Ozma of Oz..........................................................................................................................................................1

L. Frank Baum.........................................................................................................................................1

Author's Note...........................................................................................................................................1

1. The Girl in the Chicken Coop .............................................................................................................2

2. The Yellow Hen ..................................................................................................................................4

3. Letters in the Sand..............................................................................................................................9

4. Tiktok the Machine Man ...................................................................................................................12

5. Dorothy Opens the Dinner Pail .........................................................................................................16

6. The Heads of Langwidere .................................................................................................................20

7. Ozma of Oz to the Rescue................................................................................................................27

8. The Hungry Tiger.............................................................................................................................32

9. The Royal Family of Ev ....................................................................................................................35

10. The Giant with the Hammer...........................................................................................................38

11. The Nome King ...............................................................................................................................42

12. The Eleven Guesses........................................................................................................................48

13. The Nome King Laughs .................................................................................................................50

14. Dorothy Tries to be Brave ..............................................................................................................53

15. Billina Frightens the Nome King ...................................................................................................57

16. Purple, Green, and Gold .................................................................................................................60

17. The Scarecrow Wins the Fight ........................................................................................................63

18. The Fate of the Tin Woodman ........................................................................................................66

19. The King of Ev ................................................................................................................................69

20. The Emerald City ............................................................................................................................71

21. Dorothy's Magic Belt......................................................................................................................74

My friends the children are responsible for this new "Oz Book," as they were for the last one, which was

called The Land of Oz. Their sweet little letters plead to know "more about Dorothy"; and they ask: "What

became of the Cowardly Lion?" and "What did Ozma do afterward?"meaning, of course, after she became

the Ruler of Oz. And some of them suggest plots to me, saying: "Please have Dorothy go to the Land of Oz

again"; or, "Why don't you make Ozma and Dorothy meet, and have a good time together?" Indeed, could I

do all that my little friends ask, I would be obliged to write dozens of books to satisfy their demands. And I

wish I could, for I enjoy writing these stories just as much as the children say they enjoy reading them.

Well, here is "more about Dorothy," and about our old friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and

about the Cowardly Lion, and Ozma, and all the rest of them; and here, likewise, is a good deal about some

new folks that are queer and unusual. One little friend, who read this story before it was printed, said to me:

If this judgment is unbiased and correct, and the little folks find this new story "real Ozzy," I shall be very

glad indeed that I wrote it. But perhaps I shall get some more of those very welcome letters from my readers,

The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples across its surface. Then the wind

pushed the edges of the ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became

billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the tops of houses. Some of them, indeed, rolled

as high as the tops of tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs between the great billows were like

All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean, which the mischievous wind caused

without any good reason whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is liable to cut many

At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out upon the waters. When the waves began to

tumble and toss and to grow bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped sidewisefirst one

way and then the otherand was jostled around so roughly that even the sailormen had to hold fast to the

ropes and railings to keep themselves from being swept away by the wind or pitched headlong into the sea.

And the clouds were so thick in the sky that the sunlight couldn't get through them; so that the day grew dark

The Captain of the ship was not afraid, because he had seen storms before, and had sailed his ship through

them in safety; but he knew that his passengers would be in danger if they tried to stay on deck, so he put

them all into the cabin and told them to stay there until after the storm was over, and to keep brave hearts and

Now, among these passengers was a little Kansas girl named Dorothy Gale, who was going with her Uncle

Henry to Australia, to visit some relatives they had never before seen. Uncle Henry, you must know, was not

very well, because he had been working so hard on his Kansas farm that his health had given way and left

him weak and nervous. So he left Aunt Em at home to watch after the hired men and to take care of the farm,

while he traveled far away to Australia to visit his cousins and have a good rest.

