The Hidden Valley of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  When they were ready to leave, Jam called Pinny and Gig. The guinea pigs, however, surprised him by saying "We have decided to stay here."

  The farmer's children had been so good to them and had begged so hard for them to stay with them as their pets, that the two little creatures had been won over completely.

  "We hope you get home safely," they told Jam, as they said goodbye to him and Percy.

  "Don't cause the good man and his wife any trouble," cautioned Jam. "Goodbye, and thank you for everything," he said to the two Ozites who had befriended him.

  "If you ever pass this way again, you must stop and see us," said the woman who had grown to like Jam in the few hours he had been her guest. "We hope that you are successful in your adventure."

  So Percy and Jam started again upon their journey to the land of the Winkies, where they were to see the curious tin ruler.

  After a short walk along the path, they left the clearing and were again in the woods. The trees were not close together, however, and sunlight streamed down through the branches. It was a beautiful morning, and Jam and Percy walked along singing and whistling, glad to be alive.

  After walking for several hours, the two companions heard a murmuring sound that grew louder as they advanced into the west. Coming round a bend in the path, they saw before them a wide river which they must cross, for it lay directly in their way. On the opposite bank, Jam could see sun flowers swaying in the breeze, turning their large yellow faces in his direction, toward the sun which was behind him in the east at this hour.

  "Say, kiddo, those flowers over there are yellow,"

  observed Percy. "That must be the beginning of the Winkie country. The farmer told us that everything there was yellow, instead of purple as it is on this side of the river.

  "Then we must find some way to cross the river,"

  said Jam, "because we will have to get into the Tin Woodman's country if we are to find him."

  They walked along the bank for some distance looking for a bridge; but even upon retracing their steps and going along the river in the other direction, they found no way to cross to the other side.

  "What are we going to do, Percy?"

  "I don't know," replied the big white rat, gazing intently at the water. "Can you swim?"

  "A little; but not well enough to get across this wide river," replied Jam. "That's a long way to swim and I'm afraid that I would drown if I tried to do it."

  After a moment's silence Percy said, "I think I could make it, kiddo, even though no rat likes to get wet. I'll tell you what you can do-you can hold on to my tail, and I'll tow you across the river."

  Jam was a little dubious, for he didn't know how good a swimmer Percy really was. But after due consideration, he decided that it was the only way that they could hope to cross the river.

  They slid down the bank until they were at the edge of the water. Then, stepping gingerly and with an expression of distaste on his face, Percy waded into the shallow water, with Jam close behind. When the river was waist deep, Percy began swimming.

  Jam grasped the end of his tail firmly and kicked his own feet to help keep himself afloat. Jam soon discovered that Percy was a fair swimmer, and they left the bank to the east far behind them. When they reached the middle of the river, however, the current grew very strong; and Percy could make no more headway toward the opposite bank.

  "We're being swept down the river," cried Jam in frightened tones, for he feared that they might drown.

  "I know," gasped Percy, "but the current is too swift for me."

  The two swimmers tried to conserve their strength in hope that they might be able to reach one shore or the other, but they were rapidly becoming exhausted.

  Just as Jam decided that he could hold on to Percy's tail no longer, the rat said "We're coming to an island in the river, Jam.

  Hang on a little longer, and we'll get out of the water."

  Jam looked in the direction in which they were being carried, and sure enough, a little wooded island was directly in their path. With this to encourage them, the two made a final effort to swim and managed to drag themselves upon the shore of the isle before the current could sweep them on down the river.

  They lay panting upon the shore for some time.

  Jam had lost his cowboy hat in the river, and it bobbed up and down upon the waves as it floated out of sight. The hot sun soon dried his clothes. Percy after giving himself a violent shake which sent a shower of water in all directions, allowed the sun's rays to dry his coat, also. Jam took out the contents of the knapsack to see if they were soaked, but the water had not penetrated to the articles in the bag.

