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BOSTOTsI
PUBLIC
UBRARY
THE WOGGLE-BUG BOOK
(1905)
BOOKS BY L. FRANK BAUM
A Series Edited by Douglas G. Greene
The Woggle-Bug Book (1905). Introduction by Douglas G.
Greene, Old Dominion University. Reprint, Delmar, New
York: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1978.
By the Candelabra's Glare (1898). Introduction by Peter E.
Hanff, The Bancroft Library, the University of California,
Berkeley. Reprint, Delmar, New York: Scholars' Facsimiles
& Reprints, 1981.
Policeman Bluejay (1907). Introduction by David L. Greene,
Piedmont College. Reprint, Delmar, New York: Scholars'
Facsimiles & Reprints, 1981.
THE WOGGLE-BUG BOOK
(1905)
By L. Frank Baum
A FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
DOUGLAS G. GREENE
SCHOLARS' FACSIMILES & REPRINTS
DELMAR, NEW YORK, 1978
SCHOLARS' FACSIMILIES & REPRINTS
ISSN 0161-7729
SERIES ESTABLISHED 1936
VOLUME 308
Published by
Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, Inc.
Delmar, New York 12054
First Printing 1978
Second Printing 1982
New matter in this edition
5)1978 Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
; Reproduced from a copy in the possession of
OVO<Vv^ David L. Greene
^Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
\^1T
Baum, Lyman Frank, 1856-1919,
The Woggle-Bug book (1905).
Photoreprint of the 1905 ed. published by
the Reilly & Britton Co., Chicago.
Includes bibliographical references.
SUMMARY: The Woggle-Bug has a series of
misadventures trying to possess a dress
made from cloth of the bright colors he
so dearly loves.
[1. Fantasy. 2. Humorous stories]
I. Morgan, Ike. II. Title.
PZ7,B327'Wo 1978 |Fic| 78-6887
ISBN 0-8201-1308-5
INTRODUCTION
The Woggle-Bug Book is the least known of Lyman Frank
Baum's fantasies for children. Scholarly and popular books
on Baum usually mention the story only in passing. ^ In part,
scholarly neglect results from the fact that The Woggle-Bug
Book is extraordinarily rare, owned by few collectors and
fewer libraries; and the reader who is lucky enough to locate
the book soon realizes that it is not of the quality of Baum's
major works. The Woggle-Bug Book, however, is important
not for its artistic power (which is negligible) but for the
light that it sheds on Baum's writing at an important period
in his career.
Before L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) wrote America's great-
est fairy tale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), his life
had been characterized by a series of false starts. His af-
fluent childhood in upstate New York was succeeded by
brief careers as an actor, an axle-grease manufacturer, a
newspaper publisher, an owner of a general store, a re-
porter, a crockery salesman, and the publisher of a journal
for window-trimmers. He had achieved brief success as a
playwright with an Irish melodrama entitled The Maid of
Arran, which toured the country in 1882 and 1883. Although
it is an exaggeration to label the play "one of the worst
1. I am grateful to Dick Martin, David L. Greene, my wife Sandra S.
Greene, and to the editors of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the Inter-
national Wizard of Oz Club, Box 95, Kinderhook, Illinois 62345. As David
L. Greene and Dick Martin say in The Oz Scrapbook (New York: Random
House, 1977), "it is a sign of the organization's ability to smile at itself and
its subject — a willingness that goes far to explain the respect in which
the magazine is held outside the club— that the Bugle has retained . . .
[its] irrelevant and alliterative title. . . ."
2. The Woggle-Bug Book is mentioned briefly in Frank J. Baum and
Russell P. MacFall, To Please a Child: a Biography of L. Frank Baum
(Chicago: Reilly & Lee Co., 1961), p. 187; Michael Patrick Hearn, The
Annotated Wizard of Oz (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1973), p. 50;
V
vi INTRODUCTION
melodramas ever written,"^ its stilted language and con-
trived plot make it almost unreadable today. The Maid of
Arran had, however, all the elements which made melo-
dramas popular in the 1880s: a pure heroine, a noble hero, a
crafty villain, and elaborate sets/ Baum followed The Maid
of Arran with other plays, none of which received more than
local attention. Nonetheless, he never lost his belief that,
given the right situation, he could be a successful dramatist.
Baum's career as a writer began in the 1890s in Chicago.
With the publication of Mother Goose in Prose (1897) and
Father Goose: His Book (1899), he realized that his main
talent was writing stories and verses for children. During the
next several years he wrote books that can be divided into
two categories. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, A New Won-
derland (1900), Dot and Tot of Merryland (1901), The Life
and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), and The Enchanted
Island of Yew (1903) are elaborate fantasies set in timeless
worlds of his own invention. On the other hand, American
Fairy TaJes (1901 ), his newspaper series "Queer Visitors from
the Marvelous Land of Oz" (1904-1905),^ and to a lesser
extent The Master Key (1901) are worldly and ironic fairy
tales with topical humor and generally placed in American
settings. Even in his more traditional fairy tales Baum talked
of everyday American objects. "Baum achieved universality,"
write David L. Greene and Dick Martin, "by combining the
folk tale with elements familiar to every child — cornfields,
and Greene and Martin, The Oz Scrapbook, pp. 22, 100, 129. Raylyn
Moore's Wonderful Wizard Marvelous Land (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowl-
ing Green University Popular Press, 1974), p. 188, lists the book without
comment in its "secondary bibliography."
3. Daniel P. Mannix, "The Wizard of Oz," TV Guide, March 19, 1977.
p. 27.
4. Baum and MacFall, To Please a Child, pp. 38-41. This book is the
standard biography of Baum and should be consulted by all students of
his writings. Recently discovered material is in Hearn, Annotated Wizard
of Oz, and in many Baum BugJe articles by both scholars and enthusi-
asts. Especially important is David L. Greene and Peter E. Hanff, "Baum
and Denslow: Their Books," Spring 1975 and Autumn 1975.
5. Heavily revised, eleven of the episodes of this series were printed
as The Visitors from Oz (Chicago: Reilly & Lee Co., 1960) with most of
the wry and worldly comments removed.
INTRODUCTION vii
things made of tin, circus balloons."^ In later books Baum
created a magic dishpan, sprinkled two sofas and a broom
with a Powder of Life, gave an umbrella the power of flight,
and built a fairy castle out of tin. Combining the timeless and
the mundane is difficult, and Baum did not always succeed.
Yet the fact that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has sold more
copies than any other American book written for children
indicates that he was often able to maintain that delicate
balance.
In 1901 Baum decided to return to his original love, the
theatre. He wrote scenarios for three plays, King Midas, The
Octopus, and Miss Jinks, but when producers showed no
interest in those ideas, he dramatized The Wizard of Oz.
Baum's illustrator, W. W. Denslow, who was to prepare cos-
tumes for the play, contacted producers,^ and The Wizard of
Oz was scheduled to open in June 1902. Baum's script, how-
ever, was unsatisfactory. Probably thinking of the English
pantomime, he prepared a comic opera for children with the
gentle humor of the original story. ^ The producer, Fred R.
Hamlin, and the stage manager, Julian Mitchell, wanted
something more topical and boisterously funny. Baum was
willing to sacrifice his story to whatever popular taste de-
manded. "I was told that what constituted fun in a book
would be missed by the average audience, which is accus-
tomed to a regular gattling-gun discharge of wit — or what
stands for wit.'"^ In a letter to the Chicago Tribune Baum
wrote:
The people will have what pleases them and not what the
author happens to favor. . . . Should I ever attempt another
extravaganza, or dramatize another of my books, I mean to
profit by the lesson Mr. Mitchell has taught me, and sacrifice
personal preference to the demands of those I shall expect to
purchase tickets."^
6. Greene and Martin, Oz Scrapbook, p. 12; see also Hearn, Annotated
Wizard of Oz, pp. 35. 39-40.
7. Douglas G. Greene and Michael Patrick Hearn, W. W. Denslow
(Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. 1976), p. 105.
8. Daniel P. Mannix, "Off to See the Wizard-1903," The Baum Bugle,
Christmas 1968, p. 5.
9. Quoted in Hearn. Annotated Wizard of Oz, p. 46.
10. Quoted in Baum and MacFall. To PJease a Child, pp. 13-14. Raylyn
viii INTRODUCTION
The musical extravaganza of The Wizard of Oz was one of
the greatest successes of the early twentieth-century stage,
running for at least nine years." The surviving scripts indi-
cate that it was filled with one-line jokes, '^ gorgeous spec-
tacle, and beautiful girls. There was enough tension in its
sometimes incoherent plot to keep theatre-goers in their
seats, and Fred Stone and David Montgomery as the Scare-
crow and the Tin Woodman were universally praised. Other
dramatists produced similar extravaganzas, such as Babes
in Toyiand and Piff! Paff! Pouf!, which enjoyed similar
popularity.
