The Loss of the Black Bag
CHAPTER 13
Kiki Aru, in the form of the Li-Mon-Eag, had scrambled into the high,thick branches of the tree, so no one could see him, and there he openedthe Wizard's black bag, which he had carried away in his flight. He wascurious to see what the Wizard's magic tools looked like, and hoped hecould use some of them and so secure more power; but after he had takenthe articles, one by one, from the bag, he had to admit they werepuzzles to him. For, unless he understood their uses, they were of novalue whatever. Kiki Aru, the Hyup boy, was no wizard or magician atall, and could do nothing unusual except to use the Magic Word he hadstolen from his father on Mount Munch. So he hung the Wizard's black bagon a branch of the tree and then climbed down to the lower limbs that hemight see what the victims of his transformations were doing.
They were all on top of the flat rock, talking together in tones so lowthat Kiki could not hear what they said.
"This is certainly a misfortune," remarked the Wizard in the Fox's form,"but our transformations are a sort of enchantment which is very easy tobreak--when you know how and have the tools to do it with. The tools arein my Black Bag; but where is the Bag?"
No one knew that, for none had seen Kiki Aru fly away with it.
"Let's look and see if we can find it," suggested Dorothy the Lamb.
So they left the rock, and all of them searched the clearing high andlow without finding the Bag of Magic Tools. The Goose searched asearnestly as the others, for if he could discover it, he meant to hideit where the Wizard could never find it, because if the Wizard changedhim back to his proper form, along with the others, he would then berecognized as Ruggedo the Nome, and they would send him out of the Landof Oz and so ruin all his hopes of conquest.
Ruggedo was not really sorry, now that he thought about it, that Kikihad transformed all these Oz folks. The forest beasts, it was true, hadbeen so frightened that they would now never consent to be transformedinto men, but Kiki could transform them against their will, and oncethey were all in human forms, it would not be impossible to induce themto conquer the Oz people.
So all was not lost, thought the old Nome, and the best thing for him todo was to rejoin the Hyup boy who had the secret of the transformations.So, having made sure the Wizard's black bag was not in the clearing, theGoose wandered away through the trees when the others were not looking,and when out of their hearing, he began calling, "Kiki Aru! Kiki Aru!Quack--quack! Kiki Aru!"
The Boy and the Woman, the Fox, the Lamb and the Rabbit, not being ableto find the bag, went back to the rock, all feeling exceedingly strange.
"Where's the Goose?" asked the Wizard.
"He must have run away," replied Dorothy. "I wonder who he was?"
"I think," said Gugu the King, who was the fat Woman, "that the Goosewas the stranger who proposed that we make war upon the Oz people. Ifso, his transformation was merely a trick to deceive us, and he has nowgone to join his comrade, that wicked Li-Mon-Eag who obeyed all hiscommands."
"What shall we do now?" asked Dorothy. "Shall we go back to the EmeraldCity, as we are, and then visit Glinda the Good and ask her to break theenchantments?"
"I think so," replied the Wizard Fox. "And we can take Gugu the Kingwith us, and have Glinda restore him to his natural shape. But I hate toleave my bag of Magic Tools behind me, for without it I shall lose muchof my power as a Wizard. Also, if I go back to the Emerald City in theshape of a Fox, the Oz people will think I'm a poor Wizard and will losetheir respect for me."
"Let us make still another search for your tools," suggested theCowardly Lion, "and then, if we fail to find the Black Bag anywhere inthis forest, we must go back home as we are."
"Why did you come here, anyway?" inquired Gugu.
"We wanted to borrow a dozen monkeys, to use on Ozma's birthday,"explained the Wizard. "We were going to make them small, and train themto do tricks, and put them inside Ozma's birthday cake."
"Well," said the Forest King, "you would have to get the consent ofRango the Gray Ape, to do that. He commands all the tribes of monkeys."
"I'm afraid it's too late, now," said Dorothy, regretfully. "It was asplendid plan, but we've got troubles of our own, and I don't like beinga lamb at all."
"You're nice and fuzzy," said the Cowardly Lion.
"That's nothing," declared Dorothy. "I've never been 'specially proud ofmyself, but I'd rather be the way I was born than anything else in thewhole world."
The Glass Cat, although it had some disagreeable ways and manners,nevertheless realized that Trot and Cap'n Bill were its friends and sowas quite disturbed at the fix it had gotten them into by leading themto the Isle of the Magic Flower. The ruby heart of the Glass Cat wascold and hard, but still it was a heart, and to have a heart of any sortis to have some consideration for others. But the queer transparentcreature didn't want Trot and Cap'n Bill to know it was sorry for them,and therefore it moved very slowly until it had crossed the river andwas out of sight among the trees of the forest. Then it headed straighttoward the Emerald City, and trotted so fast that it was like a crystalstreak crossing the valleys and plains. Being glass, the cat wastireless, and with no reason to delay its journey, it reached Ozma'spalace in wonderfully quick time.
"Where's the Wizard?" it asked the Pink Kitten, which was curled up inthe sunshine on the lowest step of the palace entrance.
"Don't bother me," lazily answered the Pink Kitten, whose name wasEureka.
"I must find the Wizard at once!" said the Glass Cat.
"Then find him," advised Eureka, and went to sleep again.
The Glass Cat darted up the stairway and came upon Toto, Dorothy'slittle black dog.
"Where's the Wizard?" asked the Cat.
"Gone on a journey with Dorothy," replied Toto.
"When did they go, and where have they gone?" demanded the Cat.
"They went yesterday, and I heard them say they would go to the GreatForest in the Munchkin Country."
"Dear me," said the Glass Cat; "that is a long journey."
"But they rode on the Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion," explainedToto, "and the Wizard carried his Black Bag of Magic Tools."
