"Scraps," said she, "you know that Ugu couldn't hurt you a bit,
whatever he did, nor could he hurt ME, 'cause I wear the Gnome King's
Magic Belt. S'pose just we two go on together and leave the others
here to wait for us."
"No, no!" said the Wizard positively. "That won't do at all. Ozma is
more powerful than either of you, yet she could not defeat the wicked
Ugu, who has shut her up in a dungeon. We must go to the Shoemaker in
one mighty band, for only in union is there strength."
"That is excellent advice," said the Lavender Bear approvingly.
"But what can we do when we get to Ugu?" inquired the Cookie Cook
anxiously.
"Do not expect a prompt answer to that important question," replied the
Wizard, "for we must first plan our line of conduct. Ugu knows, of
course, that we are after him, for he has seen our approach in the
Magic Picture, and he has read of all we have done up to the present
moment in the Great Book of Records. Therefore we cannot expect to
take him by surprise."
"Don't you suppose Ugu would listen to reason?" asked Betsy. "If we
explained to him how wicked he has been, don't you think he'd let poor
Ozma go?"
"And give me back my dishpan?" added the Cookie Cook eagerly.
"Yes, yes, won't he say he's sorry and get on his knees and beg our
pardon?" cried Scraps, turning a flip-flop to show her scorn of the
suggestion. "When Ugu the Shoemaker does that, please knock at the
front door and let me know."
The Wizard sighed and rubbed his bald head with a puzzled air. "I'm
quite sure Ugu will not be polite to us," said he, "so we must conquer
this cruel magician by force, much as we dislike to be rude to anyone.
But none of you has yet suggested a way to do that. Couldn't the
Little Pink Bear tell us how?" he asked, turning to the Bear King.
"No, for that is something that is GOING to happen," replied the
Lavender Bear. "He can only tell us what already HAS happened."
Again, they were grave and thoughtful. But after a time, Betsy said in
a hesitating voice, "Hank is a great fighter. Perhaps HE could conquer
the magician."
The Mule turned his head to look reproachfully at his old friend, the
young girl. "Who can fight against magic?" he asked.
"The Cowardly Lion could," said Dorothy.
The Lion, who was lying with his front legs spread out, his chin on his
paws, raised his shaggy head. "I can fight when I'm not afraid," said
he calmly, "but the mere mention of a fight sets me to trembling."
"Ugu's magic couldn't hurt the Sawhorse," suggested tiny Trot.
"And the Sawhorse couldn't hurt the Magician," declared that wooden
animal.
"For my part," said Toto, "I am helpless, having lost my growl."
"Then," said Cayke the Cookie Cook, "we must depend upon the Frogman.
His marvelous wisdom will surely inform him how to conquer the wicked
Magician and restore to me my dishpan."
All eyes were now turned questioningly upon the Frogman. Finding
himself the center of observation, he swung his gold-headed cane,
adjusted his big spectacles, and after swelling out his chest, sighed
and said in a modest tone of voice:
"Respect for truth obliges me to confess that Cayke is mistaken in
regard to my superior wisdom. I am not very wise. Neither have I had
any practical experience in conquering magicians. But let us consider
this case. What is Ugu, and what is a magician? Ugu is a renegade
shoemaker, and a magician is an ordinary man who, having learned how to
do magical tricks, considers himself above his fellows. In this case,
the Shoemaker has been naughty enough to steal a lot of magical tools
and things that did not belong to him, and he is more wicked to steal
than to be a magician. Yet with all the arts at his command, Ugu is
still a man, and surely there are ways in which a man may be conquered.
How, do you say, how? Allow me to state that I don't know. In my
judgment, we cannot decide how best to act until we get to Ugu's castle.
So let us go to it and take a look at it. After that, we may discover
an idea that will guide us to victory."
"That may not be a wise speech, but it sounds good," said Dorothy
approvingly. "Ugu the Shoemaker is not only a common man, but he's a
wicked man and a cruel man and deserves to be conquered. We mustn't
have any mercy on him till Ozma is set free. So let's go to his castle
as the Frogman says and see what the place looks like."