Baum hoped to follow The Wizard of Oz with other suc-
cessful plays. He prepared scenarios and sometimes full
scripts for The Maid of Athens, King Jonah XUl, Prince
Silverwings, Montezuma, and The King of Gee- Whiz.'-' Al-
though these plays were never produced, Baum wrote The
Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) with eventual adaptation to
the stage in mind. Unlike the gentle wit of The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz, the humor in Baum's 1904 book is broad and
sometimes farcical. The major plot is a satire on the Suf-
fragette movement as General linjur captures the throne of
Oz and makes the men do the housework. The Scarecrow
and the Tin Woodman were popular in theatres, so Baum
invented two new grotesque characters, lack Pumpkinhead
and Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E.
The Woggle-Bug is one of the great creations of children's
literature. Baum had already completed one-third of The
Marvelous Land of Oz when he was walking on a beach at
Moore in Wonderful Wizard Marvelous Land, pp. 59-60, remarks that
Baum's comment "is surely some kind of precedent in author capitulation
to popular taste."
11. Baum and MacFall. To PJease a Child, p. 10.
12. Some of the jokes are included in A Tin Man's Joke Book (New
York: J. S. Ogilvie, 1904). The following is a typical example:
Tinman: Most Royal Wizard, allow me to introduce little
Dottie!
Wizard: I think you're all a little dotty!
13. Two of these scenarios are included with a portion of a third play
in Alia T. Ford and Dick Martin, The Musical Fantasies of L. Frank Baum
(Chicago: Wizard Press. 1958).
INTRODUCTION ix
Coronado, California. A little girl showed him a fiddler crab
and asked what it was. "A Woggle-Bug," Baum replied, using
the first word that came to him. The name so delighted the
child that Baum added the character to his book.'^ In The
Marvelous Land of Oz Baum explains that the Woggle-Bug
had once been an ordinary insect, but he had hidden in
a classroom and gained "excessive knowledge";'' thus he
earned the initials "T. E." or Thoroughly Educated. One day
the teacher discovered the Woggle-Bug and magnified him
on a magic-lantern screen. The Woggle-Bug made his escape
as "H. M." — Highly Magnified. The insect is a pompous crea-
ture given to using long words and dreadful puns.
Without having read the book one might assume that its
plot and humor are badly dated; yet The Marvelous Land of
Oz has remained one of Baum's most popular works. In
describing Jinjur's revolt he avoids references to immediate
events and instead emphasizes the universal theme of the
battle of the sexes. In addition Baum lets the reader know
that the Woggle-Bug's jokes do not constitute high wit by
giving the insect a mock-serious defense of puns:
A joke derived from a play upon words is considered among
educated people to be eminently proper. . . . Our language
contains many words having a double meaning; and ... to
pronounce a joke that allows both meanings of a certain word,
proves the joker a person of cuhure and refinement, who has,
moreover, a thorough command of the language.
After the Woggle-Bug illustrates this pronouncement with an
example, his companions look "reproachfully" at him and
snort in "derision."
"We are not very particular," added the Tin Woodman; "and
we are exceedingly kind hearted. But if your superior educa-
tion gets leaky again — " He did not complete the sentence, but
he twirled his gleaming axe so carelessly that the Woggle-Bug
looked frightened and shrank away to a safe distance.'*
Baum thus indicates that we can laugh at puns as well as
laugh at the Woggle-Bug (and ourselves) for enjoying them.
14. Scott Olsen, "The Coronado Fairyland," The Baum Bugle, Winter
1976, p. 4.
15. L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Chicago; Reilly & Britton
Co., 1904). p. 153.
16. Ibid., pp. 160-161.
X INTRODUCTION
The giant insect was such a hit that Baum made him one
of the main characters in his series of short stories set in
America, "Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz";
and Woggle-Bug buttons, music, postcards, and even a boxed
game were produced. The insect also became the main char-
acter in The Woggle-Bug, a musical extravaganza based on
The Marvelous Land of Oz. Baum reached an agreement with
a theatrical company on November 18, 1904, to stage the play.
It opened in Milwaukee on June 15, 1905, and moved to
Chicago three days later.'' About June 17, to take advantage
of what was assumed to be the inevitable success of the
extravaganza, the Reilly and Britton Company published The
Woggle-Bug Book.^^ The coincidence in dates seems to con-
firm Michael Patrick Hearn's speculation that the book was
to have been sold in theatre lobbies presenting the play.'^
The play follows the general outline of The Marvelous
Land of Oz with the addition of a sub-plot involving the
Woggle-Bug's fondness for bright colors. He falls in love with
a checked dress worn by one of the characters: "Be my
stained glass window. Be my rainbow— you reign and I'll be
the beau." As the play progresses the dress changes owners
several times, but the Woggle-Bug remains constant in his
love of the skirt, "Whither thou wogglest," he proclaims,
"there shall I woggle."^° Baum loaded the play with puns,
even adding some by hand in the typescript:
Tip: Are you the chef?
Dinah: Dat's what I is, honey. Everyone dat eats my cookies
hankers for more.
Tip: You're a handker-chef.^'
Baum clearly thought that he had learned Mitchell's lesson
about the public's taste. If audiences wanted low puns, he
would supply them. If they wanted topical gags, he would
17. Michael Patrick Hearn, "How Did the Woggle-Bug Do?", The Baum
Bugle, Christmas 1974, pp. 17-19. This important article should be con-
sulted for further information on the play.
18. The book was noted in The Publishers' Weekly, "Weekly Record of
New Publications," June 17, 1905, p. 1622.
19. Hearn, Annotated Wizard of Oz, p. 50.
20. The Woggie-Bug, Act I, pp. 5-6. The typescript of the play is pre-
served in the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.
21. Ibid., Act II, addition between pp. 7 and 8.
INTRODUCTION
write them as well:
Woggle-Bug: You can't know much.
Jack: No, I don't expect to get further along than the legis-
lature.^-
It quickly became evident that Baum did not understand
public demands as completely as he thought. The Woggle-
Bug closed after less than a month. It is easy to blame the
forced gags for The Woggle-Bug's failure, but the jokes are
no worse than those in The Wizard of Oz which continued to
play to packed houses. The real weakness of the play is that
in trying to be funny Baum neglected to devise a fast-moving
plot; the characters seem more interested in cracking jokes
than in doing anything important.
The Woggle-Bug Book was more popular than the play.
Records in the files of Baum's publisher indicate that the
book sold well during its first year at 75 cents a copy. Reilly
and Britten's announcement two and a half months after pub-
lication that the book was in its "fourth edition" is probably
an exaggeration,^-* but it did find enough buyers to warrant
a second printing of the cover and perhaps of the contents
as well.^"* By the next year, however, sales had fallen to the
extent that the publisher offered the remaining copies at
only 50 cents. ^^ The book is rare not because of sales but
because of its fragile physical make-up. It was bound in thin
cardboard covers with a cloth spine, and its large size
(15" X 11") meant that copies were often bent and torn. On
the whole the book was not printed competently. The plates,
especially for the marginal illustrations printed on the text
pages, are not always aligned correctly, and the benday dot
22. Ibid., Act I, p. 14.
23. The Publishers' Weekly, September 30, 1905, p. 680. To increase
sales, publishers commonly exaggerated the popularity of their books.
For example, the George M. Hill Company (with whom both Britton and
Reilly had been associated) claimed that almost 90,000 copies of The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz were printed; the correct figure was about
34,000. See Greene and Hanff, "Baum and Denslow: Their Books, Part
Two," The Baum Bugle. Autumn 1975, p. 14.
24. Dick Martin, "Bibliographia Baumiana: The Woggle-Bug Book," The
Baum BugJe, Christmas 1969, p. 18.
25. Advertisement in the first state of L. Frank Baum, John Dough and
the Cherub (Chicago: Reilly & Britton Co., 1906).
xii INTRODUCTION
patterns which appear on the pictures and as a background
to the text are too coarse. Unfortunately, it is not financially
feasible to print Ike Morgan's pictures in color in this re-
edition. Page size has been reduced for ease in handling.
Isaac (Ike) Morgan, the illustrator of The Woggle-Bug
Book, was born in Grand Tower, Illinois, in 1871, and he
studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. After working on
the St. Louis Republic for two years, he moved to Chicago
around 1895.^^ Morgan worked on several Chicago papers
and developed a competent pen-and-ink style which was in-
distinguishable from that of many other newspaper artists.
