The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  Chapter XXIII.

  The Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish.

  "_You must give me the Golden Cap._"]

  Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room ofthe Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, andthe Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow pattedhimself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin andoiled his joints.

  When they were all quite presentable they followed the soldier girlinto a big room where the Witch Glinda sat upon a throne of rubies.

  She was both beautiful and young to their eyes. Her hair was a richred in color and fell in flowing ringlets over her shoulders. Herdress was pure white; but her eyes were blue, and they looked kindlyupon the little girl.

  "What can I do for you, my child?" she asked.

  Dorothy told the Witch all her story; how the cyclone had broughther to the Land of Oz, how she had found her companions, and of thewonderful adventures they had met with.

  "My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, forAunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, andthat will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are betterthis year than they were last I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."

  Glinda leaned forward and kissed the sweet, upturned face of theloving little girl.

  "Bless your dear heart," she said, "I am sure I can tell you of a wayto get back to Kansas." Then she added:

  "But, if I do, you must give me the Golden Cap."

  "Willingly!" exclaimed Dorothy; "indeed, it is of no use to me now,and when you have it you can command the Winged Monkeys three times."

  "And I think I shall need their service just those three times,"answered Glinda, smiling.

  Dorothy then gave her the Golden Cap, and the Witch said to theScarecrow,

  "What will you do when Dorothy has left us?"

  "I will return to the Emerald City," he replied, "for Oz has made meits ruler and the people like me. The only thing that worries me ishow to cross the hill of the Hammer-Heads."

  "By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys tocarry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for itwould be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler."

  "Am I really wonderful?" asked the Scarecrow.

  "You are unusual," replied Glinda.

  Turning to the Tin Woodman, she asked:

  "What will become of you when Dorothy leaves this country?"

  He leaned on his axe and thought a moment. Then he said,

  "The Winkies were very kind to me, and wanted me to rule over themafter the Wicked Witch died. I am fond of the Winkies, and if I couldget back again to the country of the West I should like nothingbetter than to rule over them forever."

  "My second command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "will be thatthey carry you safely to the land of the Winkies. Your brains may notbe so large to look at as those of the Scarecrow, but you are reallybrighter than he is--when you are well polished--and I am sure youwill rule the Winkies wisely and well."

  Then the Witch looked at the big, shaggy Lion and asked,

  "When Dorothy has returned to her own home, what will become of you?"

  "Over the hill of the Hammer-Heads," he answered, "lies a grand oldforest, and all the beasts that live there have made me their King.If I could only get back to this forest I would pass my life veryhappily there."

  "My third command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "shall be tocarry you to your forest. Then, having used up the powers of theGolden Cap, I shall give it to the King of the Monkeys, that he andhis band may thereafter be free for evermore."

  The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion now thanked the GoodWitch earnestly for her kindness, and Dorothy exclaimed,

  "You are certainly as good as you are beautiful! But you have not yettold me how to get back to Kansas."

  "Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda."If you had known their power you could have gone back to your AuntEm the very first day you came to this country."

  "But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried theScarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer'scornfield."

  "And I should not have had my lovely heart," said the Tin Woodman. "Imight have stood and rusted in the forest till the end of the world."

  "And I should have lived a coward forever," declared the Lion, "andno beast in all the forest would have had a good word to say to me."

  "This is all true," said Dorothy, "and I am glad I was of use tothese good friends. But now that each of them has had what he mostdesired, and each is happy in having a kingdom to rule beside, Ithink I should like to go back to Kansas."

  "The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. Andone of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you toany place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made inthe wink of an eye. All you have to do is to knock the heels togetherthree times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."

  "If that is so," said the child, joyfully, "I will ask them to carryme back to Kansas at once."

  She threw her arms around the Lion's neck and kissed him, pattinghis big head tenderly. Then she kissed the Tin Woodman, who wasweeping in a way most dangerous to his joints. But she hugged thesoft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissinghis painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowfulparting from her loving comrades.

  Glinda the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the littlegirl a good-bye kiss, and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindnessshe had shown to her friends and herself.

  Dorothy now took Toto up solemnly in her arms, and having said onelast good-bye she clapped the heels of her shoes together threetimes, saying,

  "Take me home to Aunt Em!"

  * * * * *

  Instantly she was whirling through the air, so swiftly that all shecould see or feel was the wind whistling past her ears.

  The Silver Shoes took but three steps, and then she stopped sosuddenly that she rolled over upon the grass several times before sheknew where she was.

  At length, however, she sat up and looked about her.

  "Good gracious!" she cried.

  For she was sitting on the broad Kansas prairie, and just beforeher was the new farm-house Uncle Henry built after the cyclone hadcarried away the old one. Uncle Henry was milking the cows in thebarnyard, and Toto had jumped out of her arms and was running towardthe barn, barking joyously.

  Dorothy stood up and found she was in her stocking-feet. For theSilver Shoes had fallen off in her flight through the air, and werelost forever in the desert.

  Chapter XXIV.

  Home Again.

  Aunt Em had just come out of the house to water the cabbages when shelooked up and saw Dorothy running toward her.

  "My darling child!" she cried, folding the little girl in her arms andcovering her face with kisses; "where in the world did you come from?"

  "From the Land of Oz," said Dorothy, gravely. "And here is Toto, too.And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!"

  Transcriber's Notes:

  Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout.