Ozma of Oz
Page 17
Purple, Green and Gold
The yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast importance, walkedslowly over the rich velvet carpets of the splendid palace, examiningeverything she met with her sharp little eyes.
Billina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the NomeKing's secret and knew how to tell the objects that were transformationsfrom those that had never been alive. She was very sure that her guesseswould be correct, but before she began to make them she was curious tobehold all the magnificence of this underground palace, which wasperhaps one of the most splendid and beautiful places in any fairyland.
As she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments; andalthough some were small and hidden in queer places, Billina spied themall, and found the entire ten scattered about the various rooms. Thegreen ornaments she did not bother to count, for she thought she couldfind them all when the time came.
Finally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed itssplendor, the yellow hen returned to one of the rooms where she hadnoticed a large purple footstool. She placed a claw upon this and said"Ev," and at once the footstool vanished and a lovely lady, tall andslender and most beautifully robed, stood before her.
The lady's eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, for she couldnot remember her transformation, nor imagine what had restored her tolife.
"Good morning, ma'am," said Billina, in her sharp voice. "You're lookingquite well, considering your age."
"Who speaks?" demanded the Queen of Ev, drawing herself up proudly.
"Why, my name's Bill, by rights," answered the hen, who was now perchedupon the back of a chair; "although Dorothy has put scollops on it andmade it Billina. But the name doesn't matter. I've saved you from theNome King, and you are a slave no longer."
"Then I thank you for the gracious favor," said the Queen, with agraceful courtesy. "But, my children--tell me, I beg of you--where aremy children?" and she clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.
"Don't worry," advised Billina, pecking at a tiny bug that was crawlingover the chair back. "Just at present they are out of mischief andperfectly safe, for they can't even wiggle."
"What mean you, O kindly stranger?" asked the Queen, striving to repressher anxiety.
"They're enchanted," said Billina, "just as you have been--all, that is,except the little fellow Dorothy picked out. And the chances are thatthey have been good boys and girls for some time, because they couldn'thelp it."
"Oh, my poor darlings!" cried the Queen, with a sob of anguish.
"Not at all," returned the hen. "Don't let their condition make youunhappy, ma'am, because I'll soon have them crowding 'round to botherand worry you as naturally as ever. Come with me, if you please, andI'll show you how pretty they look."
She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the Queenfollowing. As she passed a low table a small green grasshopper caughther eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in hersharp bill. For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and theyusually must be caught quickly, before they can hop away. It mighteasily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real grasshopperinstead of an emerald one. But Billina found the grasshopper hard andlifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat she quickly dropped itinstead of letting it slide down her throat.
"I might have known better," she muttered to herself, "for where thereis no grass there can be no live grasshoppers. This is probably one ofthe King's transformations."
A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and while theQueen watched her curiously the hen broke the Nome King's enchantmentand a sweet-faced girl, whose golden hair fell in a cloud over hershoulders, stood beside them.
"Evanna!" cried the Queen, "my own Evanna!" and she clasped the girl toher bosom and covered her face with kisses.
"That's all right," said Billina, contentedly. "Am I a good guesser, Mr.Nome King? Well, I guess!"
Then she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as Evrose,and afterwards a boy named Evardo, who was older than his brotherEvring. Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen exclaiming andembracing for some time, until five Princesses and four Princes, alllooking very much alike except for the difference in size, stood in arow beside their happy mother.
The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and Evedna,while the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and Evroland. Of theseEvardo was the eldest and would inherit his father's throne and becrowned King of Ev when he returned to his own country. He was a graveand quiet youth, and would doubtless rule his people wisely and withjustice.
THE QUEEN OF EV THANKS BILLINA]
Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their properforms, now began to select the green ornaments which were thetransformations of the people of Oz. She had little trouble in findingthese, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well as theprivate, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully congratulatingher upon their release. The thirty-seven people who were now alive inthe rooms of the palace knew very well that they owed their freedom tothe cleverness of the yellow hen, and they were earnest in thanking herfor saving them from the magic of the Nome King.
"Now," said Billina, "I must find Ozma. She is sure to be here,somewhere, and of course she is green, being from Oz. So look around,you stupid soldiers, and help me in my search."
For a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was green.But the Queen, who had kissed all her nine children once more and couldnow find time to take an interest in what was going on, said to the hen:
"Mayhap, my gentle friend, it is the grasshopper whom you seek."
"Of course it's the grasshopper!" exclaimed Billina. "I declare, I'mnearly as stupid as these brave soldiers. Wait here for me, and I'll goback and get it."
So she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper, andpresently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and dainty as ever, entered andapproached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princessgreets another.
"But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman?" asked thegirl Ruler, when these courtesies had been exchanged.
"I'll hunt them up," replied Billina. "The Scarecrow is solid gold, andso is Tiktok; but I don't exactly know what the Tin Woodman is, becausethe Nome King said he had been transformed into something funny."
Ozma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the Scarecrow andthe machine man, being ornaments of shining gold, were discovered andrestored to their accustomed forms. But, search as they might, in noplace could they find a funny ornament that might be the transformationof the Tin Woodman.
"Only one thing can be done," said Ozma, at last, "and that is to returnto the Nome King and oblige him to tell us what has become of ourfriend."
"Perhaps he won't," suggested Billina.
"He must," returned Ozma, firmly. "The King has not treated us honestly,for under the mask of fairness and good nature he entrapped us all, andwe would have been forever enchanted had not our wise and clever friend,the yellow hen, found a way to save us."
"The King is a villain," declared the Scarecrow.
"His laugh is worse than another man's frown," said the private, with ashudder.
"I thought he was hon-est, but I was mis-tak-en," remarked Tiktok. "Mythoughts are us-u-al-ly cor-rect, but it is Smith & Tin-ker's fault ifthey some-times go wrong or do not work prop-er-ly."
"Smith & Tinker made a very good job of you," said Ozma, kindly. "I donot think they should be blamed if you are not quite perfect."
"Thank you," replied Tiktok.
"Then," said Billina, in her brisk little voice, "let us all go back tothe Nome King, and see what he has to say for himself."
So they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the Queen andher train of little Princes and Princesses following. Then came Tiktok,and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his straw-stuffed shoulder.The twenty-seven officers and the private brought up the rear.
As they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but then theyall stopped and stared into the domed cavern with faces of astonishmentand dismay. For the room was filled with the mail-clad warriors of theNome King, rank after rank standing in orderly array. The electriclights upon their brows gleamed brightly, their battle-axes were poisedas if to strike down their foes; yet they remained motionless asstatues, awaiting the word of command.
And in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon histhrone of rock. But he neither smiled nor laughed. Instead, his face wasdistorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.