the Winged Monkeys, who would obey  any  order
they were given. But no person could command these strange creatures  more
than three times. Twice already the Wicked Witch had used the charm of the
Cap. Once was when she had made the Winkies her slaves, and set herself to
rule over their country. The Winged Monkeys had helped her  do  this.  The
second time was when she had fought against  the  Great  Oz  himself,  and
driven him out of the land of the West. The Winged Monkeys had also helped
her in doing this. Only once more could she use this Golden Cap, for which
reason she did not  like  to  do  so  until  all  her  other  powers  were
exhausted. But now that her fierce wolves  and  her  wild  crows  and  her
stinging bees were gone, and her  slaves  had  been  scared  away  by  the
Cowardly Lion, she saw there was only one way left to destroy Dorothy  and
her friends.
     So the Wicked Witch took the Golden Cap from her cupboard and  placed
it upon her head. Then she stood upon her left foot and said slowly:
     "Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!"
     Next she stood upon her right foot and said:
     "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!"
     After this she stood upon both feet and cried in a loud voice:
     "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!"
     Now the charm began to work. The sky was darkened, and a low rumbling
sound was heard in the air. There was a rushing of  many  wings,  a  great
chattering and laughing, and the sun came out of the dark sky to show  the
Wicked Witch surrounded by a crowd of monkeys, each with a pair of immense
and powerful wings on his shoulders.
     One, much bigger than the others, seemed to be their leader. He  flew
close to the Witch and said, "You have called us for the  third  and  last
time. What do you command?"
     "Go to the strangers who are within my  land  and  destroy  them  all
except the Lion," said the Wicked Witch. "Bring that beast to  me,  for  I
have a mind to harness him like a horse, and make him work."
     "Your commands shall be obeyed," said the leader. Then, with a  great
deal of chattering and noise, the Winged Monkeys flew away  to  the  place
where Dorothy and her friends were walking.
     Some of the Monkeys seized the Tin Woodman and  carried  him  through
the air until they were over a country thickly covered with  sharp  rocks.
Here they dropped the poor Woodman, who  fell  a  great  distance  to  the
rocks, where he lay so battered and dented that he could neither move  nor
groan.
     Others of the Monkeys caught  the  Scarecrow,  and  with  their  long
fingers pulled all of the straw out of his clothes and head. They made his
hat and boots and clothes into a small bundle and threw it  into  the  top
branches of a tall tree.
     The remaining Monkeys threw pieces of stout rope around the Lion  and
wound many coils about his body and head and legs, until he was unable  to
bite or scratch or struggle in any way. Then they lifted him up  and  flew
away with him to the Witch's castle, where he was placed in a  small  yard
with a high iron fence around it, so that he could not escape.
     But Dorothy they did not harm at all. She stood,  with  Toto  in  her
arms, watching the sad fate of her comrades and thinking it would soon  be
her turn. The leader of the Winged Monkeys flew up to her, his long, hairy
arms stretched out and his ugly face grinning terribly;  but  he  saw  the
mark of the Good  Witch's  kiss  upon  her  forehead  and  stopped  short,
motioning the others not to touch her.
     "We dare not harm this little girl," he said to  them,  "for  she  is
protected by the Power of Good, and that is  greater  than  the  Power  of
Evil. All we can do is to carry her to the castle of the Wicked Witch  and
leave her there."
     So, carefully and gently, they  lifted  Dorothy  in  their  arms  and
carried her swiftly through the air until they came to the  castle,  where
they set her down upon the front doorstep. Then the  leader  said  to  the
Witch:
     "We have obeyed you as far as we were able. The Tin Woodman  and  the
Scarecrow are destroyed, and the Lion is tied up in your yard. The  little
girl we dare not harm, nor the dog she carries in  her  arms.  Your  power
over our band is now ended, and you will never see us again."
     Then all the Winged Monkeys, with much laughing  and  chattering  and
noise, flew into the air and were soon out of sight.
