The Lost Princess of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  The High Coco-Lorum of Thi

  CHAPTER 9

  And now the Patchwork Girl came dancing out of the wall again.

  "Come on!" she called. "It isn't there. There isn't any wall at all."

  "What! No wall?" exclaimed the Wizard.

  "Nothing like it," said Scraps. "It's a make-believe. You see it, but itisn't. Come on into the city; we've been wasting time."

  With this she danced into the wall again and once more disappeared.Button-Bright, who was rather venturesome, dashed away after her andalso became invisible to them. The others followed more cautiously,stretching out their hands to feel the wall and finding, to theirastonishment, that they could feel nothing because nothing opposed them.They walked on a few steps and found themselves in the streets of a verybeautiful city. Behind them they again saw the wall, grim and forbiddingas ever; but now they knew it was merely an illusion, prepared to keepstrangers from entering the city.

  But the wall was soon forgotten, for in front of them were a number ofquaint people who stared at them in amazement, as if wondering wherethey had come from. Our friends forgot their good manners, for a time,and returned the stares with interest, for so remarkable a people hadnever before been discovered in all the remarkable Land of Oz.

  Their heads were shaped like diamonds and their bodies like hearts. Allthe hair they had was a little bunch at the tip top of theirdiamond-shaped heads and their eyes were very large and round and theirnoses and mouths very small. Their clothing was tight-fitting and ofbrilliant colors, being handsomely embroidered in quaint designs withgold or silver threads; but on their feet they wore sandals, with nostockings whatever. The expression of their faces was pleasant enough,although they now showed surprise at the appearance of strangers sounlike themselves, and our friends thought they seemed quite harmless.

  "I beg your pardon," said the Wizard, speaking for his party, "forintruding upon you uninvited, but we are traveling on important businessand find it necessary to visit your city. Will you kindly tell us bywhat name your city is called?"

  They looked at one another uncertainly, each expecting some other toanswer. Finally a short one whose heart-shaped body was very broadreplied:

  "We have no occasion to call our city anything. It is where we live,that is all."

  "But by what name do others call your city?" asked the Wizard.

  "We know of no others, except yourselves," said the man. And then heinquired: "Were you born with those queer forms you have, or has somecruel magician transformed you to them from your natural shapes?"

  "These are our natural shapes," declared the Wizard, "and we considerthem very good shapes, too."

  The group of inhabitants was constantly being enlarged by others whojoined it. All were evidently startled and uneasy at the arrival ofstrangers.

  "Have you a King?" asked Dorothy, who knew it was better to speak withsomeone in authority. But the man shook his diamond-like head.

  "What is a King?" he asked.

  "Isn't there anyone who rules over you?" inquired the Wizard.

  "No," was the reply, "each of us rules himself; or, at least, tries todo so. It is not an easy thing to do, as you probably know."

  The Wizard reflected.

  "If you have disputes among you," said he, after a little thought, "whosettles them?"

  "The High Coco-Lorum," they answered in a chorus.

  "And who is he?"

  "The judge who enforces the laws," said the man who had first spoken.

  "Then he is the principal person here?" continued the Wizard.

  "Well, I would not say that," returned the man in a puzzled way. "TheHigh Coco-Lorum is a public servant. However, he represents the laws,which we must all obey."

  "I think," said the Wizard, "we ought to see your High Coco-Lorum andtalk with him. Our mission here requires us to consult one high inauthority, and the High Coco-Lorum ought to be high, whatever else heis."

  The inhabitants seemed to consider this proposition reasonable, for theynodded their diamond-shaped heads in approval. So the broad one who hadbeen their spokesman said: "Follow me," and, turning, led the way alongone of the streets.

  The entire party followed him, the natives falling in behind. Thedwellings they passed were quite nicely planned and seemed comfortableand convenient. After leading them a few blocks their conductor stoppedbefore a house which was neither better nor worse than the others. Thedoorway was shaped to admit the strangely formed bodies of these people,being narrow at the top, broad in the middle and tapering at the bottom.The windows were made in much the same way, giving the house a mostpeculiar appearance. When their guide opened the gate a music-boxconcealed in the gate-post began to play, and the sound attracted theattention of the High Coco-Lorum, who appeared at an open window andinquired:

  "What has happened now?"

  But in the same moment his eyes fell upon the strangers and he hastenedto open the door and admit them--all but the animals, which were leftoutside with the throng of natives that had now gathered. For a smallcity there seemed to be a large number of inhabitants, but they did nottry to enter the house and contented themselves with staring curiouslyat the strange animals. Toto followed Dorothy.

  Our friends entered a large room at the front of the house, where theHigh Coco-Lorum asked them to be seated.

  "I hope your mission here is a peaceful one," he said, looking a littleworried, "for the Thists are not very good fighters and object to beingconquered."

