CHAPTER 5
OZMA'S FRIENDS ARE PERPLEXED
"Really," said Dorothy, looking solemn, "this is very s'prising. We
can't even find a shadow of Ozma anywhere in the Em'rald City, and
wherever she's gone, she's taken her Magic Picture with her." She was
standing in the courtyard of the palace with Betsy and Trot, while
Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, danced around the group, her hair flying in
the wind.
"P'raps," said Scraps, still dancing, "someone has stolen Ozma."
"Oh, they'd never dare do that!" exclaimed tiny Trot.
"And stolen the Magic Picture, too, so the thing can't tell where she
is," added the Patchwork Girl.
"That's nonsense," said Dorothy. "Why, ev'ryone loves Ozma. There
isn't a person in the Land of Oz who would steal a single thing she
owns."
"Huh!" replied the Patchwork Girl. "You don't know ev'ry person in the
Land of Oz."
"Why don't I?"
"It's a big country," said Scraps. "There are cracks and corners in it
that even Ozma doesn't know of."
"The Patchwork Girl's just daffy," declared Betsy.
"No, she's right about that," replied Dorothy thoughtfully. "There are
lots of queer people in this fairyland who never come near Ozma or the
Em'rald City. I've seen some of 'em myself, girls. But I haven't seen
all, of course, and there MIGHT be some wicked persons left in Oz yet,
though I think the wicked witches have all been destroyed."
Just then the Wooden Sawhorse dashed into the courtyard with the Wizard
of Oz on his back. "Have you found Ozma?" cried the Wizard when the
Sawhorse stopped beside them.
"Not yet," said Dorothy. "Doesn't Glinda the Good know where she is?"
"No. Glinda's Book of Records and all her magic instruments are gone.
Someone must have stolen them."
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Dorothy in alarm. "This is the biggest steal
I ever heard of. Who do you think did it, Wizard?"
"I've no idea," he answered. "But I have come to get my own bag of
magic tools and carry them to Glinda. She is so much more powerful
than I that she may be able to discover the truth by means of my magic
quicker and better than I could myself."
"Hurry, then," said Dorothy, "for we've all gotten terr'bly worried."
The Wizard rushed away to his rooms but presently came back with a
long, sad face. "It's gone!" he said.
"What's gone?" asked Scraps.
"My black bag of magic tools. Someone must have stolen it!"
They looked at one another in amazement.
"This thing is getting desperate," continued the Wizard. "All the magic
that belongs to Ozma or to Glinda or to me has been stolen."
"Do you suppose Ozma could have taken them, herself, for some purpose?"
asked Betsy.
"No indeed," declared the Wizard. "I suspect some enemy has stolen
Ozma and for fear we would follow and recapture her has taken all our
magic away from us."
"How dreadful!" cried Dorothy. "The idea of anyone wanting to injure
our dear Ozma! Can't we do ANYthing to find her, Wizard?"
"I'll ask Glinda. I must go straight back to her and tell her that my
magic tools have also disappeared. The good Sorceress will be greatly
shocked, I know."
With this, he jumped upon the back of the Sawhorse again, and the
quaint steed, which never tired, dashed away at full speed. The three
girls were very much disturbed in mind. Even the Patchwork Girl seemed
to realize that a great calamity had overtaken them all. Ozma was a
fairy of considerable power, and all the creatures in Oz as well as the
three mortal girls from the outside world looked upon her as their
protector and friend. The idea of their beautiful girl Ruler's being
overpowered by an enemy and dragged from her splendid palace a captive
was too astonishing for them to comprehend at first. Yet what other
explanation of the mystery could there be?
"Ozma wouldn't go away willingly, without letting us know about it,"
asserted Dorothy, "and she wouldn't steal Glinda's Great Book of
Records or the Wizard's magic, 'cause she could get them any time just
by asking for 'em. I'm sure some wicked person has done all this."
"Someone in the Land of Oz?" asked Trot.
"Of course. No one could get across the Deadly Desert, you know, and
no one but an Oz person could know about the Magic Picture and the Book
of Records and the Wizard's magic or where they were kept, and so be
able to steal the whole outfit before we could stop 'em. It MUST be
someone who lives in the Land of Oz."
"But who--who--who?" asked Scraps. "That's the question. Who?"
