The Classic Children's Literature Collection: 39 Classic Novels

by Various Authors

  Another band followed, this time the Tin Band of the Emperor of the Winkies, playing a beautiful march called, “There’s No Plate Like Tin.” Then came the servants of the Royal Palace, in a long line, and behind them all the people joined the procession and marched away through the emerald gates and out upon the broad green.

  Here had been erected a splendid pavilion, with a grandstand big enough to seat all the royal party and those who had taken part in the procession. Over the pavilion, which was of green silk and cloth of gold, countless banners waved in the breeze. Just in front of this, and connected with it by a runway had been built a broad platform, so that all the spectators could see plainly the entertainment provided for them.

  The Wizard now became Master of Ceremonies, as Ozma had placed the conduct of the performance in his hands. After the people had all congregated about the platform and the royal party and the visitors were seated in the grandstand, the Wizard skillfully performed some feats of juggling glass balls and lighted candles. He tossed a dozen or so of them high in the air and caught them one by one as they came down, without missing any.

  Then he introduced the Scarecrow, who did a sword-swallowing act that aroused much interest. After this the Tin Woodman gave an exhibition of Swinging the Axe, which he made to whirl around him so rapidly that the eye could scarcely follow the motion of the gleaming blade. Glinda the Sorceress then stepped upon the platform, and by her magic made a big tree grow in the middle of the space, made blossoms appear upon the tree, and made the blossoms become delicious fruit called tamornas, and so great was the quantity of fruit produced that when the servants climbed the tree and tossed it down to the crowd, there was enough to satisfy every person present.

  Para Bruin, the rubber bear, climbed to a limb of the big tree, rolled himself into a ball, and dropped to the platform, whence he bounded up again to the limb. He repeated this bouncing act several times, to the great delight of all the children present. After he had finished, and bowed, and returned to his seat, Glinda waved her wand and the tree disappeared; but its fruit still remained to be eaten.

  The Good Witch of the North amused the people by transforming ten stones into ten birds, the ten birds into ten lambs, and the ten lambs into ten little girls, who gave a pretty dance and were then transformed into ten stones again, just as they were in the beginning.

  Johnny Dooit next came on the platform with his tool-chest, and in a few minutes built a great flying machine; then put his chest in the machine and the whole thing flew away together—Johnny and all—after he had bid good-bye to those present and thanked the Princess for her hospitality.

  The Wizard then announced the last act of all, which was considered really wonderful. He had invented a machine to blow huge soap-bubbles, as big as balloons, and this machine was hidden under the platform so that only the rim of the big clay pipe to produce the bubbles showed above the flooring. The tank of soapsuds, and the air-pumps to inflate the bubbles, were out of sight beneath, so that when the bubbles began to grow upon the floor of the platform it really seemed like magic to the people of Oz, who knew nothing about even the common soap-bubbles that our children blow with a penny clay pipe and a basin of soap-and-water.

  The Wizard had invented another thing. Usually, soap-bubbles are frail and burst easily, lasting only a few moments as they float in the air; but the Wizard added a sort of glue to his soapsuds, which made his bubbles tough; and, as the glue dried rapidly when exposed to the air, the Wizard’s bubbles were strong enough to float for hours without breaking.

  He began by blowing—by means of his machinery and air-pumps—several large bubbles which he allowed to float upward into the sky, where the sunshine fell upon them and gave them iridescent hues that were most beautiful. This aroused much wonder and delight because it was a new amusement to every one present—except perhaps Dorothy and Button-Bright, and even they had never seen such big, strong bubbles before.

  The Wizard then blew a bunch of small bubbles and afterward blew a big bubble around them so they were left in the center of it; then he allowed the whole mass of pretty globes to float into the air and disappear in the far distant sky.

  “That is really fine!” declared Santa Claus, who loved toys and pretty things. “I think, Mr. Wizard, I shall have you blow a bubble around me; then I can float away home and see the country spread out beneath me as I travel. There isn’t a spot on earth that I haven’t visited, but I usually go in the night-time, riding behind my swift reindeer. Here is a good chance to observe the country by daylight, while I am riding slowly and at my ease.”

  “Do you think you will be able to guide the bubble?” asked the Wizard.

  “Oh yes; I know enough magic to do that,” replied Santa Claus. “You blow the bubble, with me inside of it, and I’ll be sure to get home in safety.”

  “Please send me home in a bubble, too!” begged the Queen of Merryland.

  “Very well, madam; you shall try the journey first,” politely answered old Santa.

  The pretty wax doll bade good-bye to the Princess Ozma and the others and stood on the platform while the Wizard blew a big soap-bubble around her. When completed, he allowed the bubble to float slowly upward, and there could be seen the little Queen of Merryland standing in the middle of it and blowing kisses from her fingers to those below. The bubble took a southerly direction, quickly floating out of sight.

  “That’s a very nice way to travel,” said Princess Fluff. “I’d like to go home in a bubble, too.”

  So the Wizard blew a big bubble around Princess Fluff, and another around King Bud, her brother, and a third one around Queen Zixi; and soon these three bubbles had mounted into the sky and were floating off in a group in the direction of the kingdom of Noland.

