At three o'clock the Throne
Room was crowded with citizens,
men, women and children being
eager to witness the great
trial.
Princess Ozma, dressed in
her most splendid robes of
state, sat in the magnificent
emerald throne, with her jewelled
sceptre in her hand and her
sparkling coronet upon her
fair brow. Behind her throne
stood the twenty-eight officers
of her army and many officials
of the royal household. At
her right sat the queerly assorted
Jury--animals, animated dummies
and people--all gravely prepared
to listen to what was said.
The kitten had been placed
in a large cage just before
the throne, where she sat upon
her haunches and gazed through
the bars at the crowds around
her, with seeming unconcern.
And now, at a signal from
Ozma, the Woggle-Bug arose
and addressed the jury. His
tone was pompous and he strutted
up and down in an absurd attempt
to appear dignified.
"Your Royal Highness and
Fellow Citizens," he began; "the
small cat you see a prisoner
before you is accused of the
crime of first murdering and
then eating our esteemed Ruler's
fat piglet--or else first eating
and then murdering it. In either
case a grave crime has been
committed which deserves a
grave punishment."
"Do you mean my kitten must
be put in a grave?" asked Dorothy.
"Don't interrupt, little
girl," said the Woggle-Bug. "When
I get my thoughts arranged
in good order I do not like
to have anything upset them
or throw them into confusion."
"If your thoughts were any
good they wouldn't become confused," remarked
the Scarecrow, earnestly. "My
thoughts are always--"
"Is this a trial of thoughts,
or of kittens?" demanded the
Woggle-Bug.
"It's a trial of one kitten," replied
the Scarecrow; "but your manner
is a trial to us all."
"Let the Public Accuser continue," called
Ozma from her throne, "and
I pray you do not interrupt
him."
"The criminal who now sits
before the court licking her
paws," resumed the Woggle-Bug, "has
long desired to unlawfully
eat the fat piglet, which was
no bigger than a mouse. And
finally she made a wicked plan
to satisfy her depraved appetite
for pork. I can see her, in
my mind's eye--"
"What's that?" asked
the Scarecrow.
"I
say I can
see her
in my mind's
eye--"
"The mind has no eye," declared
the Scarecrow. "It's blind."
"Your Highness," cried the
Woggle-Bug, appealing to Ozma, "have
I a mind's eye, or haven't
I?"
"If you have, it is invisible," said
the Princess.
"Very true," returned the
Woggle-Bug, bowing. "I say
I see the criminal, in my mind's
eye, creeping stealthily into
the room of our Ozma and secreting
herself, when no one was looking,
until the Princess had gone
away and the door was closed.
Then the murderer was alone
with her helpless victim, the
fat piglet, and I see her pounce
upon the innocent creature
and eat it up--"
"Are you still seeing with
your mind's eye?" enquired
the Scarecrow.
"Of
course;
how else
could I
see it?
And we
know the
thing
is true, because since the
time of that interview there
is no piglet to be found anywhere."
"I suppose, if the cat had
been gone, instead of the piglet,
your mind's eye would see the
piglet eating the cat," suggested
the Scarecrow.
"Very likely," acknowledged
the Woggle-Bug. "And now, Fellow
Citizens and Creatures of the
Jury, I assert that so awful
a crime deserves death, and
in the case of the ferocious
criminal before you--who is
now washing her face--the death
penalty should be inflicted
nine times."
There was great applause
when the speaker sat down.
Then the Princess spoke in
a stern voice:
"Prisoner,
what have
you to
say for
yourself?
Are you
guilty, or not guilty?"
"Why, that's for you to find
out," replied Eureka. "If you
can prove I'm guilty, I'll
be willing to die nine times,
but a mind's eye is no proof,
because the Woggle-Bug has
no mind to see with."
"Never mind, dear," said
Dorothy.
Then the Tin Woodman arose
and said:
"Respected Jury and dearly
beloved Ozma, I pray you not
to judge this feline prisoner
unfeelingly. I do not think
the innocent kitten can be
guilty, and surely it is unkind
to accuse a luncheon of being
a murder. Eureka is the sweet
pet of a lovely little girl
whom we all admire, and gentleness
and innocence are her chief
virtues. Look at the kitten's
intelligent eyes;" (here Eureka
closed her eyes sleepily) "gaze
at her smiling countenance!" (here
Eureka snarled and showed her
teeth) "mark the tender pose
of her soft, padded little
hands!" (Here Eureka bared
her sharp claws and scratched
at the bars of the cage.) "Would
such a gentle animal be guilty
of eating a fellow creature?
No; a thousand times, no!"
"Oh, cut it short," said
Eureka; "you've talked long
enough."
"I'm trying to defend you," remonstrated
the Tin Woodman.
