L. Frank Baum - Oz 37 Read online

  the hearts of the winter-weary people.

  The Wizard selected a pink carnation. This spicily scented blossom told him an exciting story of intrigue and adventure in high places. It was a romantic, dashing story, full of cleverness and surprises. Then the Wizard plucked a cluster of purple lilacs. Each of the tiny blossoms growing on the stem joined in a chorus to sing him a story of home and love, of patience and virtue and all the common things of life in which the poorest may find riches and happiness.

  Almost before Dorothy and the Wizard realized it, the shadows of evening were lengthening over the garden, and Dolly and Poppet appeared to inform them the evening meal was awaiting them. Dorothy picked up the White Kitten, which had fallen asleep in the shadow of a nearby hedge, and she and the Wizard followed the maid and the page back to the cheery comfort of Ozana’s cottage. They chatted happily over the good food served them by Dolly and Poppet. Felina had her bowl of milk on the floor near Dorothy’s chair.

  Then, since they realized the next day was likely to be a busy and exciting one, they followed Dolly and Poppet to the rooms Ozana had prepared for them and said goodnight at their doors. The rooms were delightfully furnished with deep, soft beds and everything to make them comfortable for the night.

  As Dorothy pulled the covers over her and Felina snuggled into a small, furry ball at the girl’s feet, Dolly reappeared with a poppy blossom in her hand. “Here, Princess Dorothy,” the thoughtful little maid said. “Listen to the story of the poppy blossom, and you’ll be sure to sleep.” So Dorothy listened to the soft, slumbrous voice of the poppy and was asleep

  almost before the tale was finished. What kind of a story did the sweet poppy tell? Why, a bedtime story, of course.

  CHAPTER 13

  THE THREE SWANS

  Dorothy was awakened by the sunlight streaming through the windows of her bedroom. Refreshed and eager for the adventures that lay ahead, she bathed and dressed and, with Felina in her arms, knocked on the door of the Wizard’s room. The man was already awake and in excellent spirits as he greeted Dorothy. A moment later Dolly and Poppet came to lead them to the living room, where Ozana was awaiting them for breakfast. The Fairy Princess, radiant with loveliness, was dressed in a simple blue dress with a circlet of roses set in her golden hair. Dorothy thought this an excellent crown for the Princess of Story Blossom Garden. When the meal was finished, Ozana said, “It will please you to learn that my studies which I completed late last night revealed that the Mimic King and Queen have accomplished no real harm in the Emerald City. However, Queen Ra has succeeded in doing something that has surprised me. She has thrown up a magic screen about her activities which has made it impossible for me to discover whether she has found the spell that would release the Mimics form Queen Lurline’s enchantment. It is logical to believe Ra has failed, since if she had discovered the spell, she would surely have used it to permit the Mimic hordes to overrun Oz.”

  “But you cannot be sure, is that it, Ma’am?” asked the Wizard.

  “Yes, I am afraid so,” Ozana admitted, frowning slightly. “This magic screen that Queen Ra has devised baffles me and resists all my efforts to

  penetrate it. For this reason I think it would be wise for us to go as

  quickly as possible to the Emerald City. As you know, Ozma and Glinda will

  return from the Forest of Burzee this morning at ten o’clock. I would like

  to be present to greet them and to explain what has happened. There is no

  use causing them undue alarm. After all, I am responsible for the Mimics in

  regard to the Land of Oz,” Ozana concluded thoughtfully.

  “Well,” said Dorothy, “I’m ready to go. How about you, Wizard?”

  The little man’s expression was grave as he answered. “The quicker we get

  back to Oz, the better. I have an uneasy feeling that we are not finished

  with the Mimics, by any means.”

  “Then it is settled,” announced Ozana. “Come, my friends, let us make all

  possible haste. We have no time to lose.”

  “May I take Felina to Oz with us?” asked Dorothy.

  Ozana smiled. “Certainly, my dear. Only let us hurry.”

