The King of Ev
If there were any shifting, rock-colored Nomes on the mountain side now,they were silent and respectful, for our adventurers were not annoyed,as before, by their impudent laughter. Really the Nomes had nothing tolaugh at, since the defeat of their King.
On the other side they found Ozma's golden chariot, standing as they hadleft it. Soon the Lion and the Tiger were harnessed to the beautifulchariot, in which was enough room for Ozma and the Queen and six of theroyal children.
Little Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse, whichhad a long back. The Prince had recovered from his shyness and hadbecome very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they were fastfriends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode along. Billina wasalso perched upon the head of the wooden steed, which seemed not to mindthe added weight in the least, and the boy was full of wonder that a hencould talk, and say such sensible things.
When they came to the gulf, Ozma's magic carpet carried them all over insafety; and now they began to pass the trees, in which birds weresinging; and the breeze that was wafted to them from the farms of Ev wasspicy with flowers and new-mown hay; and the sunshine fell full uponthem, to warm them and drive away from their bodies the chill anddampness of the underground kingdom of the Nomes.
"I would be quite content," said the Scarecrow to Tiktok, "were only theTin Woodman with us. But it breaks my heart to leave him behind."
"He was a fine fel-low," replied Tiktok, "al-though his ma-ter-i-al wasnot ve-ry du-ra-ble."
"Oh, tin is an excellent material," the Scarecrow hastened to say; "andif anything ever happened to poor Nick Chopper he was always easilysoldered. Besides, he did not have to be wound up, and was not liableto get out of order."
"I some-times wish," said Tiktok, "that I was stuffed with straw, as youare. It is hard to be made of cop-per."
"I have no reason to complain of my lot," replied the Scarecrow. "Alittle fresh straw, now and then, makes me as good as new. But I cannever be the polished gentleman that my poor departed friend, the TinWoodman, was."
You may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother weredelighted at seeing again their beloved country; and when the towers ofthe palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear cheering at thesight. Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy, was so overjoyed thathe took a curious tin whistle from his pocket and blew a shrill blastthat made the Sawhorse leap and prance in sudden alarm.
"What is that?" asked Billina, who had been obliged to flutter her wingsin order to keep her seat upon the head of the frightened Sawhorse.
"That's my whistle," said Prince Evring, holding it out upon his hand.
It was in the shape of a little fat pig, made of tin and painted green.The whistle was in the tail of the pig.
"Where did you get it?" asked the yellow hen, closely examining the toywith her bright eyes.
"Why, I picked it up in the Nome King's palace, while Dorothy was makingher guesses, and I put it in my pocket," answered the little Prince.
Billina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that servedher for a laugh.
"No wonder I couldn't find the Tin Woodman," she said; "and no wonder themagic belt didn't make him appear, or the King couldn't find him,either!"
"What do you mean?" questioned Dorothy.
"Why, the Prince had him in his pocket," cried Billina, cackling again.
"I did not!" protested little Evring. "I only took the whistle."
"Well, then, watch me," returned the hen, and reaching out a claw shetouched the whistle and said "Ev."
Swish!
"Good afternoon," said the Tin Woodman, taking off his funnel cap andbowing to Dorothy and the Prince. "I think I must have been asleep forthe first time since I was made of tin, for I do not remember ourleaving the Nome King."
"You have been enchanted," answered the girl, throwing an arm around herold friend and hugging him tight in her joy. "But it's all right, now."
"I want my whistle!" said the little Prince, beginning to cry.
"Hush!" cautioned Billina. "The whistle is lost, but you may haveanother when you get home."
"YOUR FUTURE RULER, KING EVARDO FIFTEENTH"]
The Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his oldcomrade, so surprised and delighted was he to see him again, and Tiktoksqueezed the Tin Woodman's hand so earnestly that he dented some of hisfingers. Then they had to make way for Ozma to welcome the tin man,and the army caught sight of him and set up a cheer, and everybody wasdelighted and happy.
For the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him, and hissudden recovery after they had thought he was lost to them forever wasindeed a pleasant surprise.
Before long, the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a greatcrowd of people had gathered to welcome their Queen and her tenchildren. There was much shouting and cheering, and the people threwflowers in their path, and every face wore a happy smile.
They found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber, where shewas admiring one of her handsomest heads--one with rich chestnut hair,dreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut nose. She was very glad tobe relieved of her duties to the people of Ev, and the Queen graciouslypermitted her to retain her rooms and her cabinet of heads as long asshe lived.
Then the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that overlookedthe crowd of subjects gathered below, and said to them:
"Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth. He is fifteen yearsof age, has fifteen silver buckles on his jacket and is the fifteenthEvardo to rule the land of Ev."
The people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the Wheelers,some of whom were present, loudly promised to obey the new King.
So the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon Evardo'shead, and threw an ermine robe over his shoulders, and proclaimed himKing; and he bowed gratefully to all his subjects and then went away tosee if he could find any cake in the royal pantry.
Ozma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and Billina, weresplendidly entertained by the Queen mother, who owed all her happinessto their kind offices; and that evening the yellow hen was publiclypresented with a beautiful necklace of pearls and sapphires, as a tokenof esteem from the new King.
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