Dorothy was eager to go with him on this journey, and Uncle Henry thought she would be good company and

help cheer him up; so he decided to take her along. The little girl was quite an experienced traveller, for she

had once been carried by a cyclone as far away from home as the marvelous Land of Oz, and she had met

with a good many adventures in that strange country before she managed to get back to Kansas again. So she

wasn't easily frightened, whatever happened, and when the wind began to howl and whistle, and the waves

"Of course we'll have to stay in the cabin," she said to Uncle Henry and the other passengers, "and keep as

quiet as possible until the storm is over. For the Captain says if we go on deck we may be blown overboard."

No one wanted to risk such an accident as that, you may be sure; so all the passengers stayed huddled up in

the dark cabin, listening to the shrieking of the storm and the creaking of the masts and rigging and trying to

Dorothy had almost fallen asleep when she was aroused with a start to find that Uncle Henry was missing.

She couldn't imagine where he had gone, and as he was not very strong she began to worry about him, and to

fear he might have been careless enough to go on deck. In that case he would be in great danger unless he

The fact was that Uncle Henry had gone to lie down in his little sleepingberth, but Dorothy did not know

that. She only remembered that Aunt Em had cautioned her to take good care of her uncle, so at once she

decided to go on deck and find him, in spite of the fact that the tempest was now worse than ever, and the

ship was plunging in a really dreadful manner. Indeed, the little girl found it was as much as she could do to

mount the stairs to the deck, and as soon as she got there the wind struck her so fiercely that it almost tore

away the skirts of her dress. Yet Dorothy felt a sort of joyous excitement in defying the storm, and while she

held fast to the railing she peered around through the gloom and thought she saw the dim form of a man

clinging to a mast not far away from her. This might be her uncle, so she called as loudly as she could:

But the wind screeched and howled so madly that she scarce heard her own voice, and the man certainly

Dorothy decided she must go to him; so she made a dash forward, during a lull in the storm, to where a big

square chickencoop had been lashed to the deck with ropes. She reached this place in safety, but no sooner

had she seized fast hold of the slats of the big box in which the chickens were kept than the wind, as if

enraged because the little girl dared to resist its power, suddenly redoubled its fury. With a scream like that of

an angry giant it tore away the ropes that held the coop and lifted it high into the air, with Dorothy still

clinging to the slats. Around and over it whirled, this way and that, and a few moments later the

chickencoop dropped far away into the sea, where the big waves caught it and slid it uphill to a foaming

crest and then downhill into a deep valley, as if it were nothing more than a plaything to keep them amused.

Dorothy had a good ducking, you may be sure, but she didn't loose her presence of mind even for a second.

She kept tight hold of the stout slats and as soon as she could get the water out of her eyes she saw that the

wind had ripped the cover from the coop, and the poor chickens were fluttering away in every direction,

being blown by the wind until they looked like feather dusters without handles. The bottom of the coop was

made of thick boards, so Dorothy found she was clinging to a sort of raft, with sides of slats, which readily

bore up her weight. After coughing the water out of her throat and getting her breath again, she managed to

climb over the slats and stand upon the firm wooden bottom of the coop, which supported her easily enough.

"Why, I've got a ship of my own!" she thought, more amused than frightened at her sudden change of

condition; and then, as the coop climbed up to the top of a big wave, she looked eagerly around for the ship

It was far, far away, by this time. Perhaps no one on board had yet missed her, or knew of her strange

adventure. Down into a valley between the waves the coop swept her, and when she climbed another crest the

ship looked like a toy boat, it was such a long way off. Soon it had entirely disappeared in the gloom, and

then Dorothy gave a sigh of regret at parting with Uncle Henry and began to wonder what was going to

Just now she was tossing on the bosom of a big ocean, with nothing to keep her afloat but a miserable

wooden hencoop that had a plank bottom and slatted sides, through which the water constantly splashed and

wetted her through to the skin! And there was nothing to eat when she became hungryas she was sure to do

"Well, I declare!" she exclaimed, with a laugh. "You're in a pretty fix, Dorothy Gale, I can tell you! and I

As if to add to her troubles the night was now creeping on, and the gray clouds overhead changed to inky

blackness. But the wind, as if satisfied at last with its mischievous pranks, stopped blowing this ocean and

hurried away to another part of the world to blow something else; so that the waves, not being joggled any