  Dorothy and the Wizard followed Ozana to the cottage door and down the path that led to the edge of the pond. The garden was fresh and lovely in the early morning. The side of the cottage that faced the morning sun was covered with blue morning glories. Dorothy regretted that there was no time for her to pick one of the delicate blossoms and listen to its story. Standing at the edge of the pond, Ozana uttered a soft, musical whistle. From under the low-hanging branches of a large bush that trailed into the water on the far shore of the pond emerged the three graceful swans which Dorothy and the Wizard had admired the day before. The snow-white birds moved swiftly across the water in answer to Ozana’s summons. “These are my swans, which will carry us over the Deadly Desert to the Emerald City,”

  said Ozana.

  “They don’t look big enough to carry even you or me, let alone the Wizard,” said Dorothy doubtfully.

  Ozana laughed. “Of course they are not large enough now, Dorothy, but soon they will be.”

  The three swans were now at the pond’s edge just at Ozana’s feet. The Fairy Princess bent, touching the head of each of the birds gently with a slender wand which she drew from the folds of her blue dress. While Dorothy and the Wizard watched, the birds grew steadily before their wondering eyes. In a few seconds they were nearly five times the size of ordinary swans. The Fairy Princess placed a dainty foot on the back of one of the swans, and then settled herself on the bird’s downy back, motioning to Dorothy and the Wizard to do likewise.

  Dorothy stepped gingerly to the back of the swan nearest her. She found the great bird supported her easily. Holding Felina in her lap, the little girl nestled comfortable among the feathers. The Wizard had already mounted the third swan. Seeing that the passengers were all aboard, Ozana signaled the swans, and with mighty strokes of their great wings, the birds soared into the air. Dorothy looked behind her and saw Ozana’s cottage growing smaller as the birds climbed higher and higher into the heavens. In a short time, they had left Mount Illuso so far in the distance that it was no longer visible.

  The soft feathers of the bird that carried her and the gentle motion with which it sped through the air made Dorothy think of riding through the sky on a downy feather-bed. “Isn’t it grand, Wizard?” Dorothy called.

  “It certainly beats any traveling I ever did,” admitted the Wizard. “It’s even better than my balloon back in Omaha.”

  Ozana’s bird flew in advance, with the swans bearing Dorothy and the Wizard slightly to her rear on either side of her. They crossed the border of the Land of the Phanfasms and soared high over the Deadly Desert. The swans flew even higher over the desert that had the Mimic birds. For this reason none of the travelers suffered from the poisonous fumes that rose from the shifting sands of the desert. As they approached the yellow Land of the Winkies, Dorothy noticed that Ozana cast several anxious glances at the sun, which was rising higher and higher in the heavens. It seemed to the little girl that the Fairy Princess was disturbed and anxious. “Is anything wrong, Ozana?” called Dorothy.

  “I cannot say for sure,” replied Ozana. “Something has taken place in Oz of which I was not aware. I can feel the change now that we are actually over the Land of Oz. I am trying to discover what has happened by means of my fairy powers. I am afraid, too, that the journey is taking longer than I expected, and we shall not be able to arrive before Ozma and Glinda.” At a signal from their mistress the three swans quickened their already swift flight. Again and again Ozana consulted the sun, and her appearance became more grave and worried as they approached the Emerald City. Suddenly the Fairy Princess’s expression changed. A look of anger and dismay clouded her face, and the next instant she cried out beseechingly, “Forgive me, my friends! I now understand all that has happened. The Mimics have cunningl
y outwitted me!”

  CHAPTER 14

  THE MIMIC MONARCHS LOCK THEMSELVES IN Back in the Emerald City a great deal had been happening while Dorothy and the Wizard were adventuring on Mount Illuso. You will recall that Toto had startled the Oz people by trotting into the Grand Dining Room and declaring that it was not Dorothy who sat at the head of the table. You see, in some ways animals are wiser than human beings. King Umb and Queen Ra were able to fool the Oz people just by $$looking&& like Dorothy and the Wizard, but they couldn’t deceive the keen senses of the little dog so easily. Toto’s animal instinct warned him that this was not his beloved mistress Dorothy or his old friend the Wizard. When Toto made his astonishing assertion, every eye in the dining room turned questioningly upon the Mimic King and Queen.

