CHAPTER 8
Button-Bright is Lost and Found Again
"Wake up--wake up!" called the voice of the Bumpy Man. "Didn't I tell youwinter was coming? I could hear it coming with my left ear, and the proofis that it is now snowing hard outside."
"Is it?" said Trot, rubbing her eyes and creeping out of her blanket."Where I live, in California, I have never seen snow, except far away onthe tops of high mountains."
"Well, this is the top of a high mountain," returned the bumpy one, "andfor that reason we get our heaviest snowfalls right here."
The little girl went to the window and looked out. The air was filledwith falling white flakes, so large in size and so queer in form that shewas puzzled.
"Are you certain this is snow?" she asked.
"To be sure. I must get my snow-shovel and turn out to shovel a path.Would you like to come with me?"
"Yes," she said, and followed the Bumpy Man out when he opened the door.Then she exclaimed: "Why, it isn't cold a bit!"
"Of course not," replied the man. "It was cold last night, before thesnowstorm; but snow, when it falls, is always crisp and warm."
Trot gathered a handful of it.
"Why, it's popcorn? 7 she cried.
"Certainly; all snow is popcorn. What did you expect it to be?"
"Popcorn is not snow in my country."
"Well, it is the only snow we have in the Land of Mo, so you may as wellmake the best of it," said he, a little impatiently. "I'm not responsiblefor the absurd things that happen in your country, and when you're in Moyou must do as the Momen do. Eat some of our snow, and you will find itis good. The only fault I find with our snow is that we get too much ofit at times."
With this the Bumpy Man set to work shoveling a path and he was so quickand industrious that he piled up the popcorn in great banks on eitherside of the trail that led to the mountain-top from the plains below.While he worked, Trot ate popcorn and found it crisp and slightly warm,as well as nicely salted and buttered. Presently Cap'n Bill came out ofthe house and joined her.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Mo snow," said she. "But it isn't real snow, although it falls from thesky. It's popcorn."
Cap'n Bill tasted it; then he sat down in the path and began to eat. TheOrk came out and pecked away with its bill as fast as it could. They allliked popcorn and they all were hungry this morning.
Meantime the flakes of "Mo snow" came down so fast that the number ofthem almost darkened the air. The Bumpy Man was now shoveling quite adistance down the mountain-side, while the path behind him rapidly filledup with fresh-fallen popcorn. Suddenly Trot heard him call out:
"Goodness gracious--mince pie and pancakes!--here is some one buried inthe snow."
She ran toward him at once and the others followed, wading through thecorn and crunching it underneath their feet. The Mo snow was pretty deepwhere the Bumpy Man was shoveling and from beneath a great bank of it hehad uncovered a pair of feet.
"Dear me! Someone has been lost in the storm," said Cap'n Bill. "I hopehe is still alive. Let's pull him out and see."
He took hold of one foot and the Bumpy Man took hold of the other. Thenthey both pulled and out from the heap of popcorn came a little boy.He was dressed in a brown velvet jacket and knickerbockers, with brownstockings, buckled shoes and a blue shirt-waist that had frills down itsfront. When drawn from the heap the boy was chewing a mouthful of popcornand both his hands were full of it. So at first he couldn't speak to hisrescuers but lay quite still and eyed them calmly until he had swallowedhis mouthful. Then he said:
"Get my cap," and stuffed more popcorn into his mouth.
While the Bumpy Man began shoveling into the corn-bank to find the boy'scap, Trot was laughing joyfully and Cap'n Bill had a broad grin on hisface. The Ork looked from one to another and asked:
"Who is this stranger?"
"Why, it's Button-Bright, of course," answered Trot. "If anyone everfinds a lost boy, he can make up his mind it's Button-Bright. But how heever came to be lost in this far-away country is more'n I can make out."
"Where does he belong?" inquired the Ork.
"His home used to be in Philadelphia, I think; but I'm quite sureButton-Bright doesn't belong anywhere."
"That's right," said the boy, nodding his head as he swallowed the secondmouthful.
"Everyone belongs somewhere," remarked the Ork.
"Not me," insisted Button-Bright. "I'm half-way 'round the world fromPhiladelphia, and I've lost my Magic Umbrella, that used to carry meanywhere. Stands to reason that if I can't get back I haven't any home.But I don't care much. This is a pretty good country, Trot. I've had lotsof fun here."
By this time the Mountain Ear had secured the boy's cap and was listeningto the conversation with much interest.
"It seems you know this poor, snow-covered castaway," he said.
"Yes, indeed," answered Trot. "We made a journey together to Sky Island,once, and were good friends."
"Well, then I'm glad I saved his life," said the Bumpy Man.
"Much obliged, Mr. Knobs," said Button-Bright, sitting up and staring athim, "but I don't believe you've saved anything except some popcorn thatI might have eaten had you not disturbed me. It was nice and warm in thatbank of popcorn, and there was plenty to eat. What made you dig me out?And what makes you so bumpy everywhere?"
