L. Frank Baum - Oz 38 Read online

  The Shaggy Man willingly agreed to this plan, stating that he was ready to leave at once. “First,” said Ozma, “let us have a look at the Isle of Conjo in the Magic Picture. The girl Ruler swept aside the velvet curtain that hung over the Magic Picture when it was not in use. The picture appeared to be a peaceful country farmland scene with purple hills rising in the distance. “Show us the Isle of Conjo in the Nonestic Ocean,” said Ozma. Immediately the picture shifted and changed. It now reflected a gently rolling meadowland with a great castle in the distance. Approaching the castle were a young girl and a boy, accompanied by the figure of a wooden clown.

  Ozma gasped in surprise. “Those are human children, Shaggy Man! What can they be doing there when my Magic Record Books state that Conjo is the only human being on the island? We can see that the clown accompanying them is a puppet, evidently brought to life by Conjo.”

  “Perhaps they are lost,” ventured the Shaggy Man.

  “But how would they get to the island? It is surrounded by miles and miles of ocean.”

  “I don’t know,” admitted the Shaggy Man, “but it is one more good reason for me to go there as quickly as possible C4 those children may be in need of help.”

  “I agree with you,” said Ozma quickly. “You must find out what the children are doing on the island and see that they are returned to their homes. If you cannot do that, then you must bring them with you to the Land of Oz.” “Will you use the Magic Belt to transport us back to the Land of Oz?” asked the Shaggy Man.

  “That will be impossible,” stated Ozma, “since I must leave this afternoon

  to visit Glinda the Good. We are working on some extremely important magic

  charms in which the powers of the Magic Belt are needed. I am not sure how long I will be gone C4 perhaps for several weeks. However,” Ozma went on as she stepped to a heavy wooden chest, opened one of its drawers and withdrew a small object, “I want you to take this with you. It will enable you to return to the Land of Oz anytime you wish.” “What is it?” asked the Shaggy Man curiously. “It is a Magic Compass,” explained Ozma. “You will notice that it is not round in shape like ordinary compasses, but is formed like a rectangle, as is the Land of Oz.”

  Shaggy looked at the Magic Compass and found that instead of being marked North, South, East and West as is the usual compass, it bore the words Gilliken, Quadling, Winkie and Munchkin, which are the four countries makin g up the Land of Oz.

  “Should you wish to return to any one of the four countries,” Ozma went on, “just set the compass needle to the one to which you wish to journey. If you want to come directly to the Emerald City, you have only to spin the needle of the compass and you will be here as quickly as the Magic Belt could bring you.”

  The Shaggy Man inspected the Magic Compass more closely and found that the pivot on which the needle rested rose from a spot of green in the very center of the compass. This green spot he knew represented the Emerald City. “But what about the children?” the Shaggy Man asked. “If I can find no way to send them home, I cannot simply leave them on the island.” “Of course not,” replied Ozma. “If you think it necessary to bring them to Oz with you, just have them put their arms in yours; then spin the compass needle, and all three of you will be transported to the Emerald City.”

  The Shaggy Man placed the Magic Compass carefully in his pocket and said, “Perhaps it would be well for me to be on my way. There’s no way of telling what will happen on that island, and those two children may need help.” Ozma slipped on the Magic Belt. “Goodbye, dear friend,” she said, smiling fondly at the Shaggy Man. “Return as quickly as you can.” Then she made the magic signal, and the Shaggy Man was no longer in the Chamber of Magic.

  CHAPTER 5

  THE CASTLE OF CONJO

  “Hello!” Twink, Tom and Twiffle stopped in their tracks. From out of nowhere had suddenly appeared a man of medium height with rosy cheeks, twinkling blue eyes, shaggy hair and clothing that, while it was composed of the finest silks and satins, was nevertheless a mass of shags and bobtails. Twiffle was so surprised he found it impossible to speak. Twink was regarding the stranger seriously. Suddenly, recognition lighted up her eyes. “Oh, it can’t be!” the little girl cried. “You just can’t be the famous Shaggy Man of Oz!”

  The Shaggy Man smiled. “Don’t know about the famous part, but I am known as

  the Shaggy Man, and until a few seconds ago I was in the Land of Oz.”

