The words of the cold and
moist vegetable Prince were
not very comforting, and as
he spoke them he turned away
and left the enclosure. The
children, feeling sad and despondent,
were about to follow him when
the Wizard touched Dorothy
softly on her shoulder.
"Wait!" he
whispered.
"What for?" asked
the girl.
"Suppose we pick the Royal
Princess," said the Wizard. "I'm
quite sure she's ripe, and
as soon as she comes to life
she will be the Ruler, and
may treat us better than that
heartless Prince intends to."
"All right!" exclaimed Dorothy,
eagerly. "Let's pick her while
we have the chance, before
the man with the star comes
back."
So together they leaned over
the great bush and each of
them seized one hand of the
lovely Princess.
"Pull!" cried
Dorothy,
and as
they did
so the
royal lady
leaned toward them and the
stems snapped and separated
from her feet. She was not
at all heavy, so the Wizard
and Dorothy managed to lift
her gently to the ground.
The beautiful creature passed
her hands over her eyes an
instant, tucked in a stray
lock of hair that had become
disarranged, and after a look
around the garden made those
present a gracious bow and
said, in a sweet but even toned
voice:
"I
thank you
very much."
"We salute your Royal Highness!" cried
the Wizard, kneeling and kissing
her hand.
Just then the voice of the
Prince was heard calling upon
them to hasten, and a moment
later he returned to the enclosure,
followed by a number of his
people.
Instantly the Princess turned
and faced him, and when he
saw that she was picked the
Prince stood still and began
to tremble.
"Sir," said the Royal Lady,
with much dignity, "you have
wronged me greatly, and would
have wronged me still more
had not these strangers come
to my rescue. I have been ready
for picking all the past week,
but because you were selfish
and desired to continue your
unlawful rule, you left me
to stand silent upon my bush."
"I did not know that you
were ripe," answered the Prince,
in a low voice.
"Give me the Star of Royalty!" she
commanded.
Slowly he took the shining
star from his own brow and
placed it upon that of the
Princess. Then all the people
bowed low to her, and the Prince
turned and walked away alone.
What became of him afterward
our friends never knew.
The people of Mangaboo now
formed themselves into a procession
and marched toward the glass
city to escort their new ruler
to her palace and to perform
those ceremonies proper to
the occasion. But while the
people in the procession walked
upon the ground the Princess
walked in the air just above
their heads, to show that she
was a superior being and more
exalted than her subjects.
No one now seemed to pay
any attention to the strangers,
so Dorothy and Zeb and the
Wizard let the train pass on
and then wandered by themselves
into the vegetable gardens.
They did not bother to cross
the bridges over the brooks,
but when they came to a stream
they stepped high and walked
in the air to the other side.
This was a very interesting
experience to them, and Dorothy
said:
"I
wonder
why it
is that
we can walk so easily in the
air."
"Perhaps," answered the Wizard, "it
is because we are close to
the center of the earth, where
the attraction of gravitation
is very slight. But I've noticed
that many queer things happen
in fairy countries."
"Is this a fairy country?" asked
the boy.
"Of course it is," returned
Dorothy promptly. "Only a fairy
country could have veg'table
people; and only in a fairy
country could Eureka and Jim
talk as we do."
"That's true," said
Zeb, thoughtfully.
In the vegetable gardens
they found the strawberries
and melons, and several other
unknown but delicious fruits,
of which they ate heartily.
But the kitten bothered them
constantly by demanding milk
or meat, and called the Wizard
names because he could not
bring her a dish of milk by
means of his magical arts.
As they sat upon the grass
watching Jim, who was still
busily eating, Eureka said:
"I
don't believe
you are
a Wizard at all!"
"No," answered the little
man, "you are quite right.
In the strict sense of the
word I am not a Wizard, but
only a humbug."
"The Wizard of Oz has always
been a humbug," agreed Dorothy. "I've
known him for a long time."
"If that is so," said the
boy, "how could he do that
wonderful trick with the nine
tiny piglets?"
"Don't know," said Dorothy, "but
it must have been humbug."
"Very true," declared the
Wizard, nodding at her. "It
was necessary to deceive that
ugly Sorcerer and the Prince,
as well as their stupid people;
but I don't mind telling you,
who are my friends, that the
thing was only a trick."
"But I saw the little pigs
with my own eyes!" exclaimed
Zeb.
"So did I," purred
the kitten.
"To be sure," answered the
Wizard. "You saw them because
they were there. They are in
my inside pocket now. But the
pulling of them apart and pushing
them together again was only
a sleight-of-hand trick."
"Let's see the pigs," said
Eureka, eagerly.
The little man felt carefully
in his pocket and pulled out
the tiny piglets, setting them
upon the grass one by one,
where they ran around and nibbled
the tender blades.
"They're hungry, too," he
said.
"Oh, what cunning things!" cried
Dorothy, catching up one and
petting it.
"Be careful!" said the piglet,
with a squeal, "you're squeezing
me!"
"Dear me!" murmured the Wizard,
looking at his pets in astonishment. "They
can actually talk!"
"May I eat one of them?" asked
the kitten, in a pleading voice. "I'm
awfully hungry."
"Why, Eureka," said Dorothy,
reproachfully, "what a cruel
question! It would be dreadful
to eat these dear little things."
"I should say so!" grunted
another of the piglets, looking
uneasily at the kitten; "cats
are cruel things."