  "Are your people called Thists?" asked Dorothy.

  "Yes. I thought you knew that. And we call our city Thi."

  "Oh!"

  "We are Thists because we eat thistles, you know," continued the HighCoco-Lorum.

  "Do you really eat those prickly things?" inquired Button-Brightwonderingly.

  "Why not?" replied the other. "The sharp points of the thistles cannothurt us, because all our insides are gold-lined."

  "Gold-lined!"

  "To be sure. Our throats and stomachs are lined with solid gold, and wefind the thistles nourishing and good to eat. As a matter of fact, thereis nothing else in our country that is fit for food. All around the Cityof Thi grow countless thistles, and all we need do is to go and gatherthem. If we wanted anything else to eat we would have to plant it, andgrow it, and harvest it, and that would be a lot of trouble and make uswork, which is an occupation we detest."

  "But, tell me, please," said the Wizard, "how does it happen that yourcity jumps around so, from one part of the country to another?"

  "The city doesn't jump; it doesn't move at all," declared the HighCoco-Lorum. "However, I will admit that the land that surrounds it has atrick of turning this way or that; and so, if one is standing upon theplain and facing north, he is likely to find himself suddenly facingwest--or east--or south. But once you reach the thistle fields you areon solid ground."

  "Ah, I begin to understand," said the Wizard, nodding his head. "But Ihave another question to ask: How does it happen that the Thists have noKing to rule over them?"

  "Hush!" whispered the High Coco-Lorum, looking uneasily around to makesure they were not overheard. "In reality, I am the King, but the peopledon't know it. They think they rule themselves, but the fact is I haveeverything my own way. No one else knows anything about our laws, and soI make the laws to suit myself. If any oppose me, or question my acts, Itell them it's the law, and that settles it. If I called myself King,however, and wore a crown and lived in royal state, the people would notlike me, and might do me harm. As the High Coco-Lorum of Thi, I'mconsidered a very agreeable person."

  "It seems a very clever arrangement," said the Wizard. "And now, as youare the principal person in Thi, I beg you to tell us if the Royal Ozmais a captive in your city."

  "No," answered the diamond-headed man, "we have no captives. Nostrangers but yourselves are here, and we have never before heard of theRoyal Ozma."

  "She rules all of Oz," said Dorothy, "and so she rules your city andyou, because you are in the Winkie Country,
which is a part of the Landof Oz."

  "It may be," returned the High Coco-Lorum, "for we do not studygeography and have never inquired whether we live in the Land of Oz ornot. And any Ruler who rules us from a distance, and unknown to us, iswelcome to the job. But what has happened to your Royal Ozma?"

  "Someone has stolen her," said the Wizard. "Do you happen to have anytalented magician among your people--one who is especially clever, youknow?"

  "No, none especially clever. We do some magic, of course, but it is allof the ordinary kind. I do not think any of us has yet aspired tostealing Rulers, either by magic or otherwise."

  "Then we've come a long way for nothing!" exclaimed Trot regretfully.

  "But we are going farther than this," asserted the Patchwork Girl,bending her stuffed body backward until her yarn hair touched the floorand then walking around on her hands with her feet in the air.

  The High Coco-Lorum watched Scraps admiringly.

  "You may go farther on, of course," said he, "but I advise you not to.The Herkus live back of us, beyond the thistles and the twisting lands,and they are not very nice people to meet, I assure you."

  "Are they giants?" asked Betsy.

  "They are worse than that," was the reply. "They have giants for theirslaves and they are so much stronger than giants that the poor slavesdare not rebel, for fear of being torn to pieces."

  "How do you know?" asked Scraps.

  "Everyone says so," answered the High Coco-Lorum.

  "Have you seen the Herkus yourself?" inquired Dorothy.

  "No, but what everyone says must be true; otherwise, what would be theuse of their saying it?"

  "We were told, before we got here, that you people hitch dragons to yourchariots," said the little girl.

  "So we do," declared the High Coco-Lorum. "And that reminds me that Iought to entertain you, as strangers and my guests, by taking you for aride around our splendid City of Thi."

  He touched a button and a band began to play; at least, they heard themusic of a band, but couldn't tell where it came from.

  "That tune is the order to my charioteer to bring around mydragon-chariot," said the High Coco-Lorum. "Every time I give an orderit is in music, which is a much more pleasant way to address servantsthan in cold, stern words."

  "Does this dragon of yours bite?" asked Button-Bright.

  "Mercy, no! Do you think I'd risk the safety of my innocent people byusing a biting dragon to draw my chariot? I'm proud to say that mydragon is harmless--unless his steering-gear breaks--and he wasmanufactured at the famous dragon-factory in this City of Thi. Here hecomes and you may examine him for yourselves."

