Ojo examined this curious contrivance
with wonder. The Patchwork Girl
was taller than he, when she
stood upright, and her body was
plump and rounded because it
had been so neatly stuffed with
cotton. Margolotte had first
made the girl's form from the
patchwork quilt and then she
had dressed it with a patchwork
skirt and an apron with pockets
in it-- using the same gay material
throughout. Upon the feet she
had sewn a pair of red leather
shoes with pointed toes. All
the fingers and thumbs of the
girl's hands had been carefully
formed and stuffed and stitched
at the edges, with gold plates
at the
ends to serve as finger-nails.
"She will have to work, when
she comes to life," said Marglotte.
The head of the Patchwork Girl
was the most curious part of
her. While she waited for her
husband to finish making his
Powder of Life the woman had
found ample time to complete
the head as her fancy dictated,
and she realized that a good
servant's head must be properly
constructed. The hair was of
brown yarn and hung down on her
neck in several neat braids.
Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons
cut from a pair of the Magician's
old trousers, and they were sewed
on with black threads, which
formed the pupils of the eyes.
Margolotte had puzzled over the
ears for some time, for these
were important if the servant
was to hear distinctly, but finally
she had made them out of thin
plates of gold and attached them
in place by means of stitches
through tiny holes bored in the
metal. Gold is the most common
metal in the Land of Oz and is
used for many purposes because
it is soft and pliable.
The woman had cut a slit for
the Patchwork Girl's mouth and
sewn two rows of white pearls
in it for teeth, using a strip
of scarlet plush for a tongue.
This mouth Ojo considered very
artistic and lifelike, and Margolotte
was pleased when the boy praised
it. There were almost too many
patches on the face of the girl
for her to be considered strictly
beautiful, for one cheek was
yellow and the other red, her
chin blue, her forehead purple
and the center, where her nose
had been formed and padded, a
bright yellow.
"You ought to have had her
face all pink," suggested the
boy.
"I suppose so; but I had no
pink cloth," replied the woman. "Still,
I cannot see as it matters much,
for I wish my Patchwork Girl
to be useful rather than ornamental.
If I get tired looking at her
patched face I can whitewash
it."
"Has she any brains?" asked
Ojo.
"No; I forgot all about the
brains!" exclaimed the woman. "I
am glad you reminded me of them,
for it is not too late to supply
them, by any means. Until she
is brought to life I can do anything
I please with this girl. But
I must be careful not to give
her too much brains, and those
she has must be such as are fitted
to the station she is to occupy
in life. In other words, her
brains mustn't be very good."
"Wrong," said
Unc Nunkie.
"No; I am sure I am right about
that," returned the woman.
"He means," explained Ojo, "that
unless your servant has good
brains she won't know how to
obey you properly, nor do the
things you ask her to do."
"Well, that may be true," agreed
Margolotte; "but, on the contrary,
a servant with too much brains
is sure to become independent
and high- and-mighty and feel
above her work. This is a very
delicate task, as I said, and
I must take care to give the
girl just the right quantity
of the right sort of brains.
I want her to know just enough,
but not too much."
With this she
went to another cupboard which
was filled With
shelves. All the shelves were
lined With blue glass bottles,
neatly labeled by the Magician
to show what they contained.
One whole shelf was marked: "Brain
Furniture," and the bottles on
this shelf were labeled as follows: "Obedience," "Cleverness," "Judgment," "Courage," "Ingenuity," "Amiability," "Learning," "Truth," "Poesy," "Self
Reliance."
"Let me see," said Margolotte; "of
those qualities she must have
'Obedience' first of all," and
she took down the bottle bearing
that label and poured from it
upon a dish several grains of
the contents. "'Amiability' is
also good and 'Truth.'" She poured
into the dish a quantity from
each of these bottles. "I think
that will do," she continued, "for
the other qualities are not needed
in a servant."
Unc Nunkie,
who with Ojo stood beside her,
touched the bottle
marked "Cleverness."
"Little," said
he.
"A little 'Cleverness'? Well,
perhaps you are right, sir," said
she, and was about to take down
the bottle when the Crooked Magician
suddenly called to her excitedly
from the fireplace.
"Quick, Margolotte!
Come and help me."
She ran to her husband's side
at once and helped him lift the
four kettles from the fire. Their
contents had all boiled away,
leaving in the bottom of each
kettle a few grains of fine white
powder. Very carefully the Magician
removed this powder, placing
it all together in a golden dish,
where he mixed it with a golden
spoon. When the mixture was complete
there was scarcely a handful,
all told.
"That," said Dr. Pipt, in a
pleased and triumphant tone, "is
the wonderful Powder of Life,
which I alone in the world know
how to make. It has taken me
nearly six years to prepare these
precious grains of dust, but
the little heap on that dish
is worth the price of a kingdom
and many a king would give all
he has to possess it. When it
has become cooled I will place
it in a small bottle; but meantime
I must watch it carefully, lest
a gust of wind blow it away or
scatter it.'
