They were soon among the pretty
hills and valleys again, and
the Sawhorse sped up hill and
down at a fast and easy pace,
the roads being hard and smooth.
Mile after mile was speedily
covered, and before the ride
had grown at all tiresome they
sighted another village. The
place seemed even larger than
Rigmarole Town, but was not so
attractive in appearance.
"This must be Flutterbudget
Center," declared the Wizard. "You
see, it's no trouble at all to
find places if you keep to the
right road."
"What are the Flutterbudgets
like?" inquired Dorothy.
"I do not know,
my dear. But Ozma has given
them a town all
their own, and I've heard that
whenever one of the people becomes
a Flutterbudget he is sent to
this place to live."
"That is true," Omby Amby added; "Flutterbudget
Center and Rigmarole Town are
called 'the Defensive Settlements
of Oz.'"
The village they now approached
was not built in a valley, but
on top of a hill, and the road
they followed wound around the
hill, like a corkscrew, ascending
the hill easily until it came
to the town.
"Look out!" screamed a voice. "Look
out, or you'll run over my child!"
They gazed around and saw a
woman standing upon the sidewalk
nervously wringing her hands
as she gazed at them appealingly.
"Where is your child?" asked
the Sawhorse.
"In the house," said the woman,
bursting into tears; "but if
it should happen to be in the
road, and you ran over it, those
great wheels would crush my darling
to jelly. Oh dear! oh dear! Think
of my darling child being crushed
into jelly by those great wheels!"
"Gid-dap!" said
the Wizard sharply, and the
Sawhorse started
on.
They had not
gone far before a man ran out
of a house shouting
wildly, "Help! Help!"
The Sawhorse stopped short
and the Wizard and Uncle Henry
and the Shaggy Man and Omby Amby
jumped out of the wagon and ran
to the poor man's assistance.
Dorothy followed them as quickly
as she could.
"What's the matter?" asked
the Wizard.
"Help! help!" screamed the
man; "my wife has cut her finger
off and she's bleeding to death!"
Then he turned and rushed back
to the house, and all the party
went with him. They found a woman
in the front dooryard moaning
and groaning as if in great pain.
"Be brave, madam!" said the
Wizard, consolingly. "You won't
die just because you have cut
off a finger, you may be sure."
"But I haven't cut off a finger!" she
sobbed.
"Then what HAS happened?" asked
Dorothy.
"I--I pricked my finger with
a needle while I was sewing,
and--and the blood came!" she
replied. "And now I'll have blood-poisoning,
and the doctors will cut off
my finger, and that will give
me a fever and I shall die!"
"Pshaw!" said Dorothy; "I've
pricked my finger many a time,
and nothing happened."
"Really?" asked
the woman, brightening and
wiping her eyes
upon her apron.
"Why, it's nothing at all," declared
the girl. "You're more scared
than hurt."
"Ah, that's because she's a
Flutterbudget," said the Wizard,
nodding wisely. "I think I know
now what these people are like."
"So do I," announced
Dorothy.
"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!" sobbed
the woman, giving way to a
fresh
burst of grief.
"What's wrong now?" asked
the Shaggy Man.
"Oh, suppose I had pricked
my foot!" she wailed. "Then the
doctors would have cut my foot
off, and I'd be lamed for life!"
"Surely, ma'am," replied the
Wizard, "and if you'd pricked
your nose they might cut your
head off. But you see you didn't."
"But I might have!" she exclaimed,
and began to cry again. So they
left her and drove away in their
wagon. And her husband came out
and began calling "Help!" as
he had before; but no one seemed
to pay any attention to him.
As the travelers turned into
another street they found a man
walking excitedly up and down
the pavement. He appeared to
be in a very nervous condition
and the Wizard stopped him to
ask:
"Is anything
wrong, sir?"
"Everything is wrong," answered
the man, dismally. "I can't sleep."
"Why not?" inquired
Omby Amby.
"If I go to sleep I'll have
to shut my eyes," he explained; "and
if I shut my eyes they may grow
together, and then I'd be blind
for life!"
"Did you ever hear of any one's
eyes growing together?" asked
Dorothy.
"No," said the man, "I
never did. But it would be
a dreadful
thing, wouldn't it? And the thought
of it makes me so nervous I'm
afraid to go to sleep."
"There's no help for this case," declared
the Wizard; and they went on.
At the next street corner a
woman rushed up to them crying:
"Save my baby!
Oh, good, kind people, save
my baby!"
"Is it in danger?" asked
Dorothy, noticing that the
child was clasped
in her arms and seemed sleeping
peacefully.
"Yes, indeed," said the woman,
nervously. "If I should go into
the house and throw my child
out of the window, it would roll
way down to the bottom of the
hill; and then if there were
a lot of tigers and bears down
there, they would tear my darling
babe to pieces and eat it up!"
