CHAPTER 14
The Frozen Heart
In the hut of Pon, the gardener's boy, Button-Bright was the first towaken in the morning. Leaving his companions still asleep, he went outinto the fresh morning air and saw some blackberries growing on bushesin a field not far away. Going to the bushes he found the berries ripeand sweet, so he began eating them. More bushes were scattered over thefields, so the boy wandered on, from bush to bush, without paying anyheed to where he was wandering. Then a butterfly fluttered by. He gavechase to it and followed it a long way. When finally he paused to lookaround him, Button-Bright could see no sign of Pon's house, nor had hethe slightest idea in which direction it lay.
"Well, I'm lost again," he remarked to himself. "But never mind; I'vebeen lost lots of times. Someone is sure to find me."
Trot was a little worried about Button-Bright when she awoke and foundhim gone. Knowing how careless he was, she believed that he had strayedaway, but felt that he would come back in time, because he had a habit ofnot staying lost. Pon got the little girl some food for her breakfast andthen together they went out of the hut and stood in the sunshine.
Pon's house was some distance off the road, but they could see it fromwhere they stood and both gave a start of surprise when they discoveredtwo soldiers walking along the roadway and escorting Princess Gloriabetween them. The poor girl had her hands bound together, to prevent herfrom struggling, and the soldiers rudely dragged her forward when hersteps seemed to lag.
Behind this group came King Krewl, wearing his jeweled crown and swingingin his hand a slender golden staff with a ball of clustered gems at oneend.
"Where are they going?'' asked Trot.
"To the house of the Wicked Witch, I fear," Pon replied. "Come, let usfollow them, for I am sure they intend to harm my dear Gloria."
"Won't they see us?" she asked timidly.
"We won't let them. I know a short cut through the trees to Blinkie'shouse," said he.
So they hurried away through the trees and reached the house of the witchahead of the King and his soldiers. Hiding themselves in the shrubbery,they watched the approach of poor Gloria and her escort, all of whompassed so near to them that Pon could have put out a hand and touched hissweetheart, had he dared to.
Blinkie's house had eight sides, with a door and a window in each side.Smoke was coming out of the chimney and as the guards brought Gloria toone of the doors it was opened by the old witch in person. She chuckledwith evil glee and rubbed her skinny hands together to show the delightwith which she greeted her victim, for Blinkie was pleased to be able toperform her wicked rites on one so fair and sweet as the Princess.
Gloria struggled to resist when they bade her enter the house, so thesoldiers forced her through the doorway and even the King gave her ashove as he followed close behind. Pon was so incensed at the crueltyshown Gloria that he forgot all caution and rushed forward to enter thehouse also; but one of the soldiers prevented him, pushing the gardener'sboy away with violence and slamming the door in his face.
"Never mind," said Trot soothingly, as Pon rose from where he had fallen."You couldn't do much to help the poor Princess if you were inside. Howunfortunate it is that you are in love with her!"
"True," he answered sadly, "it is indeed my misfortune. If I did notlove her, it would be none of my business what the King did to his nieceGloria; but the unlucky circumstance of my loving her makes it my duty todefend her."
"I don't see how you can, duty or no duty," observed Trot.
"No; I am powerless, for they are stronger than I. But we might peek inthrough the window and see what they are doing."
Trot was somewhat curious, too, so they crept up to one of the windowsand looked in, and it so happened that those inside the witch's housewere so busy they did not notice that Pon and Trot were watching them.
Gloria had been tied to a stout post in the center of the room and theKing was giving the Wicked Witch a quantity of money and jewels, whichGoogly-Goo had provided in payment. When this had been done the King saidto her:
"Are you perfectly sure you can freeze this maiden's heart, so that shewill no longer love that low gardener's boy?"
"Sure as witchcraft, your Majesty," the creature replied.
"Then get to work," said the King. "There may be some unpleasant featuresabout the ceremony that would annoy me, so I'll bid you good day andleave you to carry out your contract. One word, however: If you fail, Ishall burn you at the stake!" Then he beckoned to his soldiers to followhim, and throwing wide the door of the house walked out.
This action was so sudden that King Krewl almost caught Trot and Poneavesdropping, but they managed to run around the house before he sawthem. Away he marched, up the road, followed by his men, heartlesslyleaving Gloria to the mercies of old Blinkie.
