They had not walked far across
the flower-strewn meadows when
they came upon a fine road
leading toward the northwest
and winding gracefully
among the pretty yellow hills.
"That way," said Dorothy, "must
be the direction of the Emerald
City. We'd better follow the
road until we meet some one
or come to a house."
The sun soon dried Button-Bright's
sailor suit and the shaggy
man's shaggy clothes, and so
pleased were they at regaining
their own heads that they did
not mind at all the brief discomfort
of getting wet.
"It's good to be able to
whistle again," remarked the
shaggy man, "for those donkey
lips were so thick I could
not whistle a note with them." He
warbled a tune as merrily as
any bird.
"You'll look more natural
at the birthday celebration,
too," said Dorothy, happy in
seeing her friends so happy.
Polychrome
was dancing
ahead in
her usual
sprightly
manner,
whirling gaily along the smooth,
level road, until she passed
from sight around the curve
of one of the mounds. Suddenly
they heard her exclaim "Oh!" and
she appeared again, running
toward them at full speed.
"What's the matter, Polly?" asked
Dorothy, perplexed.
There was no need for the
Rainbow's Daughter to answer,
for turning the bend in the
road there came advancing slowly
toward them a funny round man
made of burnished copper, gleaming
brightly in the sun. Perched
on the copper man's shoulder
sat a yellow hen, with fluffy
feathers and a pearl necklace
around her throat.
"Oh, Tik-tok!" cried
Dorothy,
running forward. When she came
to him, the copper man lifted
the little girl in his copper
arms and kissed her cheek with
his copper lips.
"Oh, Billina!" cried
Dorothy,
in a glad voice, and the yellow
hen flew to her arms, to be
hugged and petted by turns.
The others were curiously
crowding around the group,
and the girl said to them:
"It's
Tik-tok
and Billina;
and oh! I'm so glad to see
them again."
"Wel-come to Oz," said
the copper
man in
a monotonous
voice.
Dorothy sat right down in
the road, the yellow hen in
her arms, and began to stroke
Billina's back. Said the hen:
"Dorothy,
dear, I've
got some
wonderful
news to
tell
you."
"Tell it quick, Billina!" said
the girl.
Just then Toto, who had been
growling to himself in a cross
way, gave a sharp bark and
flew at the yellow hen, who
ruffled her feathers and let
out such an angry screech that
Dorothy was startled.
"Stop, Toto! Stop that this
minute!" she commanded. "Can't
you see that Billina is my
friend?" In spite of this warning
had she not grabbed Toto quickly
by the neck the little dog
would have done the yellow
hen a mischief, and even now
he struggled madly to escape
Dorothy's grasp. She slapped
his ears once or twice and
told him to behave, and the
yellow hen flew to Tik-tok's
shoulder again, where she was
safe.
"What a brute!" croaked
Billina,
glaring down at the little
dog.
"Toto isn't a brute," replied
Dorothy, "but at home Uncle
Henry has to whip him sometimes
for chasing the chickens. Now
look here, Toto," she added,
holding up her finger and speaking
sternly to him, "you've got
to understand that Billina
is one of my dearest friends,
and musn't be hurt--now or
ever."
Toto wagged his tail as if
he understood.
"The miserable thing can't
talk," said Billina, with a
sneer.
"Yes, he can," replied Dorothy; "he
talks with his tail, and I
know everything he says. If
you could wag your tail, Billina,
you wouldn't need words to
talk with."
"Nonsense!" said
Billina.
"It
isn't nonsense
at all.
Just now Toto says he's sorry,
and that he'll try to love
you for my sake. Don't you,
Toto?"
"Bow-wow!" said
Toto, wagging
his tail again.
"But I've such wonderful
news for you, Dorothy," cried
the yellow hen; "I've--"
"Wait a minute, dear," interrupted
the little girl; "I've got
to introduce you all, first.
That's manners, Billina. This," turning
to her traveling companions, "is
Mr. Tik-tok, who works by machinery
'cause his thoughts wind up,
and his talk winds up, and
his action winds up--like a
clock."
"Do they all wind up together?" asked
the shaggy man.
"No;
each one
separate.
But he
works just
lovely,
and Tik-tok
was a good friend to me once,
and saved my life--and Billina's
life, too."
"Is he alive?" asked
Button-Bright,
looking hard at the copper
man.
"Oh, no, but his machinery
makes him just as good as alive." She
turned to the copper man and
said politely: "Mr. Tik-tok,
these are my new friends: the
shaggy man, and Polly the Rainbow's
Daughter, and Button-Bright,
and Toto. Only Toto isn't a
new friend, 'cause he's been
to Oz before."
The copper man bowed low,
removing his copper hat as
he did so.
"I'm ve-ry pleased to meet
Dor-o-thy's fr-r-r-r---" Here
he stopped short.
