“When I was a private,” said Omby Amby, “I was an excellent army, as I fully proved in our war against the Nomes. But now there is not a single private left in our army, since Ozma made me the Captain General, so there is no one to fight and defend our lovely Ruler.”
“True,” said the Wizard. “The present army is composed only of officers, and the business of an officer is to order his men to fight. Since there are no men there can be no fighting.”
“Poor Ozma!” whispered Dorothy, with tears in her sweet eyes. “It’s dreadful to think of all her lovely fairy country being destroyed. I wonder if we couldn’t manage to escape and get back to Kansas by means of the Magic Belt? And we might take Ozma with us and all work hard to get money for her, so she wouldn’t be so VERY lonely and unhappy about the loss of her fairyland.”
“Do you think there would be any work for ME in Kansas?” asked the Tin Woodman.
“If you are hollow, they might use you in a canning factory,” suggested Uncle Henry. “But I can’t see the use of your working for a living. You never eat or sleep or need a new suit of clothes.”
“I was not thinking of myself,” replied the Emperor, with dignity. “I merely wondered if I could not help to support Dorothy and Ozma.”
As they indulged in these sad plans for the future they journeyed in sight of the Scarecrow’s new mansion, and even though filled with care and worry over the impending fate of Oz, Dorothy couldn’t help a feeling of wonder at the sight she saw.
The Scarecrow’s new house was shaped like an immense ear of corn. The rows of kernels were made of solid gold, and the green upon which the ear stood upright was a mass of sparkling emeralds. Upon the very top of the structure was perched a figure representing the Scarecrow himself, and upon his extended arms, as well as upon his head, were several crows carved out of ebony and having ruby eyes. You may imagine how big this ear of corn was when I tell you that a single gold kernel formed a window, swinging outward upon hinges, while a row of four kernels opened to make the front entrance. Inside there were five stories, each story being a single room.
The gardens around the mansion consisted of cornfields, and Dorothy acknowledged that the place was in all respects a very appropriate home for her good friend the Scarecrow.
“He would have been very happy here, I’m sure,” she said, “if only the Nome King had left us alone. But if Oz is destroyed of course this place will be destroyed too.”
“Yes,” replied the Tin Woodman, “and also my beautiful tin castle, that has been my joy and pride.”
“Jack Pumpkinhead’s house will go too,” remarked the Wizard, “as well as Professor Wogglebug’s Athletic College, and Ozma’s royal palace, and all our other handsome buildings.”
“Yes, Oz will indeed become a desert when the Nome King gets through with it,” sighed Omby Amby.
The Scarecrow came out to meet them and gave them all a hearty welcome.
“I hear you have decided always to live in the Land of Oz, after this,” he said to Dorothy; “and that will delight my heart, for I have greatly disliked our frequent partings. But why are you all so downcast?”
“Have you heard the news?” asked the Tin Woodman.
“No news to make me sad,” replied the Scarecrow.
Then Nick Chopper told his friend of the Nome King’s tunnel, and how the evil creatures of the North had allied themselves with the underground monarch for the purpose of conquering and destroying Oz. “Well,” said the Scarecrow, “it certainly looks bad for Ozma, and all of us. But I believe it is wrong to worry over anything before it happens. It is surely time enough to be sad when our country is despoiled and our people made slaves. So let us not deprive ourselves of the few happy hours remaining to us.”
“Ah! that is real wisdom,” declared the Shaggy Man, approvingly. “After we become really unhappy we shall regret these few hours that are left to us, unless we enjoy them to the utmost.”
“Nevertheless,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall go with you to the Emerald City and offer Ozma my services.”
“She says we can do nothing to oppose our enemies,” announced the Tin Woodman.
“And doubtless she is right, sir,” answered the Scarecrow. “Still, she will appreciate our sympathy, and it is the duty of Ozma’s friends to stand by her side when the final disaster occurs.”
He then led them into his queer mansion and showed them the beautiful rooms in all the five stories. The lower room was a grand reception hall, with a hand-organ in one corner. This instrument the Scarecrow, when alone, could turn to amuse himself, as he was very fond of music. The walls were hung with white silk, upon which flocks of black crows were embroidered in black diamonds. Some of the chairs were made in the shape of big crows and upholstered with cushions of corn-colored silk.
The second story contained a fine banquet room, where the Scarecrow might entertain his guests, and the three stories above that were bed-chambers exquisitely furnished and decorated.