"If we knew," replied Dorothy severely, "we wouldn't be standing here
doing nothing."
Just then two boys entered the courtyard and approached the group of
girls. One boy was dressed in the fantastic Munchkin costume--a blue
jacket and knickerbockers, blue leather shoes and a blue hat with a
high peak and tiny silver bells dangling from its rim--and this was Ojo
the Lucky, who had once come from the Munchkin Country of Oz and now
lived in the Emerald City. The other boy was an American from
Philadelphia and had lately found his way to Oz in the company of Trot
and Cap'n Bill. His name was Button-Bright; that is, everyone called
him by that name and knew no other. Button-Bright was not quite as big
as the Munchkin boy, but he wore the same kind of clothes, only they
were of different colors. As the two came up to the girls, arm in arm,
Button-Bright remarked, "Hello, Dorothy. They say Ozma is lost."
"WHO says so?" she asked.
"Ev'rybody's talking about it in the City," he replied.
"I wonder how the people found it out," Dorothy asked.
"I know," said Ojo. "Jellia Jamb told them. She has been asking
everywhere if anyone has seen Ozma."
"That's too bad," observed Dorothy, frowning.
"Why?" asked Button-Bright.
"There wasn't any use making all our people unhappy till we were dead
certain that Ozma can't be found."
"Pshaw," said Button-Bright, "it's nothing to get lost. I've been lost
lots of times."
"That's true," admitted Trot, who knew that the boy had a habit of
getting lost and then finding himself again, "but it's diff'rent with
Ozma. She's the Ruler of all this big fairyland, and we're 'fraid that
the reason she's lost is because somebody has stolen her away."
"Only wicked people steal," said Ojo. "Do you know of any wicked
people in Oz, Dorothy?"
"No," she replied.
"They're here, though," cried Scraps, dancing up to them and then
circling around the group. "Ozma's stolen; someone in Oz stole her;
only wicked people steal; so someone in Oz is wicked!"
There was no denying the truth of this statement. The faces of all of
them were now solemn and sorrowful. "One thing is sure," said
Button-Bright after a time, "if Ozma has been stolen, someone ought to
find her and punish the thief."
"There may be a lot of thieves," suggested Trot gravely, "and in this
fairy country they don't seem to have any soldiers or policemen."
"There is one soldier," claimed Dorothy.
"He has green whiskers and a gun and is a Major-General, but no one is
afraid of either his gun or his whiskers, 'cause he's so tender-hearted
that he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Well, a soldier is a soldier," said Betsy, "and perhaps he'd hurt a
wicked thief if he wouldn't hurt a fly. Where is he?"
"He went fishing about two months ago and hasn't come back yet,"
explained Button-Bright.
"Then I can't see that he will be of much use to us in this trouble,"
sighed little Trot. "But p'raps Ozma, who is a fairy, can get away
from the thieves without any help from anyone."
"She MIGHT be able to," answered Dorothy reflectively, "but if she had
the power to do that, it isn't likely she'd have let herself be stolen.
So the thieves must have been even more powerful in magic than our
Ozma."
There was no denying this argument, and although they talked the matter
over all the rest of that day, they were unable to decide how Ozma had
been stolen against her will or who had committed the dreadful deed.
Toward evening the Wizard came back, riding slowly upon the Sawhorse
because he felt discouraged and perplexed. Glinda came later in her
aerial chariot drawn by twenty milk-white swans, and she also seemed
worried and unhappy. More of Ozma's friends joined them, and that
evening they all had a big talk together. "I think," said Dorothy, "we
ought to start out right away in search of our dear Ozma. It seems
cruel for us to live comf'tably in her palace while she is a pris'ner
in the power of some wicked enemy."
"Yes," agreed Glinda the Sorceress, "someone ought to search for her. I
cannot go myself, because I must work hard in order to create some new
instruments of sorcery by means of which I may rescue our fair Ruler.
But if you can find her in the meantime and let me know who has stolen
her, it will enable me to rescue her much more quickly."
"Then we'll start tomorrow morning," decided Dorothy. "Betsy and Trot
and I won't waste another minute."
"I'm not sure you girls will make good detectives," remarked the
Wizard, "but I'll go with you to protect you from harm and to give you
my advice. All my wizardry, alas, is stolen, so I am now really no
more a wizard than any of you, but I will try to protect you from any
enemies you may meet."