  The success of these ventures induced the other guests from foreign lands to undertake bubble journeys, also; so the Wizard put them one by one inside his bubbles, and Santa Claus directed the way they should go, because he knew exactly where everybody lived.

  Finally, Button-Bright said:

  “I want to go home, too.”

  “Why, so you shall!” cried Santa; “for I’m sure your father and mother will be glad to see you again. Mr. Wizard, please blow a big, fine bubble for Button-Bright to ride in, and I’ll agree to send him home to his family as safe as safe can be.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Dorothy with a sigh, for she was fond of her little comrade; “but p’raps it’s best for Button-Bright to get home; ‘cause his folks must be worrying just dreadful.”

  She kissed the boy, and Ozma kissed him, too, and all the others waved their hands and said good-bye and wished him a pleasant journey.

  “Are you glad to leave us, dear?” asked Dorothy, a little wistfully.

  “Don’t know,” said Button-Bright.

  He sat down cross-legged on the platform, with his sailor hat tipped back on his head, and the Wizard blew a beautiful bubble all around him.

  A minute later it had mounted into the sky, sailing toward the west, and the last they saw of Button-Bright he was still sitting in the middle of the shining globe and waving his sailor hat at those below.

  “Will you ride in a bubble, or shall I send you and Toto home by means of the Magic Belt?” the Princess asked Dorothy.

  “Guess I’ll use the Belt,” replied the little girl. “I’m sort of ‘fraid of those bubbles.”

  “Bow-wow!” said Toto, approvingly. He loved to bark at the bubbles as they sailed away, but he didn’t care to ride in one.

  Santa Claus decided to go next. He thanked Ozma for her hospitality and wished her many happy returns of the day. Then the Wizard blew a bubble around his chubby little body and smaller bubbles around each of his Ryls and Knooks.

  As the kind and generous friend of children mounted into the air the people all cheered at the top of their voices, for they loved Santa Claus dearly; and the little man heard them thro
ugh the walls of his bubble and waved his hands in return as he smiled down upon them. The band played bravely while every one watched the bubble until it was completely out of sight.

  “How ‘bout you, Polly?” Dorothy asked her friend. “Are you ‘fraid of bubbles, too?”

  “No,” answered Polychrome, smiling; “but Santa Claus promised to speak to my father as he passed through the sky. So perhaps I shall get home an easier way.”

  Indeed, the little maid had scarcely made this speech when a sudden radiance filled the air, and while the people looked on in wonder the end of a gorgeous rainbow slowly settled down upon the platform.

  With a glad cry, the Rainbow’s Daughter sprang from her seat and danced along the curve of the bow, mounting gradually upward, while the folds of her gauzy gown whirled and floated around her like a cloud and blended with the colors of the rainbow itself.

  “Good-bye Ozma! Good-bye Dorothy!” cried a voice they knew belonged to Polychrome; but now the little maiden’s form had melted wholly into the rainbow, and their eyes could no longer see her.

  Suddenly, the end of the rainbow lifted and its colors slowly faded like mist before a breeze. Dorothy sighed deeply and turned to Ozma.

  “I’m sorry to lose Polly,” she said; “but I guess she’s better off with her father; ‘cause even the Land of Oz couldn’t be like home to a cloud fairy.”

  “No indeed,” replied the Princess; “but it has been delightful for us to know Polychrome for a little while, and—who knows?—perhaps we may meet the Rainbow’s Daughter again, some day.”

  The entertainment being now ended, all left the pavilion and formed their gay procession back to the Emerald City again. Of Dorothy’s recent traveling companions only Toto and the shaggy man remained, and Ozma had decided to allow the latter to live in Oz for a time, at least. If he proved honest and true she promised to let him live there always, and the shaggy man was anxious to earn this reward.

  They had a nice quiet dinner together and passed a pleasant evening with the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tik-tok, and the Yellow Hen for company.

  When Dorothy bade them good-night, she kissed them all good-bye at the same time. For Ozma had agreed that while Dorothy slept she and Toto should be transported by means of the Magic Belt to her own little bed in the Kansas farm-house and the little girl laughed as she thought how astonished Uncle Henry and Aunt Em would be when she came down to breakfast with them next morning.

  Quite content to have had so pleasant an adventure, and a little tired by all the day’s busy scenes, Dorothy clasped Toto in her arms and lay down upon the pretty white bed in her room in Ozma’s royal palace.

  Presently she was sound asleep.

  The Emerald City of Oz L. Frank Baum

  Author’s Note

  Perhaps I should admit on the title page that this book is “By L. Frank Baum and his correspondents,” for I have used many suggestions conveyed to me in letters from children. Once on a time I really imagined myself “an author of fairy tales,” but now I am merely an editor or private secretary for a host of youngsters whose ideas I am requestsed to weave into the thread of my stories.

  These ideas are often clever. They are also logical and interesting. So I have used them whenever I could find an opportunity, and it is but just that I acknowledge my indebtedness to my little friends.