“From these rooms,” said the Scarecrow, proudly, “one may obtain fine views of the surrounding cornfields. The corn I grow is always husky, and I call the ears my regiments, because they have so many kernels. Of course I cannot ride my cobs, but I really don’t care shucks about that. Taken altogether, my farm will stack up with any in the neighborhood.”
The visitors partook of some light refreshment and then hurried away to resume the road to the Emerald City. The Scarecrow found a seat in the wagon between Omby Amby and the Shaggy Man, and his weight did not add much to the load because he was stuffed with straw.
“You will notice I have one oat-field on my property,” he remarked, as they drove away. “Oat-straw is, I have found, the best of all straws to re-stuff myself with when my interior gets musty or out of shape.”
“Are you able to re-stuff yourself without help?” asked Aunt Em. “I should think that after the straw was taken out of you there wouldn’t be anything left but your clothes.”
“You are almost correct, madam,” he answered. “My servants do the stuffing, under my direction. For my head, in which are my excellent brains, is a bag tied at the bottom. My face is neatly painted upon one side of the bag, as you may see. My head does not need re-stuffing, as my body does, for all that it requires is to have the face touched up with fresh paint occasionally.”
It was not far from the Scarecrow’s mansion to the farm of Jack Pumpkinhead, and when they arrived there both Uncle Henry and Aunt Em were much impressed. The farm was one vast pumpkin field, and some of the pumpkins were of enormous size. In one of them, which had been neatly hollowed out, Jack himself lived, and he declared that it was a very comfortable residence. The reason he grew so many pumpkins was in order that he might change his head as often as it became wrinkled or threatened to spoil.
The pumpkin-headed man welcomed his visitors joyfully and offered them several delicious pumpkin pies to eat.
“I don’t indulge in pumpkin pies myself, for two reasons,” he said. “One reason is that were I to eat pumpkins I would become a cannibal, and the other reason is that I never eat, not being hollow inside.”
“Very good reasons,” agreed the Scarecrow.
They told Jack Pumpkinhead of the dreadful news about the Nome King, and he decided to go with them to the Emerald City and help comfort Ozma.
“I had expected to live here in ease and comfort for many centuries,” said Jack, dolefully; “but of course if the Nome King destroys everything in Oz I shall be destroyed too. Really, it seems too bad, doesn’t it?”
They were soon on their journey again, and so swiftly did the Sawhorse draw the wagon over the smooth roads that before twilight fell they had reached the royal palace in the Emerald City, and were at their journey’s end.
26. How Ozma Refused to Fight for Her Kingdom
Ozma was in her rose garden picking a bouquet when the party arrived, and she greeted all her old and new friends as smilingly and sweetly as ever.
Dorothy’s eyes were full of tears as she kissed the lovely Ruler of Oz, and she whispered to her:
“Oh, Ozma, Ozma! I’m SO sorry!”
Ozma seemed surprised.
“Sorry for what, Dorothy?” she asked.
“For all your trouble about the Nome King,” was the reply.
Ozma laughed with genuine amusement.
“Why, that has not troubled me a bit, dear Princess,” she replied. Then, looking around at the sad faces of her friends, she added: “Have you all been worrying about this tunnel?”
“We have!” they exclaimed in a chorus.
“Well, perhaps it is more serious than I imagined,” admitted the fair Ruler; “but I haven’t given the matter much thought. After dinner we will all meet together and talk it over.”
So they went to their rooms and prepared for dinner, and Dorothy dressed herself in her prettiest gown and put on her coronet, for she thought that this might be the last time she would ever appear as a Princess of Oz.
The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and Jack Pumpkinhead all sat at the dinner table, although none of them was made so he could eat. Usually they served to enliven the meal with their merry talk, but to-night all seemed strangely silent and uneasy.
As soon as the dinner was finished Ozma led the company to her own private room in which hung the Magic Picture. When they had seated themselves the Scarecrow was the first to speak.
“Is the Nome King’s tunnel finished, Ozma?” he asked.
“It was completed to-day,” she replied. “They have built it right under my palace grounds, and it ends in front of the Forbidden Fountain. Nothing but a crust of earth remains to separate our enemies from us, and when they march here, they will easily break through this crust and rush upon us.”
“Who will assist the Nome King?” inquired the Scarecrow.
“The Whimsies, the Growleywogs and the Phanfasms,” she replied. “I watched to-day in my Magic Picture the messengers whom the Nome King sent to all these people to summon them to assemble in his great caverns.”
“Let us see what they are doing now,” suggested the Tin Woodman.