     The Wicked Witch was both surprised and worried when she saw the mark
on Dorothy's forehead, for she knew well that neither the  Winged  Monkeys
nor she, herself, dare hurt the girl  in  any  way.  She  looked  down  at
Dorothy's feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble  with  fear,
for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them. At  first  the  Witch
was tempted to run away from Dorothy; but she happened to  look  into  the
child's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them  was,  and  that  the
little girl did not know of the wonderful power the Silver Shoes gave her.
So the Wicked Witch laughed to herself, and thought, "I can still make her
my slave, for she does not know how to use her power." Then  she  said  to
Dorothy, harshly and severely:
     "Come with me; and see that you mind everything I tell  you,  for  if
you do not I will make an end of you, as I did of the Tin Woodman and  the
Scarecrow."
     Dorothy followed her through many  of  the  beautiful  rooms  in  her
castle until they came to the kitchen, where the Witch bade her clean  the
pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.
     Dorothy went to work meekly, with her mind made up to work as hard as
she could; for she was glad the Wicked Witch had decided not to kill her.
     With Dorothy hard at work, the Witch thought she would  go  into  the
courtyard and harness the Cowardly Lion like a horse; it would amuse  her,
she was sure, to make him draw her chariot whenever she wished  to  go  to
drive. But as she opened the gate the Lion gave a loud roar and bounded at
her so fiercely that the Witch was afraid, and ran out and shut  the  gate
again.
     "If I cannot harness you," said  the  Witch  to  the  Lion,  speaking
through the bars of the gate, "I can starve you. You shall have nothing to
eat until you do as I wish."
     So after that she took no food to the imprisoned Lion; but every  day
she came to the gate at noon and asked, "Are you  ready  to  be  harnessed
like a horse?"
     And the Lion would answer, "No. If you come in this yard, I will bite
you."
     The reason the Lion did not have to do as the Witch wished  was  that
every night, while the woman was asleep, Dorothy carried him food from the
cupboard. After he had eaten he would lie down on his bed  of  straw,  and
Dorothy would lie beside him and put her head on his  soft,  shaggy  mane,
while they talked of their troubles and tried to plan some way to  escape.
But they could find no way to get out of the castle, for it was constantly
guarded by the yellow Winkies, who were the slaves of the Wicked Witch and
too afraid of her not to do as she told them.
     The girl had to work  hard  during  the  day,  and  often  the  Witch
threatened to beat her with the same old umbrella she  always  carried  in
her hand. But, in truth, she did not dare to strike  Dorothy,  because  of
the mark upon her forehead. The child did not know this, and was  full  of
fear for herself and Toto. Once the Witch struck  Toto  a  blow  with  her
umbrella and the brave little dog flew at her and bit her leg  in  return.
The Witch did not bleed where she was bitten, for she was so  wicked  that
the blood in her had dried up many years before.
     Dorothy's life became very sad as she  grew  to  understand  that  it
would be harder than ever to  get  back  to  Kansas  and  Aunt  Em  again.
Sometimes she would cry bitterly for hours, with Toto sitting at her  feet
and looking into her face, whining dismally to show how sorry he  was  for
his little mistress. Toto did not really care whether he was in Kansas  or
the Land of Oz so long as Dorothy was with him; but  he  knew  the  little
girl was unhappy, and that made him unhappy too.
     Now the Wicked Witch had a great longing to  have  for  her  own  the
Silver Shoes which the girl always wore. Her bees and her  crows  and  her
wolves were lying in heaps and drying up, and she  had  used  up  all  the
power of the Golden Cap; but if she could only  get  hold  of  the  Silver
Shoes, they would give her more power than all the other  things  she  had
lost. She watched Dorothy carefully, to see  if  she  ever  took  off  her
shoes, thinking she might steal them. But the child was so  proud  of  her
pretty shoes that she never took them off except at  night  and  when  she
took her bath. The Witch was too much afraid of the dark  to  dare  go  in
Dorothy's room at night to take the shoes, and  her  dread  of  water  was
greater than her fear of the dark, so she never came near when Dorothy was
bathing. Indeed, the old Witch never touched water,  nor  ever  let  water
touch her in any way.