"What harm could happen to us in Oz?" inquired Trot.
"What harm happened to Ozma?" returned the Wizard.
"If there is an Evil Power abroad in our fairyland, which is able to
steal not only Ozma and her Magic Picture, but Glinda's Book of Records
and all her magic, and my black bag containing all my tricks of
wizardry, then that Evil Power may yet cause us considerable injury.
Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy
them, but you girls are all mortals and so are Button-Bright and I, so
we must watch out for ourselves."
"Nothing can kill me," said Ojo the Munchkin boy.
"That is true," replied the Sorceress, "and I think it may be well to
divide the searchers into several parties, that they may cover all the
land of Oz more quickly. So I will send Ojo and Unc Nunkie and Dr.
Pipt into the Munchkin Country, which they are well acquainted with;
and I will send the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman into the Quadling
Country, for they are fearless and brave and never tire; and to the
Gillikin Country, where many dangers lurk, I will send the Shaggy Man
and his brother, with Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead. Dorothy may make
up her own party and travel into the Winkie Country. All of you must
inquire everywhere for Ozma and try to discover where she is hidden."
They thought this a very wise plan and adopted it without question. In
Ozma's absence, Glinda the Good was the most important person in Oz,
and all were glad to serve under her direction.
CHAPTER 6
THE SEARCH PARTY
Next morning as soon as the sun was up, Glinda flew back to her castle,
stopping on the way to instruct the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who
were at that time staying at the college of Professor H. M. Wogglebug,
T.E., and taking a course of his Patent Educational Pills.
On hearing of Ozma's loss, they started at once for the Quadling
Country to search for her. As soon as Glinda had left the Emerald
City, Tik-Tok and the Shaggy Man and Jack Pumpkinhead, who had been
present at the conference, began their journey into the Gillikin
Country, and an hour later Ojo and Unc Nunkie joined Dr. Pipt and
together they traveled toward the Munchkin Country. When all these
searchers were gone, Dorothy and the Wizard completed their own
preparations.
The Wizard hitched the Sawhorse to the Red Wagon, which would seat four
very comfortably. He wanted Dorothy, Betsy, Trot and the Patchwork
Girl to ride in the wagon, but Scraps came up to them mounted upon the
Woozy, and the Woozy said he would like to join the party. Now this
Woozy was a most peculiar animal, having a square head, square body,
square legs and square tail. His skin was very tough and hard,
resembling leather, and while his movements were somewhat clumsy, the
beast could travel with remarkable swiftness. His square eyes were mild
and gentle in expression, and he was not especially foolish. The Woozy
and the Patchwork Girl were great friends, and so the Wizard agreed to
let the Woozy go with them.
Another great beast now appeared and asked to go along. This was none
other than the famous Cowardly Lion, one of the most interesting
creatures in all Oz. No lion that roamed the jungles or plains could
compare in size or intelligence with this Cowardly Lion, who--like all
animals living in Oz--could talk and who talked with more shrewdness
and wisdom than many of the people did. He said he was cowardly
because he always trembled when he faced danger, but he had faced
danger many times and never refused to fight when it was necessary.
This Lion was a great favorite with Ozma and always guarded her throne
on state occasions. He was also an old companion and friend of the
Princess Dorothy, so the girl was delighted to have him join the party.
"I'm so nervous over our dear Ozma," said the Cowardly Lion in his
deep, rumbling voice, "that it would make me unhappy to remain behind
while you are trying to find her. But do not get into any danger, I
beg of you, for danger frightens me terribly."
"We'll not get into danger if we can poss'bly help it," promised
Dorothy, "but we shall do anything to find Ozma, danger or no danger."
The addition of the Woozy and the Cowardly Lion to the party gave Betsy
Bobbin an idea, and she ran to the marble stables at the rear of the
palace and brought out her mule, Hank by name. Perhaps no mule you
ever saw was so lean and bony and altogether plain looking as this
Hank, but Betsy loved him dearly because he was faithful and steady and
not nearly so stupid as most mules are considered to be. Betsy had a
saddle for Hank, and he declared she would ride on his back, an
arrangement approved by the Wizard because it left only four of the
party to ride on the seats of the Red Wagon--Dorothy and Button-Bright
and Trot and himself.