  My, what imaginations these children have developed! Sometimes I am fairly astounded by their daring and genius. There will be no lack of fairy-tale authors in the future, I am sure. My readers have told me what to do with Dorothy, and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, and I have obeyed their mandates. They have also given me a variety of subjects to write about in the future: enough, in fact, to keep me busy for some time. I am very proud of this alliance. Children love these stories because children have helped to create them. My readers know what they want and realize that I try to please them. The result is very satisfactory to the publishers, to me, and (I am quite sure) to the children.

  I hope, my dears, it will be a long time before we are obliged to dissolve partnership.

  L. FRANK BAUM.

  Coronado, 1910

  1. How the Nome King Became Angry

  The Nome King was in an angry mood, and at such times he was very disagreeable. Every one kept away from him, even his Chief Steward Kaliko.

  Therefore the King stormed and raved all by himself, walking up and down in his jewel-studded cavern and getting angrier all the time. Then he remembered that it was no fun being angry unless he had some one to frighten and make miserable, and he rushed to his big gong and made it clatter as loud as he could.

  In came the Chief Steward, trying not to show the Nome King how frightened he was.

  “Send the Chief Counselor here!” shouted the angry monarch.

  Kaliko ran out as fast as his spindle legs could carry his fat, round body, and soon the Chief Counselor entered the cavern. The King scowled and said to him:

  “I’m in great trouble over the loss of my Magic Belt. Every little while I want to do something magical, and find I can’t because the Belt is gone. That makes me angry, and when I’m angry I can’t have a good time. Now, what do you advise?”

  “Some people,” said the Chief Counselor, “enjoy getting angry.”

  “But not all the time,” declared the King. “To be angry once in a while is really good fun, because it makes others so miserable. But to be angry morning, noon and night, as I am, grows monotonous and prevents my gaining any other pleasure in life. Now what do you advise?”

  “Why, if you are angry because you want to do magical things and can’t, and if you don’t want to get angry at all, my advice is not to want to do magical things.”

  Hearing this, the King glared at his Counselor with a furious expression and tugged at his own long white whiskers until he pulled them so hard that he yelled with pain.

  “You are a fool!” he exclaimed.

  “I share that honor with your Majesty,” said the Chief Counselor.

  The King roared with rage and stamped his foot.

  “Ho, there, my guards!” he cried. “Ho” is a royal way of saying, “Come here.” So, when the guards had hoed, the King said to them:

  “Take this Chief Counselor and throw him away.”

  Then the guards took the Chief Counselor, and bound him with chains to prevent his struggling, and threw him away. And the King paced up and down his cavern more angry than before.

  Finally he rushed to his big gong and made it clatter like a fire alarm. Kaliko appeared again, trembling and white with fear.

  “Fetch my pipe!” yelled the King.

  “Your pipe is already here, your Majesty,” replied Kaliko.

  “Then get my tobacco!” roared the King.

  “The tobacco is in your pipe, your Majesty,” returned the Steward.

  “Then bring a live coal from the furnace!” commanded the King.

  “The tobacco is lighted, and your Majesty is already smoking your pipe,” answered the Steward.

  “Why, so I am!” said the King, who had forgotten this fact; “but you are very rude to remind me of it.”

  “I am a lowborn, miserable villain,” declared the Chief Steward, humbly.

  The Nome King could think of nothing to say next, so he puffed away at his pipe and paced up and down the room. Finally, he remembered how angry he was, and cried out:

  “What do you mean, Kaliko, by being so contented when your monarch is unhappy?”

  “What makes you unhappy?” asked the Steward.

  “I’ve lost my Magic Belt. A little girl named Dorothy, who was here with Ozma of Oz, stole my Belt and carried it away with her,” said the King, grinding his teeth with rage.

  “She captured it in a fair fight,” Kaliko ventured to say.

  “But I want it! I must have it! Half my power is gone with that Be
lt!” roared the King.

  “You will have to go to the Land of Oz to recover it, and your Majesty can’t get to the Land of Oz in any possible way,” said the Steward, yawning because he had been on duty ninety-six hours, and was sleepy.

  “Why not?” asked the King.

  “Because there is a deadly desert all around that fairy country, which no one is able to cross. You know that fact as well as I do, your Majesty. Never mind the lost Belt. You have plenty of power left, for you rule this underground kingdom like a tyrant, and thousands of Nomes obey your commands. I advise you to drink a glass of melted silver, to quiet your nerves, and then go to bed.”

  The King grabbed a big ruby and threw it at Kaliko’s head. The Steward ducked to escape the heavy jewel, which crashed against the door just over his left ear.

  “Get out of my sight! Vanish! Go away—and send General Blug here,” screamed the Nome King.

  Kaliko hastily withdrew, and the Nome King stamped up and down until the General of his armies appeared.

  This Nome was known far and wide as a terrible fighter and a cruel, desperate commander. He had fifty thousand Nome soldiers, all well drilled, who feared nothing but their stern master. Yet General Blug was a trifle uneasy when he arrived and saw how angry the Nome King was.

  “Ha! So you’re here!” cried the King.

  “So I am,” said the General.

  “March your army at once to the Land of Oz, capture and destroy the Emerald City, and bring back to me my Magic Belt!” roared the King.

  “You’re crazy,” calmly remarked the General.