No one offered any objection to this plan, and so it was adopted. They
broke camp and were about to start on the journey to Ugu's castle when
they discovered that Button-Bright was lost again. The girls and the
Wizard shouted his name, and the Lion roared and the Donkey brayed and
the Frogman croaked and the Big Lavender Bear growled (to the envy of
Toto, who couldn't growl but barked his loudest), yet none of them
could make Button-Bright hear. So after vainly searching for the boy a
full hour, they formed a procession and proceeded in the direction of
the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker.
"Button-Bright's always getting lost," said Dorothy. "And if he wasn't
always getting found again, I'd prob'ly worry. He may have gone ahead
of us, and he may have gone back, but wherever he is, we'll find him
sometime and somewhere, I'm almost sure."
CHAPTER 19
UGU THE SHOEMAKER
A curious thing about Ugu the Shoemaker was that he didn't suspect in
the least that he was wicked. He wanted to be powerful and great, and
he hoped to make himself master of all the Land of Oz that he might
compel everyone in that fairy country to obey him, His ambition blinded
him to the rights of others, and he imagined anyone else would act just
as he did if anyone else happened to be as clever as himself.
When he inhabited his little shoemaking shop in the City of Herku, he
had been discontented, for a shoemaker is not looked upon with high
respect, and Ugu knew that his ancestors had been famous magicians for
many centuries past and therefore his family was above the ordinary.
Even his father practiced magic when Ugu was a boy, but his father had
wandered away from Herku and had never come back again. So when Ugu
grew up, he was forced to make shoes for a living, knowing nothing of
the magic of his forefathers. But one day, in searching through the
attic of his house, he discovered all the books of magical recipes and
many magical instruments which had formerly been in use in his family.
From that day, he stopped making shoes and began to study magic.
Finally, he aspired to become the greatest magician in Oz, and for days
and weeks and months he thought on a plan to render all the other
sorcerers and wizards, as well as those with fairy powers, helpless to
oppose him.
From the books of his ancestors, he learned the following facts:
(1) That Ozma of Oz was the fairy ruler of the Emerald City and the
Land of Oz and that she could not be destroyed by any magic ever
devised. Also, by means of her Magic Picture she would be able to
discover anyone who approached her royal palace with the idea of
conquering it.
(2) That Glinda the Good was the most powerful Sorceress in Oz, among
her other magical possessions being the Great Book of Records, which
told her all that happened anywhere in the world. This Book of Records
was very dangerous to Ugu's plans, and Glinda was in the service of
Ozma and would use her arts of sorcery to protect the girl Ruler.
(3) That the Wizard of Oz, who lived in Ozma's palace, had been taught
much powerful magic by Glinda and had a bag of magic tools with which
he might be able to conquer the Shoemaker.
(4) That there existed in Oz--in the Yip Country--a jeweled dishpan
made of gold, which dishpan would grow large enough for a man to sit
inside it. Then, when he grasped both the golden handles, the dishpan
would transport him in an instant to any place he wished to go within
the borders of the Land of Oz.
No one now living except Ugu knew of the powers of the Magic Dishpan,
so after long study, the shoemaker decided that if he could manage to
secure the dishpan, he could by its means rob Ozma and Glinda and the
Wizard of Oz of all their magic, thus becoming himself the most
powerful person in all the land. His first act was to go away from the
City of Herku and build for himself the Wicker Castle in the hills.
Here he carried his books and instruments of magic, and here for a full
year he diligently practiced all the magical arts learned from his
ancestors. At the end of that time, he could do a good many wonderful
things.
Then, when all his preparations were made, he set out for the Yip
Country, and climbing the steep mountain at night he entered the house
of Cayke the Cookie Cook and stole her diamond-studded gold dishpan
while all the Yips were asleep, Taking his prize outside, he set the
pan upon the ground and uttered the required magic word. Instantly,
the dishpan grew as large as a big washtub, and Ugu seated himself in
it and grasped the two handles. Then he wished himself in the great
drawing room of Glinda the Good.
He was there in a flash. First he took the Great Book of Records and
put it in the dishpan. Then he went to Glinda's laboratory and took
all her rare chemical compounds and her instruments of sorcery, placing
these also in the dishpan, which he caused to grow large enough to hold
them. Next he seated himself amongst the treasures he had stolen and
wished himself in the room in Ozma's palace which the Wizard occupied
and where he kept his bag of magic tools. This bag Ugu added to his
plunder and then wished himself in the apartments of Ozma.