  “Oh! Seeing you here made me think maybe this was a part of the Land of Oz,”

  said Twink, who had begun to hope since the moment she had recognized the

  Shaggy Man.

  Tom was regarding the new arrival curiously. “Yes,” he said, “you certainly do look just like your pictures in the books. How did you get here so fast? Magic? I suppose the Land of Oz is quite a distance.”

  “Right both times!” replied the Shaggy Man. “Ozma sent me here with her Magic Belt, and the Land of Oz is many miles away from here.” “Why did Ozma send you?” asked Twink.

  “Oh, I have a little business with this Conjo fellow,” answered the Shaggy Man.

  “You have business with Conjo?” Twiffle had recovered from his astonishment. “Then you must forgive me for not greeting you more properly. It is so seldom that we have visitors on the island.”

  “Looks like you already have two visitors,” observed the Shaggy Man, staring at Twink and Tom.

  “Yes, but they were expected C4 and invited,” pointed out Twiffle primly. “However, since you have business with Conjo and we are on our way to see him, there is no reason you should not accompany us.”

  “No reason whatsoever,” agreed the Shaggy Man. “I hope this Conjo has plenty of big, red apples.” “Why?” asked Tom.

  “They happen to be my favorite food, that’s all,” explained the Shaggy Man. Led by Twiffle, the Shaggy Man and the two children were advancing over the meadow toward the Castle of Conjo. The sun was now setting, burnishing the spires and turrets of the castle with rich hues of gold and copper. The Shaggy Man judged they had less than a mile to travel to the castle doors. “Don’t you children think introductions are in order,” asked the Shaggy Man, “since you seem to know me already?”

  “Well,” Twink began, “this is Twiffle, who is a third cousin of Twoffle.” Twiffle bowed briefly, and the Shaggy Man nodded. “And this is Tom, and I am Twink. We live in Buffalo.”

  “Wait a minute,” interrupted the Shaggy Man. “How did you happen to get a name like Twink?”

  “Twink and Tom are not our real names,” explained Tom. “Our parents named us Abbadiah and Zebbidiah.”

  “Why did they do that?” asked the Shaggy Man indignantly. “Well,” Tom went on, “they didn’t expect twins C4 we are twins, you know C4 and they couldn’t make up their minds what to name us. So they just picked names at the beginning and end of the alphabet. That’s how we came to be named from A to Z.”

  The Shaggy Man sighed. “And then,” Twink went on, “I began to toddle when I was supposed to be still crawling, and everyone called me Twink, because I got from one place to another in a twinkle. Tom got his nickname in a funny way, too.”

  “I have always been interested in everything mechanical and electrical,” explained Tom, “so when I was only two years old and took my toy phonograph apart to see where the little men and women who made the talking and music were, my Father said, ‘Why, you’re a regular Tom Edison.’ And so ever since then I have been Tom.”

  “At least they are better than those other names,” said the Shaggy Man. Conjo’s castle loomed even larger, casting lengthening shadows as the sun lowered behind it. In a few more minutes Twiffle had led them to a large door that was evidently the entrance of the castle. Hanging on the door was a sign which Twink, Tom and the Shaggy Man read. CASTLE OF CONJO WORKING WIZARD

  “This way, please,” said Twiffle. The door opened at his touch, and they entered. All they could see was a vast corridor with doors on each side. At th
e end of the corridor was a handsome marble staircase that wound up to the upper floors. Twiffle’s little wooden feet pattered busily down the polished marble floor of the corridor until he came to an arch-shaped doorway upon which hung the sign:

  QUIET!

  Wizard at Work

  As they passed before this door with its strange admonition, the Shaggy Man and his friends heard a sound that reminded them of a buzz-saw. “I wonder,” ventured Twink, “if Conjo is building some new magical machine.” Twiffle disregarded the little girl’s question and proceeded to push the door, which opened as easily as had the door of the castle. Inside they found a vast, domed room. All around the sides of the room was a series of tables, workbenches, and tall cabinets. The tables and benches were filled with every kind of chemical instrument imaginable C4 beakers, retorts, test tubes, hundreds of bottles of different kinds of colored liquids, crucibles, and a series of burners over which simmered vials and pots of chemical mixtures. From these rose vari-colored vapors, filling the room with a pungent haze. The cabinet shelves were crowded and jumbled with thousands of containers of various powders, ointments, and mixtures used by wizards in working their magic spells. One cabinet contained nothing but books of magic recipes and formulas C4 everything from changing people into doorknobs to curing headaches.

