Oz, The Complete Collection

by L. Frank Baum

  “Did you want to see me, Ozma?” she asked.

  “Yes, dear. I am puzzled how to act, and I want your advice.”

  “I don’t b’lieve it’s worth much,” replied Dorothy, “but I’ll do the best I can. What is it all about, Ozma?”

  “You all know,” said the girl Ruler, addressing her three friends, “what a serious thing it is to admit any mortals into this fairyland of Oz. It is true I have invited several mortals to make their home here, and all of them have proved true and loyal subjects. Indeed, no one of you three was a native of Oz. Dorothy and the Wizard came here from the United States, and Tik-Tok came from the Land of Ev. But of course he is not a mortal. Shaggy is another American, and he is the cause of all my worry, for our dear Shaggy will not return here and desert the new friends he has found in his recent adventures, because he believes they need his services.”

  “Shaggy Man was always kind-hearted,” remarked Dorothy. “But who are these new friends he has found?”

  “One is his brother, who for many years has been a prisoner of the Nome King, our old enemy Ruggedo. This brother seems a kindly, honest fellow, but he has done nothing to entitle him to a home in the Land of Oz.”

  “Who else?” asked Dorothy.

  “I have told you about Betsy Bobbin, the little girl who was shipwrecked—in much the same way you once were—and has since been following the Shaggy Man in his search for his lost brother. You remember her, do you not?”

  “Oh, yes!” exclaimed Dorothy. “I’ve often watched her and Hank in the Magic Picture, you know. She’s a dear little girl, and old Hank is a darling! Where are they now?”

  “Look and see,” replied Ozma with a smile at her friend’s enthusiasm.

  Dorothy turned to the Picture, which showed Betsy and Hank, with Shaggy and his brother, trudging along the rocky paths of a barren country.

  “Seems to me,” she said, musingly, “that they’re a good way from any place to sleep, or any nice things to eat.”

  “You are right,” said Tik-Tok. “I have been in that country, and it is a wil-der-ness.”

  “It is the country of the nomes,” explained the Wizard, “who are so mischievous that no one cares to live near them. I’m afraid Shaggy and his friends will endure many hardships before they get out of that rocky place, unless—”

  He turned to Ozma and smiled.

  “Unless I ask you to transport them all here?” she asked.

  “Yes, your Highness.”

  “Could your magic do that?” inquired Dorothy.

  “I think so,” said the Wizard.

  “Well,” said Dorothy, “as far as Betsy and Hank are concerned, I’d like to have them here in Oz. It would be such fun to have a girl playmate of my own age, you see. And Hank is such a dear little mule!”

  Ozma laughed at the wistful expression in the girl’s eyes, and then she drew Dorothy to her and kissed her.

  “Am I not your friend and playmate?” she asked.

  Dorothy flushed.

  “You know how dearly I love you, Ozma!” she cried. “But you’re so busy ruling all this Land of Oz that we can’t always be together.”

  “I know, dear. My first duty is to my subjects, and I think it would be a delight to us all to have Betsy with us. There’s a pretty suite of rooms just opposite your own where she can live, and I’ll build a golden stall for Hank in the stable where the Sawhorse lives. Then we’ll introduce the mule to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, and I’m sure they will soon become firm friends. But I cannot very well admit Betsy and Hank into Oz unless I also admit Shaggy’s brother.”

  “And, unless you admit Shaggy’s brother, you will keep out poor Shaggy, whom we are all very fond of,” said the Wizard.

  “Well, why not ad-mit him?” demanded Tik-Tok.

  “The Land of Oz is not a refuge for all mortals in distress,” explained Ozma. “I do not wish to be unkind to Shaggy Man, but his brother has no claim on me.”

  “The Land of Oz isn’t crowded,” suggested Dorothy.

  “Then you advise me to admit Shaggy’s brother?” inquired Ozma.

  “Well, we can’t afford to lose our Shaggy Man, can we?”

  “No, indeed!” returned Ozma. “What do you say, Wizard?”

  “I’m getting my magic ready to transport them all.”

  “And you, Tik-Tok?”

  “Shag-gy’s broth-er is a good fel-low, and we can’t spare Shag-gy.”

  “So, then; the question is settled,” decided Ozma. “Perform your magic, Wizard!”

