The Classic Children's Literature Collection: 39 Classic Novels

by Various Authors

  For one thing, she had remembered that when the Nome King owned it, the Magic Belt used to perform transformations, and by thinking hard she had finally recalled the way in which such transformations had been accomplished. Better than this, however, was the discovery that the Magic Belt would grant its wearer one wish a day. All she need do was close her right eye and wiggle her left toe and then draw a long breath and make her wish. Yesterday she had wished in secret for a box of caramels, and instantly found the box beside her. Today she had saved her daily wish in case she might need it in an emergency, and the time had now come when she must use the wish to enable her to escape with her friends from the prison in which Ugu had caught them.

  So without telling anyone what she intended to do—for she had only used the wish once and could not be certain how powerful the Magic Belt might be—Dorothy closed her right eye and wiggled her left big toe and drew a long breath and wished with all her might. The next moment the room began to revolve again, as slowly as before, and by degrees they all slid to the side wall and down the wall to the floor—all but Scraps, who was so astonished that she still clung to the chandelier. When the big hall was in its proper position again and the others stood firmly upon the floor of it, they looked far up the dome and saw the Patchwork girl swinging from the chandelier.

  “Good gracious!” cried Dorothy. “How ever will you get down?”

  “Won’t the room keep turning?” asked Scraps.

  “I hope not. I believe it has stopped for good,” said Princess Dorothy.

  “Then stand from under, so you won’t get hurt!” shouted the Patchwork Girl, and as soon as they had obeyed this request, she let go the chandelier and came tumbling down heels over head and twisting and turning in a very exciting manner. Plump! She fell on the tiled floor, and they ran to her and rolled her and patted her into shape again.

  CHAPTER 23.THE DEFIANCE OF UGU THE SHOEMAKER

  The delay caused by Scraps had prevented anyone from running to the shelves to secure the magic instruments so badly needed. Even Cayke neglected to get her diamond-studded dishpan because she was watching the Patchwork Girl. And now the magician had opened his trap door and appeared in his golden cage again, frowning angrily because his prisoners had been able to turn their upside-down prison right side up. “Which of you has dared defy my magic?” he shouted in a terrible voice.

  “It was I,” answered Dorothy calmly.

  “Then I shall destroy you, for you are only an Earth girl and no fairy,” he said, and began to mumble some magic words.

  Dorothy now realized that Ugu must be treated as an enemy, so she advanced toward the corner in which he sat, saying as she went, “I am not afraid of you, Mr. Shoemaker, and I think you’ll be sorry, pretty soon, that you’re such a bad man. You can’t destroy me, and I won’t destroy you, but I’m going to punish you for your wickedness.”

  Ugu laughed, a laugh that was not nice to hear, and then he waved his hand. Dorothy was halfway across the room when suddenly a wall of glass rose before her and stopped her progress. Through the glass she could see the magician sneering at her because she was a weak little girl, and this provoked her. Although the glass wall obliged her to halt, she instantly pressed both hands to her Magic Belt and cried in a loud voice, “Ugu the Shoemaker, by the magic virtues of the Magic Belt, I command you to become a dove!”

  The magician instantly realized he was being enchanted, for he could feel his form changing. He struggled desperately against the enchantment, mumbling magic words and making magic passes with his hands. And in one way he succeeded in defeating Dorothy’s purpose, for while his form soon changed to that of a gray dove, the dove was of an enormous size, bigger even than Ugu had been as a man, and this feat he had been able to accomplish before his powers of magic wholly deserted him.

  And the dove was not gentle, as doves usually are, for Ugu was terribly enraged at the little girl’s success. His books had told him nothing of the Nome King’s Magic Belt, the Country of the Nomes being outside the Land of Oz. He knew, however, that he was likely to be conquered unless he made a fierce fight, so he spread his wings and rose in the air and flew directly toward Dorothy. The Wall of Glass had disappeared the instant Ugu became transformed.

