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TITLE CONfGRlKiD LV CM.
SAN i RAWCISCO,
Imagination is at the bottom of
all the World 9 s Advancement
DEVELOP your child s imagination with the wonders
of a Fairyland that has a message to grown-ups as well.
No living writer of children s tales today talks to a larger or
more enthusiastic audience than does L. Frank Baum
"The Wizard of Oz Man"
PERHAPS your boy or girl has already had one of the Oz
Books. Then you don t need to be told the intense
pleasure children find in these delightful tales. Go to your
bookseller when next you have a present to select, and ask to
see the Oz Books. They will make you wish you were a
youngster again yourself. Read one of them at the bedtime
hour you will enjoy it as much as the kiddies do.
The Famous Oz Books
The Land of Oz
Ozma of Oz_i^
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
The Road to Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
fik-Tok of Oz
The Scarecrow of Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Tin Woodman of Oz
The Magic of Oz
Glinda of Oz
Big books, 7x9* inches, each with 100 or more illus
trations, 12 in full color. Each volume with some
distinctive bookmaking feature. Gay picture jackets.
THE LOST PRINCESS
OF OZ
BY
L. FRANK BAUM
AUTHOR OF
The Road to Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The
Emerald City of Oz, The Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz,
The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Tik-Tok of
Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz,
Rinkitink in Oz
ILLUSTRATED BY
JOHN R. NEILL
The Reilly & Britton Co.
Chicago
Made in U. S. A.
W
This Book is Dedicated
To My Granddaughter
OZMA BAUM
TO MY READERS
Some of my youthful readers are developing won
derful imaginations. This pleases me. Imagination
has brought mankind through the Dark Ages
to its present state of civilization. Imagination
led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led
Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has
given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-
machine and the automobile, for these things had to
be dreamed of before they became realities. So I
believe that dreams day dreams, you know, with
your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery
whizzing are likely to lead to the betterment of the
world. The imaginative child will become the imagi
native man or woman most apt to create, to invent,
and therefore to foster civilization. A prominent
educator tells me that fairy tales are of untold value
in developing imagination in the young. I believe it.
Among the letters I receive from children are many
containing suggestions of "what to write about in
the next Oz Book." Some of the ideas advanced are
mighty interesting, while others are too extravagant
to be seriously considered even in a fairy tale. Yet
I like them all, and I must admit that the main idea
in " The Lost Princess of Oz " was suggested to me by
a sweet little girl of eleven who called to see me and
to talk about the Land of Oz. Said she: "I s pose
if Ozma ever got lost, or stolen, everybody in Oz would
be dreadful sorry."
That was all, but quite enough foundation to build
this present story on. If you happen to like the story,
give credit to my little friend s clever hint. And, by
the way, don t hesitate to write me your own hints
and suggestions, such as result from your own day
dreams. They will be sure to interest me, even if I
cannot use them in a story, and the very fact that
you have dreamed at all will give me pleasure and
do you good. For, after all, dear reader, these stories
of Oz are just yours and mine, and we are partners.
As long as you care to read them I shall try to write
them, and I ve an idea that the next one will relate
some startling adventures of the "Tin Woodman of
Oz " and his comrades.
L. FRANK BAUM,
Royal Historian of Oz.
" OZCOT"
at HOLLYWOOD
in CALIFORNIA
1917.
-
1 A Terrible Loss 17
2 The Troubles of Glinda the Good . 30
3 The Robbery of Cayke the Cookie
Cook 38
4 Among the Winkies 57
5 Ozma s Friends are Perplexed 64
6 The Search Party 73
7 The Merry-Go-Round Mountains 89
8 The Mysterious City 104
9 The High Coco-Lorum of Thi 120
10 Toto Loses Something 137
11 Button-Bright Loses Himself 146
12 The Czarover of Herku 157
13 The Truth Pond 173
14 The Unhappy Ferryman 184
15 The Big Lavender Bear 194
16 The Little Pink Bear . . . 202
17 The Meeting 216
18 The Conference 230
19 Ugu the Shoemaker 237
20 Surprises 245
21 Magic Against Magic 256
22 In the Wicker Castle 265
23 The Defiance of Ugu the Shoemaker 280
24 The Little Pink Bear Speaks Truly 289
25 Ozma of Oz 295
26 Dorothy Forgives 303
A Terrible Loss
completely
There could be no
doubt of the fact:
Princess Ozma, the
lovely girl ruler of
the Fairyland of Oz, was lost. She
disappeared. Not one of her subjects: 7 ;Kot ; ^ye.n Jier
closest friends knew what had become of lier.
It was Dorothy who first discovered it. Dorothy
was a little Kansas girl who had come to the Land of
Oz to live and had been given a delightful suite of
rooms in Ozma s royal palace, just because Ozma loved
17
The Lost Princess of Oz
Dorothy and wanted her to live as near her as possible,
so the two girls might be much together.
Dorothy was not the only girl from the outside
w r orld who had been welcomed to Oz and lived in the
royal palace. There w r as another named Betsy
Bobbin, whose adventures had led her to seek refuge
with Ozma, and still another named Trot, who had
been invited, together with her faithful companion,
Cap n Bill, to make her home in this wonderful fairy
land. The three girls all had rooms in the palace
and were great chums; but Dorothy was the dearest
friend of their gracious Ruler and only she at any
hour dared to seek Ozma in her royal apartments.
For Dorothy had lived in Oz much longer than the
other girls and had been made a Princess of the
realm.
Betsy was a year older than Dorothy and Trot
was a year younger, yet the three were near enough
of air age to become great playmates and to have nice
times together. It was while the three were talking
together one morning in Dorothy s room that Betsy
proposed they make a journey into the Munchkin
Country, which was one of the four great countries
of the Land of Oz ruled by Ozma.
"I ve never been there yet," said Betsy Bobbin,
18
The Lost Princess of Oz
" but the Scarecrow once told me it is the prettiest
country in all Oz."
" I d like to go, too/ added Trot.
" All right," said Dorothy, " I ll go and ask Ozma,
Perhaps she will let us take the Sawhorse and the
Bed Wagon, which would be much nicer for us than
having to walk all the way. This Land of Oz is a
pretty big place, when you get to all the edges of it."
So she jumped up and went along the halls of
the splendid palace until she came to the royal suite,
which filled all the front of the second floor. In a
little waiting room sat Ozma s maid, Jellia Jamb, who
was busily sewing.
"Is Ozma up yet?" inquired Dorothy.
" I don t know, my dear," replied Jellia, " I haven t
heard a word from her this morning. She hasn t
even called for her bath or her breakfast, and it is
far past her usual time for them."
"That s strange!" exclaimed the little girl.
"Yes," agreed the maid; "but of course no harm
could have happened to her. No one can die or be
killed in the Land of Oz and Ozma is herself a power
ful fairy, and she has no enemies, so far as we know.
Therefore I am not at all worried about her, though
I must admit her silence is unusual."
20
Chapter One
" Perhaps/ said Dorothy, thoughtfully, " she has
overslept. Or she may be reading, or working out
some new sort of magic to do good to her people."
"Any of these things may be true/ replied Jellia
Jamb, " so I haven t dared disturb our roj^al mistress.
You, however, are a privileged character, Princess,
and I am sure that Ozma wouldn t mind at all if you
went in to see her."
" Of course not," said Dorothy, and opening the
door of the outer chamber she went in. All was
still here. She walked into another room, which was
Ozma s boudoir, and then, pushing back a heavy
drapery richly broidered with threads of pure gold,
the girl entered the sleeping-room of the fairy Ruler
of Oz. The bed of ivory and gold was vacant; the
room was vacant; not a trace of Ozma was to be found.
Very much surprised, yet still with no fear that
anything had happened to her friend, Dorothy
returned through the boudoir to the other rooms of
the suite. She went into the music room, the library,
the laboratory, the bath, the wardrobe and even into
the great throne room, which adjoined the royal suite,
but in none of these places could she find Ozma.
So she returned to the anteroom where she had
left the maid, Jellia Jamb, and said:
21
The Lost Princess of Oz
" She isn t in her rooms now, so she must have
gone out"
" I don t understand how she could do that without
my seeing her," replied Jellia, " unless she made her
self invisible."
" She isn t there, anyhow," declared Dorothy.
" Then let us go find her," suggested the maid, who
appeared to be a little uneasy.
So they went into the corridors and there Dorothy
almost stumbled over a queer girl who was dancing
lightly along the passage.
"Stop a minute, Scraps!" she called. "Have you
seen Ozma this morning?
" Not I! w replied the queer girl, dancing nearer.
"I lost both my eyes in a tussle with the Woozy,
last night, for the creature scraped em both off my
face with his square paws. So I put the eyes in my
pocket and this morning Button-Bright led me to
Aunt Em, who sewed em on again. So I ve seen
nothing at all to-day, except during the last five
minutes. So of course I haven t seen Ozma."
" Very well, Scraps," said Dorothy, looking curi
ously at the eyes, which were merely two round
black buttons sewed upon the girl s face.
There were other things about Scraps that would
22
The Lost Princess of Oz
have seemed curious to one seeing her for the first
time. She was commonly called "The Patchwork
Girl/ because her body and limbs were made from
a gay-colored patchwork quilt which had been cut
into shape and stuffed with cotton. Her head was
a round ball stuffed in the same manner and fastened
to her shoulders. For hair she had a mass of brown
yarn and to make a nose for her a part of the cloth
had been pulled out into the shape of a knob and
tied with a string to hold it in place. Her mouth had
been carefully made by cutting a slit in the proper
place and lining it with red silk, adding two rows
of pearls for teeth and a bit of red flannel for a
tongue.
In spite of this queer make-up, the Patchwork Girl
was magically alive and had proved herself not the
least jolly and agreeable of the many quaint charac
ters who inhabit the astonishing Fairyland of Oz.
Indeed, Scraps was a general favorite, although she
was rather flighty and erratic and did and said many
things that surprised her friends. She was seldom
still, but loved to dance, to turn handsprings and
somersaults, to climb trees and to indulge in many
other active sports.
" I m going to search for Ozma," remarked Dorothy,
24
The Lost Princess of Oz
"for she isn t in her rooms and I want to ask her
a question."
" I ll go with you," said Scraps, " for my eyes are
brighter than yours and they can see farther."
"I m not sure of that," returned Dorothy. "But
come along, if you like."
Together they searched all through the great palace
and even to the farthest limits of the palace grounds,
which were quite extensive, but nowhere could they
find a trace of Ozma. When Dorothy returned to
where Betsy and Trot awaited her, the little girl s
face was rather solemn and troubled, for never before
had Ozma gone away without telling her friends
where she was going, or without an escort that befitted
her royal state.
She was gone, however, and none had seen her go.
Dorothy had met and questioned the Scarecrow, Tik-
Tok, the Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, Cap n Bill, and
even the wise and powerful Wizard of Oz, but not
one of them had seen Ozma since she parted with
her friends the evening before and had gone to her
own rooms.
" She didn t say anything las night about going
anywhere," observed little Trot.
"No, and that s the strange part of it," replied
26
The Lost Princess of Oz
Dorothy. " Usually Ozma lets us know of everything
she does."
"Why not look in the Magic Picture?" suggested
Betsy Bobbin. "That will tell us where she is, in
just one second."
" Of course! " cried Dorothy. " Why didn t I think
of that before?" and at once the three girls hurried
away to Ozma s boudoir, where the Magic Picture
always hung.
This wonderful Magic Picture was one of the royal
Ozma s greatest treasures. There was a large gold
frame, in the center of which was a bluish-gray canvas
on which various scenes constantly appeared and
disappeared. If one who stood before it wished to
see what any person - - anywhere in the world was
doing, it was only necessary to make the wish and
the scene in the Magic Picture would shift to the
scene where that person was and show exactly what
he or she was then engaged in doing. So the girls
knew it would be easy for them to wish to see Ozma,
and from the picture they could quickly learn where
she was.
Dorothy advanced to the place where the picture
was usually protected by thick satin curtains, and
pulled the draperies aside. Then she stared in amaze-
28
Chapter One
ment, while her two friends uttered exclamations of
disappointment.
The Magic Picture was gone. Only a blank space
on the wall behind the curtains showed where it had
formerly hung.
29
The Troubles of Glinda the Good
That same morn
ing there was great
excitement in the
castle of the pow
erful Sorceress of Oz, Glinda the Good. This castle,
situated in the Quadling Country, far south of the
Emerald City where Ozma ruled, was a splendid
structure of exquisite marbles and silver grilles.
Here the Sorceress lived, surrounded by a bevy of
the most beautiful maidens of Oz, gathered from all
the four countries of that fairyland as well as from
30
Chapter Two
the magnificent Emerald City itself, which stood in
the place where the four countries cornered.
It was considered a great honor to be allowed to
serve the good Sorceress, whose arts of magic were
used only to benefit the Oz people. Glinda was Ozma s
most valued servant, for her knowledge of sorcery was
wonderful and she could accomplish almost anything
that her mistress, the lovely girl Ruler of Oz, wished
her to.
Of all the magical things which surrounded Glinda
in her castle there was none more marvelous than her
Great Book of Records. On the pages of this Record
Book were constantly being inscribed day by day
and hour by hour --all the important events that
happened anywhere in the known world, and they
were inscribed in the book at exactly the moment
the events happened. Every adventure in the Land
of Oz and in the big outside world, and even in^
places that you and I have never heard of, were??
I
recorded accurately in the Great Book, which nevef
made a mistake and stated only the exact truth. For
that reason nothing could be concealed from Glinda
the Good, who had only to look at the pages of the
Great Book of Records to know everything that had
taken place. That was one reason she was such a
31
The Lost Princess of Oz
great Sorceress, for the records made her wiser than
any other living person.
This wonderful book was placed upon a big gold
table that stood in the middle of Glinda s drawing-
room. The legs of the table, which were incrusted
with precious gems, were firmly fastened to the tiled
floor and the book itself was chained to the table
and locked with six stout golden padlocks, the keys
to which Glinda carried on a chain that was secured
around her own neck.
The pages of the Great Book were larger in size
than those of an American newspaper and although
they were exceedingly thin there were so many of
them that they made an enormous, bulky volume.
With its gold cover and gold clasps the book was
so heavy that three men could scarcely have lifted
it. Yet this morning, when Glinda entered her
drawing-room after breakfast, with all her maidens
trailing after her, the good Sorceress was amazed to
discover that her Great Book of Records had mys
teriously disappeared.
Advancing to the table, she found the chains had
been cut with some sharp instrument, and this must
have been done while all in the castle slept. Glinda
was shocked and grieved. Who could have done this
32
The Lost Princess of Oz
wicked, bold thing? And who could wish to deprive
her of her Great Book of Records?
The Sorceress was thoughtful for a time, consid
ering the consequences of her loss. Then she went
to her Room of Magic to prepare a charm that would
tell her who had stolen the Record Book. But, when
she unlocked her cupboards and threw open the doors,
all of her magical instruments and rare chemical
compounds had been removed from the shelves.
The Sorceress was now both angry and alarmed.
She sat down in a chair and tried to think how this
extraordinary robbery could have taken place. It was
evident that the thief was some person of very great
power, or the theft could never have been accom
plished without her knowledge. But who, in all the
Land of Oz, was powerful and skillful enough to do
this awful thing? And who, having the power, could
also have an object in defying the wisest and most
talented Sorceress the world has ever known?
Glinda thought over the perplexing matter for a
full hour, at the end of which time she was still
puzzled how to explain it. But although her instru^
ments and chemicals were gone her knowledge of
magic had not been stolen, by any means, since no
thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge,
34
The Lost Princess of Oz
and that is why knowledge is the best and safest
treasure to acquire. Glinda believed that when she
had time to gather more magical herbs and elixirs
and to manufacture more magical instruments she
would be able to discover who the robber was, and
what had become of her precious Book of Records.
" Whoever has done this/ she said to her maidens,
" is a very foolish person, for in time he is sure to
be found out and will then be severely punished."
She now made a list of the things she needed and
dispatched messengers to every part of Oz with
instructions to obtain them and bring them to her
as soon as possible. And one of her messengers met
the little Wizard of Oz, who was mounted on the back
of the famous live Sawhorse and was clinging to its
neck with both his arms; for the Sawhorse was speed
ing to Glinda s castle with the velocity of the wind,
bearing the news that Royal Ozma, Ruler of all the
great Land of Oz, had suddenly disappeared and no
one in the Emerald City knew what had become of her.
"Also," said the Wizard, as he stood before the
astonished Sorceress, " Ozma s Magic Picture is gone,
so we cannot consult it to discover where she is. So
I came to you for assistance as soon as we realized
our loss. Let us look in the Great Book of Records."
36
Chapter Two
"Alas," returned the Sorceress sorrowfully, "we
cannot do that, for the Great Book of Records has
also disappeared!"
37
Robbery of Cayke the Cookie Cook
One more impor
tant theft was re
ported in the Land
of Oz that eventful
morning, but it took place so far from either the
Emerald City or the castle of Glinda the </ood that
none of those persons we have mentioned learned
of the robbery until long afterward.
In the far southwestern corner of the Winkie
Country is a broad tableland that can be reached
only by climbing a steep hill, whichever side one
38
Chapter Three
approaches it. On the hillside surrounding this table
land are no paths at all, but there are quantities
of bramble-bushes with sharp prickers on them, which
prevent any of the Oz people who live down below
from climbing up to see what is on top. But on top
live the Yips, and although the space they occupy
is not great in extent the wee country is all their
own. The Yips had never up to the time this story
begins left their broad tableland to go down into
the Land of Oz, nor had the Oz people ever climbed
up to the country of the Yips.
Living all alone as they did, the Yips had queer
ways and notions of their own and did not resemble
any other people of the Land of Oz. Their houses
were scattered all over the flat surface; not like a
city, grouped together, but set w 7 herever their owners 7
fancy dictated, with fields here, trees there, and odd
little paths connecting the houses one with another.
It was here, on the morning when Ozma so strangely
disappeared from the Emerald City, that Cayke the
Cookie Cook discovered that her diamond-studded
gold dishpan had been stolen, and she raised such
a hue-and-cry over her loss and wailed and shrieked
so loudly that many of the Yips gathered around her
house to inquire what was the matter.
39
The Lost Princess of Oz
It was a serious thing, in any part of the Land of
Oz, to accuse one of stealing, so when the Yips heard
Cayke the Cookie Cook declare that her jeweled dish-
pan had been stolen they were both humiliated and
disturbed and forced Cayke to go with them to the
Frogman to see what could be done about it.
I do not suppose you have ever before heard of the
Frogman, for like all other dwellers on that tableland
he had never been away from it, nor had anyone
come up there to see him. The Frogman was, in
truth, descended from the common frogs of Oz, and
when he was first born he lived in a pool in the
Winkie Country and was much like any other frog.
Being of an adventurous nature, however, he soon
hopped out of his pool and began to travel, when
a big bird came along and seized him in its beak and
started to fly away with him to its nest. When high
in the air the frog wriggled so frantically that he
got loose and fell down down down into a small
hidden pool on the tableland of the Yips. Now this
pool, it seems, was unknown to the Yips because it
was surrounded by thick bushes and was not near
to any dwelling, and it proved to be an enchanted
pool, for the frog grew very fast and very big, feeding
on the magic skosh which is found nowhere else on
40
fhe Lost Princess of Oz
earth except in that one pool. And the skotih not
only made the frog very big, so that when he stood
on his hind legs he was tall as any Yip in the country,
but it made him unusually intelligent, so that he soon
knew more than the Yips did and was able to reason
and to argue very well indeed.
No one could expect a frog with these talents to
remain in a hidden pool, so he finally got out of it
and mingled with the people of the tableland, who
were amazed at his appearance and greatly impressed
by his learning. They had never seen a frog before
and the frog had never seen a Yip before, but as
there were plenty of Yips and only one frog, the
frog became the most important. He did not hop
any more, but stood upright on his hind legs and
dressed himself in fine clothes and sat in chairs and
did all the things that people do; so he soon came
to be called the Frogman, and that is the only name
he has ever had.
After some years had passed the people came to
regard the Frogman as their adviser in all matters
that puzzled them. They brought all their difficulties
to him and when he did not know anything he pre
tended to know it, which seemed to answer just as
well. Indeed, the Yips thought the Frogman was
42
Chapter Three
much wiser than he really was, and he allowed them
to think so, being very proud of his position of
authority.
There was another pool on the tableland, which
was not enchanted but contained good clear water
and was located close to the dwellings. Here the
people built the Frogman a house of his own, close
to the edge of the pool, so that he could take a bath
or a i ,wim whenever he wished. He usually swam in
the pool in the early morning, before anyone else \vas
up, and during the day he dressed himself in his
beautiful clothes and sat in his house and received
the visits of all the Yips who came to him to ask
his advice.
The Frogman s usual costume consisted of knee-
breeches made of yellow satin plush, with trimmings
of gold braid and jeweled knee-buckles; a white satin
vest with silver buttons in which were set solitaire
rubies; a swallow-tailed coat of bright yellow; green
stockings and red leather shoes turned up at the toes
and having diamond buckles. He wore, when he
walked out, a purple silk hat and carried a gold-
headed cane. Over his eyes he wore great spectacles
with gold rims, not because his eyes were bad but
because the spectacles made him look wise, and so
43
The Lost Princess of Oz
distinguished and gorgeous was his appearance that
all the Yips were very proud of him.
There was no King or Queen in the Yip Country,
so the simple inhabitants naturally came to look upon
the Frogman as their leader as well as their counselor
in all times of emergency. In his heart the big frog
knew he was no wiser than the Yips, but for a frog
to know as much as a person was quite remarkable,
and the Frogman was shrewd enough to make the
people believe he was far more wise than he really
was. They never suspected he was a humbug, but
listened to his words with great respect and did just
what he advised them to do.
Now, when Cayke the Cookie Cook raised such an
outcry over the theft of her diamond-studded dishpan,
the first thought of the people was to take her to
the Frogman and inform him of the loss, thinking
that of course he could tell her where to find it.
He listened to the story with his big eyes wide open
behind his spectacles, and said in his deep, croaking
voice:
"If the dishpan is stolen, somebody must have
taken it."
"But who? 5 asked Cayke, anxiously. "Who is
the thief?"
44
Chapter Three
" The one who took the dishpan, of course," replied
the Frogman, and hearing this all the Yips nodded
their heads gravely and said to one another:
"It is absolutely true! 3
"But I want my dishpan!" cried Oayke.
"No one can blame you for that wish," remarked
the Frogman.
" Then tell me where I may find it," she urged.
The look the Frogman gave her was a very wise
look and he rose from his chair and strutted up and
down the room with his hands under his coat-tails,
in a very pompous and imposing manner. This was
the first time so difficult a matter had been brought
to him and he wanted time to think. It would never
do to let them suspect his ignorance and so he thought
very, very hard how best to answer the woman with
out betraying himself.
" I beg to inform you," said he, " that nothing in
the Yip Country has ever been stolen before."
"We know that, already," answered Cayke the
Cookie Cook, impatiently.
"Therefore," continued the Frogman, "this theft
becomes a very important matter."
"Well, where is my dishpan?" demanded the
woman.
45
fhe Lost Princess of Oz
"It is lost; but it must be found. Unfortunately,
we have no policemen or detectives to unravel the
mystery, so we must employ other means to regain
the lost article. Cayke must first write a Proclama
tion and tack it to the door of her house, and the
Proclamation must read that whoever stole the jew
eled dishpan must return it at once."
" But suppose no one returns it," suggested Cayke.
"Then," said the Frogman, "that very fact will
be proof that no one has stolen it."
Cayke was not satisfied, but the other Yips seemed
to approve the plan highly. They all advised her
to do as the Frogman had told her to, so she posted
the sign on her door and waited patiently for someone
to return the dishpan - - which no one ever did.
Again she went, accompanied by a group of her
neighbors, to the Frogman, who by this time had
given the matter considerable thought. Said he to
Cayke:
" I am now convinced that no Tip has taken your
dishpan, and, since it is gone from the Yip Country,
I suspect that some stranger came from the world
down below us, in the darkness of night when all of
us were asleep, and took away your treasure. There
can be no other explanation of its disappearance. So,
46
The Lost Princess of Oz
if you wish to recover that golden, diamond-studded
dishpan, you must go into the lower world after it."
This was indeed a startling proposition. Cayke and
her friends went to the edge of the flat tableland
and looked down the steep hillside to the plains below.
It was so far to the bottom of the hill that nothing
there could be seen very distinctly and it seemed to
the Yips very venturesome, if not dangerous, to go
so far from home into an unknown land.
However, Cayke wanted her dishpan very badly,
so she turned to her friends and asked:
"Who will go with me?"
No one answered this question, but after a period
of silence one of the Yips said:
"We know what is here, on the top of this flat
hill, and it seems to us a very pleasant place; but
what is down below we do not know. The chances
are it is not so pleasant, so we had best stay where
we are."
" It may be a far better country than this is,"
suggested the Cookie Cook.
" Maybe, maybe," responded another Yip, " but why
take chances? Contentment with one s lot is true
wisdom. Perhaps, in some other country, there are
better cookies than you cook; but as we have always
48
Chapter Three
eaten your cookies, and liked them except when
they are burned on the bottom we do not long for
any better ones."
Cayke might have agreed to this argument had
she not been so anxious to find her precious dishpan,
but now she exclaimed impatiently:
"You are cowards all of you! If none of you
are willing to explore with me the great world beyond
this small hill, I will surely go alone."
" That is a wise resolve," declared the Yips, much
relieved. "It is your dishpan that is lost, not ours;
and, if you are willing to risk your life and liberty
to regain it, no one can deny you the privilege."
While they were thus conversing the Frogman
joined them and looked down at the plain with his
big eyes and seemed unusually thoughtful. In fact,
the Frogman was thinking that he d like to see more
of the world. Here in the Yip Country he had become
the most important creature of them all and his
importance was getting to be a little tame. It would
be nice to have other people defer to him and ask
his advice and there seemed no reason, so far as he
could see, why his fame should not spread throughout
all Oz.
He knew nothing of the rest of tHe world, but it
49
The Lost Princess of Oz
was reasonable to believe that there were more people
beyond the mountain where he now lived than there
were Yips, and if he went among them he could sur
prise them with his display of wisdom and make
them bow down to him as the Yips did. In other
words, the Frogman was ambitious to become still
greater than he was, which was impossible if he
always remained upon this mountain. He wanted
others to see his gorgeous clothes and listen to his
solemn sayings, and here was an excuse for him to
get away from the Yip Country. So he said to Cayke
the Cookie Cook:
"I will go with you, my good woman," which
greatly pleased Cayke because she felt the Frogman
could be of much assistance to her in her search.
But now, since the mighty Frogman had decided
to undertake the journey, several of the Yips who
were young and daring at once made up their minds
to go along; so the next morning after breakfast the
Frogman and Cayke the Cookie Cook and nine of the
Yips started to slide down the side of the mountain.
The bramble bushes and cactus plants were very
prickly and uncomfortable to the touch, so the
Frogman commanded the Yips to go first and break
a path, so that when he followed them he would
50
Chapter Three
not tear his splendid clothes. Cayke, too, was wearing
her best dress, and was likewise afraid of the thorns
and prickers, so she kept behind the Frogman.
They made rather slow progress and night overtook
them before they were halfway down the mountain
side, so they found a cave in which they sought shelter
until morning. Cayke had brought along a basket
full of her famous cookies, so they all had plenty
to eat.
On the second day the Yips began to wish they had
not embarked on this adventure. They grumbled a
good deal at having to cut away the thorns to make the
path for the Frogman and the Cookie Cook, for their
own clothing suffered many tears, while Cayke and
the Frogman traveled safely and in comfort.
"If it is true that anyone came to our country to
steal your diamond dishpan," said one of the Yips to
Cayke, " it must have been a bird, for no person in the
form of a man, woman or child could have climbed
through these bushes and back again."
" And, allowing he could have done so," said another
Yip, "the diamond-studded gold dishpan would not
have repaid him for his troubles and his tribulations."
"For my part," remarked a third Yip, "I would
rather go back home and dig and polish some more
51
The Lost Princess ot Oz
diamonds, and mine some more gold, and make you
another dishpan, than be scratched from head to heel
by these dreadful bushes. Even now, if my mother
saw me, she would not know I am her son."
Cayke paid no heed to these mutterings, nor did the
Frogman. Although their journey was slow it was
being made easy for them by the Yips, so they had
nothing to complain of and no desire to turn back.
Quite near to the bottom of the great hill they came
upon a deep gulf, the sides of which were as smooth
as glass. The gulf extended a long distance as far
as they could see, in either direction -- and although
it was not very wide it was far too wide for the Yips
to leap across it. And, should they fall into it, it was
likely they might never get out again.
" Here our journey ends," said the Yips< " We must
go back again."
Cayke the Cookie Cook began to weep.
" I shall never find my pretty dishpan again and
my heart will be broken! " she sobbed.
The Frogman went to the edge of the gulf and with
his eye carefully measured the distance to the other
side.
" Being a frog," said he, " I can leap, as all frogs do;
and, being so big and strong, I am sure I can leap
52
Chapter Three
across this gulf with ease. But the rest of you, not
being frogs, must return the way you came."