In his color work, however, for The Woggle-Bug Book, Grace
Duffie Boylan's Kids of Many Colors, and other books, Mor-
gan drew bold and open pictures which were clearly in-
fluenced by the work of his friend, W. W. Denslow. Morgan
and Denslow briefly shared the same studio, and in 1896 they
had illustrated together Opie Read's An Arkansas Planter.^'
Like Denslow's work in his Picture Books (1903-1904) and his
"Billy Bounce" comic page (1901-1902), Morgan's pictures
use circles, squares, and rectangles not to enclose but to
emphasize the drawings. The figures peer around, step out
of, and even stand on top of the borders. On page 41 of
The Woggle-Bug Book, Morgan directly imitates Denslow by
placing a comic frieze along the top of the page. When the
book was set in type, one of Morgan's full-page pictures was
omitted. It was first printed in The Baum Bugle, Christmas
1969, and is here included for the first time in an edition of
the book.
Baum's story in The Woggle-Bug Book is an expansion of
the insect's love of bright colors introduced in the musical
extravaganza. 2^ The book has an excellent opening. The
sense of wonder is not damaged by explanations of the
26. W. W. Denslow, "Isaac Morgan," The Inland Printer, May 1896.
p. 194.
27. Greene and Hearn, W. W. Denslow, pp. 65, 69.
28. Hearn, "How Did the Woggle-Bug Do?", p. 20, and Greene and Mar-
tin, Oz Scrapbook, p. 129, state that the play borrowed a portion of its plot
from the book. The production and publication dates, however, indicate
that the reverse was true; the book is an expansion of a sub-plot of the
musical extravaganza.
INTRODUCTION
Unused illustration hy Ike Morgan
intended for page 18 of The Woggle-Bug Book.
xiv INTRODUCTION
Woggle-Bug's existence and of what he is doing in America,
though Baum may have expected his readers to recall that he
had brought the Oz characters to America in his newspaper
stories. Nor does Baum explain why "the people he met
avoided telling him he was unusual. "-'^ If the Woggle-Bug's
acquaintances can suspend disbelief, so can the reader.
In the remainder of the book the sense of wonder is
replaced by farce. The Woggle-Bug has a series of mis-
adventures trying to possess a dress "made of cloth covered
with big checks which were so loud that the fashion books
called them 'Wagnerian Plaids.' "^° The story takes a some-
what different tone after the Woggle-Bug leaves America in
the "Professor's" balloon. The Professor may be the Wizard
of Oz who had made a career of balloon ascensions at
circuses and who would return to Oz, partly by means of a
balloon, in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908).^' After
visiting an Arab tribe, the Woggle-Bug travels to a jungle
kingdom ruled by animals. This episode is certainly the
strongest in the book. Not only is it a clever satire on big-city
political bosses, but it contains one of Baum's favorite sub-
jects, the reversal of roles. Giving animals human character-
istics is a traditional device, and Baum used it in many of his
stories, especially in his AnimaJ Fairy Tales, written a year or
two before The Woggle-Bug Book.^^ But Baum often went
further. In A New Wonderland Prince Zingle is captured by
civilized monkeys who believe that he is a primitive creature:
"Hear him bark! He jabbers away almost as if he could talk!"-"
The monkeys place him in a cage in the Royal Zoological
Gardens where the following conversation takes place:
29. Below, p. 4.
30. Ibid.
31. Ruth Herman first made this identification in "A Case of Ozian
Identity," The Bnum Bugle, August 1961, p. 7.
32. Baum wrote five of the nine Animal Fairy Tales in Coronado in 1904;
see his letter to Emerson Hough quoted in Scott Olsen, "The Coronado
Fairyland," p. 2. The stories appeared in The Delineator, January through
September, 1905. and were printed in book form by the International
Wizard of Oz Club in 1969.
33. Quoted from the slightly revised edition of A New Wonderland;
L. Frank Baum. The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo
and his People (Indianapolis; Bobbs-Merrill. 1903), p. 189.
INTRODUCTION xv
"I wonder where on earth the creature came from?"
"It may be one of those beings from whom our race is
descended," said another onlooker. "The professors say we
evolved from some primitive creatures of this sort."
"Heaven forbid!" cried a dandy-monkey, whose collar was
so high that it kept tipping his hat over his eyes. "If I thought
such a creature as that was one of my forefathers, I should
commit suicide at once."-^^
Among many other examples of role reversals in Baum's
books are men and women exchanging duties in The Mar-
velous Land of Oz, the Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey in
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913), an unpublished chapter of
The Patchwork Girl in which vegetables grow humans for
food,^^ and of course the cowardliness of the lion in The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In The Woggle-Bug Book a monkey
is an organ-grinder with a boy on a cord to collect money
from the audience, and Miss Chim claims that humans are
'the lowest of all created beasts. "^^ Unlike European mon-
archs, the King encourages disrespect, Baum used this idea
in a gentler way in Sky Island (1912), one of his finest books.
Queen Tourmaline lives in poverty while her subjects exist in
luxury. She explains to her incredulous visitors that
Too much should never be given to anyone. If, with my great
power, conferred upon me by the people, I also possessed
great wealth, I might be tempted to be cruel and overbearing.
In that case my subjects would justly grow envious of my
superior station."
In Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) Baum created Tititi-Hoochoo who, as
the only private citizen in a nation of Kings and Queens, is
naturally the ruler.
Many of the characters in The Woggle-Bug Book are ethnic
stereotypes. A black cook in The Woggle-Bug play gained
possession of the dress and hence of the insect's affections;
the book contains not only a black washerwoman but also
Irish, Swedish, Chinese, and Arab characters. Bridget, the
Irish servant, weighs 180 pounds and wears "seven fuU-
34. Ibid., pp. 192-193.
35. Dick Martin, "A Lost Episode of Ozian History," The Baum Bugle,
Christmas 1966, pp. 5-8.
36. Below, p. 41.
37. L. Frank Baum, Sky Island (Chicago: Reilly & Britton Co., 1912),
p. 142.
xvi INTRODUCTION
blown imitation roses and three second-hand ostrich plumes
in her red hair."^^ The black laundry-woman "being colored
— that is, she had a deep mahogany complexion — was de-
lighted with her gorgeous gown." She calls the Woggle-Bug
"Mars Debbil" and runs like an ancestor of Stepin Fetchit.^^
The Swedish widow is after a husband, and the Wagnerian
Plaid "fitted her as perfectly as a flour-sack does a peck of
potatoes."^" In the midst of all this, the reader learns that
new immigrants fight "with much pleasure" and consider a
free-for-all "a special amusement."^'
Most of these comments are distasteful to modern readers,
but they are not so bitter as the racist writings of some of
Baum's contemporaries. Such opinions, nevertheless, are
inconsistent with Baum's attitudes in many of the Oz books.
The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) has a four-page discussion
about which animal is the most beautiful. The Cowardly Lion
concludes the argument by saying:
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. ^-
At his best Baum rose above his age in emphasizing the im-
portance of judging each person as an individual; why, then,
did he fill The Woggle-Bug Book with racial and national
stereotypes? The answer, it seems, lies in his interpretation
of the lesson that he had learned from Julian Mitchell when
The Wizard of Oz became a successful play. The Woggle-Bug
Book is dominated by the kind of humor that Baum thought
38. Below, p. 14.
39. Below, pp. 24-26.
40. Below, pp. 16-18.
41. Below, p. 16.
42. L. Frank Baum, The Lost Princess of Oz (Chicago: Reilly & Britton
Co., 1917), p. 148.
INTRODUCTION xvii
the public wanted. What he did not always understand is
that jokes should not get in the way of the story. As in
The Woggle-Bug play the puns and ethnic gags slow down
the action, and the Woggle-Bug's pursuits of the gown be-
come repetitive. In The Marvelous Land of Oz Baum made
the reader smile at himself for enjoying puns; in The Woggle-
Bug Book the jokes are forced. Only the line " 'Pop,' went
the Weasel"^'' seems really funny, if only because the pun is
so outrageous.
The Woggle-Bug Book indicates better than any of Baum's
other books his main weakness as an author. If he continued
to submerge his own beliefs in an attempt to satisfy public
taste, his books would be neither literary nor popular suc-
cesses. The Woggle-Bug Book is based on a good idea, but
Baum did not develop it. The insect's love of bright colors,
his confusion of the dress with its wearer, might have been
used for ironic effect. Baum may, however, have gained
knowledge of his abilities from the popularity of The Mar-
velous Land of Oz, the dismal failure of The Woggle-Bug
musical extravaganza, and the quick decline of sales of The
Woggle-Bug Book. Although jokes belong in children's stories,
the main humor must be of situation and character. The
almost twenty volumes of fairy tales which Baum wrote be-
tween 1906 and his death in 1919 include some of the finest
stories ever written for children.