So Ozma wished to see the Nome King’s cavern, and at once the landscape faded from the Magic Picture and was replaced by the scene then being enacted in the jeweled cavern of King Roquat.
A wild and startling scene it was which the Oz people beheld.
Before the Nome King stood the Chief of the Whimsies and the Grand Gallipoot of the Growleywogs, surrounded by their most skillful generals. Very fierce and powerful they looked, so that even the Nome King and General Guph, who stood beside his master, seemed a bit fearful in the presence of their allies.
Now a still more formidable creature entered the cavern. It was the First and Foremost of the Phanfasms and he proudly sat down in King Roquat’s own throne and demanded the right to lead his forces through the tunnel in advance of all the others. The First and Foremost now appeared to all eyes in his hairy skin and the bear’s head. What his real form was even Roquat did not know.
Through the arches leading into the vast series of caverns that lay beyond the throne room of King Roquat could be seen ranks upon ranks of the invaders–thousands of Phanfasms, Growleywogs and Whimsies standing in serried lines, while behind them were massed the thousands upon thousands of General Guph’s own army of Nomes.
“Listen!” whispered Ozma. “I think we can hear what they are saying.”
So they kept still and listened.
“Is all ready?” demanded the First and Foremost, haughtily.
“The tunnel is finally completed,” replied General Guph.
“How long will it take us to march to the Emerald City?” asked the Grand Gallipoot of the Growleywogs.
“If we start at midnight,” replied the Nome King, “we shall arrive at the Emerald City by daybreak. Then, while all the Oz people are sleeping, we will capture them and make them our slaves. After that we will destroy the city itself and march through the Land of Oz, burning and devastating as we go.”
“Good!” cried the First and Foremost. “When we get through with Oz it will be a desert wilderness. Ozma shall be my slave.”
“She shall be MY slave!” shouted the Grand Gallipoot, angrily.
“We’ll decide that by and by,” said King Roquat hastily. “Don’t let us quarrel now, friends. First let us conquer Oz, and then we will divide the spoils of war in a satisfactory manner.”
The First and Foremost smiled wickedly; but he only said:
“I and my Phanfasms go first, for nothing on earth can oppose our power.”
They all agreed to that, knowing the Phanfasms to be the mightiest of the combined forces. King Roquat now invited them to attend a banquet he had prepared, where they might occupy themselves in eating and drinking until midnight arrived.
As they had now seen and heard all of the plot against them that they cared to, Ozma allowed her Magic Picture to fade away. Then she turned to her friends and said:
“Our enemies will be here sooner than I expected. What do you advise me to do?”
“It is now too late to assemble our people,” said the Tin Woodman, despondently. “If you had allowed me to arm and drill my Winkies, we might have put up a good fight and destroyed many of our enemies before we were conquered.”
“The Munchkins are good fighters, too,” said Omby Amby; “and so are the Gillikins.”
“But I do not wish to fight,” declared Ozma, firmly. “No one has the right to destroy any living creatures, however evil they may be, or to hurt them or make them unhappy. I will not fight, even to save my kingdom.”
“The Nome King is not so particular,” remarked the Scarecrow. “He intends to destroy us all and ruin our beautiful country.”
“Because the Nome King intends to do evil is no excuse for my doing the same,” replied Ozma.
“Self-preservation is the first law of nature,” quoted the Shaggy Man.
“True,” she said, readily. “I would like to discover a plan to save ourselves without fighting.”
That seemed a hopeless task to them, but realizing that Ozma was determined not to fight, they tried to think of some means that might promise escape.
“Couldn’t we bribe our enemies, by giving them a lot of emeralds and gold?” asked Jack Pumpkinhead.
“No, because they believe they are able to take everything we have,” replied the Ruler.
“I have thought of something,” said Dorothy.
“What is it, dear?” asked Ozma.
“Let us use the Magic Belt to wish all of us in Kansas. We will put some emeralds in our pockets, and can sell them in Topeka for enough to pay off the mortgage on Uncle Henry’s farm. Then we can all live together and be happy.”
“A clever idea!” exclaimed the Scarecrow.
“Kansas is a very good country. I’ve been there,” said the Shaggy Man.
“That seems to me an excellent plan,” approved the Tin Woodman.
“No!” said Ozma, decidedly. “Never will I desert my people and leave them to so cruel a fate. I will use the Magic Belt to send the rest of you to Kansas, if you wish, but if my beloved country must be destroyed and my people enslaved I will remain and share their fate.”
“Quite right,” asserted the Scarecrow, sighing. “I will remain with you.”