  Dorothy had meant to command the Belt to transform the magician into a Dove of Peace, but in her excitement she forgot to say more than “dove,” and now Ugu was not a Dove of Peace by any means, but rather a spiteful Dove of War. His size made his sharp beak and claws very dangerous, but Dorothy was not afraid when he came darting toward her with his talons outstretched and his sword-like beak open. She knew the Magic Belt would protect its wearer from harm.

  But the Frogman did not know that fact and became alarmed at the little girl’s seeming danger. So he gave a sudden leap and leaped full upon the back of the great dove. Then began a desperate struggle. The dove was as strong as Ugu had been, and in size it was considerably bigger than the Frogman. But the Frogman had eaten the zosozo, and it had made him fully as strong as Ugu the Dove. At the first leap he bore the dove to the floor, but the giant bird got free and began to bite and claw the Frogman, beating him down with its great wings whenever he attempted to rise. The thick, tough skin of the big frog was not easily damaged, but Dorothy feared for her champion, and by again using the transformation power of the Magic Belt, she made the dove grow small until it was no larger than a canary bird. Ugu had not lost his knowledge of magic when he lost his shape as a man, and he now realized it was hopeless to oppose the power of the Magic Belt and knew that his only hope of escape lay in instant action. So he quickly flew into the golden jeweled dishpan he had stolen from Cayke the Cookie Cook, and as birds can talk as well as beasts or men in the Fairyland of Oz, he muttered the magic word that was required and wished himself in the Country of the Quadlings, which was as far away from the wicker castle as he believed he could get.

  Our friends did not know, of course, what Ugu was about to do. They saw the dishpan tremble an instant and then disappear, the dove disappearing with it, and although they waited expectantly for some minutes for the magician’s return, Ugu did not come back again. “Seems to me,” said the Wizard in a cheerful voice, “that we have conquered the wicked magician more quickly than we expected to.”

  “Don’t say ‘we.’ Dorothy did it!” cried the Patchwork Girl, turning three somersaults in succession and then walking around on her hands. “Hurrah for Dorothy!”

  “I thought you said you did not know how to use the magic of the Nome King’s Belt,” said the Wizard to Dorothy.

  “I didn’t know at that time,” she replied, “but afterward I remembered how the Nome King once used the Magic Belt to enchant people and transform ‘em into ornaments and all sorts of things, so I tried some enchantments in secret, and after a while I transformed the Sawhorse into a potato masher and back again, and the Cowardly Lion into a pussycat and back again, and then I knew the thing would work all right.”

  “When did you perform those enchantments?” asked the Wizard, much surprised.

  “One night when all the rest of you were asleep but Scraps, and she had gone chasing moonbeams.”

  “Well,” remarked the Wizard, “your discovery has certainly saved us a lot of trouble, and we must all thank the Frogman, too, for making such a good fight. The dove’s shape had Ugu’s evil disposition inside it, and that made the monster bird dangerous.”

  The Frogman was looking sad because the bird’s talons had torn his pretty clothes, but he bowed with much dignity at this well-deserved praise. Cayke, however, had squatted on the floor and was sobbing bitterly. “My precious dishpan is gone!” she wailed. “Gone, just as I had found it again!”

  “Never mind,” said Trot, trying to comfort her, “it’s sure to be SOMEWHERE, so we’ll cert’nly run across it some day.”

  “Yes indeed,” added Betsy, “now that we have Ozma’s Magic Picture, we can tell just wher
e the Dove went with your dishpan. They all approached the Magic Picture, and Dorothy wished it to show the enchanted form of Ugu the Shoemaker, wherever it might be. At once there appeared in the frame of the Picture a scene in the far Quadling Country, where the Dove was perched disconsolately on the limb of a tree and the jeweled dishpan lay on the ground just underneath the limb.

  “But where is the place? How far or how near?” asked Cayke anxiously.

  “The Book of Records will tell us that,” answered the Wizard. So they looked in the Great Book and read the following:

  “Ugu the Magician, being transformed into a dove by Princess Dorothy of Oz, has used the magic of the golden dishpan to carry him instantly to the northeast corner of the Quadling Country.”