" We will do that with pleasure/ 9 cried the Yips and
at once they turned and began to climb up the steep
mountain, feeling they had had quite enough of this
unsatisfactory adventure. Cayke the Cookie Cook
did not go with them, however. She sat on a rock
and wept and wailed and was very miserable.
" Well," said the Frogman to her, " I will now bid
you good-bye. If I find your diamond decorated gold
dishpan I will promise to see that it is safely returned
to you."
"But I prefer to find it myself!" she said. "See
here, Frogman, why can t you carry me across the gulf
when you leap it? You are big and strong, while I am
small and thin."
The Frogman gravely thought over this suggestion.
It was a fact that Cayke the Cookie Cook was not a
heavy person. Perhaps he could leap the gulf with
her on his back.
" If you are willing to risk a fall," said he, " I will
make the attempt."
At once she sprang up and grabbed him around his
neck with both her arms. That is, she grabbed him
where his neck ought to be, for the Frogman had no
53
The Lost Princess of Oz
neck at all. Then he squatted down, as frogs do when
they leap, and with his powerful rear legs he made a
tremendous jump.
Over the gulf he sailed, with the Cookie Cook on his
back, and he had leaped so hard - - to make sure of not
falling in - - that he sailed over a lot of bramble-bushes
that grew on the other side and landed in a clear space
which was so far beyond the gulf that when they
looked back they could not see it at all.
Cayke now got off the Frogman s back and he
stood erect again and carefully brushed the dust
from his velvet coat and rearranged his white satin
necktie.
"I had no idea I could leap so far," he said won-
deringly. "Leaping is one more accomplishment I
can now add to the long list of deeds I am able to
perform."
"You are certainly fine at leap-frog/ said the
Cookie Cook, admiringly; "but, as you say, you are
wonderful in many ways. If we meet with any
people down here I am sure they will consider you
the greatest and grandest of all living creatures."
" Yes," he replied, " I shall probably astonish
strangers, because they have never before had the
pleasure of seeing me. Also they will marvel at my
54
The Lost Princess of Oz
great learning. Every time I open my mouth, Cayke,
I am liable to say something important."
"That is true," she agreed, "and it is fortunate
your mouth is so very wide and opens so far, for
otherwise all the wisdom might not be able to get
out of it."
" Perhaps nature made it wide for that very rea
son," said the Frogman. "But come; let us now go
on, for it is getting late and we must find some sort
of shelter before night overtakes us."
56
Among the Winkles
The settled parts
of the Winkle
Country are full
of happy and con
tented people who are ruled by a tin Emperor named
Mck Chopper, who in turn is a subject of the beauti
ful girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz. But not all of the Winkie
Country is fully settled. At the east, which part lies
nearest the Emerald City, there are beautiful farm
houses and roads, but as you travel west you first
come to a branch of the Winkie River, beyond which
57
The Lost Princess of Oz
there is a rough country where few people live, and
some of these are quite unknown to the rest of the
world. After passing through this rude section of
territory, which no one ever visits, you would come
to still another branch of the Winkie River, after
crossing which you would find another well-settled
part of the Winkie Country, extending westward
quite to the Deadly Desert that surrounds all the
Land of Oz and separates that favored fairyland from
the more common outside w^orld. The Winkies who
live in this west section have many tin mines, from
which metal they make a great deal of rich jewelry
and other articles, all of which are highly esteemed
in the Land of Oz because tin is so bright and pretty,
and there is not so much of it as there is of gold and
silver.
Not all the Winkies are miners, however, for some
till the fields and grow grains for food, and it was
at one of these far west Winkie farms that the Frog
man and Cayke the Cookie Cook first arrived after
they had descended from the mountain of the Yips.
"Goodness me!" cried Nellary, the Winkie wife,
when she saw the strange couple approaching her
house. "I have seen many queer creatures in the
Land of Oz, but none more queer than this giant frog,
58
Chapter Four
who dresses like a man and walks on his hind legs.
Come here, Wiljon," she called to her husband, who
was eating his breakfast, " and take a look at this
astonishing freak."
Wiljon the Winkie came to the door and looked out.
He was still standing in the doorway when the Frog
man approached and said with a haughty croak:
" Tell me, my good man, have you seen a diamond-
studded gold dishpan? ?:
"No; nor have I seen a copper-plated lobster,"
replied Wiljon, in an equally haughty tone.
The Frogman stared at him and said:
" Do not be insolent, fellow! "
" No," added Cayke the Cookie Cook, hastily, " you
must be very polite to the great Frogman, for he is the
wisest creature in all the world."
" Who says that? " inquired Wiljon.
" He says so himself," replied Cayke, and the Frog
man nodded and strutted up and down, twirling his
gold-headed cane very gracefully.
"Does the Scarecrow admit that this overgrown
frog is the wisest creature in the world ? : asked
Wiljon.
"I do not know who the Scarecrow is," answered
Cayke the Cookie Cook.
59
The Lost Princess of Oz
" .Well, lie lives at the Emerald City, and lie is sup
posed to have the finest brains in all Oz. The Wizard
gave them to him, you know."
" Mine grew in my head/ 7 said the Frogman pomp
ously, " so I think they must be better than any
wizard brains. I am so wise that sometimes my wis
dom makes my head ache. I know so much that
often I have to forget part of it, since no one creature,
however great, is able to contain so much knowledge."
" It must be dreadful to be stuffed full of wisdom,"
remarked Wiljon reflectively, and eyeing the Frog
man with a doubtful look. " It is my good fortune
to know very little."
" I hope, however, you know where my jeweled dish-
pan is," said the Cookie Cook anxiously.
" I do not know even that," returned the Winkie.
"We have trouble enough in keeping track of our
own dishpans, without meddling with the dishpans of
strangers."
Finding him so ignorant, the Frogman proposed
that they walk on and seek Cayke s dishpan elsewhere.
Wiljon the Winkie did not seem greatly impressed
by the great Frogman, which seemed to that person
age as strange as it was disappointing; but others in
this unknown land might prove more respectful.
60
The Lost Princess of Oz
"Fd like to meet that Wizard of Oz," remarked
Cayke, as they walked along a path. "If he could
give a Scarecrow brains he might be able to find my
dishpan."
"Poof!" grunted the Frogman scornfully; "I am
greater than any wizard. Depend on me. If your
dishpan is anywhere in the world I am sure to find it."
" If you do not, my heart will be broken," declared
the Cookie Cook in a sorrowful voice.
For a while the Frogman walked on in silence.
Then he asked:
"Why do you attach so much importance to a
dishpan?"
" It is the greatest treasure I possess," replied the
woman. "It belonged to my mother and to all my
grandmothers, since the beginning of time. It is, I
believe, the very oldest thing in all the Yip Country
or was while it was there and," she added,
dropping her voice to an awed whisper, " it has magic
powers! "
" In what way? " inquired the Frogman, seeming to
be surprised at this statement.
" Whoever has owned that dishpan has been a good
cook, for one thing. No one else is able to make such
good cookies as I have cooked, as you and all the Yips
62
Chapter Four
know. Yet, the very morning after my dishpan was
stolen, I tried to make a batch of cookies and they
burned up in the oven! I made another batch that
proved too tough to eat, and I was so ashamed of them
that I buried them in the ground. Even the third
batch of cookies, which I brought with me in my
basket, were pretty poor stuff and no better than any
woman could make who does not own my diamond-
studded gold dishpan. In fact, my good Frogman,
Cayke the Cookie Cook will never be able to cook
good cookies again until her magic dishpan is restored
to her."
" In that case," said the Frogman with a sigh, " I
suppose we must manage to find it."
63
Ozma s Friends Are Perplexed
eaiiy,
Dorothy, looking
solemn, " this is
very s prising. We
can t find even a shadow of Ozma anywhere in the
Em rald City; and, wherever she s gone, she s taken
her Magic Picture with her."
She was standing in the courtyard of the palace
with Betsy and Trot, while Scraps, the Patchwork
Girl, danced around the group, her hair flying in the
wind.
64
V
Chapter Five
" P raps/ said Scraps, still dancing, " someone has
stolen Ozma."
" Oh, they d never dare do that! : exclaimed tiny
Trot.
"And stolen the Magic Picture, too, so the thing
can t tell where she is," added the Patchwork Girl.
" That s nonsense," said Dorothy. " Why, ev ryone
loves Ozma. There isn t a person in the Land of Oz
who would steal a single thing she owns."
"Huh!" replied the Patchwork Girl. "You don t
know ev ry person in the Land of Oz."
"Why don t I?"
"It s a big country," said Scraps. "There are
cracks and corners in it that even Ozma doesn t know
of."
" The Patchwork Girl s just daffy," declared Betsy.
"No; she s right about that," replied Dorothy
thoughtfully. " There are lots of queer people in this
fairyland who never come near Ozma or the Em rald
City. I ve seen some of em myself, girls; but I
haven t seen all, of course, and there might be some
wicked persons left in Oz, yet, though I think the
wicked witches have all been destroyed."
Just then the Wooden Sawhorse dashed into the
courtyard with the Wizard of Oz on his back.
65
The ^ost Princess of Oz
"Have you found Ozma?" cried the Wizard when
the Sawhorse stopped beside them.
"Not yet," said Dorothy. "Doesn t Glinda know
where she is? 73
" No. Glinda s Book of Records and all her magic
instruments are gone. Someone must have stolen
them."
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Dorothy, in alarm.
" This is the biggest steal I ever heard of. Who do
you think did it, Wizard?"
" I ve no idea," he answered. " But I have come to
get my own bag of magic tools and carry them to
Glinda. She is so much more powerful than I that
she may be able to discover the truth by means of
my magic, quicker and better than I could myself."
" Hurry, then," said Dorothy, " for we re all getting
terr bly worried."
The Wizard rushed away to his rooms but presently
came back with a long, sad face.
"It s gone!" he said.
"What s gone?" asked Scraps.
" My black bag of magic tools. Someone must have
stolen it!"
They looked at one another in amazement.
"This thing is getting desperate," continued the
66
The Lost Princess of Oz
Wizard. " All the magic that belongs to Ozma, or to
Glinda, or to me, has been stolen."
" Do you suppose Ozma could have taken them,
herself, for some purpose?" asked Betsy.
"No, indeed," declared the Wizard. "I suspect
some enemy has stolen Ozma and, for fear we would
follow and recapture her, has taken all our magic
away from us."
"How dreadful!" cried Dorothy. "The idea of
anyone wanting to injure our dear Ozma! Can t we
do a^thing to find her, Wizard?"
"I ll ask Glinda. I must go straight back to her
and tell her that my magic tools have also disappeared.
The good Sorceress will be greatly shocked, I know."
With this he jumped upon the back of the Sawhorse
again and the quaint steed, which never tired, dashed
away at full speed.
The three girls were very much disturbed in mind.
Even the Patchwork Girl was more quiet than usual
and seemed to realize that a great calamity had over
taken them all. Ozma was a fairy of considerable
power and all the creatures in Oz, as well as the three
mortal girls from the outside world, looked upon her
as their protector and friend. The idea of their beau
tiful girl Ruler s being overpowered by an enemy and
68
Chapter Five
dragged from her splendid palace a captive was too
astonishing for them to comprehend, at first. Yet
what other explanation of the mystery could there be?
" Ozma wouldn t go away willingly, without letting
us know about it," asserted Dorothy; "and she
wouldn t steal Glinda s Great Book of Records, or the
Wizard s magic, cause she could get them any time,
just by asking for em. I m sure some wicked person
has done all this."
" Someone in the Land of Oz? " asked Trot.
"Of course. No one could get across the Deadly
Desert, you know, and no one but an Oz person could
know about the Magic Picture and the Book of
Records and the Wizard s magic, or where they were
kept, and so be able to steal the whole outfit before
we could stop em. It must be someone who lives in
the Land of Oz."
" But who who - - who? " asked Scraps. " That s
the question. Who?
" If we knew," replied Dorothy, severely, u we
wouldn t be standing here, doing nothing."
Just then two boys entered the courtyard and
approached the group of girls. One boy was dressed
in the fantastic Munchkin costume a blue jacket
and knickerbockers, blue leather shoes and a blue hat
69
The Lost Princess of Oz
with a high peak and tiny silver bells dangling from
its rim and this was Ojo the Lucky, who had once
come from the Munchkin Country of Oz and now lived
in the Emerald City. The other boy was an Ameri
can, from Philadelphia, and had lately found his way
to Oz in the company of Trot and Cap n Bill. His
name was Button-Bright; that is, everyone called him
by that name, and knew no other.
Button-Bright was not quite as big as the Munchkin
boy, but he wore the same kind of clothes, only they
were of different colors. As the two came up to the
girls, arm in arm, Button-Bright remarked:
" Hello, Dorothy. They say Ozma is lost."
"Who says so?" she asked.
"Everybody s talking about it, in the City," he
replied.
"I wonder how the people found it out?" Dorothy
asked.
" I- know," said Ojo. " Jellia Jamb told them. She
has been asking everywhere if anyone has seen Ozma."
" That s too bad," observed Dorothy, frowning,
"Why?" asked Button-Bright.
, " There wasn t any use making all our people
unhappy, till we were dead certain that Ozma can t
be found."
70
Chapter Five
" Pshaw," said Button-Bright, " It s nothing to get
lost. I ve been lost lots of times."
"That s* true," admitted Trot, who knew that the
boy had a habit of getting lost and then finding him
self again; "but it s diff rent with Ozma. She s the
Euler of all this big fairyland and we re f raid that the
reason she s lost is because somebody has stolen her
away."
" Only wicked people steal," said Ojo. " Do you
know of any wicked people in Oz, Dorothy? "
" No," she replied.
"They re here, though," cried Scraps, dancing up
to them and then circling around the group. " Ozma s
stolen; someone in Oz stole her; only wicked people
steal; so someone in Oz is wicked! "
There was no denying the truth of this statement.
The faces of all of them were now solemn and sor
rowful.
"One thing is sure," said Button-Bright, after a
time, " if Ozma has been stolen, someone ought to find
her and punish the thief."
" There may be a lot of thieves," suggested Trot
gravely, " and in this fairy country they don t seem
to have any soldiers or policemen."
"There is one soldier," claimed Dorothy. "He has
71
The Lost Princess of Oz
green whiskers and a gun and is a Major-General; but
no one is afraid of either his gun or his whiskers,
cause he s so tender-hearted that he wouldn t hurt a
" Well, a soldier s a soldier," said Betsy, " and per
haps he d hurt a wicked thief if he wouldn t hurt a fly.
Where is he?"
" He went fishing about two months ago and hasn t
come back yet," explained Button-Bright.
" Then I can t see that he will be of much use to us
in this trouble," sighed little Trot. " But p raps Ozma,
who is a fairy, can get away from the thieves without
any help from anybody."
" She might be able to," admitted Dorothy, reflect
ively, "but if she had the power to do that, it isn t
likely she d have let herself be stolen. So the thieves
must have been even more powerful in magic than our
Ozma."
There was no denying this argument and, although
they talked the matter over all the rest of that day,
they were unable to decide how Ozma had been stolen
against her will or w r ho had committed the dreadful
deed.
Toward evening the Wizard came back, riding
slowly upon the Sawhorse because he felt discouraged
72
Chapter Five
and perplexed. Glinda came, later, in her aerial
chariot drawn by twenty milk-white swans, and she
also seemed worried and unhappy. More of Ozma s
friends joined them and that evening they all had a
long talk together.
" I think," said Dorothy, " we ought to start out
right away in search of our dear Ozma. It seems
cruel for us to live comf tably in her palace while she
is a prisoner in the power of some wicked enemy."
"Yes," agreed Glinda the Sorceress, "someone
ought to search for her. I cannot go myself, because
I must work hard in order to create some new instru
ments of sorcery by means of which I may rescue our
fair Ruler. But if you can find her, in the meantime,
and let me know who has stolen her, it will enable me
to rescue her much more quickly."
"Then we ll start to-morrow morning," decided
Dorothy. " Betsy and Trot and I won t waste another
minute."
" I m not sure you girls will make good detectives,"
remarked the Wizard; "but I ll go with you, to pro
tect you from harm and to give you my advice. All
my wizardry, alas, is stolen, so I am now really no
more a wizard than any of you; but I will try to
protect you from any enemies you may meet."
73
The Lost Princess of Oz
"What harm could happen to us in Oz?" inquired
Trot.
"What harm happened to Ozma?" returned the
Wizard. " If there is an Evil Power abroad in our
fairyland, which is able to steal not only Ozma and
her Magic Picture, but Glinda s Book of Records and
all her magic, and my black bag containing all my
tricks of wizardry, then that Evil Power may yet cause
us considerable injury. Ozma is a fairy, and so is
Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them; but you
girls are all mortals, and so are Button-Bright and I,
so we must watch out for ourselves."
" Nothing can kill me," said Ojo, the Munchkin boy.
" That is true," replied the Sorceress, " and I think
it may be well to divide the searchers into several
parties, that they may cover all the land of Oz more
quickly. So I will send Ojo and Unc Nunkie and Dr.
Pipt into the Munchkin Country, which they are well
acquainted with; and I will send the Scarecrow and
the Tin Woodman into the Quadling Country, for they
are fearless and brave and never tire; and to the Gilli-
kin Country, where many dangers lurk, I will send
the Shaggy Man and his brother, with Tik-Tok and
Jack Pumpkinhead. Dorothy may make up her own
party and travel into the Winkie Country. All of
74
The Lost Princess of Oz
you must inquire everywhere for Ozma and try to
discover where she is hidden."
They thought this a very wise plan and adopted
it without question. In Ozma s absence Glinda the
Good was the most important person in Oz and all
were glad to serve under her direction.
76
The Search Party
Next morning, as
soon as the sun
was up, Glinda
flew back to her
castle, stopping on the way to instruct the Scarecrow
and the Tin Woodman, who were at that time staying
at the college of Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E.,
and taking a course of his Patent Educational Pills.
On hearing of Ozma s loss they started at once for the
Quadling Country to search for her.
As soon as Glinda had left the Emerald City, Tik-
77
The Lost Princess of Oz
Tok and the Shaggy Man and Jack Pumpkinhead,
who had been present at the conference, began their
journey into the Gillikin Country, and an hour later
Ojo and Unc Nunkie joined Dr. Pipt and together
they traveled toward the Munchkin Country. When
all these searchers were gone, Dorothy and the Wizard
completed their own preparations.
The Wizard hitched the Sawhorse to the Red
Wagon, which would seat four very comfortably. He
wanted Dorothy, Betsy, Trot and the Patchwork Girl
to ride in the wagon, but Scraps came up to them
mounted upon the Woozy, and the Woozy said he
would like to join the party. Now this Woozy was a
most peculiar animal, having a square head, square
body, square legs and square tail. His skin was very
tough and hard, resembling leather and while his
movements were somewhat clumsy the beast could
travel with remarkable swiftness. His square eyes
were mild and gentle in expression and he w^as not
especially foolish. The Woozy and the Patchwork
Girl w^ere great friends and so the Wizard agreed to
let the Woozy go with them.
Another great beast now appeared and asked to go
along. This was none other than the famous Cow
ardly Lion, one of the most interesting creatures in
78
The Lost Princess of Oz
all Oz. No lion that roamed the jungles or plains
could compare in size or intelligence with this Cow
ardly Lion, who like all animals living in Oz
could talk, and who talked with more shrewdness and
wisdom than many of the people did. He said he was
cowardly because he always trembled when he faced
danger, but he had faced danger many times and
never refused to fight when it was necessary. This
Lion was a great favorite with Ozma and always
guarded her throne on state occasions. He was also
an old companion and friend of the Princess Dorothy,
so the girl was delighted to have him join the party.
"I m so nervous over our dear Ozma," said the
Cowardly Lion in his deep, rumbling voice, " that it
would make me unhappy to remain behind while you
are trying to find her. But do not get into any danger,
I beg of you, for danger frightens me terribly."
" We ll not get into danger if we can poss bly help
it," promised Dorothy; " but we shall do anything to
find Ozma, danger or no danger."
The addition of the Woozy and the Cowardly Lion
to the party gave Betsy Bobbin an idea and she ran
to the marble stables at the rear of the palace and
brought out her mule, Hank by name. Perhaps no
mule you ever saw was so lean and bony and alto-
80
Chapter Six
gether plain looking as this Hank, but Betsy loved
him dearly because he was faithful and steady and not
nearly so stupid as most mules are considered to be.
Betsy had a saddle for Hank and declared she would
ride on his back, an arrangement approved by the
Wizard because it left only four of the party to ride
on the seats of the Red Wagon Dorothy and Button-
Bright and Trot and himself.
An old sailor-man, who had one wooden leg, came
to see them off and suggested that they put a supply
of food and blankets in the Red Wagon, inasmuch as
they were uncertain how long they would be gone.
This sailor-man was called Cap n Bill. He was a for
mer friend and comrade of Trot and had encountered
many adventures in company with the little girl. I
think he was sorry he could not go with her on this
trip, but Glinda the Sorceress had asked Cap n Bill to
remain in the Emerald City and take charge of the
royal palace while everyone else was away, and the
one-legged sailor had agreed to do so.
They loaded the back end of the Red Wagon with
everything they thought they might need, and then
they formed a procession and marched from the palace
through the Emerald City to the great gates of the
wall that surrounded this beautiful capital of the
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The Lost Princess of Oz
Land of Oz. Crowds of citizens lined the streets to
see them pass and to cheer them and wish them suc
cess, for all were grieved over Ozma s loss and anxious
that she be found again.
First came the Cowardly Lion; then the Patchwork
Girl riding upon the Woozy; then Betsy Bobbin on
her mule Hank; and finally the Sawhorse drawing the
Red Wagon, in which were seated the Wizard and
Dorothy and Button-Bright and Trot. No one was
obliged to drive the Sawhorse, so there were no reins
to his harness; one had only to tell him which way to
go, fast or slow, and he understood perfectly.
It was about this time that a shaggy little black
dog who had been lying asleep in Dorothy s room in
the palace woke up and discovered he was lonesome.
Everything seemed very still throughout the great
building and Toto that was the little dog s name
missed the customary chatter of the three girls. He
never paid much attention to what was going on
around him and, although he could speak, he seldom
said anything; so the little dog did not know about
Ozma s loss or that everyone had gone in search of her.
But he liked to be with p.eople, and especially with
his own mistress, Dorothy, and having yawned and
stretched himself and found the door of the room ajar
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The Lost Princess of Oz
he trotted out into the corridor and went down the
stately marble stairs to the hall of the palace, where
he met Jellia Jamb.
" Where s Dorothy? " asked Toto.
" She s gone to the Winkie Country," answered the
maid.
"When?"
" A little while ago," replied Jellia.
Toto turned and trotted out into the palace garden
and down the long driveway until he came to the
streets of the Emerald City. Here he paused to listen
and, hearing sounds of cheering, he ran swiftly along
until he came in sight of the Eed Wagon and the
Woozy and the Lion and the Mule and all the others.
Being a wise little dog, he decided not to show himself
to Dorothy just then, lest he be sent back home; but he
never lost sight of the party of travelers, all of whom
were so eager to get ahead that they never thought to
look behind them.
When they came to the gates in the city wall the
Guardian of the Gates came out to throw wide the
golden portals and let them pass through.
" Did any strange person come in or out of the city
on the night before last, when Ozma was stolen?"
asked Dorothy.
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Chapter Sk
" No, indeed, Princess," answered the Guardian of
the Gates.
" Of course not>" said the Wizard. " Anyone clever
enough to steal all the things we have lost would not
mind the barrier of a wall like this, in the least. I
think the thief must have flown through the air, for
otherwise he could not have stolen from Ozma s royal
palace and Glinda s far-away castle in the same night.
Moreover, as there are no airships in Oz and no way
for airships from the outside world to get into this
country, I believe the thief must have flown from
place to place by means of magic arts which neither
Glinda nor I understand."
On they went, and before the gates closed behind
them Toto managed to dodge through them. The
country surrounding the Emerald City was thickly
settled and for a while our friends rode over nicely
paved roads which wound through a fertile country
dotted with beautiful houses, all built in the quaint
Oz fashion. In the course of a few hours, however,
they had left the tilled fields and entered the Country
of the Winkies, which occupies a quarter of all the
territory in the Land of Oz but is not so well known
as many other parts of Ozma s fairyland. Long before
night the travelers had crossed the Winkie River near
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The Lost Princess of Oz
to the Scarecrow s Tower (which was now vacant)
and had entered the Rolling Prairie where few people
live. They asked everyone they met for news of
Ozma, but none in this district had seen her or even
knew that she had been stolen. And by nightfall
they had passed all the farmhouses and were obliged
to stop and ask for shelter at the hut of a lonely shep
herd. When they halted, Toto was not far behind.
The little dog halted, too, and stealing softly around
the party he hid himself behind the hut.
The shepherd was a kindly old man and treated
the travelers with much courtesy. He slept out of
doors, that night, giving up his hut to the three girls,
who made their beds on the floor with the blankets
they had brought in the Red Wagon. The Wizard
and Button-Bright also slept out of doors, and so did
the Cowardly Lion and Hank the Mule. But Scraps
and the Sawhorse did not sleep at all and the Woozy
could stay awake for a month at a time, if he wished
to, so these three sat in a little group by themselves
and talked together all through the night.
In the darkness the Cowardly Lion felt a shaggy
little form nestling beside his own, and he said
sleepily:
"Where did you come from, Toto?"
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Chapter Six
" From home," said the dog. " If you roll over, roll
the other way, so you won t smash me."
"Does Dorothy know you are here? : asked the
Lion.
" I believe not," admitted Toto, and he added, a
little anxiously: " Do you think, friend Lion, we are
now far enough from the Emerald City for me to risk
showing myself? Or will Dorothy send me back
because I wasn t invited? 3
" Only Dorothy can answer that question," said the
Lion. " For my part, Toto, I consider this affair none
of my business, so you must act as you think best."
Then the huge beast went to sleep again and Toto
snuggled closer to his warm, hairy body and also
slept. He was a wise little dog, in his way, and didn t
intend to worry when there was something much
better to do.
In the morning the Wizard built a fire, over which
the girls cooked a very good breakfast.
Suddenly Dorothy discovered Toto sitting quietly
before the fire and the little girl exclaimed:
" Goodness me, Toto! Where did you come from? "
"From the place you cruelly left me," replied the
dog in a reproachful tone.
" I forgot all about you," admitted Dorothy, " and
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The Lost Princess of Oz
if I hadn t I d prob ly left you with Jellia Jamb, see
ing this isn t a pleasure trip but stric ly business.
But, now that you re here, Toto, I s pose you ll have
to stay with us, unless you d rather go back home
again. We may get ourselves into trouble, before
we re done, Toto."
"Never mind that," said Toto, wagging his tail.
" I m hungry, Dorothy."
" Breakfas ll soon be ready and then you shall have
your share," promised his little mistress, who was
really glad to have her dog with her. She and Toto
had traveled together before, and she knew he was a
good and faithful comrade.
When the food was cooked and served the girls
invited the old shepherd to join them in their morning
meal. He willingly consented and while they ate he
said to them:
" You are now about to pass through a very dan
gerous country, unless you turn to the north or to
the south to escape its perils."
"In that case," said the Cowardly Lion, "let us
turn, by all means, for I dread to face dangers of any
sort."
" What s the matter with the country ahead of us? :
inquired Dorothy.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" Beyond this Rolling Prairie," explained the shep
herd, " are the Merry-Go-Round Mountains, set close
together and surrounded by deep gulfs, so that no one
is able to get past them. Beyond the Merry-Go-
Round Mountains it is said the Thistle-Eaters and the
Herkus live."
"What are they like?" demanded Dorothy.
"No one knows, for no one has ever passed the
Merry-Go-Round Mountains," was the reply; "but it
is said that the Thistle-Eaters hitch dragons to their
chariots and that the Herkus are waited upon by
giants whom they have conquered and made their
slaves."
"Who says all that?" asked Betsy.
"It is common report," declared the shepherd.
" Everyone believes it."
" I don t see how they know," remarked little Trot,
" if no one has been there."
"Perhaps the birds w^ho fly over that country
brought the news," suggested Betsy.
" If you escaped those dangers," continued the shep
herd, " you might encounter others, still more serious,
before you came to the next branch of the Winkie
River. It is true that beyond that river there lies a
fine country, inhabited by good people, and if you
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Chapter Six
reached there you would have no further trouble. It
is between here and the west branch of the Winkle
River that aM dangers lie, for that is the unknown
territory that is inhabited by terrible, lawless people."
" It may be, and it may not be," said the Wizard.
" We shall know when we get there."
" Well," persisted the shepherd, " in a fairy country
such as ours every undiscovered place is likely to har
bor wicked creatures. If they were not wicked, they
would discover themselves, and by coming among us
submit to Ozma s rule and be good and considerate, as
are all the Oz people whom we know."