     But the wicked creature was very cunning, and she finally thought  of
a trick that would give her what she wanted. She placed a bar of  iron  in
the middle of the kitchen floor, and then by her magic arts made the  iron
invisible to human eyes. So that when Dorothy walked across the floor  she
stumbled over the bar, not being able to see it, and fell at full  length.
She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of the Silver Shoes  came  off;
and before she could reach it, the Witch had snatched it away and  put  it
on her own skinny foot.
     The wicked woman was greatly pleased with the success of  her  trick,
for as long as she had one of the shoes she owned half the power of  their
charm, and Dorothy could not use it against her, even had she known how to
do so.
     The little girl, seeing she had lost one of her  pretty  shoes,  grew
angry, and said to the Witch, "Give me back my shoe!"
     "I will not," retorted the Witch, "for it is now  my  shoe,  and  not
yours."
     "You are a wicked creature!" cried Dorothy. "You  have  no  right  to
take my shoe from me."
     "I shall keep it, just the same," said the Witch,  laughing  at  her,
"and someday I shall get the other one from you, too."
     This made Dorothy so very angry that she  picked  up  the  bucket  of
water that stood near and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her from  head
to foot.
     Instantly the wicked woman gave a loud cry  of  fear,  and  then,  as
Dorothy looked at her in wonder, the Witch began to shrink and fall away.
     "See what you have done!" she screamed. "In a  minute  I  shall  melt
away."
     "I'm very sorry, indeed," said Dorothy, who was truly  frightened  to
see the Witch actually melting away like brown sugar before her very eyes.
     "Didn't you know water would be the end of me?" asked the Witch, in a
wailing, despairing voice.
     "Of course not," answered Dorothy. "How should I?"
     "Well, in a few minutes I shall be all melted, and you will have  the
castle to yourself. I have been wicked in my day, but I  never  thought  a
little girl like you would ever be able to  melt  me  and  end  my  wicked
deeds. Look out-here I go!"
     With these words the Witch fell down in a  brown,  melted,  shapeless
mass and began to spread over the  clean  boards  of  the  kitchen  floor.
Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing,  Dorothy  drew  another
bucket of water and threw it over the mess. She then swept it all out  the
door. After picking out the silver shoe, which was all that  was  left  of
the old woman, she cleaned and dried it with a cloth, and put  it  on  her
foot again. Then, being at last free to do as she chose, she  ran  out  to
the courtyard to tell the Lion that the Wicked Witch of the West had  come
to an end, and that they were no longer prisoners in a strange land.



        13. The Rescue

     The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch  had
been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at once unlocked the gate of
his prison and set him free. They went in together to  the  castle,  where
Dorothy's first act was to call all the Winkies  together  and  tell  them
that they were no longer slaves.
     There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had been
made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who  had  always
treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day as a holiday, then and
ever after, and spent the time in feasting and dancing.
     "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman,  were  only  with
us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."
     "Don't you suppose we could rescue them?" asked the girl anxiously.
     "We can try," answered the Lion.
     So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they  would  help
to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be delighted
to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free from  bondage.
So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as if they knew the  most,
and they all started away. They traveled that day and  part  of  the  next
until they came to the rocky plain where the Tin Woodman lay, all battered
and bent. His axe was near him, but the blade was rusted  and  the  handle
broken off short.
     The Winkies lifted him tenderly in their arms, and carried  him  back
to the Yellow Castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears by the way at the
sad plight of her old friend, and the Lion looking sober and  sorry.  When
they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies:
     "Are any of your people tinsmiths?"
     "Oh, yes. Some of us are very good tinsmiths," they told her.
