Tik-Tok of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  CHAPTER 21

  A Bashful Brother

  With fast beating hearts they all rushed forward and, beyond a group ofstately metal trees, came full upon a most astonishing scene.

  There was Ruggedo in the hands of the officers of Oogaboo, a dozen ofwhom were clinging to the old nome and holding him fast in spite of hisefforts to escape. There also was Queen Ann, looking grimly upon thescene of strife; but when she observed her former companions approachingshe turned away in a shamefaced manner.

  For Ann and her officers were indeed a sight to behold. Her Majesty'sclothing, once so rich and gorgeous, was now worn and torn into shredsby her long crawl through the tunnel, which, by the way, had led herdirectly into the Metal Forest. It was, indeed, one of the three secretpassages, and by far the most difficult of the three. Ann had not onlytorn her pretty skirt and jacket, but her crown had become bent andbattered and even her shoes were so cut and slashed that they were readyto fall from her feet.

  The officers had fared somewhat worse than their leader, for holes wereworn in the knees of their trousers, while sharp points of rock in theroof and sides of the tunnel had made rags of every inch of their oncebrilliant uniforms. A more tattered and woeful army never came out ofa battle, than these harmless victims of the rocky passage. But it hadseemed their only means of escape from the cruel Nome King; so they hadcrawled on, regardless of their sufferings.

  When they reached the Metal Forest their eyes beheld more plunder thanthey had ever dreamed of; yet they were prisoners in this huge domeand could not escape with the riches heaped about them. Perhaps a moreunhappy and homesick lot of "conquerors" never existed than this bandfrom Oogaboo.

  After several days of wandering in their marvelous prison they werefrightened by the discovery that Ruggedo had come among them. Rendereddesperate by their sad condition, the officers exhibited courage for thefirst time since they left home and, ignorant of the fact that Ruggedowas no longer King of the nomes, they threw themselves upon him and hadjust succeeded in capturing him when their fellow adventurers reached thespot.

  "Goodness gracious!" cried Betsy. "What has happened to you all?"

  Ann came forward to greet them, sorrowful and indignant.

  "We were obliged to escape from the pit through a small tunnel, whichwas lined with sharp and jagged rocks," said she, "and not only was ourclothing torn to rags but our flesh is so bruised and sore that we arestiff and lame in every joint. To add to our troubles we find we arestill prisoners; but now that we have succeeded in capturing the wickedMetal Monarch we shall force him to grant us our liberty."

  "Ruggedo is no longer Metal Monarch, or King of the nomes," Filesinformed her. "He has been deposed and cast out of his kingdom by Quox;but here is the new King, whose name is Kaliko, and I am pleased toassure Your Majesty that he is our friend."

  "Glad to meet Your Majesty, I'm sure," said Kaliko, bowing as courteouslyas if the Queen still wore splendid raiment.

  The officers, having heard this explanation, now set Ruggedo free; but,as he had no place to go, he stood by and faced his former servant, whowas now King in his place, in a humble and pleading manner.

  "What are you doing here?" asked Kaliko sternly.

  "Why, I was promised as much treasure as I could carry in my pockets,"replied Ruggedo; "so I came here to get it, not wishing to disturb YourMajesty."

  "You were commanded to leave the country of the nomes forever!" declaredKaliko.

  "I know; and I'll go as soon as I have filled my pockets," said Ruggedo,meekly.

  "Then fill them, and be gone," returned the new King.

  Ruggedo obeyed. Stooping down, he began gathering up jewels by thehandful and stuffing them into his many pockets. They were heavy things,these diamonds and rubies and emeralds and amethysts and the like,so before long Ruggedo was staggering with the weight he bore, whilethe pockets were not yet filled. When he could no longer stoop overwithout falling, Betsy and Polychrome and the Rose Princess came to hisassistance, picking up the finest gems and tucking them into his pockets.