When they again crept up to the window, Trot and Pon saw Blinkie gloatingover her victim. Although nearly fainting from fear, the proud Princessgazed with haughty defiance into the face of the wicked creature; but shewas bound so tightly to the post that she could do no more to express herloathing.
Pretty soon Blinkie went to a kettle that was swinging by a chain overthe fire and tossed into it several magical compounds. The kettle gavethree flashes, and at every flash another witch appeared in the room.
These hags were very ugly but when one-eyed Blinkie whispered her ordersto them they grinned with joy as they began dancing around Gloria.First one and then another cast something into the kettle, when to theastonishment of the watchers at the window all three of the old womenwere instantly transformed into maidens of exquisite beauty, dressedin the daintiest costumes imaginable. Only their eyes could not bedisguised, and an evil glare still shone in their depths. But if the eyeswere cast down or hidden, one could not help but admire these beautifulcreatures, even with the knowledge that they were mere illusions ofwitchcraft.
Trot certainly admired them, for she had never seen anything so daintyand bewitching, but her attention was quickly drawn to their deedsinstead of their persons, and then horror replaced admiration.
Into the kettle old Blinkie poured another mess from a big brass bottleshe took from a chest, and this made the kettle begin to bubble andsmoke violently. One by one the beautiful witches approached to stir thecontents of the kettle and to mutter a magic charm. Their movements weregraceful and rhythmic and the Wicked Witch who had called them to her aidwatched them with an evil grin upon her wrinkled face.
Finally the incantation was complete. The kettle ceased bubbling andtogether the witches lifted it from the fire. Then Blinkie brought awooden ladle and filled it from the contents of the kettle. Going withthe spoon to Princess Gloria she cried:
"Love no more! Magic art Now will freeze your mortal heart!"
With this she dashed the contents of the ladle full upon Gloria's breast.
Trot saw the body of the Princess become transparent, so that her beatingheart showed plainly. But now the heart turned from a vivid red to gray,and then to white. A layer of frost formed about it and tiny iciclesclung to its surface. Then slowly the body of the girl became visibleagain and the heart was hidden from view. Gloria seemed to have fainted,but now she recovered and, opening her beautiful eyes, stared coldly andwithout emotion at the group of witches confronting her.
Blinkie and the others knew by that one cold look that their charm hadbeen successful. They burst into a chorus of wild laughter and the threebeautiful ones began dancing again, while Blinkie unbound the Princessand set her free.
Trot rubbed her eyes to prove that she was wide awake and seeing clearly,for her astonishment was great when the three lovely maidens turned intougly, crooked hags again, leaning on broomsticks and canes. They jeeredat Gloria, but the Princess regarded them with cold disdain. Being nowfree, she walked to a door, opened it and passed out. And the witches lether go.
Trot and Pon had been so intent upon this scene that in their eagernessthey had pressed quite hard against the window. Just as Gloria went outof the house the w
indow-sash broke loose from its fastenings and fellwith a crash into the room. The witches uttered a chorus of screams andthen, seeing that their magical incantation had been observed, theyrushed for the open window with uplifted broomsticks and canes. But Ponwas off like the wind, and Trot followed at his heels. Fear lent themstrength to run, to leap across ditches, to speed up the hills and tovault the low fences as a deer would.
The band of witches had dashed through the window in pursuit; but Blinkiewas so old, and the others so crooked and awkward, that they soonrealized they would be unable to overtake the fugitives. So the threewho had been summoned by the Wicked Witch put their canes or broomsticksbetween their legs and flew away through the air, quickly disappearingagainst the blue sky. Blinkie, however, was so enraged at Pon and Trotthat she hobbled on in the direction they had taken, fully determinedto catch them, in time, and to punish them terribly for spying upon herwitchcraft.
When Pon and Trot had run so far that they were confident they had madegood their escape, they sat down near the edge of a forest to get theirbreath again, for both were panting hard from their exertions. Trot wasthe first to recover speech, and she said to her companion:
"My! wasn't it tenable?"
"The most terrible thing I ever saw," Pon agreed.
"And they froze Gloria's heart; so now she can't love you any more."
