CHAPTER 9
The Kingdom of Jinxland
Trot rode with more comfort than she had expected, although the swingswayed so much that she had to hold on tight with both hands. Cap'nBill's bird followed the Ork, and Trot came next, with Button-Brighttrailing behind her. It was quite an imposing procession, butunfortunately there was no one to see it, for the Ork had headed straightfor the great sandy desert and in a few minutes after starting they wereflying high over the broad waste, where no living thing could exist.
The little girl thought this would be a bad place for the birds to losestrength, or for the cloth ropes to give way; but although she could nothelp feeling a trifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the hugeand brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well as in Cap'n Bill'sknowledge of how to twist and fasten a rope so it would hold.
That was a remarkably big desert. There was nothing to relieve themonotony of view and every minute seemed an hour and every hour a day.Disagreeable fumes and gases rose from the sands, which would have beendeadly to the travelers had they not been so high in the air. As it was,Trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath of fresher air filled hernostrils and on looking ahead she saw a great cloud of pink-tinted mist.Even while she wondered what it could be, the Ork plunged boldly into themist and the other birds followed. She could see nothing for a time, norcould the bird which carried her see where the Ork had gone, but it keptflying as sturdily as ever and in a few moments the mist was passed andthe girl saw a most beautiful landscape spread out below her, extendingas far as her eye could reach.
She saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fields of waving grain,fountains, rivers and lakes; and throughout the scene were scatteredgroups of pretty houses and a few grand castles and palaces.
Over all this delightful landscape--which from Trot's high perch seemedlike a magnificent painted picture--was a rosy glow such as we sometimessee in the west at sunset. In this case, however, it was not in the westonly, but everywhere.
No wonder the Ork paused to circle slowly over this lovely country. Theother birds followed his action, all eyeing the place with equal delight.Then, as with one accord, the four formed a group and slowly saileddownward. This brought them to that part of the newly-discovered landwhich bordered on the desert's edge; but it was just as pretty here asanywhere, so the Ork and the birds alighted and the three passengers atonce got out of their swings.
"Oh, Cap'n Bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimed Trot rapturously."How lucky we were to discover this beautiful country!"
"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit, Trot," replied the oldsailor-man, looking around him, "but we don't know, as yet, what itspeople are like."
"No one could live in such a country without being happy and good--I'msure of that," she said earnestly. "Don't you think so, Button-Bright?"
"I'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy. "It tires me tothink, and I never seem to gain anything by it. When we see the peoplewho live here we will know what they are like, and no 'mount of thinkingwill make them any different."
"That's true enough," said the Ork. "But now I want to make a proposal.While you are getting acquainted with this new country, which looks as ifit contains everything to make one happy, I would like to fly along--allby myself--and see if I can find my home on the other side of the greatdesert. If I do, I will stay there, of course. But if I fail to findOrkland I will return to you in a week, to see if I can do anything moreto assist you."
They were sorry to lose their queer companion, but could offer noobjection to the plan; so the Ork bade them good-bye and rising swiftlyin the air, he flew over the country and was soon lost to view in thedistance.
The three birds which had carried our friends now begged permission toreturn by the way they had come, to their own homes, saying they wereanxious to show their families how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill andTrot and Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for their assistanceand soon the birds began their long flight toward the Land of Mo.
Being now left to themselves in this strange land, the three comradesselected a pretty pathway and began walking along it. They believedthis path would lead them to a splendid castle which they espied in thedistance, the turrets of which towered far above the tops of the treeswhich surrounded it. It did not seem very far away, so they sauntered onslowly, admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the pathwayand listening to the singing of the birds and the soft chirping of thegrasshoppers.
Presently the path wound over a little hill. In a valley that lay beyondthe hill was a tiny cottage surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. Onthe shady porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a pleasantfaced woman sitting amidst a group of children, to whom she was tellingstories. The children quickly discovered the strangers and ran towardthem with exclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and her friendsbecame the center of a curious group, all chattering excitedly. Cap'nBill's wooden leg seemed to arouse the wonder of the children, as theycould not understand why he had not two meat legs. This attention seemedto please the old sailor, who patted the heads of the children kindly andthen, raising his hat to the woman, he inquired:
"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?"