An old sailor man who had one wooden leg came to see them off and
suggested that they put a supply of food and blankets in the Red Wagon
inasmuch as they were uncertain how long they would be gone. This
sailor man was called Cap'n Bill. He was a former friend and comrade
of Trot and had encountered many adventures in company with the little
girl. I think he was sorry he could not go with her on this trip, but
Glinda the Sorceress had asked Cap'n Bill to remain in the Emerald City
and take charge of the royal palace while everyone else was away, and
the one-legged sailor had agreed to do so.
They loaded the back end of the Red Wagon with everything they thought
they might need, and then they formed a procession and marched from the
palace through the Emerald City to the great gates of the wall that
surrounded this beautiful capital of the Land of Oz. Crowds of
citizens lined the streets to see them pass and to cheer them and wish
them success, for all were grieved over Ozma's loss and anxious that
she be found again. First came the Cowardly Lion, then the Patchwork
Girl riding upon the Woozy, then Betsy Bobbin on her mule Hank, and
finally the Sawhorse drawing the Red Wagon, in which were seated the
Wizard and Dorothy and Button-Bright and Trot. No one was obliged to
drive the Sawhorse, so there were no reins to his harness; one had only
to tell him which way to go, fast or slow, and he understood perfectly.
It was about this time that a shaggy little black dog who had been
lying asleep in Dorothy's room in the palace woke up and discovered he
was lonesome. Everything seemed very still throughout the great
building, and Toto--that was the little dog's name--missed the
customary chatter of the three girls. He never paid much attention to
what was going on around him, and although he could speak, he seldom
said anything, so the little dog did not know about Ozma's loss or that
everyone had gone in search of her. But he liked to be with people,
and especially with his own mistress, Dorothy, and having yawned and
stretched himself and found the door of the room ajar, he trotted out
into the corridor and went down the stately marble stairs to the hall
of the palace, where he met Jellia Jamb.
"Where's Dorothy?" asked Toto.
"She's gone to the Winkie Country," answered the maid.
"When?"
"A little while ago," replied Jellia.
Toto turned and trotted out into the palace garden and down the long
driveway until he came to the streets of the Emerald City. Here he
paused to listen, and hearing sounds of cheering, he ran swiftly along
until he came in sight of the Red Wagon and the Woozy and the Lion and
the Mule and all the others. Being a wise little dog, he decided not
to show himself to Dorothy just then, lest he be sent back home, but he
never lost sight of the party of travelers, all of whom were so eager
to get ahead that they never thought to look behind them. When they
came to the gates in the city wall, the Guardian of the Gates came out
to throw wide the golden portals and let them pass through.
"Did any strange person come in or out of the city on the night before
last when Ozma was stolen?" asked Dorothy.
"No indeed, Princess," answered the Guardian of the Gates.
"Of course not," said the Wizard. "Anyone clever enough to steal all
the things we have lost would not mind the barrier of a wall like this
in the least. I think the thief must have flown through the air, for
otherwise he could not have stolen from Ozma's royal palace and
Glinda's faraway castle in the same night. Moreover, as there are no
airships in Oz and no way for airships from the outside world to get
into this country, I believe the thief must have flown from place to
place by means of magic arts which neither Glinda nor I understand."
On they went, and before the gates closed behind them, Toto managed to
dodge through them. The country surrounding the Emerald City was
thickly settled, and for a while our friends rode over nicely paved
roads which wound through a fertile country dotted with beautiful
houses, all built in the quaint Oz fashion. In the course of a few
hours, however, they had left the tilled fields and entered the Country
of the Winkies, which occupies a quarter of all the territory in the
Land of Oz but is not so well known as many other parts of Ozma's
fairyland. Long before night the travelers had crossed the Winkie
River near to the Scarecrow's Tower (which was now vacant) and had
entered the Rolling Prairie where few people live. They asked everyone
they met for news of Ozma, but none in this district had seen her or
even knew that she had been stolen. And by nightfall they had passed
all the farmhouses and were obliged to stop and ask for shelter at the
hut of a lonely shepherd. When they halted, Toto was not far behind.
The little dog halted, too, and stealing softly around the party, he
hid himself behind the hut.