"I'm not cruel," replied
the kitten, yawning. "I'm just
hungry."
"You cannot eat my piglets,
even if you are starving," declared
the little man, in a stern
voice. "They are the only things
I have to prove I'm a wizard."
"How did they happen to be
so little?" asked Dorothy. "I
never saw such small pigs before."
"They are from the Island
of Teenty-Weent," said the
Wizard, "where everything is
small because it's a small
island. A sailor brought them
to Los Angeles and I gave him
nine tickets to the circus
for them."
"But what am I going to eat?" wailed
the kitten, sitting in front
of Dorothy and looking pleadingly
into her face. "There are no
cows here to give milk; or
any mice, or even grasshoppers.
And if I can't eat the piglets
you may as well plant me at
once and raise catsup."
"I have an idea," said the
Wizard, "that there are fishes
in these brooks. Do you like
fish?"
"Fish!" cried the kitten. "Do
I like fish? Why, they're better
than piglets--or even milk!"
"Then I'll try to catch you
some," said he.
"But won't they be veg'table,
like everything else here?" asked
the kitten.
"I
think not.
Fishes
are not
animals,
and they
are as
cold and moist as the vegetables
themselves. There is no reason,
that I can see, why they may
not exist in the waters of
this strange country."
Then the Wizard bent a pin
for a hook and took a long
piece of string from his pocket
for a fish-line. The only bait
he could find was a bright
red blossom from a flower;
but he knew fishes are easy
to fool if anything bright
attracts their attention, so
he decided to try the blossom.
Having thrown the end of his
line in the water of a nearby
brook he soon felt a sharp
tug that told him a fish had
bitten and was caught on the
bent pin; so the little man
drew in the string and, sure
enough, the fish came with
it and was landed safely on
the shore, where it began to
flop around in great excitement.
The fish was fat and round,
and its scales glistened like
beautifully cut jewels set
close together; but there was
no time to examine it closely,
for Eureka made a jump and
caught it between her claws,
and in a few moments it had
entirely disappeared.
"Oh, Eureka!" cried Dorothy, "did
you eat the bones?"
"If it had any bones, I ate
them," replied the kitten,
composedly, as it washed its
face after the meal. "But I
don't think that fish had any
bones, because I didn't feel
them scratch my throat."
"You were very greedy," said
the girl.
"I was very hungry," replied
the kitten.
The little pigs had stood
huddled in a group, watching
this scene with frightened
eyes.
"Cats are dreadful creatures!" said
one of them.
"I'm glad we are not fishes!" said
another.
"Don't worry," Dorothy murmured,
soothingly, "I'll not let the
kitten hurt you."
Then she happened to remember
that in a corner of her suit-case
were one or two crackers that
were left over from her luncheon
on the train, and she went
to the buggy and brought them.
Eureka stuck up her nose at
such food, but the tiny piglets
squealed delightedly at the
sight of the crackers and ate
them up in a jiffy.
"Now let us go back to the
city," suggested the Wizard. "That
is, if Jim has had enough of
the pink grass."
The cab-horse, who was browsing
near, lifted his head with
a sigh.
"I've tried to eat a lot
while I had the chance," said
he, "for it's likely to be
a long while between meals
in this strange country. But
I'm ready to go, now, at any
time you wish."
So, after the Wizard had
put the piglets back into his
inside pocket, where they cuddled
up and went to sleep, the three
climbed into the buggy and
Jim started back to the town.
"Where shall we stay?" asked
the girl.
"I think I shall take possession
of the House of the Sorcerer," replied
the Wizard; "for the Prince
said in the presence of his
people that he would keep me
until they picked another Sorcerer,
and the new Princess won't
know but that we belong there."
They agreed to this plan,
and when they reached the great
square Jim drew the buggy into
the big door of the domed hall.
"It doesn't look very homelike," said
Dorothy, gazing around at the
bare room. "But it's a place
to stay, anyhow."
"What are those holes up
there?" enquired the boy, pointing
to some openings that appeared
near the top of the dome.
"They look like doorways," said
Dorothy; "only there are no
stairs to get to them."
"You forget that stairs are
unnecessary," observed the
Wizard. "Let us walk up, and
see where the doors lead to."
With this he began walking
in the air toward the high
openings, and Dorothy and Zeb
followed him. It was the same
sort of climb one experiences
when walking up a hill, and
they were nearly out of breath
when they came to the row of
openings, which they perceived
to be doorways leading into
halls in the upper part of
the house. Following these
halls they discovered many
small rooms opening from them,
and some were furnished with
glass benches, tables and chairs.
But there were no beds at all.
"I wonder if these people
never sleep," said the girl.
"Why, there seems to be no
night at all in this country," Zeb
replied. "Those colored suns
are exactly in the same place
they were when we came, and
if there is no sunset there
can be no night."
"Very true," agreed the Wizard. "But
it is a long time since I have
had any sleep, and I'm tired.
So I think I shall lie down
upon one of these hard glass
benches and take a nap."
"I will, too," said
Dorothy,
and chose a little room at
the end of the hall.
Zeb walked down again to
unharness Jim, who, when he
found himself free, rolled
over a few times and then settled
down to sleep, with Eureka
nestling comfortably beside
his big, boney body. Then the
boy returned to one of the
upper rooms, and in spite of
the hardness of the glass bench
was soon deep in slumberland.
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