"As for the bumps," replied the man, looking at himself with much pride,"I was born with them and I suspect they were a gift from the fairies.They make me look rugged and big, like the mountain I serve."
"All right," said Button-Bright and began eating popcorn again.
It had stopped snowing, now, and great flocks of birds were gatheringaround the mountain-side, eating the popcorn with much eagerness andscarcely noticing the people at all. There were birds of every size andcolor, most of them having gorgeous feathers and plumes.
"Just look at them!" exclaimed the Ork scornfully. "Aren't they dreadfulcreatures, all covered with feathers?"
"I think they're beautiful," said Trot, and this made the Ork soindignant that he went back into the house and sulked.
Button-Bright reached out his hand and caught a big bird by the leg. Atonce it rose into the air and it was so strong that it nearly carried thelittle boy with it. He let go the leg in a hurry and the bird flew downagain and began to eat of the popcorn, not being frightened in the least.
This gave Cap'n Bill an idea. He felt in his pocket and drew out severalpieces of stout string. Moving very quietly, so as to not alarm thebirds, he crept up to several of the biggest ones and tied cords aroundtheir legs, thus making them prisoners. The birds were so intent on theireating that they did not notice what had happened to them, and when abouttwenty had been captured in this manner Cap'n Bill tied the ends of allthe strings together and fastened them to a huge stone, so they could notescape.
The Bumpy Man watched the old sailor's actions with much curiosity.
"The birds will be quiet until they've eaten up all the snow," he said,"but then they will want to fly away to their homes. Tell me, sir, whatwill the poor things do when they find they can't fly?"
"It may worry 'em a little," replied Cap'n Bill, "but they're not goingto be hurt if they take it easy and behave themselves."
Our friends had all made a good breakfast of the delicious popcorn andnow they walked toward the house again. Button-Bright walked beside Trotand held her hand in his, because they were old friends and he likedthe little girl very much. The boy was not so old as Trot, and small asshe was he was half a head shorter in height. The most remarkable thingabout Button-Bright was that he was always quiet and composed, whateverhappened, and nothing was ever able to astonish him. Trot liked himbecause he was not rude and never tried to plague her. Cap'n Bill likedhim because he had found the boy cheerful and brave at all times, andwilling to do anything he was asked to do.
When they came to the house Trot sniffed the air and asked: "Don't Ismell perfume?'"
"I think you do," said the Bu
mpy Man. "You smell violets, and thatproves there is a breeze springing up from the south. All our winds andbreezes are perfumed and for that reason we are glad to have them blowin our direction. The south breeze always has a violet odor; the northbreeze has the fragrance of wild roses; the east breeze is perfumed withlilies-of-the-valley and the west wind with lilac blossoms. So we need noweather-vane to tell us which way the wind is blowing. We have only tosmell the perfume and it informs us at once."
Inside the house they found the Ork, and Button-Bright regarded thestrange, bird-like creature with curious interest. After examining itclosely for a time he asked:
"Which way does your tail whirl?"
"Either way," said the Ork.
Button-Bright put out his hand and tried to spin it.
"Don't do that!" exclaimed the Ork.
"Why not?' inquired the boy.
"Because it happens to be my tail, and I reserve the right to whirl itmyself," explained the Ork.
"Let's go out and fly somewhere," proposed Button-Bright. "I want to seehow the tail works."
"Not now," said the Ork. "I appreciate your interest in me, which I fullydeserve; but I only fly when I am going somewhere, and if I got started Imight not stop."
"That reminds me," remarked Cap'n Bill, "to ask you, friend Ork, how weare going to get away from here?"
"Get away!" exclaimed the Bumpy Man. "Why don't you stay here? You won'tfind any nicer place than Mo."
"Have you been anywhere else, sir?"
"No; I can't say that I have," admitted the Mountain Ear.
"Then permit me to say you're no judge," declared Cap'n Bill. "But youhaven't answered my question, friend Ork. How are we to get away fromthis mountain?"
The Ork reflected a while before he answered.
"I might carry one of you--the boy or the girl--upon my back," said he,"but three big people are more than I can manage, although I have carriedtwo of you for a short distance. You ought not to have eaten those purpleberries so soon."
"P'r'aps we did make a mistake," Cap'n Bill acknowledged.
"Or we might have brought some of those lavender berries with us, insteadof so many purple ones," suggested Trot regretfully.
Cap'n Bill made no reply to this statement, which showed he did notfully agree with the little girl; but he fell into deep thought, withwrinkled brows, and finally he said:
"If those purple berries would make anything grow bigger, whether it'deaten the lavender ones or not, I could find a way out of our troubles."