Douglas G. Greene
Old Dominion University
lanuary 1978
43. Below, p. 46.
'''*'*^^^«-B^
By
L.FRANK BAUM.
Author <i/"
"FATHER goose: HIS BOOK*
Pictures by
IKE MORGANL
THE WIZARD OF OZ*'
**THE MARVELOUS LAND OP 0Z*'ETC,
CMIOA.aO
The REILLY &. BRITTON CO.
1 a o B
Front cover of the first edition of The Woggle-Bug Book.
ROOK
L- FRANK
BAUM
IKE MORGAN
Chicago
THE RE ILLY &. BRITTON CO.
1 a o s
1 9 O 5
L.FRANK "SW
BAUM
EvepyHMit Reserved
(j,f|\c Unique
dvcnturcs
©rthc
tC J'l) Mr. H. M. Wog-lc-Bug, T. li..'
becoming sep:irated from the coinrad'
who had accompanied him from tht
Land of Oz, and finding, that tune hung
heavy on his hands (he had four of thvmi,
decided to walk down the Main street of the City and
try to discover something or other of interest.
The initials "H. M." before his name meant "■fliij.hiy
Magnified," for this Woggle-Bug was several thousand times
bigger than any other woggle-biig you ever saw. And the
initials "T. E." following his name meant "Thoroughly
Educated" — and so he was, in the Land of Oz. But fus
education, being applied to a woggle-bug intellect, was not
at all remarkable in this country, where everything is qustc
different from Oz. Yet the Woggle-Bug did not suspect this,
and being, like many other thoroughly educated persons,
proud of his mental attainment.^, he raai'ch^d along the street
iflU^^
with an air of importance that made one wonder what j^rtat
thoughts were occupying his massive brain.
Being about as big, in his magnified state, as a man, the
Woggie-Bug took care to clothe liimself like a man; only,
instead ot clioosing sober colors for his garments, he delighted
in the most gorgeous reds and yellows and blues and greens;
so that if you looked at him long the brilliance ofhis clothing
was liable to dazzle your eyes.
I suppose the Woggle-Bug did not realize at all what a
queer appearance he made. Being rather ncr\ous, he seldom
looked into a mirror; and as the people he met a\oided
telling him he was unusual, he had fallen into the habit of
considering himself merely an ordinary citizen of the big city
therein he resided.
So the Woggle-Bug strutted proudly along the street,
swinging a cane in one hand, Hourishing a pink handkerchief
m another, fumbling his watch-fob with another, and feeling
it" his ncckric was straight with another. Ha\ing four hands
to Use would prove rather puzzling to you or me, I imagine;
but the Woggle-Bug was thoroughly accustomed to them.
Presently he came to a very tine store with big plate-glass
wmdows, and standing in the center ot" the biggest window
was a creature so beautiful and ' ■■,!! mt and altogether
charming that tlu first glance at lu i ikmIn took his breath
away. Her complexion was loxcly, for it was wax; but the
thing that really caught the Wogglc-Bug's fancy was the
marvelous dress she wore. Indeed, it was the latest (last
year's) Paris model, although the Woggle-Bug did not know
that; and the designer must have had a real vvoggly loye for
bright colors, for. the gown was made of cloth covered with
big checks vshich were so loud that the fishion books called
them "Wagnerian Plaids."
Never had our friend the Woggle-Bug seen such a
beautiful gown before, and it afliecred him so strongly that he
straiuhtwav ft-ll in love with the entire dtitftt even to the
B^%
wax-complfxioned lady herself. Wry politely he tipped his
liat to her; but she stared eoldly back without in any way
.icknowled^ing the courtes) .
"Nc\er mind," he thought; '"faint heart never won
f.iir ludy.' And Fni dcrcrniiiied to win this kaliedoscope of
lu.iut) or perish in the attempt!" You will notice that our
insect iiad a \va)' of us!ii<; bi^i, words to express himself, which
leads us to suspect that the school system in Oz is the same
they employ in Boston.
As, with swelling heart, the Woggle-Bug feasted his
eyes upon the enchanting vision, a small green tag that was
attached to a button of the waist suddenly attracted his at-
tention. Upon the tag was marked: "Price $7.93— GREATLY
REDUCED."
"Ah!" murmured the Woggle-Bug; "my darling is in
greatly reduced circumstances, and $7.93 will make her mine!
Where, oh w here, shall I find the seven ninety-three wherewith
t'T liberate this divinity and make her Mrs. Woggle-Bug?"
"Move on!" said a gruff policeman, who came alon^
swinging his club. And the Woggle-Bug obediently moved
on, his brain working fast and furious in the endeavor to
think of a way to procure seven dollars and ninety-three cents.
You see, in the Land of Oz they use no money at all,
so that when the Woggle-Bug an i\ ed in America he did not
possess a single penny. And no one had presented him with
any money since.
"Yet there must be several vvays to pi"ocure money in
this countrv," he reflected; "for otherw-ise everybody would
•be as penniless as I am. But how, I wonder, do they man-
age to get it.^"
fust then he came to a side street where a number of
men were at work digging a long and deep ditch in which to
lay a new sewer. * *
"Now these men," thought the Woggle-Bug, "must
„. , ,.w.r.,., f<.v Jioveling all. that earth, else they wouldn't do
iflH^p-'
It. Here is my chance to win the charming vision of beauty
in the shop window ! "
Seeking out the foreman, he asked for work, and the
foreman agreed to hire him.
"How much do you pay these workmen?" asked the
highlv magnified one.
"Two dollars a da\," answered the foreman.
"Then," said the Woggle-Bug, "xou must pay me four
dollars a day; for I have four arms to their two, and can do
double their work."
"If that is so, I'll pav vou four dollars," agreed the man.
The W'oggle-Bug was delighted.
"In t\\o da\s," he rold himself, as he threvN off his
brilliant coat and placed his lv.it upon it, and rolled up his
sleeves; "in two duvs I can earn n^ln dollars -enough to
purchase my greatly reduced darling and buy her seven cents
worth of caramels besides."
He seized two spades and beii;an working so rapidlv with
his four arms that the foreman said; "You must have been
forewarned,"
"Win ?" asked tlie Insect.
"Because there's a s.iNuii; that to be forewarned is to
be four-armed," replied the other.
"That is nonsense," said the Woggle^Bug, digging with
all his might; "for they call you the foreman, and yet I only
see one of you."
"Ha, ha!" laughed the man; and he w.is so proud of
his new worker that he went into the corner saloon to tell
his friend the barkeeper what a treasure he had found.
It was just after noon that the Woggle-Bug hired out
as a ditch-digger in order to win his heart's desire; so at
noon on the second day he quit work, and ha\ing received
eight silver dollars he put on his coat and rushed awa\ to the
store that he might purchase hi'- intended bride.
But, alas for the uncertainty of all our hopes! Just as
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the Wogi^k-Bus^ reached the door he saw a voun<>; lady
coming out otthe store dressed in (hose idenric:i! i Ik cks with
which he had fallen in lo\e!
At rirst he did not knou what to do or sa\, inr the
\oung ladv's complexion was not wax (ar from it. But a
glance into the window showed him the wax Iad\ now dressed
in a plain black tailor-made suit, and at once he knew tliat
the wearer of the \\'agnerian plaids wis his real love, and
not that stiff creature behind the gla^s.
"Beg pardon!" he exclaimed, stopping the Nnuiiii; lad\;
"but you're muie. fKre's '" ' t\er,
cents for cand\."'
But she glanced at hnn in a haughr\ nuinnei, and
walked awav with her nose slightly elevated.
He followed. He could not do otherwise with those
delightful checks shining before him lik. ' '^_' -
urge him on.
The young lad\ stepped into a car, which v. hnied
rapidly away. F'or a moment he was nearly paralyzed at his
loss; then he started after the c. is fast as he could go, and
that was very fast indeed — he be;ng a woggle-bug.
Somebody cried: "Stop, thief!" and a policeman ran
out to arrest him. But the Woggle-Bug used his four hands
to push the officer aside, and the astonished man went rolling
into the gutter so recklessly that his uniform bore marks of
the encounter for many days.