  “Don’t worry, Cayke, for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are in that part of the country looking for Ozma, and they’ll surely find your dishpan.”

  “Good gracious!” exclaimed Button-Bright. “We’ve forgot all about Ozma. Let’s find out where the magician hid her.”

  Back to the Magic Picture they trooped, but when they wished to see Ozma wherever she might be hidden, only a round black spot appeared in the center of the canvas. “I don’t see how THAT can be Ozma!” said Dorothy, much puzzled.

  “It seems to be the best the Magic Picture can do, however,” said the Wizard, no less surprised. “If it’s an enchantment, looks as if the magician had transformed Ozma into a chunk of pitch.”

  CHAPTER 24.THE LITTLE PINK BEAR SPEAKS TRULY

  For several minutes they all stood staring at the black spot on the canvas of the Magic Picture, wondering what it could mean. “P’r’aps we’d better ask the little Pink Bear about Ozma,” suggested Trot.

  “Pshaw!” said Button-Bright. “HE don’t know anything.”

  “He never makes a mistake,” declared the King.

  “He did once, surely,” said Betsy. “But perhaps he wouldn’t make a mistake again.”

  “He won’t have the chance,” grumbled the Bear King.

  “We might hear what he has to say,” said Dorothy. “It won’t do any harm to ask the Pink Bear where Ozma is.”

  “I will not have him questioned,” declared the King in a surly voice. “I do not intend to allow my little Pink Bear to be again insulted by your foolish doubts. He never makes a mistake.”

  “Didn’t he say Ozma was in that hole in the ground?” asked Betsy.

  “He did, and I am certain she was there,” replied the Lavender Bear.

  Scraps laughed jeeringly, and the others saw there was no use arguing with the stubborn Bear King, who seemed to have absolute faith in his Pink Bear. The Wizard, who knew that magical things can usually be depended upon and that the little Pink Bear was able to answer questions by some remarkable power of magic, thought it wise to apologize to the Lavender Bear for the unbelief of his friends, at the same time urging the King to consent to question the Pink Bear once more. Cayke and the Frogman also pleaded with the big Bear, who finally agreed, although rather ungraciously, to put the little Bear’s wisdom to the test once more. So he sat the little one on his knee and turned the crank, and the Wizard himself asked the questions in a very respectful tone of voice. “Where is Ozma?” was his first query.

  “Here in this room,” answered the little Pink Bear.

  They all looked around the room, but of course did not see her. “In what part of the room is she?” was the Wizard’s next question.

  “In Button-Bright’s pocket,” said the little Pink Bear.

  This reply amazed them all, you may be sure, and although the three girls smiled and Scraps yelled “Hoo-ray!” in derision, the Wizard turned to consider the matter with grave thoughtfulness. “In which one of Button-Bright’s pockets is Ozma?” he presently inquired.

  “In the left-hand jacket pocket,” said the little Pink Bear.

  “The pink one has gone crazy!” exclaimed Button-Bright, staring hard at the little bear on the big bear’s knee.

  “I am not so sure of that,” declared the Wizard. “If Ozma proves to be really in your pocket, then the little Pink Bear spoke truly when he said Ozma was in that hole in the ground. For at that time you were also in the hole, and after we had pulled you out of it, the little Pink Bear said Ozma was not in the hole.”

  “He never makes a mistake,” asserted the Bear King stoutly.

  “Empty that pocket, Button-Bright, and let’s see what’s in it,” requested Dorothy.

  So Button-Bright laid the contents of his left jacket pocket on the table. These proved to be a peg top, a bunch of string, a small rubber ball and a golden peach pit. “What’s this?” asked the Wizard, picking up the peach pit and examining it closely.

  “Oh,” said the boy, “I saved that to show to the girls, and then forgot all about it. It came out of a lonesome peach that I found in the orchard back yonder, and which I ate while I was lost. It looks like gold, and I never saw a peach pit like it before.”