     "Then bring them to me," she  said.  And  when  the  tinsmiths  came,
bringing with them all their tools in  baskets,  she  inquired,  "Can  you
straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman,  and  bend  him  back  into
shape again, and solder him together where he is broken?"
     The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over  carefully  and  then  answered
that they thought they could mend him so he would be as good as  ever.  So
they set to work in one of the big yellow rooms of the castle  and  worked
for three days and four nights, hammering and  twisting  and  bending  and
soldering and polishing and pounding at the legs and body and head of  the
Tin Woodman, until at last he was straightened out into his old form,  and
his joints worked as well as ever. To be sure, there were several  patches
on him, but the tinsmiths did a good job, and as the  Woodman  was  not  a
vain man he did not mind the patches at all.
     When, at last, he walked into Dorothy's  room  and  thanked  her  for
rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, and Dorothy had
to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her apron, so  his  joints
would not be rusted. At the same time her own tears fell thick and fast at
the joy of meeting her old friend again, and these tears did not  need  to
be wiped away. As for the Lion, he wiped his eyes so often with the tip of
his tail that it became quite wet, and he was obliged to go out  into  the
courtyard and hold it in the sun till it dried.
     "If we only had the Scarecrow with us again," said the  Tin  Woodman,
when Dorothy had finished telling him everything  that  had  happened,  "I
should be quite happy."
     "We must try to find him," said the girl.
     So she called the Winkies to help her, and they walked all  that  day
and part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the  branches  of
which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the carecrow's clothes.
     It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was  so  smooth  that  no  one
could climb it; but the Woodman said at once, "I'll chop it down, and then
we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."
     Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodman himself,
another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had  made  an  axe-handle  of
solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe, instead of the  old  broken
handle. Others polished the blade until all the rust was  removed  and  it
glistened like burnished silver.
     As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to  chop,  and  in  a
short time the tree fell over with  a  crash,  whereupon  the  Scarecrow's
clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.
     Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry  them  back  to  the
castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and  behold!  here
was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and over again  for
saving him.
     Now that they were reunited, Dorothy and  her  friends  spent  a  few
happy days at the Yellow Castle, where they found everything  they  needed
to make them comfortable.
     But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said, "We must  go  back
to Oz, and claim his promise."
     "Yes," said the Woodman, "at last I shall get my heart."
     "And I shall get my brains," added the Scarecrow joyfully.
     "And I shall get my courage," said the Lion thoughtfully.
     "And I shall get back to Kansas," cried Dorothy, clapping her  hands.
"Oh, let us start for the Emerald City tomorrow!"
     This they decided to  do.  The  next  day  they  called  the  Winkies
together and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have  them  go,
and they had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that they begged him to stay
and rule over them and the Yellow Land of  the  West.  Finding  they  were
determined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and the Lion each a golden collar;
and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet studded with  diamonds;
and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walking stick,  to  keep  him
from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman  they  offered  a  silver  oil-can,
inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.
     Every one of the travelers  made  the  Winkies  a  pretty  speech  in
return, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.
     Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with food for
the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried  it  on  her  own
head and found that it fitted her exactly. She did not know anything about
the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty, so  she  made
up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket.
     Then, being prepared for  the  journey,  they  all  started  for  the
Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good  wishes
to carry with them.



        14. The Winged Monkeys

     You will remember there was no road-not  even  a  pathwaybetween  the
castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the  four  travelers
went in search of the Witch she had seen them  coming,  and  so  sent  the
Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harder to find their  way
back through the big fields of buttercups and yellow daisies than  it  was
being carried. They knew, of course, they must go  straight  east,  toward
the rising sun; and they started off in the right way. But at  noon,  when
the sun was over their heads, they did not know which was east  and  which
was west, and that was the reason they were lost in the great fields. They
kept on walking, however, and  at  night  the  moon  came  out  and  shone
brightly. So they lay down among the sweet  smelling  yellow  flowers  and
slept soundly until morningall but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
     The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started on,  as
if they were quite sure which way they were going.