Still keeping an eye on the car, the Woggle-Bug rushed
on. He frightened two dogs, upset a fat gentleman who was
crossing the street, leaped over an automobile that shot in
front of him, and finally ran plump into the car, which had
abruptly stopped to let off a passenger. Breathing hard from
his exertions, he jumped upon the rear platform of the car,
only to see his charmer step off at the front and walk
mincingly up the steps of a house. Despite his fatigue, he
Hew after her at once, crying ©ut:
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/dUUi^^
"Stop, my variegated dear— stop! Don't )oii know
NouVc mine?"
But she shimmed the door in his f;ice, and lie sat down
upon the steps and wiped his forehead with his pink hand-
kerchief and tanned himself with his hat and tried to think
what he should do next.
Presently a very angry man came out of the house. He
had a revolver in one hand and a carving-knife in the other.
"What do you mean by insulting mv wife?" he
demanded.
"Was that your wife?" asked the Woggle-Bug, in
meek astonishment.
"Oi course it is my wife," answered the man.
"Oil, I didn't know," said the insect, rather humbled.
"Bur Y\\ gi\e vou seven ninet\-three for her. That's all
vvorth, \ ou know; for I saw it marked on the tag."
The man gave a roar of rage and jumped into the air
witli the intention of falling on the Wog<;Ie-Bug and hurting
him with the knife and pistol. But the Wogglc-Bug was
^tiddcnlv in a hurry, and didn't wait to be jumped on.
Indeed, he ran so very fist that the man was content to let
him go, especially as the pistol wasn't loaded and the carving-
knife was as dull as such knives usually are.
But his wife had concei\ed a great dislike for the
W^agnerian check costume that had won for her the Woggle-
Bug's admiration. "I'll never wear it again!" she said to
her husband, when he came \h and told her that the Woggle-
Bug was gone.
"Then," he replied, "you'd better give it to Bridget;
for she's been bothering me about her wages lateh, and the
present will keep her cjuiet for a month longer."
So she called Bridget and prescjited her with the dress,
and the delighted servant decided to wear it that very night
to Mickey 8ch\\art/'s ball.
Now the poor Wdggle-Bug, fiiimng his-affe;ctions
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^Hb^^
scorned, was feeling very blue and unhappy thur evenini^.
When he walked out, dressed (among other things) in a
purple-striped shirt, with a vellow necktie and pea-green
gloves, he looked a great deal more cheerful than he really
was. He had put on another hat, for the \N'oggle-Bug had
a superstition that to change his hat was to change his luck,
and luck seemed to have overlooked the fact that he \\as in
existence.
The hat may realiv have altered his fortunes, as the
Insect shortly met Ikey Swanson, who gave him a ticket to
Mickev Schwartz's ball; for Ike\'s clean dickey had not come
home from the laundry, and so he could not go himself.
The Woggle-Bug, thinking to distract his mind from
his dreams of love, attendid the hall, and the rirst thing he
saw as he entered the room was Bridget clothed in that same
gorgeous gown of Wagnerian plaid that had so tasciiiatrd his
hugly heart.
The dear Bridget had added to her cliarnis li\ |Hium>;
seven full-blown imitation roses and three second-hand ostrich-
plumes in her red hair; so that her cnriie person glf>^ d like
a sunsft in June.
The Wogglc-l'iug uas enraptured; uid, although the
divine Bridget was wah/ing with Frn/ie Case), the Insect
rushed to her side and, seizing her with all his four arms at
once, cried out in his truly educated Bostonian way:
"Oh, my superlative conglomeration of beauty! I have
found you at last! "
Bridget uttered a shriek, and Fritzic ("ase\ doubled two
fists rhiir looked like tombstones, and adsanced upon the
intruder.
Still embracing the plaid costume with two arms, the
Woggle-Bug tipped Mr. Casey over with" the other two. I>ut
Bridget made a bound and landed her broad heel, which
supported i8o pwjunds, firmly upon the Insect's toes. He
gave a yelp of pain and promptly released the ladv. and a
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jBB ^^
moment later he found himself Hat upon the Hoor with a
do/en of the dancers piled upon him all of whom were
pummelliiiii; one another with much pleiisure and a firm
eoinietion that the di\ersion had been planned for their
special amusement.
Bur the \\'oii;u,le-Bu«; had the streiiL^rh of many men,
and \\hen he Hopped the hii; winus that were concealed h\
the tails of his coat, the gentlemen resting; upon him were
scattered like autumn lea\es in a j;ust of wind.
The Insect stood up, rearran<i;ed his dress, and looked
:hout him. Bridget had run awav and gone home, and the
hers were still hi^htini; amon<4 themseUes with exceedin<j;
leerfulness. So the \\'oii;gle-Bug selected a hat that would
: turn (his own haxing been crushed out of shapel and walked
- >iTi)\\ tulK liack rn Ills lod^in«;s.
"■h\identl\ that was not a lucky hat I wore to riie hall,"
!k rcHecred; "hut perhaps this one I now have will bring
: I ! ;'i I'l^i,- in inx toiTunes."
iMid:^er iKcded money; and as she had worn her bril-
liant costume once and allowed her friends to see how
becoming it was, she carried it next morning to a second-
hand dealer and sold it for three dollars in cash.
Scarcely had she left the shop when a lady of Swedish
extraction -a widow with four small children in her train
entered and asked to look at a gown. The dealer showed
her the one he had just bought from Bridget, and its gay
coloring so pleased the widow that she immediatelv purchased
it for $3.65.
"Ay tank ets good deal money, by sure," she said tc
herself; "but das leedle children mos\ have new fadder to
mak mind un tak care dere mutder like, bay yimminy! An'
Ay tank no man look may way in das ole dress Ay been
wearing."
She took the gown and^tfie four chi Wren to her home,
where she lost no time it» trying on the costume, which
lift'
'..i. £:•'. "St- -iH »•:-./ ji'K.-'A.v
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rittcd her as perfectly as a Hour-sack docs a peck of
potatoes.
"Das ^f^z/— tiful ! " she exclaimed, in rapture, as she
tried to see herself in a cracked mirror. "Ay ^o das very
afternoon to valk in da park, for das man-folks ^o cra/\-likc
ven he sees may fine frocks! "
Then she took her green parasol and a hand-bag stuffed
with papers (to make it look prosperous and aristocratic) and
sallied forth to the park, followed by all her interesting Hock.
The men didn't fiil to look at her, as you may guess;
but none looked with vearning until the Woggle-Hug, saun-
tering gloomily along a path, happened to raise his eyes
and see before him his heart's delight — the verj' identical
Wagnerian plaids which had filled him with such unbounded
affection. .
"Aha, mv excruciatinglv lo\ely creation!" he cried,
running up and kneeling before the widow; "I have found you
once again. Do not, I beg of )ou, treat me with coldness!"
For he had learned from experience not to unduly
startle his charmer at their first motneiu of meeting; so he
made a firm attempt to control himself, that the wearer of
the checked gown might not scorn him.
The widow had no great affl'crion for bugs, having
wrestled uith the species for manv vcars; but this one was
such a big-bug and so handsomely dressed that she saw no
harm in encouraging him— especially as the men she had
sought to captixarc were proxing exccedingh shy. &
"So you tank Ay ban loaxely.'" she asked, with a coy
glance at the Insect.
"I do! With all my heart I do!" protested the
Woggle-Bug, placing his four hands, one after another, over
that beating organ.
"Das mak plenty trouble by you. Ay don'd could be
youi-s!" sighed the widow, indeed regretting her admirer
was not an ordinary man.
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"Why not?" asked the Wog^lc-Ikit^. "I have still the
sc\cn-nincty-thrce; and as that was the oriji^inal price, and
you are now sHj^htly worn and second-handed, I do not see
why I need despair of calhng you my own."
It is very queer, when we think of it, that the Wogi^le-
Bus; could not separate the wearer of his lovely gown from
the gown itself Indeed, he always made love directly to the
costume that had so enchanted him, without anv regard
whatsoever to the person inside it; and the only wav we can
explain this remarkable fact is to recollect that the Woggle-
I>ug was only a woggle-bug, and nothing more could be
expecte i of him. The widow did not, of course, understand
his speech in the least; but she gathered the fact that the
\\'ogg!e-l)Ug had money, so she sighed and hinted that she
xMis \ery hungry, and that there was a good short-order
'Lstaurant just outside the park.
The Woggie-Bug became thoughtful at this. He hated
to squander his money, which he had come to regard as u
sort of purchase price with which to secure his divinity. But
neither could he allow those darling checks to go hungry; so
he said:
"If you will come with me to the restaurant, I will
gladly supply you with food."
The widow accepted the invitation at once, and the
VVoggle-Bug walked proudly beside her, leading all of the
four children at once with his four hands.
Two such gay costumes as those worn b\ the widow
and the Woggle-Bug are seldom found together, and tlie
restaurant man was so impressed by the sight that he
demanded his money in advance.