Here he first took the Magic Picture from the wall and then seized all
the other magical things which Ozma possessed. Having placed these in
the dishpan, he was about to climb in himself when he looked up and saw
Ozma standing beside him. Her fairy instinct had warned her that
danger was threatening her, so the beautiful girl Ruler rose from her
couch and leaving her bedchamber at once confronted the thief.
Ugu had to think quickly, for he realized that if he permitted Ozma to
rouse the inmates of her palace, all his plans and his present
successes were likely to come to naught. So he threw a scarf over the
girl's head so she could not scream, and pushed her into the dishpan
and tied her fast so she could not move. Then he climbed in beside her
and wished himself in his own wicker castle. The Magic Dishpan was
there in an instant, with all its contents, and Ugu rubbed his hands
together in triumphant joy as he realized that he now possessed all the
important magic in the Land of Oz and could force all the inhabitants
of that fairyland to do as he willed.
So quickly had his journey been accomplished that before daylight the
robber magician had locked Ozma in a room, making her a prisoner, and
had unpacked and arranged all his stolen goods. The next day he placed
the Book of Records on his table and hung the Magic Picture on his wall
and put away in his cupboards and drawers all the elixirs and magic
compounds he had stolen. The magical instruments he polished and
arranged, and this was fascinating work and made him very happy.
By turns the imprisoned Ruler wept and scolded the Shoemaker, haughtily
threatening him with dire punishment for the wicked deeds he had done.
Ugu became somewhat afraid of his fairy prisoner, in spite of the fact
that he believed he had robbed her of all her powers; so he performed
an enchantment that quickly disposed of her and placed her out of his
sight and hearing. After that, being occupied with other things, he
soon forgot her.
But now, when he looked into the Magic Picture and read the Great Book
of Records, the Shoemaker learned that his wickedness was not to go
unchallenged. Two important expeditions had set out to find him and
force him to give up his stolen property. One was the party headed by
the Wizard and Dorothy, while the other consisted of Cayke and the
Frogman. Others were also searching, but not in the right places.
These two groups, however, were headed straight for the wicker castle,
and so Ugu began to plan how best to meet them and to defeat their
efforts to conquer him.
CHAPTER 20
MORE SURPRISES
All that first day after the union of the two parties, our friends
marched steadily toward the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker. When
night came, they camped in a little grove and passed a pleasant evening
together, although some of them were worried because Button-Bright was
still lost.
"Perhaps," said Toto as the animals lay grouped together for the night,
"this Shoemaker who stole my growl and who stole Ozma has also stolen
Button-Bright."
"How do you know that the Shoemaker stole your growl?" demanded the
Woozy.
"He has stolen about everything else of value in Oz, hasn't he?"
replied the dog.
"He has stolen everything he wants, perhaps," agreed the Lion, "but
what could anyone want with your growl?"
"Well," said the dog, wagging his tail slowly, "my recollection is that
it was a wonderful growl, soft and low and--and--"
"And ragged at the edges," said the Sawhorse.
"So," continued Toto, "if that magician hadn't any growl of his own, he
might have wanted mine and stolen it."
"And if he has, he will soon wish he hadn't," remarked the Mule. "Also,
if he has stolen Button-Bright, he will be sorry."
"Don't you like Button-Bright, then?" asked the Lion in surprise.
"It isn't a question of liking him," replied the Mule. "It's a
question of watching him and looking after him. Any boy who causes his
friends so much worry isn't worth having around. I never get lost."
"If you did," said Toto, "no one would worry a bit. I think
Button-Bright is a very lucky boy because he always gets found."
"See here," said the Lion, "this chatter is keeping us all awake, and
tomorrow is likely to be a busy day. Go to sleep and forget your
quarrels."
"Friend Lion," retorted the dog, "if I hadn't lost my growl, you would
hear it now. I have as much right to talk as you have to sleep."
The Lion sighed.
"If only you had lost your voice when you lost your growl," said he,
"you would be a more agreeable companion."
But they quieted down after that, and soon the entire camp was wrapped
in slumber. Next morning they made an early start, but had hardly
proceeded on their way an hour when, on climbing a slight elevation,
they beheld in the distance a low mountain on top of which stood Ugu's
wicker castle. It was a good-sized building and rather pretty because
the sides, roofs and domes were all of wicker, closely woven as it is
in fine baskets.
"I wonder if it is strong?" said Dorothy musingly as she eyed the queer
castle.