The shepherd was a kindly old man and treated the travelers with much
courtesy. He slept out of doors that night, giving up his hut to the
three girls, who made their beds on the floor with the blankets they
had brought in the Red Wagon. The Wizard and Button-Bright also slept
out of doors, and so did the Cowardly Lion and Hank the Mule. But
Scraps and the Sawhorse did not sleep at all, and the Woozy could stay
awake for a month at a time if he wished to, so these three sat in a
little group by themselves and talked together all through the night.
In the darkness, the Cowardly Lion felt a shaggy little form nestling
beside his own, and he said sleepily, "Where did you come from, Toto?"
"From home," said the dog. "If you roll over, roll the other way so you
won't smash me."
"Does Dorothy know you are here?" asked the Lion.
"I believe not," admitted Toto, and he added a little anxiously, "Do
you think, friend Lion, we are now far enough from the Emerald City for
me to risk showing myself, or will Dorothy send me back because I
wasn't invited?"
"Only Dorothy can answer that question," said the Lion. "For my part,
Toto, I consider this affair none of my business, so you must act as
you think best." Then the huge beast went to sleep again, and Toto
snuggled closer to the warm, hairy body and also slept. He was a wise
little dog in his way, and didn't intend to worry when there was
something much better to do.
In the morning the Wizard built a fire, over which the girls cooked a
very good breakfast. Suddenly Dorothy discovered Toto sitting quietly
before the fire, and the little girl exclaimed, "Goodness me, Toto!
Where did YOU come from?"
"From the place you cruelly left me," replied the dog in a reproachful
tone.
"I forgot all about you," admitted Dorothy, "and if I hadn't, I'd
prob'ly left you with Jellia Jamb, seeing this isn't a pleasure trip
but stric'ly business. But now that you're here, Toto, I s'pose you'll
have to stay with us, unless you'd rather go back again. We may get
ourselves into trouble before we're done, Toto."
"Never mind that," said Toto, wagging his tail. "I'm hungry, Dorothy."
"Breakfas'll soon be ready, and then you shall have your share,"
promised his little mistress, who was really glad to have her dog with
her. She and Toto had traveled together before, and she knew he was a
good and faithful comrade.
When the food was cooked and served, the girls invited the old shepherd
to join them in the morning meal. He willingly consented, and while
they ate he said to them, "You are now about to pass through a very
dangerous country, unless you turn to the north or to the south to
escape its perils."
"In that case," said the Cowardly Lion, "let us turn, by all means, for
I dread to face dangers of any sort."
"What's the matter with the country ahead of us?" inquired Dorothy.
"Beyond this Rolling Prairie," explained the shepherd, "are the
Merry-Go-Round Mountains, set close together and surrounded by deep
gulfs so that no one is able to get past them. Beyond the
Merry-Go-Round Mountains it is said the Thistle-Eaters and the Herkus
live."
"What are they like?" demanded Dorothy.
"No one knows, for no one has ever passed the Merry-Go-Round
Mountains," was the reply, "but it is said that the Thistle-Eaters
hitch dragons to their chariots and that the Herkus are waited upon by
giants whom they have conquered and made their slaves."
"Who says all that?" asked Betsy.
"It is common report," declared the shepherd. "Everyone believes it."
"I don't see how they know," remarked little Trot, "if no one has been
there."
"Perhaps the birds who fly over that country brought the news,"
suggested Betsy.
"If you escaped those dangers," continued the shepherd, "you might
encounter others still more serious before you came to the next branch
of the Winkie River. It is true that beyond that river there lies a
fine country inhabited by good people, and if you reached there, you
would have no further trouble. It is between here and the west branch
of the Winkie River that all dangers lie, for that is the unknown
territory that is inhabited by terrible, lawless people."
"It may be, and it may not be," said the Wizard. "We shall know when
we get there."
"Well," persisted the shepherd, "in a fairy country such as ours, every
undiscovered place is likely to harbor wicked creatures. If they were
not wicked, they would discover themselves and by coming among us
submit to Ozma's rule and be good and considerate, as are all the Oz
people whom we know."
"That argument," stated the little Wizard, "convinces me that it is our
duty to go straight to those unknown places, however dangerous they may
be, for it is surely some cruel and wicked person who has stolen our
Ozma, and we know it would be folly to search among good people for the
culprit. Ozma may not be hidden in the secret places of the Winkie
Country, it is true, but it is our duty to travel to every spot,
however dangerous, where our beloved Ruler is likely to be imprisoned."