She stared hard at all three of the strangers as she replied briefly:"Jinxland."
"Oh!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. "And where is Jinxland,please?"
"In the Quadling Country," said she.
"What!" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. "Do you mean to say this is theQuadling Country of the Land of Oz?"
"To be sure I do," the woman answered. "Every bit of land that issurrounded by the great desert is the Land of Oz, as you ought to knowas well as I do; but I'm sorry to say that Jinxland is separated fromthe rest of the Quadling Country by that row of high mountains you seeyonder, which have such steep sides that no one can cross them. So welive here all by ourselves, and are ruled by our own King, instead of byOzma of Oz."
"I've been to the Land of Oz before," said Button-Bright, "but I've neverbeen here."
"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?' asked Trot.
"No," said Button-Bright.
"It is on the Map of Oz, though," asserted the woman, "and it's a finecountry, I assure you. If only," she added, and then paused to lookaround her with a frightened expression. "If only--" here she stoppedagain, as if not daring to go on with her speech.
"If only what, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill.
The woman sent the children into the house. Then she came closer to thestrangers and whispered: "If only we had a different King, we would bevery happy and contented."
"What's the matter with your King?" asked Trot, curiously. But the womanseemed frightened to have said so much. She retreated to her porch,merely saying:
"The King punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects."
"What's treason?" asked Button-Bright.
"In this case," replied Cap'n Bill, "treason seems to consist of knockin'the King; but I guess we know his disposition now as well as if the ladyhad said more."
"I wonder," said Trot, going up to the woman, "if you could spare ussomething to eat. We haven't had anything but popcorn and lemonade for along time."
"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you some food," the womananswered, and entering her cottage she soon returned with a tray loadedwith sandwiches, cakes and cheese. One of the children drew a bucket ofclear, cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate heartily andenjoyed the good things immensely.
When Button-Bright could eat no more he filled the pockets of his jacketwith cakes and cheese, and not even the children objected to this. Indeedthey all seemed pleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n Bill decidedthat no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, the people would provefriendly and hospitable.
"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving his hand towardthe towers that rose above the trees.
"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl," she
said.
"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?"
"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers and war captains,"she replied.
"Is he hunting now?" Trot inquired.
"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about the King's actions thesafer we are."
It was evident the woman did not like to talk about King Krewl and so,having finished their meal, they said good-bye and continued along thepathway.
"Don't you think we'd better keep away from that King's castle, Cap'n?"asked Trot.
"Well," said he, "King Krewl would find out, sooner or later, that we arein his country, so we may as well face the music now. Perhaps he isn'tquite so bad as that woman thinks he is. Kings aren't always popular withtheir people, you know, even if they do the best they know how."
"Ozma is pop'lar," said Button-Bright.
"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I've heard," remarkedTrot musingly, as she walked beside the boy. "And, after all, we arereally in the Land of Oz, where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybodyelse. I never heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,Button-Bright?"
"Not when she knows about it," he replied. "But those birds landed us injust the wrong place, seems to me. They might have carried us right on,over that row of mountains, to the Em'rald City."
"True enough," said Cap'n Bill; "but they didn't, an' so we must make thebest of Jinxland. Let's try not to be afraid."
"Oh, I'm not very scared," said Button-Bright, pausing to look at a pinkrabbit that popped its head out of a hole in the field near by.
"Nor am I," added Trot. "Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad to be anywhere at allin the wonderful fairyland of Oz that I think I'm the luckiest girl inall the world. Dorothy lives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so doesthe Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the Shaggy Man--and allthe rest of 'em that we've heard so much about not to mention Ozma, whomust be the sweetest and loveliest girl in all the world!"
"Take your time, Trot," advised Button-Bright. "You don't have to sayit all in one breath, you know. And you haven't mentioned half of thecurious people in the Em'rald City."
"That 'ere Em'rald City," said Cap'n Bill impressively, "happens to beon the other side o' those mountains, that we're told no one is ableto cross. I don't want to discourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most asmuch separated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when we lived inCaliforny."
There was so much truth in this statement that they all walked on insilence for some time. Finally they reached the grove of stately treesthat bordered the grounds of the King's castle. They had gone half-waythrough it when the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 11