  Suddenly Queen Ra leaped to her feet. Grasping King Umb by the arm and hissing, “Hurry, you fool!” she pulled the Mimic King after her, and the two dashed from the dining room. For a moment everyone was too startled to move C4 except Toto. He sped like an arrow after the fleeing monarchs. The quick-witted Scarecrow broke the spell by leaping to his feet and following with awkward haste after the dog. Instantly there rose a clamor of startled exclamations and bewildered questions from the Oz people, who were thrown into confusion by these strange happenings. By the time the Scarecrow had reached the corridor, King Umb, Queen Ra and Toto were nowhere in sight. But the straw man could hear Toto’s excited barking. Following in the direction of the sound, down one corridor and up another, the Scarecrow arrived in the wing of the palace usually occupied by Ozma and found Toto barking before a closed door. The little dog’s eyes

  flashed angrily.

  When Toto saw the Scarecrow, he stopped barking and said, “I was just too late. They slammed the door in my face, and now I suppose it is locked.” The Scarecrow attempted to turn the knob with his stuffed hand and found that, as Toto suspected, the door was locked. “Do you know what room this is?” Toto asked.

  “Of course,” replied the Scarecrow. “It’s Ozma’s Chamber of Magic.” “Yes,” went on the little dog, “the same room where the imitation Dorothy and Wizard have shut themselves in all day. Why? I want to know! I tell you, Scarecrow, there’s something awfully funny going on here.” The straw man was thoughtful. “I agree with you, Toto. Something is happening that we don’t understand. We must find out what it is. I believe the wisest thing we can do is to return to the dining room and have a council to talk this thing over. Maybe we will be able to find an explanation.”

  Silently the little dog agreed, and a short time later a group of the best-loved companions of Dorothy and the Wizard was gathered in a living room adjoining the Grand Dining Room. The Scarecrow presided over the meeting. “All we really know,” he began, “is that Dorothy and the Wizard have been acting very strangely today C4 the second day of the absence of Ozma and Glinda. Toto insists that they are not Dorothy and the Wizard at all.”

  “Lan’ sakes!” exclaimed Dorothy’s Aunt Em, “I’ll admit the child ain’t been herself today, but it’s downright silly to say that our Dorothy’s someone else. I ought to know my own niece!”

  “Em, you’re a-gittin’ all mixed up,” cautioned Uncle Henry. “You jest now

  said Dorothy ain’t been herself today; that means she must be somebody else.”

  “But who could look so much like Dorothy and the Wizard?” queried Betsy Bobbin with a frown.

  “And why should anyone wish to deceive us?” asked tiny Trot.

  Now Cap’n Bill spoke up. “S’posin’,” began the old sailor gruffly, “that we

  admit fer the moment that this $$ain’t&& the real Dorothy and the Wizard.

  Then the most important thing is C4 where $$are&& the real Dorothy and the

  Wizard?”

  “That’s the smartest thing that’s been said yet,” declared Toto earnestly with an admiring glance at Cap’n Bill. “Here we are wasting time in talk when something dreadful may be happening to Dorothy and the Wizard. Let’s get busy and find them quickly.”

  “Maybe they’re lost,” suggested Button Bright. “If that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about, ‘cause I’ve been lost lots of times, and I always got found again.” But no one paid any attention to the boy.

  With her yarn hair dangling before her eyes, the Patchwork Girl danced to the front of the gathering. “The trouble with you people,” she asserted, “is that you don’t know how to add two and two and get four.”

  “What do you mean by that, Scraps?” asked the Scarecrow.

  “Just this,” retorted the stuffed girl, saucily making a face at the Scarecrow. “What did we overhear Dorothy and the Wizard discussing today in the garden? Magic! They were talking about a magic spell which they hoped to find before Ozma and Glinda returned. All right. Now where did Dorothy and the Wizard spend most of the day, and where have they fled just now to

  lock themselves in? To Ozma’s Chamber of $$Magic!&&” the Patchwork Girl concluded triumphantly. “Mark my words, there’s magic behind all this, and the secret is hidden in Ozma’s Chamber of Magic.” With his chin in his hand, the Scarecrow was regarding Scraps in silent admiration. “Sometimes,” he said, “I almost believe your head is stuffed with the same quality of brains the Wizard put in mine.” “Nope!” denied Scraps emphatically. “It’s not brains C4 just a little common sense.” And with that the irrepressible creature leaped to the chandelier suspended from the ceiling and began chinning herself. “Yes,” agreed the Scarecrow with a sigh as he regarded her antics, “I guess I was wrong about your brains.”