"I suppose it is, since a magician built it," answered the Wizard.
"With magic to protect it, even a paper castle might be as strong as if
made of stone. This Ugu must be a man of ideas, because he does things
in a different way from other people."
"Yes. No one else would steal our dear Ozma," sighed tiny Trot.
"I wonder if Ozma is there?" said Betsy, indicating the castle with a
nod of her head.
"Where else could she be?" asked Scraps.
"Suppose we ask the Pink Bear," suggested Dorothy.
That seemed a good idea, so they halted the procession, and the Bear
King held the little Pink Bear on his lap and turned the crank in its
side and asked, "Where is Ozma of Oz?"
And the little Pink Bear answered, "She is in a hole in the ground a
half mile away at your left."
"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy.
"Then she is not in Ugu's castle at all."
"It is lucky we asked that question," said the Wizard, "for if we can
find Ozma and rescue her, there will be no need for us to fight that
wicked and dangerous magician."
"Indeed!" said Cayke. "Then what about my dishpan?"
The Wizard looked puzzled at her tone of remonstrance, so she added,
"Didn't you people from the Emerald City promise that we would all
stick together, and that you would help me to get my dishpan if I would
help you to get your Ozma? And didn't I bring to you the little Pink
Bear, which has told you where Ozma is hidden?"
"She's right," said Dorothy to the Wizard.
"We must do as we agreed."
"Well, first of all, let us go and rescue Ozma," proposed the Wizard.
"Then our beloved Ruler may be able to advise us how to conquer Ugu the
Shoemaker." So they turned to the left and marched for half a mile
until they came to a small but deep hole in the ground. At once, all
rushed to the brim to peer into the hole, but instead of finding there
Princess Ozma of Oz, all that they saw was Button-Bright, who was lying
asleep on the bottom.
Their cries soon wakened the boy, who sat up and rubbed his eyes. When
he recognized his friends, he smiled sweetly, saying, "Found again!"
"Where is Ozma?" inquired Dorothy anxiously.
"I don't know," answered Button-Bright from the depths of the hole. "I
got lost yesterday, as you may remember, and in the night while I was
wandering around in the moonlight trying to find my way back to you, I
suddenly fell into this hole."
"And wasn't Ozma in it then?"
"There was no one in it but me, and I was sorry it wasn't entirely
empty. The sides are so steep I can't climb out, so there was nothing
to be done but sleep until someone found me. Thank you for coming. If
you'll please let down a rope, I'll empty this hole in a hurry."
"How strange!" said Dorothy, greatly disappointed.
"It's evident the Pink Bear didn't tell the truth."
"He never makes a mistake," declared the Lavender Bear King in a tone
that showed his feelings were hurt. And then he turned the crank of
the little Pink Bear again and asked, "Is this the hole that Ozma of Oz
is in?"
"Yes," answered the Pink Bear.
"That settles it," said the King positively. "Your Ozma is in this
hole in the ground."
"Don't be silly," returned Dorothy impatiently. "Even your beady eyes
can see there is no one in the hole but Button-Bright."
"Perhaps Button-Bright is Ozma," suggested the King.
"And perhaps he isn't! Ozma is a girl, and Button-Bright is a boy."
"Your Pink Bear must be out of order," said the Wizard, "for, this time
at least, his machinery has caused him to make an untrue statement."
The Bear King was so angry at this remark that he turned away, holding
the Pink Bear in his paws, and refused to discuss the matter in any
further way.
"At any rate," said the Frogman, "the Pink Bear has led us to your boy
friend and so enabled you to rescue him."
Scraps was leaning so far over the hole trying to find Ozma in it that
suddenly she lost her balance and pitched in head foremost. She fell
upon Button-Bright and tumbled him over, but he was not hurt by her
soft, stuffed body and only laughed at the mishap. The Wizard buckled
some straps together and let one end of them down into the hole, and
soon both Scraps and the boy had climbed up and were standing safely
beside the others. They looked once more for Ozma, but the hole was
now absolutely vacant. It was a round hole, so from the top they could
plainly see every part of it. Before they left the place, Dorothy went
to the Bear King and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't believe what the
little Pink Bear said, 'cause we don't want to make you feel bad by
doubting him. There must be a mistake, somewhere, and we prob'ly don't
understand just what the little Pink Bear said. Will you let me ask
him one more question?"