  They heard a low rumble and a shrill squeaking sound and, going out tothe front of the house, they saw coming around the corner a car drawn bya gorgeous jeweled dragon, which moved its head to right and left andflashed its eyes like the headlights of an automobile and uttered agrowling noise as it slowly moved toward them.

  When it stopped before the High Coco-Lorum's house Toto barked sharplyat the sprawling beast, but even tiny Trot could see that the dragon wasnot alive. Its scales were of gold and each one was set with sparklingjewels, while it walked in such a stiff, regular manner that it could benothing else than a machine. The chariot that trailed behind it waslikewise of gold and jewels, and when they entered it they found therewere no seats. Everyone was supposed to stand up while riding.

  The charioteer was a little diamond-headed fellow who straddled the neckof the dragon and moved the levers that made it go.

  "This," said the High Coco-Lorum, pompously, "is a wonderful invention.We are all very proud of our auto-dragons, many of which are in use byour wealthy inhabitants. Start the thing going, charioteer!"

  The charioteer did not move.

  "You forgot to order him in music," suggested Dorothy.

  "Ah, so I did." He touched a button and a music-box in the dragon's headbegan to play a tune. At once the little charioteer pulled over a leverand the dragon began to move--very slowly and groaning dismally as itdrew the clumsy chariot after it. Toto trotted between the wheels. TheSawhorse, the Mule, the Lion and the Woozy followed after and had notrouble in keeping up with the machine; indeed, they had to go slow tokeep from running into it. When the wheels turned another music-boxconcealed somewhere under the chariot played a lively march tune whichwas in striking contrast with the dragging movement of the strangevehicle and Button-Bright decided that the music he had heard when theyfirst sighted this city was nothing else than a chariot plodding itsweary way through the streets.

  All the travelers from the Emerald City thought this ride the mostuninteresting and dreary they had ever experienced, but the HighCoco-Lorum seemed to think it was grand. He pointed out the differentbuildings and parks and fountains, in much the same way that theconductor of an American "sight-seeing wagon" does, and being gueststhey were obliged to submit to the ordeal. But they became a littleworried when their host told them he had ordered a banquet prepared forthem in the City Hall.

  "What are we going to eat?" asked Button-Bright suspiciously.

  "Thistles," was the reply; "fine, fresh thistles, gathered this veryday."

  Scraps laughed, for she never ate anything, but Dorothy said in aprotesting voice:

  "_Our_ insides are not lined with gold, you know."

  "How sad!" exclaimed the High Coco-Lorum; and then he added, as anafterthought: "But we can have the thistles boiled, if you prefer."

  "I'm 'fraid they wouldn't taste good, even then," said little Trot."Haven't you anything else to eat?"

  The High Coco-Lorum shook his diamond-shaped head.

  "Nothing that I know of," said he. "But why should we have anythingelse, when we have so many thistles? However, if you can't eat what weeat, don't eat anything. We shall not be offended and the banquet willbe just as merry and delightful."

  Knowing his companions were all hungry the Wizard said:

  "I trust you will excuse us from the banquet, sir, which will be merryenough without us, although it is given in our honor. For, as Ozma isnot in your city, we must leave here at once and seek her elsewhere."

  "Sure we must!" agreed Dorothy, and she whispered to Betsy and Trot:"I'd rather starve somewhere else than in this city, and--who knows?--wemay run across somebody who eats reg'lar food and will give us some."

  So, when the ride was finished, in spite of the protests of the HighCoco-Lorum they insisted on continuing their journey.

  "It will soon be dark," he objected.

  "We don't mind the darkness," replied the Wizard.

  "Some wandering Herku may get you."

  "Do you think the Herkus would hurt us?" asked Dorothy.

  "I cannot say, not having the honor of their acquaintance. But they aresaid to be so strong that, if they had any other place to stand upon,they could lift the world."

  "All of them together?" asked Button-Bright wonderingly.

  "Any one of them could do it," said the High Coco-Lorum.

  "Have you heard of any magicians being among them?" asked the Wizard,knowing that only a magician could have stolen Ozma in the way she hadbeen stolen.

  "I am told it is quite a magical country," declared the High Coco-Lorum,"and magic is usually performed by magicians. But I have never heardthat they have any invention or sorcery to equal our wonderfulauto-dragons."

  They thanked him for his courtesy and, mounting their own animals, rodeto the farther side of the city and right through the Wall of Illusionout into the open country.

  "I'm glad we got away so easily," said Betsy. "I didn't like thosequeer-shaped people."

  "Nor did I," agreed Dorothy. "It seems dreadful to be lined with sheetsof pure gold and have nothing to eat but thistles."

  "They seemed happy and contented, though," remarked the little Wizard,"and those who are contented have nothing to regret and nothing more towish for."