  The Collapsible Kite, however, was thoroughly soaked.

  "Maybe if you spread it out in the sun, kiddo, it will dry out and be as good as new," Percy suggested.

  This seemed a good idea. So the boy carefully unrolled the kite and opened it up to its full size on the flat ground.

  He was very hungry after the exertion in the water, so he ate the lunch that the good farmer's wife had given him, sharing it with Percy, who nibbled at it with relish.

  After their lunch, Jam pulled on his shoes and socks which he had taken off and laid on a stone to dry. Although he had recovered from the swim, he was perplexed. How were he and Percy to escape from this island on which they had landed? Percy was thinking of the same thing, for he broke the silence by saying "Well, kiddo, where do we go from here?"

  "I don't know," replied the little boy. "We know now that we can't get across the river by swimming."

  "No more water for me," said Percy decisively. "I felt just like a wet rat when I finally managed to drag myself ashore."

  Jam laughed at his friend, for how else could a wet rat feel than like a wet rat? Percy's huge body had only made his appearance more comical when he had crawled out upon the island, dripping water at every step.

  When the two were thoroughly dried and rested they decided to explore the island Perhaps we'll find a boat here or a raft, "suggested Jain." Then we could get across the rest of the river to the land of the Winkies."

  "We'll make it somehow, kiddo," said Percy optimistically, for with his feet once more upon dry land he felt much better.

  "I think that I'll carry the kite with me, "Jam said picking up the great frame." It really isn't very heavy, and I don't want to fold it up until I'm sure that it is thoroughly dry."

  The shore sloped up to the wooded portion of the island, so Jam and Percy walked toward the trees.

  As they neared the forest, something swooped down toward them from above, and a queer, flat voice cried "Who goes there?"

  They were so startled by this sudden appearance that they hastily retreated to the shore again. Then advancing cautiously, they strained their eyes upward to see what had surprised them.

  "Look!" Cried Jam. "Kites!"

  Turning in the direction in which Jam was pointing, Percy saw, sailing above them in the treetops hundreds of paper kites with long streaming tails of cloth. Each kite had a face painted on it As the rat and the boy walked nearer to the trees once more the kites swooped down toward them, screaming and crying in loud voices.

  "Why, I believe they're alive!" Said Jam in a wondering tone of voice. "They're talking to us."

  "So they are, kiddo, so they are, "replied the rat sitting up on his haunches and peering at the odd shaped paper creatures.

  A large, red kite sailed down close to their heads and then, hovering above them, it inquired sternly "Are you friend or foe?"

  "We're friends, of course," said Jam pleasantly.

  "I've always liked kites, as you can see. They're fun to fly."

  The kite sailed back up to his comrades and called "They say they are our friends, and they have a Strange Kite with them."

  "What does the Strange Kite say?" Called the others.

  The red kite swooped down toward them again and asked, "What does your kite have to say to us?"

  "Nothing, I guess. It can't talk," Jam explai
ned.

  "Why not?" Inquired Red Kite.

  "Because kites don't talk," the child said before he thought.

  "We do," the Red Kite reminded him.

  "That's right, kiddo," Percy agreed.

  "I know," the Red Kite said after examining Jam's Collapsible Kite. "It has no mouth. No wonder it can't talk."

  "Do you have a pencil with you, kiddo?" Percy asked Jam. "You could draw a face on your kite and see if these others are right."

  Jam went through the pockets of his jeans and came up with a short stub of a pencil. Laying the kite down on a level piece of ground, he drew two eyes a nose, and a generous mouth on the paper that covered the wooden frame. No sooner had he drawn an eye than it winked at him. No sooner had he drawn the mouth than the kite spoke.

  "Greetings, brother kites," came the flat voice.

  "Greetings to you," screamed the other kites. "Now perhaps you can rescue us."

  "Rescue you? But what is wrong with you?" Inquired the boy, the kite, and Percy in unison.

