L. Frank Baum_Oz 14 (10 page)

Perhaps the most splendidly dressed of all those present was a great
frog as large as a man, called the Frogman, who was noted for his wise
sayings. He had come to the Emerald City from the Yip Country of Oz and
was a guest of honor. His long-tailed coat was of velvet, his vest of
satin and his trousers of finest silk. There were diamond buckles on
his shoes and he carried a gold-headed cane and a high silk hat. All of
the bright colors were represented in his rich attire, so it tired
one's eyes to look at him for long, until one became used to his
splendor.

The best farmer in all Oz was Uncle Henry, who was Dorothy's own uncle,
and who now lived near the Emerald City with his wife Aunt Em. Uncle
Henry taught the Oz people how to grow the finest vegetables and fruits
and grains and was of much use to Ozma in keeping the Royal Storehouses
well filled. He, too, was a counsellor.

The reason I mention the little Wizard of Oz last is because he was the
most important man in the Land of Oz. He wasn't a big man in size but
he was a man in power and intelligence and second only to Glinda the
Good in all the mystic arts of magic. Glinda had taught him, and the
Wizard and the Sorceress were the only ones in Oz permitted by law to
practice wizardry and sorcery, which they applied only to good uses and
for the benefit of the people.

The Wizard wasn't exactly handsome but he was pleasant to look at. His
bald head was as shiny as if it had been varnished; there was always a
merry twinkle in his eyes and he was as spry as a schoolboy. Dorothy
says the reason the Wizard is not as powerful as Glinda is because
Glinda didn't teach him all she knows, but what the Wizard knows he
knows very well and so he performs some very remarkable magic. The ten
I have mentioned assembled, with the Scarecrow and Glinda, in Ozma's
throne room, right after dinner that evening, and the Sorceress told
them all she knew of the plight of Ozma and Dorothy.

"Of course we must rescue them," she continued, "and the sooner they
are rescued the better pleased they will be; but what we must now
determine is how they can be saved. That is why I have called you
together in council."

"The easiest way," remarked the Shaggy Man, "is to raise the sunken
island of the Skeezers to the top of the water again."

"Tell me how?" said Glinda.

"I don't know how, your Highness, for I have never raised a sunken
island."

"We might all get under it and lift," suggested Professor Wogglebug.

"How can we get under it when it rests on the bottom of the lake?"
asked the Sorceress.

"Couldn't we throw a rope around it and pull it ashore?" inquired Jack
Pumpkinhead.

"Why not pump the water out of the lake?" suggested the Patchwork Girl
with a laugh.

"Do be sensible!" pleaded Glinda. "This is a serious matter, and we
must give it serious thought."

"How big is the lake and how big is the island?" was the Frogman's
question.

"None of us can tell, for we have not been there."

"In that case," said the Scarecrow, "it appears to me we ought to go to
the Skeezer country and examine it carefully."

"Quite right," agreed the Tin Woodman.

"We-will-have-to-go-there-any-how," remarked Tik-Tok in his jerky
machine voice.

"The question is which of us shall go, and how many of us?" said the
Wizard.

"I shall go of course," declared the Scarecrow.

"And I," said Scraps.

"It is my duty to Ozma to go," asserted the Tin Woodman.

"I could not stay away, knowing our loved Princess is in danger," said
the Wizard.

"We all feel like that," Uncle Henry said.

Finally one and all present decided to go to the Skeezer country, with
Glinda and the little Wizard to lead them. Magic must meet magic in
order to conquer it, so these two skillful magic-workers were necessary
to insure the success of the expedition.

They were all ready to start at a moment's notice, for none had any
affairs of importance to attend to. Jack was wearing a newly made
Pumpkin-head and the Scarecrow had recently been stuffed with fresh
straw. Tik-Tok's machinery was in good running order and the Tin
Woodman always was well oiled.

"It is quite a long journey," said Glinda, "and while I might travel
quickly to the Skeezer country by means of my stork chariot the rest of
you will be obliged to walk. So, as we must keep together, I will send
my chariot back to my castle and we will plan to leave the Emerald City
at sunrise to-morrow."

Betsy and Trot, when they heard of the rescue expedition, begged the
Wizard to permit them to join it and he consented. The Glass Cat,
overhearing the conversation, wanted to go also and to this the Wizard
made no objection.