  “But what are we going to $$do?&& That’s what I want to know,” demanded Toto impatiently.

  “I believe,” declared the Scarecrow finally, “there is only one thing we $$can&& do. We must go to Ozma’s Chamber of Magic and try to persuade this strange Dorothy and the Wizard to admit us. If they refuse, then we shall be obliged to break open the door and demand an explanation of their mysterious behavior.”

  “Good!” exclaimed Toto. “Let us go at once.”

  They all filed out of the room and made their way to Ozma’s Chamber of Magic. The door was still locked. Several times the Scarecrow called to Dorothy and the Wizard to open the door and admit them, but there was no response. Then Cap’n Bill stepped forward. He knew what was expected of him as the biggest and strongest of the group. He placed a shoulder against the door and pushed. The door creaked and yielded. Again Cap’n Bill pushed. This time the door yielded more noticeably. Upon the third trial the door

  suddenly gave way before the old sailor man’s weight, and the Scarecrow, followed by Scraps, Trot, Betsy Bobbin, Button Bright and the rest, crowded into Ozma’s Chamber of Magic.

  CHAPTER 15

  IN THE CHAMBER OF MAGIC

  When Queen Ra seized King Umb by the arm and fled with him from the dining room, the Mimic Queen was alarmed. She realized it was useless to attempt to deceive Toto, and she greatly feared the little dog would succeed in convincing the Scarecrow and the others that something had happened to Dorothy and the Wizard. Fear lent speed to the Queen’s feet as she ran down the corridor, dragging King Umb after her, with Toto in close pursuit. She slammed the door of the Chamber of Magic and locked it just in time to prevent Toto’s entry. Then she flung herself in a chair, gasping for breath.

  When King Umb, who was even more frightened than his Queen, had got his breath and could speak, he said raspingly, “So this is the way your plan works C4 a miserable dog robs us of success!”

  “Silence!” commanded Queen Ra angrily. “We are far from defeated. We still have time to find the magic spell. And we will! We were fools to give up the search and go to that silly dinner,” she concluded bitterly. She turned to Ozma’s magic books and began feverishly leafing through them. For perhaps ten minutes she continued her search fruitlessly. Flung carelessly on the floor was a great pile of books through which she had previously looked in vain for the magic spell. Only four books remained to

  be searched through.r />
  While King Umb watched nervously, the Queen continued her frantic quest. Now only two books remained. The magic spell must be in one of these two volumes. Suddenly Queen Ra leaped to her feet with a cry of triumph. “I have found it!” she announced with exultation. She tore a page from the book and cast the volume to the floor.

  “Come,” she urged, “let us return to Mount Illuso as speedily as possible. Soon we will come again to Oz. But we will not be alone!” Both Ra and Umb laughed with wicked satisfaction. Just then the Scarecrow called to Dorothy and the Wizard to open the door and admit them. “Fools!” muttered Queen Ra. “In a short time you will all be my slaves.”

  Pausing to pick up Dorothy’s Magic Belt, Queen Ra walked to a large French window that looked down on the palace courtyard. Turning to King Umb, she said, “These hateful shapes can serve us no longer, so let us discard them and be on our way.” Instantly the figures of Dorothy and the Wizard vanished, and in their places appeared two great, black birds with huge, powerful wings. Just as Cap’n Bill burst open the door and the Scarecrow and the rest crowded into the room, the birds flew from the window. The little group hurried to the window and looked out. High above the palace and swiftly disappearing in the night flew two enormous, bat-like birds. The night was too dark and the birds too far20away for any of the Oz people to see that one of the creatures clutched Dorothy’s Magic Belt. While Queen Ra had not yet learned how to command the many wonderful powers of the Magic Belt (or she would most certainly have used the belt to transport herself and Umb to the Mimic Land in the twinkling of an eye), nevertheless she had no intention of leaving the valuable talisman behind