  "We are prisoners on this lonely isle," they sobbed in unison. ';' We have been here for many long years."

  The Red Kite sailed closer again to explain. "It's a long sad story," he began.

  "Then let us sit down and be comfortable," suggested Jam, and he found a fallen tree on which to perch, while Percy sat on the ground beside him, and the Collapsible Kite floated in the air a few feet over their heads.

  "Tell on, friend kite," said Percy.

  "We were once free kites, the toys of the little boys who live in the land of the Winkies, over yonder,"

  said the kite, looking toward the west shore of the murmuring river. "We were very happy there, for the children would take us out into the fields and let us fly up in the breezes that blew across the land.

  Each of us had a home and a beloved young master.

  But this was many years ago when the land of the Winkies was ruled by a Wicked Witch. She was a bad and disagreeable old hag, and hated to see anyone happy. One lovely day the children were all out in the fields flying their kites when the Wicked Witch of the West flew by on her magic broomstick. Infuriated at seeing the happy children, she snatched all of us away from our owners and flew to this island with us. Here she tied us fast to the branches of the trees and flew away, laughing gleefully at her wicked deed."

  "Why didn't you untie yourselves and fly home again?" Asked the rat.

  "We have no hands, only faces and tails," replied the kite. "So once our strings were tied securely to the trees, we were unable to free ourselves and were forced to fly over this island always. We heard from the breezes that blow us that the Wicked Witch was destroyed by a little girl who melted her with a bucket of water, but since no one knew that she had imprisoned us here, no one came to rescue us."

  "How very, very sad," cried the Collapsible Kite in sympathy.

  "I think that perhaps we can help you," said kindhearted Jam. "I can climb trees. I'll be glad to untie any strings that I can get to."

  "Before I grew so large," said Percy, "I was quite a climber, so I should be able to help with the job."

  It took some time for Jam and the rat to find in which trees the different kites were tied and more time to climb the trees and loose them from their moorings. Percy found that he could climb as well as ever, even though he was now ten times his former size. After several hours, all of the kites were free and they flew high in the heavens, darting up and down in joy at their liberty.

  The leader said to Jam, "What can we do to thank you for your help, little boy?"

  "We were trying to find some means of escape from this island when we happened upon you," Jam replied. "We want to get to the Land of the Winkies which is now ruled by a Tin Woodman who may help me to get back to my home again."

  "We tried to swim the river; but the current was too strong for us and swept us down the river to your island," said Percy. "Now we're stranded here in the middle of the stream."

  "Why couldn't I carry you across the river?" Asked the Collapsible Kite.

  "There's no way to hang on to you, now that the crate is broken, "Jam explained. And he told the kites of Kite Island how he and Percy had come to Oz carried by the Collapsible Kite.

  "Let me have a conference with my fellow kites,"

  said the big red one. "We may be able to show our gratitude to you by helping you to get to the Land of the Winkies. We, too, shall be returning there to find our little masters again."

  "But they'll have grown up by now, "objected Jam" and won't want to play with kites."

  "Oh, no," replied the kite, "They will still be children, for no one grows old in the Land of Oz. People stay whatever age they wish to remain."

  "I've never heard of any place like that, "said Jam" but then, I've never heard of lots of the queer things that have happened to me since I landed here such a short time ago."

  The Red Kite flew off to join his fellow flyers, and after some minutes of talk he returned.

  "I think we may be able to suggest a way to get you across the river," the Red Kite said, "if you can find two small boards along the river bank."

  Jam and Percy went down to the river and looked along the water's edge. After a short time Percy came upon some pieces of wood that had floated down the river and had been washed up on the bank by the water. Picking up two of them, he called to Jam to return with him, and they carried the boards back to the edge of the woods where they had left the kites.

  "Good," exclaimed the Red Kite when he saw that Percy had found the driftwood. "This is our plan.

  You must make swings of the boards and the ropes that seem to be hanging from the Collapsible Kite.