The four children, jabbcruig delightedly in their broken
English, clambered upon four stools, and" the w idow sat upon
another. And the Woggle-Bug, who was not hungry (being
engaged in feasting his eyes upon the checks), laid down a
silver dollar as a guarantee of good faith.
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It was woiKlertiil ro set' so much pic and cake and
>icad-and-butrcr and pickles and dou«;h-nuts and sandwiches
disappear into the mouths of the four innocents and their
comp;ir!ti\cl\ innocent mother. The VVo<;irle-Bui^ had to
■add ani.ilH! ijuarter to the vanished dollar before the score
was hna!l\ settled; and no sooner had the tribe trooped out
ot tile restaurant than the\ turned into the open portals of
an Ice-Cream Parlor, where the\ all attacked huj^e stacks
ot pale ice-cream and consumed several plates of ladv-rin^ers
and creair.-jiut^s.
A;;. nil the Wo^i^le-But; reluctantl) abandoned a dollar;
iM!-^ fix nd was not \ et. The dear children wanted candv
and then they \\ anted pink lemonade; and then
■ :u! l!u -.\ iiv,'- Mill ; and alwavs the Wosrti;le-Bu<;,
•iicmti; cosrumc, ttiiiiKi liiinselt
, !' ■•■ tile treat.
•n^ when tlie widou pleaded tatij^iie
• vii IhiiiK'. lor none of them was able to
. ifkI ihe \\'oi>;i;le-Bui; wearied her with
Ills ( *' lidUiKlless admiration.
_ rmit me to call upon vou this evenini^r"
asked the Insect, pleadingly, as he bade the wearer of the
l;o\\ n c;ood-bye on her door-step.
"Sure like!" she replied, not caring to dismiss him
harshh ; and the happy Woggle-Bug went home with a light
heart, murmuring to himself:
"At last the lo\elv plaids are to be my own! The new
Iiat I found at the ball has certainly brought me luck."
I am glad our friend the VVoggle-P)Ug had those feu
happy moments, for he was destined to endure severe disap-
pointments in the near future.
That evening he carefully brushed his coat, put on a
green satin necktie and a purple embroidered waist-coat, and
u alked briskly towards the house of the widow . But, alas !
as he drew near to the dwelling a most horrible stench
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ji;rccted his nostrils, a sense of ^vcdt depression came over
him, and upon pausinj^ before the house his body began to
tremble and his eyes rolled wildly in their sockets.
For the wily widow, wishing to escape her admirer, had
sprinkled the door-step and the front walk with insect Exter-
minator, and not even the Woggle-Bug's love for the en-
chanting checked gown could induce him to linger longer
in that \icinitv.
Sick and discouraged, he returned home, where his first
act was to smash the luckless hat and replace it with another.
But it was some time before he recovered from the horrors
of that near approach to extermination, and he passed a very
wakeful and unhappv night, indeed.
Meantime the widow had traded with a friend of hers
(who had once been a wash-lady for General Funston) the
Wagnerian costume for a crazy quilt and a corset that was
nearly as good as new and a pair of silk stockings that were
not mates. It was a good bargain for both of them, and the
wash-lady being colored— that is, she had a deep mahogany
complexion — was delighted with her gorgeous gown and
put it on the very next morning when she went to deliver the
wash to the brick-layer's witc.
Surely it must ha\e been Fate that directed the
Woggle-Bug's steps; for, as he walked disconsolately along,
an intuition caused him to raise his eyes, and he saw
just ahead of him his affinity- carrying a large clothes-
basket.
"Stop!" he called out, anxiously; "stop, my fair Grena-
dine, I implore you!"
The colored lady cast one glance behind her and imag-
ined that Satan had at last arrived to claim her. P'or she had
never before seen the Woggle-Bug, and was horrified by his
sudden and unusual appearance.
"Go 'way. Mars' Debbil! Go '>va3^an' lemme 'lone!"
she screeched, and the next minute dVopped her empty
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basket and >>ped up the street with a swiftness that onl\ tear
could ha\e lent her Hat-bottomed feet.
Nevertheless, the Wofj;gle-Bug mi^ht ha\e overtaken
her had he not stepped into the clothes-basket and fallen
headlon<;, becoming so tangled up in the thing that he rolled
o\er and over sc\cral times before he could free himself.
Then, when he liad picked up his hat, which was utterly
ruined, and found his cane, v\hich had Hown across the street,
his mahoganv charmer in the Wagnerian Plaids had disap-
peared from \ iew.
\\'ith a sigh at his latest misfortune he returned home
for another hat, and the agitated wash-lady, imagining that
the de\il had doubtless been lured by her beautiful gown,
made haste to sell it to a Chinaman who lived next door.
Its bright colors pleased the Chink, who ripped it up
and made it oxer into a Chinese robe, with flowing draperies
tallinu to hi^ IkcU. He dressed himself in liis new costume
:Hid, being proud of possessing such rincrx, sat down on a
bench outside his door so that e\eryone passing by could
■.ee how magnificent he looked.
It was here that the wandering Woggle-Bug espied him;
and, recognizing at once the pattern and colors of his infatu-
ating idol, he ran up and sat beside the Chinaman, saying in
agitated but educated rones:
"Oil triv prismatic personification of gigantic gorgeous-
ne- i lia\c fouiui \oli !"
■•>iire riing," responded the Ctunk with composure.
"Be mine! C)nl\ be mine!" cominued the enraptufed
Woggle-Kug.
The (Chinaman did not quite understand.
"Two dlolla a day," he answered, cautiously.
"Oh, joy," exclaimed the insect in delight; "I can
tlien own you for a day and a half— for. I have three
dollars left. May I feel of vour exquisife texture, my
dearest Fabric?"
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^Hl^l^
"No riabic. No fcclcc. ^'ou too Hcsh. I //w// China-
man ! " returned the Oriental calmly.
"Never mind that! 'Tis your beautiful garment I love.
b\<.!\ check in that entrancing dress is a joy and a delight
lo m\ heart! "
\\'hile the V\'oggle-Bug thus raved, the Chinaman's
'itl (who w.i^ Mattie Dc Forest before she married him)
\cilKard tile con\ersation, and decided this love affair had
L;()ne far enough. So she suddenly appeared with a broom-
stick, and with it began pounding the Woggle-Bug as fiercelv
as possible and Mattie was no weakling, I assure you.
The Hrst blow knocked the Insect's hat so far over his
c\cs that he was blinded; but, resolving not to be again
cheated out of his darling, he grasped firmly hold of tht;
\\ agiierian plaids with all four hands, and tore a goodU
portion of it from the frightened Celestial's body.
.\\ \t nioineiir he was dashing down the street, with the
:. M.,1^ cioth tucked seeurel\ underneath an arm, and
Maitie, being m slight dishabile, did not think best to
follow him.
The triumphant joy of the VV'oggle-Bug can well be
miagmed. No more need he chase the Meeting vision of his
lo\e-no more submit to countless disappointments in his
ertbrts to approach the object of his attcction. The gorgeous
plaids were now his own (or a large parr ot them, anyway),
and upon reaching the quiet room wherein he lodged he
spread out the cloth and gloated long and happily over its
\i\Ki coloring and violent contrasts of glowing hues. To
the c\es of the VVoggle-Bug nothing could be more beauti-
ful, and he positively regretted the necessity of ever turning
his ga/e from this bewitching treasure.
That he might never in the future be separated from
the checks, he folded them, with majny loving caresses, into
compact form, and wrapped; them in a sirect of stout paper
tied vyith ecf top v^leftj^'f, ibst i^f^^A the end.
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^Hl^!^
\\ licicvcr lie went, tliereaker, he carried the parcel under-
neat li his left upper arm, pressed as closely to his heart as
possible. And this sense of possession was so deli«ihtful that
our \Vo<i;gle-Hu*j; was happy as the day was lonj);.
In the eveninii; his fortunes ehans^ed with cruel
.ihruptness.
lie walked out to take the air, and noticing a crowd ot
people standing in an open space and surrounding a huge
brown object, our Woggle-Bug stopped to learn what the
excitement was about.
Pushing his way through the crowd, and hugging Ins
precious parcel, he soon reached the inner circle of spectators
and found they had assembled to watch a balloon ascension.
The Professor who was to go up with the balloon had nor
vet arrived; but the balloon itself was full) inHated and
lugging hard at the rope that held it, as if anxious to escape
rile blended breaths of the people that crowded around, fust
below the balloon was a small basket, attached to the nertnig
of the gas-bag, and the W oggle-Bug was bending over the
edge of this, to see what it contained, vvhen a warning cry
fmrn the crowd caused him to pause and glance over his
>houlder.