  He did so, placing a silver plate upon a small standard and pouring upon the plate a small quantity of pink powder which was contained in a crystal vial. Then he muttered a rather difficult incantation which the sorceress Glinda the Good had taught him, and it all ended in a puff of perfumed smoke from the silver plate. This smoke was so pungent that it made both Ozma and Dorothy rub their eyes for a moment.

  “You must pardon these disagreeable fumes,” said the Wizard. “I assure you the smoke is a very necessary part of my wizardry.”

  “Look!” cried Dorothy, pointing to the Magic Picture; “they’re gone! All of them are gone.”

  Indeed, the picture now showed the same rocky landscape as before, but the three people and the mule had disappeared from it.

  “They are gone,” said the Wizard, polishing the silver plate and wrapping it in a fine cloth, “because they are here.”

  At that moment Jellia Jamb entered the room.

  “Your Highness,” she said to Ozma, “the Shaggy Man and another man are in the waiting room and ask to pay their respects to you. Shaggy is crying like a baby, but he says they are tears of joy.”

  “Send them here at once, Jellia!” commanded Ozma.

  “Also,” continued the maid, “a girl and a small-sized mule have mysteriously arrived, but they don’t seem to know where they are or how they came here. Shall I send them here, too?”

  “Oh, no!” exclaimed Dorothy, eagerly jumping up from her chair; “I’ll go to meet Betsy myself, for she’ll feel awful strange in this big palace.”

  And she ran down the stairs two at a time to greet her new friend, Betsy Bobbin.

  Chapter 25

  The LAND of LOVE

  ell, is ‘hee-haw’ all you are able to say?” inquired the Sawhorse, as he examined Hank with his knot eyes and slowly wagged the branch that served him for a tail.

  They were in a beautiful stable in the rear of Ozma’s palace, where the wooden Sawhorse—very much alive—lived in a gold-paneled stall, and where there were rooms for the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, which were filled with soft cushions for them to lie upon and golden troughs for them to eat from.

  Beside the stall of the Sawhorse had been placed another for Hank, the mule. This was not quite so beautiful as the other, for the Sawhorse was Ozma’s favorite steed; but Hank had a supply of cushions for a bed (which the Sawhorse did not need because he never slept) and all this luxury was so strange to the little mule that he could only stand still and regard his surroundings and his queer companions with wonder and amazement.

  The Cowardly Lion, looking very dignified, was stretched out upon the marble floor of the stable, eyeing Hank with a calm and critical gaze, while near by crouched the huge Hungry Tiger, who seemed equally interested in the new animal that had just arrived. The Sawhorse, standing stiffly before Hank, repeated his question:

  “Is ‘hee-haw’ all you are able to say?”

  Hank moved his ears in an embarrassed manner.

  “I have never said anything else, until now,” he replied; and then he began to tremble with fright to hear himself talk.

  “I can well understand that,” remarked the Lion, wagging his great head with a swaying motion. “Strange things happen in this Land of Oz, as they do everywhere else. I believe you came here from the cold, civilized, outside world, did you not?”

  “I did,” replied Hank. “One minute I was outside of Oz—and the next minute I was inside!
That was enough to give me a nervous shock, as you may guess; but to find myself able to talk, as Betsy does, is a marvel that staggers me.”

  “That is because you are in the Land of Oz,” said the Sawhorse. “All animals talk, in this favored country, and you must admit it is more sociable than to bray your dreadful ‘hee-haw,’ which nobody can understand.”

  “Mules understand it very well,” declared Hank.

  “Oh, indeed! Then there must be other mules in your outside world,” said the Tiger, yawning sleepily.

  “There are a great many in America,” said Hank. “Are you the only Tiger in Oz?”

  “No,” acknowledged the Tiger, “I have many relatives living in the Jungle Country; but I am the only Tiger living in the Emerald City.”

  “There are other Lions, too,” said the Sawhorse; “but I am the only horse, of any description, in this favored Land.”

  “That is why this Land is favored,” said the Tiger. “You must understand, friend Hank, that the Sawhorse puts on airs because he is shod with plates of gold, and because our beloved Ruler, Ozma of Oz, likes to ride upon his back.”