" That argument," stated the little Wizard, " con
vinces me that it is our duty to go straight to those
unknown places, however dangerous they may be; for
it is surely some cruel and wicked person who has
stolen our Ozma, and we know r it would be folly to
search among good people for the culprit. Ozma may
not be hidden in the secret places of the Winkie Coun
try, it is true, but it is our duty to travel to every spot,
however dangerous, where our beloved Ruler is likely
to be imprisoned."
"You re right about that," said Button-Bright
approvingly. "Dangers don t hurt us; only things
that happen ever hurt anyone, and a danger is a thing
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The Lost Princess of Oz
that might happen, and might not happen, and some
times don t amount to shucks. I vote we go ahead
and take our chances."
They were all of the same opinion, so they packed
up and said good-bye to the friendly shepherd and
proceeded on their way.
The Merry-Go-Round Mountains
The Rolling
Prairie was not
difficult to travel
over, although it
was all up-hill and down-hill, so for a while they made
good progress. Not even a shepherd was to be met
with now and the farther they advanced the more
dreary the landscape became. At noon they stopped
for a " picnic luncheon," as Betsy called it, and then
they again resumed their journey. All the animals
were swift and tireless and even the Cowardly Lion
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The Lost Princess of Oz
and the Mule found they could keep up with the pace
of the Woozy and the Sawhorse.
It was the middle of the afternoon when first they
came in sight of a cluster of low mountains. These
were cone-shaped, rising from broad bases to sharp
peaks at the tops. From a distance the mountains
appeared indistinct and seemed rather small more
like hills than mountains but as the travelers drew
nearer they noted a most unusual circumstance: the
hills were all whirling around, some in one direction
and some the opposite way.
" I guess those are the Merry-Go-Round Mountains,
all right," said Dorothy.
" They must be," said the Wizard.
"They go round, sure enough," added Trot, u but
they don t seem very merry."
There were several rows of these mountains, extend
ing both to the right and to the left, for miles and
miles. How many rows there might be, none could
tell, but between the first row of peaks could be seen
other peaks, all steadily whirling around one way or
another. Continuing to ride nearer, our friends
watched these hills attentively, until at last, coming
close up, they discovered there was a deep but narrow
gulf around the edge of each mountain, and that the
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Chapter Seven
mountains were set so close together that the outer
gulf was continuous and barred farther advance.
At the edge of the gulf they all dismounted and
peered over into its depths. There was no telling
where the bottom was, if indeed there was any bottom
at all. Prom where they stood it seemed as if the
mountains had been set in one great hole in the
ground, just close enough together so they would not
touch, and that each mountain was supported by a
rocky column beneath its base which extended far
down into the black pit below. From the land side
it seemed impossible to get across the gulf or, suc
ceeding in that, to gain a foothold on any of the
whirling mountains.
" This ditch is too wide t jump across," remarked
Button-Bright.
" P raps the Lion could do it," suggested Dorothy.
"What, jump from here to that whirling hill?"
cried the Lion indignantly. " I should say not! Even
if I landed there, and could hold on, what good would
it do? There s another spinning mountain beyond it,
and perhaps still another beyond that. I don t believe
any living creature could jump from one mountain to
another, when both are whirling like tops and in
different directions."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"I propose we turn back," said the Wooden Saw-
horse, with a yawn of his chopped-out mouth, as he
stared with his knot eyes at the Merry^Go-Bound
Mountains.
"I agree with you," said the Woozy, wagging his
square head.
"We should have taken the shepherd s advice,"
added Hank the Mule.
The others of the party, however they might be
puzzled by the serious problem that confronted them,
would not allow themselves to despair.
If we once get over these mountains," said Button-
Bright, " we could probably get along all right."
" True enough," agreed Dorothy. " So we must find
some way, of course, to get past these whirligig hills.
But how?"
" I wish the Ork was with us," sighed Trot.
"But the Ork isn t here," said the Wizard, "and
we must depend upon ourselves to conquer this diffi
culty. Unfortunately, all my magic has been stolen;
otherwise I am sure I could easily get over the
mountains."
" Unfortunately," observed the Woozy, " none of us
has wings. And we re in a magic country without
any magic."
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( i (if)
Chapter Seven
" What is that around your waist, Dorothy? " asked
the Wizard.
"That? Oh, that s just the Magic Belt I once
captured from the Nome King," she replied.
"A Magic Belt! Why, that s fine. I m sure a
Magic Belt would take you over these hills."
"It might, if I knew how to work it," said the
little girl. " Ozma knows a lot of its magic, but I ve
never found out about it. All I know is that while I
am wearing it nothing can hurt me."
"Try wishing yourself across, and see if it will
obey you," suggested the Wizard.
"But what good would that do?" asked Dorothy.
" If I got across it wouldn t help the rest of you, and
I couldn t go alone among all those giants and
dragons, w r hile you stayed here."
" True enough," agreed the Wizard, sadly; and then,
after looking around the group, he inquired: " What
is that on your finger, Trot?
"A ring. The Mermaids gave it to me," she
explained, " and if ever I m in trouble when I m on
the water I can call the Mermaids and they ll come
and help me. But the Mermaids can t help me on the
land, you know, cause they swim, and and they
haven t any legs."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"True enough," repeated the Wizard, more sadly.
There was a big, broad-spreading tree near the edge
of the gulf and as the sun was hot above them they
all gathered under the shade of the tree to study the
problem of what to do next.
"If we had a long rope," said Betsy, "we could
fasten it to this tree and let the other end of it down
into the gulf and all slide down it."
" Well, what then? " asked the Wizard.
" Then, if we could manage to throw the rope up the
other side," explained the girl, "we could all climb
it and be on the other side of the gulf."
"There are too many ifV in that suggestion,"
remarked the little Wizard. " And you must remem
ber that the other side is nothing but spinning moun
tains, so we couldn t possibly fasten a rope to them
even if we had one."
"That rope idea isn t half bad, though," said the
Patchwork Girl, who had been dancing dangerously
near to the edge of the gulf.
"What do you mean?" asked Dorothy.
The Patchwork Girl suddenly stood still and cast
her button eyes around the group.
"Ha, I have it!" she exclaimed. "Unharness the
Sawhorse, somebody; my fingers are too clumsy."
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Chapter Seven
" Shall we ? r asked Button-Bright doubtfully,
turning to the others.
"Well, Scraps has a lot of brains, even if she is
stuffed with cotton," asserted the Wizard. "If her
brains can help us out of this trouble we ought to use
them."
So he began unharnessing the Sawhorse, and But
ton-Bright and Dorothy helped him. When they had
removed the harness the Patchwork Girl told them to
take it all apart and buckle the straps together, end
to end. And, after they had done this, they found
they had one very long strap that was stronger than
any rope.
"It would reach across the gulf, easily," said the
Lion, who with the other animals had sat on his
haunches and watched this proceeding. " But I don t
see how it could be fastened to one of those dizzy
mountains."
Scraps had no such notion as that in her baggy head.
She told them to fasten one end of the strap to a stout
limb of the tree, pointing to one which extended quite
to the edge of the gulf. Button-Bright did that,
climbing the tree and then crawling out upon the
limb until he was nearly over the gulf. There he
managed to fasten the strap, which reached to the
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The Lost Princess of Oz
ground below, : aMi then he slid down it and was
caught by the Wizard, who feared he might fall into
the chasm.
Scraps was delighted. She seized the lower end of
the strap and telling them all to get out of her way
she went back as far as the strap would reach and
then made a sudden run toward the gulf. Over the
edge she swung, clinging to the strap until it had gone
as far as its length permitted, when she let go and
sailed gracefully through the air until she alighted
upon the mountain just in front of them.
Almost instantly, as the great cone continued to
whirl, she was sent flying against the next mountain
in the rear, and that one had only turned halfway
around when Scraps was sent flying to the next moun
tain behind it. Then her patchwork form disappeared
from view entirely and the amazed watchers under the
tree wondered what had become of her.
" She s gone, and she can t get back," said the
Woozy.
" My, how she bounded from one mountain to
another! " oxclaimed the Lion.
" That was because they whirl so fast/ the Wizard
explained. " Scraps had nothing to hold on to and
so of course she was tossed from one hill to another.
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Chapter Seven
I m afraid we shall never see the poor Patchwork Girl
again."
" / shall see her," declared the Woozy. " Scraps is
an old friend of mine and, if there are really Thistle-
Eaters and Giants on the other side of those tops, she
will need someone to protect her. So, here I go! r
He seized the dangling strap firmly in his square
mouth and in the same way that Scraps had done
swung himself over the gulf. He let go the strap at
the right moment and fell upon the first whirling
mountain. Then he bounded to the next one back of
it not on his feet but " all mixed up," as Trot said
and then he shot across to another mountain,
disappearing from view just as the Patchwork Girl
had done.
"It seems to work, all right," remarked Button-
Bright. " I guess I ll try it."
" Wait a minute," urged the Wizard. " Before any
more of us make this desperate leap into the beyond,
we must decide whether all will go, or if some of us
wdll remain behind."
" Do you s pose it hurt them much, to bump against
those mountains? " asked Trot.
"I don t s pose anything could hurt Scraps or the
Woozy," said Dorothy, "and nothing can hurt me,
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The Lost Princess of Oz
because I wear the Magic Belt. So, as I m anxious
to find Ozma, I mean to swing myself across, too."
" Til take my chances," decided Button-Bright.
"I m sure it will hurt dreadfully, and I m afraid
to do it," said the Lion, who was already trembling;
"but I shall do it if Dorothy does."
"Well, that will leave Betsy and the Mule and
Trot," said the Wizard; " for of course, I shall go, that
I may look after Dorothy. Do you two girls think
you can find your way back home again?" he asked,
addressing Trot and Betsy.
" I m not afraid; not much, that is," said Trot. " It
looks risky, I know, but I m sure I can stand it if the
others can."
" If it wasn t for leaving Hank," began Betsy, in a
hesitating voice; but the Mule interrupted her by
saying:
" Go ahead, if you want to, and I ll come after you.
A mule is as brave as a lion, any day."
" Braver," said the Lion, " for I m a coward, friend
Hank, and you are not. But of course the Saw-
horse
" Oh, nothing ever hurts me"- asserted the Sawhorse
calmly. " There s never been any question about my
going. I can t take the Bed Wagon, though."
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Chapter Seven
"No, we must leave the wagon/ said the Wizard;
" and also we must leave our food and blankets, I fear.
But if we can defy these Merry-Go-Round Mountains
to stop us we won t mind the sacrifice of some of our
comforts."
" No one knows where we re going to land! " re
marked the Lion, in a voice that sounded as if he were
going to cry.
"We may not land at all," replied Hank; " but the
best way to find out what will happen to us is to swing
across, as Scraps and the Woozy have done."
" I think I shallgo last," said the Wizard; " so who
wants to go first? 3
" I ll go," decided Dorothy.
"No, it s my turn first," said Button-Bright.
"Watch me!"
Even as he spoke the boy seized the strap and after
making a run swung himself across the gulf. Away
he went, bumping from hill to hill until he disap
peared. They listened intently, but the boy uttered
no cry until he had been gone some moments, when
they heart a faint " Hullo-a! " as if called from a great
distance.
The sound gave them courage, however, and
Dorothy picked up Toto and held him fast under one
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The Lost Princess of Oz
arm while with the other hand she seized the strap
and bravely followed after Button-Bright.
When she struck the first whirling mountain she
fell upon it quite softly, but before she had time to
think she flew through the air and lit with a jar on
the side of the next mountain. Again she flew, and
alighted; and again, and still again, until after five
successive bumps she fell sprawling upon a green
meadow and was so dazed and bewildered by her
bumpy journey across the Merry-Go-Round Moun
tains that she lay quite still for a time, to collect her
thoughts. Toto had escaped from her arms just as
she fell, and he now sat beside her panting with
excitement.
Then Dorothy realized that someone was helping
her to her feet, and here was Button-Bright on one
side of her and Scraps on the other, both seeming to
be unhurt. The next object her eyes fell upon was
the Woozy, squatting upon his square back end and
looking at her reflectively, while Toto barked joyously
to find his mistress unhurt after her whirlwind trip.
"Good!" said the Woozy; "here s another and a
dog, both safe and sound. But, my word, Dorothy,
you flew some! If you could have seen yourself, you d
have been absolutely astonished."
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Chapter Seven
" They say Time flies/ laughed Button-Bright;
" but Time never made a quicker journey than that."
Just then, as Dorothy turned around to look at the
whirling mountains, she was in time to see tiny Trot
come flying from the nearest hill to fall upon the soft
grass not a yard away from where she stood. Trot
was so dizzy she couldn t stand, at first, but she wasn t
at all hurt and presently Betsy came flying to them
and would have bumped into the others had they not
retreated in time to avoid her.
Then, in quick succession, came the Lion, Hank and
the Sawhorse, bounding from mountain to mountain
to fall safely upon the greensward. Only the Wizard
was now left behind and they waited so long for him
that Dorothy began to be worried. But suddenly he
came flying from the nearest mountain and tumbled
heels over head beside them. Then they saw that he
had wound two of their blankets around his body, to
keep the bumps from hurting him, and had fastened
the blankets with some of the spare straps from the
harness of the Sawhorse.
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The Mysterious City
There they sat
upon the grass,
their heads still
swimming from
their dizzy flights, and looked at one another in silent
bewilderment. But presently, when assured that ho
one was injured, they grew more calm and collected
and the Lion said with a sigh of relief:
"Who would have thought those Merry-Go-Round
Mountains were made of rubber?"
"Are they really rubber ?" asked Trot.
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Chapter Eight
" They must be," replied the lion, " for otherwise
we would not have bounded so swiftly from one to
another without getting hurt."
"That is all guesswork," declared the Wizard,
unwinding the blankets from his body, " for none of
us stayed long enough on the mountains to discover
what they are made of. But where are we ? "
"That s guesswork, too," said Scraps. "The shep
herd said the Thistle-Eaters live this side the
mountains and are waited on by giants."
" Oh, no," said Dorothy; " it s the Herkus who have
giant slaves, and the Thistle-Eaters hitch dragons to
their chariots."
"How could they do that?" asked the Woozy.
"Dragons have long tails, which would get in the
way of the chariot wheels."
"And, if the Herkus have conquered the giants,"
said Trot, "they must be at least twice the size of
giants. P raps the Herkus are the biggest people in
all the world! "
"Perhaps they are," assented the Wizard, in a
thoughtful tone of voice. " And perhaps the shepherd
didn t know what he was talking about. Let us
travel on toward the west and discover for ourselves
what the people of this country are like."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
It seemed a pleasant enough country, and it was
quite still and peaceful when they turned their eyes
away from the silently whirling mountains. There
were trees here and there and green bushes, while
throughout the thick grass were scattered brilliantly
colored flowers. About a mile away was a low hill
that hid from them all the country beyond it, so they
realized they could not tell much about the country
until they had crossed the hill.
The Bed Wagon having been left behind, it was
now necessary to make other arrangements for
traveling. The Lion told Dorothy she could ride upon
his back, as she had often done before, and the Woozy
said he could easily carry both Trot and the Patch
work Girl, Betsy still had her mule, Hank, and
Button-Bright and the Wizard could sit together upon
the long, thin back of the Sawhorse, but they took
care to soften their seat with a pad of blankets before
they started. Thus mounted, the adventurers started
for the hill, which was reached after a brief journey.
As they mounted the crest and gazed beyond the
hill they discovered not far away a walled city, from
the towers and spires of which gay banners were
flying. It was not a very big city, indeed, but its
walls were very high and thick and it appeared that
no
-as
The Lost Princess of Oz
the people who lived there must have feared attack
by a powerful enemy, else they would not have sur
rounded their dwellings with so strong a barrier.
There was no path leading from the mountains to
the city, and this proved that the people seldom or
never visited the whirling hills; but our friends found
the grass soft and agreeable to travel over and with
the city before them they could not well lose their
way. When they drew nearer to the walls, the breeze
carried to their ears the sound of music dim at
first but growing louder as they advanced.
"That doesn t seem like a very terr ble place,"
remarked Dorothy.
"Well, it looks all right," replied Trot, from her
seat on the Woozy, "but looks can t always be
trusted."
My looks can," said Scraps. "I look patchwork,
and I am patchwork, and no one but a blind owl
could ever doubt that I m the Patchwork Girl." Say
ing which she turned a somersault off the Woozy and,
alighting on her feet, began wildly dancing about.
"Are owls ever blind?" asked Trot.
"Always, in the daytime," said Button-Bright.
" But Scraps can see with her button eyes both day
and night. Isn t it queer? 3
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"It s queer that buttons can see at all," answered
Trot; "but good gracious! what s become of the
city?"
"I was going to ask that myself/ said Dorothy.
"It s gone!"
The animals came to a sudden halt, for the city
had really disappeared walls and all --and before
them lay the clear, unbroken sweep of the country.
" Dear me! " exclaimed the Wizard. " This is rather
disagreeable. It is annoying to travel almost to a
place and then find it is not there."
"Where can it be, then?" asked Dorothy. "It
cert nly was there a minute ago."
" I can hear the music yet," declared Button-Bright,
and when they all listened the strains of music could
plainly be heard.
"Oh! there s the city over at the left," called
Scraps, and turning their eyes they saw the walls
and towers and fluttering banners far to the left
of them.
" We must have lost our way," suggested Dorothy.
"Nonsense," said the Lion. "I, and ail the, other
animals, have been tramping straight toward the city
ever since we first saw, it."
"Then how does it happen -
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" Never mind," interrupted the Wizard, " we are
no farther from it than we were before. It is in a
different direction, that s all; so let us hurry and get
there before it again escapes us."
So on they went, directly toward the city, which
seemed only a couple of miles distant; but when they
had traveled less than a mile it suddenly disappeared
again. Once more they paused, somewhat discour
aged, but in a moment the button eyes of Scraps again
discovered the city, only this time it was just behind
them, in the direction from which they had come.
"Goodness gracious! 53 cried Dorothy. "There s
surely something wrong with that city. Do you s pose
it s on wheels, Wizard? 5
"It may not be a city at all," he replied, looking
toward it with a speculative gaze.
"What could it be, then?"
" Just an illusion."
"What s that?" asked Trot.
" Something you think you see and don t see."
" I can t believe that," said Button-Bright. " If we
only saw it, we might be mistaken, but if we can
see it and hear it, too, it must be there."
"Where?" asked the Patchwork Girl.
" Somewhere near us," he insisted.
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Chapter Eight
"We will have to go back, I suppose/ said the
Woozy, with a sigh.
So back they turned and headed for the walled
city until it disappeared again, only to reappear at
the right of them. They were constantly getting
nearer to it, however, so they kept their faces turned
toward it as it flitted here and there to all points of
the compass. Presently the Lion, who was leading
the procession, halted abruptly and cried out:
" Ouch! "
"What s the matter?" asked Dorothy.
"Ouch ouch! repeated the Lion, and leaped
backward so suddenly that Dorothy nearly tumbled
from his back. At the same time Hank the Mule
yelled "Ouch!" almost as loudly as the Lion had
done, and he also pranced backward a few paces.
" It s the thistles," said Betsy. " They prick their
legs."
Hearing this, all looked down, and sure enough
the ground was thick with thistles, which covered
the plain from the point where they stood way up
to the walls of the mysterious city. No pathways
through them could be seen at all; here the soft grass
ended and the growth of thistles began.
" They re the prickliest thistles I ever felt," grum-
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The Lost Princess of Oz
bled the Lion. " My legs smart yet from their stings,
though I jumped out of them as quick as I could."
"Here is a new difficulty," remarked the Wizard
in a grieved tone. "The city has stopped hopping
around, it is true; but how are we to get to it, over
this mass of prickers?"
"They can t hurt me" said the thick-skinned
Woozy, advancing fearlessly and trampling among the
thistles.
" Nor me," said the Wooden Sawhorse.
"But the Lion and the Mule cannot stand the
prickers," asserted Dorothy, " and we can t leave them
behind."
"Must we all go back?" asked Trot.
" Course not! " replied Button-Bright scornfully.
"Always, when there s trouble, there s a way out of
it, if you can find it."
"I wish the Scarecrow was here," said Scraps,
standing on her head on the Woozy s square back.
"His splendid brains would soon show us how to
conquer this field of thistles."
" What s the matter with your brains? " asked the
boy.
"Nothing," she said, making a flip-flop into the
thistles and dancing among them without feeling their
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Chapter Eight
sharp points. "I could tell you in half a minute
how to get over the thistles, if I wanted to."
"Tell us, Scraps! 73 begged Dorothy.
"I don t want to wear my brains out with over
work," replied the Patchwork Girl.
"Don t you love Ozma? And don t you want to
find her?" asked Betsy reproachfully.
"Yes, indeed," said Scraps, walking on her hands
as an acrobat does at the circus.
" Well, we can t find Ozma unless we get past these
thistles," declared Dorothy.
Scraps danced around them two or three times,
without reply. Then she said:
"Don t look at me, you stupid folks; look at those
blankets."
The Wizard s face brightened at once.
" Of course! " he exclaimed. " Why didn t we think
of those blankets before?"
"Because you haven t magic brains," laughed
Scraps. " Such brains as you have are of the common
sort that grow in your heads, like weeds in a garden.
I m sorry for you people who have to be born in
order to be alive."
But the Wizard was not listening to her. He
quickly removed the blankets from the back of the
117
Tie Lost Princess of Oz
Sawhorse and spread one of them upon the thistles,
just next the grass. The thick cloth rendered the
prickers harmless, so the Wizard walked over this
first blanket and spread the second one farther on,
in the direction of the phantom city.
"These blankets," said he, "are for the Lion and
the Mule to walk upon. The Sawhorse and the Woozy
can walk on the thistles."
So the Lion and the Mule walked over the first
blanket and stood upon the second one until the
Wizard had picked up the one they had passed over
and spread it in front of them, when they advanced
to that one and waited while the one behind them
was again spread in front.
" This is slow work," said the Wizard, " but it will
get us to the city after a while."
" The city is a good half mile away, yet," announced
Button-Bright.
" And. this is awful hard work for the Wizard,"
added Trot.
"Why couldn t the Lion ride on the Woozy s
back? " asked Dorothy. " It s a big, fiat back, and the
Woozy s mighty strong. Perhaps the Lion wouldn t
fall off."
" You may try it, if you like," said the Woozy to
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The Lost Princess of Oz
the Lion. " I can take you to the city in a jiffy; and
then come back for Hank."
"I m --I m afraid," said the Cowardly Lion. He
was twice as big as the Woozy.
"Try it," pleaded Dorothy:
"And take a tumble among the thistles? 93 asked
the Lion reproachfully. But when the Woozy came
close to him the big beast suddenly bounded upon its
back and managed to balance himself there, although
forced to hold his four legs so close together that
he was in danger of toppling over. The great weight
of the monster Lion did not seem to affect the Woozy,
who called to his rider: "Hold on tight !" and ran
swiftly over the thistles toward the city.
The others stood on the blankets and watched the
strange sight anxiously. Of course the Lion couldn t
"hold on tight" because there was nothing to hold
to, and he swayed from side to side as if likely to
fall off any moment. Still, he managed to stick to
the Woozy s back until they were close to the walls
of the city, when he leaped to the ground. Next
moment fhe Woozy came dashing back at full speed.
" There s a little strip of ground next the wall where
there are no thistles," he told them, when he had
reached the adventurers once more. "Now, then,
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Chapter Eight
friend Hank, see if you can ride as well as the Lion
did."
"Take the others first," proposed the Mule. So
the Sawhorse and the Woozy made a couple of trips
over the thistles to the city walls and carried all the
people in safety, Dorothy holding little Toto in her
arms. The travelers then sat in a group on a little
hillock, just outside the wall, and looked at the great
blocks of gray stone and waited for the Woozy to
bring Hank to them. The Mule was very awkward
and his legs trembled so badly that more than once
they thought he would tumble off, but finally he
reached them in safety and the entire party was now
reunited. More than that, they had reached the city
that had eluded them for so long and in so strange
a manner.
"The gates must be around the other side," said
the Wizard. "Let us follow the curve of the wall
until we reach an opening in it."
" Which way? " asked Dorothy.
"We must guess at that," he replied. "Suppose
we go to the left? One direction is as good as
another."
They formed in marching order and went around
the city wall to the left. It wasn t a big city, as I have
121
The Lost Princess of Oz
said, but to go way around it, outside the high wall,
was quite a walk, as they became aware. But around
it our adventurers went, without finding any sign of a
gateway or other opening. When they had returned
to the little mound from which they had started, they
dismounted from the animals and again seated them
selves on the grassy mound.
"It s mighty queer, isn t it? " asked Button-Bright.
"There must be some way for the people to get
out and in," declared Dorothy. " Do you s pose they
have flying machines, Wizard? 3
"No," he replied, "for in that case they would
be flying all over the Land of Oz, and we know they
have not done that. Flying machines are unknown
here. I think it more likely that the people use
ladders to get over the walls."
" It would be an awful climb, over that high stone
wall," said Betsy.
" Stone, is it? " cried Scraps, who was again dancing
wildly around, for she never tired and could never
keep still for long.
" Course it s stone," answered Betsy scornfully.
"Can t you see?"
"Yes," said Scraps, going closer, "I can see the
wall, but I can t feel it." And then, with her arms
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Chapter Eight
outstretched, she did a very queer thing. She walked
right into the wall and disappeared.
"For goodness sake!" cried Dorothy amazed, as
indeed they all were.
123
The High CocoJLorum of Thi
And now the
Patchwork Girl
came dancing out
of the wall again.
"Come on!" she called. "It isn t there. There
isn t any wall at all."
"What! No wall?" exclaimed the Wizard.
"Nothing like it," said Scraps. "It s a make-
believe. You see it, but it isn t. Come on into the
city; we ve been wasting time."
With this she danced into the wall again and once
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Chapter Nine
more disappeared. Button-Bright, who was rather
venturesome, dashed away after her and also became
invisible to them. The others followed more cau
tiously, stretching out their hands to feel the wall
and finding, to their astonishment, that they could
feel nothing because nothing opposed them. They
walked on a few steps and found themselves in the
streets of a very beautiful city. Behind them they
again saw the wall, grim and forbidding as ever; but
now they knew it was merely an illusion, prepared
to keep strangers from entering the city.
But the wall was soon forgotten, for in front of
them were a number of quaint people who stared
at them in amazement, as if wondering where they
had come from. Our friends forgot their good man
ners, for a time, and returned the stares with
interest, for so remarkable a people had never
before been discovered in all the remarkable Land
of Oz.
Their heads were shaped like diamonds and their
bodies like hearts. All the hair they had was a
little bunch at the tip top of their diamond-shaped
heads and their eyes were very large and round and
their noses and mouths very small. Their clothing
was tight-fitting and of brilliant colors, being hand-
125
The Lost Princess of Oz
somely embroidered in quaint designs with gold or
silver threads; but on their feet they wore sandals,
with no stockings whatever. The expression of their
faces was pleasant enough, although they now showed
surprise at the appearance of strangers so unlike
themselves, and our friends thought they seemed quite
harmless.
" I beg your pardon," said the Wizard, speaking for
his party, "for intruding upon you uninvited, but
we are traveling on important business and find it
necessary to visit your city. Will you kindly tell
us by what name your city is called? r
They looked at one another uncertainly, each
expecting some other to answer. Finally a short one
whose heart-shaped body was very broad replied:
"We have no occasion to call our city anything.
It is where we live, that is all."
" But by what name do others call your city? " asked
the Wizard.
"We know of no others, except yourselves," said
the man. And then he inquired: "Were you born
with those queer forms you have, or has some cruel
magician transformed you to them from your natural
shapes?"
"These are our natural shapes," declared the
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Chapter Nine
Wizard, " and we consider them very good shapes,
too."
The group of inhabitants was constantly being
enlarged by others who joined it. All were evidently
startled and uneasy at the arrival of strangers.
"Have you a King? 1 asked Dorothy, who knew
it was better to speak with someone in authority.
But the man shook his diamond-like head.
" What is a King? " he asked.
"Isn t there anyone who rules over you?" inquired
the Wizard.
"No," was the reply, " each of us rules himself; or,
at least, tries to do so. It is not an easy thing to do,
as you probably know."
The Wizard reflected.
"If you have disputes among you," said he, after
a little thought, " who settles them? r>
" The High Coco-Lorum," they answered in a chorus.
"And who is he?"
"The judge who enforces the laws," said the man
who had first spoken.
"Then he is the principal person here?" continued
the Wizard.
"Well, I would not say that," returned the man
in a puzzled way. " The High Coco-Lorum is a public
127
The Lost Princess of Oz
servant. However, he represents the laws, which
we must all obey."
" I think," said the Wizard, " we ought to see your
High Coco-Lorum and talk with him. Our mission
here requires us to consult one high in authority, and
the High Coco-Lorum ought to be high, whatever
else he is."
The inhabitants seemed to consider this proposition
reasonable, for they nodded their diamond-shaped
heads in approval. So the broad one who had been
their spokesman said: "Follow me," and, turning,
led the way along one of the streets.