The Glass Cat knew the Great Forest of Gugu well, for it had traveledthrough this forest many times in its journeys through the Land of Oz.And it reflected that the Forest of Gugu was nearer to the Isle of theMagic Flower than the Emerald City was, and so, if it could manage tofind the Wizard, it could lead him across the Gillikin country to whereTrot and Cap'n Bill were prisoned. It was a wild country and littletraveled, but the Glass Cat knew every path. So very little time need belost, after all.
Without stopping to ask any more questions the Cat darted out of thepalace and away from the Emerald City, taking the most direct route tothe Forest of Gugu. Again the creature flashed through the country likea streak of light, and it would surprise you to know how quickly itreached the edge of the Great Forest.
There were no monkey guards among the trees to cry out a warning, andthis was so unusual that it astonished the Glass Cat. Going farther intothe forest it presently came upon a wolf, which at first bounded away interror. But then, seeing it was only a Glass Cat, the Wolf stopped, andthe Cat could see it was trembling, as if from a terrible fright.
"What's the matter?" asked the Cat.
"A dreadful Magician has come among us!" exclaimed the Wolf, "and he'schanging the forms of all the beasts--quick as a wink--and making themall his slaves."
The Glass Cat smiled and said:
"Why, that's only the Wizard of Oz. He may be having some fun with youforest people, but the Wizard wouldn't hurt a beast for anything."
"I don't mean the Wizard," explained the Wolf. "And if the Wizard of Ozis that funny little man who rode a great Tiger into the clearing, he'sbeen transformed himself by the terrible Magician."
"The Wizard transforme
d? Why, that's impossible," declared the GlassCat.
"No; it isn't. I saw him with my own eyes, changed into the form of aFox, and the girl who was with him was changed to a woolly Lamb."
The Glass Cat was indeed surprised.
"When did that happen?" it asked.
"Just a little while ago in the clearing. All the animals had met there,but they ran away when the Magician began his transformations, and I'mthankful I escaped with my natural shape. But I'm still afraid, and I'mgoing somewhere to hide."
With this the Wolf ran on, and the Glass Cat, which knew where the bigclearing was, went toward it. But now it walked more slowly, and itspink brains rolled and tumbled around at a great rate because it wasthinking over the amazing news the Wolf had told it.
When the Glass Cat reached the clearing, it saw a Fox, a Lamb, a Rabbit,a Munchkin boy and a fat Gillikin woman, all wandering around in anaimless sort of way, for they were again searching for the Black Bag ofMagic Tools.
The Cat watched them a moment and then it walked slowly into the openspace. At once the Lamb ran toward it, crying:
"Oh, Wizard, here's the Glass Cat!"
"Where, Dorothy?" asked the Fox.
"Here!"
The Boy and the Woman and the Rabbit now joined the Fox and the Lamb,and they all stood before the Glass Cat and speaking together, almostlike a chorus, asked: "Have you seen the Black Bag?"
"Often," replied the Glass Cat, "but not lately."
"It's lost," said the Fox, "and we must find it."
"Are you the Wizard?" asked the Cat.
"Yes."
"And who are these others?"
"I'm Dorothy," said the Lamb.
"I'm the Cowardly Lion," said the Munchkin boy.
"I'm the Hungry Tiger," said the Rabbit.
"I'm Gugu, King of the Forest," said the fat Woman.
The Glass Cat sat on its hind legs and began to laugh. "My, what a funnylot!" exclaimed the Creature. "Who played this joke on you?"
"It's no joke at all," declared the Wizard. "It was a cruel, wickedtransformation, and the Magician that did it has the head of a lion, thebody of a monkey, the wings of an eagle and a round ball on the end ofhis tail."
The Glass Cat laughed again. "That Magician must look funnier than youdo," it said. "Where is he now?"
"Somewhere in the forest," said the Cowardly Lion. "He just jumped intothat tall maple tree over there, for he can climb like a monkey and flylike an eagle, and then he disappeared in the forest."
"And there was another Magician, just like him, who was his friend,"added Dorothy, "but they probably quarreled, for the wickedest onechanged his friend into the form of a Goose."
"What became of the Goose?" asked the Cat, looking around.
"He must have gone away to find his friend," answered Gugu the King."But a Goose can't travel very fast, so we could easily find him if wewanted to."
"The worst thing of all," said the Wizard, "is that my Black Bag islost. It disappeared when I was transformed. If I could find it I couldeasily break these enchantments by means of my magic, and we wouldresume our own forms again. Will you help us search for the Black Bag,Friend Cat?"
"Of course," replied the Glass Cat. "But I expect the strange Magiciancarried it away with him. If he's a magician, he knows you need thatBag, and perhaps he's afraid of your magic. So he's probably taken theBag with him, and you won't see it again unless you find the Magician."
"That sounds reasonable," remarked the Lamb, which was Dorothy. "Thosepink brains of yours seem to be working pretty well to-day."
"If the Glass Cat is right," said the Wizard in a solemn voice, "there'smore trouble ahead of us. That Magician is dangerous, and if we go nearhim he may transform us into shapes not as nice as these."
"I don't see how we could be any _worse_ off," growled Gugu, who wasindignant because he was forced to appear in the form of a fat woman.
"Anyway," said the Cowardly Lion, "our best plan is to find the Magicianand try to get the Black Bag from him. We may manage to steal it, orperhaps we can argue him into giving it to us."
"Why not find the Goose, first?" asked Dorothy. "The Goose will be angryat the Magician, and he may be able to help us."
"That isn't a bad idea," returned the Wizard. "Come on, Friends; let'sfind that Goose. We will separate and search in different directions,and the first to find the Goose must bring him here, where we will allmeet again in an hour."
The Magic of Oz Page 15