"You're right about that," said Button-Bright approvingly. "Dangers
don't hurt us. Only things that happen ever hurt anyone, and a danger
is a thing that might happen and might not happen, and sometimes don't
amount to shucks. I vote we go ahead and take our chances."
They were all of the same opinion, so they packed up and said goodbye
to the friendly shepherd and proceeded on their way.
CHAPTER 7
THE MERRY-GO-ROUND MOUNTAINS
The Rolling Prairie was not difficult to travel over, although it was
all uphill and downhill, so for a while they made good progress. Not
even a shepherd was to be met with now, and the farther they advanced
the more dreary the landscape became. At noon they stopped for a
"picnic luncheon," as Betsy called it, and then they again resumed
their journey. All the animals were swift and tireless, and even the
Cowardly Lion and the Mule found they could keep up with the pace of
the Woozy and the Sawhorse.
It was the middle of the afternoon when first they came in sight of a
cluster of low mountains. These were cone-shaped, rising from broad
bases to sharp peaks at the tops. From a distance the mountains
appeared indistinct and seemed rather small--more like hills than
mountains--but as the travelers drew nearer, they noted a most unusual
circumstance: the hills were all whirling around, some in one direction
and some the opposite way.
"I guess these are the Merry-Go-Round Mountains, all right," said
Dorothy.
"They must be," said the Wizard.
"They go 'round, sure enough," agreed Trot, "but they don't seem very
merry."
There were several rows of these mountains, extending both to the right
and to the left for miles and miles. How many rows there might be none
could tell, but between the first row of peaks could be seen other
peaks, all steadily whirling around one way or another. Continuing to
ride nearer, our friends watched these hills attentively, until at
last, coming close up, they discovered there was a deep but narrow gulf
around the edge of each mountain, and that the mountains were set so
close together that the outer gulf was continuous and barred farther
advance. At the edge of the gulf they all dismounted and peered over
into its depths. There was no telling where the bottom was, if indeed
there was any bottom at all. From where they stood it seemed as if the
mountains had been set in one great hole in the ground, just close
enough together so they would not touch, and that each mountain was
supported by a rocky column beneath its base which extended far down in
the black pit below. From the land side it seemed impossible to get
across the gulf or, succeeding in that, to gain a foothold on any of
the whirling mountains.
"This ditch is too wide to jump across," remarked Button-Bright.
"P'raps the Lion could do it," suggested Dorothy.
"What, jump from here to that whirling hill?" cried the Lion
indignantly. "I should say not! Even if I landed there and could hold
on, what good would it do? There's another spinning mountain beyond
it, and perhaps still another beyond that. I don't believe any living
creature could jump from one mountain to another when both are whirling
like tops and in different directions."
"I propose we turn back," said the Wooden Sawhorse with a yawn of his
chopped-out mouth as he stared with his knot eyes at the Merry-Go-Round
Mountains.
"I agree with you," said the Woozy, wagging his square head.
"We should have taken the shepherd's advice," added Hank the Mule.
The others of the party, however they might be puzzled by the serious
problem that confronted them, would not allow themselves to despair.
"If we once get over these mountains," said Button-Bright, "we could
probably get along all right."
"True enough," agreed Dorothy. "So we must find some way, of course,
to get past these whirligig hills. But how?"
"I wish the Ork was with us," sighed Trot.
"But the Ork isn't here," said the Wizard, "and we must depend upon
ourselves to conquer this difficulty. Unfortunately, all my magic has
been stolen, otherwise I am sure I could easily get over the mountains."
"Unfortunately," observed the Woozy, "none of us has wings. And we're
in a magic country without any magic."
"What is that around your waist, Dorothy?" asked the Wizard.
"That? Oh, that's just the Magic Belt I once captured from the Nome
King," she replied.
"A Magic Belt! Why, that's fine. I'm sure a Magic Belt would take
you over these hills."
"It might if I knew how to work it," said the little girl. "Ozma knows
a lot of its magic, but I've never found out about it. All I know is
that while I am wearing it, nothing can hurt me."
"Try wishing yourself across and see if it will obey you," suggested
the Wizard.
