The new General of the Nome
King's army knew perfectly well
that to fail in his plans meant
death for him. Yet he was not
at all anxious or worried. He
hated every one who was good
and longed to make all who were
happy unhappy. Therefore he had
accepted this dangerous position
as General quite willingly, feeling
sure in his evil mind that he
would be able to do a lot of
mischief and finally conquer
the Land of Oz.
Yet Guph determined to be careful,
and to lay his plans well, so
as not to fail. He argued that
only careless people fail in
what they attempt to do.
The mountains underneath which
the Nome King's extensive caverns
were located lay grouped just
north of the Land of Ev, which
lay directly across the deadly
desert to the east of the Land
of Oz. As the mountains were
also on the edge of the desert
the Nome King found that he had
only to tunnel underneath the
desert to reach Ozma's dominions.
He did not wish his armies to
appear above ground in the Country
of the Winkies, which was the
part of the Land of Oz nearest
to King Roquat's own country,
as then the people would give
the alarm and enable Ozma to
fortify the Emerald City and
assemble an army. He wanted to
take all the Oz people by surprise;
so he decided to run the tunnel
clear through to the Emerald
City, where he and his hosts
could break through the ground
without warning and conquer the
people before they had time to
defend themselves.
Roquat the Red began work at
once upon his tunnel, setting
a thousand miners at the task
and building it high and broad
enough for his armies to march
through it with ease. The Nomes
were used to making tunnels,
as all the kingdom in which they
lived was under ground; so they
made rapid progress.
While this work was going on
General Guph started out alone
to visit the Chief of the Whimsies.
These Whimsies
were curious people who lived
in a retired
country of their own. They had
large, strong bodies, but heads
so small that they were no bigger
than door-knobs. Of course, such
tiny heads could not contain
any great amount of brains, and
the Whimsies were so ashamed
of their personal appearance
and lack of commonsense that
they wore big heads made of pasteboard,
which they fastened over their
own little heads. On these pasteboard
heads they sewed sheep's wool
for hair, and the wool was colored
many tints--pink, green and lavender
being the favorite colors. The
faces of these false heads were
painted in many ridiculous ways,
according to the whims of the
owners, and these big, burly
creatures looked so whimsical
and absurd in their queer masks
that they were called "Whimsies." They
foolishly imagined that no one
would suspect the little heads
that were inside the imitation
ones, not knowing that it is
folly to try to appear otherwise
than as nature has made us.
The Chief of the Whimsies had
as little wisdom as the others,
and had been chosen chief merely
because none among them was any
wiser or more capable of ruling.
The Whimsies were evil spirits
and could not be killed. They
were hated and feared by every
one and were known as terrible
fighters because they were so
strong and muscular and had not
sense enough to know when they
were defeated.
General Guph thought the Whimsies
would be a great help to the
Nomes in the conquest of Oz,
for under his leadership they
could be induced to fight as
long so they could stand up.
So he traveled to their country
and asked to see the Chief, who
lived in a house that had a picture
of his grotesque false head painted
over the doorway.
The Chief's false head had
blue hair, a turned-up nose,
and a mouth that stretched half
across the face. Big green eyes
had been painted upon it, but
in the center of the chin were
two small holes made in the pasteboard,
so that the Chief could see through
them with his own tiny eyes;
for when the big head was fastened
upon his shoulders the eyes in
his own natural head were on
a level with the false chin.
Said General Guph to the Chief
of the Whimsies:
"We Nomes are
going to conquer the Land of
Oz and capture our
King's Magic Belt, which the
Oz people stole from him. Then
we are going to plunder and destroy
the whole country. And we want
the Whimsies to help us."
"Will there be any fighting?" asked
the Chief.
"Plenty," replied
Guph.
That must have pleased the
Chief, for he got up and danced
around the room three times.
Then he seated himself again,
adjusted his false head, and
said:
"We have no
quarrel with Ozma of Oz."
"But you Whimsies love to fight,
and here is a splendid chance
to do so," urged Guph.
"Wait till I sing a song," said
the Chief. Then he lay back in
his chair and sang a foolish
song that did not seem to the
General to mean anything, although
he listened carefully. When he
had finished, the Chief Whimsie
looked at him through the holes
in his chin and asked:
"What reward
will you give us if we help
you?"
The General was prepared for
this question, for he had been
thinking the matter over on his
journey. People often do a good
deed without hope of reward,
but for an evil deed they always
demand payment.
"When we get our Magic Belt," he
made reply, "our King, Roquat
the Red, will use its power to
give every Whimsie a natural
head as big and fine as the false
head he now wears. Then you will
no longer be ashamed because
your big strong bodies have such
teenty-weenty heads."
"Oh! Will you do that?" asked
the Chief, eagerly.
"We surely will," promised
the General.
"I'll talk to my people," said
the Chief.
So he called a meeting of all
the Whimsies and told them of
the offer made by the Nomes.
The creatures were delighted
with the bargain, and at once
agreed to fight for the Nome
King and help him to conquer
Oz.
One Whimsie alone seemed to
have a glimmer of sense, for
he asked:
"Suppose we
fail to capture the Magic Belt?
What will happen
then, and what good will all
our fighting do?"
But they threw him into the
river for asking foolish questions,
and laughed when the water ruined
his pasteboard head before he
could swim out again.
So the compact was made and
General Guph was delighted with
his success in gaining such powerful
allies.
But there were other people,
too, just as important as the
Whimsies, whom the clever old
Nome had determined to win to
his side.
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