  At last these were all filled and Ruggedo presented a comical sight, forsurely no man ever before had so many pockets, or any at all filled withsuch a choice collection of precious stones. He neglected to thank theyoung ladies for their kindness, but gave them a surly nod of farewelland staggered down the path by the way he had come. They let him departin silence, for with all he had taken, the masses of jewels upon theground seemed scarcely to have been disturbed, so numerous were they.Also they hoped they had seen the last of the degraded King.

  "I'm awful glad he's gone," said Betsy, sighing deeply. "If he doesn'tget reckless and spend his wealth foolishly, he's got enough to start abank when he gets to Oklahoma."

  "But my brother--my dear brother! Where is he?" inquired Shaggyanxiously. "Have you seen him, Queen Ann?"

  "What does your brother look like?" asked the Queen.

  Shaggy hesitated to reply, but Betsy said: "He's called the Ugly One.Perhaps you'll know him by that."

  "The only person we have seen in this cavern," said Ann, "has run awayfrom us whenever we approached him. He hides over yonder, among the treesthat are not gold, and we have never been able to catch sight of hisface. So I cannot tell whether he is ugly or not."

  "That must be my dear brother!" exclaimed Shaggy.

  "Yes, it must be," assented Kaliko. "No one else inhabits this splendiddome, so there can be no mistake."

  "But why does he hide among those green trees, instead of enjoying allthese glittery golden ones?" asked Betsy.

  "Because he finds food among the natural trees," replied Kaliko, "andI remember that he has built a little house there, to sleep in. As forthese glittery golden trees, I will admit they are very pretty at firstsight. One cannot fail to admire them, as well as the rich jewelsscattered beneath them; but if one has to look at them always, theybecome pretty tame."

  "I believe that is true," declared Shaggy. "My dear brother is very wiseto prefer real trees to the imitation ones. But come; let us go there andfind him."

  Shaggy started for the green grove at once, and the others followed him,being curious to witness the final rescue of his long-sought, long-lostbrother.

  Not far from the edge of the grove they came upon a small hut, cleverlymade of twigs and golden branches woven together. As they approachedthe place they caught a glimpse of a form that darted into the hut andslammed the door tight shut after him.

  Shaggy Man ran to the door and cried aloud:

  "Brother! Brother!"

  "Who calls," demanded a sad, hollow voice from within.

  "It is Shaggy--your own loving brother--who has been searching for you along time and has now come to rescue you."

  "Too late!" replied the gloomy voice. "No one can rescue me now."

  "Oh, but you are mistaken about that," said Shaggy. "There is a new Kingof the nomes, named Kaliko, in Ruggedo's place, and he has promised youshall go free."

  "Free! I dare not go free!" said the Ugly One, in a voice of despair.

  "Why not, Brother?" asked Shaggy, anxiously.

  "Do you know what they have done to me?" came the answer through theclosed door.

  "No. Tell me, Brother, what have they done?"

  "When Ruggedo first captured me I was very handsome. Don't you remember,Shaggy?"

  "Not very well, Brother; you were so young when I left home. But Iremember that mother thought you were beautiful."

  "She was right! I am sure she was right," wailed the prisoner. "ButRuggedo wanted to injure me--to make me ugly in the eyes of all theworld--so he performed a wicked enchantment. I went to bed beautiful--oryou might say handsome--to be very modest I will merely claim that I wasgood-looking--and I wakened the next morning the homeliest man in all theworld! I am so repulsive that when I look in a mirror I frighten myself."

  "Poor Brother!" said Shaggy softly, and all the others were silent fromsympathy.

  "I was so ashame
d of my looks," continued the voice of Shaggy's brother,"that I tried to hide; but the cruel King Ruggedo forced me to appearbefore all the legion of nomes, to whom he said: 'Behold the Ugly One!'But when the nomes saw my face they all fell to laughing and jeering,which prevented them from working at their tasks. Seeing this, Ruggedobecame angry and pushed me into a tunnel, closing the rock entrance sothat I could not get out. I followed the length of the tunnel until Ireached this huge dome, where the marvelous Metal Forest stands, and hereI have remained ever since."