"But what good would that do?" asked Dorothy. "If I got across, it
wouldn't help the rest of you, and I couldn't go alone among all those
giants and dragons while you stayed here."
"True enough," agreed the Wizard sadly. And then, after looking around
the group, he inquired, "What is that on your finger, Trot?"
"A ring. The Mermaids gave it to me," she explained, "and if ever I'm
in trouble when I'm on the water, I can call the Mermaids and they'll
come and help me. But the Mermaids can't help me on the land, you
know, 'cause they swim, and--and--they haven't any legs."
"True enough," repeated the Wizard, more sadly.
There was a big, broad, spreading tree near the edge of the gulf, and
as the sun was hot above them, they all gathered under the shade of the
tree to study the problem of what to do next. "If we had a long rope,"
said Betsy, "we could fasten it to this tree and let the other end of
it down into the gulf and all slide down it."
"Well, what then?" asked the Wizard.
"Then, if we could manage to throw the rope up the other side,"
explained the girl, "we could all climb it and be on the other side of
the gulf."
"There are too many 'if's' in that suggestion," remarked the little
Wizard. "And you must remember that the other side is nothing but
spinning mountains, so we couldn't possibly fasten a rope to them, even
if we had one."
"That rope idea isn't half bad, though," said the Patchwork Girl, who
had been dancing dangerously near to the edge of the gulf.
"What do you mean?" asked Dorothy.
The Patchwork Girl suddenly stood still and cast her button eyes around
the group. "Ha, I have it!" she exclaimed. "Unharness the Sawhorse,
somebody. My fingers are too clumsy."
"Shall we?" asked Button-Bright doubtfully, turning to the others.
"Well, Scraps has a lot of brains, even if she IS stuffed with cotton,"
asserted the Wizard. "If her brains can help us out of this trouble,
we ought to use them."
So he began unharnessing the Sawhorse, and Button-Bright and Dorothy
helped him. When they had removed the harness, the Patchwork Girl told
them to take it all apart and buckle the straps together, end to end.
And after they had done this, they found they had one very long strap
that was stronger than any rope. "It would reach across the gulf
easily," said the Lion, who with the other animals had sat on his
haunches and watched this proceeding. "But I don't see how it could be
fastened to one of those dizzy mountains."
Scraps had no such notion as that in her baggy head. She told them to
fasten one end of the strap to a stout limb of the tree, pointing to
one which extended quite to the edge of the gulf. Button-Bright did
that, climbing the tree and then crawling out upon the limb until he
was nearly over the gulf. There he managed to fasten the strap, which
reached to the ground below, and then he slid down it and was caught by
the Wizard, who feared he might fall into the chasm. Scraps was
delighted. She seized the lower end of the strap, and telling them all
to get out of her way, she went back as far as the strap would reach
and then made a sudden run toward the gulf. Over the edge she swung,
clinging to the strap until it had gone as far as its length permitted,
when she let go and sailed gracefully through the air until she
alighted upon the mountain just in front of them.
Almost instantly, as the great cone continued to whirl, she was sent
flying against the next mountain in the rear, and that one had only
turned halfway around when Scraps was sent flying to the next mountain
behind it. Then her patchwork form disappeared from view entirely, and
the amazed watchers under the tree wondered what had become of her.
"She's gone, and she can't get back," said the Woozy.
"My, how she bounded from one mountain to another!" exclaimed the Lion.
"That was because they whirl so fast," the Wizard explained. "Scraps
had nothing to hold on to, and so of course she was tossed from one
hill to another. I'm afraid we shall never see the poor Patchwork Girl
again."
"I shall see her," declared the Woozy. "Scraps is an old friend of
mine, and if there are really Thistle-Eaters and Giants on the other
side of those tops, she will need someone to protect her. So here I
go!" He seized the dangling strap firmly in his square mouth, and in
the same way that Scraps had done swung himself over the gulf. He let
go the strap at the right moment and fell upon the first whirling
mountain. Then he bounded to the next one back of it--not on his feet,
but "all mixed up," as Trot said--and then he shot across to another
mountain, disappearing from view just as the Patchwork Girl had done.
"It seems to work, all right," remarked Button-Bright. "I guess I'll
try it."
"Wait a minute," urged the Wizard. "Before any more of us make this
desperate leap into the beyond, we must decide whether all will go or
if some of us will remain behind."