The entire party followed him, the natives falling
in behind. The dwellings they passed were quite
nicely planned and seemed comfortable and conven
ient. After leading them a few blocks their conductor
stopped before a house which was neither better nor
worse than the others. The doorway was shaped to
admit the strangely formed bodies of these people,
being narrow at the top, broad in the middle and
tapering at the bottom. The windows were made in
much the same way, giving the house a most peculiar
appearance. When their guide opened the gate a
music-box concealed in the gate-post began to play,
and the sound attracted the attention of the High
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Chapter Nine
Coco-Lorum, who appeared at an open window and
inquired:
"What has happened now?"
But in the same moment his eyes fell upon the
strangers and he hastened to open the door and admit
them all but the animals, which were left outside
with the throng of natives that had now gathered
For a small city there seemed to be a large number o;
inhabitants, but they did not try to enter the house
and contented themselves with staring curiously
at the strange animals. Toto followed Dorothy.
Our friends entered a large room at the front of
the house, where the High Coco-Lorum asked them
to be seated.
"I hope your mission here is a peaceful one," he
said, looking a little worried, "for the Thists are
not very good fighters and object to being conquered."
"Are your people called Thists?" asked Dorothy.
" Yes. I thought you knew that. And we call our
city Thi."
" Oh! "
" We are Thists because we eat thistles, you know,"
continued the High Coco-Lorum.
" Do you really eat those prickly things? " inquired
Button-Bright wonderingly.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
Why not? " replied the other. The sharp points
of the thistles cannot hurt us, because all our insides
are gold-lined."
" Gold-lined! "
"To be sure. Our throats and stomachs are lined
with solid gold, and we find the thistles nourishing
and good to eat. As a matter of fact, there is nothing
else in our country that is fit for food. All around
the City of Thi grow countless thistles, and all we
need do is to go and gather them. If we wanted
anything else to eat we would have to plant it, and
grow it, and harvest it, and that w^ould be a lot of
trouble and make us work, which is an occupation
we detest."
" But, tell me, please," said the Wizard, " how does
it happen that your city jumps around so, from one
part of the country to another? "
"The city doesn t jump; it doesn t move at all,"
declared the High Coco-Lorum. "However, I will
admit that the land that surrounds it has a trick
of turning this way or that; and so, if one is standing
upon the plain and facing north, he is likely to find
himself suddenly facing west or east or south.
But once you reach the thistle fields you are on solid
ground."
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Chapter Nine
" Ah, I begin to understand," said the Wizard, nod
ding his head. " But I have another question to ask:
How does it happen that the Thists have no King to
rule over them?"
" Hush! " whispered the High Coco-Lorum, looking
uneasily around to make sure they were not over
heard. "In reality, I am the King, but the people
don t know it. They think they rule themselves, but
the fact is I have everything my own way. No one
else knows anything about our laws, and so I make
the laws to suit myself. If any oppose me, or question
my acts, I tell them it s the law, and that settles it.
If I called myself King, however, and wore a crown
and lived in royal state, the people would not like
me, and might do me harm. As the High Coco-Lorum
of Thi, Fm considered a very agreeable person."
"It seems a very clever arrangement," said the
.Wizard. " And now, as you are the principal person
in Thi, I beg you to tell us if the Royal Ozma is a
captive in your city."
" No," answered the diamond-headed man, " we have
no captives. No strangers but yourselves are here,
and we have never before heard of the Royal Ozma."
" She rules all of Oz," said Dorothy, " and so she
rules your city and you, because you are in the
131
The Lost Princess of Oz
Winkle Country, which is a part of the Land of Oz."
" It may be," returned the High Coco-Lorum, " for
we do not study geography and have never inquired
whether we live in the Land of Oz or not. And any
Ruler who rules us from a distance, and unknown
to us, is welcome to the job. But what has happened
to your Royal Ozma?"
"Someone has stolen her," said the Wizard. "Do
you happen to have any talented magician among
your people one who is especially clever, you
know?"
"No, none especially clever. We do some magic,
of course, but it is all of the ordinary kind. I do
not think any of us has yet aspired to stealing Rulers,
either by magic or otherwise."
"Then we ve come a long way for nothing ! !
exclaimed Trot regretfully.
" But we are going farther than this," asserted the
Patchwork Girl, bending her stuffed body backward
until her yarn hair touched the floor and then walking
around on her hands with her feet in the air.
The High Coco-Lorum watched Scraps admiringly.
" You may go farther on, of course," said he, " but
I advise you not to. The Herkus live back of us,
beyond the thistles and the twisting lands, and they
132
The Lost Princess of Oz
are not very nice people to meet, I assure you."
"Are they giants?" asked Betsy.
" They are worse than that," was the reply. " They
have giants for their slaves and they are so much
stronger than giants that the poor slaves dare not
rebel, for fear of being torn to pieces."
"How do you know?" asked Scraps.
"Everyone says so," answered the High Coco-
Lorum.
"Have you seen the Herkus yourself? 3 inquired
Dorothy.
"No, but what everyone says must be true; other
wise, what would be the use of their saying it?"
" We were told, before we got here, that you people
hitch dragons to your chariots," said the little girl.
" So we do," declared the High Coco-Lorum. " And
that reminds me that I ought to entertain you, as
strangers and my guests, by taking you for a ride
around our splendid City of Thi."
He touched a button and a band began to play; at
least, they heard the music of a band, but couldn t
tell where it came from.
" That tune is the order to my charioteer to bring
around my dragon-chariot," said the High Coco-
Lorum. " Every time I give an order it is in music,
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Chapter Nine
which is a much more pleasant way to address serv
ants than in cold, stern words."
"Does this dragon of yours bite?" asked Button-
Bright.
"Mercy, no! Do you think I d risk the safety of
my innocent people by using a biting dragon to draw
my chariot? Fm proud to say that my dragon is
harmless unless his steering-gear breaks and he
was manufactured at the famous dragon-factory in
this City of Thi. Here he comes and you may examine
him for yourselves."
They heard a low rumble and a shrill squeaking
sound and, going out to the front of the house, they
saw coming around the corner a car drawn by a
gorgeous jeweled dragon, which moved its head to
right and left and flashed its eyes like the headlights
of an automobile and uttered a growling noise as it
slowly moved toward them.
When it stopped before the High Coco-Lorum s
house Toto barked sharply at the sprawling beast,
but even tiny Trot could see that the dragon was
not alive. Its scales were of gold and each one was
set with sparkling jewels, while it walked in such
a stiff, regular manner that it could be nothing else
than a machine. The chariot that trailed behind it
135
The Lost Princess of Oz
was likewise of gold and jewels, and when they
entered it they found there were no seats. Everyone
was supposed to stand up while riding.
The charioteer was a little diamond-headed fellow
who straddled the neck of the dragon and moved
the levers that made it go.
" This," said the High Coco-Lorum, pompously, " is
a wonderful invention. We are all very proud of
our auto-dragons, many of which are in use by
our wealthy inhabitants. Start the thing going,
charioteer! "
The charioteer did not move.
"You forgot to order him in music," suggested
Dorothy.
" Ah, so I did." He touched a button and a music-
box in the dragon s head began to play a tune. At
once the little charioteer pulled over a lever and the
dragon began to move very slowly and groaning
dismally as it drew the clumsy chariot after it. Toto
trotted between the wheels. The Sawhorse, the Mule,
the Lion and the Woozy followed after and had no
trouble in keeping up with the machine; indeed, they
had to go slow to keep from running into it. When
the wheels turned another music-box concealed some
where under the chariot played a lively march tune
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Chapter Nine
which was in striking contrast with the dragging
movement of the strange vehicle and Button-Bright
decided that the music he had heard when they first
sighted this city was nothing else than a chariot
plodding its weary way through the streets.
All the travelers from the Emerald City thought
this ride the most uninteresting and dreary they had
ever experienced, but the High Coco-Lorum seemed
to think it was grand. He pointed out the different
buildings and parks and fountains, in much the same
way that the conductor of an American " sight-seeing
wagon " does, and being guests they were obliged to
submit to the ordeal. But they became a little
worried when their host told them he had ordered a
banquet prepared for them in the City Hall.
"What are we going to eat?" asked Button-Bright
suspiciously.
" Thistles," was the reply; " fine, fresh thistles, gath
ered this very day."
Scraps laughed, for she never ate anything, but
Dorothy said in a protesting voice:
" Our insides are not lined with gold, you know."
"How sad!" exclaimed the High Coco-Lorum; and
then he added, as an afterthought: " But we can have
the thistles boiled, if you prefer."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"I m fraid they wouldn t taste good, even then,"
said little Trot. " Haven t you anything else to eat? "
The High Coco-Lorum shook his diamond-shaped
head.
"Nothing that I know of," said he. "But why
should we have anything else, when we have so many
thistles? However, if you can t eat what we eat, don t
eat anything. We shall not be offended and the ban
quet will be just as merry and delightful."
Knowing his companions were all hungry the
Wizard said:
" I trust you will excuse iis from the banquet, sir,
which will be merry enough without us, although it
is given in our honor. For, as Ozma is not in your
city, we must leave here at once and seek her else
where."
"Sure we must!" agreed Dorothy, and she whis
pered to Betsy and Trot: "I d rather starve some
where else than in this city, and who knows? we
may run across somebody who eats reg lar food and
will give us some."
So, when the ride was finished, in spite of the
protests of the High Coco-Lorum they insisted on
continuing their journey.
" It will soon be dark," he objected.
Chapter Nine
" We don t mind the darkness," replied the Wizard.
"Some wandering Herku may get you."
"Do you think the Herkus would hurt us?" asked
Dorothy.
"I cannot say, not having the honor of their
acquaintance. But they are said to be so strong that,
if they had any other place to stand upon, they could
lift the world."
"All of them together?" asked Button-Bright
wonderingly.
" Any one of them could do it," said the High Coco-
Lorum.
"Have you heard of any magicians being among
them?" asked the Wizard, knowing that only a
magician could have stolen Ozma in the way she
had been stolen.
" I am told it is quite a magical country," declared
the High Coco-Lorum, "and magic is usually per
formed by magicians. But I have never heard that
they have any invention or sorcery to equal our
wonderful auto-dragons."
They thanked him for his courtesy and, mounting
their own animals, rode to the farther side of the
city and right through the Wall of Illusion out into
the open country.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" I m glad we got away so easily/ said Betsy. " I
didn t like those queer-shaped people."
" Nor did I," agreed Dorothy. " It seems dreadful
to be lined with sheets of pure gold and have nothing
to eat but thistles."
"They seemed happy and contented, though,"
remarked the little Wizard, "and those who are
contented have nothing to regret and nothing more
to wish for."
140
Toto Loses Something
For a while the
travelers were con
stantly losing their
direction, for be
yond the thistle fields they again found themselves
upon the turning-lands, which swung them around
in such a freakish manner that first they were headed
one way and then another. But by keeping the City
of Thi constantly behind them the adventurers finally
passed the treacherous turning-lands and came upon
a stony country where no grass grew at all. There
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The Lost Princess of Oz
were plenty of bushes, however, and although it was
now almost dark the girls discovered some delicious
yellow berries growing upon the bushes, one taste
of which set them all to picking as many as they
could find. The berries relieved their pangs of
hunger, for a time, and as it now became too dark
to see anything they camped where they were.
The three girls lay down upon one of the blankets
all in a row and then the Wizard covered them
with the other blanket and tucked them in. Button-
Bright crawled under the shelter of some bushes and
was asleep in half a minute. The Wizard sat down
with his back to a big stone and looked at the stars
in the sky and thought gravely upon the dangerous
adventure they had undertaken, wondering if they
would ever be able to find their beloved Ozma again.
The animals lay in a group by themselves, a little
distance from the others.
"I ve lost my growl! 3 said Toto, who had been
very silent and sober all that day. "What do you
suppose has become of it? 3
" If you had asked me to keep track of your growl,
I might be able to tell you," remarked the Lion
sleepily. "But, frankly, Toto, I supposed you were
taking care of it yourself."
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Chapter Ten
" It s an awful thing to lose one s growl," said Toto,
wagging his tail disconsolately. " What if you lost
your roar, Lion? Wouldn t you feel terrible?"
" My roar," replied the Lion, " is the fiercest thing
about me. I depend on it to frighten my enemies so
badly that they won t dare to fight me."
" Once," said the Mule, " I lost my bray, so that I
couldn t call to Betsy to let her know I was hungry.
That was before I could talk, you know, for I had
not yet come into the Land of Oz, and I found it was
certainly very imcomfortable not to be able to make
a noise. 3
"You make enough noise now," declared Toto.
" But none of you has answered my question: Where
is my growl?"
"You may search me" said the Woozy. "I don t
care for such things myself."
"You snore terribly," asserted Toto.
"It may be," said the Woozy. "What one does
when asleep one is not accountable for. I wish you
would wake me up, some time when I m snoring, and
let me hear the sound. Then I can judge whether
it is terrible or delightful."
"It isn t pleasant, I assure you," said the Lion,
yawning.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"To me it seems wholly unn assary," declared
Hank the Mule.
"You ought to break yourself of the habit," said
the Sawhorse. " You never hear me snore, because
I never sleep. I don t even whinny, as those puffy
meat horses do. I wish that whoever stole Toto s
growl had taken the Mule s bray and the Lion s roar
and the Woozy s snore at the same time."
"Do you think, then, that my growl was stolen?
" You have never lost it before, have you? " inquired
e Sawhorse.
" Only once, when I had a sore throat from barking
o long at the moon."
"Is your throat sore now?" asked the Woozy.
"No," replied the dog.
" I can t understand," said Hank, " why dogs bark
t the moon. They can t scare the moon, and the
moon doesn t pay any attention to the bark. So why
do dogs do it?"
"Were you ever a dog?" asked Toto.
"No, indeed," replied Hank. "I am thankful to
say I was created a mule the most beautiful of ail
beasts and have always remained one."
The Woozy sat upon his square haunches to examine
Hank with care.
144
>\- r>ki<;n i CREFI OUT i>\ TMK Uu. \\cii / <///< 755
The Lost Princess of Oz
"Beauty," said he, "must be a matter of taste.
I don t say your judgment is bad, friend Hank, or
that you are so vulgar as to be conceited. But if you
admire big waggly ears, and a tail like a paint-brush,
and hoofs big enough for an elephant, and a long
neck and a body so skinny that one can count the
ribs with one eye shut if that s your idea of beauty,
Hank then either you or I must be much mistaken."
"You re full of edges," sneered the Mule. "If I
were square, as you are, I suppose you d think me
lovely."
"Outwardly, dear Hank, I would," replied the
Woozy. " But to be really lovely one must be beau
tiful without and within."
The Mule couldn t deny this statement, so he gave
a disgusted grunt and rolled over so that his back
was toward the Woozy. But the Lion, regarding
the two calmly with his great yellow eyes, said to
the dog:
"My dear Toto, our friends have taught us a
lesson in humility. If the Woozy and the Mule are
indeed beautiful creatures, as they seem to think,
you and I must be decidedly ugly."
"Not to ourselves," protested Toto, who was a
shrewd little dog. " You and I, Lion, are fine speci-
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Chapter Ten
mens of our own races. I am a fine dog and you
are a fine lion. Only in point of comparison, one
with another, can we be properly judged, so I will
leave it to the poor old Sawhorse to decide which
is the most beautiful animal among us all. The
Sawhorse is wood, so he won t be prejudiced and will
speak the truth."
"I surely will," responded the Sawhorse, wagging
his ears, which were chips set in his wooden head.
"Are you all agreed to accept my judgment? 93
"We are!" they declared, each one hopeful.
"Then," said the Sawhorse, "I must point out to
you the fact that you are all meat creatures, who tire
unless they sleep, and starve unless they eat, and
suffer from thirst unless they drink. Such animals
must be very imperfect, and imperfect creatures
cannot be beautiful. Now, / am made of wood."
" You surely have a wooden head," said the Mule.
" Yes, and a wooden body and wooden legs which
are as swift as the wind and as tireless. I ve heard
Dorothy say that handsome is as handsome does,
and I surely perform my duties in a handsome
manner. Therefore, if you wish my honest judgment,
I will confess that among us all I am the most
beautiful."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
The Mule snorted and the Woozy laughed; Toto
had lost his growl and could only look scornfully
at the Sawhorse, who stood in his place unmoved.
But the Lion stretched himself and yawned, saying
quietly:
"Were we all like the Sawhorse we would all be
Sawhorses, which would be too many of the kind;
were we all like Hank, we would be a herd of mules;
if like Toto, we would be a pack of dogs; should we
all become the shape of the Woozy, he would no longer
be remarkable for his unusual appearance. Finally,
were you all like me, I would consider you so common
that I would not care to associate with you. To be
individual, my friends, to be different from others,
is the only way to become distinguished from the
common herd. Let us be glad, therefore, that we
differ from one another in form and in disposition.
Variety is the spice of life and we are various enough
to enjoy one another s society; so let us be content."
"There is some truth in that speech/ remarked
Toto reflectively. "But how about my lost growl ?"
"The growl is of importance only to you,"
responded the Lion, " so it is your business to worry
over the loss, not ours. If you love us, do not inflict
your burdens on us; be unhappy all by yourself."
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Chapter Ten
"If the same person stole my growl who stole
Ozma," said the little dog, "I hope we shall find
him very soon and punish him as he deserves. He
must be the most cruel person in all the world, for
to prevent a dog from growling when it is his nature
to growl is just as wicked, in my opinion, as stealing
all the magic in Oz."
149
Button-Bright Loses Himself
CHAPTER 11
Patchwork
never
could see very well
in the dark, had wandered among the rocks and
bushes all night long, with the result that she was
able to tell some good news the next morning.
" Over the crest of the hill before us," she said, " is
a big grove of trees of many kinds, on which all sorts
of fruits grow. If you will go there you will find a
nice breakfast awaiting you."
150
Chapter Eleven
This made them eager to start, so as soon as the
blankets were folded and strapped to the back of the
Sawhorse they all took their places on the animals
and set out for the big grove Scraps had told them of.
As soon as they got over the brow of the hill they
discovered it to be a really immense orchard, extend
ing for miles to the right and left of them. As their
way led straight through the trees they hurried
forward as fast as possible.
The first trees they came to bore quinces, which
they did not like. Then there were rows of citron
trees and then crab apples and afterward limes and
lemons. But beyond these they found a grove of big
golden oranges, juicy and sweet, and the fruit hung
low on the branches, so they could pluck it easily.
They helped themselves freely and all ate oranges
as they continued on their w^ay. Then, a little farther
along, they came to some trees bearing fine red apples,
which they also feasted on, and the Wizard stopped
here long enough to tie a lot of the apples in one
end of a blanket.
"We do not know what will happen to us after
we leave this delightful orchard," he said, " so I think
it wise to carry a supply of apples with us. We can t
starve as long as we have apples, you know."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
Scraps wasn t riding the Woozy just now. She
loved to climb the trees and swing herself by the
branches from one tree to another. Some of the
choicest fruit was gathered by the Patchwork Girl
from the very highest limbs and tossed down to the
others.
Suddenly Trot asked: "Where s Button-Bright?"
and when the others looked for him they found the
boy had disappeared.
"Dear me!" cried Dorothy. "I guess he s lost
again, and that will mean our waiting here until
we can find him."
"It s a good place to wait," suggested Betsy, who
had found a plum tree and was eating some of its
fruit.
"How can you wait here, and find Button-Bright,
at one and the same time?" inquired the Patchwork
Girl, hanging by her toes on a limb just over the
heads of the three mortal girls.
" Perhaps he ll come back here," answered Dorothy.
"If he tries that, he ll prob ly lose his way," said
Trot. "I ve known him to do that, lots of times.
It s losing his way that gets him lost."
" Very true," said the Wizard. " So all the rest of
you must stay here while I go look for the boy."
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Chapter Eleven
"Won t yon get lost, too?" asked Betsy.
"I hope not, my dear."
"Let me go," said Scraps, dropping lightly to the
ground. "I can t get lost, and I m more likely to
find Button-Bright than any of you."
Without waiting for permission she darted away
through the trees and soon disappeared from their
view.
"Dorothy," said Toto, squatting beside his little
mistress, " I ve lost my growl."
"How did that happen?" she asked.
"I don t know," replied Toto. "Yesterday morn
ing the Woozy nearly stepped on me and I tried
to growl at him and found I couldn t growl a bit."
" Can you bark? " inquired Dorothy.
"Oh, yes, indeed!"
" Then never mind the growl," said she.
" But what will I do when I get home to the Glass
Cat and the Pink Kitten?" asked the little dog in
an anxious voice.
" They won t mind, if you can t growl at them, I m
sure," said Dorothy. "I m sorry for you, of course,
Toto, for it s just those things we can t do that
we want to do most of all; but before we get back
you may find your growl again."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" Do you think the person who stole Ozma stole
my growl? 3
Dorothy smiled.
" Perhaps, Toto."
"Then he s a scoundrel!" cried the little dog.
"Anyone who would steal Ozma is as bad as bad
can be," agreed Dorothy, "and when we remember
that our dear friend, the lovely Ruler of Oz, is lost,
we ought not to worry over just a growl."
Toto was not entirely satisfied with this remark,
for the more he thought upon his lost growl the
more important his misfortune became. When no
one was looking he went away among the trees and
tried his best to growl even a little bit but could
not manage to do so. All he could do was bark,
and a bark cannot take the place of a growl, so he
sadly returned to the others.
NOW T , Button-Bright had no idea that he was lost,
at first. He had merely wandered from, tree to tree,
seeking the finest fruit, until he discovered he was
alone in the great orchard. But that didn t worry
him just then and seeing some apricot trees farther
on he went to them; then he discovered some cherry
trees; just beyond these were some tangerines.
" We ve found most ev ry kind of fruit but
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Chapter Eleven
peaches," lie said to himself, "so I guess there are
peaches here, too, if I can find the trees. 2
He searched here and there, paying no attention
to his way, until he found that the trees surrounding
him bore only nuts. He put some walnuts in his
pockets and kept on searching and at last right
among the nut trees he came upon one solitary
peach tree. It was a graceful, beautiful tree, but
although it was thickly leaved it bore no fruit except
one large, splendid peach, rosy-cheeked and fuzzy
and just right to eat.
Button-Bright had some trouble getting that lone
some peach, for it hung far out of reach; but he
climbed the tree nimbly and crept out on the branch
on which it grew and after several trials, during
which he was in danger of falling, he finally managed
to pick it. Then he got back to the ground and
decided the fruit was well worth his trouble. It was
delightfully fragrant and when he bit into it he found
it the most delicious morsel he had ever tasted.
" I really ought to divide it with Trot and Dorothy
and Betsy," he said; "but p rhaps there are plenty
more in some other part of the orchard."
In his heart he doubted this statement, for this was
a solitary peach tree, while all the other fruits grew
155
The Lost Princess of Oz
upon many trees set close to one another; but that
one luscious bite made him unable to resist eating the
rest of it and soon the peach was all gone except
the pit.
Button-Bright was about to throw this peach-pit
away when he noticed that it was of pure gold. Of
course this surprised him, but so many things in the
Land of Oz were surprising that he did not give
much thought to the golden peach-pit. He put it in
his pocket, however, to show to the girls, and five
minutes afterward had forgotten all about it.
For now he realized that he was far separated from
his companions, and knowing that this would worry
them and delay their journey, he began to shout as
loud as he could. His voice did not penetrate very
far among all those trees, and after shouting a dozen
times and getting no answer he sat down on the
ground and said:
"Well, I m lost again. It s too bad, but I don t
see how it can be helped."
As he leaned his back against a tree he looked up
and saw a Bluefinch fly down from the sky and alight
upon a branch just before him. The bird looked and
looked at him. First it looked with one bright eye
and then turned its head and looked at him with the
156
Chapter Eleven
other eye. Then, fluttering its wings a little, it said:
" Oho! so you ve eaten the enchanted peach, have
you?"
" Was it enchanted? " asked Button-Bright.
"Of course," replied the Bluefinch. "Ugu the
Shoemaker did that."
" But why? And how was it enchanted? And what
will happen to one who eats it?" questioned the boy.
"Ask Ugu the Shoemaker; he knows," said the
bird, pruning its feathers with its bill.
"And who is TJgu the Shoemaker?"
"The one who enchanted the peach, and placed it
here in the exact center of the Great Orchard -
so no one would ever find it. We birds didn t dare
to eat it; we are too wise for that. But you are
Button-Bright, from the Emerald City, and you
you YOU ate the enchanted peach! You must
explain to Ugu the Shoemaker why you did that."
And then, before the boy could ask any more
questions, the bird flew away and left him alone.
Button-Bright was not much worried to find that
the peach he had eaten was enchanted. It certainly
had tasted very good and his stomach didn t ache a
bit. So again he began to reflect upon the best way
to rejoin his friends.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" Whichever direction I follow is likely to be the
wrong one," he said to himself, "so I d better stay
just where I am and let them find me if they can."
A White Eabbit came hopping through the orchard
and paused a little way off to look at him.
"Don t be afraid," said Button-Bright; "I won t
hurt you."
" Oh, I m not afraid for myself," returned the White
Rabbit. " It s you I m worried about."
"Yes; I m lost," said the boy.
"I fear you are, indeed," answered the Rabbit.
"Why on earth did you eat the enchanted peach? 3
The boy looked at the excited little animal
thoughtfully.
" There were two reasons," he explained. " One
reason was that I like peaches, and the other reason
was that I didn t know it was enchanted."
"That won t save you from Ugu the Shoemaker,"
declared the White Rabbit and it scurried away before
the boy could ask any more questions.
" Rabbits and birds," he thought, " are timid crea
tures and seem afraid of this shoemaker whoever
he may be. If there was another peach half as good
as that other, I d eat it in spite of a dozen enchant
ments or a hundred shoemakers! "
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Chapter Eleven
Just then Scraps came dancing along and saw him
sitting at the foot of the tree.
"Oh, here you are!" she said. "Up to your old
tricks, eh? Don t you know it s impolite to get lost
and keep everybody waiting for you? Come along,
and I ll lead you back to Dorothy and the others."
Button-Bright rose slowly to accompany her.
"That wasn t much of a loss," he said cheerfully.
" I haven t been gone half a day, so there s no harm
done."
Dorothy, however, when the boy rejoined the party,
gave him a good scolding.
"When we re doing such an important thing as
searching for Ozma," said she, " it s naughty for you
to wander away and keep us from getting on. S pose
she s a pris ner in a dungeon cell! do you want
to keep our dear Ozma there any longer than we can
help?"
"If she s in a dungeon cell, how are you going to
get her out?" inquired the boy.
"Never you mind; we ll leave that to the Wizard;
he s sure to find a way."
The Wizard said nothing, for he realized that with
out his magic tools he could do no more than any
other person. But there was no use reminding his
159
The Lost Princess of Oz
companions of that fact; it might discourage them.
" The important thing just now," he remarked, " is
to find Ozma; and, as our party is again happily
reunited, I propose we move on."
As they came to the edge of the Great Orchard the
sun was setting and they knew it would soon be dark.
So it was decided to camp under the trees, as another
broad plain was before them. The Wizard spread
the blankets on a bed of soft leaves and presently all
of them except Scraps and the Sawhorse were fast
asleep. Toto snuggled close to his friend the Lion,
and the Woozy snored so loudly that the Patchwork
Girl covered his square head with her apron to deaden
the sound.
160
MALT!" SAID THE I .KMWN, I Vx/v I .KAR Page
The Czarover of Herku
Trot wakened just
as the sun rose
and, slipping out
of the blankets,
went to the edge of the Great Orchard and looked
across the plain. Something glittered in the far
distance.
" That looks like another city," she said half aloud.
" And another city it is," declared Scraps, who had
crept to Trot s side unheard, for her stuffed feet made
no sound. "The Sawhorse and I made a journey
161
The Lost Princess of Oz
in the dark, while you were all asleep, and we found
over there a bigger city than Thi. There s a wall
around it, too, but it has gates and plenty of
pathways."
"Did you go in?" asked Trot
"No, for the gates were locked and the wall was
a real wall. So we came back here again. It isn t
far to the city. We can reach it in two hours after
you ve had your breakfasts."
Trot went back and, finding the other girls now
awake, told them what Scraps had said. So they
hurriedly ate some fruit there were plenty of plums
and fijoas in this part of the orchard and then they
mounted the animals and set out upon the journey
to the strange city. Hank the Mule had breakfasted
on grass and the Lion had stolen away and found a
breakfast to his liking; he never told what it was,
but Dorothy hoped the little rabbits and the field
mice had kept out of his way. She warned Toto not
to chase birds and gave the dog some apple, with
which he was quite content. The Woozy was as
fond of fruit as of any other food, except honey, and
the Sawhorse never ate at all.
Except for their worry over Ozma they were all
in good spirits as they proceeded swiftly over the
162
Chapter Twelve
plain. Toto still worried over his lost growl, but like
a wise little dog kept his worry to himself. Before
long the city grew nearer and they could examine it
with interest.
In outward appearance the place was more impos
ing than Thi, and it was a square city, with a square,
four-sided wall around it and on each side was a
square gate of burnished copper. Everything about
the city looked solid and substantial; there were no
banners flying and the towers that rose above the
city wall seemed bare of any ornament whatever.
