OZMA'S PRISONER
CHAP. 15
The boy was so bewildered by this calamity that he made no resistance atall. He knew very well he was guilty, but it surprised him that Ozmaalso knew it. He wondered how she had found out so soon that he hadpicked the six-leaved clover. He handed his basket to Scraps and said:
"Keep that, until I get out of prison. If I never get out, take it tothe Crooked Magician, to whom it belongs."
The Shaggy Man had been gazing earnestly in the boy's face, uncertainwhether to defend him or not; but something he read in Ojo's expressionmade him draw back and refuse to interfere to save him. The Shaggy Manwas greatly surprised and grieved, but he knew that Ozma never mademistakes and so Ojo must really have broken the Law of Oz.
The Soldier with the Green Whiskers now led them all through the gateand into a little room built in the wall. Here sat a jolly little man,richly dressed in green and having around his neck a heavy gold chain towhich a number of great golden keys were attached. This was the Guardianof the Gate and at the moment they entered his room he was playing atune upon a mouth-organ.
"Listen!" he said, holding up his hand for silence. "I've just composeda tune called 'The Speckled Alligator.' It's in patch-time, which ismuch superior to rag-time, and I've composed it in honor of thePatchwork Girl, who has just arrived."
"How did you know I had arrived?" asked Scraps, much interested.
"It's my business to know who's coming, for I'm the Guardian of theGate. Keep quiet while I play you 'The Speckled Alligator.'"
It wasn't a very bad tune, nor a very good one, but all listenedrespectfully while he shut his eyes and swayed his head from side toside and blew the notes from the little instrument. When it was all overthe Soldier with the Green Whiskers said:
"Guardian, I have here a prisoner."
"Good gracious! A prisoner?" cried the little man, jumping up from hischair. "Which one? Not the Shaggy Man?"
"No; this boy."
"Ah; I hope his fault is as small as himself," said the Guardian of theGate. "But what can he have done, and what made him do it?"
"Can't say," replied the soldier. "All I know is that he has broken theLaw."
"But no one ever does that!"
"Then he must be innocent, and soon will be released. I hope you areright, Guardian. Just now I am ordered to take him to prison. Get me aprisoner's robe from your Official Wardrobe."
The Guardian unlocked a closet and took from it a white robe, which thesoldier threw over Ojo. It covered him from head to foot, but had twoholes just in front of his eyes, so he could see where to go. In thisattire the boy presented a very quaint appearance.
As the Guardian unlocked a gate leading from his room into the streetsof the Emerald City, the Shaggy Man said to Scraps:
"I think I shall take you directly to Dorothy, as the Scarecrow advised,and the Glass Cat and the Woozy may come with us. Ojo must go to prisonwith the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, but he will be well treatedand you need not worry about him."
"What will they do with him?" asked Scraps.
"That I cannot tell. Since I came to the Land of Oz no one has ever beenarrested or imprisoned--until Ojo broke the Law."
"Seems to me that girl Ruler of yours is making a big fuss overnothing," remarked Scraps, tossing her yarn hair out of her eyes with ajerk of her patched head. "I don't know what Ojo has done, but itcouldn't be anything very bad, for you and I were with him all thetime."
The Shaggy Man made no reply to this speech and presently the PatchworkGirl forgot all about Ojo in her admiration of the wonderful city shehad entered.
They soon separated from the Munchkin boy, who was led by the Soldierwith the Green Whiskers down a side street toward the prison. Ojo feltvery miserable and greatly ashamed of himself, but he was beginning togrow angry because he was treated in such a disgraceful manner. Insteadof entering the splendid Emerald City as a respectable traveler who wasentitled to a welcome and to hospitality, he was being brought in as acriminal, handcuffed and in a robe that told all he met of his deepdisgrace.
Ojo was by nature gentle and affectionate and if he had disobeyed theLaw of Oz it was to restore his dear Unc Nunkie to life. His fault wasmore thoughtless than wicked, but that did not alter the fact that hehad committed a fault. At first he had felt sorrow and remorse, but themore he thought about the unjust treatment he had received--unjustmerely because he considered it so--the more he resented his arrest,blaming Ozma for making foolish laws and then punishing folks who brokethem. Only a six-leaved clover! A tiny green plant growing neglected andtrampled under foot. What harm could there be in picking it? Ojo beganto think Ozma must be a very bad and oppressive Ruler for such a lovelyfairyland as Oz. The Shaggy Man said the people loved her; but how couldthey?
The little Munchkin boy was so busy thinking these things--which manyguilty prisoners have thought before him--that he scarcely noticed allthe splendor of the city streets through which they passed. Wheneverthey met any of the happy, smiling people, the boy turned his head awayin shame, although none knew who was beneath the robe.
By and by they reached a house built just beside the great city wall,but in a quiet, retired place. It was a pretty house, neatly painted andwith many windows. Before it was a garden filled with blooming flowers.The Soldier with the Green Whiskers led Ojo up the gravel path to thefront door, on which he knocked.
A woman opened the door and, seeing Ojo in his white robe, exclaimed:
"Goodness me! A prisoner at last. But what a small one, Soldier."