     "If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "I am sure we  shall  sometime
come to some place."
     But day by day passed away, and they still saw  nothing  before  them
but the scarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
     "We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it  again
in time to reach the Emerald City, I shall never get my brains."
     "Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems  to  me  I  can
scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this  is  a  very  long
journey."
     "You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a  whimper,  "I  haven't  the
courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."
     Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at  her
companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found  that  for
the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterfly that flew
past his head. So he put out his tongue and panted and looked  at  Dorothy
as if to ask what they should do next.
     "Suppose we call the field mice," she suggested. "They could probably
tell us the way to the Emerald City."
     "To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow. "Why didn't we think of
that before?"
     Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her neck
since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In  a  few  minutes  they
heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the  small  gray  mice  came
running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself,  who  asked,  in  her
squeaky little voice:
     "What can I do for my friends?"
     "We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can  you  tell  us  where  the
Emerald City is?"
     "Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off, for  you
have had it at your backs all  this  time."  Then  she  noticed  Dorothy's
Golden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use the charm of the  Cap,  and  call
the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Oz  in  less
than an hour."
     "I didn't know there was a charm,"  answered  Dorothy,  in  surprise.
"What is it?"
     "It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of the Mice.
"But if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we  must  run  away,  for
they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us."
     "Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl anxiously.
     "Oh, no. They must obey the wearer of the  Cap.  Good-bye!"  And  she
scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
     Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written  upon
the lining. These, she thought,  must  be  the  charm,  so  she  read  the
directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
     "Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
     "What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not  know  what  she
was doing.
     "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time on  her
right foot.
     "Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman calmly.
     "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was  now  standing  on  both
feet. This ended  the  saying  of  the  charm,  and  they  heard  a  great
chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys flew up to
them.
     The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked, "What is your command?"
     "We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the  child,  "and  we  have
lost our way."
     "We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner  had  he  spoken
than two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and  flew  away  with
her. Others took the Scarecrow and the  Woodman  and  the  Lion,  and  one
little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog tried hard
to bite him.
     The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather  frightened  at  first,
for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated them  before;
but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode through the air quite
cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the pretty  gardens  and  woods
far below them.
     Dorothy found herself  riding  easily  between  two  of  the  biggest
Monkeys, one of them the King himself. They had  made  a  chair  of  their
hands and were careful not to hurt her.
     "Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.
     "That is a long story," answered the King, with a Winged laugh;  "but
as we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time by  telling  you
about it, if you wish."
     "I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
     "Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living  happily  in
the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating  nuts  and  fruit,  and
doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps  some  of
us were rather too full of mischief at times,  flying  down  to  pull  the
tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and  throwing  nuts
at the people who walked in the forest. But we were careless and happy and
full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day. This was many years ago,
long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land.
     "There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess,  who
was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the  people,
and she was never known  to  hurt  anyone  who  was  good.  Her  name  was
Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great  blocks  of
ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that she could  find
no one to love in return, since all the men were much too stupid and  ugly
to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last, however, she found a  boy
who was handsome and manly and wise beyond his years.  Gayelette  made  up
her mind that when he grew to be a man she would make him her husband,  so
she took him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers to make  him
as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish.  When  he  grew  to
manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man
in all the land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette  loved
him dearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
     "My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which
lived in the forest near Gayelette's palace, and the old  fellow  loved  a
joke better than a good dinner. One  day,  just  before  the  wedding,  my
grandfather was flying out with his  band  when  he  saw  Quelala  walking
beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and purple
velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could do.  At  his
word the band flew down and seized Quelala,  carried  him  in  their  arms
until they were over the middle of the river, and then  dropped  him  into
the water.