A path led from the fruit orchard directly to one
of the city gates, showing that the inhabitants pre
ferred fruit to thistles. Our friends followed this
path to the gate, which they found fast shut. But
the Wizard advanced and pounded upon it with his
fist, saying in a loud voice: "Open! 3
At once there rose above the great wall a row of
immense heads, all of which looked down at them as
if to see who was intruding. The size of these heads
was astonishing and our friends at once realized that
they belonged to giants, who were standing within
the city. All had thick, bushy hair and whiskers,
on some the hair being white and on others black or
red or yellow, while the hair of a few was just turning
The Lost Princess of Oz
gray, showing that the giants were of all ages. How
ever fierce the heads might seem the eyes were mild
in expression, as if the creatures had been long sub
dued, and their faces expressed patience rather than
ferocity.
"What s wanted?" asked on old giant, in a low,
grumbling voice.
" We are strangers and we wish to enter the city/
replied the Wizard.
"Do you come in war or peace?" asked another.
"In peace, of course," retorted the Wizard, and
he added impatiently: "Do we look like an army
of conquest?"
"No," said the first giant who had spoken, "you
look like innocent tramps; but one never can tell by
appearances. Wait here until we report to our mas
ters. No one can enter here without the permission
of Vig, the Czarover."
"Who s that?" inquired Dorothy. But the heads
had all bobbed down and disappeared behind the wall,
so there was no answer.
They waited a long time before the gate rolled
back with a rumbling sound and a loud voice cried:
" Enter! 9I But they lost no time in taking advantage
of the invitation.
164
The Lost Princess of Oz
On either side of the broad street that led into the
city from the gate stood a row of huge giants
twenty of them on a side and all standing so close
together that their elbows touched. They wore uni
forms of blue and yellow and were armed with clubs
as big around as tree-trunks. Each giant had around
his neck a broad band of gold, riveted on, to show
he was a slave.
As our friends entered, riding upon the Lion, the
Woozy, the Sawhorse and the Mule, the giants half
turned and walked in two files on either side of them,
as if escorting them on their way. It looked to
Dorothy as if all her party had been made prisoners,
for even mounted on their animals their heads scarcely
reached to the knees of the marching giants. The
girls and Button-Bright were anxious to know what
sort of a city they had entered, and what the people
were like who had made these powerful creatures
their slaves. Through the legs of the giants, as they
walked, Dorothy could see rows of houses on each
side the street and throngs of people standing on the
sidewalks; but the people were of ordinary size and
the only remarkable thing about them was the fact
that they were dreadfully lean and thin. Between
their skin and their bones there seemed to be little
166
Chapter Twelve
or no flesh, and they were mostly stoop-shouldered
and weary looking, even to the little children.
More and more Dorothy wondered how and why the
great giants had ever submitted to become slaves of
such skinny, languid masters, but there was no chance
to question anyone until they arrived at a big palace
located in the heart of the city. Here the giants
formed lines to the entrance and stood still while our
friends rode into the courtyard of the palace. Then
the gates closed behind them and before them was a
skinny little man who bowed low and said in a sad
voice:
" If you will be so obliging as to dismount, it will
give me pleasure to lead you into the presence of the
World s Most Mighty Ruler, Vig the Czarover."
" I don t believe it! " said Dorothy indignantly.
"What don t you believe?" asked the man.
" I don t believe your Czarover can hold a candle
to our Ozma."
"He wouldn t hold a candle under any circum
stances, or to any living person," replied the man very
seriously, "for he has slaves to do such things and
the Mighty Vig is too dignified to do anything that
others can do for him. He even obliges a slave to
sneeze for him, if ever he catches cold. However, if
167
The Lost Princess of Oz
you dare to face our powerful ruler, follow me."
"We dare anything," said the Wizard, "so go
ahead."
Through several marble corridors having lofty ceil
ings they passed, finding each corridor and doorway
guarded by servants; but these servants of the palace
were of the people and not giants, and they were so
thin that they almost resembled skeletons. Finally
they entered a great circular room with a high domed
ceiling where the Czarover sat on a throne cut from
a solid block of white marble and decorated with
purple silk hangings and gold tassels.
The ruler of these people was combing his eyebrows
when our friends entered his throne-room and stood
before him, but he put the comb in his pocket and
examined the strangers with evident curiosity. Then
he said:
"Dear me, what a surprise! You have really
shocked me. For no outsider has ever before come to
our City of Herku, and I cannot imagine why you
have ventured to do so."
"We are looking for Ozma, tho Supreme Ruler of
the Land of Oz," replied the Wizard.
" Do you see her anywhere around here? " asked the
Czarover.
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Chapter Twelve
"Not yet, Your Majesty; but perhaps you may tell
us where she is."
"No; I have my hands full keeping track of my
own people. I find them hard to manage because
they are so tremendously strong."
"They don t look very strong," said Dorothy. "It
seems as if a good wind would blow em way out
of the city, if it wasn t for the wall."
" Just so just so," admitted the Czarover. " They
really look that way, don t they? But you must never
trust to appearances, which have a way of fooling
one. Perhaps you noticed that I prevented you from
meeting any of my people. I protected you with my
giants while you were on the way from the gates to
my palace, so that not a Herku got near you."
"Are your people so dangerous, then?" asked the
Wizard.
"To strangers, yes; but only because they are so
friendly. For, if they shake hands with you, they are
likely, to break your arms or crush your fingers to a
jelly."
"Why?" asked Button-Bright.
"Because we are the strongest people in all the
world."
" Pshaw !" exclaimed the boy, "that s bragging.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
You prob ly don t know how strong other people are.
Why, once I knew a man in Philadelphia who could
bend iron bars with just his hands! "
"But --mercy me! it s no trick to bend iron
bars," said His Majesty. "Tell me, could this man
crush a block of stone with his bare hands? "
"No one could do that," declared the boy.
" If I had a block of stone I d show you," said the
Czarover, looking around the room. " Ah, here is my
throne. The back is too high, anyhow, so I ll just
break off a piece of that."
He rose to his feet and tottered in an uncertain way
around the throne. Then he took hold of the back
and broke off a piece of marble over a foot thick.
"This," said he, coming back to his seat, "is very
solid marble and much harder than ordinary stone.
Yet I can crumble it easily with my fingers a proof
that I am very strong."
Even as he spoke he began breaking off chunks of
marble and crumbling them as one would a bit of
earth. The Wizard was so astonished that he took a
piece in his own hands and tested it, finding it very
hard indeed.
Just then one of the giant servants entered and
exclaimed:
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"Oh, Your Majesty, the cook has burned the soup!
What shall we do?"
" How dare you interrupt me? " asked the Czarover,
and grasping the immense giant by one of his legs he
raised him in the air and threw him headfirst out of
an open window.
" Now, tell me," he said, turning to Button-Bright,
" could your man in Philadelphia crumble marble in
his fingers?"
" I guess not," said Button-Bright, much impressed
by the skinny monarch s strength.
" What makes you so strong? " inquired Dorothy.
" It s the zosozo," he explained, " which is an inven
tion of my own. I and all my people eat zosozo, and
it gives us tremendous strength. Would you like to
eat some?"
"No, thank you," replied the girl. "I I don t
want to got so thin."
" Well, of course one can t have strength and flesh
at the same time," said the Czarover. " Zosozo is pure
energy, and it s the only compound of its sort in exist
ence. I never allow our giants to have it, you know,
or they would soon become our masters, since they
are bigger than we; so I keep all the staff locked up
in my private laboratory. Once a year I feed a tea-
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Chapter Twelve
spoonful of it to each of my people men, women
and children so every one of them is nearly as
strong as I am. Wouldn t you like a dose, sir?" he
asked, turning to the Wizard.
" Well," said the Wizard, " if you would give me a
little zosozo in a bottle, I d like to take it with me on
my travels. It might come handy, on occasion."
"To be sure. I ll give you enough for six doses,"
promised the Czarover. "But don t take more than
a teaspoonful at a time. Once Ugu the Shoemaker
took two teaspoonsful, and it made him so strong that
when he leaned against the city wall he pushed it over,
and we had to build it up again."
"Who is TJgu the Shoemaker?" asked Button-
Bright curiously, for he now remembered that the
bird and the rabbit had claimed TJgu the Shoemaker
had enchanted the peach he had eaten.
" Why, Ugu is a great magician, who used to live
here. But he s gone away, now," replied the Czarover.
" Where has he gone? " asked the Wizard quickly.
" I am told he lives in a wickerwork castle in the
mountains to the west of here. You see, Ugu became
such a powerful magician that he didn t care to live
in our city any longer, for fear we would discover
some of his secrets. So He went to the mountains and
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The Lost Princess of Oz
built him a splendid wicker castle, which is so strong
that even I and my people could not batter it down,
and there he lives all by himself."
" This is good news," declared the Wizard, " for I
think this is just the magician we are searching for.
But why is he called Ugu the Shoemaker? "
" Once he was a very common citizen here and made
shoes for a living," replied the monarch of Herku.
" But he was descended from the greatest wizard and
sorcerer who has ever lived - - in this or in any other
country and one day Ugu the Shoemaker discovered
all the magical books and recipes of his famous great
grandfather, which had been hidden away in the attic
of his house. So he began to study the papers and
books and to practice magic, and in time he became
so skillful that, as I said, he scorned our city and built
a solitary castle for himself."
"Do you think," asked Dorothy anxiously, "that
Ugu the Shoemaker would be wicked enough to steal
our Ozma of Oz?"
"And the Magic Picture?" asked Trot.
"And the Great Book of Eecords of Glinda the
Good?" asked Betsy.
" And my own magic tools? " asked the Wizard.
"Well," replied the Czarover, "I won t say that
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Chapter Twelve
TJgu is wicked, exactly, but he is very ambitious to
become the most powerful magician in the world, and
so I suppose he would not be too proud to steal any
magic things that belonged to anybody else if he
could manage to do so."
"But how about Ozma? Why would he wish to
steal her?" questioned Dorothy.
" Don t ask me, my dear. TJgu doesn t tell me why
he does things, I assure you."
" Then we must go and ask him ourselves," declared
the little girl.
"I wouldn t do that, if I were you," advised the
Czarover, looking first at the three girls and then at
the boy and the little Wizard and finally at the stuffed
Patchwork Girl. "If TJgu has really stolen your
Ozma, he will probably keep her a prisoner, in spite
of all your threats or entreaties. And, with all his
magical knowledge, he would be a dangerous person
to attack. Therefore, if you are wise, you will go
home again and find a new Ruler for the Emerald City
and the Land of Oz. But perhaps it isn t TJgu the
Shoemaker who has stolen your Ozma."
" The only way to settle that question," replied the
Wizard, " is to go to TJgu s castle and see if Ozma is
there. If she is, we will report the matter to the great
175
The Lost Princess of Oz
Sorceress, Glinda the Good, and I m pretty sure she
will find a way to rescue our darling ruler from the
Shoemaker."
" Well, do as you please," said the Czarover. " But,
if you are all transformed into hummingbirds or
caterpillars, don t blame me for not warning you."
They stayed the rest of that day in the City of
Herku and were fed at the royal table of the Czarover
and given sleeping rooms in his palace. The strong
monarch treated them very nicely and gave the Wiz
ard a little golden vial of zosozo, to use if ever he or
any of his party wished to acquire great strength.
Even at the last the Czarover tried to persuade them
not to go near TJgu the Shoemaker, but they were
resolved on the venture and the next morning bade
the friendly monarch a cordial good-bye and, mount
ing upon their animals, left the Herkus and the City
of Herku and headed for the mountains that lay to the
west.
170
The Truth Pond
It seems a long
time since we have
heard anything of
the Frogman and
Cayke the Cookie Cook, who had left the Yip Country
in search of the diamond-studded gold dishpan which
had been mysteriously stolen the same night that
Ozma had disappeared from the Emerald City. But
you must remember that while the Frogman and the
Cookie Cook were preparing to descend from their
mountain-top, and even while on their way to the
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The Lost Princess of Oz
farmhouse of Wiljon the Winkle, Dorothy and the
Wizard and their friends were encountering the
adventures we have just related.
So it was that on the very morning when the trav
elers from the Emerald City bade farewell to the
Czarover of the City of Herku, Cayke and the Frog
man awoke in a grove in which they had passed the
night sleeping on beds of leaves. There were plenty
of farmhouses in the neighborhood, but no one seemed
to welcome the puffy, haughty Frogman or the little
dried-up Cookie Cook, and so they slept comfortably
enough underneath the trees of the grove.
The Frogman wakened first, on this morning, and
after going to the tree where Cayke slept and finding
her still wrapt in slumber, he decided to take a little
walk and seek some breakfast. Coming to the edge
of the grove he observed, half a mile away, a pretty
yellow house that was surrounded by a yellow picket
fence, so he walked toward this house and on entering
the yard found a Winkie woman picking up sticks
with which to build a fire to cook her morning meal.
" For goodness sakes! " she exclaimed on seeing the
Frogman, "what are you doing out of your frog-
pond?"
" I am traveling in search of a jeweled gold dishpan,
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Chapter Thirteen
my good woman," he replied, with an air of great
dignity.
" Yow won t find it here, then," said she. " Our dish-
pans are tin, and they re good enough for anybody.
So go back to your pond and leave me alone."
She spoke rather crossly and with a lack of respect
that greatly annoyed the Frogman.
"Allow me to tell you, madam," he said, "that
although I am a frog I am the Greatest and Wisest
Frog in all the world. I may add that I possess much
more wisdom than any Winkie man or woman
in this land. Wherever I go, people fall on their knees
before me and render homage to the Great Frogman!
No one else knows so much as I; no one else is so grand
so magnificent! "
" If you know so much," she retorted, " why don t
you know where your dishpan is, instead of chasing
around the country after it?"
"Presently," he answered, "I am going where it
is; but just now I am traveling and have had no
breakfast. Therefore I honor you by asking you for
something to eat."
" Oho! the Great Frogman is hungry as any tramp,
is he? Then pick up these sticks and help me to build
the fire," said the woman contemptuously.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"Me! The Great Frogman pick up sticks ?" he
exclaimed in horror. " In the Yip Country, where I
am more honored and powerful than any King could
be, people weep with joy when I ask them to feed me."
"Then that s the place to go for your breakfast,"
declared the woman.
"I fear yon do not realize my importance," urged
the Frogman. "Exceeding wisdom renders me
superior to menial duties."
" It s a great wonder to me," remarked the woman,
carrying her sticks to the house, " that your wisdom
doesn t inform you that you ll get no breakfast here,"
and she went in and slammed the door behind her.
The Frogman felt he had been insulted, so he gave
a loud croak of indignation and turned away. After
going a short distance he came upon a faint path
which led across a meadow in the direction of a grove
of pretty trees, and thinking this circle of evergreens
must surround a house where perhaps he would be
kindly received he decided to follow the path. And
by and by he came to the trees, which were set close
together, and pushing aside some branches he found
no house inside the circle, but instead a very beautiful
pond of clear water.
Now the Frogman, although he was so big and so
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Chapter Thirteen
well educated and now aped the ways and customs
of human beings, was still a frog. As he gazed at this
solitary, deserted pond, his love for water returned to
him with irresistible force.
" If I cannot get a breakfast I may at least have a
fine swim," said he, and pushing his way between the
trees he reached the bank. There he took off his fine
clothing, laying his shiny purple hat and his gold-
headed cane beside it. A moment later he sprang
with one leap into the water and dived to the very
bottom of the pond.
The water was deliciously cool and grateful to his
thick, rough skin, and the Frogman swam around the
pond several times before he stopped to rest. Then
he floated upon the surface and examined the pond
with some curiosity. The bottom and sides were all
lined with glossy tiles of a light pink color; just one
place in the bottom, where the water bubbled up from
a hidden spring, had been left free. On the banks the
green grass grew to the edge of the pink tiling.
And now, as the Frogman examined the place, he
found that on one side the pool, just above the water
line, had been set a golden plate on which some words
were deeply engraved. He swam toward this plate
and on reaching it read the following inscription:
181
The Lost Princess of Oz
This is
THE TRUTH POND
Whoever bathes in this
water must always
afterward tell
THE TRUTH
This statement startled the Frogman. It even
worried him, so that he leaped upon the bank and
hurriedly began to dress himself.
" A great misfortune has befallen me/ he told him
self, " for hereafter I cannot tell people I am wise,
since it is not the truth. The truth is that my boasted
wisdom is all a sham, assumed by me to deceive people
and make them defer to me. In truth, no living
creature can know much more than his fellows, for one
may know one thing, and another know another thing,
so that wisdom is evenly scattered throughout the
world. But ah, me! what a terrible fate will now 1
be mine. Even Cayke the Cookie Cook will soon dis
cover that my knowledge is no greater than her own;
for having bathed in the enchanted water of the Truth
Pond, I can no longer deceive her or tell a lie."
More humbled than he had been for many years, the
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The Lost Princess of Oz
Frogman went back to the grove where he had left
Cayke and found the woman now awake and washing
her face in a tiny brook.
" Where has Your Honor been? " she asked.
"To a farmhouse to ask for something to eat," said
he, " but the woman refused me."
" How dreadful! " she exclaimed. " But never mind;
there are other houses, where the people will be glad
to feed the Wisest Creature in all the World."
" Do you mean yourself? " he asked.
" No, I mean you."
The Frogman felt strongly impelled to tell the truth,
but struggled hard against it. His reason told him
there was no use in letting Cayke know he was not
wise, for then she would lose much respect for him, but
each time he opened his mouth to speak he realized he
was about to tell the truth and shut it again as quickly
as possible. He tried to talk about something else, but
the words necessary to undeceive the woman would
force themselves to his lips in spite of all his struggles.
Finally, knowing that he must either remain dumb or
let the truth prevail, he gave a low groan of despair
and said:
" Cayke, I am not the Wisest Creature in all the
World; I am not wise at all."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"Oh, you must be!" she protested. "You told me
so yourself, only last evening."
" Then last evening I failed to tell you the truth,"
he admitted, looking very shamefaced, for a frog. " I
am sorry I told you that lie, my good Cayke; but, if
you must know the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, I am not really as wise as you are."
The Cookie Cook was greatly shocked to hear this,
for it shattered one of her most pleasing illusions.
She looked at the gorgeously dressed Frogman in
amazement.
"What has caused you to change your mind so
suddenly?" she inquired.
" I have bathed in the Truth Pond," he said, " and
whoever bathes in that water is ever afterward obliged
to tell the truth."
" You were foolish to do that," declared the woman.
" It is often very embarrassing to tell the truth. I m
glad / didn t bathe in that dreadful water!
The Frogman looked at his companion thoughtfully.
" Cayke," said he, " I want you to go to the Truth
Pond and take a bath in its water. For, if we are to
travel together and encounter unknown aidventures, it
would not be fair that I alone must always tell you the
truth, while you could tell me whatever you pleased.
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Chapter Thirteen
If we both dip in the enchanted water there will be no
chance in the future of our deceiving one another."
" No/ she asserted, shaking her head positively, "I
won t do it, Your Honor. For, if I told you the truth,
I m sure you wouldn t like me. No Truth Pond for
me. I ll be just as I am, an honest woman who can
say what she wants to without hurting anyone s
feelings."
With this decision the Frogman was forced to be
content, although he was sorry the Cookie Cook would
not listen to his advice.
C
The Unhappy Ferryman
Leaving the grove
where they had
slept, the Frogman
and the Cookie
Cook turned to the east to seek another house and
after a short walk came to one where the people
received them very politely. The children stared
rather hard at the big, pompous Frogman, but the
woman of the house, when Cayke asked for something
to eat, at once brought them food and said they were
welcome to it.
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Chapter Fourteen
"Few people in need of help pass this way," she
remarked, "for the Winkies are all prosperous and
love to stay in their own homes. But perhaps you are
not a Winkie," she added.
" No," said Cayke, " I am a Yip, and my home is on
a high mountain at the southeast of your country."
"And the Frogman is he, also, a Yip?"
"I do not know what he is, other than a very
remarkable and highly educated creature," replied the
Cookie Cook. " But he has lived many years among
the Yips, who have found him so wise and intelligent
that they always go to him for advice."
"May I ask why you have left your home, and
where you are going?" said the Winkie woman.
Then Cayke told her of the diamond-studded gold
dishpan and how it had been mysteriously stolen from
her house, after which she had discovered that she
could no longer cook good cookies. So she had resolved
to search until she found her dishpan again, because
a Cookie Cook who cannot cook good cookies is not of
much use. The Frogman, who wanted to see more of
the world, had accompanied her to assist in the search.
When the woman had listened to this story she asked.
" Then you have no idea, as yet, who has stolen your
dishpan ?"
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The Lost Princess of Oz
" I only know it must have been some mischievous
fairy, or a magician, or some such powerful person,
because none other could have climbed the steep
mountain to the Yip Country. And who else could
have carried away my beautiful, magic dishpan
without being seen?"
The woman thought about this during the time that
Cayke and the Frogman ate their breakfast. When
they had finished she said:
" Where are you going next? "
" We have not decided/ answered the Cookie Cook.
" Our plan," explained the Frogman, in his impor
tant way, " is to travel from place to place until we
learn where the thief is located, and then to force him
to return the dishpan to its proper owner."
" The plan is all right," agreed the woman, " but it
may take you a long time before you succeed, your
method being sort of haphazard and indefinite. How
ever, I advise you to travel toward the east."
" Why? " asked the Frogman.
" Because if you went west you would soon come to
the desert, and also because in this part of the Winkie
Country no one steals, so your time here would be
wasted. But toward the east, beyond the river, live
many strange people whose honesty I would not vouch
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The Lost Princess of Oz
for. Moreover, if you journey far enough east and
cross the river for a second time, you will come to the
Emerald City, where there is much magic and sorcery.
The Emerald City is ruled by a dear little girl called
Ozma, who also rules the Emperor of the Winkies and
all the Land of Oz. So, as Ozma is a fairy, she may
be able to tell you just who has taken your precious
dishpan. Provided, of course, you do not find it
before you reach her."
" This seems to me to be excellent advice," said the
Frogman, and Cayke agreed with him.
"The most sensible thing for you to do," continued
the woman, "would be to return to your home and
use another dishpan, learning to cook cookies as other
people cook cookies, without the aid of magic. But,
if you cannot be happy without the magic dishpan
you have lost, you are likely to learn more about it in
the Emerald City than at any other place in Oz."
They thanked the good woman and on leaving her
house faced the east and continued in that direction
all the way. Toward evening they came to the west
branch of the Winkie River and there, on the river
bank, found a ferryman who lived all alone in a little
yellow house.
This ferryman was a Winkie with a very small head
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Chapter Fourteen
and a very large body. He was sitting in Ms doorway
as the travelers approached him and did not even turn
his head to look at them.
" Good evening," said the Frogman.
The ferryman made no reply.
"We would like some supper and the privilege of
sleeping in your house until morning," continued
the Frogman. "At daybreak we would like some
breakfast and then we would like to have you row
us across the river."
The ferryman neither moved nor spoke. He sat in
his doorway and looked straight ahead.
" I think he must be deaf and dumb," Cayke whis
pered to her companion. Then she stood directly in
front of the ferryman and putting her mouth close to
his ear she yelled as loudly as she could:
" Good evening! "
The ferryman scowled.
" Why do you yell at me, woman? " he asked.
"Can you hear what I say?" she asked in her
ordinary tone of voice.
" Of course," replied the man.
"Then why didn t you answer the Frogman? "
" Because," said tKe ferryman, " I don t understand
the frog language."
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"He speaks the same words that I do and in the
same way," declared Cayke.
"Perhaps," replied the ferryman; "but to me his
voice sounded like a frog s croak. I know that in the
Land of Oz animals can speak our language, and so
can the birds and bugs and fishes; but in my ears they
sound merely like growls and chirps and croaks."
" Why is that? " asked the Cookie Cook in surprise.
" Once, many years ago, I cut the tail off a fox which
had taunted me; and I stole some birds eggs from a
nest to make an omelet with, and also I pulled a fish
from the river and left it lying on the bank to gasp
for lack of water until it died. I don t know why I
did those wicked things, but I did them. So the
Emperor of the Winkies who is the Tin Woodman
and has a very tender tin heart punished me by
denying me any communication with beasts, birds or
fishes. I cannot understand them when they speak
to me, although I know that other people can do so,
nor can the creatures understand a word I say to them.
Every time I meet one of them I am reminded of my
former cruelty, and it makes me very unhappy."
" Beally," said Cayke, " I m sorry for you, although
the Tin Woodman is not to blame for punishing you."
" What is he mumbling about? " asked the Frogman.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"He is talking to me, but you don t understand
him," she replied. And then she told him of the ferry
man s punishment and afterward explained to the
ferryman that they wanted to stay all night with him
and be fed.
He gave them some fruit and bread, which was the
only sort of food he had, and he allowed Cayke to
sleep in a room of his cottage. But the Frogman he
refused to admit to his house, saying that the frog s
presence made him miserable and unhappy. At no
time would he look directly at the Frogman, or even
toward him, fearing he would shed tears if he did so;
so the big frog slept on the river bank, where he could
hear little frogs croaking in the river all the night
through. But that did not keep him awake; it merely
soothed him to slumber, for he realized how much
superior he was to them.
Just as the sun was rising on a new day the ferry
man rowed the two travelers across the river keep
ing his back to the Frogman all the way and then
Cayke thanked him and bade him good-bye and the
ferryman rowed home again.
On this side the river there were no paths at all, so
it was evident they had reached a part of the country
little frequented by travelers. There was a marsh at
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Chapter Fourteen
the south of them, sandhills at the north and a growth
of scrubby underbrush leading toward a forest at the
east. So the east was really the least difficult way to
go and that direction was the one they had determined
to follow.
Now the Frogman, although he wore green patent-
leather shoes with ruby buttons, had very large and
flat feet, and when he tramped through the scrub his
weight crushed down the underbrush and made a path
for Cayke to follow him. Therefore they soon reached
the forest, where the tall trees were set far apart but
were so leafy that they shaded all the spaces between
them with their branches.
"There are no bushes here," said Cayke, much
pleased, " so we can now travel faster and with more
comfort."
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The Big Lavender Bear
It was a pleasant
place to wander in
and the two travel
ers were proceed
ing at a brisk pace when suddenly a voice shouted:
" Halt! "
They looked around in surprise, seeing at first no
one at all. Then from behind a tree there stepped a
brown fuzzy bear, whose head came about as high as
Cayke s waist - - and Cayke was a small woman. The
bear was chubby as well as fuzzy; his body was even
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Chapter Fifteen
puffy, while his legs and arms seemed jointed at the
knees and elbows and fastened to his body by pins or
rivets. His ears were round in shape and stuck out
in a comical way, while his round black eyes were
bright and sparkling as beads. Over his shoulder the
little brown bear bore a gun with a tin barrel. The
barrel had a cork in the end of it and a string was
attached to the cork and to the handle of the gun.
Both the Frogman and Cayke gazed hard at this
curious bear, standing silent for some time. But
finally the Frogman recovered from his surprise and
remarked:
" It seems to me that you are stuffed with sawdust
and ought not to be alive."
" That s all you know about it," answered the little
Brown Bear in a squeaky voice. " I am stuffed with
a very good quality of curled hair and my skin is the
best plush that was ever made. As for my being
alive, that is my own affair and cannot concern you
at all except that it gives me the privilege to say
you are my prisoners."
"Prisoners! Why do yon speak such nonsense? 93
asked the Frogman angrily. "Do you think we are
afraid of a toy bear with a toy gun? "
" You ought to be," was the confident reply, " for I
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The Lost Princess of Oz
am merely the sentry guarding the way to Bear Cen
ter, which is a city containing hundreds of my race,
who are ruled by a very powerful sorcerer known as
the Lavender Bear. He ought to be a purple color,
you know, seeing he is a King, but he s only light
lavender, which is, of course, second-cousin to royal
purple. So, unless you come with me peaceably, as
my prisoners, I shall fire my gun and bring a hundred
bears of all sizes and colors to capture you."
"Why do you wish to capture us?" inquired the
Frogman, who had listened to this speech with much
astonishment.
" I don t wish to, as a matter of fact," replied the
little Brown Bear, " but it is my duty to, because you
are now trespassing on the domain of His Majesty the
King of Bear Center. Also I will admit that things
are rather quiet in our city, just now, and the excite
ment of your capture, followed by your trial and
execution, should afford us much entertainment."
" We defy you! " said the Frogman.
" Oh, no; don t do that," pleaded Cayke, speaking to
her companion. " He says his King is a sorcerer, so
perhaps it is he or one of his bears who ventured to
steal my jeweled dishpan. Let us go to the City of
the Bears and discover if my dishpan is there."
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Chapter Fifteen
" I must now register one more charge against you,"
remarked the little Brown Bear, with evident satis
faction. " You have just accused us of stealing, and
that is such a dreadful thing to say that I am quite
sure our noble King will command you to be
executed."
"But how could you execute us?" inquired the
Cookie Cook.
"I ve no idea. But our King is a wonderful
inventor and there is no doubt he can find a proper
way to destroy you. So, tell me, are you going to
struggle, or will you go peaceably to meet your
doom?"
