a flash and soon disappeared in_the sky .

"I wonder," said button- bright, looking solemnly after_the Ork, " whether he'll ever come back again ."

" of_course he_will ! " returned trot ." the Ork's a pretty good fellow, and we_can depend on him . an' mark my words, button- bright, whenever our Ork does come back, there's one cruel king in Jinxland that'll wish he hadn't ."

chapter Eighteen

the Scarecrow Meets an enemy

the Scarecrow was not a bit afraid of king Krewl . indeed, he rather enjoyed the prospect of conquering the evil king and putting Gloria on_the throne of Jinxland in_his place . so he advanced boldly to_the royal castle and demanded admittance .

Seeing that he_was a stranger, the soldiers allowed him to enter . he_made his way straight to_the throne room, where at_that_time his majesty was settling the disputes among his subjects .

" who_are you ? " demanded the king .

"I'm the Scarecrow of Oz, and I command you to surrender yourself my prisoner ."

" why should I do_that ? " inquired the king, much astonished at_the straw man's audacity .

" because I've decided you_are too cruel a king to rule so beautiful a country . you_must remember that Jinxland is a part of Oz, and therefore you owe allegiance to Ozma of Oz, whose friend and servant I_am ."

now, when he heard this, king Krewl was much disturbed in mind, for he_knew the Scarecrow spoke the truth . but no one had ever before come to Jinxland from_the land of Oz and_the king did_not intend to_be put out of_his throne if he_could

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