  “Betsy rides upon my back,” declared Hank proudly.

  “Who is Betsy?”

  “The dearest, sweetest girl in all the world!”

  The Sawhorse gave an angry snort and stamped his golden feet. The Tiger crouched and growled. Slowly the great Lion rose to his feet, his mane bristling.

  “Friend Hank,” said he, “either you are mistaken in judgment or you are willfully trying to deceive us. The dearest, sweetest girl in the world is our Dorothy, and I will fight anyone—animal or human—who dares to deny it!”

  “So will I!” snarled the Tiger, showing two rows of enormous white teeth.

  “You are all wrong!” asserted the Sawhorse in a voice of scorn. “No girl living can compare with my mistress, Ozma of Oz!”

  Hank slowly turned around until his heels were toward the others. Then he said stubbornly:

  “I am not mistaken in my statement, nor will I admit there can be a sweeter girl alive than Betsy Bobbin. If you want to fight, come on—I’m ready for you!”

  While they hesitated, eyeing Hank’s heels doubtfully, a merry peal of laughter startled the animals and turning their heads they beheld three lovely girls standing just within the richly carved entrance to the stable. In the center was Ozma, her arms encircling the waists of Dorothy and Betsy, who stood on either side of her. Ozma was nearly half a head taller than the two other girls, who were almost of one size. Unobserved, they had listened to the talk of the animals, which was a very strange experience indeed to little Betsy Bobbin.

  “You foolish beasts!” exclaimed the Ruler of Oz, in a gentle but chiding voice. “Why should you fight to defend us, who are all three loving friends and in no sense rivals? Answer me!” she continued, as they bowed their heads sheepishly.

  “I have the right to express my opinion, your Highness,” pleaded the Lion.

  “And so have the others,” replied Ozma. “I am glad you and the Hungry Tiger love Dorothy best, for she was your first friend and companion. Also I am pleased that my Sawhorse loves me best, for together we have endured both joy and sorrow. Hank has proved his faith and loyalty by defending his own little mistress; and so you are all right in one way, but wrong in another. Our Land of Oz is a Land of Love, and here friendship outranks every other quality. Unless you can all be friends, you cannot retain our love.”

  They accepted this rebuke very meekly.

  “All right,” said the Sawhorse, quite cheerfully; “shake hoofs, friend Mule.”

  Hank touched his hoof to that of the wooden horse.

  “Let us be friends and rub noses,” said the Tiger. So Hank modestly rubbed noses with the big beast.

  The Lion merely nodded and said, as he crouched before the mule:

  “Any friend of a friend of our beloved Ruler is a friend of the Cowardly Lion. That seems to cover your case. If ever you need help or advice, friend Hank, call on me.”

  “Why, this is as it should be,” said Ozma, highly pleased to see them so fully reconciled. Then she turned to her companions: “Come, my dears, let us resume our walk.”

  As they turned away Betsy said wonderingly:

  “Do all the animals in Oz talk as we do?”

  “Almost all,” answered Dorothy. “There’s a Yellow Hen here, and she can talk, and so can her chickens; and there’s a Pink Kitten upstairs in my room who talks very nicely; but I’ve a little fuzzy black dog, named Toto, who has been with me in Oz a long time, and he’s never said a single word but ‘Bow-wow!’”

  “Do you know why?” asked Ozma.

  “Why, he’s a Kansas dog; so I s’pose he’s different from these fairy animals,” replied Dorothy.

  “Hank isn’t a fairy animal, any more than Toto,” said Ozma, “yet as soon as he came under the spell of our fairyland he found he could talk. It was the same way with Billina, the Yellow Hen whom you brought here at one time. The same spell has affected Toto, I assure you; but he’s a wise little dog and while he knows everything that is said to him he prefers not to talk.”

  “Goodness me!” exclaimed Dorothy. “I never s’pected Toto was fooling me all this time.” Then she drew a small silver whistle from her pocket and blew a shrill note upon it. A moment later there was a sound of scurrying footsteps, and a shaggy black dog came running up the path.

  Dorothy knelt down before him and shaking her finger just above his nose she said:

  “Toto, haven’t I always been good to you?”

  Toto looked up at her with his bright black eyes and wagged his tail.