"Do you s'pose it hurt them much to bump against those mountains?"
asked Trot.
"I don't s'pose anything could hurt Scraps or the Woozy," said Dorothy,
"and nothing can hurt ME, because I wear the Magic Belt. So as I'm
anxious to find Ozma, I mean to swing myself across too."
"I'll take my chances," decided Button-Bright.
"I'm sure it will hurt dreadfully, and I'm afraid to do it," said the
Lion, who was already trembling, "but I shall do it if Dorothy does."
"Well, that will leave Betsy and the Mule and Trot," said the Wizard,
"for of course I shall go that I may look after Dorothy. Do you two
girls think you can find your way back home again?" he asked,
addressing Trot and Betsy.
"I'm not afraid. Not much, that is," said Trot. "It looks risky, I
know, but I'm sure I can stand it if the others can."
"If it wasn't for leaving Hank," began Betsy in a hesitating voice.
But the Mule interrupted her by saying, "Go ahead if you want to, and
I'll come after you. A mule is as brave as a lion any day."
"Braver," said the Lion, "for I'm a coward, friend Hank, and you are
not. But of course the Sawhorse--"
"Oh, nothing ever hurts ME," asserted the Sawhorse calmly. "There's
never been any question about my going. I can't take the Red Wagon,
though."
"No, we must leave the wagon," said the wizard, "and also we must leave
our food and blankets, I fear. But if we can defy these Merry-Go-Round
Mountains to stop us, we won't mind the sacrifice of some of our
comforts."
"No one knows where we're going to land!" remarked the Lion in a voice
that sounded as if he were going to cry.
"We may not land at all," replied Hank, "but the best way to find out
what will happen to us is to swing across as Scraps and the Woozy have
done."
"I think I shall go last," said the Wizard, "so who wants to go first?"
"I'll go," decided Dorothy.
"No, it's my turn first," said Button-Bright. "Watch me!"
Even as he spoke, the boy seized the strap, and after making a run
swung himself across the gulf. Away he went, bumping from hill to hill
until he disappeared. They listened intently, but the boy uttered no
cry until he had been gone some moments, when they heard a faint
"Hullo-a!" as if called from a great distance. The sound gave them
courage, however, and Dorothy picked up Toto and held him fast under
one arm while with the other hand she seized the strap and bravely
followed after Button-Bright.
When she struck the first whirling mountain, she fell upon it quite
softly, but before she had time to think, she flew through the air and
lit with a jar on the side of the next mountain. Again she flew and
alighted, and again and still again, until after five successive bumps
she fell sprawling upon a green meadow and was so dazed and bewildered
by her bumpy journey across the Merry-Go-Round Mountains that she lay
quite still for a time to collect her thoughts. Toto had escaped from
her arms just as she fell, and he now sat beside her panting with
excitement. Then Dorothy realized that someone was helping her to her
feet, and here was Button-Bright on one side of her and Scraps on the
other, both seeming to be unhurt. The next object her eyes fell upon
was the Woozy, squatting upon his square back end and looking at her
reflectively, while Toto barked joyously to find his mistress unhurt
after her whirlwind trip.
"Good!" said the Woozy. "Here's another and a dog, both safe and
sound. But my word, Dorothy, you flew some! If you could have seen
yourself, you'd have been absolutely astonished."
"They say 'Time flies,'" laughed Button-Bright, "but Time never made a
quicker journey than that."
Just then, as Dorothy turned around to look at the whirling mountains,
she was in time to see tiny Trot come flying from the nearest hill to
fall upon the soft grass not a yard away from where she stood. Trot
was so dizzy she couldn't stand at first, but she wasn't at all hurt,
and presently Betsy came flying to them and would have bumped into the
others had they not retreated in time to avoid her. Then, in quick
succession, came the Lion, Hank and the Sawhorse, bounding from
mountain to mountain to fall safely upon the greensward. Only the
Wizard was now left behind, and they waited so long for him that
Dorothy began to be worried.
But suddenly he came flying from the nearest mountain and tumbled heels
over head beside them. Then they saw that he had wound two of their
blankets around his body to keep the bumps from hurting him and had
fastened the blankets with some of the spare straps from the harness of the Sawhorse. |
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