"Well, they froze her heart, to be sure," admitted Pon, "but I'm in hopesI can melt it with my love."
"Where do you s'pose Gloria is?' asked the girl, after a pause.
"She left the witch's house just before we did. Perhaps she has gone backto the King's castle," he said.
"I'm pretty sure she started off in a different direction," declaredTrot. "I looked over my shoulder, as I ran, to see how close the witcheswere, and I'm sure I saw Gloria walking slowly away toward the north."
"Then let us circle around that way," proposed Pon, "and perhaps we shallmeet her."
Trot agreed to this and they left the grove and began to circle aroundtoward the north, thus drawing nearer and nearer to old Blinkie's houseagain. The Wicked Witch did not suspect this change of direction, so whenshe came to the grove she passed through it and continued on.
Pon and Trot had reached a place less than half a mile from the witch'shouse when they saw Gloria walking toward them. The Princess moved withgreat dignity and with no show of haste whatever, holding her head highand looking neither to right nor left.
Pon rushed forward, holding out his arms as if to embrace her and callingher sweet names. But Gloria gazed upon him coldly and repelled him with ahaughty gesture. At this the poor gardener's boy sank upon his knees andhid his face in his arms, weeping bitter tears; but the Princess was notat all moved by his distress. Passing him by, she drew her skirts aside,as if unwilling they should touch him, and then she walked up the path away and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go next.
Trot was grieved by Pon's sobs and indignant because Gloria treated himso badly. But she remembered why.
"I guess your heart is frozen, all right," she said to the Princess.Gloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then turned her back upon the littlegirl. "Can't you like even me?" asked Trot, half pleadingly.
"No," said Gloria.
"Your voice sounds like a refrig'rator," sighed the little girl. "I'mawful sorry for you, 'cause you were sweet an' nice to me before thishappened. You can't help it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus'the same."
"My heart is frozen to all mortal loves," announced Gloria, calmly. "I donot love even myself."
"That's too bad," said Trot, "for, if you can't love anybody, you can'texpect anybody to love you."
"I do!" cried Pon. "I shall always love her."
"Well, you're just a gardener's boy," replied Trot, "and I didn't thinkyou 'mounted to much, from the first. I can love the old Princess Gloria,with a warm heart an' nice manners, but this one gives me the shivers."
"It's her icy heart, that's all," said Pon.
"That's enough," insisted Trot. "Seeing her heart isn't big enough toskate on, I can't see that she's of any use to anyone. For my part, I'mgoin' to try to find Button-Bright an' Cap'n Bill."
"I will go with you," decided Pon. "It is evident that Gloria no longerloves me and that her heart is frozen too stiff for me to melt it with myown love; therefore I may as well help you to find your friends."
As Trot started off, Pon cast one more imploring look at the Princess,who returned it with a chilly stare. So he followed after the little girl.
As for the Princess, she hesitated a moment and then turned in the samedirection the others had taken, but going far more slowly. Soon she heardfootsteps pattering behind her, and up came Googly-Goo, a little out ofbreath with running.
"Stop, Gloria!" he cried. "I have come to take you back to my mansion,where we are to be married."
She looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her head disdainfullyand walked on. But Googly-Goo kept beside her.
"What does this mean?" he demanded. "Haven't you discovered that you nolonger love that gardener's boy, who stood in my way?"
"Yes; I have discovered it," she replied. "My heart is frozen to allmortal loves. I cannot love you, or Pon, or the cruel King my uncle, oreven myself. Go your way, Googly-Goo, for I will wed no one at all."
He stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another minute heexclaimed angrily:
"You _must_ wed me, Princess Gloria, whether you want to or not! I paid tohave your heart frozen; I also paid the King to permit our marriage. Ifyou now refuse me it will mean that I have been robbed--robbed--robbed ofmy precious money and jewels!"
He almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold, bitter laugh andpassed on. Googly-Goo caught at her arm, as if to restrain her, but shewhirled and dealt him a blow that sent him reeling into a ditch besidethe path. Here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water, dazedwith surprise.
Finally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed from the ditch. ThePrincess had gone; so, muttering threats of vengeance upon her, upon theKing and upon Blinkie, old Googly-Goo hobbled back to his mansion to havethe mud removed from his costly velvet clothes.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 16