"The size doesn't matter, Tollydiggle, my dear. The fact remains that heis a prisoner," said the soldier. "And, this being the prison, and youthe jailer, it is my duty to place the prisoner in your charge."
"True. Come in, then, and I'll give you a receipt for him."
They entered the house and passed through a hall to a large circularroom, where the woman pulled the robe off from Ojo and looked at himwith kindly interest. The boy, on his part, was gazing around him inamazement, for never had he dreamed of such a magnificent apartment asthis in which he stood. The roof of the dome was of colored glass,worked into beautiful designs. The walls were paneled with plates ofgold decorated with gems of great size and many colors, and upon thetiled floor were soft rugs delightful to walk upon. The furniture wasframed in gold and upholstered in satin brocade and it consisted of easychairs, divans and stools in great variety. Also there were severaltables with mirror tops and cabinets filled with rare and curiousthings. In one place a case filled with books stood against the wall,and elsewhere Ojo saw a cupboard containing all sorts of games.
"May I stay here a little while before I go to prison?" asked the boy,pleadingly.
"Why, this is your prison," replied Tollydiggle, "and in me behold yourjailor. Take off those handcuffs, Soldier, for it is impossible foranyone to escape from this house."
"I know that very well," replied the soldier and at once unlocked thehandcuffs and released the prisoner.
The woman touched a button on the wall and lighted a big chandelier thathung suspended from the ceiling, for it was growing dark outside. Thenshe seated herself at a desk and asked:
"What name?"
"Ojo the Unlucky," answered the Soldier with the Green Whiskers.
"Unlucky? Ah, that accounts for it," said she. "What crime?"
"Breaking a Law of Oz."
"All right. There's your receipt, Soldier; and now I'm responsible forthe prisoner. I'm glad of it, for this is the first time I've ever hadanything to do, in my official capacity," remarked the jailer, in apleased tone.
"It's the same with me, Tollydiggle," laughed the soldier. "But my taskis finished and I must go and report to Ozma that I've done my duty likea faithful Police Force, a loyal Army and an honest Body-Guard--as Ihope I am."
Saying this, he nodded farewell to Tollydiggle and Ojo and went away.
"Now, then," said the woman briskly, "I must get you some supper, foryou are doubtless hungry. What would you
prefer: planked whitefish,omelet with jelly or mutton-chops with gravy?"
Ojo thought about it. Then he said: "I'll take the chops, if youplease."
"Very well; amuse yourself while I'm gone; I won't be long," and thenshe went out by a door and left the prisoner alone.
Ojo was much astonished, for not only was this unlike any prison he hadever heard of, but he was being treated more as a guest than a criminal.There were many windows and they had no locks. There were three doors tothe room and none were bolted. He cautiously opened one of the doors andfound it led into a hallway. But he had no intention of trying toescape. If his jailor was willing to trust him in this way he would notbetray her trust, and moreover a hot supper was being prepared for himand his prison was very pleasant and comfortable. So he took a book fromthe case and sat down in a big chair to look at the pictures.
This amused him until the woman came in with a large tray and spread acloth on one of the tables. Then she arranged his supper, which provedthe most varied and delicious meal Ojo had ever eaten in his life.
Tollydiggle sat near him while he ate, sewing on some fancy work sheheld in her lap. When he had finished she cleared the table and thenread to him a story from one of the books.
"Is this really a prison?" he asked, when she had finished reading.
"Indeed it is," she replied. "It is the only prison in the Land of Oz."
"And am I a prisoner?"
"Bless the child! Of course."
"Then why is the prison so fine, and why are you so kind to me?" heearnestly asked.
Tollydiggle seemed surprised by the question, but she presentlyanswered:
"We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in twoways--because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived ofhis liberty. Therefore we should treat him kindly, because of hismisfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would notbe sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed afault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts himin prison to make him strong and brave. When that is accomplished he isno longer a prisoner, but a good and loyal citizen and everyone is gladthat he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it iskindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to ourprisoners."
Ojo thought this over very carefully. "I had an idea," said he, "thatprisoners were always treated harshly, to punish them."
"That would be dreadful!" cried Tollydiggle. "Isn't one punished enoughin knowing he has done wrong? Don't you wish, Ojo, with all your heart,that you had not been disobedient and broken a Law of Oz?"
"I--I hate to be different from other people," he admitted.
"Yes; one likes to be respected as highly as his neighbors are," saidthe woman. "When you are tried and found guilty, you will be obliged tomake amends, in some way. I don't know just what Ozma will do to you,because this is the first time one of us has broken a Law; but you maybe sure she will be just and merciful. Here in the Emerald City peopleare too happy and contented ever to do wrong; but perhaps you came fromsome faraway corner of our land, and having no love for Ozma carelesslybroke one of her Laws."
"Yes," said Ojo, "I've lived all my life in the heart of a lonelyforest, where I saw no one but dear Unc Nunkie."
"I thought so," said Tollydiggle. "But now we have talked enough, so letus play a game until bedtime."
The Patchwork Girl of Oz Page 16