  The Shaggy Man and the children had scarcely glanced at all this array of tools and materials for working magic when their attention was drawn to a

  huge divan that rested in the very middle of the marble floor of the great chamber. This luxurious divan was covered with the softest and most expensive of rich velvet robes and comforts. Curled up in a ball in the midst of the blankets and downy, satin-covered cushions was a little man. He was snoring.

  Twink almost laughed aloud. So this was Conjo, the working Wizard! She realized now it was Conjo’s snoring they had mistaken for the sound of a buzz-saw. Twiffle seemed neither surprised nor disturbed to find his master sound asleep. The little clown trotted over to the handsome divan and, seizing Conjo by the shoulders, shook him vigorously. The Shaggy Man was grinning broadly, and Tom was holding a hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter.

  Sputtering and yawning, Conjo sat up on the divan. Since he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his knuckles, he did not see his guests for several seconds. Then he blinked, yawned widely, and smiling a little foolishly said, “Well, wiz my wand if it isn’t Twink and Tom.”

  “You already know us?” asked Twink.

  “Oh, goodness yes,” replied Conjo, stretching lazily. “Twiffle has been telling me about you for years C4 ever since you were mere babies. I let Twiffle visit your friend Twoffle in your home, you know. Send him there by my magic,” explained Conjo proudly.

  Conjo was coming more awake every minute. “Jumping June Bugs!” he exclaimed as his eyes fell on the Shaggy Man. “I didn’t tell Twiffle to bring your Father along C4 or is this person your Grandfather?”

  “Neither one,” said the Shaggy Man with an amused smile. “Your magic had

  nothing to do with my coming here, Conjo. I came of my own accord.” “Came from where?” demanded Conjo, and then went on before the Shaggy Man had a chance to answer, “You were shipwrecked C4 that must be it, of course C4 you are a poor, forlorn castaway, a helpless victim of the deep and mighty ocean.”

  “No,” contradicted the Shaggy Man, “I was not shipwrecked. I came here from the Land of Oz.”

  Conjo started. “The Land of Oz!” he exclaimed incredulously. “You mean the Emerald City, Ozma, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Scraps, TotoFF20C4” and then, because he was out of breath, the Wizard concluded weakly, “and all of that?”

  “I see you have heard of the Land of Oz,” said the Shaggy Man, “so perhaps you will know why I am here.”

  Conjo, who was a fat, bald little man not much taller than Twink or Tom, with a fringe of white hair about his pink head, closed his little eyes, placed a forefinger on his cherry-like nose, and thought hard. “You will just have to tell me,” he said, opening his eyes and staring appealingly at the Shaggy Man. “I don’t have a single idea. It usually takes several hours after I wake up before I get any ideas C4 and it is so seldom that we have shipwrecks.”

  “I told you,” the Shaggy Man reminded Conjo patiently, “that I was not shipwrecked. I came here from the Land of Oz to ask you to do me a favor.” “A favor?” said Conjo, thinking hard. “Why, that is strange indeed! The last shipwrecked person who was here wanted me to do him a favor, too. He stayed several months and then wanted to return to his home. He asked me to make a boat for him. That was an easy trick. And because the fellow wasn’t a bad

  sort at all, I made him a present C4 I gave him one of my newest creations, the Love Magnet.”

  “The Love Magnet,” gasped the Shaggy Man.

  “Don’t interrupt, please,” went on Conjo. “Not polite, you know. This shipwrecked person tied the Love Magnet onto the mast of his boat and set sail. Last I ever saw of him. Understand he encountered a whale, who upon seeing the man and the Love Magnet, became so fond of the fellow that he ate him.” Conjo wiped a tear from his eye.