It was all so ridiculous that Cayke laughed aloud
and even the Frogman s wide mouth curled in a smile.
Neither was a bit afraid to go to the Bear City and it
seemed to both that there was a possibility they might
discover the missing dishpan. So the Frogman said:
"Lead the way, little Bear, and we will follow
without a struggle."
"That s very sensible of you; very sensible,
indeed!" declared the Brown Bear. "So for- ward
march!" and with the command he turned around
and began to waddle along a path that led between
the trees.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
Cayke and the Frogman, as they followed their con
ductor, could scarce forbear laughing at his stiff, awk
ward manner of walking and, although he moved his
stuffy legs fast, his steps were so short that they had
to go slowly in order not to run into him. But after
a time they reached a large, circular space in the cen
ter of the forest, which was clear of any stumps or
underbrush. The ground was covered by a soft gray
moss, pleasant to tread upon. All the trees surround
ing this space seemed to be hollow and had round
holes in their trunks, set a little way above the ground,
but otherwise there was nothing unusual about the
place and nothing, in the opinion of the prisoners, to
indicate a settlement. But the little Brown Bear said
in a proud and impressive voice (although it still
squeaked) :
" This is the wonderful city known to fame as Bear
Center! "
" But there are no houses; there are no bears living
here at all! " exclaimed Cayke.
" Oh, indeed! " retorted their captor and raising his
gun he pulled the trigger. The cork flew out of the
tin barrel with a loud " pop! " and at once from every
hole in every tree within view of the clearing appeared
the head of a bear. They were of many colors and of
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The Lost Princess of Oz
many; sizes, but all were made in the same manner as
the bear who had met and captured them.
At first a chorus of growls arose and then a sharp
voice cried:
" What has happened, Corporal Waddle? "
"Captives, Your Majesty! 93 answered the Brown
Bear. "Intruders upon our domain and slanderers
of our good name."
" Ah, that s important," answered the voice.
Then from out the hollow trees tumbled a whole
regiment of stuffed bears, some carrying tin swords,
some popguns and others long spears with gay ribbons
tied to the handles. There were hundreds of them,
altogether, and they quickly formed a circle around
the Frogman and the Cookie Cook but kept at a
distance and left a large space for the prisoners to
stand in.
Presently this circle parted and into the center of
it stalked a huge toy bear of a lovely lavender color.
He walked upon his hind legs, as did all the others,
and on his head he wore a tin crown set with diamonds
and amethysts, while in one paw he carried a short
wand of some glittering metal that resembled silver
but wasn t.
" His Majesty the King! " shouted Corporal Waddle,
204
Chapter Fifteen
and all the bears bowed low. Some bowed so low that
they lost their balance and toppled over, but they soon
scrambled up again and the Lavender King squatted
on his haunches before the prisoners and gazed at
them steadily with his bright pink eyes.
205
The Little Pink Bear
" One Person
one Freak," said
the big Lavender
Bear, when he had
carefully examined the strangers.
" I am sorry to hear you call poor Cayke the Cookie
Cook a Freak," remonstrated the Frogman.
" She is the Person," asserted the King. " Unless I
am mistaken, it is you who are the Freak."
The Frogman was silent, for he could not truthfully
deny it.
206
Chapter Sixteen
Why have you dared intrude in my forest? 71
demanded the Bear King.
"We didn t know it was your forest/ said Cayke,
"and we are on our way to the far east, where the
Emerald City is."
"Ah, it s a long way from here to the Emerald
City," remarked the King. " It is so far away, indeed,
that no bear among us has ever been there. But what
errand requires you to travel such a distance?"
"Someone has stolen my diamond-studded gold
dishpan," explained Cayke; "and, as I cannot be
happy without it, I have decided to search the world
over until I find it again. The Frogman, who is very
learned and wonderfully wise, has come with me to
give me his assistance. Isn t it kind of him? "
The King looked at the Frogman.
" What makes you so wonderfully wise? " he asked.
"I m not," was the candid reply. "The Cookie
Cook, and some others in the Yip Country, think
because I am a big frog and talk and act like a man,
that I must be very wise. I have learned more than
a frog usually knows, it is true, but I am not yet so
wise as I hope to become at some future time."
The King nodded, and when he did so something
squeaked in his chest.
207
The Lost Princess of Oz
" Did Your Majesty speak? " asked Cayke.
"Not just then," answered the Lavender Bear,
seeming to be somewhat embarrassed. " I am so built,
you must know, that when anything pushes against
my chest, as my chin accidentally did just then, I
make that silly noise. In this city it isn t considered
good manners to notice it. But I like your Frogman.
He is honest and truthful, which is more than can be
said of many others. As for your late lamented
dishpan, I ll show it to you."
With this he waved three times the metal wand
which he held in his paw and instantly there appeared
upon the ground, midway between the King and
Cayke, a big round pan made of beaten gold. Around
the top edge was a row of small diamonds; around the
center of the pan was another row of larger diamonds;
and at the bottom was a row of exceedingly large and
brilliant diamonds. In fact, they all sparkled mag
nificently and the pan was so big and broad that it
took a lot of diamonds to go around it three times.
Cayke stared so hard that her eyes seemed about to
pop out of her head.
"0-o-o-oh!" she exclaimed, drawing a deep breath
of delight.
"Is this your dishpan?" inquired the King.
208
111 CORK IM.KW OjLJT OF THE UAUUKI. \\ rri! A Lorn POP- Pane
The Lost Princess of Oz
" It is it is! " cried the Cookie Cook, and rushing
forward she fell on her knees and threw her arms
around the precious pan. But her arms came together
without meeting any resistance at all. Cayke tried to
seize the edge, but found nothing to grasp. The pan
was surely there, she thought, for she could see it
plainly; but it was not solid; she could not feel it at
all. With a moan of astonishment and despair she
raised her head to look at the Bear King, who was
watching her actions curiously. Then she turned
to the pan again, only to find it had completely
disappeared.
"Poor creature P murmured the King pityingly.
" You must have thought, for the moment, that you
had actually recovered your dishpan. But what you
saw was merely the image of it, conjured up by means
of my magic. It is a pretty dishpan, indeed, though
rather big and awkward to handle. I hope you will
some day find it."
Cayke was grievously disappointed. She began to
cry, wiping her eyes on her apron. The King turned
to the throng of toy bears surrounding him and asked:
"Has any of you ever seen this golden dishpan
before?"
" No," they answered in a chorus.
210
Chapter Sixteen
The King seemed to reflect. Presently he inquired:
" Where is the Little Pink Bear? "
" At home, Your Majesty," was the reply.
" Fetch him here/ commanded the King.
Several of the bears waddled over to one of the
trees and pulled from its hollow a tiny pink bear,
smaller than any of the others. A big white bear
carried the pink one in his arms and set it down beside
the King, arranging the joints of its legs so that it
would stand upright.
This Pink Bear seemed lifeless until the King
turned a crank which protruded from its side, when
the little creature turned its head stiffly from side, to
side and said in a small shrill voice:
"Hurrah for the King of Bear Center! "
"Very good," said the big Lavender Bear; "he
seems to be working very well to-day. Tell me, my
Pink Pinkerton, what has become of this lady s
jeweled dishpan?"
" TJ u u," said the Pink Bear, and then stopped
short.
The King turned the crank again.
" TJ-g-u the Shoemaker has it," said the Pink Bear.
" Who is TJgu the Shoemaker? " demanded the King,
again turning the crank.
211
The Lost Princess of Oz
" A magician who lives on a mountain in a
wickerwork castle," was the reply.
"Where is this mountain?" was the next question.
"Nineteen miles and three furlongs from Bear
Center to the northeast."
" And is the dishpan still at the castle of TJgu the
Shoemaker? " asked the King.
" It is."
The King turned to Cayke.
" You may rely on this information," said he. " The
Pink Bear can tell us anything we wish to know, and
his words are always words of truth."
" Is he alive? " asked the Frogman, much interested
in the Pink Bear.
" Something animates him when you turn his
crank," replied the King. "I do not know if it is
life, or what it is, or how it happens that the Little
Pink Bear can answer correctly every question put
to him. We discovered his talent a long time ago and
whenever we wish to know anything which is not
very often we ask the Pink Bear. There is no
doubt whatever, madam, that Ugu the Magician has
your dishpan, and if you dare go to him you may be
able to recover it. But of that I am not certain."
" Can t the Pink Bear tell? " asked Cayke anxiously,
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Chapter Sixteen
" No, for that is in the future. He can tell anything
that has happened, but nothing that is going to
happen. Don t ask me why, for I don t know."
" Well," said the Cookie Cook, after a little thought,
" I mean to go to this magician, anyhow, and tell him
I want my dishpan. I wish I knew what Ugu the
Shoemaker is like."
"Then I ll show him to you," promised the King.
" But do not be frightened; it won t be TJgu, remember,
but only his image."
With this he waved his metal wand again and in
the circle suddenly appeared a thin little man, very old
and skinny, who was seated on a wicker stool before a
wicker table. On the table lay a Great Book with
gold clasps. The Book was open and the man was
reading in it. He wore great spectacles, which were
fastened before his eyes by means of a ribbon that
passed around his head and was tied in a bow at the
back. His hair was very thin and white; his skin,
which clung fast to his bones, was brown and seared
with furrows; he had a big, fat nose and little eyes set
close together.
On no account was Uga the Shoemaker a pleasant
person to gaze at. As his image appeared before
them, all were silent and intent until Corporal Waddle,
213
The Lost Princess of Oz
the Brown Bear, became nervous and pulled the
trigger of his gun. Instantly the cork flew out of
the tin barrel with a loud " pop! " that made them all
jump. And, at this sound, the image of the magician
vanished.
" So! that 9 s the thief, is it? " said Cayke, in an angry
voice. "I should think he d be ashamed of himself
for stealing a poor woman s diamond dishpan! But I
mean to face him in his wicker castle and force him
to return my property."
"To me," said the Bear King, reflectively, "he
looked like a dangerous person. I hope he won t be
so unkind as to argue the matter with you."
The Frogman was much disturbed by the vision of
TJgu the Shoemaker, and Cayke s determination to go
to the magician filled her companion with misgivings.
But he would not break his pledged word to assist the
Cookie Cook and after breathing a deep sigh of
resignation he asked the King:
" Will Your Majesty lend us this Pink Bear who
answers questions, that we may take him with us on
our journey? He would be very useful to us and we
will promise to bring him safely back to you."
The King did not reply at once; he seemed to be
thinking.
214
The Lost Princess of Oz
Please let us take the Pink Bear/ 7 begged Cayke.
" I m sure he would be a great help to us."
" The Pink Bear/ said the King, " is the best bit of
magic I possess, and there is not another like him in
the world. I do not care to let him out of my sight;
nor do I wish to disappoint you; so I believe I will
make the journey in your company and carry my Pink
Bear with me. He can walk, when you wind the
other side of him, but so slowly and awkwardly that
he would delay you. But if I go along I can carry
him in my arms, so I will join your party. Whenever
you are ready to start, let me know."
"But --Your Majesty!" exclaimed Corporal Wad
dle in protest, " I hope you do not intend to let these
prisoners escape without punishment."
" Of what crime do you accuse them? " inquired the
King.
"Why, they trespassed on your domain, for one
thing," said the Brown Bear.
"We didn t know it was private property, Your
Majesty," said the Cookie Cook.
" And they asked if any of us had stolen the dish-
pan!" continued Corporal Waddle indignantly.
"That is the same thing as calling us thieves and
robbers, and bandits and brigands, is it not? r
216
The Lost Princess of Oz
" Every person has the right to ask questions," said
the Frogman.
"But the Corporal is quite correct," declared the
Lavender Bear. " I condemn you both to death, the
execution to take place ten years from this hour."
"But we belong in the Land of Oz, where no one
ever dies," Cayke reminded him.
"Very true," said the King. "I condemn you to
death merely as a matter of form. It sounds quite
terrible, and in ten years we shall have forgotten all
about it. Are you ready to start for the wicker castle
of TJgu the Shoemaker? "
" Quite ready, Your Majesty."
" But who will rule in your place, while you are
gone?" asked a big Yellow Bear.
" I myself will rule while I am gone," was the reply.
" A King isn t required to stay at home forever, and
if he takes a notion to travel, whose business is it but
his own? All I ask is that you bears behave your
selves while I am away. If any of you is naughty,
HI send him to some girl or boy in America to play
with."
This dreadful threat made all the toy bears look
solemn. They assured the King, in a chorus of growls,
that they would be good. Then the big Lavender Bear
218
Chapter Sixteen
picked up the little Pink Bear and after tucking it
carefully under one arm lie said " Good-bye till I come
back! " and waddled along the path that led through
the forest. The Frogman and Cayke the Cookie Cook
also said good-bye to the bears and then followed after
the King, much to the regret of the little Brown Bear,
who pulled the trigger of his gun and popped the cork
as a parting salute.
219
The Meeting
While the Frog
man and his party
were advancing
from the west,
Dorothy and her party were advancing from the east,
and so it happened that on the following night they
all camped at a little hill that was only a few miles
from the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoemaker. But
the two parties did not see one another that night, for
one camped on one side of the hill while the other
camped on the opposite side. But the next morning
220
Chapter Seventeen
the Frogman thought he would climb the hill and see
what was on top of it, and at the same time Scraps,
the Patchwork Girl, also decided to climb the hill to
find if the wicker castle was visible from its top. So
she stuck her head over an edge just as the Frogman s
head appeared over another edge and both, being
surprised, kept still while they took a good look at
one another.
Scraps recovered from her astonishment first and
bounding upward she turned a somersault and landed
sitting down and facing the big Frogman, who slowly
advanced and sat opposite her.
" Well met, Stranger! " cried the Patchwork Girl,
with a whoop of laughter. "You are quite the
funniest individual I have seen in all my travels."
" Do you suppose I can be any funnier than you? "
asked the Frogman, gazing at her in wonder.
"I m not funny to myself, you know," returned
Scraps. "I wish I were. And perhaps you are so
used to your own absurd shape that you do not laugh
whenever you see your reflection in a pool, or in a
mirror."
" No," said the Frogman gravely, " I do not. I usad
to be proud of my great size and vain of my culture
and education, but since I bathed in the Truth Pond
221
The Lost Princess of Oz
I sometimes think it is not right that I should be
different from all other frogs."
"Eight or wrong," said the Patchwork Girl, "to
be different is to be distinguished. Now, in my case,
I m just like all other Patchwork Girls because I m
the only one there is. But, tell me, where did you
come from?"
" The Yip Country," said he.
"Is that in the Land of Oz?"
"Of course," replied the Frogman.
"And do you know that your Ruler, Ozma of Oz,
has been stolen?"
" I was not aware that I had a Ruler, so of course
I couldn t know that she was stolen."
" Well, you have. All the people of Oz," explained
Scraps, "are ruled by Ozma, whether they know it
or not. And she has been stolen. Aren t you angry?
Aren t you indignant? Your Ruler, whom you didn t
know you had, has positively been stolen! "
"That is queer," remarked the Frogman thought
fully. "Stealing is a thing practically unknown in
Oz, yet this Ozma has been taken and a friend of mine
has also had her dishpan stolen. With her I have
traveled all the way from the Yip Country in order
to recover it."
222
The Lost Princess of Oz
" I don t see any connection between a Royal Ruler
of Oz and a dishpan!" declared Scraps.
"They ve both been stolen, haven t they? 3
" True. But why can t your friend wash her dishes
in another dishpan?" asked Scraps.
"Why can t you use another Royal Ruler? I sup
pose you prefer the one who is lost, and my friend
wants her own dishpan, which is made of gold and
studded with diamonds and has magic powers."
" Magic, eh? " exclaimed Scraps. " There is a link
that connects the two steals, anyhow, for it seems
that all the magic in the Land of Oz was stolen at
the same time, whether it was in the Emerald City
or in Glinda s castle or in the Yip Country. Seems
mighty strange and mysterious, doesn t it?"
"It used to seem that way to us," admitted the
Frogman, "but we have now discovered who took
our dishpan. It was TJgu the Shoemaker."
"Ugu? Good gracious! That s the same magician
we think has stolen Ozma. We are now on our
way to the castle of this Shoemaker."
" So are we," said the Frogman.
" Then follow me, quick! and let me introduce you
to Dorothy and the other girls and to the Wizard of
Oz and all the rest of us."
224
ft^ ;
Tnv..\ FOLLOW ME, >I.JTCK! M SAID SCRAP
Chapter Seventeen
She sprang up and seized his coat-sleeve, dragging
him off the hilltop and down the other side from that
whence he had come. And at the foot of the hill the
Frogman was astonished to find the three girls and
the Wizard and Button-Bright, who were surrounded
by a wooden Sawhorse, a lean Mule, a square Woozy
and a Cowardly Lion. A little black dog ran up and
smelled at the Frogman, but couldn t growl at him.
"I ve discovered another party that has been
robbed/ shouted Scraps as she joined them. " This
is their leader and they re all going to TJgu s castle
to fight the wicked Shoemaker! "
They regarded the Frogman with much curiosity
and interest and, finding all eyes fixed upon him, the
newcomer arranged his necktie and smoothed his
beautiful vest and swung his gold-headed cane like
a regular dandy. The big spectacles over his eyes
quite altered his froglike countenance and gave him
a learned and impressive look. Used as she was to
seeing strange creatures in the Land of Oz, Dorothy
was amazed at discovering the Frogman. So were
all her companions. To to wanted to growl at him,
but couldn t, and he didn t dare bark. The Sawhorse
snorted rather contemptuously, but the Lion whis
pered to the wooden steed: "Bear with this strange
225
The Lost Princess of Oz
creature, my friend, and remember he is no more
extraordinary than you are. Indeed, it is more natural
for a frog to be big than for a Sawhorse to be alive."
On being questioned, the Frogman told them the
whole story of the loss of Cayke s highly prized dish-
pan and their adventures in search of it. When he
came to tell of the Lavender Bear King and of the
Little Pink Bear who could tell anything you wanted
to know, his hearers became eager to see such interest
ing animals.
" It will be best," said the Wizard, " to unite our
two parties and share our fortunes together, for we
are all bound on the same errand and as one band
we may more easily defy this shoemaker magician
than if separate. Let us be allies."
"I will ask my friends about that," replied the
Frogman, and climbed over the hill to find Cayke
and the toy bears. The Patchwork Girl accompanied
him and when they came upon the Cookie Cook and
the Lavender Bear and the Pink Bear it was hard
to tell which of the lot was the most surprised.
"Mercy me!" cried Cayke, addressing the Patch
work Girl. "However did you come alive?"
Scraps stared at the bears.
"Mercy me!" she echoed; "you are stuffed, as I
226
Chapter Seventeen
am, with cotton, and yet you appear to be living.
That makes me feel ashamed, for I have prided
myself on being the only live cotton-stuffed person
in Oz."
"Perhaps you are," returned the Lavender Bear,
" for I am stuffed with extra-quality curled hair, and
so is the Little Pink Bear."
" You have relieved my mind of a great anxiety,"
declared the Patchwork Girl, now speaking more
cheerfully. "The Scarecrow is stuffed with straw,
and you with hair, so I am still the Original and Only
Cotton-Stuffed!"
" I hope I am too polite to criticize cotton, as com
pared with curled hair," said the King, " especially
as you seem satisfied with it."
Then the Frogman told of his interview with the
party from the Emerald City and added that the
Wizard of Oz had invited the bears and Cayke and
himself to travel in company with them to the castle
of TJgu the Shoemaker. Cayke was much pleased,
but the Bear King looked solemn. He set the Little
Pink Bear on his lap and turned the crank in its
side and asked:
"Is it safe for us to associate with those people
from the Emerald City?"
227
The Lost Princess of Oz
And the Pink Bear at once replied:
"Safe for you and safe for me;
Perhaps no others safe will be."
"That * perhaps need not worry us," said the
Bang; " so let us join the others and offer them our
protection."
Even the Lavender Bear was astonished, however,
when on climbing over the hill he found on the other
side the group of queer animals and the people from
the Emerald City. The bears and Cayke were received
very cordially, although Button-Bright was cross
when they wouldn t let him play with the Little Pink
Bear. The three girls greatly admired the toy bears,
and especially the pink one, which they longed to hold.
" You see," explained the Lavender King, in deny
ing them this privilege, "he s a very valuable bear,
because his magic is a correct guide on all occasions,
and especially if one is in difficulties. It was the
Pink Bear who told us that TJgu the Shoemaker had
stolen the Cookie Cook s dishpan."
"And the King s magic is just as wonderful,"
added Cayke, "because it showed us the Magician
himself."
"What did he look like?" inquired Dorothy.
"He was dreadful!"
228
Chapter Seventeen
" He was sitting at a table and examining an
immense Book which had three golden clasps,"
remarked the King.
"Why, that must have been Glinda s Great Book
of Records! " exclaimed Dorothy. " If it is, it proves
that Ugu the Shoemaker stole Ozma, and with her
all the magic in the Emerald City."
"And my dishpan," said Cayke. And the Wizard
added:
" It also proves that he is following our adventures
in the Book of Records, and therefore knows that
we are seeking him and that we are determined to
find him and rescue Ozma at all hazards."
"If we can," added the Woozy, but everybody
frowned at him.
The Wizard s statement was so true that the faces
around him were very serious until the Patchwork
Girl broke into a peal of laughter.
"Wouldn t it be a rich joke if he made prisoners
of us, too?" she said.
" No one but a crazy Patchwork Girl would consider
that a joke," grumbled Button-Bright. And then the
Lavender Bear King asked:
"Would you like to see this magical shoemaker? 3
"Wouldn t he know it?" Dorothy inquired.
229
The Lost Princess of Oz
" No, I think not."
Then the King waved his metal wand and before
them appeared a room in the wicker castle of Ugu.
On the wall of the room hung Ozma s Magic Picture,
and seated before it was the Magician. They could
see the Picture as well as he could, because it faced
them, and in the Picture was the hillside where they
were now sitting, all their forms being reproduced
in miniature. And, curiously enough, within the
scene of the Picture was the scene they were now
beholding, so they knew that the Magician was at
this moment watching them in the Picture, and also
that he saw himself and the room he was in become
visible to the people on the hillside. Therefore he
knew very well that they were watching him while
he was watching them.
In proof of this, Ugu sprang from his seat and
turned a scowling face in their direction; but now he
could not see the travelers who were seeking him,
although they could still see him. His actions were
so distinct, indeed, that it seemed he was actually
before them.
" It is only a ghost," said the Bear King. " It isn t
real at all, except that it shows us TJgu just as he
looks and tells us truly just what he is doing."
232
Chapter Seventeen
"I don t see anything of my lost growl, though,"
said Toto, as if to himself.
Then the vision faded away and they could see
nothing but the grass and trees and bushes around
them.
The Conference
"Now, then," said
the Wizard, "let
us talk this matter
over and decide
what to do when we get to TJgu s wicker castle. There
can be no doubt that the Shoemaker is a powerful
Magician, and his powers have been increased a
hundredfold since he secured - the Great Book of
Records, the Magic Picture, all of Glinda s recipes
for sorcery and my own black bag which was full
f tools of wizardry. The man who could rob us of
234
Chapter Eighteen
those things, and the man with all their powers at
his command, is one who may prove somewhat difficult
to conquer; therefore we should plan our actions well
before we venture too near to his castle."
"I didn t see Ozma in the Magic Picture," said
Trot. "What do you suppose Ugu has done with
her?"
" Couldn t the Little Pink Bear tell us what he
did with Ozma?" asked Button-Bright.
"To be sure," replied the Lavender King; "I ll
ask him."
So he turned the crank in the Little Pink Bear s
side and inquired:
"Did Ugu the Shoemaker steal Ozma of Oz?"
"Yes," answered the Little Pink Bear.
"Then what did he do with her?" asked the King."
" Shut her up in a dark place," answered the Little
Pink Bear.
" Oh, that must be a dungeon cell! " cried Dorothy,
horrified. " How dreadful! "
" Well, we must get her out of it," said the Wizard.
"That is what we came for and of course we must
rescue Ozma. But --how?"
Each one looked at some other one for an answer
and all shook their heads in a grave and dismal
235
The Lost Princess of Oz
manner. All but Scraps, who danced around them
gleefully.
" You re afraid/ said the Patchwork Girl, " because
so many things can hurt your meat bodies. Why
don t you give it up and go home? How can you fight
a great magician when you have nothing to fight
with?"
Dorothy looked at her reflectively.
"Scraps," said she, "you know that TJgu couldn t
hurt you, a bit, whatever he did; nor could he hurt me,
cause I wear the Nome King s Magic Belt. S pose
just we two go on together, and leave the others here
to wait for us?"
" No, no! " said the Wizard positively. " That won t
do at all. Ozma is more powerful than either of you,
yet she could not defeat the wicked Ugu, who has
shut her up in a dungeon. We must go to the Shoe
maker in one mighty band, for only in union is there
strength."
" That is excellent advice," said the Lavender Bear,
approvingly.
"But what can we do, when we get to Ugu? 3
inquired the Cookie Cook anxiously.
" Do not expect a prompt answer to that important
question," replied the Wizard, "for we must first
236
Chapter Eighteen
plan our line of conduct. Ugu knows, of course, that
we are after him, for he has seen our approach in
the Magic Picture, and he has read of all we have
done up to the present moment in the Great Book
of Records. Therefore we cannot expect to take him
by surprise."
"Don t you suppose TJgu would listen to reason?"
asked Betsy. "If we explained to him how wicked
he has been, don t you think he d let poor Ozma go? "
" And give me back my dishpan? " added the Cookie
Cook eagerly.
"Yes, yes; won t he say he s sorry and get on his
knees and beg our pardon?" cried Scraps, turning
a flip-flop to show her scorn of the suggestion. " When
TJgu the Shoemaker does that, please knock at the
front door and let me know."
The Wizard sighed and rubbed his bald head with
a puzzled air.
" I m quite sure Ugu will not be polite to us," said
he, " so we must conquer this cruel magician by force,
much as we dislike to be rude to anyone. But none
of you has yet suggested a way to do that. Couldn t
the Little Pink Bear tell us how?" he asked, turning
to the Bear King.
" No, for that is something that is going to happen,"
237
The Lost Princess of Oz
replied the Lavender Bear. "He can only tell us
what already has happened."
Again they were grave and thoughtful. But after
a time Betsy said in a hesitating voice:
"Hank is a great fighter; perhaps he could conquer
the magician."
The Mule turned his head to look reproachfully
at his old friend, the young girl.
"Who can fight against magic?" he asked.
" The Cowardly Lion could," said Dorothy.
The Lion, who was lying with his front legs spread
out, his chin on his paws, raised his shaggy head.
" I can fight when I m not afraid," said he calmly;
"but the mere mention of a fight sets me to
trembling."
"TJgu s magic couldn t hurt the Sawhorse," sug
gested tiny Trot.
"And the Sawhorse couldn t hurt the Magician,"
declared that wooden animal.
" For my part," said Toto, " I am helpless, having
lost my growl."
"Then," said Cayke the Cookie Cook, "we must
depend upon the Frogman. His marvelous wisdom
will surely inform him how to conquer the wicked
Magician and restore to me my dishpan."
238
Chapter Eighteen
All eyes were now turned questioningly upon the
Frogman. Finding himself the center of observation,
he swung his gold-headed cane, adjusted his big spec
tacles and after swelling out his chest, sighed and said
in a modest tone of voice:
" Respect for truth obliges me to confess that Cayke
is mistaken in regard to my superior wisdom. I am
not very wise. Neither have I had any practical
experience in conquering magicians. But let us con
sider this case. What is TJgu, and what is a magician?
TJgu is a renegade shoemaker and a magician is an
ordinary man who, having learned how to do magical
tricks, considers himself above his fellows. In this
case, the Shoemaker has been naughty enough to steal
a lot of magical tools and things that did not belong
to him, and it is more wicked to steal than to be a
magician. Yet, with all the arts at his command,
TJgu is still a man, and surely there are ways in which
a man may be conquered. How, do you say, how?
Allow me to state that I don t know. In my judgment
we cannot decide how best to act until we get to
Ugu s castle. So let us go to it and take a look at it.
After that we may discover an idea that will guide us
to victory."
"That may not be a wise speech, but it sounds
239
The Lost Princess of Oz
good," said Dorothy approvingly. "TJgu the Shoe
maker is not only a common man, but he s a wicked
man and a cruel man and deserves to be conquered.
We mustn t have any mercy on him till Ozma is set
free. So let s go to his castle, as the Frogman says,
and see what the place looks like."
No one offered an objection to this plan and so it
was adopted. They broke camp and were about to
start on the journey to Ugu s castle when they dis
covered that Button-Bright was lost again. The girls
and the Wizard shouted his name and the Lion roared
and the Donkey brayed and the Frogman croaked
and the Big Lavender Bear growled (to the envy of
Toto, who couldn t growl but barked his loudest) yet
none of them could make Button-Bright hear. So,
after vainly searching for the boy a full hour, they
formed a procession and proceeded in the direction
of the wicker castle of TJgu the Shoemaker.