Great horrors and crumpled creeps! Springing toward
him, with a scowl on his face and a long knife with a /.!g-/.ag
blade in his uplifted hand, was that very (Ihinaman from
whose bodv he had torn the Wagnerian plaids!
The plundered Celestial was evidently \indictive, and
intended to push the wicked knife into the Woggle- Bug's
body.
Our hero was a brave bug, as can be easily proved; but
he did not wait for the knife to arrive at the broad of his
back. Instead, he gave a yell (to show he was not afraid)
and leaped nimbly into the basket of the balloon. The
descending knife, missing its intended victim, fell upon
the rope and severed it, and instantly the great balloon
31
I
32
MKKk^^
iKisc troin the croud and soared majcsticallv toward the
K-avcns.
The Woggle-Rug had escaped the Chinaman, Init he
didn't know whether to be glad or not.
For the balloon was carrying him into the clouds, and
he had no idea how to manage it, or to make it descend to
earth again. When he peered over the edge of the basket
he could hear the faint murmur of the crowd, and dimly see
the enraged Professor (who had come too late) pounding the
(Chinaman, while the Chinaman tried to dissect the Professor
with his knife.
Then all was blotted out; clouds rolled about him;
night fell. The man in the moon laughed at him; the stars
winked at each (uhcr as if delighted at the Woggle-Bug's
plight, and a witch riding bv on her broomstick \elied at him
to keep on the right side ot the road, and not run her down.
But the Woggk-llug, s(.]uarted in the bottom of the
hanker and hugging lii> precious parcel to his bosom, (viid no
attention to anything bu- his fnvn rlioughts.
f Ic had often nddi.ii iliroui;li the air in the Gump; but
never had he been s"
ground made him lu
When morning
beneath him, and 1' '
Now all
highly-magniH(.v, ,.>.
concealed beneath hi
this, and the distance
iim he saw a strange counti\ lar
J ■ ticad the earth again.
'M)rn with wings, and our
Li ,. ,i^,,vinlul, liroad pair of Hoppers
unple coat-tails. But long ago he
had learned that his v\ings were not strong enough to lift his
big body from the ground, so he had ne\er tried to Hy
with them.
Here, howe\er, \\as d\ >n when he might put
these wings to good use, for if he spread them in the air and
then leaped over the sidf '^f rUp t>iwL,.i- ili.-v n.M.i.t ■>- 1 in the
same way a parachute the
"round.
33
Tiie Man in th« taoaa Xau($becl at hita.
34
^IH^P-
No sooner did this thought occur to him than he put it
into practice.
Discntanghng his wings from his coat-tails, he spread
them as wide as possible and then jumped from the car of
the balloon.
Down, down the \^'oggle-Bug sank; but so slowly that
there was no danger in the Hight. He began to see the earth
again. King beneath him like a sun-kissed panorama of mud
and frog-ponds and rocks and brushwood.
There were few trees, yet it was our insect's fate to
drop directly above what trees there were, so that presently
he came ker-plunk into a mass of tangled branches — and
stuck there, with his legs dangling helpkssK between two
limbs and his wings caught in the foliage at either side.
Below was a group of Arab children, who at hrst started
f(^ run away. But, seeing that the queer creature which had
dropped from the skies was caught fast in the tree, they
stopped and began to throw stones and clubs at it. One of
these missiles siruck tlic nxe-limb at the right of the Woggle-
iUig and jarred hii^i loose. The next mstant he fluttered
to the gnnmd, where his t\v^x act was to fold up his wings and
tuck them underneath his Lo.u-iails again, and his next action
\- himself th;it ihi. Ixlcnrd plaids were still safe.
i hen he looked for r!ie Avib children: b'<r tU,-\ had
-curtKd aua\ rowaid a siroup ot itnts, and c^ i men
with dark skins and ga\ cloiiiitig eaine iruni the- u.nis and ran
toward the NV'oggle-Ikig.
"Good morning," said om he^ i with
a Nourish, and bowing politely.
"Meb-la-che-bah!'" shouted the biggest Arab, and at
once two others woimd coils ot'i-.^^f ironnH iH. \\'fi<r<^ie-Bug
and tied the ends in hard I
His hat was knocked ort aiui rrarnjxed into riie mud by
the Shiek (who was the big Arab), and the precious parcel
■ d and ruthlessl) opened.
35
36
iflB^^
*'\'e!\ i^ood!" saul rhe Shick, cwiiiir rlic plaid'- \Mth
plca-'Urc. "My shncs sliall make me a new waistcoat of
tliiN cloth."
''Xo! oil, nol" cried the a<i;oiii/id Iiist.i.i; "n i~ taken
from a person who has had small-j>o\ ami \J!M\\-le\er and
roothachc and mumps all 4it the sime iiiiie. D'l nor, I bc^
!-k \oiir valuable lite h\ weainii; rluit cioih!"
IVaii!" said the Shiek, scornliilK ; •'l have hati all
those diseases and man\ more. I am immune. I'.ut now," he
continued, "allow me to hid vou i;ood-li\e. 1 am sorr\ to
he ohliy;ed to kill vou, Inir >uch is our custom."
This was bad news tor the \V'onii;le-Bui;; bur he did
nor despair.
".Are vou not atraid to kill mer" he a^kid, as if
surprised.
"W'hv should I he afraid .-"" demanded the Sliiek.
"Because it is a well-known fact that to kill a woirirlf-
' ii; briiii^s i->ad luck to oiu .
The Shiek hesitated, for he was very sup^.
".\ie \ ou a w(isj;<;le-bug.-" he asked.
"I am," replied the Insect, proudly. "And I ma\ as
well icll \ou that the last person who killed one of m\ race
!iad three unlucky days. The first day his suspenders broke
Ithe Arabs shuddered), tlie second day he smashed a lookin^j-
y;lass (the Arabs moaned) and the third d<iv he was chewed
up bv a crocodile."
X.>,\ the greatest a\ersion the Arabs have is to be
chewed bv a crocodile, because these people usually roam
>\ er the sands of the desert, where to meet an amphibian is
simply horrible; so at the Woggle-Bug's speech they set up
a howl of fear, and the Shiek shouted:
"L'nbind him! Let not a hair ofhis head be injured."
.At once the knots in the ropes were untied, and the
VVoggle-Bug was free. All the Arabs united to show him
deference and every respectful attention, and since his own
37
38
B.dtk%i
hat had been destroyed they wound about his head a pictur-
esque tuiban of an exquisite soiled white color, having stripes
of red and yellow in it.
Then the Wogi;lc-Hua; was escorted to the tents, where
he- luddenlv remembered his precious plaids, and asked that
the cloth he restored to him.
Thereupon the Shiek ^ot up and made a long speech,
in which he described his grief at hcmg obliged to refuse the
request.
At the end of that time one of the women came up to
them with a lovelv waistcoat which she had manufactured out
of the Wagnerian plaids; and when the Shiek saw it he
immediately ordered all the tom-toms and kettle-drums in
the camp destroyed, as they were no longer necessary. Then
he put on the gorgeous \cstment, and turned a deaf ear to
the Woggk- Hun's agoni/ed wails.
r>ur there were some scraps of cloth left, and to show
that he was liberal and good-natured, tlie Shiek ordered
these manufactured by his females mto a handsome necktie,
which he presented to the Woggle-Bug in another long
speech.
Our hero, realizing that the larger part of his darling
was ' ' !n, decided to be content with the smaller share;
so li file necktie, and felt really proud of its brilliant
and
'ircwtll, he strode across the
(jese ^ '''^ iiordcis ol a more fertile and
favoiev. ... ........
Indeed, he found 'before him a cool and enticing jungle,
which at tirst seemed deserted. But while he stared about
him a sound fell upon his tar, and he saw approaching
a young lady Chimpan/ee. She was evidently a personage
of some importance, for her hair wns nearly banged just over
her eves, and she \vore a c! .riore with bows of
pink ribbon at (tie sh'nildeis.
39
40
^nc.
mcrrv
"Ciood morning, Mr. Beetle,"
aughter.
"Do not, I beg of you, call me a beetle," exclaimed
our hero, rather peevi'^hlv; "for I am actully a Woggle-
Bu^, ;ind Highly-Mau;nihed at that!"
"What's in a name?" laughed the gay damsel. "Come,
lot me introduce you to our jungle, where strangers of good
breeding are always welcome."
"As tor breeduig," said the Woggle-Bug, "my father,
although of ordinary size, was a famous Bug-Wizard in his
dav, and claimed descent from the original protoplasm which ^
i^onsntuted rhe nucleus of the present planetary satelite upon
whicli we exist."