  "Poor Brother!" repeated Shaggy. "But I beg you now to come forth andface us, who are your friends. None here will laugh or jeer, howeverunhandsome you may be."

  "No, indeed," they all added pleadingly.

  But the Ugly One refused the invitation.

  "I cannot," said he; "indeed, I cannot face strangers, ugly as I am."

  Shaggy Man turned to the group surrounding him.

  "What shall I do?" he asked in sorrowful tones. "I cannot leave my dearbrother here, and he refuses to come out of that house and face us."

  "I'll tell you," replied Betsy. "Let him put on a mask."

  "The very idea I was seeking!" exclaimed Shaggy joyfully; and then hecalled out: "Brother, put a mask over your face, and then none of us cansee what your features are like."

  "I have no mask," answered the Ugly One.

  "Look here," said Betsy; "he can use my handkerchief." Shaggy looked atthe little square of cloth and shook his head.

  "It isn't big enough," he objected; "I'm sure it isn't big enough to hidea man's face. But he can use mine."

  Saying this he took from his pocket his own handkerchief and went to thedoor of the hut.

  "Here, my Brother," he called, "take this handkerchief and make a maskof it. I will also pass you my knife, so that you may cut holes for theeyes, and then you must tie it over your face."

  The door slowly opened, just far enough for the Ugly One to thrust outhis hand and take the handkerchief and the knife. Then it closed again.

  "Don't forget a hole for your nose," cried Betsy. "You must breathe, youknow."

  For a time there was silence. Queen Ann and her army sat down upon theground to rest. Betsy sat on Hank's back. Polychrome danced lightly upand down the jeweled paths while Files and the Princess wandered throughthe groves arm in arm. Tik-Tok, who never tired, stood motionless.

  By and by a noise sounded from within the hut.

  "Are you ready?" asked Shaggy.

  "Yes, Brother," came the reply, and the door was thrown open to allow theUgly One to step forth.

  Betsy might have laughed aloud had she not remembered how sensitive toridicule Shaggy's brother was, for the handkerchief with which he hadmasked his features was a red one covered with big white polka dots. Inthis two holes had been cut--in front of the eyes--while two smaller onesbefore the nostrils allowed the man to breathe freely. The cloth was thentightly drawn over the Ugly One's face and knotted at the back of hisneck.

  He was dressed in clothes that had once been good, but now were sadlyworn and frayed. His silk stockings had holes in them, and his shoes werestub-toed and needed blackening. "But what can you expect," whisperedBetsy, "when the poor man has been a prisoner for so many years?"

  Shaggy had darted forward, and embraced his newly found brother with bothhis arms. The brother also embraced Shaggy, who then led him forward andintroduced him to all the assembled company.

  "This is the new Nome King," he said when he came to Kaliko. "He is ourfriend, and has granted you your freedom."

  "That is a kindly deed," replied Ugly in a sad voice, "but I dread togo back to the world in this direful condition. Unless I remain forevermasked, my dreadful face would curdle all the milk and stop all theclocks."

  "Can't the enchantment be broken in some way?" inquired Betsy.

  Shaggy looked anxiously at Kaliko, who shook his head.

  "I am sure _I_ can't break the enchantment," he said. "Ruggedo was fondof magic, and learned a good many enchantments that we nomes know nothingof."

  "Perhaps Ruggedo himself might break his own enchantment," suggested Ann;"but unfortunately we have allowed the old King to escape."

  "Never mind, my dear Brother," said Shaggy consolingly; "I am very happyto have found you again, although I may never see your face. So let usmake the most of this joyful reunion."

  The Ugly One was affected to tears by this tender speech, and the tearsbegan to wet the red handkerchief; so Shaggy gently wiped them away withhis coat sleeve.