Suddenly there appeared before the Nome a man with the head of an owl. His body was hairy like that of an ape, and his only clothing was a scarlet scarf twisted around his waist. He bore a huge club in his hand and his round owl eyes blinked fiercely upon the intruder.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, threatening Guph with his club.
“I’ve come to see the First and Foremost Phanfasm of Phantastico,” replied the General, who did not like the way this creature looked at him, but still was not afraid.
“Ah; you shall see him!” the man said, with a sneering laugh. “The First and Foremost shall decide upon the best way to punish you.”
“He will not punish me,” returned Guph, calmly, “for I have come here to do him and his people a rare favor. Lead on, fellow, and take me directly to your master.”
The owl-man raised his club with a threatening gesture.
“If you try to escape,” he said, “beware—”
But here the General interrupted him.
“Spare your threats,” said he, “and do not be impertinent, or I will have you severely punished. Lead on, and keep silent!”
This Guph was really a clever rascal, and it seems a pity he was so bad, for in a good cause he might have accomplished much. He realized that he had put himself into a dangerous position by coming to this dreadful mountain, but he also knew that if he showed fear he was lost. So he adopted a bold manner as his best defense. The wisdom of this plan was soon evident, for the Phanfasm with the owl’s head turned and led the way up the mountain.
At the very top was a level plain upon which were heaps of rock that at first glance seemed solid. But on looking closer Guph discovered that these rock heaps were dwellings, for each had an opening.
Not a person was to be seen outside the rock huts. All was silent.
The owl-man led the way among the groups of dwellings to one standing in the center. It seemed no better and no worse than any of the others. Outside the entrance to this rock heap the guide gave a low wail that sounded like “Lee-ow-ah!”
Suddenly there bounded from the opening another hairy man. This one wore the head of a bear. In his hand he bore a brass hoop. He glared at the stranger in evident surprise.
“Why have you captured this foolish wanderer and brought him here?” he demanded, addressing the owl-man.
“I did not capture him,” was the answer. “He passed the scarlet alligator and came here of his own free will and accord.”
The First and Foremost looked at the General.
“Have you tired of life, then?” he asked.
“No, indeed,” answered Guph. “I am a Nome, and the Chief General of King Roquat the Red’s great army of Nomes. I come of a long-lived race, and I may say that I expect to live a long time yet. Sit down, you Phanfasms—if you can find a seat in this wild haunt—and listen to what I have to say.”
With all his knowledge and bravery General Guph did not know that the steady glare from the bear eyes was reading his inmost thoughts as surely as if they had been put into words. He did not know that these despised rock heaps of the Phanfasms were merely deceptions to his own eyes, nor could he guess that he was standing in the midst of one of the most splendid and luxurious cities ever built by magic power. All that he saw was a barren waste of rock heaps, a hairy man with an owl’s head and another with a bear’s head. The sorcery of the Phanfasms permitted him to see no more.
Suddenly the First and Foremost swung his brass hoop and caught Guph around the neck with it. The next instant, before the General could think what had happened to him, he was dragged inside the rock hut. Here, his eyes still blinded to realities, he perceived only a dim light, by which the hut seemed as rough and rude inside as it was outside. Yet he had a strange feeling that many bright eyes were fastened upon him and that he stood in a vast and extensive hall.
The First and Foremost now laughed grimly and released his prisoner.
“If you have anything to say that is interesting,” he remarked, “speak out, before I strangle you.”
So Guph spoke out. He tried not to pay any attention to a strange rustling sound that he heard, as of an unseen multitude drawing near to listen to his words. His eyes could see only the fierce bear-man, and to him he addressed his speech. First he told of his plan to conquer the Land of Oz and plunder the country of its riches and enslave its people, who, being fairies, could not be killed. After relating all this, and telling of the tunnel the Nome King was building, he said he had come to ask the First and Foremost to join the Nomes, with his band of terrible warriors, and help them to defeat the Oz people.