“And so will I,” declared the Tin Woodman and the Shaggy Man and Jack Pumpkinhead, in turn. Tiktok, the machine man, also said he intended to stand by Ozma. “For,” said he, “I should be of no use at all in Kan-sas.”
“For my part,” announced Dorothy, gravely, “if the Ruler of Oz must not desert her people, a Princess of Oz has no right to run away, either. I’m willing to become a slave with the rest of you; so all we can do with the Magic Belt is to use it to send Uncle Henry and Aunt Em back to Kansas.”
“I’ve been a slave all my life,” Aunt Em replied, with considerable cheerfulness, “and so has Henry. I guess we won’t go back to Kansas, anyway. I’d rather take my chances with the rest of you.”
Ozma smiled upon them all gratefully.
“There is no need to despair just yet,” she said. “I’ll get up early to-morrow morning and be at the Forbidden Fountain when the fierce warriors break through the crust of the earth. I will speak to them pleasantly and perhaps they won’t be so very bad, after all.”
“Why do they call it the Forbidden Fountain?” asked Dorothy, thoughtfully.
“Don’t you know, dear?” returned Ozma, surprised.
“No,” said Dorothy. “Of course I’ve seen the fountain in the palace grounds, ever since I first came to Oz; and I’ve read the sign which says: ‘All Persons are Forbidden to Drink at this Fountain.’ But I never knew WHY they were forbidden. The water seems clear and sparkling and it bubbles up in a golden basin all the time.”
“That water,” declared Ozma, gravely, “is the most dangerous thing in all the Land of Oz. It is the Water of Oblivion.”
“What does that mean?” asked Dorothy.
“Whoever drinks at the Forbidden Fountain at once forgets everything he has ever known,” Ozma asserted.
“It wouldn’t be a bad way to forget our troubles,” suggested Uncle Henry.
“That is true; but you would forget everything else, and become as ignorant as a baby,” returned Ozma.
“Does it make one crazy?” asked Dorothy.
“No; it only makes one forget,” replied the girl Ruler. “It is said that once–long, long ago–a wicked King ruled Oz, and made himself and all his people very miserable and unhappy. So Glinda, the Good Sorceress, placed this fountain here, and the King drank of its water and forgot all his wickedness. His mind became innocent and vacant, and when he learned the things of life again they were all good things. But the people remembered how wicked their King had been, and were still afraid of him. Therefore, he made them all drink of the Water of Oblivion and forget everything they had known, so that they became as simple and innocent as their King. After that, they all grew wise together, and their wisdom was good, so that peace and happiness reigned in the land. But for fear some one might drink of the water again, and in an instant forget all he had learned, the King put that sign upon the fountain, where it has remained for many centuries up to this very day.”
They had all listened intently to Ozma’s story, and when she finished speaking there was a long period of silence while all thought upon the curious magical power of the Water of Oblivion.
Finally the Scarecrow’s painted face took on a broad smile that stretched the cloth as far as it would go.
“How thankful I am,” he said, “that I have such an excellent assortment of brains!”
“I gave you the best brains I ever mixed,” declared the Wizard, with an air of pride.
“You did, indeed!” agreed the Scarecrow, “and they work so splendidly that they have found a way to save Oz–to save us all!”
“I’m glad to hear that,” said the Wizard. “We never needed saving more than we do just now.”
“Do you mean to say you can save us from those awful Phanfasms, and Growleywogs and Whimsies?” asked Dorothy eagerly.
“I’m sure of it, my dear,” asserted the Scarecrow, still smiling genially.
“Tell us how!” cried the Tin Woodman.
“Not now,” said the Scarecrow. “You may all go to bed, and I advise you to forget your worries just as completely as if you had drunk of the Water of Oblivion in the Forbidden Fountain. I’m going to stay here and tell my plan to Ozma alone, but if you will all be at the Forbidden Fountain at daybreak, you’ll see how easily we will save the kingdom when our enemies break through the crust of earth and come from the tunnel.”
So they went away and let the Scarecrow and Ozma alone; but Dorothy could not sleep a wink all night.
“He is only a Scarecrow,” she said to herself, “and I’m not sure that his mixed brains are as clever as he thinks they are.”
But she knew that if the Scarecrow’s plan failed they were all lost; so she tried to have faith in him.
27. How the Fierce Warriors Invaded Oz
The Nome King and his terrible allies sat at the banquet table until midnight. There was much quarreling between the Growleywogs and Phanfasms, and one of the wee-headed Whimsies got angry at General Guph and choked him until he nearly stopped breathing. Yet no one was seriously hurt, and the Nome King felt much relieved when the clock struck twelve and they all sprang up and seized their weapons.