The Lavender Bear King was a good-natured bear, considering how he was
made and stuffed and jointed, so he accepted Dorothy's apology and
turned the crank and allowed the little girl to question his wee Pink
Bear.
"Is Ozma REALLY in this hole?" asked Dorothy.
"No," said the little Pink Bear.
This surprised everybody. Even the Bear King was now puzzled by the
contradictory statements of his oracle.
"Where IS she?" asked the King.
"Here, among you," answered the little Pink Bear.
"Well," said Dorothy, "this beats me entirely! I guess the little Pink
Bear has gone crazy."
"Perhaps," called Scraps, who was rapidly turning "cartwheels" all
around the perplexed group, "Ozma is invisible."
"Of course!" cried Betsy. "That would account for it."
"Well, I've noticed that people can speak, even when they've been made
invisible," said the Wizard. And then he looked all around him and
said in a solemn voice, "Ozma, are you here?"
There was no reply. Dorothy asked the question, too, and so did
Button-Bright and Trot and Betsy, but none received any reply at all.
"It's strange, it's terrible strange!" muttered Cayke the Cookie Cook.
"I was sure that the little Pink Bear always tells the truth."
"I still believe in his honesty," said the Frogman, and this tribute so
pleased the Bear King that he gave these last speakers grateful looks,
but still gazed sourly on the others.
"Come to think of it," remarked the Wizard, "Ozma couldn't be
invisible, for she is a fairy, and fairies cannot be made invisible
against their will. Of course, she could be imprisoned by the magician
or enchanted or transformed, in spite of her fairy powers, but Ugu
could not render her invisible by any magic at his command."
"I wonder if she's been transformed into Button-Bright?" said Dorothy
nervously. Then she looked steadily at the boy and asked, "Are you
Ozma? Tell me truly!"
Button-Bright laughed.
"You're getting rattled, Dorothy," he replied. "Nothing ever enchants
ME. If I were Ozma, do you think I'd have tumbled into that hole?"
"Anyhow," said the Wizard, "Ozma would never try to deceive her friends
or prevent them from recognizing her in whatever form she happened to
be. The puzzle is still a puzzle, so let us go on to the wicker castle
and question the magician himself. Since it was he who stole our Ozma,
Ugu is the one who must tell us where to find her."
CHAPTER 21
MAGIC AGAINST MAGIC
The Wizard's advice was good, so again they started in the direction of
the low mountain on the crest of which the wicker castle had been
built. They had been gradually advancing uphill, so now the elevation
seemed to them more like a round knoll than a mountaintop. However,
the sides of the knoll were sloping and covered with green grass, so
there was a stiff climb before them yet.
Undaunted, they plodded on and had almost reached the knoll when they
suddenly observed that it was surrounded by a circle of flame. At
first, the flames barely rose above the ground, but presently they grew
higher and higher until a circle of flaming tongues of fire taller than
any of their heads quite surrounded the hill on which the wicker castle
stood. When they approached the flames, the heat was so intense that
it drove them back again.
"This will never do for me!" exclaimed the Patchwork Girl. "I catch
fire very easily."
"It won't do for me either," grumbled the Sawhorse, prancing to the
rear.
"I also strongly object to fire," said the Bear King, following the
Sawhorse to a safe distance and hugging the little Pink Bear with his
paws.
"I suppose the foolish Shoemaker imagines these blazes will stop us,"
remarked the Wizard with a smile of scorn for Ugu. "But I am able to
inform you that this is merely a simple magic trick which the robber
stole from Glinda the Good, and by good fortune I know how to destroy
these flames as well as how to produce them. Will some one of you
kindly give me a match?"
You may be sure the girls carried no matches, nor did the Frogman or
any of the animals. But Button-Bright, after searching carefully
through his pockets, which contained all sorts of useful and useless
things, finally produced a match and handed it to the Wizard, who tied
it to the end of a branch which he tore from a small tree growing near
them. Then the little Wizard carefully lighted the match, and running
forward thrust it into the nearest flame. Instantly, the circle of
fire began to die away, and soon vanished completely leaving the way
clear for them to proceed.
"That was funny!" laughed Button-Bright.