" Button-Bright s always getting lost," said Dor
othy. " And, if he wasn t always getting found again,
I d prob ly worry. He may have gone ahead of us,
and he may have gone back; but, wherever he is,
we ll find him sometime and somewhere, I m almost
sure."
240
Ugu the Shoemaker
A curious thing
about Ugu the
Shoemaker was
that he didn t sus
pect, in the least, that he was wicked. He wanted
to be powerful and great and he hoped to make him
self master of all the Land of Oz, that he might compel
everyone in that fairy country to obey him. His
ambition blinded him to the rights of others and he
imagined anyone else would act just as he did if
anyone else happened to be as clever as himself.
241
The Lost Princess of Oz
When he inhabited his little shoemaking shop in
the City of Herku he had been discontented, for a
shoemaker is not looked upon with high respect and
Ugu knew that his ancestors had been famous
magicians for many centuries past and therefore his
family was above the ordinary. Even his father
practiced magic, when TJgu was a boy; but his father
had wandered away from Herku and had never come
back again. So, when Ugu grew up, he was forced
to make shoes for a living, knowing nothing of the
magic of his forefathers. But one day, in searching
through the attic of his house, he discovered all the
books of magical recipes and many magical instru
ments which had formerly been in use in his family.
From that day he stopped making shoes and began
to study magic. Finally he aspired to become the
greatest magician in Oz, and for days and weeks
and months he thought on a plan to render all the
other sorcerers and wizards, as well as those with
fairy powers, helpless to oppose him.
From the books of his ancestors he learned the
following facts:
(1) That Ozma of Oz was the fairy ruler of the
Emerald City and the Land of Oz, and that she could
not be destroyed by any magic ever devised. Also,
242
Chapter Nineteen
by means of her Magic Picture she would be able to
discover anyone who approached her royal palace
with the idea of conquering it.
(2) That Glinda the Good was the most powerful
Sorceress in Oz, among her other magical possessions
being the Great Book of Kecords, which told her all
that happened anywhere in the world. This Book
of Eecords was very dangerous to Ugu s plans and
Glinda was in the service of Ozma and would use
her arts of sorcery to protect the girl Ruler.
(3) That the Wizard of Oz, who lived in Ozma s
palace, had been taught much powerful magic by
Glinda and had a bag of magic tools with which he
might be able to conquer the Shoemaker.
(4) That there existed in Oz in the Yip Country
a jeweled dishpan made of gold, which dishpan
possessed marvelous powers of magic. At a magic
word, which TJgu learned from the book, the dishpan
would grow large enough for a man to sit inside it.
Then, when he grasped both the golden handles, the
dishpan would transport him in an instant to any
place he wished to go within the borders of the
Land of Oz.
No one now living, except Ugu, knew of the powers
of this Magic Dishpan; so, after long study, the shoe-
243
The Lost Princess of Oz
maker decided that if lie could manage to secure the
dishpan he could, by its means, rob Ozrna and Glinda
and the Wizard of Oz of all their magic, thus becom
ing himself the most powerful person in all the land.
His first act was to go away from the City of Herku
and build for himself the Wicker Castle in the hills.
Here he carried his books and instruments of magic
and here for a full year he diligently practiced all the
magical arts learned from his ancestors. At the end
of that time he could do a good many wonderful things.
Then, when all his preparations were made, he set
out for the Yip Country and climbing the steep moun
tain at night he entered the house of Cayke the Cookie
Cook and stole her diamond-studded gold dishpan
while all the Yips were asleep. Taking his prize out
side, he set the pan upon the ground and uttered the
required magic word. Instantly the dishpan grew as
large as a big washtub and Ugu seated himself in it
and grasped the two handles. Then he wished him
self in the great drawing-room of Glinda the Good.
He was there in a flash. First he took the Great
Book of Records and put it in the dishpan. Then he
went to Glinda s laboratory and took all her rare
chemical compounds and her instruments of sorcery,
placing these also in the dishpan, which he caused to
244
Chapter Nineteen
grow large enough to hold them. Next he seated him
self amongst the treasures he had stolen and wished
himself in the room in Ozma s palace which the Wiz
ard occupied and where he kept his bag of magic tools.
This bag TJgu added to his plunder and then wished
himself in the apartments of Ozma.
Here he first took the Magic Picture from the wall
and then seized all the other magical things which
Ozma possessed. Having placed these in the dishpan
he was about to climb in himself when he looked up
and saw Ozma standing beside him. Her fairy instinct
had warned her that danger was threatening her, so
the beautiful girl Ruler rose from her couch and
leaving her bedchamber at once confronted the thief.
Ugu had to think quickly, for he realized that if he
permitted Ozma to rouse the inmates of her palace all
his plans and his present successes were likely to come
to naught. So he threw a scarf over the girl s head, so
she could not scream, and pushed her into the dishpan
and tied her fast, so she could not move. Then he
climbed in beside her and wished himself in his own
wicker castle. The Magic Dishpan was there in an
instant, with all its contents, and Ugu rubbed his
hands together in triumphant joy as he realized that
he now possessed all the important magic in the Land
245
The Lost Princess of Oz
of Oz and could force all the inhabitants of that
fairyland to do as he willed.
So quickly had his journey been accomplished that
before daylight the robber magician had locked Ozma
in a room, making her a prisoner, and had unpacked
and arranged all his stolen goods. The next day he
placed the Book of Records on his table and hung the
Magic Picture on his wall and put away in his cup
boards and drawers all the elixirs and magic com
pounds he had stolen. The magical instruments he
polished and arranged, and this was fascinating work
and made him very happy. The only thing that
bothered him was Ozma. By turns the imprisoned
Euler wept and scolded the Shoemaker, haughtily
threatening him with dire punishment for the wicked
deeds he had done. Ugu became somewhat afraid of
his fairy prisoner, in spite of the fact that he believed
he had robbed her of all her powers; so he performed
an enchantment that quickly disposed of her and
placed her out of his sight and hearing. After that,
being occupied with other things, he soon forgot her.
But now, when he looked into the Magic Picture
and read the Great Book of Records, the Shoemaker
learned that his wickedness was not to go unchal
lenged. Two important expeditions had set out to
246
The Lost Princess of Oz
find him and force him to give up his stolen property.
One was the party headed by the Wizard and Dorothy,
while the other consisted of Cayke and the Frogman.
Others were also searching, but not in the right places.
These two groups, however, were headed straight for
the wicker castle and so TJgu began to plan how best
to meet them and to defeat their efforts to conquer
him.
248
More Surprises
All that first day
after the union of
the two parties our
friends marched
steadily toward the wicker castle of Ugu the Shoe
maker. When night came they camped in a little
grove and passed a pleasant evening together,
although some of them were worried because Button-
Bright was still lost.
"Perhaps," said Toto, as the animals lay grouped
together for the night, " this Shoemaker who stole my
249
The Lost Princess of Oz
growl, and who stole Ozma, has also stolen Button-
Bright."
"How do you know that the Shoemaker stole your
growl?" demanded the Woozy.
"He has stolen about everything else of value in
Oz, hasn t he?" replied the dog.
"He has stolen everything he wants, perhaps,"
agreed the Lion; "but what could anyone want with
your growl?"
" Well," said the dog, wagging his tail slowly, " my
recollection is that it was a wonderful grow T l, soft and
low and and "
" And ragged at the edges," said the Sawhorse.
" So," continued Toto, " if that magician hadn t any
growl of his own, he might have wanted mine and
stolen it."
"And, if he has, he will soon wish he hadn t,"
remarked the Mule. " Also, if he has stolen Button-
Bright he will be sorry."
"Don t you like Button-Bright, then?" asked the
Lion in surprise.
" It isn t a question of liking him," replied the Mule.
"It s a question of watching him and looking after
him. Any boy who causes his friends so much worry
isn t worth having around. I never get lost."
250
Chapter Twenty
" If you did," said Toto, " no one would worry a bit.
I think Button-Bright is a very lucky boy, because
he always gets found."
" See here," said the Lion, " this chatter is keeping
us all awake and to-morrow is likely to be a busy day.
Go to sleep and forget your quarrels."
" Friend Lion," retorted the dog, " if I hadn t lost
my growl you would hear it now. I have as much
right to talk as you have to sleep."
The Lion sighed.
" If only you had lost your voice, when you lost your
growl," said he, "you would be a more agreeable
companion."
But they quieted down, after that, and soon the
entire camp was wrapped in slumber.
Next morning they made an early start but had
hardly proceeded on their way an hour when, on
climbing a slight elevation, they beheld in the distance
a low mountain, on top of which stood Ugu s wicker
castle. It was a good-sized building and rather pretty
because the sides, roofs and domes were all of wicker
closely woven, as it is in fine baskets.
" I wonder if it is strong? " said Dorothy musingly,
as she eyed the queer castle.
" I suppose it is, since a magician built it," answered
251
The Lost Princess of Oz
the Wizard. " With magic to protect it, even a paper
castle might be as strong as if made of stone. This
Ugu must be a man of ideas, because he does things
in a different way from other people."
"Yes; no one else would steal our dear Ozma,"
sighed tiny Trot.
" I wonder if Ozma is there? " said Betsy, indicating
the castle with a nod of her head.
"Where else could she be?" asked Scraps.
" S pose we ask the Pink Bear," suggested Dorothy.
That seemed a good idea, so they halted the proces
sion and the Bear King held the little Pink Bear on
his lap and turned the crank in its side and asked:
" Where is Ozma of Oz? "
And the little Pink Bear answered:
" She is in a hole in the ground, a half mile away,
at your left."
" Good gracious! " cried Dorothy. " Then she is not
in TJgu s castle at all."
" It is lucky we asked that question," said the Wiz
ard; "for, if we can find Ozma and rescue her, there
will be no need for us to fight that wicked and
dangerous magician."
"Indeed!" said Cayke. "Then what about my
dishpan?"
252
Chapter Twenty
The Wizard looked puzzled at her tone of
remonstrance, so she added:
" Didn t you people from the Emerald City promise
that we would all stick together, and that you would
help me to get my dishpan if I would help you to get
your Ozma? And didn t I bring to you the little Pink
Bear, which has told you where Ozma is hidden? "
" She s right," said Dorothy to the Wizard. " We
must do as we agreed."
" Well, first of all, let us go and rescue Ozma," pro
posed the Wizard. " Then our beloved Ruler may be
able to advise us how to conquer Ugu the Shoemaker."
So they turned to the left and marched for half a
mile until they came to a small but deep hole in the
ground. At once all rushed to the brim to peer into
the hole, but instead of finding there Princess Ozma
of Oz, all that they saw was Button-Bright, who was
lying asleep on the bottom.
Their cries soon wakened the boy, who sat up and
rubbed his eyes. When he recognized his friends he
smiled sweetly, saying: "Found again!"
"Where is Ozma?" inquired Dorothy anxiously.
"I don t know," answered Button-Bright from the
depths of the hole. "I got lost, yesterday, as you
may remember, and in the night, while I was wander-
253
The Lost Princess of Oz
ing around in the moonlight, trying to find my way
back to you, I suddenly fell into this hole."
" And wasn t Ozma in it then? "
" There was no one in it but me, and I was sorry it
wasn t entirely empty. The sides are so steep I can t
climb out, so there was nothing to be done but sleep
until someone found me. Thank you for coming. If
you ll please let down a rope I ll empty this hole in a
hurry."
"How strange!" said Dorothy, greatly disap
pointed. "It s evident the Pink Bear didn t tell us
the truth."
" He never makes a mistake," declared the Lavender
Bear King, in a tone that showed his feelings were
hurt. And then he turned the crank of the little Pink
Bear again and asked: " Is this the hole that Ozma of
Ozisin?"
" Yes," answered the Pink Bear.
" That settles it," said the King, positively. " Your
Ozma is in this hole in the ground."
"Don t be silly," returned Dorothy impatiently.
" Even your beady eyes can see there is no one in the
hole but Button-Bright."
"Perhaps Button-Bright is Ozma," suggested the
King.
254
The Lost Princess of Oz
" And perhaps lie isn t! Ozma is a girl, and Button-
Bright is a boy."
" Your Pink Bear must be out of order," said the
Wizard; "for, this time at least, his machinery has
caused him to make an untrue statement."
The Bear King was so angry at this remark that he
turned away, holding the Pink Bear in his paws, and
refused to discuss the matter in any further way.
" At any rate," said the Frogman, " the Pink Bear
has led us to your boy friend and so enabled you to
rescue him."
Scraps was leaning so far over the hole, trying to
find Ozma in it, that suddenly she lost her balance and
pitched in headforemost. She fell upon Button-Bright
and tumbled him over, but he was not hurt by her soft
stuffed body and only laughed at the mishap. The
Wizard buckled some straps together and let one end
of them down into the hole, and soon both Scraps and
the boy had climbed up and were standing safely
beside the others.
They looked once more for Ozma, but the hole was
now absolutely vacant. It was a round hole, so from
the top they could plainly see every part of it. Before
they left the place Dorothy went to the Bear King and
said:
256
it iff v
^ r* f, ;
Chapter Twenty
" I m sorry we couldn t believe what the little Pink
Bear said, cause we don t want to make you feel bad
by doubting him. There must be a mistake, some
where, and we prob ly don t understand just what the
little Pink Bear means. Will you let me ask him one
more question? "
The Lavender Bear King was a good-natured bear,
considering how he was made and stuffed and jointed,
so he accepted Dorothy s apology and turned the crank
and allowed the little girl to question his wee A Pink
Bear.
" Is Ozma really in this hole? " asked Dorothy.
" No," said the little Pink Bear.
This surprised everybody. Even the Bear King was
now puzzled by the contradictory statements of his
oracle.
" Where is she? " asked the King.
" Here, among you," answered the little Pink Bear.
" Well," said Dorothy, " this beats me, entirely! I
guess the little Pink Bear has gone crazy."
" Perhaps," called Scraps, who was rapidly turning
" cart-wheels " all around the perplexed group,
" Ozma is invisible."
"Of course!" cried Betsy. "That would account
for it."
257
The Lost Princess of Oz
"Well, I ve noticed that people can speak, even
when they ve been made invisible," said the Wizard.
And then he looked all around him and said in a
solemn voice: " Ozma, are you here?"
There was no reply. Dorothy asked the question,
too, and so did Button-Bright and Trot and Betsy;
but none received any reply at all.
"It s strange it s terrible strange!" muttered
Cayke the Cookie Cook. "I was sure that the little
Pink Bear always tells the truth."
" I still believe in his honesty," said the Frogman,
and this tribute so pleased the Bear King that he gave
these last speakers grateful looks, but still gazed
sourly on the others.
" Come to think of it," remarked the Wizard, " Ozma
couldn t be invisible, for she is a fairy and fairies can
not be made invisible against their will. Of course
she could be imprisoned by the magician, or even
enchanted, or transformed, in spite of her fairy
powers; but TJgu could not render her invisible by
any magic at his command."
"I wonder if she s been transformed into Button-
Bright?" said Dorothy nervously. Then she looked
steadily at the boy and asked: " Are you Ozma? Tell
me truly! "
258
Chapter Twenty
Button-Bright laughed.
"You re getting rattled, Dorothy/ he replied.
" Nothing ever enchants me. If I were Ozma, do you
think Fd have tumbled into that hole?"
" Anyhow," said the Wizard, " Ozma would never
try to deceive her friends, or prevent them from
recognizing her, in whatever form she happened to
be. The puzzle is still a puzzle, so let us go on to
the wicker castle and question the magician himself.
Since it was he who stole our Ozma, TJgu is the one
who must tell us where to find her."
259
Magic Against Magic
The Wizard s ad
vice was good, so
again they started
in the direction of
the low mountain on the crest of which the wicker
castle had been built. They had been gradually
advancing up hill, so now the elevation seemed to
them more like a round knoll than a mountain-top.
However, the sides of the knoll were sloping and
covered with green grass, so there was a stiff climb
before them yet.
260
Chapter Twenty-One
Undaunted, they plodded on and had almost reached
the knoll when they suddenly observed that it was
surrounded by a circle of flame. At first the flames
barely rose above the ground, but presently they grew
higher and higher until a circle of flaming tongues of
fire taller than any of their heads quite surrounded the
hill on which the wicker castle stood. When they
approached the flames the heat was so intense that it
drove them back again.
"This will never do for me!" exclaimed the
Patchwork Girl. "I catch fire very easily."
"It won t do for me, either," grumbled the
Sawhorse, prancing to the rear.
" I also object strongly to fire," said the Bear King,
following the Sawhorse to a safe distance and hugging
the little Pink Bear with his paws.
" I suppose the foolish Shoemaker imagines these
blazes will stop us," remarked the Wizard, with a
smile of scorn for Ugu. " But I am able to inform
you that this is merely a simple magic trick which
the robber stole from Glinda the Good, and by good
fortune I know how to destroy these flames, as well
as how to produce them. Will some one of you
kindly give me a match? "
You may be sure the girls carried no matches, nor
261
The Lost Princess of Oz
did the Frogman or Cayke or any of the animals. But
Button-Bright, after searching carefully through his
pockets, which contained all sorts of useful and use
less things, finally produced a match and handed it to
the Wizard, who tied it to the end of a branch which he
tore from a small tree growing near them. Then the
little Wizard carefully lighted the match and running
forward thrust it into the nearest flame. Instantly
the circle of fire began to die away and soon vanished
completely, leaving the way clear for them to proceed.
" That was funny! " laughed Button-Bright.
"Yes," agreed the Wizard, "it seems odd that a
little match could destroy such a great circle of fire,
but when Glinda invented this trick she believed no
one would ever think of a match being a remedy for
fire. I suppose even TJgu doesn t know how we man
aged to quench the flames of his barrier, for only
Glinda and I know the secret. Glinda s Book of
Magic, which Ugu stole, told how to make the flames,
but not how to put them out."
They now formed in marching order and proceeded
to advance up the slope of the hill; but had not gone
far when before them rose a wall of steel, the surface
of which was thickly covered with sharp, gleaming
points resembling daggers. The wall completely sur-
262
Chapter Twenty-One
rounded the wicker castle and its sharp points pre
vented anyone from climbing it. Even the Patchwork
Girl might be ripped to pieces if she dared attempt it.
"Ah!" exclaimed the Wizard cheerfully, "TJgu is
now using one of my own tricks against me. But this
is more serious than the Barrier of Fire, because the
only way to destroy the wall is to get on the other side
of it. J9
" How can that be done? " asked Dorothy.
The Wizard looked thoughtfully around his little
party and his face grew troubled.
" It s a pretty high wall," he sadly remarked. " I m
pretty sure the Cowardly Lion could not leap over it."
" I m sure of that, too! " said the Lion with a shud
der of fear. " If I foolishly tried such a leap I would
be caught on those dreadful spikes."
" I think I could do it, sir," said the Frogman, with
a bow to the Wizard. " It is an up-hill jump, as well
as being a high jump, but I m considered something
of a jumper by my friends in the Yip Country and I
believe a good strong leap will carry me to the other
side."
" I m sure it would," agreed the Cookie Cook.
" Leaping, you know, is a froglike accomplishment,"
continued the Frogman, modestly, " but please tell me
-263
The Lost Princess of Oz
what I am to do when I reach the other side of the
wall."
" You re a brave creature," said the Wizard,
admiringly. "Has anyone a pin? 3
Betsy had one, which she gave him.
" All you need do," said the Wizard to the Frogman,
giving him the pin, " is to stick this into the other side
of the wall."
" But the wall is of steel! " exclaimed the big frog.
"I know; at least, it seems to be steel; but do as I
tell you. Stick the pin into the wall and it will
disappear."
The Frogman took off his handsome coat and care
fully folded it and laid it on the grass. Then he
removed his hat, and laid it, together with his gold-
headed cane, beside the coat. He then went back a
way and made three powerful leaps, in rapid succes
sion. The first two leaps took him to the wall and
the third leap carried him well over it, to the amaze
ment of all. For a short time he disappeared from
their view, but when he had obeyed the Wizard s
injunction and had thrust the pin into the wall, the
huge barrier vanished and showed them the form of
the Frogman, who now went to where his coat lay and
put it on again.
264
Chapter Twenty-One
"We thank you very much," said the delighted
Wizard. " That was the most wonderful leap I ever
saw and it has saved us from defeat by our enemy.
Let us now hurry on to the castle before Ugu the
Shoemaker thinks of some other means to stop us."
" We must have surprised him, so far," declared
Dorothy.
" Yes, indeed. The fellow knows a lot of magic
all of our tricks and some of his own," replied the
Wizard. " So, if he is half as clever as he ought to
be, we shall have trouble with him yet."
He had scarcely spoken these words when out from
the gates of the wicker castle marched a regiment of
soldiers, clad in gay uniforms and all bearing long,
pointed spears and sharp battle-axes. These soldiers
were girls, and the uniforms were short skirts of
yellow and black satin, golden shoes, bands of gold
across their foreheads and necklaces of glittering
jewels. Their jackets were scarlet, braided with sil
ver cords. There were hundreds of these girl-soldiers,
and they were more terrible than beautiful, being
strong and fierce in appearance. They formed a circle
all around the castle and faced outward, their spears
pointed toward the invaders and their battle-axes held
over their shoulders, ready to strike.
265
The Lost Princess of Oz
Of course our friends halted at once, for they had
not expected this dreadful array of soldiery. The
Wizard seemed puzzled and his companions exchanged
discouraged looks.
" I d no idea Ugu had such an army as that," said
Dorothy. " The castle doesn t look big enough to hold
them all."
" It isn t," declared the Wizard.
" But they all marched out of it."
"They seemed to; but I don t believe it is a real
army at all. If TJgu the Shoemaker had so many
people living with him, I m sure the Czarover of
Herku would have mentioned the fact to us."
"They re only girls!" laughed Scraps.
" Girls are the fiercest soldiers of all," declared the
Frogman. " They are more brave than men and they
have better nerves. That is probably why the magi
cian uses them for soldiers and has sent them to
oppose us."
No one argued this statement, for all were staring
hard at the line of soldiers, which now, having taken
a defiant position, remained motionless.
" Here is a trick of magic new to me," admitted the
Wizard, after a time. " I do not believe the army is
real, but the spears may be sharp enough to prick us,
* 266
The Lost Princess of Oz
nevertheless, so we must be cautious. Let us take
time to consider how to meet this difficulty."
While they were thinking it over Scraps danced
closer to the line of girl soldiers. Her button eyes
sometimes saw more than did the natural eyes of her
comrades and so, after staring hard at the magician s
army, she boldly advanced and danced right through
the threatening line! On the other side she waved
her stuffed arms and called out:
" Come on, folks. The spears can t hurt you."
" Ah! " said the Wizard, gayly, " an optical illusion,
as I thought. Let us all follow the Patchwork Girl."
The three little girls were somewhat nervous in
attempting to brave the spears and battle-axes, but
after the others had safely passed the line they ven
tured to follow. And, when all had passed through
the ranks of the girl army, the army itself magically
disappeared from view.
All this time our friends had been getting farther
up the hill and nearer to the wicker castle. Now, con
tinuing their advance, they expected something else
to oppose their way, but to their astonishment nothing
happened and presently they arrived at the wicker
gates, which stood wide open, and boldly entered the
domain of TJgu the Shoemaker.
268
In the Wicker Castle
sooner were
Wizard of Oz and
Ms followers well
within the castle
entrance when the big gates swung to with a clang
and heavy bars dropped across them. They looked at
one another uneasily, but no one cared to speak of the
incident. If they were indeed prisoners in the wicker
castle it was evident they must find a way to escape,
but their first duty was to attend to the errand on
which they had come and seek the Royal Ozma, whom
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The Lost Princess of Oz
they believed to be a prisoner of the magician, and
rescue her.
They found they had entered a square courtyard,
from which an entrance led into the main building
of the castle. No person had appeared to greet them,
so far, although a gaudy peacock, perched upon the
wall, cackled with laughter and said in its sharp, shrill
voice: " Poor fools! Poor fools! "
"I hope the peacock is mistaken," remarked the
Frogman, but no one else paid any attention to the
bird. They were a little awed by the stillness and
loneliness of the place.
As they entered the doors of the castle, which stood
invitingly open, these also closed behind them and
huge bolts shot into place. The animals had all accom
panied the party into the castle, because they felt it
would be dangerous for them to separate. They were
forced to follow a zigzag passage, turning this way
and that, until finally they entered a great central
hall, circular in form and with a high dome from
which was suspended an enormous chandelier.
The Wizard went first, and Dorothy, Betsy and Trot
followed him, Toto keeping at the heels of his little
mistress. Then came the Lion, the Woozy and the
Sawhorse; then Cayke the Cookie Oook and Button-
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Bright; then the Lavender Bear carrying the Pink
Bear, and finally the Frogman and the Patchwork
Girl, with Hank the Mule tagging behind. So it was
the Wizard who caught the first glimpse of" the big
domed hall, but the others quickly followed and
gathered in a wondering group just within the
entrance.
Upon a raised platform at one side was a heavy
table on which lay Glinda s Great Book of Records;
but the platform was firmly fastened to the floor and
the table was fastened to the platform and the Book
was chained fast to the table just as it had been
when it was kept in Glinda s palace. On the wall over
the table hung Ozma s Magic Picture. On a row of
shelves at the opposite side of the hall stood all the
chemicals and essences of magic and all the magical
instruments that had been stolen from Glinda and
Ozma and the Wizard, with glass doors covering the
shelves so that no one could get at them.
And in a far corner sat TJgu the Shoemaker, his feet
lazily extended, his skinny hands clasped behind his
head. He was leaning back at his ease and calmly
smoking a long pipe. Around the magician was a sort
of cage, seemingly made of golden bars set wide apart,
and at his feet also within the cage reposed the
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The Lost Princess of Oz
long-sought diamond-studded dishpan of Cayke the
Cookie Cook.
Princess Ozma of Oz was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, well," said TJgu, when the invaders had
stood in silence for a moment, staring about them,
" this visit is an expected pleasure, I assure you. I
knew you were coming and I know why you are here.
You are not welcome, for I cannot use any of you to
my advantage, but as you have insisted on coming I
hope you will make the afternoon call as brief as pos
sible. It won t take long to transact your business
with me. You will ask me for Ozma, and my reply
will be that you may find her if you can."
"Sir," answered the Wizard, in a tone of rebuke,
" you are a very wicked and cruel person. I suppose
you imagine, because you have stolen this poor
woman s dishpan and all the best magic in Oz, that
you are more powerful than we are and will be able
to triumph over us."
"Yes," said Ugu the Shoemaker, slowly filling his
pipe with fresh tobacco from a silver bowl that stood
beside him, " that is exactly what I imagine. It will
do you no good to demand from me the girl who was
formerly the Ruler of Oz, because I will not tell you
where I have hidden her and you can t guess in a
272
Chapter Twenty-Two
thousand years. Neither will I restore to you any of
the magic I have captured. I am not so foolish. But
bear this in mind: I mean to be the Ruler of Oz myself,
hereafter, so I advise you to be careful how you
address your future Monarch."
" Ozma is still Ruler of Oz, wherever you may have
hidden her," declared the Wizard. " And bear this in
mind, miserable Shoemaker: We intend to find her
and to rescue her, in time, but our first duty and
pleasure will be to conquer you and then punish you
for your misdeeds."
" Very well; go ahead and conquer," said TJgu. " I d
really like to see how you can do it."
Now, although the little Wizard had spoken so
boldly, he had at the moment no idea how they might
conquer the magician. He had that morning given
the Frogman, at his request, a dose of zosozo from his
bottle, and the Frogman had promised to fight a good
fight if it was necessary; but the Wizard knew that
strength alone could not avail against magical arts.
The toy Bear King seemed to have some pretty good
magic, however, and the Wizard depended to an extent
on that. But something ought to be done right away,
and the Wizard didn t know what it was.
While he considered this perplexing question and
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The Lost Princess of Oz
the others stood looking at him as their leader, a queer
thing happened. The floor of the great circular hall,
on which they were standing, suddenly began to tip.
Instead of being flat and level it became a slant, and
the slant grew steeper and steeper until none of the
party could manage to stand upon it. Presently they
all slid down to the wall, which was now under them,
and then it became evident that the whole vast room
was slowly turning upside down! Only TJgu the Shoe
maker, kept in place by the bars of his golden cage,
remained in his former position, and the wicked
magician seemed to enjoy the surprise of his victims
immensely.
First, they all slid down to the wall back of them,
but as the room continued to turn over they next slid
down the wall and found themselves at the bottom of
the great dome, bumping against the big chandelier
which, like everything else, was now upside-down.
The turning movement now stopped and the room
became stationary. Looking far up, they saw Ugu
suspended in his cage at the very top, which had once
been the floor.
" Ah," said he, grinning down at them, " the way to
conquer is to act, and he who acts promptly is sure to
win. This makes a very good prison, from which I
274
The Lost Princess of Oz
am sure you cannot escape. Please amuse yourselves
in any way you like, but I must beg you to excuse me,
as I have business in another part of my castle."
Saying this, he opened a trap door in the floor of
his cage (which was now over his head) and climbed
through it and disappeared from their view. The
diamond dishpan still remained in the cage, but the
bars kept it from falling down on their heads.