“Aha!” shouted the First and Foremost. “Now to conquer the Land of Oz!”
He marshaled his Phanfasms in battle array and at his word of command they marched into the tunnel and began the long journey through it to the Emerald City. The First and Foremost intended to take all the treasures of Oz for himself; to kill all who could be killed and enslave the rest; to destroy and lay waste the whole country, and afterward to conquer and enslave the Nomes, the Growleywogs and the Whimsies. And he knew his power was sufficient to enable him to do all these things easily.
Next marched into the tunnel the army of gigantic Growleywogs, with their Grand Gallipoot at their head. They were dreadful beings, indeed, and longed to get to Oz that they might begin to pilfer and destroy. The Grand Gallipoot was a little afraid of the First and Foremost, but had a cunning plan to murder or destroy that powerful being and secure the wealth of Oz for himself. Mighty little of the plunder would the Nome King get, thought the Grand Gallipoot.
The Chief of the Whimsies now marched his false-headed forces into the tunnel. In his wicked little head was a plot to destroy both the First and Foremost and the Grand Gallipoot. He intended to let them conquer Oz, since they insisted on going first; but he would afterward treacherously destroy them, as well as King Roquat, and keep all the slaves and treasure of Ozma’s kingdom for himself.
After all his dangerous allies had marched into the tunnel the Nome King and General Guph started to follow them, at the head of fifty thousand Nomes, all fully armed.
“Guph,” said the King, “those creatures ahead of us mean mischief. They intend to get everything for themselves and leave us nothing.”
“I know,” replied the General; “but they are not as clever as they think they are. When you get the Magic Belt you must at once wish the Whimsies and Growleywogs and Phanfasms all back into their own countries–and the Belt will surely take them there.”
“Good!” cried the King. “An excellent plan, Guph. I’ll do it. While they are conquering Oz I’ll get the Magic Belt, and then only the Nomes will remain to ravage the country.”
So you see there was only one thing that all were agreed upon–that Oz should be destroyed.
On, on, on the vast ranks of invaders marched, filling the tunnel from side to side. With a steady tramp, tramp, they advanced, every step taking them nearer to the beautiful Emerald City.
“Nothing can save the Land of Oz!” thought the First and Foremost, scowling until his bear face was as black as the tunnel.
“The Emerald City is as good as destroyed already!” muttered the Grand Gallipoot, shaking his war club fiercely.
“In a few hours Oz will be a desert!” said the Chief of the Whimsies, with an evil laugh.
“My dear Guph,” remarked the Nome King to his General, “at last my vengeance upon Ozma of Oz and her people is about to be accomplished.”
“You are right!” declared the General. “Ozma is surely lost.”
And now the First and Foremost, who was in advance and nearing the Emerald City, began to cough and to sneeze.
“This tunnel is terribly dusty,” he growled, angrily. “I’ll punish that Nome King for not having it swept clean. My throat and eyes are getting full of dust and I’m as thirsty as a fish!”
The Grand Gallipoot was coughing too, and his throat was parched and dry.
“What a dusty place!” he cried. “I’ll be glad when we reach Oz, where we can get a drink.”
“Who has any water?” asked the Whimsie Chief, gasping and choking. But none of his followers carried a drop of water, so he hastened on to get through the dusty tunnel to the Land of Oz.
“Where did all this dust come from?” demanded General Guph, trying hard to swallow but finding his throat so dry he couldn’t.
“I don’t know,” answered the Nome King. “I’ve been in the tunnel every day while it was being built, but I never noticed any dust before.”
“Let’s hurry!” cried the General. “I’d give half the gold in Oz for a drink of water.”
The dust grew thicker and thicker, and the throats and eyes and noses of the invaders were filled with it. But not one halted or turned back. They hurried forward more fierce and vengeful than ever.
28. How They Drank at the Forbidden Fountain
The Scarecrow had no need to sleep; neither had the Tin Woodman or Tiktok or Jack Pumpkinhead. So they all wandered out into the palace grounds and stood beside the sparkling water of the Forbidden Fountain until daybreak. During this time they indulged in occasional conversation.
“Nothing could make me forget what I know,” remarked the Scarecrow, gazing into the fountain, “for I cannot drink the Water of Oblivion or water of any kind. And I am glad that this is so, for I consider my wisdom unexcelled.”
“You are cer-tain-ly ve-ry wise,” agreed Tiktok. “For my part, I can on-ly think by ma-chin-er-y, so I do not pre-tend to know as much as you do.”