This Glass Cat was one of the real curiosities of Oz. It had been made
and brought to life by a clever magician named Dr. Pipt, who was not
now permitted to work magic and was an ordinary citizen of the Emerald
City. The cat was of transparent glass, through which one could plainly
see its ruby heart beating and its pink brains whirling around in the
top of the head.

The Glass Cat's eyes were emeralds; its fluffy tail was of spun glass
and very beautiful. The ruby heart, while pretty to look at, was hard
and cold and the Glass Cat's disposition was not pleasant at all times.
It scorned to catch mice, did not eat, and was extremely lazy. If you
complimented the remarkable cat on her beauty, she would be very
friendly, for she loved admiration above everything. The pink brains
were always working and their owner was indeed more intelligent than
most common cats.

Three other additions to the rescue party were made the next morning,
just as they were setting out upon their journey. The first was a
little boy called Button Bright, because he had no other name that
anyone could remember. He was a fine, manly little fellow, well
mannered and good humored, who had only one bad fault. He was
continually getting lost. To be sure, Button Bright got found as often
as he got lost, but when he was missing his friends could not help
being anxious about him.

"Some day," predicted the Patchwork Girl, "he won't be found, and that
will be the last of him." But that didn't worry Button Bright, who was
so careless that he did not seem to be able to break the habit of
getting lost.

The second addition to the party was a Munchkin boy of about Button
Bright's age, named Ojo. He was often called "Ojo the Lucky," because
good fortune followed him wherever he went. He and Button Bright were
close friends, although of such different natures, and Trot and Betsy
were fond of both.

The third and last to join the expedition was an enormous lion, one of
Ozma's regular guardians and the most important and intelligent beast
in all Oz. He called himself the Cowardly Lion, saying that every
little danger scared him so badly that his heart thumped against his
ribs, but all who knew him knew that the Cowardly Lion's fears were
coupled with bravery and that however much he might be frightened he
summoned courage to meet every danger he encountered. Often he had
saved Dorothy and Ozma in times of peril, but afterward he moaned and
trembled and wept because he had been so scared.

"If Ozma needs help, I'm going to help her," said the great beast.
"Also, I suspect the rest of you may need me on the journey—especially
Trot and Betsy—for you may pass through a dangerous part of the
country. I know that wild Gillikin country pretty well. Its forests
harbor many ferocious beasts."

They were glad the Cowardly Lion was to join them, and in good spirits
the entire party formed a procession and marched out of the Emerald
City amid the shouts of the people, who wished them success and a safe
return with their beloved Ruler.

They followed a different route from that taken by Ozma and Dorothy,
for they went through the Winkie Country and up north toward Oogaboo.
But before they got there they swerved to the left and entered the
Great Gillikin Forest, the nearest thing to a wilderness in all Oz.
Even the Cowardly Lion had to admit that certain parts of this forest
were unknown to him, although he had often wandered among the trees,
and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, who were great travelers, never had
been there at all.

The forest was only reached after a tedious tramp, for some of the
Rescue Expedition were quite awkward on their feet. The Patchwork Girl
was as light as a feather and very spry; the Tin Woodman covered the
ground as easily as Uncle Henry and the Wizard; but Tik-Tok moved
slowly and the slightest obstruction in the road would halt him until
the others cleared it away. Then, too, Tik-Tok's machinery kept running
down, so Betsy and Trot took turns in winding it up.

The Scarecrow was more clumsy but less bother, for although he often
stumbled and fell he could scramble up again and a little patting of
his straw-stuffed body would put him in good shape again.

Another awkward one was Jack Pumpkinhead, for walking would jar his
head around on his neck and then he would be likely to go in the wrong
direction. But the Frogman took Jack's arm and then he followed the
path more easily.

Cap'n Bill's wooden leg didn't prevent him from keeping up with the
others and the old sailor could walk as far as any of them.

When they entered the forest the Cowardly Lion took the lead. There was
no path here for men, but many beasts had made paths of their own which
only the eyes of the Lion, practiced in woodcraft, could discern. So he
stalked ahead and wound his way in and out, the others following in
single file, Glinda being next to the Lion.