"Yes," agreed the Wizard, "it seems odd that a little match could
destroy such a great circle of fire, but when Glinda invented this
trick, she believed no one would ever think of a match being a remedy
for fire. I suppose even Ugu doesn't know how we managed to quench the
flames of his barrier, for only Glinda and I know the secret. Glinda's
Book of Magic which Ugu stole told how to make the flames, but not how
to put them out."
They now formed in marching order and proceeded to advance up the slope
of the hill, but had not gone far when before them rose a wall of
steel, the surface of which was thickly covered with sharp, gleaming
points resembling daggers. The wall completely surrounded the wicker
castle, and its sharp points prevented anyone from climbing it. Even
the Patchwork Girl might be ripped to pieces if she dared attempt it.
"Ah!" exclaimed the Wizard cheerfully, "Ugu is now using one of my own
tricks against me. But this is more serious than the Barrier of Fire,
because the only way to destroy the wall is to get on the other side of
it."
"How can that be done?" asked Dorothy.
The Wizard looked thoughtfully around his little party, and his face
grew troubled. "It's a pretty high wall," he sadly remarked. "I'm
pretty sure the Cowardly Lion could not leap over it."
"I'm sure of that, too!" said the Lion with a shudder of fear. "If I
foolishly tried such a leap, I would be caught on those dreadful
spikes."
"I think I could do it, sir," said the Frogman with a bow to the
Wizard. "It is an uphill jump as well as being a high jump, but I'm
considered something of a jumper by my friends in the Yip Country, and
I believe a good, strong leap will carry me to the other side."
"I'm sure it would," agreed the Cookie Cook.
"Leaping, you know, is a froglike accomplishment," continued the
Frogman modestly, "but please tell me what I am to do when I reach the
other side of the wall."
"You're a brave creature," said the Wizard admiringly. "Has anyone a
pin?"
Betsy had one, which she gave him. "All you need do," said the Wizard
to the Frogman, giving him the pin, "is to stick this into the other
side of the wall."
"But the wall is of steel!" exclaimed the big frog.
"I know. At least, it SEEMS to be steel, but do as I tell you. Stick
the pin into the wall, and it will disappear."
The Frogman took off his handsome coat and carefully folded it and laid
it on the grass. Then he removed his hat and laid it together with his
gold-headed cane beside the coat. He then went back a way and made
three powerful leaps in rapid succession. The first two leaps took him
to the wall, and the third leap carried him well over it, to the
amazement of all. For a short time, he disappeared from their view,
but when he had obeyed the Wizard's injunction and had thrust the pin
into the wall, the huge barrier vanished and showed them the form of
the Frogman, who now went to where his coat lay and put it on again.
"We thank you very much," said the delighted Wizard.
"That was the most wonderful leap I ever saw, and it has saved us from
defeat by our enemy. Let us now hurry on to the castle before Ugu the
Shoemaker thinks up some other means to stop us."
"We must have surprised him so far," declared Dorothy.
"Yes indeed. The fellow knows a lot of magic--all of our tricks and
some of his own," replied the Wizard. "So if he is half as clever as
he ought to be, we shall have trouble with him yet."
He had scarcely spoken these words when out from the gates of the
wicker castle marched a regiment of soldiers, clad in gay uniforms and
all bearing long, pointed spears and sharp battle axes. These soldiers
were girls, and the uniforms were short skirts of yellow and black
satin, golden shoes, bands of gold across their foreheads and necklaces
of glittering jewels. Their jackets were scarlet, braided with silver
cords. There were hundreds of these girl-soldiers, and they were more
terrible than beautiful, being strong and fierce in appearance. They
formed a circle all around the castle and faced outward, their spears
pointed toward the invaders, and their battle axes held over their
shoulders, ready to strike. Of course, our friends halted at once, for
they had not expected this dreadful array of soldiery. The Wizard
seemed puzzled, and his companions exchanged discouraged looks.
"I'd no idea Ugu had such an army as that," said Dorothy. "The castle
doesn't look big enough to hold them all."
"It isn't," declared the Wizard.
"But they all marched out of it."
"They seemed to, but I don't believe it is a real army at all. If Ugu
the Shoemaker had so many people living with him, I'm sure the Czarover
of Herku would have mentioned the fact to us."
"They're only girls!" laughed Scraps.
"Girls are the fiercest soldiers of all," declared the Frogman. "They
are more brave than men, and they have better nerves. That is probably
why the magician uses them for soldiers and has sent them to oppose us."