“My tin brains are very bright, but that is all I claim for them,” said Nick Chopper, modestly. “Yet I do not aspire to being very wise, for I have noticed that the happiest people are those who do not let their brains oppress them.”
“Mine never worry me,” Jack Pumpkinhead acknowledged. “There are many seeds of thought in my head, but they do not sprout easily. I am glad that it is so, for if I occupied my days in thinking I should have no time for anything else.”
In this cheery mood they passed the hours until the first golden streaks of dawn appeared in the sky. Then Ozma joined them, as fresh and lovely as ever and robed in one of her prettiest gowns.
“Our enemies have not yet arrived,” said the Scarecrow, after greeting affectionately the sweet and girlish Ruler.
“They will soon be here,” she said, “for I have just glanced at my Magic Picture, and have seen them coughing and choking with the dust in the tunnel.”
“Oh, is there dust in the tunnel?” asked the Tin Woodman.
“Yes; Ozma placed it there by means of the Magic Belt,” explained the Scarecrow, with one of his broad smiles.
Then Dorothy came to them, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em following close after her. The little girl’s eyes were heavy because she had had a sleepless and anxious night. Toto walked by her side, but the little dog’s spirits were very much subdued. Billina, who was always up by daybreak, was not long in joining the group by the fountain.
The Wizard and the Shaggy Man next arrived, and soon after appeared Omby Amby, dressed in his best uniform.
“There lies the tunnel,” said Ozma, pointing to a part of the ground just before the Forbidden Fountain, “and in a few moments the dreadful invaders will break through the earth and swarm over the land. Let us all stand on the other side of the Fountain and watch to see what happens.”
At once they followed her suggestion and moved around the fountain of the Water of Oblivion. There they stood silent and expectant until the earth beyond gave way with a sudden crash and up leaped the powerful form of the First and Foremost, followed by all his grim warriors.
As the leader sprang forward his gleaming eyes caught the play of the fountain and he rushed toward it and drank eagerly of the sparkling water. Many of the other Phanfasms drank, too, in order to clear their dry and dusty throats. Then they stood around and looked at one another with simple, wondering smiles.
The First and Foremost saw Ozma and her companions beyond the fountain, but instead of making an effort to capture her he merely stared at her in pleased admiration of her beauty–for he had forgotten where he was and why he had come there.
But now the Grand Gallipoot arrived, rushing from the tunnel with a hoarse cry of mingled rage and thirst. He too saw the fountain and hastened to drink of its forbidden waters. The other Growleywogs were not slow to follow suit, and even before they had finished drinking the Chief of the Whimsies and his people came to push them away, while they one and all cast off their false heads that they might slake their thirst at the fountain.
When the Nome King and General Guph arrived they both made a dash to drink, but the General was so mad with thirst that he knocked his King over, and while Roquat lay sprawling upon the ground the General drank heartily of the Water of Oblivion.
This rude act of his General made the Nome King so angry that for a moment he forgot he was thirsty and rose to his feet to glare upon the group of terrible warriors he had brought here to assist him. He saw Ozma and her people, too, and yelled out:
“Why don’t you capture them? Why don’t you conquer Oz, you idiots? Why do you stand there like a lot of dummies?”
But the great warriors had become like little children. They had forgotten all their enmity against Ozma and against Oz. They had even forgotten who they themselves were, or why they were in this strange and beautiful country. As for the Nome King, they did not recognize him, and wondered who he was.
The sun came up and sent its flood of silver rays to light the faces of the invaders. The frowns and scowls and evil looks were all gone. Even the most monstrous of the creatures there assembled smiled innocently and seemed light-hearted and content merely to be alive.
Not so with Roquat, the Nome King. He had not drunk from the Forbidden Fountain and all his former rage against Ozma and Dorothy now inflamed him as fiercely as ever. The sight of General Guph babbling like a happy child and playing with his hands in the cool waters of the fountain astonished and maddened Red Roquat. Seeing that his terrible allies and his own General refused to act, the Nome King turned to order his great army of Nomes to advance from the tunnel and seize the helpless Oz people.
But the Scarecrow suspected what was in the King’s mind and spoke a word to the Tin Woodman. Together they ran at Roquat and grabbing him up tossed him into the great basin of the fountain.
The Nome King’s body was round as a ball, and it bobbed up and down in the Water of Oblivion while he spluttered and screamed with fear lest he should drown. And when he cried out, his mouth filled with water, which ran down his throat, so that straightway he forgot all he had formerly known just as completely as had all the other invaders.
