CHAPTER 6
The Flight of the Midgets
Cap'n Bill and Trot rode very comfortably in the sunbonnet. The motionwas quite steady, for they weighed so little that the Ork flew withouteffort. Yet they were both somewhat nervous about their future fate andcould not help wishing they were safe on land and their natural sizeagain.
"You're terr'ble small, Trot," remarked Cap'n Bill, looking at hiscompanion.
"Same to you, Cap'n," she said with a laugh; "but as long as we have thepurple berries we needn't worry about our size."
"In a circus," mused the old man, "we'd be curiosities. But in asunbonnet--high up in the air--sailin' over a big, unknown ocean--theyain't no word in any booktionary to describe us."
"Why, we're midgets, that's all," said the little girl.
The Ork flew silently for a long time. The slight swaying of thesunbonnet made Cap'n Bill drowsy, and he began to doze. Trot, however,was wide awake, and after enduring the monotonous journey as long as shewas able she called out:
"Don't you see land anywhere, Mr. Ork?"
"Not yet," he answered. "This is a big ocean and I've no idea in whichdirection the nearest land to that island lies; but if I keep flying in astraight line I'm sure to reach some place some time."
That seemed reasonable, so the little people in the sunbonnet remained aspatient as possible; that is, Cap'n Bill dozed and Trot tried to rememberher geography lessons so she could figure out what land they were likelyto arrive at.
For hours and hours the Ork flew steadily, keeping to the straight lineand searching with his eyes the horizon of the ocean for land. Cap'n Billwas fast asleep and snoring and Trot had laid her head on his shoulder torest it when suddenly the Ork exclaimed:
"There! I've caught a glimpse of land, at last."
At this announcement they roused themselves. Cap'n Bill stood up andtried to peek over the edge of the sunbonnet.
"What does it look like?" he inquired.
"Looks like another island," said the Ork; "but I can judge it better ina minute or two."
"I don't care much for islands, since we visited that other one,"declared Trot.
Soon the Ork made another announcement.
"It is surely an island, and a little one, too," said he. "But I won'tstop, because I see a much bigger land straight ahead of it."
"That's right," approved Cap'n Bill. "The bigger the land, the better itwill suit us."
"It's almost a continent," continued the Ork after a brief silence,during which he did not decrease the speed of his flight. "I wonder if itcan be Orkland, the place I have been seeking so long?"
"I hope not," whispered Trot to Cap'n Bill--so softly that the Ork couldnot hear her--"for I shouldn't like to be in a country where only Orkslive. This one Ork isn't a bad companion, but a lot of him wouldn't bemuch fun."
After a few more minutes of flying the Ork called out in a sad voice:
"No! this is not my country. It's a place I have never seen before,although I have wandered far and wide. It seems to be all mountains anddeserts and green valleys and queer cities and lakes and rivers--mixed upin a very puzzling way."
"Most countries are like that," commented Cap'n Bill. "Are you going toland?"
"Pretty soon," was the reply. "There is a mountain peak just ahead of me.What do you say to our landing on that?"
"All right," agreed the sailor-man, for both he and Trot were gettingtired of riding in the sunbonnet and longed to set foot on solid groundagain.
So in a few minutes the Ork slowed down his speed and then came to astop so easily that they were scarcely jarred at all. Then the creaturesquatted down until the sunbonnet rested on the ground, and began tryingto unfasten with its claws the knotted strings.
This proved a very clumsy task, because the strings were tied at the backof the Ork's neck, just where his claws would not easily reach. Aftermuch fumbling he said:
"I'm afraid I can't let you out, and there is no one near to help me."
This was at first discouraging, but after a little thought Cap'n Billsaid:
"If you don't mind, Trot, I can cut a slit in your sunbonnet with myknife."
"Do," she replied. "The slit won't matter, 'cause I can sew it up againafterward, when I am big."
So Cap'n Bill got out his knife, which was just as small, in proportion,as he was, and after considerable trouble managed to cut a long slit inthe sunbonnet. First he squeezed through the opening himself and thenhelped Trot to get out.
When they stood on firm ground again their first act was to begin eatingthe dark purple berries which they had brought with them. Two of theseTrot had guarded carefully during the long journey, by holding them inher lap, for their safety meant much to the tiny people.
"I'm not very hungry," said the little girl as she handed a berry toCap'n Bill, "but hunger doesn't count, in this case. It's like takingmedicine to make you well, so we must manage to eat 'em, somehow orother."
But the berries proved quite pleasant to taste and as Cap'n Bill andTrot nibbled at their edges their forms began to grow in size--slowlybut steadily. The bigger they grew the easier it was for them to eatthe berries, which of course became smaller to them, and by the time thefruit was eaten our friends had regained their natural size.
The little girl was greatly relieved when she found herself as large asshe had ever been, and Cap'n Bill shared her satisfaction; for, althoughthey had seen the effect of the berries on the Ork, they had not beensure the magic fruit would have the same effect on human beings, or thatthe magic would work in any other country than that in which the berriesgrew.
"What shall we do with the other four berries?" asked Trot, as she pickedup her sunbonnet, marveling that she had ever been small enough to ridein it. "They're no good to us now, are they, Cap'n?"
"I'm not sure as to that," he replied. "If they were eaten by one who hadnever eaten the lavender berries, they might have no effect at all; butthen, contrarywise, they might. One of 'em has got badly jammed, so I'llthrow it away, but the other three I b'lieve I'll carry with me. They'remagic things, you know, and may come handy to us some time."
He now searched in his big pockets and drew out a small wooden box witha sliding cover. The sailor had kept an assortment of nails, of varioussizes, in this box, but those he now dumped loosely into his pocket andin the box placed the three sound purple berries.
When this important matter was attended to they found time to look aboutthem and see what sort of place the Ork had landed them in.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 8