"Are there any tigers and bears
in this neighborhood?" the Wizard
asked.
"I've never heard of any," admitted
the woman, "but if there were--"
"Have you any idea of throwing
your baby out of the window?" questioned
the little man.
"None at all," she said; "but
if--"
"All your troubles are due
to those 'ifs'," declared the
Wizard. "If you were not a Flutterbudget
you wouldn't worry."
"There's another 'if'," replied
the woman. "Are you a Flutterbudget,
too?"
"I will be, if I stay here
long," exclaimed the Wizard,
nervously.
"Another 'if'!" cried
the woman.
But the Wizard did not stop
to argue with her. He made the
Sawhorse canter all the way down
the hill, and only breathed easily
when they were miles away from
the village.
After they had ridden in silence
for a while Dorothy turned to
the little man and asked:
"Do 'ifs' really
make Flutterbudgets?"
"I think the 'ifs' help," he
answered seriously. "Foolish
fears, and worries over nothing,
with a mixture of nerves and
ifs, will soon make a Flutterbudget
of any one."
Then there was another long
silence, for all the travelers
were thinking over this statement,
and nearly all decided it must
be true.
The country they were now passing
through was everywhere tinted
purple, the prevailing color
of the Gillikin Country; but
as the Sawhorse ascended a hill
they found that upon the other
side everything was of a rich
yellow hue.
"Aha!" cried the Captain General; "here
is the Country of the Winkies.
We are just crossing the boundary
line."
"Then we may be able to lunch
with the Tin Woodman," announced
the Wizard, joyfully.
"Must we lunch on tin?" asked
Aunt Em.
"Oh, no;" replied Dorothy. "Nick
Chopper knows how to feed meat
people, and he will give us plenty
of good things to eat, never
fear. I've been to his castle
before."
"Is Nick Chopper the Tin Woodman's
name?" asked Uncle Henry.
"Yes; that's one of his names," answered
the little girl; "and another
of his names is 'Emp'ror of the
Winkies.' He's the King of this
country, you know, but Ozma rules
over all the countries of Oz."
"Does the Tin Woodman keep
any Flutterbudgets or Rigmaroles
at his castle?" inquired Aunt
Em, uneasily.
"No indeed," said Dorothy,
positively. "He lives in a new
tin castle, all full of lovely
things."
"I should think it would rust," said
Uncle Henry.
"He has thousands of Winkies
to keep it polished for him," explained
the Wizard. "His people love
to do anything in their power
for their beloved Emperor, so
there isn't a particle of rust
on all the big castle."
"I suppose they polish their
Emperor, too," said Aunt Em.
"Why, some time ago he had
himself nickel-plated," the Wizard
answered; "so he only needs rubbing
up once in a while. He's the
brightest man in all the world,
is dear Nick Chopper; and the
kindest-hearted."
"I helped find him," said Dorothy,
reflectively. "Once the Scarecrow
and I found the Tin Woodman in
the woods, and he was just rusted
still, that time, an' no mistake.
But we oiled his joints an' got
'em good and slippery, and after
that he went with us to visit
the Wizard at the Em'rald City."
"Was that the time the Wizard
scared you?" asked Aunt Em.
"He didn't treat us well, at
first," acknowledged Dorothy; "for
he made us go away and destroy
the Wicked Witch. But after we
found out he was only a humbug
wizard we were not afraid of
him."
The Wizard sighed and looked
a little ashamed.
"When we try to deceive people
we always make mistakes," he
said. "But I'm getting to be
a real wizard now, and Glinda
the Good's magic, that I am trying
to practice, can never harm any
one."
"You were always a good man," declared
Dorothy, "even when you were
a bad wizard."
"He's a good wizard now," asserted
Aunt Em, looking at the little
man admiringly. "The way he made
those tents grow out of handkerchiefs
was just wonderful! And didn't
he enchant the wagon wheels so
they'd find the road?"
"All the people of Oz," said
the Captain General, "are very
proud of their Wizard. He once
made some soap-bubbles that astonished
the world."
The Wizard blushed at this
praise, yet it pleased him. He
no longer looked sad, but seemed
to have recovered his usual good
humor.
The country through which they
now rode was thickly dotted with
farmhouses, and yellow grain
waved in all the fields. Many
of the Winkies could be seen
working on their farms and the
wild and unsettled parts of Oz
were by this time left far behind.
These Winkies appeared to be
happy, light-hearted folk, and
all removed their caps and bowed
low when the red wagon with its
load of travelers passed by.
It was not long before they
saw something glittering in the
sunshine far ahead.
"See!" cried Dorothy; "that's
the Tin Castle, Aunt Em!"
And the Sawhorse, knowing his
passengers were eager to arrive,
broke into a swift trot that
soon brought them to their destination.
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