They did not understand this speech and looked at the old sailor as ifexpecting him to explain what he meant. But just then a chorus of shrillcries rose from outside.
"Here! Let me go--let me go!" the voices seemed to say. "Why are weinsulted in this way? Mountain Ear, come and help us!"
Trot ran to the window and looked out.
"It's the birds you caught, Cap'n," she said. "I didn't know they couldtalk."
"Oh, yes; all the birds in Mo are educated to talk," said the Bumpy Man.Then he looked at Cap'n Bill uneasily and added: "Won't you let the poorthings go?"
"I'll see," replied the sailor, and walked out to where the birds werefluttering and complaining because the strings would not allow them tofly away.
"Listen to me!" he cried, and at once they became still. "We three peoplewho are strangers in your land want to go to some other country, andwe want three of you birds to carry us there. We know we are asking agreat favor, but it's the only way we can think of--excep' walkin', an'I'm not much good at that because I've a wooden leg. Besides, Trot an'Button-Bright are too small to undertake a long and tiresome journey.Now, tell me: Which three of you birds will consent to carry us?"
The birds looked at one another as if greatly astonished. Then one ofthem replied:
"You must be crazy, old man. Not one of us is big enough to fly witheven the smallest of your party."
"I'll fix the matter of size," promised Cap'n Bill. "If three of you willagree to carry us, I'll make you big an' strong enough to do it, so itwon't worry you a bit."
The birds considered this gravely. Living in a magic country, they had nodoubt but that the strange one-legged man could do what he said. After alittle, one of them asked:
"If you make us big, would we stay big always?"
"I think so," replied Cap'n Bill.
They chattered a while among themselves and then the bird that had firstspoken said: "Til go, for one."
"So will I," said another; and after a pause a third said: "I'll go, too."
Perhaps more would have volunteered, for it seemed that for some reasonthey all longed to be bigger than they were; but three were enough forCap'n Bill's purpose and so he promptly released all the others, whoimmediately flew away.
The three that remained were cousins, and all were of the same brilliantplumage and in size about as large as eagles. When Trot questioned themshe found they were quite young, having only abandoned their nests a fewweeks before. They were strong young birds, with clear, brave eyes, andthe little girl decided they were the most beautiful of all the featheredcreatures she had ever seen.
Cap'n Bill now took from his pocket the wooden box with the sliding coverand removed the three purple berries, which were still in good condition.
"Eat these," he said, and gave one to each of the birds. They obeyed,finding the fruit very pleasant to taste. In a few seconds they began togrow in size and grew so fast that Trot feared they would never stop. Butthey finally did stop growing, and then they were much larger than theOrk, and nearly the size of full-grown ostriches.
Cap'n Bill was much pleased by this result.
"You can carry us now, all right," said he.
The birds strutted around with pride, highly pleased with their immensesize.
"I don't see, though," said Trot doubtfully, "how we're going to ride ontheir backs without falling off."
"We're not going to ride on their backs," answered Cap'n Bill. "I'm goingto make swings for us to ride in."
He then asked the Bumpy Man for some rope, but the man had no rope. Hehad, however, an old suit of gray clothes which he gladly presented toCap'n Bill, who cut the cloth into strips and twisted it so that it wasalmost as strong as rope. With this material he attached to each bird aswing that dangled below its feet, and Button-Bright made a trial flightin one of them to prove that it was safe and comfortable. When all thishad been arranged one of the birds asked:
"Where do you wish us to take you?"
"Why, just follow the Ork," said Cap'n Bill. "He will be our leader, andwherever the Ork flies you are to fly, and wherever the Ork lands you areto land. Is that satisfactory?"
The birds declared it was quite satisfactory, so Cap'n Bill took counselwith the Ork.
"On our way here," said that peculiar creature, "I noticed a broad, sandydesert at the left of me, on which was no living thing."
"Then we'd better keep away from it," replied the sailor.
"Not so," insisted the Ork. "I have found, on my travels, that the mostpleasant countries often lie in the midst of deserts; so I think it wouldbe wise for us to fly over this desert and discover what lies beyond it.For in the direction we came from lies the ocean, as we well know, andbeyond here is this strange Land of Mo, which we do not care to explore.On one side, as we can see from this mountain, is a broad expanse ofplain, and on the other the desert. For my part, I vote for the desert."
"What do you say, Trot?" inquired Cap'n Bill.
"It's all the same to me," she replied.
No one thought of asking Button-Bright's opinion, so it was decided tofly over the desert. They bade good-bye to the Bumpy Man and thanked himfor his kindness and hospitality. Then they seated themselves in theswings--one for each bird--and told the Ork to start away and they wouldfollow.
The whirl of the Ork's tail astonished the birds at first, but after hehad gone a short distance they rose in the air, carrying their passengerseasily, and flew with strong, regular strokes of their great wings in the
wake of their leader.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 10