Ozma and Dorothy could not refrain from laughing to see their dreaded enemies become as harmless as babies. There was no danger now that Oz would be destroyed. The only question remaining to solve was how to get rid of this horde of intruders.
The Shaggy Man kindly pulled the Nome King out of the fountain and set him upon his thin legs. Roquat was dripping wet, but he chattered and laughed and wanted to drink more of the water. No thought of injuring any person was now in his mind.
Before he left the tunnel he had commanded his fifty thousand Nomes to remain there until he ordered them to advance, as he wished to give his allies time to conquer Oz before he appeared with his own army. Ozma did not wish all these Nomes to overrun her land, so she advanced to King Roquat and taking his hand in her own said gently:
“Who are you? What is your name?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, smiling at her. “Who are you, my dear?”
“My name is Ozma,” she said; “and your name is Roquat.”
“Oh, is it?” he replied, seeming pleased.
“Yes; you are King of the Nomes,” she said.
“Ah; I wonder what the Nomes are!” returned the King, as if puzzled.
“They are underground elves, and that tunnel over there is full of them,” she answered. “You have a beautiful cavern at the other end of the tunnel, so you must go to your Nomes and say: ‘March home!’ Then follow after them and in time you will reach the pretty cavern where you live.”
The Nome King was much pleased to learn this, for he had forgotten he had a cavern. So he went to the tunnel and said to his army: ‘March home!’ At once the Nomes turned and marched back through the tunnel, and the King followed after them, laughing with delight to find his orders so readily obeyed.
The Wizard went to General Guph, who was trying to count his fingers, and told him to follow the Nome King, who was his master. Guph meekly obeyed, and so all the Nomes quitted the Land of Oz forever.
But there were still the Phanfasms and Whimsies and Growleywogs standing around in groups, and they were so many that they filled the gardens and trampled upon the flowers and grass because they did not know that the tender plants would be injured by their clumsy feet. But in all other respects they were perfectly harmless and played together like children or gazed with pleasure upon the pretty sights of the royal gardens.
After counseling with the Scarecrow Ozma sent Omby Amby to the palace for the Magic Belt, and when the Captain General returned with it the Ruler of Oz at once clasped the precious Belt around her waist.
“I wish all these strange people–the Whimsies and the Growleywogs and the Phanfasms–safe back in their own homes!” she said.
It all happened in a twinkling, for of course the wish was no sooner spoken than it was granted.
All the hosts of the invaders were gone, and only the trampled grass showed that they had ever been in the Land of Oz.
29. How Glinda Worked a Magic Spell
“That was better than fighting,” said Ozma, when all our friends were assembled in the palace after the exciting events of the morning; and each and every one agreed with her.
“No one was hurt,” said the Wizard, delightedly.
“And no one hurt us,” added Aunt Em.
“But, best of all,” said Dorothy, “the wicked people have all forgotten their wickedness, and will not wish to hurt any one after this.”
“True, Princess,” declared the Shaggy Man. “It seems to me that to have reformed all those evil characters is more important than to have saved Oz.”
“Nevertheless,” remarked the Scarecrow, “I am glad Oz is saved. I can now go back to my new mansion and live happily.”
“And I am glad and grateful that my pumpkin farm is saved,” said Jack.
“For my part,” added the Tin Woodman, “I cannot express my joy that my lovely tin castle is not to be demolished by wicked enemies.”
“Still,” said Tiktok, “o-ther en-e-mies may come to Oz some day.”
“Why do you allow your clock-work brains to interrupt our joy?” asked Omby Amby, frowning at the machine man.
“I say what I am wound up to say,” answered Tiktok.
“And you are right,” declared Ozma. “I myself have been thinking of this very idea, and it seems to me there are entirely too many ways for people to get to the Land of Oz. We used to think the deadly desert that surrounds us was enough protection; but that is no longer the case. The Wizard and Dorothy have both come here through the air, and I am told the earth people have invented airships that can fly anywhere they wish them to go.”
“Why, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t,” asserted Dorothy.
“But in time the airships may cause us trouble,” continued Ozma, “for if the earth folk learn how to manage them we would be overrun with visitors who would ruin our lovely, secluded fairyland.”
“That is true enough,” agreed the Wizard.
“Also the desert fails to protect us in other ways,” Ozma went on, thoughtfully. “Johnny Dooit once made a sand-boat that sailed across it, and the Nome King made a tunnel under it. So I believe something ought to be done to cut us off from the rest of the world entirely, so that no one in the future will ever be able to intrude upon us.”