" Well, I declare! " said the Patchwork Girl, seizing
one of the bars of the chandelier and swinging from
it, " we must peg one for the Shoemaker, for he has
trapped us very cleverly."
" Get off my foot, please," said the Lion to the
Sawhorse.
" And oblige me, Mr. Mule," remarked the Woozy,
" by taking your tail out of my left eye."
" It s rather crowded down here," explained Dorothy,
"because the dome is rounding and we have all slid
into the middle of it. But let us keep as quiet as
possible until we can think what s best to be done."
"Dear, dear! wailed Cayke; "I wish I had my
darling dishpan," and she held her arms longingly
toward it.
" I wish I had the magic on those shelves up there,"
sighed the Wizard.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
"Don t you s pose we could get to it?" asked Trot
anxiously.
" We d have to fly," laughed the Patchwork Girl.
But the Wizard took the suggestion seriously, and
so did the Frogman. They talked it over and soon
planned an attempt to reach the shelves where the
magical instruments were. First the Frogman lay
against the rounding dome and braced his foot on the
stem of the chandelier; then the Wizard climbed over
him and lay on the dome with his feet on the Frog
man s shoulders; the Cookie Cook came next; then
Button-Bright climbed to the woman s shoulders; then
Dorothy climbed up, and Betsy and Trot, and finally
the Patchwork Girl, and all their lengths made a long
line that reached far up the dome but not far enough
for Scraps to touch the shelves.
"Wait a minute; perhaps I can reach the magic;
called the Bear King, and began scrambling up the
bodies of the others. But when he came to the Cookie
Cook his soft paws tickled her side so that she
squirmed and upset the whole line. Down they came,
tumbling in a heap against the animals, and although
no one was much hurt it was a bad mix-up and the
Frogman, who was at the bottom, almost lost his
temper before he could get on his feet again.
277
The Lost Princess of Oz
Cayke positively refused to try what she called " the
pyramid act " again, and as the Wizard was now con
vinced they could not reach the magic tools in that
manner the attempt was abandoned.
"But something must be done," said the Wizard,
and then he turned to the Lavender Bear and asked:
" Cannot Your Majesty s magic help us to escape
from here?"
"My magic powers are limited," was the reply.
" When I was stuffed, the fairies stood by and slyly
dropped some magic into my stuffing. Therefore I
can do any of the magic that s inside me, but nothing
else. You, however, are a wizard, and a wizard should
be able to do anything."
" Your Majesty forgets that my tools of magic have
been stolen," said the Wizard sadly, "and a wizard
without tools is as helpless as a carpenter without a
hammer or saw."
" Don t give up," pleaded Button-Bright, " cause if
we can t get out of this queer prison we ll all starve to
death."
" Not I! " laughed the Patchwork Girl, now stand
ing on top the chandelier, at the place that was meant
to be the bottom of it.
"Don t talk of such dreadful things," said Trot,
278
The Lost Princess of Oz
shuddering. "We came here to capture the
Shoemaker, didn t we?"
" Yes, and to save Ozma," said Betsy.
" And here we are, captured ourselves, and my
darling dishpan up there in plain sight! " wailed the
Cookie Cook, wiping her eyes on the tail of the
Frogman s coat.
"Hush!" called the Lion, with a low, deep growl.
" Give the Wizard time to think."
" He has plenty of time," said Scraps. " What he
needs is the Scarecrow s brains."
After all, it was little Dorothy who came to their
rescue, and her ability to save them was almost as
much a surprise to the girl as it was to her friends.
Dorothy had been secretly testing the powers of her
Magic Belt, which she had once captured from the
Nome King, and experimenting with it in various
ways, ever since she had started on this eventful
journey. At different times she had stolen away from
the others of her party and in solitude had tried to
find out what the Magic Belt could do and what it
could not do. There were a lot of things it could not
do, she discovered, but she learned some things about
the Belt which even her girl friends did not suspect
she knew.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
For one thing, she had remembered that when the
Nome King owned it the Magic Belt used to perform
transformations, and by thinking hard she had finally
recalled the way in which such transformations had
been accomplished. Better than this, however, was
the discovery that the Magic Belt would grant its
wearer one wish a day. All she need do was close
her right eye and wiggle her left toe and then draw
a long breath and make her wish. Yesterday she had
wished in secret for a box of caramels, and instantly
found the box beside her. To-day she had saved her
daily wish, in case she might need it in an emergency,
and the time had now come when she must use the
wish to enable her to escape with her friends from
the prison in which Ugu had caught them.
So, without telling anyone what she intended to do
for she had only used the wish once and could not
be certain how powerful the Magic Belt might be
Dorothy closed her right eye and wiggled her left big
toe and drew a long breath and wished with all her
might. The next moment the room began to revolve
again, as slowly as before, and by degrees they all slid
to the side wall and down the wall to the floor all
but Scraps, who was so astonished that she still clung
to the chandelier. When the big hall was in its proper
282
Chapter Twenty-Two
position again and the others stood firmly upon the
floor of it, they looked far up to the dome and saw the
Patchwork Girl swinging from the chandelier.
" Good gracious! " cried Dorothy. " How ever will
you get down? 3
" Won t the room keep turning? " asked Scraps.
" I hope not. I believe it has stopped for good," said
Princess Dorothy.
"Then stand from under, so you won t get hurt! 3
shouted the Patchwork Girl, and as soon as they had
obeyed this request she let go the chandelier and came
tumbling down heels over head and twisting and turn
ing in a very exciting manner. Plump! she fell on the
tiled floor and they ran to her and rolled her and
patted her into shape again.
283
The Defiance of Ugu the Shoemaker
The delay caused
by Scraps had pre
vented anyone
from running to
the shelves to secure the magic instruments so badly
needed. Even Cayke neglected to get her diamond-
studded dishpan because she was watching the Patch
work Girl. And now the magician had opened his
trap door and appeared in his golden cage again,
frowning angrily because his prisoners had been able
to turn their upside-down prison right-side-up.
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Chapter Twenty-Three
"Which of you has dared defy my magic?" he
shouted in a terrible voice.
" It was I," answered Dorothy calmly.
" Then I shall destroy you, for you are only an Earth
girl and no fairy," he said, and began to mumble some
magic words.
Dorothy now realized that Ugu must be treated as
an enemy, so she advanced toward the corner in which
he sat, saying as she went:
" I am not afraid of you, Mr. Shoemaker, and I think
you ll be sorry, pretty soon, that you re such a bad
man. You can t destroy me and I won t destroy you,
but I m going to punish you for your wickedness."
Ugu laughed a laugh that was not nice to hear, and
then he waved his hand. Dorothy was halfway across
the room when suddenly a wall of glass rose before
her and stopped her progress. Through the glass she
could see the magician sneering at her because she was
a weak little girl, and this provoked her. Although
the glass wall obliged her to halt she instantly pressed
both hands to her Magic Belt and cried in a loud voice:
" Ugu the Shoemaker, by the magic virtues of the
Magic Belt, I command you to become a dove! "
The magician instantly realized he was being
enchanted, for he could feel his form changing. He
285
The Lost Princess of Oz
struggled desperately against the enchantment, mum
bling magic words and making magic passes with his
hands. And in one way he succeeded in defeating
Dorothy s purpose, for while his form soon changed
to that of a gray dove, the dove was of an enormous
size bigger even than Ugu had been as a man
and this feat he had been able to accomplish before
his powers of magic wholly deserted him.
And the dove was not gentle, as doves usually are,
for Ugu was terribly enraged at the little girl s suc
cess. His books had told him nothing of the Nome
King s Magic Belt, the Country of the Nomes being
outside the Land of Oz. He knew, however, that he
was likely to be conquered unless he made a fierce
fight, so he spread his wings and rose in the air and
flew directly toward Dorothy. The Wall of Glass had
disappeared the instant Ugu became transformed.
Dorothy had meant to command the Belt to trans
form the magician into a Dove of Peace, but in her
excitement she forgot to say more than " dove," and
now Ugu was not a Dove of Peace by any means, but
rather a spiteful Dove of War. His size made his
sharp beak and claws very dangerous, but Dorothy
was not afraid when he came darting toward her with
his talons outstretched and his sword-like beak open.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
She knew the Magic Belt would protect its wearer
from harm.
But the Frogman did not know that fact and became
alarmed at the little girl s seeming danger. So he
gave a sudden leap and leaped full upon the back of
the great dove.
Then began a desperate struggle. The dove was as
strong as TJgu had been, and in size it was consider
ably bigger than the Frogman. But the Frogman had
eaten the zosozo and it had made him fully as strong
as Ugu the Dove. At the first leap he bore the dove
to the floor, but the giant bird got free and began to
bite and claw the Frogman, beating him down with
its great wings whenever he attempted to rise. The
thick, tough skin of the big frog was not easily dam
aged, but Dorothy feared for her champion and by
again using the transformation power of the Magic
Belt she made the dove grow small, until it was no
larger than a canary bird.
TJgu had not lost his knowledge of magic when he
lost his shape as a man, and he now realized it was
hopeless to oppose the power of the Magic Belt and
knew that his only hope of escape lay in instant
action. So he quickly flew into the golden jeweled
dishpan he had stolen from Cayke the Cookie Cook
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Chapter Twenty-Three
and, as birds can talk as well as beasts or men in the
Fairyland of Oz, he muttered the magic word that was
required and wished himself in the Country of the
Quadlings which was as far away from the wicker
castle as he believed he could get.
Our friends did not know, of course, what Ugu was
about to do. They saw the dishpan tremble an instant
and then disappear, the dove disappearing with it, and
although they waited expectantly for some minutes
for the magician s return, Ugu did not come back
again.
" Seems to me," said the Wizard in a cheerful voice,
" that we have conquered the wicked magician more
quickly than we expected to."
"Don t say we Dorothy did it!" cried the
Patchwork Girl, turning three somersaults in suc
cession and then walking around on her hands.
" Hurrah for Dorothy! "
" I thought you said you did not know how to use
the magic of the Nome King s Belt," said the Wizard
to Dorothy.
"I didn t know, at that time," she replied, "but
afterward I remembered how the Nome King once
used the Magic Belt to enchant people and transform
em into ornaments and all sorts of things; so I tried
289
The Lost Princess of Oz
some enchantments in secret and after awhile I trans
formed the Sawhorse into a potato-masher and back
again, and the Cowardly Lion into a pussycat and
back again, and then I knew the thing would work
all right."
"When did you perform those enchantments?"
asked the Wizard, much surprised.
" One night when all the rest of you were asleep but
Scraps, and she had gone chasing moonbeams."
" Well," remarked the Wizard, " your discovery has
certainly saved us a lot of trouble, and we must all
thank the Frogman, too, for making such a good fight.
The dove s shape had Ugu s evil disposition inside it,
and that made the monster bird dangerous."
The Frogman was looking sad because the bird s
talons had torn his pretty clothes, but he bowed with
much dignity at this well-deserved praise. Cayke,
however, had squatted on the floor and was sobbing
bitterly.
" My precious dishpan is gone! " she wailed. " Gone,
just as I had found it again! "
"Never mind," said Trot, trying to comfort her,
" it s sure to be somewhere, so we ll cert nly run across
it some day."
"Yes, indeed," added Betsy; "now that we have
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Chapter Twenty-Three
Ozma s Magic Picture, we can tell just where the Dove
went with your dishpan."
They all approached the Magic Picture, and Dorothy
wished it to show the enchanted form of TJgu the Shoe
maker, wherever it might be. At once there appeared
in the frame of the Picture a scene in the far Quadling
Country, where the Dove was perched disconsolately
on the limb of a tree and the jeweled dishpan lay on
the ground just underneath the limb.
"But where is the place how far or how near?"
asked Cayke anxiously.
" The Book of Eecords will tell us that," answered
the Wizard. So they looked in the Great Book and
read the following:
"Ugu the Magician, being transformed
into a dove by Princess Dorothy of Oz,
has used the magic of the golden dish-
pan to carry him instantly to the north
east corner of the Quadling Country."
"That s all right," said Dorothy. "Don t worry,
Cayke, for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are
in that part of the country, looking for Ozma, and
they ll surely find your dishpan."
291
The Lost Princess of Oz
" Good gracious! " exclaimed Button-Bright, " we ve
forgot all about Ozma. Let s find out where the
magician hid her."
Back to the Magic Picture they trooped, but when
they wished to see Ozma, wherever she might be hid
den, only a round black spot appeared in the center
of the canvas.
" I don t see how tliat can be Ozma! " said Dorothy,
much puzzled.
" It seems to be the best the Magic Picture can do,
however," said the Wizard, no less surprised. "If
it s an enchantment, it looks as if the magician had
transformed Ozma into a chunk of pitch."
292
The Little Pink Bear Speaks Truly
For several min
utes they all stood
staring at the
black spot on the
canvas of the Magic Picture, wondering what it could
mean.
" PYaps we d better ask the little Pink Bear about
Ozma," suggested Trot.
"Pshaw!" said Button-Bright, "he don t know
anything."
"He never makes a mistake," declared the King.
293
The Lost Princess of Oz
" He did once, surely," said Betsy. " But perhaps
he wouldn t make a mistake again."
"He won t have the chance," grumbled the Bear
King.
" We might hear what he has to say," said Dorothy.
" It won t do any harm to ask the Pink Bear where
Ozma is."
"I will not have him questioned," declared the
King, in a surly voice. " I do not intend to allow my
little Pink Bear to be again insulted by your foolish
doubts. He never makes a mistake."
"Didn t he say Ozma was in that hole in the
ground?" asked Betsy.
"He did; and I am certain she was there," replied
the Lavender Bear.
Scraps laughed jeeringly and the others saw T there
was no use arguing with the stubborn Bear King, who
seemed to have absolute faith in his Pink Bear. The
Wizard, who knew that magical things can usually be
depended upon, and that the little Pink Bear was able
to answer questions by some remarkable power of
magic, thought it wise to apologize to the Lavender
Bear for the unbelief of his friends, at the same time
urging the King to consent to question the Pink Bear
once more. Cayke and the Frogman also pleaded with
294
The Lost Princess of Oz
the big Bear, who finally agreed, although rather
ungraciously, to put the little Bear s wisdom to the
test once more. So he sat the little one on his knee
and turned the crank and the Wizard hin^self asked
the questions in a very respectful tone of voice.
" Where is Ozma? " was his first query.
" Here, in this room/ answered the little Pink Bear.
They all looked around the room, but of course did
not see her.
"In what part of this room is she?" was the
Wizard s next question.
"In Button-Bright s pocket," said the little Pink
Bear.
This reply amazed them all, you may be sure, and
although the three girls smiled and Scraps yelled:
" Hoo-ray! " in derision, the Wizard seemed to
consider the matter with grave thoughtfulness.
"In which one of Button-Bright s pockets is
Ozma?" he presently inquired.
" In the lefthand jacket-pocket," said the little Pink
Bear.
" The pink one has gone crazy! " exclaimed Button-
Bright, staring hard at the little bear on the big bear s
knee. >
"I am not so sure of that," declared the Wizard.
296
Chapter Twenty-Four
" If Ozma proves to be really in your pocket, then the
little Pink Bear spoke truly when he said Ozma was
in that hole in the ground. For at that time you were
also in the hole, and after we had pulled you out of it
the little Pink Bear said Ozma was not in the hole."
"He never makes a mistake," asserted the Bear
King, stoutly.
"Empty that pocket, Button-Bright, and let s see
what s in it," requested Dorothy.
So Button-Bright laid the contents of his left jacket-
pocket on the table. These proved to be a peg-top, a
bunch of string, a small rubber ball and a golden
peach-pit.
"What s this?" asked the Wizard, picking up the
peach-pit and examining it closely.
" Oh," said the boy, " I saved that to show to the
girls, and then forgot all about it. It came out of a
lonesome peach that I found in the orchard back yon
der, and which I ate while I was lost. It looks like
gold, and I never saw a peach-pit like it before."
" Nor I," said the Wizard, " and that makes it seem
suspicious."
All heads were bent over the golden peach-pit. The
Wizard turned it over several times and then took out
his pocket-knife and pried the pit open.
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The Lost Princess of Oz
As the two halves fell apart a pink, cloud-like haze
came pouring from the golden peach-pit, almost filling
the big room, and from the haze a form took shape and
settled beside them. Then, as the haze faded away, a
sweet voice said: " Thank you, my friends! " and there
before them stood their lovely girl Kuler, Ozma of Oz.
With a cry of delight Dorothy rushed forward and
embraced her. Scraps turned gleeful flip-flops all
around the room. Button-Bright gave a low whistle
of astonishment. The Frogman took off his tall hat
and bowed low before the beautiful girl who had been
freed from her enchantment in so startling a manner.
For a time no sound was heard beyond the low mur
mur of delight that came from the amazed group, but
presently the growl of the big Lavender Bear grew
louder and he said in a tone of triumph:
" He never makes a mistake! "
298
Ozma of Oz
: <It s funny," said
Toto, standing be
fore Ms friend the
Lion and wagging
his tail, "but I ve found my growl at last! I am
positive, now, that it was the cruel magician who
stole it."
" Let s hear your growl," requested the Lion.
" Gr-r-r-r-r-r! " said Toto.
" That is fine," declared the big beast. " It isn t as
loud or as deep as the growl of the big Lavender Bear,
299
The Lost Princess of Oz
but it is a very respectable growl for a small dog.
.Wherejlid you find it, Toto? "
" I was smelling in the corner, yonder," said Toto,
"when suddenly a mouse ran out and I growled!"
The others were all busy congratulating Ozma, who
w^as very happy at being released from the confine-
ment of the golden peach-pit, where the magician had
placed her with the notion that she never could be
found or liberated.
" And only to think," cried Dorothy, " that Button-
Bright has been carrying you in his pocket all this
time, and we never knew it! "
" The little Pink Bear told you," said the Bear King,
" but you wouldn t believe him."
"Never mind, my dears," said Ozma graciously;
"all is well that ends well, and you couldn t be
expected to know I was inside the peach-pit. Indeed,
I feared I would remain a captive much longer than
I did, for Ugu is a bold and clever magician and he
had hidden me very securely."
"You were in a fine peach," said Button-Bright;
" the best I ever ate."
"The magician was foolish to make the peacK so
tempting," remarked the Wizard; "but Ozma would
lend beauty to any transformation."
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Chapter Twenty-Five
"How did you manage to conquer Ugu the
Shoemaker?" inquired the girl Ruler of Oz.
Dorothy started to tell the story and Trot helped
her, and Button-Bright wanted to relate it in his own
way, and the Wizard tried to make it clear to Ozma,
and Betsy had to remind them of important things
they left out, and all together there was such a chatter
that it was a wonder that Ozma understood any of it.
But she listened patiently, with a smile on her lovely
face at their eagerness, and presently had gleaned all
the details of their adventures.
Ozma thanked the Frogman very earnestly for his
assistance and she advised Cayke the Cookie Cook
to dry her weeping eyes, for she promised to take
her to the Emerald City and see that her cherished
dishpan was restored to her. Then the beautiful Ruler
took a chain of emeralds from around her own neck
and placed it around the neck of the little Pink Bear.
" Your wise answers to the questions of my friends,"
said she, " helped them to rescue me. Therefore I am
deeply grateful to you and to your noble King."
The bead eyes of the little Pink Bear stared unre
sponsive to this praise until the* Big Lavender Bear
turned the crank in its side, when it said in its squeaky
voice:
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The Lost Princess of Oz
"I thank Your Majesty."
" For my part," returned the Bear King, " I realize
that you were well worth saving, Miss Ozma, and so
I am much pleased that we could be of service to you.
By means of my Magic Wand I have been creating
exact images of your Emerald City and your Royal
Palace, and I must confess that they are more attract
ive than any places I have ever seen - - not excepting
Bear Center."
"I would like to entertain you in my palace,"
returned Ozma, sweetly, "and you are welcome to
return with me and to make me a long visit, if your
bear subjects can spare you from your own kingdom."
"As for that," answered the King, "my kingdom
causes me little worry, and I often find it somewhat
tame and uninteresting. Therefore I am in no hurry
to return to it and will be glad to accept your kind
invitation. Corporal Waddle may be trusted to care
for my bears in my absence."
"And you ll bring the little Pink Bear?" asked
Dorothy eagerly.
" Of course, my dear; I would not willingly part
with him."
They remained in the wicker castle for three days,
carefully packing all the magical things that had
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Chapter Twenty-Five
been stolen by Ugu and also taking whatever in the
way of magic the shoemaker had inherited from his
ancestors.
"For," said Ozma, "I have forbidden any of my
subjects except Glinda the Good and the Wizard
of Oz to practice magical arts, because they cannot
be trusted to do good and not harm. Therefore Ugu
must never again be permitted to work magic of
any sort."
"Well," remarked Dorothy cheerfully, "a dove
can t do much in the way of magic, anyhow, and I m
going to keep Ugu in the form of a dove until he
reforms and becomes a good and honest shoemaker."
When everything was packed and loaded on the
backs of the animals, they set out for the river, taking
a more direct route than that by which Cayke and
the Frogman had come. In this way they avoided
the Cities of Thi and Herku and Bear Center and
after a pleasant journey reached the Winkie Eiver
and found a jolly ferryman who had a fine big boat
and was .willing to carry the entire party by water
to a place quite near to the Emerald City.
The river had many windings and many branches,
and the journey did not end in a day, but finally the
boat floated into a pretty lake which was but a short
303
The Lost Princess of Oz
distance from Ozma s home. Here the jolly ferryman
was rewarded for his labors and then the entire party
set out in a grand procession to march to the Emerald
City.
News that the Royal Ozma had been found spread
quickly throughout the neighborhood and both sides
of the road soon became lined with loyal subjects
of the beautiful and beloved Ruler. Therefore Ozma s
ears heard little but cheers and her eyes beheld little
else than waving handkerchiefs and banners during
all the triumphal march from the lake to the city s
gates.
And there she met a still greater concourse, for all
the inhabitants of the Emerald City turned out to
welcome her return and several bands played gay
music and all the houses were decorated with flags
and bunting and never before were the people so
joyous and happy as at this moment when they wel
comed home their girl Ruler. For she had been lost
and was now found again, and surely that was cause
for rejoicing.
Glinda was at the royal palace to meet the returning
party and the good Sorceress was indeed glad to have
her Great Book of Records returned to her, as well
as all the precious collection of magic instruments
304
A fi n Ym ," UriM.iKi* in\- St ARKCKIAV / <///< ^YK,
The Lost Princess of Oz
and elixirs and chemicals that had been stolen from
her castle. Cap n Bill and the Wizard at once hung
the Magic Picture upon the wall of Ozma s boudoir
and the Wizard was so light-hearted that he did
several tricks with the tools in his black bag to amuse
his companions and prove that once again he was a
powerful wizard.
For a whole week there was feasting and merriment
and all sorts of joyous festivities at the palace, in
honor of Ozma s safe return. The Lavender Bear and
the little Pink Bear received much attention and were
honored by all, much to the Bear King s satisfaction.
The Frogman speedily became a favorite at the
Emerald City and the Shaggy Man and Tik-Tok and
Jack Pumpkinhead, who had now returned from their
search, were very polite to the big frog and made him
feel quite at home. Even the Cookie Cook, because
she was a stranger and Ozma s guest, was shown as
much deference as if she had been a queen.
" All the same, Your Majesty," said Cayke to Ozma,
day after day, with tiresome repetition, " I hope you
will soon find my jeweled dishpan, for never can I
be quite happy without it."
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Dorothy Forgives
The gray dove
which had once
been TJgu the
Shoemaker sat on
its tree in the far Quadling Country and moped,
chirping dismally and brooding over its misfortunes.
After a time the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman
came along and sat beneath the tree, paying no heed
to the mutterings of the gray dove.
The Tin Woodman took a small oilcan from his
tin pocket and carefully oiled his tin joints with it.
307
The Lost Princess of Oz
While he was thus engaged the Scarecrow remarked:
" I feel much better, dear comrade, since we found
that heap of nice clean straw and you stuffed me
anew with it."
"And I feel much better now that my joints are
oiled," returned the Tin Woodman, with a sigh of
pleasure. "You and I, friend Scarecrow, are much
more easily cared for than those clumsy meat people,
who spend half their time dressing in fine clothes
and who must live in splendid dwellings in order to
be contented and happy. You and I do not eat, and
so we are spared the dreadful bother of getting three
meals a day. Nor do we waste half our lives in sleep,
a condition that causes the meat people to lose all
consciousness and become as thoughtless and helpless
as logs of wood."
" You speak truly," responded the Scarecrow, tuck
ing some wisps of straw into his breast with his
padded fingers. "I often feel sorry for the meat
people, many of whom are my friends. Even the
beasts are happier than they, for they require less
to make them content. And the birds are the luckiest
creatures of all, for they can fly swiftly where they
will and find a home at any place they care to perch;
their food consists of seeds and grains they gather
308
Chapter Twenty-Six
from the fields and their drink is a sip of water from
some running brook. If I could not be a Scarecrow
or a Tin Woodman my next choice would be to live
as a bird does."
The gray dove had listened carefully to this speech
and seemed to find comfort in it, for it hushed its
moaning. And just then the Tin Woodman discovered
Cayke s dishpan, which was on the ground quite near
to him.
"Here is a rather pretty utensil/ he said, taking
it in his tin hands to examine it, "but I would not
care to own it. Whoever fashioned it of gold and
covered it with diamonds did not add to its usefulness,
nor do I consider it as beautiful as the bright dishpans
of tin one usually sees. No yellow color is ever so
handsome as the silver sheen of tin," and he turned
to look at his tin legs and body with approval.
" I cannot quite agree with you there," replied the
Scarecrow. "My straw stuffing has a light yellow
color, and it is not only pretty to look at but it crunkles
most delightfully when I move."
"Let us admit that all colors are good in their
proper places," said the Tin Woodman, who was too
kind-hearted to quarrel; "but you must agree with
me that a dishpan that is yellow is unnatural. What
309
The Lost Princess of Oz
shall we do with this one, which we have just found? "
"Let us carry it back to the Emerald City," sug
gested the Scarecrow. " Some of our friends might
like to have it for a foot-bath, and in using it that
way its golden color and sparkling ornaments would
not injure its usefulness."
So they went away and took the jeweled dishpan
with them. And, after wandering through the country
for a day or so longer, they learned the news that
Ozma had been found. Therefore they straightway
returned to the Emerald City and presented the dish-
pan to Princess Ozma as a token of their joy that
she had been restored to them.
Ozma promptly gave the diamond-studded gold dish-
pan to Cayke the Cookie Cook, who was so delighted
at regaining her lost treasure that she danced up
and down in glee and then threw her skinny arms
around Ozma s neck and kissed her gratefully.
Cayke s mission was now successfully accomplished,
but she was having such a good time at the Emerald
City that she seemed in no hurry to go back to the
Country of the Yips.
It was several weeks after the dishpan had been
restored to the Cookie Cook when one day, as Dorothy
was seated in the royal gardens with Trot and Betsy
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Chapter Twenty-Six
beside her, a gray dove came flying down and alighted
at the girPs feet.
"I am TJgu the Shoemaker," said the dove in a
soft, mourning voice, "and I have come to ask you
to forgive me for the great wrong I did in stealing
Ozma and the magic that belonged to her and to
others."
"Are you sorry, then?" asked Dorothy, looking
hard at the bird.
" I am very sorry," declared TJgu. " I ve been
thinking over my misdeeds for a long time, for doves
have little else to do but think, and Fm surprised
that I was such a wicked man and had so little regard
for the rights of others. I am now convinced that
even had I succeeded in making myself ruler of all
Oz I should not have been happy, for many days of
quiet thought have shown me that only those things
one acquires honestly are able to render one content."
"I guess that s so," said Trot.
" Anyhow," said Betsy, " the bad man seems truly
sorry, and if he has now become a good and honest
man we ought to forgive him."
" I fear I cannot become a good man again," said
Ugu, " for the transformation I am under will always
keep me in tEe form of a dove. But, witii the kind
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The Lost Princess of Oz
forgiveness of my former enemies, I hope to become
a very good dove, and highly respected."
"Wait here till I run for my Magic Belt," said
Dorothy, " and I ll transform you back to your regular
shape in a jiffy."
"No don t do that!" pleaded the dove, fluttering
its wings in an excited way. "I only want your
forgiveness; I don t want to be a man again. As Ugu
the Shoemaker I was skinny and old and unlovely;
as a dove I am quite pretty to look at. As a man I
was ambitious and cruel, while as a dove I can be
content with my lot and happy in my simple life.
I have learned to love the free and independent life
of a bird and I d rather not change back."
"Just as you like, TJgu," said Dorothy, resuming
her seat. " Perhaps you are right, for you re cert nly
a better dove than you were a man, and if you should
ever backslide, an feel wicked again, you couldn t
do much harm as a gray dove."
" Then you forgive me for all the trouble I caused
you?" he asked earnestly.
"Of course; anyone who s sorry just lias to be
forgiven."
"Thank you," said the gray dove, and flew away
again.
312
ROLAW
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