CHAPTER 16
Pon Summons the King to Surrender
Gloria had drawn near to the group to listen to their talk, and it seemedto interest her in spite of her frigid manner. They knew, of course, thatthe poor Princess could not help being cold and reserved, so they triednot to blame her.
"I ought to have come here a little sooner," said the Scarecrow,regretfully; "but Glinda sent me as soon as she discovered you werehere and were likely to get into trouble. And now that we are alltogether--except Button-Bright, over whom it is useless to worry--Ipropose we hold a council of war, to decide what is best to be done."
That seemed a wise thing to do, so they all sat down upon the grass,including Gloria, and the grasshopper perched upon Trot's shoulder andallowed her to stroke him gently with her hand.
"In the first place," began the Scarecrow, "this King Krewl is a usurperand has no right to rule this Kingdom of Jinxland."
"That is true," said Pon, eagerly. "My father was King before him, andI--"
"You are a gardener's boy," interrupted the Scarecrow. "Your father hadno right to rule, either, for the rightful King of this land was thefather of Princess Gloria, and only she is entitled to sit upon thethrone of Jinxland."
"Good!" exclaimed Trot. "But what'll we do with King Krewl? I s'pose hewon't give up the throne unless he has to."
"No, of course not," said the Scarecrow. "Therefore it will be our dutyto _make_ him give up the throne."
"How?" asked Trot.
"Give me time to think," was the reply. "That's what my brains are for. Idon't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are thebest that the Wizard of Oz ever turned out, and if I give them plenty oftime to work, the result usually surprises me."
"Take your time, then," suggested Trot. "There's no hurry."
"Thank you," said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half anhour. During this interval the grasshopper whispered in Trot's ear, towhich he was very close, and Trot whispered back to the grasshoppersitting upon her shoulder. Pon cast loving glances at Gloria, who paidnot the slightest heed to them.
Finally the Scarecrow laughed aloud.
"Brains working?" inquired Trot.
"Yes. They seem in fine order to-day. We will conquer King Krewl and putGloria upon his throne as Queen of Jinxland."
"Fine!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully."But how?"
"Leave the _how_ to me," said the Scarecrow proudly. "As a conqueror I'ma wonder. We will, first of all, write a message to send to King Krewl,asking him to surrender. If he refuses, then we will make him surrender."
"Why ask him, when we _know_ he'll refuse?" inquired Pon.
"Why, we must be polite, whatever we do," explained the Scarecrow. "Itwould be very rude to conquer a King without proper notice."
They found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink,none of which was at hand; so it was decided to send Pon as a messenger,with instructions to ask the King, politely but firmly, to surrender.
Pon was not anxious to be the messenger. Indeed, he hinted that it mightprove a dangerous mission.
But the Scarecrow was now the acknowledged head of the Army of Conquest,and he would listen to no refusal. So off Pon started for the King'scastle, and the others accompanied him as far as his hut, where they haddecided to await the gardener's boy's return.
I think it was because Pon had known the Scarecrow such a short time thathe lacked confidence in the straw man's wisdom. It was easy to say: "Wewill conquer King Krewl," but when Pon drew near to the great castle hebegan to doubt the ability of a straw-stuffed man, a girl, a grasshopperand a frozen-hearted Princess to do it. As for himself, he had neverthought of defying the King before.
That was why the gardener's boy was not very bold when he entered thecastle and passed through to the enclosed court where the King was justthen seated, with his favorite courtiers around him. None prevented Pon'sentrance, because he was known to be the gardener's boy, but when theKing saw him he began to frown fiercely. He considered Pon to be to blamefor all his trouble with Princess Gloria, who since her heart had beenfrozen had escaped to some unknown place, instead of returning to thecastle to wed Googly-Goo, as she had been expected to do. So the Kingbared his teeth angrily as he demanded:
"What have you done with Princess Gloria?"
"Nothing, your Majesty! I have done nothing at all," answered Pon in afaltering voice. "She does not love me any more and even refuses to speakto me."
"Then why are you here, you rascal?" roared the King.
Pon looked first one way and then another, but saw no means of escape; sohe plucked up courage.
"I am here to summon your Majesty to surrender."
"What!" shouted the King. "Surrender? Surrender to whom?"
Pon's heart sank to his boots.
"To the Scarecrow," he replied.
Some of the courtiers began to titter, but King Krewl was greatlyannoyed. He sprang up and began to beat poor Pon with the golden staff hecarried. Pon howled lustily and would have run away had not two of thesoldiers held him until his Majesty was exhausted with punishing the boy.Then they let him go and he left the castle and returned along the road,sobbing at every step because his body was so sore and aching.
"Well," said the Scarecrow, "did the King surrender?"
"No; but he gave me a good drubbing!" sobbed poor Pon.
Trot was very sorry for Pon, but Gloria did not seem affected in anyway by her lover's anguish. The grasshopper leaped to the Scarecrow'sshoulder and asked him what he was going to do next.
"Conquer," was the reply. "But I will go alone, this time, for beatingscannot hurt me at all; nor can lance thrusts--or sword cuts--or arrowpricks."
"Why is that?" inquired Trot.
"Because I have no nerves, such as you meat people possess. Evengrasshoppers have nerves, but straw doesn't; so whatever they do--exceptjust one thing--they cannot injure me. Therefore I expect to conquer KingKrewl with ease."
"What is that one thing you excepted?" asked Trot.
"They will never think of it, so never mind. And now, if you will kindlyexcuse me for a time, I'll go over to the castle and do my conquering."
"You have no weapons," Pon reminded him.
"True," said the Scarecrow. "But if I carried weapons I might injuresomeone--perhaps seriously--and that would make me unhappy. I will justborrow that riding-whip, which I see in the corner of your hut, if youdon't mind. It isn't exactly proper to walk with a riding-whip, but Itrust you will excuse the inconsistency."
Pon handed him the whip and the Scarecrow bowed to all the party and leftthe hut, proceeding leisurely along the way to the King's castle.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 18