  “Nor I,” said the Wizard, “and that makes it seem suspicious.”

  All heads were bent over the golden peach pit. The Wizard turned it over several times and then took out his pocket knife and pried the pit open. As the two halves fell apart, a pink, cloud-like haze came pouring from the golden peach pit, almost filling the big room, and from the haze a form took shape and settled beside them. Then, as the haze faded away, a sweet voice said, “Thank you, my friends!” and there before them stood their lovely girl Ruler, Ozma of Oz.

  With a cry of delight, Dorothy rushed forward and embraced her. Scraps turned gleeful flipflops all around the room. Button-Bright gave a low whistle of astonishment. The Frogman took off his tall hat and bowed low before the beautiful girl who had been freed from her enchantment in so startling a manner. For a time, no sound was heard beyond the low murmur of delight that came from the amazed group, but presently the growl of the big Lavender Bear grew louder, and he said in a tone of triumph, “He never makes a mistake!”

  CHAPTER 25.OZMA OF OZ

  “It’s funny,” said Toto, standing before his friend the Lion and wagging his tail, “but I’ve found my growl at last! I am positive now that it was the cruel magician who stole it.”

  “Let’s hear your growl,” requested the Lion.

  “G-r-r-r-r-r!” said Toto.

  “That is fine,” declared the big beast. “It isn’t as loud or as deep as the growl of the big Lavender Bear, but it is a very respectable growl for a small dog. Where did you find it, Toto?”

  “I was smelling in the corner yonder,” said Toto, “when suddenly a mouse ran out—and I growled.”

  The others were all busy congratulating Ozma, who was very happy at being released from the confinement of the golden peach pit, where the magician had placed her with the notion that she never could be found or liberated.

  “And only to think,” cried Dorothy, “that Button-Bright has been carrying you in his pocket all this time, and we never knew it!”

  “The little Pink Bear told you,” said the Bear King, “but you wouldn’t believe him.”

  “Never mind, my dears,” said Ozma graciously, “all is well that ends well, and you couldn’t be expected to know I was inside the peach pit. Indeed, I feared I would remain a captive much longer than I did, for Ugu is a bold and clever magician, and he had hidden me very securely.”

  “You were in a fine peach,” said Button-Bright, “the best I ever ate.”

  “The magician was foolish to make the peach so tempting,” remarked the Wizard, “but Ozma would lend beauty to any transformation.”

  “How did you manage to conquer Ugu the Shoemaker?” inquired the girl Ruler of Oz.

  Dorothy started to tell the story, and Trot helped her, and Button-Bright wanted to relate it in his own way, and the Wizard tried to make it clear to Ozma, and Betsy had to remind them of important things they left out, and all to
gether there was such a chatter that it was a wonder that Ozma understood any of it. But she listened patiently, with a smile on her lovely face at their eagerness, and presently had gleaned all the details of their adventures.

  Ozma thanked the Frogman very earnestly for his assistance, and she advised Cayke the Cookie Cook to dry her weeping eyes, for she promised to take her to the Emerald City and see that her cherished dishpan was restored to her. Then the beautiful Ruler took a chain of emeralds from around her own neck and placed it around the neck of the little Pink Bear.

  “Your wise answers to the questions of my friends,” said she, “helped them to rescue me. Therefore I am deeply grateful to you and to your noble King.”

  The bead eyes of the little Pink Bear stared unresponsive to this praise until the Big Lavender Bear turned the crank in its side, when it said in its squeaky voice, “I thank Your Majesty.”

  “For my part,” returned the Bear King, “I realize that you were well worth saving, Miss Ozma, and so I am much pleased that we could be of service to you. By means of my Magic Wand I have been creating exact images of your Emerald City and your Royal Palace, and I must confess that they are more attractive than any places I have ever seen—not excepting Bear Center.”

  “I would like to entertain you in my palace,” returned Ozma sweetly, “and you are welcome to return with me and to make me a long visit, if your bear subjects can spare you from your own kingdom.”