Unc Nunkie, Margolotte and
the Magician all stood looking
at the marvelous Powder, but
Ojo was more interested just
then in the Patchwork Girl's
brains. Thinking it both unfair
and unkind to deprive her of
any good qualities that were
handy, the boy took down every
bottle on the shelf and poured
some of the contents in Margolotte's
dish. No one saw him do this,
for all were looking at the Powder
of Life; but soon the woman remembered
what she had been doing, and
came back to the cupboard.
"Let's see," she remarked; "I
was about to give my girl a little
'Cleverness,' which is the Doctor's
substitute for 'Intelligence'--a
quality he has not yet learned
how to manufacture." Taking down
the bottle of "Cleverness" she
added some of the powder to the
heap on the dish. Ojo became
a bit uneasy at this, for he
had already put quite a lot of
the "Cleverness" powder in the
dish; but he dared not interfere
and so he comforted himself with
the thought that one cannot have
too much cleverness.
Margolotte now carried the
dish of brains to the bench.
Ripping the seam of the patch
on the girl's forehead, she placed
the powder within the head and
then sewed up the seam as neatly
and securely as before.
"My girl is all ready for your
Powder of Life, my dear," she
said to her husband. But the
Magician replied:
"This powder
must not be used before tomorrow
morning; but
I think it is now cool enough
to be bottled."
He selected a small gold bottle
with a pepper- box top, so that
the powder might be sprinkled
on any object through the small
holes. Very carefully he placed
the Powder of Life in the gold
bottle and then locked it up
in a drawer of his cabinet.
"At last," said he, rubbing
his hands together gleefully, "I
have ample leisure for a good
talk with my old friend Unc Nunkie.
So let us sit down cosily and
enjoy ourselves. After stirring
those four kettles for six years
I am glad to have a little rest."
"You will have to do most of
the talking," said Ojo, "for
Unc is called the Silent One
and uses few words."
"I know; but that renders your
uncle a most agreeable companion
and gossip," declared Dr. Pipt. "Most
people talk too much, so it is
a relief to find one who talks
too little."
Ojo looked at the Magician
with much awe and curiosity.
"Don't you find it very annoying
to be so crooked?" he asked.
"No; I am quite proud of my
person," was the reply. "I suppose
I am the only Crooked Magician
in all the world. Some others
are accused of being crooked,
but I am the only genuine."
He was really very crooked
and Ojo wondered how he managed
to do so many things with such
a twisted body. When he sat down
upon a crooked chair that had
been made to fit him, one knee
was under his chin and the other
near the small of his back; but
he was a cheerful man and his
face bore a pleasant and agreeable
expression.
"I am not allowed to perform
magic, except for my own amusement," he
told his visitors, as he lighted
a pipe with a crooked stem and
began to smoke. "Too many people
were working magic in the Land
of Oz, and so our lovely Princess
Ozma put a stop to it. I think
she was quite right. There were
several wicked Witches who caused
a lot of trouble; but now they
are all out of business and only
the great Sorceress, Glinda the
Good, is permitted to practice
her arts, which never harm anybody.
The Wizard of Oz, who used to
be a humbug and knew no magic
at all, has been taking lessons
of Glinda, and I'm told he is
getting to be a pretty good Wizard;
but he is merely the assistant
of the great Sorceress. I've
the right to make a servant girl
for my wife, you know, or a Glass
Cat to catch our mice--which
she refuses to do--but I am forbidden
to work magic for others, or
to use it as a profession."
"Magic must be a very interesting
study," said Ojo.
"It truly is," asserted the
Magician. "In my time I've performed
some magical feats that were
worthy of the skill of Glinda
the Good. For instance, there's
the Powder of Life, and my Liquid
of Petrifaction, which is contained
in that bottle on the shelf yonder-over
the window."
"What does the Liquid of Petrifaction
do?" inquired the boy.
"Turns everything
it touches to solid marble.
It's an invention
of my own, and I find it very
useful. Once two of those dreadful
Kalidahs, with bodies like bears
and heads like tigers, came here
from the forest to attack us;
but I sprinkled some of that
Liquid on them and instantly
they turned to marble. I now
use them as ornamental statuary
in my garden. This table looks
to you like wood, and once it
really was wood; but I sprinkled
a few drops of the Liquid of
Petrifaction on it and now it
is marble. It will never break
nor wear out.
"Fine!" said
Unc Nunkie, wagging his head
and stroking his long
gray beard.
"Dear me; what a chatterbox
you're getting to be, Unc," remarked
the Magician, who was pleased
with the compliment. But just
then there came a scratching
at the back door and a shrill
voice cried:
"Let me in!
Hurry up, can't you? Let me
in!"
Margolotte got up and went
to the door.
"Ask like a good cat, then," she
said.
"Meeee-ow-w-w! There; does
that suit your royal highness?" asked
the voice, in scornful accents.
"Yes; that's proper cat talk," declared
the woman, and opened the door.
At once a cat entered, came to
the center of the room and stopped
short at the sight of strangers.
Ojo and Unc Nunkie both stared
at it with wide open eyes, for
surely no such curious creature
had ever existed before-- even
in the Land of Oz.
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