“How will you do that?” asked the Scarecrow.
“I do not know; but in some way I am sure it can be accomplished. To-morrow I will make a journey to the castle of Glinda the Good, and ask her advice.”
“May I go with you?” asked Dorothy, eagerly.
“Of course, my dear Princess; and I also invite any of our friends here who would like to undertake the journey.”
They all declared they wished to accompany their girl Ruler, for this was indeed an important mission, since the future of the Land of Oz to a great extent depended upon it. So Ozma gave orders to her servants to prepare for the journey on the morrow.
That day she watched her Magic Picture, and when it showed her that all the Nomes had returned through the tunnel to their underground caverns, Ozma used the Magic Belt to close up the tunnel, so that the earth underneath the desert sands became as solid as it was before the Nomes began to dig.
Early the following morning a gay cavalcade set out to visit the famous Sorceress, Glinda the Good. Ozma and Dorothy rode in a chariot drawn by the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, while the Sawhorse drew the red wagon in which rode the rest of the party.
With hearts light and free from care they traveled merrily along through the lovely and fascinating Land of Oz, and in good season reached the stately castle in which resided the Sorceress.
Glinda knew that they were coming.
“I have been reading about you in my Magic Book,” she said, as she greeted them in her gracious way.
“What is your Magic Book like?” inquired Aunt Em, curiously.
“It is a record of everything that happens,” replied the Sorceress. “As soon as an event takes place, anywhere in the world, it is immediately found printed in my Magic Book. So when I read its pages I am well informed.”
“Did it tell you how our enemies drank the Water of ‘Blivion?” asked Dorothy.
“Yes, my dear; it told all about it. And also it told me you were all coming to my castle, and why.”
“Then,” said Ozma, “I suppose you know what is in my mind, and that I am seeking a way to prevent any one in the future from discovering the Land of Oz.”
“Yes; I know that. And while you were on your journey I have thought of a way to accomplish your desire. For it seems to me unwise to allow too many outside people to come here. Dorothy, with her uncle and aunt, has now returned to Oz to live always, and there is no reason why we should leave any way open for others to travel uninvited to our fairyland. Let us make it impossible for any one ever to communicate with us in any way, after this. Then we may live peacefully and contentedly.”
“Your advice is wise,” returned Ozma. “I thank you, Glinda, for your promise to assist me.”
“But how can you do it?” asked Dorothy. “How can you keep every one from ever finding Oz?”
“By making our country invisible to all eyes but our own,” replied the Sorceress, smiling. “I have a magic charm powerful enough to accomplish that wonderful feat, and now that we have been warned of our danger by the Nome King’s invasion, I believe we must not hesitate to separate ourselves forever from all the rest of the world.”
“I agree with you,” said the Ruler of Oz.
“Won’t it make any difference to us?” asked Dorothy, doubtfully.
“No, my dear,” Glinda answered, assuringly. “We shall still be able to see each other and everything in the Land of Oz. It won’t affect us at all; but those who fly through the air over our country will look down and see nothing at all. Those who come to the edge of the desert, or try to cross it, will catch no glimpse of Oz, or know in what direction it lies. No one will try to tunnel to us again because we cannot be seen and therefore cannot be found. In other words, the Land of Oz will entirely disappear from the knowledge of the rest of the world.”
“That’s all right,” said Dorothy, cheerfully. “You may make Oz invis’ble as soon as you please, for all I care.”
“It is already invisible,” Glinda stated. “I knew Ozma’s wishes, and performed the Magic Spell before you arrived.”
Ozma seized the hand of the Sorceress and pressed it gratefully.
“Thank you!” she said.
30. How the Story of Oz Came to an End
The writer of these Oz stories has received a little note from Princess Dorothy of Oz which, for a time, has made him feel rather disconcerted. The note was written on a broad, white feather from a stork’s wing, and it said:
“YOU WILL NEVER HEAR ANYTHING MORE ABOUT OZ, BECAUSE WE ARE NOW CUT OFF FOREVER FROM ALL THE REST OF THE WORLD. BUT TOTO AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU AND ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN WHO LOVE US.
“DOROTHY GALE.”
This seemed to me too bad, at first, for Oz is a very interesting fairyland. Still, we have no right to feel grieved, for we have had enough of the history of the Land of Oz to fill six story books, and from its quaint people and their strange adventures we have been able to learn many useful and amusing things.
So good luck to little Dorothy and her companions. May they live long in their invisible country and be very happy!