"Oh, I guess his speech needs
winding!" said the little girl,
running behind the copper man
to get the key off a hook at
his back. She wound him up
at a place under his right
arm and he went on to say:
"Par-don me for run-ning
down. I was a-bout to say I
am pleased to meet Dor-o-thy's
friends, who must be my friends." The
words were somewhat jerky,
but plain to understand.
"And this is Billina," continued
Dorothy, introducing the yellow
hen, and they all bowed to
her in turn.
"I've such wonderful news," said
the hen, turning her head so
that one bright eye looked
full at Dorothy.
"What is it, dear?" asked
the girl.
"I've
hatched
out ten
of the
loveliest
chicks
you ever
saw."
"Oh,
how nice!
And where
are they, Billina?"
"I
left them
at home.
But they're
beauties,
I assure
you, and all wonderfully clever.
I've named them Dorothy."
"Which one?" asked
the girl.
"All of them," replied
Billina.
"That's
funny.
Why did
you name
them all
with the
same
name?"
"It was so hard to tell them
apart," explained the hen. "Now,
when I call 'Dorothy,' they
all come running to me in a
bunch; it's much easier, after
all, than having a separate
name for each."
"I'm just dying to see 'em,
Billina," said Dorothy, eagerly. "But
tell me, my friends, how did
you happen to be here, in the
Country of the Winkies, the
first of all to meet us?"
"I'll tell you," answered
Tik-tok, in his monotonous
voice, all the sounds of his
words being on one level--"Prin-cess
Oz-ma saw you in her mag-ic
pic-ture, and knew you were
com-ing here; so she sent Bil-lin-a
and me to wel-come you as she
could not come her-self; so
that--fiz-i-dig-le cum-so-lut-ing
hy-ber-gob-ble in-tu-zib-ick--"
"Good gracious! Whatever's
the matter now?" cried Dorothy,
as the copper man continued
to babble these unmeaning words,
which no one could understand
at all because they had no
sense.
"Don't know," said
Button-Bright,
who was half scared. Polly
whirled away to a distance
and turned to look at the copper
man in a fright.
"His thoughts have run down,
this time," remarked Billina
composedly, as she sat on Tik-tok's
shoulder and pruned her sleek
feathers. "When he can't think,
he can't talk properly, any
more than you can. You'll have
to wind up his thoughts, Dorothy,
or else I'll have to finish
his story myself."
Dorothy ran around and got
the key again and wound up
Tik-tok under his left arm,
after which he could speak
plainly again.
"Par-don me," he said, "but
when my thoughts run down,
my speech has no mean-ing,
for words are formed on-ly
by thought. I was a-bout to
say that Oz-ma sent us to wel-come
you and in-vite you to come
straight to the Em-er-ald Ci-ty.
She was too bus-y to come her-self,
for she is pre-par-ing for
her birth-day cel-e-bra-tion,
which is to be a grand af-fair."
"I've heard of it," said
Dorothy, "and I'm glad we've
come in time to attend. Is
it far from here to the Emerald
City?"
"Not ve-ry far," answered
Tik-tok, "and we have plen-ty
of time. To-night we will stop
at the pal-ace of the Tin Wood-man,
and to-mor-row night we will
ar-rive at the Em-er-ald Ci-ty."
"Goody!" cried Dorothy. "I'd
like to see dear Nick Chopper
again. How's his heart?"
"It's fine," said Billina; "the
Tin Woodman says it gets softer
and kindlier every day. He's
waiting at his castle to welcome
you, Dorothy; but he couldn't
come with us because he's getting
polished as bright as possible
for Ozma's party."
"Well then," said Dorothy, "let's
start on, and we can talk more
as we go."
They proceeded on their journey
in a friendly group, for Polychrome
had discovered that the copper
man was harmless and was no
longer afraid of him. Button-Bright
was also reassured, and took
quite a fancy to Tik-tok. He
wanted the clockwork man to
open himself, so that he might
see the wheels go round; but
that was a thing Tik-tok could
not do. Button-Bright then
wanted to wind up the copper
man, and Dorothy promised he
should do so as soon as any
part of the machinery ran down.
This pleased Button-Bright,
who held fast to one of Tik-tok's
copper hands as he trudged
along the road, while Dorothy
walked on the other side of
her old friend and Billina
perched by turns upon his shoulder
or his copper hat. Polly once
more joyously danced ahead
and Toto ran after her, barking
with glee. The shaggy man was
left to walk behind; but he
didn't seem to mind that a
bit,and whistled merrily or
looked curiously upon the pretty
scenes they passed.
At last they came to a hilltop
from which the tin castle of
Nick Chopper could plainly
be seen, its towers glistening
magnificently under the rays
of the declining sun.
"How pretty!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I've
never seen the Emp'ror's new
house before."
"He built it because the
old castle was damp, and likely
to rust his tin body," said
Billina. "All those towers
and steeples and domes and
gables took a lot of tin, as
you can see."
"Is it a toy?" asked
Button-Bright
softly.
"No, dear," answered Dorothy; "it's
better than that. It's the
fairy dwelling of a fairy prince."
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