The General spoke very earnestly and impressively, but when he had finished the bear-man began to laugh as if much amused, and his laughter seemed to be echoed by a chorus of merriment from an unseen multitude. Then, for the first time, Guph began to feel a trifle worried.
“Who else has promised to help you?” finally asked the First and Foremost.
“The Whimsies,” replied the General.
Again the bear-headed Phanfasm laughed.
“Any others?” he inquired.
“Only the Growleywogs,” said Guph.
This answer set the First and Foremost laughing anew.
“What share of the spoils am I to have?” was the next question.
“Anything you like, except King Roquat’s Magic Belt,” replied Guph.
At this the Phanfasm set up a roar of laughter, which had its echo in the unseen chorus, and the bear-man seemed so amused that he actually rolled upon the ground and shouted with merriment.
“Oh, these blind and foolish Nomes!” he said. “How big they seem to themselves and how small they really are!”
Suddenly he arose and seized Guph’s neck with one hairy paw, dragging him out of the hut into the open.
Here he gave a curious wailing cry, and, as if in answer, from all the rocky huts on the mountain-top came flocking a horde of Phanfasms, all with hairy bodies, but wearing heads of various animals, birds and reptiles. All were ferocious and repulsive-looking to the deceived eyes of the Nome, and Guph could not repress a shudder of disgust as he looked upon them.
The First and Foremost slowly raised his arms, and in a twinkling his hairy skin fell from him and he appeared before the astonished Nome as a beautiful woman, clothed in a flowing gown of pink gauze. In her dark hair flowers were entwined, and her face was noble and calm.
At the same instant the entire band of Phanfasms was transformed into a pack of howling wolves, running here and there as they snarled and showed their ugly yellow fangs.
The woman now raised her arms, even as the man-bear had done, and in a twinkling the wolves became crawling lizards, while she herself changed into a huge butterfly.
Guph had only time to cry out in fear and take a step backward to avoid the lizards when another transformation occurred, and all returned instantly to the forms they had originally worn.
Then the First and Foremost, who had resumed his hairy body and bear head, turned to the Nome and asked:
“Do you still demand our assistance?”
“More than ever,” answered the General, firmly.
“Then tell me: what can you offer the Phanfasms that they have not already?” inquired the First and Foremost.
Guph hesitated. He really did not know what to say. The Nome King’s vaunted Magic Belt seemed a poor thing compared to the astonishing magical powers of these people. Gold, jewels and slaves they might secure in any quantity without especial effort. He felt that he was dealing with powers greatly beyond him. There was but one argument that might influence the Phanfasms, who were creatures of evil.
“Permit me to call your attention to the exquisite joy of making the happy unhappy,” said he at last. “Consider the pleasure of destroying innocent and harmless people.”
“Ah! you have answered me,” cried the First and Foremost. “For that reason alone we will aid you. Go home, and tell your bandy-legged king that as soon as his tunnel is fi
nished the Phanfasms will be with him and lead his legions to the conquest of Oz. The deadly desert alone has kept us from destroying Oz long ago, and your underground tunnel is a clever thought. Go home, and prepare for our coming!”
Guph was very glad to be permitted to go with this promise. The owl-man led him back down the mountain path and ordered the scarlet alligator to crawl away and allow the Nome to cross the bridge in safety.
After the visitor had gone a brilliant and gorgeous city appeared upon the mountain top, clearly visible to the eyes of the gaily dressed multitude of Phanfasms that lived there. And the First and Foremost, beautifully arrayed, addressed the others in these words:
“It is time we went into the world and brought sorrow and dismay to its people. Too long have we remained by ourselves upon this mountain top, for while we are thus secluded many nations have grown happy and prosperous, and the chief joy of the race of Phanfasms is to destroy happiness. So I think it is lucky that this messenger from the Nomes arrived among us just now, to remind us that the opportunity has come for us to make trouble. We will use King Roquat’s tunnel to conquer the Land of Oz. Then we will destroy the Whimsies, the Growleywogs and the Nomes, and afterward go out to ravage and annoy and grieve the whole world.”