No one argued this statement, for all were staring hard at the line of
soldiers, which now, having taken a defiant position, remained
motionless.
"Here is a trick of magic new to me," admitted the Wizard after a time.
"I do not believe the army is real, but the spears may be sharp enough
to prick us, nevertheless, so we must be cautious. Let us take time to
consider how to meet this difficulty."
While they were thinking it over, Scraps danced closer to the line of
girl soldiers. Her button eyes sometimes saw more than did the natural
eyes of her comrades, and so after staring hard at the magician's army,
she boldly advanced and danced right through the threatening line! On
the other side, she waved her stuffed arms and called out, "Come on,
folks. The spears can't hurt you." said the Wizard gaily. "An optical
illusion, as I thought. Let us all follow the Patchwork Girl." The
three little girls were somewhat nervous in attempting to brave the
spears and battle axes, but after the others had safely passed the
line, they ventured to follow. And when all had passed through the
ranks of the girl army, the army itself magically disappeared from view.
All this time our friends had been getting farther up the hill and
nearer to the wicker castle. Now, continuing their advance, they
expected something else to oppose their way, but to their astonishment
nothing happened, and presently they arrived at the wicker gates, which
stood wide open, and boldly entered the domain of Ugu the Shoemaker.
CHAPTER 22
IN THE WICKER CASTLE
No sooner were the Wizard of Oz and his followers well within the
castle entrance when the big gates swung to with a clang and heavy bars
dropped across them. They looked at one another uneasily, but no one
cared to speak of the incident. If they were indeed prisoners in the
wicker castle, it was evident they must find a way to escape, but their
first duty was to attend to the errand on which they had come and seek
the Royal Ozma, whom they believed to be a prisoner of the magician,
and rescue her.
They found they had entered a square courtyard, from which an entrance
led into the main building of the castle. No person had appeared to
greet them so far, although a gaudy peacock perched upon the wall
cackled with laughter and said in its sharp, shrill voice, "Poor fools!
Poor fools!"
"I hope the peacock is mistaken," remarked the Frogman, but no one else
paid any attention to the bird. They were a little awed by the
stillness and loneliness of the place. As they entered the doors of
the castle, which stood invitingly open, these also closed behind them
and huge bolts shot into place. The animals had all accompanied the
party into the castle because they felt it would be dangerous for them
to separate. They were forced to follow a zigzag passage, turning this
way and that, until finally they entered a great central hall, circular
in form and with a high dome from which was suspended an enormous
chandelier.
The Wizard went first, and Dorothy, Betsy and Trot followed him, Toto
keeping at the heels of his little mistress. Then came the Lion, the
Woozy and the Sawhorse, then Cayke the Cookie Cook and Button-Bright,
then the Lavender Bear carrying the Pink Bear, and finally the Frogman
and the Patchwork Girl, with Hank the Mule tagging behind. So it was
the Wizard who caught the first glimpse of the big, domed hall, but the
others quickly followed and gathered in a wondering group just within
the entrance.
Upon a raised platform at one side was a heavy table on which lay
Glinda's Great Book of Records, but the platform was firmly fastened to
the floor and the table was fastened to the platform and the Book was
chained fast to the table, just as it had been when it was kept in
Glinda's palace. On the wall over the table hung Ozma's Magic Picture.
On a row of shelves at the opposite side of the hall stood all the
chemicals and essences of magic and all the magical instruments that
had been stolen from Glinda and Ozma and the Wizard, with glass doors
covering the shelves so that no one could get at them.
And in a far corner sat Ugu the Shoemaker, his feet lazily extended,
his skinny hands clasped behind his head. He was leaning back at his
ease and calmly smoking a long pipe. Around the magician was a sort of
cage, seemingly made of golden bars set wide apart, and at his feet,
also within the cage, reposed the long-sought diamond-studded dishpan
of Cayke the Cookie Cook. Princess Ozma of Oz was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, well," said Ugu when the invaders had stood in silence for a
moment, staring about them. "This visit is an unexpected pleasure, I
assure you. I knew you were coming, and I know why you are here. You
are not welcome, for I cannot use any of you to my advantage, but as
you have insisted on coming, I hope you will make the afternoon call as
brief as possible. It won't take long to transact your business with
me. You will ask me for Ozma, and my reply will be that you may find
her--if you can."