  “Bow-wow!” he said, and Betsy knew at once that meant yes, as well as Dorothy and Ozma knew it, for there was no mistaking the tone of Toto’s voice.

  “That’s a dog answer,” said Dorothy. “How would you like it, Toto, if I said nothing to you but ‘bow-wow’?”

  Toto’s tail was wagging furiously now, but otherwise he was silent.

  “Really, Dorothy,” said Betsy, “he can talk with his bark and his tail just as well as we can. Don’t you understand such dog language?”

  “Of course I do,” replied Dorothy. “But Toto’s got to be more sociable. See here, sir!” she continued, addressing the dog, “I’ve just learned, for the first time, that you can say words—if you want to. Don’t you want to, Toto?”

  “Woof!” said Toto, and that meant “no.”

  “Not just one word, Toto, to prove you’re as any other animal in Oz?”

  “Woof!”

  “Just one word, Toto—and then you may run away.”

  He looked at her steadily a moment.

  “All right. Here I go!” he said, and darted away as swift as an arrow.

  Dorothy clapped her hands in delight, while Betsy and Ozma both laughed heartily at her pleasure and the success of her experiment. Arm in arm they sauntered away through the beautiful gardens of the palace, where magnificent flowers bloomed in abundance and fountains shot their silvery sprays far into the air. And by and by, as they turned a corner, they came upon Shaggy Man and his brother, who were seated together upon a golden bench.

  The two arose to bow respectfully as the Ruler of Oz approached them.

  “How are you enjoying our Land of Oz?” Ozma asked the stranger.

  “I am very happy here, your Highness,” replied Shaggy’s brother. “Also I am very grateful to you for permitting me to live in this delightful place.”

  “You must thank Shaggy for that,” said Ozma. “Being his brother, I have made you welcome here.”

  “When you know Brother better,” said Shaggy earnestly, “you will be glad he has become one of your loyal subjects. I am just getting acquainted with him myself and I find much in his character to admire.”

  Leaving the brothers, Ozma and the girls continued their walk. Presently Betsy exclaimed:

  “Shaggy’s brother can’t ever be as happy in Oz as I am. Do you know, Dorothy, I didn’t believe any girl
could ever have such a good time—anywhere—as I’m having now?”

  “I know,” answered Dorothy. “I’ve felt that way myself, lots of times.”

  “I wish,” continued Betsy, dreamily, “that every little girl in the world could live in the Land of Oz; and every little boy, too!”

  Ozma laughed at this.

  “It is quite fortunate for us, Betsy, that your wish cannot be granted,” said she, “for all that army of girls and boys would crowd us so that we would have to move away.”

  “Yes,” agreed Betsy, after a little thought, “I guess that’s true.”

  Contents

  Dedication

  ’Twixt You and Me

  Chapter 1: The Great Whirlpool

  Chapter 2: The Cavern Under the Sea

  Chapter 3: The Ork

  Chapter 4: Daylight at Last

  Chapter 5: The Little Old Man of the Island

  Chapter 6: The Flight of the Midgets

  Chapter 7: The Bumpy Man

  Chapter 8: Button-Bright Is Lost and Found Again

  Chapter 9: The Kingdom of Jinxland

  Chapter 10: Pon, the Gardener’s Boy

  Chapter 11: The Wicked King and Googly-Goo

  Chapter 12: The Wooden-Legged Grasshopper

  Chapter 13: Glinda the Good and the Scarecrow of Oz

  Chapter 14: The Frozen Heart

  Chapter 15: Trot Meets the Scarecrow

  Chapter 16: Pon Summons the King to Surrender

  Chapter 17: The Ork Rescues Button-Bright

  Chapter 18: The Scarecrow Meets an Enemy

  Chapter 19: The Conquest of the Witch

  Chapter 20: Queen Gloria

  Chapter 21: Dorothy, Betsy and Ozma

  Chapter 22: The Waterfall

  Chapter 23: The Land of Oz

  Chapter 24: The Royal Reception

  Dedicated to

  “The Uplifters” of Los Angeles, California, in grateful appreciation of the pleasure I have derived from association with them, and in recognition of their sincere endeavor to uplift humanity through kindness, consideration and good-fellowship. They are big men—all of them—and all with the generous hearts of little children.