The multitude of evil Phanfasms eagerly applauded this plan, which they fully approved.
I am told that the Erbs are the most powerful and merciless of all the evil spirits, and the Phanfasms of Phantastico belong to the race of Erbs.
Chapter 12
HOW THEY MATCHED the FUDDLES
orothy and her fellow travelers rode away from the Cuttenclip village and followed the indistinct path as far as the sign-post. Here they took the main road again and proceeded pleasantly through the pretty farming country. When evening came they stopped at a dwelling and were joyfully welcomed and given plenty to eat and good beds for the night.
Early next morning, however, they were up and eager to start, and after a good breakfast they bade their host good-bye and climbed into the red wagon, to which the Sawhorse had been hitched all night. Being made of wood, this horse never got tired nor cared to lie down. Dorothy was not quite sure whether he ever slept or not, but it was certain that he never did when anybody was around.
The weather is always beautiful in Oz, and this morning the air was cool and refreshing and the sunshine brilliant and delightful.
In about an hour they came to a place where another road branched off. There was a sign-post here which read:
THIS WAY TO FUDDLECUMJIG
“Oh, here is where we turn,” said Dorothy, observing the sign.
“What! Are we going to Fuddlecumjig?” asked the Captain General.
“Yes; Ozma thought we might enjoy the Fuddles. They are said to be very interesting,” she replied.
“No one would suspect it from their name,” said Aunt Em. “Who are they, anyhow? More paper things?”
“I think not,” answered Dorothy, laughing; “but I can’t say ’zactly, Aunt Em, what they are. We’ll find out when we get there.”
“Perhaps the Wizard knows,” suggested Uncle Henry.
“No; I’ve never been there before,” said the Wizard. “But I’ve often heard of Fuddlecumjig and the Fuddles, who are said to be the most peculiar people in all the Land of Oz.”
“In what way?” asked the Shaggy Man.
“I don’t know, I’m sure,” said the Wizard.
Just then, as they rode along the pretty green lane toward Fuddlecumjig, they espied a kangaroo sitting by the roadside. The poor animal had its face covered with both its front paws and was crying so bitterly that the tears coursed down its cheeks in two tiny streams and trickled across the road, where they formed a pool in a small hollow.
The Sawhorse stopped short at this pitiful sight, and Dorothy cried out, with ready sympathy:
“What’s the matter, Kangaroo?”
“Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo!” wailed the Kangaroo; “I’ve lost my mi—mi—mi—Oh, boo-hoo! Boo-hoo!”—
“Poor thing,” said the Wizard, “she’s lost her mister. It’s probably her husband, and he’s dead.”
“No, no, no!” sobbed the kangaroo. “It—it isn’t that. I’ve lost my mi—mi—Oh, boo, boo-hoo!”
“I know,” said the Shaggy Man; “she’s lost her mirror.”
“No; it’s my mi—mi—mi—Boo-hoo! My mi—Oh, Boo-hoo!” and the kangaroo cried harder than ever.
“It must be her mince-pie,” suggested Aunt Em.
“Or her milk-toast,” proposed Uncle Henry.
“I’ve lost my mi—mi—mittens!” said the kangaroo, getting it out at last.
“Oh!” cried the Yellow Hen, with a cackle of relief. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“Boo-hoo! I—I—couldn’t,” answered the kangaroo.
“But, see here,” said Dorothy, “you don’t need mittens in this warm weather.”
“Yes, indeed I do,” replied the animal, stopping her sobs and removing her paws from her face to look at the little girl reproachfully. “My hands will get all sunburned and tanned without my mittens, and I’ve worn them so long that I’ll probably catch cold without them.”
“Nonsense!” said Dorothy. “I never heard of any kangaroo wearing mittens.”
“Didn’t you?” asked the animal, as if surprised.
“Never!” repeated the girl. “And you’ll probably make yourself sick if you don’t stop crying. Where do you live?”
