13. The Den of the Dragonettes
Our friends had a good start and were able to maintain it, for withtheir eight wings they could go just as fast as could the Gargoyles.All the way to the great rock the wooden people followed them, and whenJim finally alighted at the mouth of the cavern the pursuers were stillsome distance away.
"But, I'm afraid they'll catch us yet," said Dorothy, greatly excited.
"No; we must stop them," declared the Wizard. "Quick Zeb, help me pulloff these wooden wings!"
They tore off the wings, for which they had no further use, and theWizard piled them in a heap just outside the entrance to the cavern.Then he poured over them all the kerosene oil that was left in hisoil-can, and lighting a match set fire to the pile.
The flames leaped up at once and the bonfire began to smoke and roarand crackle just as the great army of wooden Gargoyles arrived. Thecreatures drew back at once, being filled with fear and horror; forsuch as dreadful thing as a fire they had never before known in all thehistory of their wooden land.
Inside the archway were several doors, leading to different rooms builtinto the mountain, and Zeb and the Wizard lifted these wooden doorsfrom their hinges and tossed them all on the flames.
"That will prove a barrier for some time to come," said the little man,smiling pleasantly all over his wrinkled face at the success of theirstratagem. "Perhaps the flames will set fire to all that miserablewooden country, and if it does the loss will be very small and theGargoyles never will be missed. But come, my children; let us explorethe mountain and discover which way we must go in order to escape fromthis cavern, which is getting to be almost as hot as a bake-oven."
To their disappointment there was within this mountain no regularflight of steps by means of which they could mount to the earth'ssurface. A sort of inclined tunnel led upward for a way, and theyfound the floor of it both rough and steep. Then a sudden turn broughtthem to a narrow gallery where the buggy could not pass. This delayedand bothered them for a while, because they did not wish to leave thebuggy behind them. It carried their baggage and was useful to ride inwherever there were good roads, and since it had accompanied them sofar in their travels they felt it their duty to preserve it. So Zeband the Wizard set to work and took off the wheels and the top, andthen they put the buggy edgewise, so it would take up the smallestspace. In this position they managed, with the aid of the patientcab-horse, to drag the vehicle through the narrow part of the passage.It was not a great distance, fortunately, and when the path grewbroader they put the buggy together again and proceeded morecomfortably. But the road was nothing more than a series of rifts orcracks in the mountain, and it went zig-zag in every direction,slanting first up and then down until they were puzzled as to whetherthey were any nearer to the top of the earth than when they hadstarted, hours before.
"Anyhow," said Dorothy, "we've 'scaped those awful Gurgles, and that'sONE comfort!"
"Probably the Gargoyles are still busy trying to put out the fire,"returned the Wizard. "But even if they succeeded in doing that itwould be very difficult for them to fly amongst these rocks; so I amsure we need fear them no longer."
Once in a while they would come to a deep crack in the floor, whichmade the way quite dangerous; but there was still enough oil in thelanterns to give them light, and the cracks were not so wide but thatthey were able to jump over them. Sometimes they had to climb overheaps of loose rock, where Jim could scarcely drag the buggy. At suchtimes Dorothy, Zeb and the Wizard all pushed behind, and lifted thewheels over the roughest places; so they managed, by dint of hard work,to keep going. But the little party was both weary and discouragedwhen at last, on turning a sharp corner, the wanderers found themselvesin a vast cave arching high over their heads and having a smooth, levelfloor.
The cave was circular in shape, and all around its edge, near to theground, appeared groups of dull yellow lights, two of them being alwaysside by side. These were motionless at first, but soon began toflicker more brightly and to sway slowly from side to side and then upand down.
"What sort of place is this?" asked the boy, trying to see more clearlythrough the gloom.
"I cannot imagine, I'm sure," answered the Wizard, also peering about.
"Woogh!" snarled Eureka, arching her back until her hair stood straighton end; "it's den of alligators, or crocodiles, or some other dreadfulcreatures! Don't you see their terrible eyes?"
"Eureka sees better in the dark than we can," whispered Dorothy. "Tellus, dear, what do the creatures look like?" she asked, addressing herpet.
"I simply can't describe 'em," answered the kitten, shuddering. "Theireyes are like pie-plates and their mouths like coal-scuttles. Buttheir bodies don't seem very big."
"Where are they?" enquired the girl.
"They are in little pockets all around the edge of this cavern. Oh,Dorothy--you can't imagine what horrid things they are! They're uglierthan the Gargoyles."
"Tut-tut! be careful how you criticise your neighbors," spoke a raspingvoice near by. "As a matter of fact you are rather ugly-lookingcreatures yourselves, and I'm sure mother has often told us we were theloveliest and prettiest things in all the world."
Hearing these words our friends turned in the direction of the sound,and the Wizard held his lanterns so that their light would flood one ofthe little pockets in the rock.
"Why, it's a dragon!" he exclaimed.