  Then fasten the swings to the kite so that you will be hanging from them in much the same way that the crate was suspended. Then we will guide you to the Land of the Winkies."

  Percy looked skeptical. "Do you think that we can hang on to swings, kiddo, way up there in the air without falling?"

  "Certainly," the Red Kite replied. "You are clever enough to hold on tightly to the ropes."

  "I'll take a chance on flying," declared Jam, "I don't want to stay on this island for the rest of my life." And saying this, he began to tie the two boards on to the Collapsible Kite with the ropes.

  Suddenly he stopped. "But there's no wind to help us now," he said.

  "It doesn't matter," soothed the Collapsible Kite.

  "Since I've landed in Oz I have discovered that I can fly all by myself, wind or no wind."

  "Good, then we have nothing to worry about."

  Percy was not so sure of this. "Be sure that the knots are good and tight, kiddo," he cautioned Jam.

  "They are square knots, "Jam declared proudly" so you can rest assured that they will not slip."

  Percy took heart at this remark and decided that he, too, was willing to take the kite ride across the rushing river.

  In a few minutes the seats were ready for the two passengers. Jam sat in one, while Percy sat in the other, clinging tightly to the two ropes with his front Paws. He still was not too happy about the idea of flying through the air in so precarious a manner, but if Jam was willing to risk the trip Percy felt that he could not show his fear.

  "Hold tight," cried the kites.

  "Don't fly too fast or too high at first, kiddo," Percy begged the Collapsible Kite. "High places make me dizzy."

  "At least you can't turn white with fear," giggled Jam, "for you're white already." Percy ignored this remark, which he didn't think was very funny, but all of the kites chuckled to themselves.

  "Ready?" Asked the Collapsible Kite.

  "Ready," said Jam and Percy in unison.

  With this the Collapsible Kite soared up into the air, over the tree tops, with the other kites as an escort. They were off on their journey. After the first few minutes Jam discovered that sitting in the seat under the kite was much like being in a swing. He enjoyed his trip immensely and watched the scenery as it raced past below him. The kites flew faster and
faster, and soon they were traveling at high speed leaving the island and the river far behind them.

  Percy, however, was so scared that he kept his eyes shut tightly and clung to the ropes for dear life.

  Chapter 10

  Jam Meets the Tin Woodman

  THE sun was beginning to sink in the west, when Jam saw a bright light ahead.

  "I wonder what that glow is," he called to the kites who were leading him. "It looks as if something is on fire."

  As they drew rapidly nearer to the light the Red Kite said, "It looks like a building with the sun reflected from it."

  And that was what it was. The rays of the sun, as it sank in the west, were reflected from the walls and towers of a marvelous castle, all made of tin. As they drew closer to the structure the Red Kite said "If you wish, you can fly to earth here. I am sure that you will find someone who will direct you to the Tin Woodman. He probably lives in this tin castle that we see before us."

  With these words the Collapsible Kite swooped earthward and hovered a few feet above the ground allowing Jam to step easily from the seat to the grass.

  Percy still clung to the ropes, eyes tightly closed, not realizing that he had come to the end of his journey.

  "Percy," said Jam, "Percy, we're here!"

  At these words the white rat opened his eyes, and seeing that his feet were almost touching the lawn over which the kites hung, he nimbly hopped from the board and heaved a sigh of relief.

  "I hope I never have to travel like that again," he stated positively. "Not that we don't appreciate the lift, kiddo," he hastened to add, fearing he had hurt the Collapsible Kite's feelings, "but flying just doesn't seem to agree with me too well."

  "Thank you for showing us how to get here," said Jam gratefully to the kites, "for it would have taken us several days to have walked this distance, even if we had managed to find some way to cross the rest of the river."

  After bidding Jam and Percy goodbye, the kites soared into the air and flew away. The boy and the rat waved until the kites were out of sight. Then with the Collapsible Kite hovering near them, they headed for the castle.