“About two miles beyond Fuddlecumjig,” was the answer. “Grandmother Gnit made me the mittens, and she’s one of the Fuddles.”
“Well, you’d better go home now, and perhaps the old lady will make you another pair,” suggested Dorothy. “We’re on our way to Fuddlecumjig, and you may hop along beside us.”
So they rode on, and the kangaroo hopped beside the red wagon and seemed quickly to have forgotten her loss. By and by the Wizard said to the animal:
“Are the Fuddles nice people?”
“Oh, very nice,” answered the kangaroo; “that is, when they’re properly put together. But they get dreadfully scattered and mixed up, at times, and then you can’t do anything with them.”
“What do you mean by their getting scattered?” inquired Dorothy.
“Why, they’re made in a good many small pieces,” explained the kangaroo; “and whenever any stranger comes near them they have a habit of falling apart and scattering themselves around. That’s when they get so dreadfully mixed, and it’s a hard puzzle to put them together again.”
“Who usually puts them together?” asked Omby Amby.
“Any one who is able to match the pieces. I sometimes put Grandmother Gnit together myself, because I know her so well I can tell every piece that belongs to her. Then, when she’s all matched, she knits for me, and that’s how she made my mittens. But it took a good many days hard knitting, and I had to put Grandmother together a good many times, because every time I came near, she’d scatter herself.”
“I should think she would get used to your coming, and not be afraid,” said Dorothy.
“It isn’t that,” replied the kangaroo. “They’re not a bit afraid, when they’re put together, and usually they’re very jolly and pleasant. It’s just a habit they have, to scatter themselves, and if they didn’t do it they wouldn’t be Fuddles.”
The travelers thought upon this quite seriously for a time, while the Sawhorse continued to carry them rapidly forward. Then Aunt Em remarked:
“I don’t see much use our visitin’ these Fuddles. If we find them scattered, all we can do is to sweep ’em up, and then go about our business.”
“Oh, I b’lieve we’d better go on,” replied Dorothy. “I’m getting hungry, and we must try to get some luncheon at Fuddlecumjig. Perhaps the food won’t be scattered as badly as the people.”
“You’ll find plenty to eat there,” declared the kangaroo, hopping along in big bounds because the Sawhorse was going so fast; “and they have a fine cook, too, if you can manage to
put him together. There’s the town now—just ahead of us!”
They looked ahead and saw a group of very pretty houses standing in a green field a little apart from the main road.
“Some Munchkins came here a few days ago and matched a lot of people together,” said the kangaroo. “I think they are together yet, and if you go softly, without making any noise, perhaps they won’t scatter.”
“Let’s try it,” suggested the Wizard.
So they stopped the Sawhorse and got out of the wagon, and, after bidding good-bye to the kangaroo, who hopped away home, they entered the field and very cautiously approached the group of houses.
So silently did they move that soon they saw through the windows of the houses, people moving around, while others were passing to and fro in the yards between the buildings. They seemed much like other people, from a distance, and apparently they did not notice the little party so quietly approaching.
They had almost reached the nearest house when Toto saw a large beetle crossing the path and barked loudly at it. Instantly a wild clatter was heard from the houses and yards. Dorothy thought it sounded like a sudden hailstorm, and the visitors, knowing that caution was no longer necessary, hurried forward to see what had happened.
After the clatter an intense stillness reigned in the town. The strangers entered the first house they came to, which was also the largest, and found the floor strewn with pieces of the people who lived there. They looked much like fragments of wood neatly painted, and were of all sorts of curious and fantastic shapes, no two pieces being in any way alike.
They picked up some of these pieces and looked at them carefully. On one which Dorothy held was an eye, which looked at her pleasantly but with an interested expression, as if it wondered what she was going to do with it. Quite near by she discovered and picked up a nose, and by matching the two pieces together found that they were part of a face.
“If I could find the mouth,” she said, “this Fuddle might be able to talk, and tell us what to do next.”
Oz, The Complete Collection Page 69