There are dangers in the forest, of course, but as the huge Lion headed
the party he kept the wild denizens of the wilderness from bothering
the travelers. Once, to be sure, an enormous leopard sprang upon the
Glass Cat and caught her in his powerful jaws, but he broke several of
his teeth and with howls of pain and dismay dropped his prey and
vanished among the trees.

"Are you hurt?" Trot anxiously inquired of the Glass Cat.

"How silly!" exclaimed the creature in an irritated tone of voice;
"nothing can hurt glass, and I'm too solid to break easily. But I'm
annoyed at that leopard's impudence. He has no respect for beauty or
intelligence. If he had noticed my pink brains work, I'm sure he would
have realized I'm too important to be grabbed in a wild beast's jaws."

"Never mind," said Trot consolingly; "I'm sure he won't do it again."

They were almost in the center of the forest when Ojo, the Munchkin
boy, suddenly said: "Why, where's Button Bright?"

They halted and looked around them. Button Bright was not with the
party.

"Dear me," remarked Betsy, "I expect he's lost again!"

"When did you see him last, Ojo?" inquired Glinda.

"It was some time ago," replied Ojo. "He was trailing along at the end
and throwing twigs at the squirrels in the trees. Then I went to talk
to Betsy and Trot, and just now I noticed he was gone."

"This is too bad," declared the Wizard, "for it is sure to delay our
journey. We must find Button Bright before we go any farther, for this
forest is full of ferocious beasts that would not hesitate to tear the
boy to pieces."

"But what shall we do?" asked the Scarecrow. "If any of us leaves the
party to search for Button Bright he or she might fall a victim to the
beasts, and if the Lion leaves us we will have no protector.

"The Glass Cat could go," suggested the Frogman. "The beasts can do her
no harm, as we have discovered."

The Wizard turned to Glinda.

"Cannot your sorcery discover where Button Bright is?" he asked.

"I think so," replied the Sorceress.

She called to Uncle Henry, who had been carrying her wicker box, to
bring it to her, and when he obeyed she opened it and drew out a small
round mirror. On the surface of the glass she dusted a white powder and
then wiped it away with her handkerchief and looked in the mirror. It
reflected a part of the forest, and there, beneath a wide-spreading
tree, Button Bright was lying asleep. On one side of him crouched a
tiger, ready to spring; on the other side was a big gray wolf, its
bared fangs glistening in a wicked way.

"Goodness me!" cried Trot, looking over Glinda's shoulder. "They'll
catch and kill him sure."

Everyone crowded around for a glimpse at the magic mirror.

"Pretty bad—pretty bad!" said the Scarecrow sorrowfully.

"Comes of getting lost!" said Cap'n Bill, sighing.

"Guess he's a goner!" said the Frogman, wiping his eyes on his purple
silk handkerchief.

"But where is he? Can't we save him?" asked Ojo the Lucky.

"If we knew where he is we could probably save him," replied the little
Wizard, "but that tree looks so much like all the other trees, that we
can't tell whether it's far away or near by."

"Look at Glinda!" exclaimed Betsy

Glinda, having handed the mirror to the Wizard, had stepped aside and
was making strange passes with her outstretched arms and reciting in
low, sweet tones a mystical incantation. Most of them watched the
Sorceress with anxious eyes, despair giving way to the hope that she
might be able to save their friend. The Wizard, however, watched the
scene in the mirror, while over his shoulders peered Trot, the
Scarecrow and the Shaggy Man.

What they saw was more strange than Glinda's actions. The tiger started
to spring on the sleeping boy, but suddenly lost its power to move and
lay flat upon the ground. The gray wolf seemed unable to lift its feet
from the ground. It pulled first at one leg and then at another, and
finding itself strangely confined to the spot began to back and snarl
angrily. They couldn't hear the barkings and snarls, but they could see
the creature's mouth open and its thick lips move. Button Bright,
however, being but a few feet away from the wolf, heard its cries of
rage, which wakened him from his untroubled sleep. The boy sat up and
looked first at the tiger and then at the wolf. His face showed that
for a moment he was quite frightened, but he soon saw that the beasts
were unable to approach him and so he got upon his feet and examined
them curiously, with a mischievous smile upon his face. Then he
deliberately kicked the tiger's head with his foot and catching up a
fallen branch of a tree he went to the wolf and gave it a good
whacking. Both the beasts were furious at such treatment but could not
resent it.