     "`Swim out, my fine fellow,' cried my grandfather, `and  see  if  the
water has spotted your clothes.' Quelala was much too wise  not  to  swim,
and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune.  He  laughed,
when he came to the top of the water, and  swam  in  to  shore.  But  when
Gayelette came running out to him she  found  his  silks  and  velvet  all
ruined by the river.
     "The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She had
all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and  she  said  at  first  that
their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had  treated
Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded hard, for he
knew the Monkeys would drown in the  river  with  their  wings  tied,  and
Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette  finally  spared
them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys  should  ever  after  do  three
times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had  been  made
for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the princess
half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all the  other  Monkeys  at
once agreed to the condition, and that is how it happens that we are three
times the slaves of the owner of the Golden Cap, whosoever he may be."
     "And what became of  them?"  asked  Dorothy,  who  had  been  greatly
interested in the story.
     "Quelala being the first  owner  of  the  Golden  Cap,"  replied  the
Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As  his  bride  could
not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest  after  he
had married her and ordered us always to keep where she could never  again
set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to do,  for  we  were  all
afraid of her.
     "This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap  fell  into  the
hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us  enslave  the  Winkies,
and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West. Now the Golden
Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to lay your  wishes  upon
us."
     As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the
green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered at  the
rapid flight of the Monkeys, but  was  glad  the  journey  was  over.  The
strange creatures set the travelers down carefully before the gate of  the
City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away,  followed
by all his band.
     "That was a good ride," said the little girl.
     "Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles," replied  the  Lion.  "How
lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"



        15. The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible

     The four travelers walked up to the great gate of  Emerald  City  and
rang the bell. After ringing several times, it  was  opened  by  the  same
Guardian of the Gates they had met before.
     "What! are you back again?" he asked, in surprise.
     "Do you not see us?" answered the Scarecrow.
     "But I thought you had gone to visit the Wicked Witch of the West."
     "We did visit her," said the Scarecrow.
     "And she let you go again?" asked the man, in wonder.
     "She could not help it, for she is melted," explained the Scarecrow.
     "Melted! Well, that is good news, indeed," said the man. "Who  melted
her?"
     "It was Dorothy," said the Lion gravely.
     "Good gracious!" exclaimed the man, and  he  bowed  very  low  indeed
before her.
     Then he led them into his little room and locked the spectacles  from
the great box on all their eyes, just as he  had  done  before.  Afterward
they passed on through the gate into the Emerald  City.  When  the  people
heard from the Guardian of the Gates that Dorothy had  melted  the  Wicked
Witch of the West, they all gathered around  the  travelers  and  followed
them in a great crowd to the Palace of Oz.
     The soldier with the green whiskers was still  on  guard  before  the
door, but he let them in at once, and they were again met by the beautiful
green girl, who showed each of them to their old rooms at  once,  so  they
might rest until the Great Oz was ready to receive them.
     The soldier had the news carried straight to Oz that Dorothy and  the
other travelers had come back again, after destroying  the  Wicked  Witch;
but Oz made no reply. They thought the Great Wizard would send for them at
once, but he did not. They had no word from him  the  next  day,  nor  the
next, nor the next. The waiting was tiresome and wearing, and at last they
grew vexed that Oz should treat them in so poor a fashion,  after  sending
them to undergo hardships and slavery. So the Scarecrow at last asked  the
green girl to take another message to Oz, saying if he did not let them in
to see him at once they would call the Winged Monkeys to  help  them,  and
find out whether he kept his promises or not. When the  Wizard  was  given
this message he was so frightened that he sent word for them  to  come  to
the Throne Room at four minutes after nine o'clock the  next  morning.  He
had once met the Winged Monkeys in the Land of the West, and  he  did  not
wish to meet them again.
     The four travelers passed a sleepless night,  each  thinking  of  the
gift Oz had promised to bestow on him. Dorothy fell asleep only once,  and
then she dreamed she was in Kansas, where Aunt Em was telling her how glad
she was to have her little girl at home again.
     Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning the green-whiskered soldier
came to them, and four minutes later they all went into the Throne Room of
the Great Oz.
     Of course each one of them expected to see the Wizard in the shape he
had taken before, and all were greatly surprised when  they  looked  about
and saw no one at all in the room. They kept close to the door and  closer
to one another, for the stillness of the empty room was more dreadful than
any of the forms they had seen Oz take.
     Presently they heard  a  solemn  Voice,  that  seemed  to  come  from
somewhere near the top of the great dome, and it said:
     "I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?"
     They looked again in every part of the room, and then, seeing no one,
Dorothy asked, "Where are you?"
     "I am everywhere," answered the Voice, "but to  the  eyes  of  common
mortals I am invisible. I will now seat myself upon my  throne,  that  you
may converse with me." Indeed, the Voice seemed just then to come straight
from the throne itself; so they walked toward it and stood in a row  while
Dorothy said:
     "We have come to claim our promise, O Oz."
     "What promise?" asked Oz.
     "You promised to send me back to Kansas when  the  Wicked  Witch  was
destroyed," said the girl.
     "And you promised to give me brains," said the Scarecrow.
     "And you promised to give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman.
     "And you promised to give me courage," said the Cowardly Lion.
     "Is the Wicked Witch really destroyed?" asked the Voice, and  Dorothy
thought it trembled a little.
     "Yes," she answered, "I melted her with a bucket of water."
     "Dear me," said the Voice, "how sudden! Well, come  to  me  tomorrow,
for I must have time to think it over."
     "You've had plenty of time already," said the Tin Woodman angrily.
     "We shan't wait a day longer," said the Scarecrow.
     "You must keep your promises to us!" exclaimed Dorothy.
     The Lion thought it might be as well to frighten the  Wizard,  so  he
gave a large, loud roar, which was so fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped
away from him in alarm and tipped over the screen that stood in a  corner.
As it fell with a crash they looked that way, and the next moment  all  of
them were filled with wonder. For they saw, standing in just the spot  the
screen had hidden, a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face,
who seemed to be as much surprised as they were. The Tin Woodman,  raising
his axe, rushed toward the little man and cried out, "Who are you?"
     "I am Oz, the  Great  and  Terrible,"  said  the  little  man,  in  a
trembling voice. "But don't strike me-please don't-and  I'll  do  anything
you want me to."
     Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay.
     "I thought Oz was a great Head," said Dorothy.
     "And I thought Oz was a lovely Lady," said the Scarecrow.
     "And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast," said the Tin Woodman.
     "And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire," exclaimed the Lion.
     "No, you are all wrong," said the little man  meekly.  "I  have  been
making believe."
     "Making believe!" cried Dorothy. "Are you not a Great Wizard?"
     "Hush, my dear," he said. "Don't  speak  so  loud,  or  you  will  be
overheard-and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard."
     "And aren't you?" she asked.
     "Not a bit of it, my dear; I'm just a common man."
     "You're more than that," said  the  Scarecrow,  in  a  grieved  tone;
"you're a humbug."
     "Exactly so!" declared the little man, rubbing his hands together  as
if it pleased him. "I am a humbug."
     "But this is terrible," said the Tin Woodman. "How shall I  ever  get
my heart?"
     "Or I my courage?" asked the Lion.
     "Or I my brains?" wailed the Scarecrow, wiping  the  tears  from  his
eyes with his coat sleeve.
     "My dear friends," said Oz, "I pray you not to speak of these  little
things. Think of me, and the terrible trouble I'm in at being found out."
     "Doesn't anyone else know you're a humbug?" asked Dorothy.
     "No one knows it but you four-and myself," replied Oz. "I have fooled
everyone so long that I thought I should never be  found  out.  It  was  a
great mistake my ever letting you into the Throne Room. Usually I will not
see even my subjects, and so they believe I am something terrible."
     "But, I don't understand," said Dorothy, in bewilderment. "How was it
that you appeared to me as a great Head?"