"Then say something sensible," retorted
the kitten. "Tell them it would
be foolish for me to eat the
piglet, because I had sense
enough to know it would raise
a row if I did. But don't try
to make out I'm too innocent
to eat a fat piglet if I could
do it and not be found out.
I imagine it would taste mighty
good."
"Perhaps it would, to those
who eat," remarked the Tin
Woodman. "I myself, not being
built to eat, have no personal
experience in such matters.
But I remember that our great
poet once said:
"'To eat
is sweet When hunger's seat
Demands a treat Of savory
meat.'
"Take this
into consideration, friends
of the Jury, and you
will readily decide that the
kitten is wrongfully accused
and should be set at liberty."
When the Tin Woodman sat
down no one applauded him,
for his arguments had not been
very convincing and few believed
that he had proved Eureka's
innocence. As for the Jury,
the members whispered to each
other for a few minutes and
then they appointed the Hungry
Tiger their spokesman. The
huge beast slowly arose and
said:
"Kittens
have no consciences, so they
eat whatever pleases
them. The jury believes the
white kitten known as Eureka
is guilty of having eaten the
piglet owned by Princess Ozma,
and recommends that she be
put to death in punishment
of the crime."
The judgment of the jury
was received with great applause,
although Dorothy was sobbing
miserably at the fate of her
pet. The Princess was just
about to order Eureka's head
chopped off with the Tin Woodman's
axe when that brilliant personage
once more arose and addressed
her.
"Your Highness," said he, "see
how easy it is for a jury to
be mistaken. The kitten could
not have eaten your piglet--for
here it is!"
He took off his funnel hat
and from beneath it produced
a tiny white piglet, which
he held aloft that all might
see it clearly.
Ozma was delighted and exclaimed,
eagerly:
"Give me
my pet, Nick Chopper!"
And all the people cheered
and clapped their hands, rejoicing
that the prisoner had escaped
death and been proved to be
innocent.
As the Princess
held the white piglet in
her arms and
stroked its soft hair she said: "Let
Eureka out of the cage, for
she is no longer a prisoner,
but our good friend. Where
did you find my missing pet,
Nick Chopper?"
"In a room of the palace," he
answered.
"Justice," remarked the Scarecrow,
with a sigh, "is a dangerous
thing to meddle with. If you
hadn't happened to find the
piglet, Eureka would surely
have been executed."
"But justice prevailed at
the last," said Ozma, "for
here is my pet, and Eureka
is once more free."
"I refuse to be free," cried
the kitten, in a sharp voice, "unless
the Wizard can do his trick
with eight piglets. If he can
produce but seven, then this
is not the piglet that was
lost, but another one."
"Hush, Eureka!" warned
the Wizard.
"Don't be foolish," advised
the Tin Woodman, "or you may
be sorry for it."
"The piglet that belonged
to the Princess wore an emerald
collar," said Eureka, loudly
enough for all to hear.
"So it did!" exclaimed Ozma. "This
cannot be the one the Wizard
gave me."
"Of course not; he had nine
of them, altogether," declared
Eureka; "and I must say it
was very stingy of him not
to let me eat just a few. But
now that this foolish trial
is ended, I will tell you what
really became of your pet piglet."
At this everyone in the Throne
Room suddenly became quiet,
and the kitten continued, in
a calm, mocking tone of voice:
"I will confess
that I intended to eat the
little pig for my
breakfast; so I crept into
the room where it was kept
while the Princess was dressing
and hid myself under a chair.
When Ozma went away she closed
the door and left her pet on
the table. At once I jumped
up and told the piglet not
to make a fuss, for he would
be inside of me in half a second;
but no one can teach one of
these creatures to be reasonable.
Instead of keeping still, so
I could eat him comfortably,
he trembled so with fear that
he fell off the table into
a big vase that was standing
on the floor. The vase had
a very small neck, and spread
out at the top like a bowl.
At first the piglet stuck in
the neck of the vase and I
thought I should get him, after
all, but he wriggled himself
through and fell down into
the deep bottom part--and I
suppose he's there yet."
All were astonished at this
confession, and Ozma at once
sent an officer to her room
to fetch the vase. When he
returned the Princess looked
down the narrow neck of the
big ornament and discovered
her lost piglet, just as Eureka
had said she would.
There was no way to get the
creature out without breaking
the vase, so the Tin Woodman
smashed it with his axe and
set the little prisoner free.
Then the crowd cheered lustily
and Dorothy hugged the kitten
in her arms and told her how
delighted she was to know that
she was innocent.
"But why didn't you tell
us at first?" she asked.
"It would have spoiled the
fun," replied the kitten, yawning.
Ozma gave the Wizard back
the piglet he had so kindly
allowed Nick Chopper to substitute
for the lost one, and then
she carried her own into the
apartments of the palace where
she lived. And now, the trial
being over, the good citizens
of the Emerald City scattered
to their homes, well content
with the day's amusement.
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