"Sir," answered the Wizard in a tone of rebuke, "you are a very wicked
and cruel person. I suppose you imagine, because you have stolen this
poor woman's dishpan and all the best magic in Oz, that you are more
powerful than we are and will be able to triumph over us."
"Yes," said Ugu the Shoemaker, slowly filling his pipe with fresh
tobacco from a silver bowl that stood beside him, "that is exactly what
I imagine. It will do you no good to demand from me the girl who was
formerly the Ruler of Oz, because I will not tell you where I have
hidden her, and you can't guess in a thousand years. Neither will I
restore to you any of the magic I have captured. I am not so foolish.
But bear this in mind: I mean to be the Ruler of Oz myself, hereafter,
so I advise you to be careful how you address your future Monarch."
"Ozma is still Ruler of Oz, wherever you may have hidden her," declared
the Wizard. "And bear this in mind, miserable Shoemaker: we intend to
find her and to rescue her in time, but our first duty and pleasure
will be to conquer you and then punish you for your misdeeds."
"Very well, go ahead and conquer," said Ugu. "I'd really like to see
how you can do it."
Now although the little Wizard had spoken so boldly, he had at the
moment no idea how they might conquer the magician. He had that
morning given the Frogman, at his request, a dose of zosozo from his
bottle, and the Frogman had promised to fight a good fight if it was
necessary, but the Wizard knew that strength alone could not avail
against magical arts. The toy Bear King seemed to have some pretty
good magic, however, and the Wizard depended to an extent on that. But
something ought to be done right away, and the Wizard didn't know what
it was.
While he considered this perplexing question and the others stood
looking at him as their leader, a queer thing happened. The floor of
the great circular hall on which they were standing suddenly began to
tip. Instead of being flat and level, it became a slant, and the slant
grew steeper and steeper until none of the party could manage to stand
upon it. Presently they all slid down to the wall, which was now under
them, and then it became evident that the whole vast room was slowly
turning upside down! Only Ugu the Shoemaker, kept in place by the bars
of his golden cage, remained in his former position, and the wicked
magician seemed to enjoy the surprise of his victims immensely.
First they all slid down to the wall back of them, but as the room
continued to turn over, they next slid down the wall and found
themselves at the bottom of the great dome, bumping against the big
chandelier which, like everything else, was now upside down. The
turning movement now stopped, and the room became stationary. Looking
far up, they saw Ugu suspended in his cage at the very top, which had
once been the floor.
"Ah," said he, grinning down at them, "the way to conquer is to act,
and he who acts promptly is sure to win. This makes a very good
prison, from which I am sure you cannot escape. Please amuse
yourselves in any way you like, but I must beg you to excuse me, as I
have business in another part of my castle."
Saying this, he opened a trap door in the floor of his cage (which was
now over his head) and climbed through it and disappeared from their
view. The diamond dishpan still remained in the cage, but the bars
kept it from falling down on their heads.
"Well, I declare," said the Patchwork Girl, seizing one of the bars of
the chandelier and swinging from it, "we must peg one for the
Shoemaker, for he has trapped us very cleverly."
"Get off my foot, please," said the Lion to the Sawhorse.
"And oblige me, Mr. Mule," remarked the Woozy, "by taking your tail
out of my left eye."
"It's rather crowded down here," explained Dorothy, "because the dome
is rounding and we have all slid into the middle of it. But let us
keep as quiet as possible until we can think what's best to be done."
"Dear, dear!" wailed Cayke, "I wish I had my darling dishpan," and she
held her arms longingly toward it.
"I wish I had the magic on those shelves up there," sighed the Wizard.
"Don't you s'pose we could get to it?" asked Trot anxiously.
"We'd have to fly," laughed the Patchwork Girl.
But the Wizard took the suggestion seriously, and so did the Frogman.
They talked it over and soon planned an attempt to reach the shelves
where the magical instruments were. First the Frogman lay against the
rounding dome and braced his foot on the stem of the chandelier; then
the Wizard climbed over him and lay on the dome with his feet on the
Frogman's shoulders; the Cookie Cook came next; then Button-Bright
climbed to the woman's shoulders; then Dorothy climbed up and Betsy and
Trot, and finally the Patchwork Girl, and all their lengths made a long
line that reached far up the dome, but not far enough for Scraps to touch the shelves. |
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