"That's ail right," returned Miss Chim. "Tell that to
our king, and he'll decorate you with the medal of the
Omnipotent Order of Onerous Orthographers. Are vou
ready to meander?"
The W^oggle-Bug did not like the tiippanr tone m which
the maiden spoke; but he at once followed her.
Presently thev came to a tali hedge surrounding the
Inner Jungle, and without this hedge stood a patrol of brown
bears who wore red soldiei-caps and carried gold-plated
muskets in their hands.
"'VV'e call this the hearicr," said Miss Chim, pointing
to the soldiers, "because rhc\ ohliiic all strangers to paws."
"I should tliink It was a beancade, " remarked the
Woggle-Bug.
But "ti,.ii fl-, X ,M.^■,, wh.-d the gatewa\- ^h,- ,iffi, ,■.• ,n
charge s liss Chmi, -dr.
to escort tnc ^^ oggie-bug into the sacred precjncib or i!;e
Inner Jungle.
Here his eyes were s(^ widest capacit\
in I'enuinc astonishment.
e Jungle was as clean and well-regulated
'• ' r had eve ■-;-■' '■■ - ■-' ■
41
42
sleek antelope was running a pop-corn stand, and a little
further on a screech-owl stood upon a stump playing a violin,
while acro^-> her breast was a sign reading: "I am blind -at
pristnt."
An tlK\ walked up the Ntrext rhcv eamc to a big grey
monkey turning a hand-organ, and attached to a cord was a
little nigger-boy whom the monkey sent into the crowd of
animals standing by to gather up the pennies, pulling him
back every now and then by means of the cord.
"There's a curious animal for you," said Miss Chim,
pointing to the boy. "Those horrid things they call men,
whether black or white, seem to me the lowest of all
created beasts."
"I have seen them in a highly civilized state," replied
the Woggle-Bui^, "and they're really further advanced than
\ou might suppose."
. But Miss Chim gave a scornful laugh, and pulled him
away to where a hippopotomus sat under the shade ot a big
tree, mopping his brow with a red handkerchief— for the
weather was somewhat sultry. licfore the hip was a tabic
co\ered with a blue cloth, -and upon the cloth was embroidered
the words: "Professor Hipmus, Fortune Teller."
"Want vour fortune told?" asked Miss' Chim.
"I don't mind," replied the \^ Cggk-Hug.
"I'll read \ our han4," said tlic Professor, with a yawn
riiat srartled the Insect. "I'o my notion palmistry is the
best means of finding out what nobody knovvs or cures
ro krinw '
upper hand of the VVoggle-Bug, and
. ■ . *:; ' '- •" over it with an air., of
announced the Professor;
auer aonj^nnj; i';s ■ , ■ ' :;
great wisdom.
"You have been ir u;
''but you got it in the neck."
"True!" murmured the astonished Inseci, putting up
hi^ Iffr If.wcr b;)ml ''o fct-l <A tll< heIo\ cd rtf^okt it-
43
J>k. cgartous Ami
"I'll read your hand*
said the Profts»or.
44
MKtKk^^
"\'(Hi think you hu\c won," continued the Hip; "but
there are others who have i, 2. You ha\c manv heart throbs
before you, during your future life. Afterward I see no heart
throbs whatever. Fortv cents, please."
"Isn't he just wonderful?" asked Miss Chim, with
enthusiasm. "He's the greatest fortune teller in the jungle."
"On account of his size, I suppose," returned the
Woggle-Bug, as they walked on.
Soon they came to the Royal Palace, which was a beau-
tiful bower formed of vines upon which grew many brilliant-
hucd forest Howers. The entrance was guarded by a Z/cbra,
who barred admission until Miss Chim whispered the pass-
word in his ear. Then he permitted them to enter, and the
Chimpanzee immediately ushered the Woggle-Bug into the
presence of King Weasel.
This monarch lay coiled upon a purple silk cushion,
half asleep and \et wakeful enough to be smoking a big cigar.
Reside him crouched two prairie-dogs who were combing his
hair \ery carefully, while a red squirrel perched near his head
and fanned him with her bushy tail.
"Dear me, what have we here?" exclaiijied the King of
the Jungle, in a querulous tone. "Is it an over-grown
pinch-bug, or is it a kissing-bug?"
"I have the honor to be a Woggle-Bug, your Majesty!"
replied our hero, proudly.
"Sav, cut out that Majesty," snapped the King, with a
scowl. "If vou can hnd anything majc^nc about me, I'd
like to know what it is." i
"Don't treat him with any respect," whispered Miss
Chim to the Insect, "or you'll get him riled. Sticcr at him,
and slap his face if you get a chance."
The Woggle-Bug took the hmt,
"Really," he told the Kmg, "I have never seen a more
despicable creature than you. The adniirable perspicacity
inherent in your tribe seem.< to have deteriorated irt you to a
45
fi'mJ X J
tj-us nikOjaarcit lay cuiiuti u.pt>jn. ^^1^
« pufpie siik cushion..
46
Biiifli%
hvpcrboKitL'd !ns()us;uic\ ."" Then he reached our his arms and
slapped the kini; tour tinus, twice on one side of liis face and
twice on the other. .And it ^a\e him much saristaetion.
"Ihinks, nu dear June-Bug," said the monarch; "I
n(i\' \(>u to be a person of some importance."
[ am a Woggle-Bug, highly magnified and
rlioroii^tih educated. It is no exaggeration to say 1 am the
greatest Woi^i^ic-Bus; on earth."
"I fulU belie\e it, so pray do not pia\ anv more four-
somes upon nn jaw. I am sufficiently humiliated at this
moment to re o^ni/e you as a Sullivanthauros, should you
claim to be of rivat extinct race."
Then tuo little weasels a boy weasel and a girl
weasel came mto the bower and threw their school-books
at the sqinrrtl so ele\erh' that one hit the King upon the
rios*.' and smashed iiis ci^j^dV and the other caught him fairly
ui the pit or" his stomach.
,Ar first tlic monarch ho\vJcd a hit; then he v\iped the
tears from his lacc aitd said:
"Ah, what delightful children I have! What do voui^
wish, m\ darlings,-"
.. t ,,.,„, ., ,.,,■ !,,,■ eiiewinu, gupi," saul '
\\
"Oct it lioin the Ciuinea-Fig; you base n;;
And what does my dear boy want.?"
"Pop," went the Weasel, "our billy-goat has s\\a!!o>vedj
the h.iii ;. ; ' 1 c mc to play with."
sighed the King, "how often I find a huir
in I Whenever I reign people carry umbrellas;
and 'hough quite polished, indulges only in
monkc, - iiiJics. L'neasy lies the head that wears ;! 1
bin !t"onc is scalped, the loss of the crown render- :d
iiu! , bcrtct kiiu* than \' i'"' ^Mquired
the W.=. --Idivn i. cr.
47
But th* vttg^ -aag
After all.
tia neckci«
s my love .
48
"^\s; hur no wiirsc," answered the Weasel; "and here
in tlu- jungle lionor> are onlv conferred upon the unworthy.
Fi>r it J trul\ ;;rc.ir animal is honored he ^cts a swelled head,
antl ifvat renders him unbearable. T1k\ now rei>;ard the
Kini4 of" the Jungle with eontempt, and that make-, all my
subjects self-respeefin<;."
"There is wisdom in that," declared the Woggle-Bug,
appro\ingl\ ; "a sinu;le i;lance at you makes me content with
being so excellent a bug,"
"True," murmured the King, yawning. But you tire
me, good sr-anger. Miss Chim, will you kindly get the
gasolme ^an': It's high time to eradicate this insfct."
"With pleasure," said Miss Chim, moving a\Nav with
a smile.
liut the Woggk-Bug did not linger to be eradicated.
With one wild bound he cleared the door of the palace and
sprinted up the street to the entrance of the fungle. The
bear soldiers saw him dashing away, and took careful aim and
tired. But the gold-plated muskets would not shoot straight,'
and now the ^^^ogg]c-Rug was far distant, and still running
^^^^
uith all hi~- nuglit.
SH|
Nor did he pause until he had emerged from the forest
^gwT
and crossed tiie plain-, and reached ac last the city from
^I^H
whence he !iad iscapcJ i') tie balloon. And, once again in
■J^KUm
his old lojuinu ' ' ' ' ' i---- i*';- • t-v- mirror and said:
^^^K
"After ai' .d- my love is now
J^^^^
mine :orei W liy should 1 not be happy and
SM
CO rite.
V
Tin ■ -n.
M
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