"No," answered the owner of the big yellow eyes which were blinking atthem so steadily; "you are wrong about that. We hope to grow to bedragons some day, but just now we're only dragonettes."
"What's that?" asked Dorothy, gazing fearfully at the great scaleyhead, the yawning mouth and the big eyes.
"Young dragons, of course; but we are not allowed to call ourselvesreal dragons until we get our full growth," was the reply. "The bigdragons are very proud, and don't think children amount to much; butmother says that some day we will all be very powerful and important."
"Where is your mother?" asked the Wizard, anxiously looking around.
"She has gone up to the top of the earth to hunt for our dinner. Ifshe has good luck she will bring us an elephant, or a brace ofrhinoceri, or perhaps a few dozen people to stay our hunger."
"Oh; are you hungry?" enquired Dorothy, drawing back.
"Very," said the dragonette, snapping its jaws.
"And--and--do you eat people?"
"To be sure, when we can get them. But they've been very scarce for afew years and we usually have to be content with elephants orbuffaloes," answered the creature, in a regretful tone.
"How old are you?" enquired Zeb, who stared at the yellow eyes as iffascinated.
"Quite young, I grieve to say; and all of my brothers and sisters thatyou see here are practically my own age. If I remember rightly, wewere sixty-six years old the day before yesterday."
"But that isn't young!" cried Dorothy, in amazement.
"No?" drawled the dragonette; "it seems to me very babyish."
"How old is your mother?" asked the girl.
"Mother's about two thousand years old; but she carelessly lost trackof her age a few centuries ago and skipped several hundreds. She's alittle fussy, you know, and afraid of growing old, being a widow andstill in her prime."
"I should think she would be," agreed Dorothy. Then, after a moment'sthought, she asked: "Are we friends or enemies? I mean, will you begood to us, or do you intend to eat us?"
"As for that, we dragonettes would love to eat you, my child; butunfortunately mother has tied all our tails around the rocks at theback of our individual caves, so that we can not crawl out to get you.If you choose to come nearer we will make a mouthful of you in a wink;but unless you do you will remain quite safe."
There was a regretful accent in the creature's voice, and at the wordsall the other dragonettes sighed dismally.
Dorothy felt relieved. Presently she asked:
"Why did your mother tie your tails?"
"Oh, she is sometime
s gone for several weeks on her hunting trips, andif we were not tied we would crawl all over the mountain and fight witheach other and get into a lot of mischief. Mother usually knows whatshe is about, but she made a mistake this time; for you are sure toescape us unless you come too near, and you probably won't do that."
"No, indeed!" said the little girl. "We don't wish to be eaten by suchawful beasts."
"Permit me to say," returned the dragonette, "that you are ratherimpolite to call us names, knowing that we cannot resent your insults.We consider ourselves very beautiful in appearance, for mother has toldus so, and she knows. And we are of an excellent family and have apedigree that I challenge any humans to equal, as it extends back abouttwenty thousand years, to the time of the famous Green Dragon ofAtlantis, who lived in a time when humans had not yet been created.Can you match that pedigree, little girl?"
"Well," said Dorothy, "I was born on a farm in Kansas, and I guessthat's being just as 'spectable and haughty as living in a cave withyour tail tied to a rock. If it isn't I'll have to stand it, that'sall."
"Tastes differ," murmured the dragonette, slowly drooping its scaleyeyelids over its yellow eyes, until they looked like half-moons.
Being reassured by the fact that the creatures could not crawl out oftheir rock-pockets, the children and the Wizard now took time toexamine them more closely. The heads of the dragonettes were as big asbarrels and covered with hard, greenish scales that glittered brightlyunder the light of the lanterns. Their front legs, which grew justback of their heads, were also strong and big; but their bodies weresmaller around than their heads, and dwindled away in a long line untiltheir tails were slim as a shoe-string. Dorothy thought, if it hadtaken them sixty-six years to grow to this size, that it would be fullya hundred years more before they could hope to call themselves dragons,and that seemed like a good while to wait to grow up.
"It occurs to me," said the Wizard, "that we ought to get out of thisplace before the mother dragon comes back."
"Don't hurry," called one of the dragonettes; "mother will be glad tomeet you, I'm sure."
"You may be right," replied the Wizard, "but we're a little particularabout associating with strangers. Will you kindly tell us which wayyour mother went to get on top the earth?"
"That is not a fair question to ask us," declared another dragonette."For, if we told you truly, you might escape us altogether; and if wetold you an untruth we would be naughty and deserve to be punished."
"Then," decided Dorothy, "we must find our way out the best we can."
They circled all around the cavern, keeping a good distance away fromthe blinking yellow eyes of the dragonettes, and presently discoveredthat there were two paths leading from the wall opposite to the placewhere they had entered. They selected one of these at a venture andhurried along it as fast as they could go, for they had no idea whenthe mother dragon would be back and were very anxious not to make heracquaintance.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz Page 14