  The Shaggy Man wasn’t sure whether the Wizard was serious or was poking fun at him. He decided to pretend, at any rate, that he accepted Conjo’s absurd story, saying, “Well, apparently the unfortunate man’s boat was blown ashore, and an Eskimo found the Love Magnet, for it was an Eskimo who gave it to me, and I took it to the Land of Oz.” “My Love Magnet in the Land of Oz!” exclaimed Conjo. “No,” replied the Shaggy Man, “not $$your&& Love Magnet, since you gave it away. It now belongs to all the people of the Land of Oz. That is why I am here now. The Love Magnet has been broken. The favor I ask you is to repair it, since you, its creator, are the only person who can do that.” Twink and Tom had been listening with deep interest to this conversation. They had read about the Love Magnet, and they were surprised to learn that it had been broken.

  “Of course, of course, my dear Shaggy Man, for I perceive that is indeed who you are, a quite famous personage of the Land of Oz.” Conjo was wide awake now. “I shall be most happy to mend the Love Magnet if it can be mended. But surely you don’t expect me to do so important and difficult a feat of

  magic without, ah, er, let us say C4 a reward?” CHAPTER 6

  THE MAGIC AIRMOBILE

  “Yes, that’s it,” said Conjo, nodding his round head so violently that his three chins rippled like the steps of an escalator. “You have asked me to do you a favor C4 a very great favor C4 so it is only just that I should claim a reward. That’s fair, isn’t it?” Conjo was regarding the Shaggy Man with eyes from which was gone the somewhat foolish innocence. The Shaggy Man considered uneasily. He was beginning to remember Ozma’s warning that Conjo was not to be trusted entirely. “What kind of a reward could I give you?” the Shaggy Man asked.

  Conjo’s finger shot out, pointing toward the Shaggy Man. “That,” he said. “That in your pocket will be my reward!”

  Involuntarily, the Shaggy Man’s hand went to the pocket in which rested the Magic Compass Ozma had given him. “You must be joking,” said the Shaggy Man incredulously. “The Magic Compass belongs to Ozma. And if I did give it to you, how could I return to the Land of Oz? No, what you ask is impossible.” Conjo’s voice was wheedling. “Surely you don’t think Ozma expected me to repair the Love Magnet for nothing, do you? I can assure you that Ozma will regard the trading of the Magic Compass for the repair of the Love Magnet an excellent bargain. Actually, the Magic Compass is, by Ozma’s standards, a minor bit of magic.”

  The Shaggy Man was perplexed. Perhaps Conjo was right. “Supposing I do give

  you the Magic Compass. Then how will I get back to Oz?”

  Conjo’s eyes glowed. “Nothing to it!” he declared. “You can return to Oz anytime you like. Just as soon as I repair the Love Magnet, if you wish. Of course, I would be happy should you care to remain my guest for a time, but the decision is entirely up to you.”

  “Ho
w do you propose that I return to Oz?” asked the Shaggy Man. “I can’t walk across the Deadly Desert, you know.”

  “Ha, ha, ho, ho, ho!” Conjo laughed. “Walk across the Deadly Desert! Certainly not! He, he he! You shall sail high across it, swiftly and safely! Come with me! I have something to show you.” Conjo wriggled about until his fat little body emerged from the cushions and silken coverings of the divan. As he stood up, the Shaggy Man and his friends saw that the little man was dressed in a loose robe of rich purple on which were embroidered stars, crescents, black cats and the signs of the Zodiac. All these designs were in the brightest colors, while the robe flowed about him, secured by a golden cord tied about his middle. On his feet were sandals woven of silver thread, with toes that curled up like question marks. “Come with me,” repeated the fat little Wizard as he waddled to the door, “and I will show you how you can sail away in a jiffy.” The Shaggy Man and the two children followed Conjo while Twiffle remained behind busily arranging and straightening the royal cushions and comforters of the regal divan. In the great corridor Conjo paused before a small door that opened at his touch, revealing a cage-like little room. “Step in,” the Wizard invited his guests. “This is an elevator that will whisk us to the roof of the tallest tower of the castle C4 an improvement over the stairway, up which I find it difficult to whisk myself in my present state of, shall we say, stoutness. Ho, ho, ho, ho, he, he, he!”

  Conjo beamed good humor and friendliness as the elevator shot noiselessly upward. In a few seconds the door clicked, slid open, and Conjo led his guests to the roof of the great tower. From this height they could see that the Isle of Conjo was small indeed, for the blue waters of the Nonestic Ocean were visible in any direction they looked. The sun was a great red ball of fire in the west, but it would still be several minutes before actual twilight set in.