     "That was one of my tricks," answered Oz. "Step this way, please, and
I will tell you all about it."
     He led the way to a small chamber in the rear of the Throne Room, and
they all followed him. He pointed to one corner, in which  lay  the  great
Head, made out of many thicknesses of paper, and with a carefully  painted
face.
     "This I hung from the ceiling by a wire," said Oz.  "I  stood  behind
the screen and pulled a thread, to make the eyes move and the mouth open."
     "But how about the voice?" she inquired.
     "Oh, I am a ventriloquist," said the little man.  "I  can  throw  the
sound of my voice wherever I wish, so that you thought it was  coming  out
of the Head. Here are the other things I used to deceive you."  He  showed
the Scarecrow the dress and the mask he had worn when he seemed to be  the
lovely Lady. And the Tin Woodman saw that his terrible Beast  was  nothing
but a lot of skins, sewn together, with slats to keep their sides out.  As
for the Ball of Fire, the  false  Wizard  had  hung  that  also  from  the
ceiling. It was really a ball of cotton, but when oil was poured  upon  it
the ball burned fiercely.
     "Really," said the Scarecrow, "you ought to be  ashamed  of  yourself
for being such a humbug."
     "I am-I certainly am," answered the little man sorrowfully;  "but  it
was the only thing I could do. Sit  down,  please,  there  are  plenty  of
chairs; and I will tell you my story."
     So they sat down and listened while he told the following tale.
     "I was born in Omaha-"
     "Why, that isn't very far from Kansas!" cried Dorothy.
     "No, but it's farther from here," he said, shaking his  head  at  her
sadly. "When I grew up I became a ventriloquist, and at that  I  was  very
well trained by a great master. I can imitate any kind of a bird or beast.
" Here he mewed so like a kitten that Toto pricked up his ears and  looked
everywhere to see where she was. "After a time," continued Oz, "I tired of
that, and became a balloonist."
     "What is that?" asked Dorothy.
     "A man who goes up in a balloon on circus day, so as to draw a  crowd
of people together and get them to pay to see the circus," he explained.
     "Oh," she said, "I know."
     "Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got  twisted,  so
that I couldn't come down again. It went way up above the clouds,  so  far
that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away.  For
a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the  morning  of  the
second day I awoke and found the  balloon  floating  over  a  strange  and
beautiful country.
     "It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit. But I found myself
in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me  come  from  the  clouds,
thought I was a great Wizard. Of course I let them think so, because  they
were afraid of me, and promised to do anything I wished them to.
     "Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered  them
to build this City, and my Palace; and they did it all willingly and well.
Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would call it
the Emerald City; and to make the name fit better I put  green  spectacles
on all the people, so that everything they saw was green."
     "But isn't everything here green?" asked Dorothy.
     "No more than in any other city," replied  Oz;  "but  when  you  wear
green spectacles, why of course everything you see looks green to you. The
Emerald City was built a great many years ago, for I was a young man  when
the balloon brought me here, and I am a very old man now.  But  my  people
have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that most of them  think  it
really is an  Emerald  City,  and  it  certainly  is  a  beautiful  place,
abounding in jewels and precious metals, and  every  good  thing  that  is
needed to make one happy. I have been good to the people,  and  they  like
me; but ever since this Palace was built, I have shut myself up and  would
not see any of them.
     "One of my greatest fears was the Witches, for while I had no magical
powers at all I soon found out that the Witches were  really  able  to  do
wonderful things. There were four of them in this country, and they  ruled
the people who live in the North and South and East and West. Fortunately,
the Witches of the North and South were good, and I knew they would do  me
no harm; but the Witches of the East and West were  terribly  wicked,  and
had they not thought I was more powerful than they themselves, they  would
surely have destroyed me. As it was, I lived in deadly fear  of  them  for
many years; so you can imagine how pleased I was when I heard  your  house
had fallen on the Wicked Witch of the East.