It was lucky for Dorothy, I think, that the storm subsided; otherwise, brave though she was, I fear she might

have perished. Many children, in her place, would have wept and given way to despair; but because Dorothy

had encountered so many adventures and come safely through them it did not occur to her at this time to be

especially afraid. She was wet and uncomfortable, it is true; but, after sighing that one sigh I told you of, she

managed to recall some of her customary cheerfulness and decided to patiently await whatever her fate might

By and by the black clouds rolled away and showed a blue sky overhead, with a silver moon shining sweetly

in the middle of it and little stars winking merrily at Dorothy when she looked their way. The coop did not

toss around any more, but rode the waves more gentlyalmost like a cradle rockingso that the floor upon

which Dorothy stood was no longer swept by water coming through the slats. Seeing this, and being quite

exhausted by the excitement of the past few hours, the little girl decided that sleep would be the best thing to

restore her strength and the easiest way in which she could pass the time. The floor was damp and she was

herself wringing wet, but fortunately this was a warm climate and she did not feel at all cold.

So she sat down in a corner of the coop, leaned her back against the slats, nodded at the friendly stars before

A strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that day had dawned and the sun was shining

brightly in a clear sky. She had been dreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in the old

barnyard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around her; and at first, as she rubbed the sleep from her

Ah; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her. Surely it was a hen cackling! But her wideopen

eyes first saw, through the slats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now calm and placid, and her

thoughts flew back to the past night, so full of danger and discomfort. Also she began to remember that she

"Why, I've just laid an egg, that's all," replied a small, but sharp and distinct voice, and looking around her

the little girl discovered a yellow hen squatting in the opposite corner of the coop.

"Of course," answered the hen, fluttering her wings and yawning. "When the coop blew away from the ship I

clung fast to this corner, with claws and beak, for I knew if I fell into the water I'd surely be drowned. Indeed,

I nearly drowned, as it was, with all that water washing over me. I never was so wet before in my life!"

"Yes," agreed Dorothy, "it was pretty wet, for a time, I know. But do you feel comfor'ble now?"

"Not very. The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it has your dress, and I feel better since I laid my

morning egg. But what's to become of us, I should like to know, afloat on this big pond?"

"I'd like to know that, too," said Dorothy. "But, tell me; how does it happen that you are able to talk? I

"Why, as for that," answered the yellow hen thoughtfully, "I've clucked and cackled all my life, and never

spoken a word before this morning, that I can remember. But when you asked a question, a minute ago, it

seemed the most natural thing in the world to answer you. So I spoke, and I seem to keep on speaking, just as

"Very," replied Dorothy. "If we were in the Land of Oz, I wouldn't think it so queer, because many of the

animals can talk in that fairy country. But out here in the ocean must be a good long way from Oz."

"How is my grammar?" asked the yellow hen, anxiously. "Do I speak quite properly, in your judgment?"

"I'm glad to know that," continued the yellow hen, in a confidential tone; "because, if one is going to talk, it's

best to talk correctly. The red rooster has often said that my cluck and my cackle were quite perfect; and now

"I'm beginning to get hungry," remarked Dorothy. "It's breakfast time; but there's no breakfast."

"No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I've a nice snug nest, in some quiet place, with a baker's dozen

of eggs under me. That's thirteen, you know, and it's a lucky number for hens. So you may as well eat this

"Oh, I couldn't POSS'BLY eat it, unless it was cooked," exclaimed Dorothy. "But I'm much obliged for your

"Don't mention it, my dear," answered the hen, calmly, and began pruning her feathers.

For a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea. She was still thinking of the egg, though; so

"It's a habit I have," replied the yellow hen. "It has always been my pride to lay a fresh egg every morning,

except when I'm moulting. I never feel like having my morning cackle till the egg is properly laid, and

"It's strange," said the girl, reflectively; "but as I'm not a hen I can't be 'spected to understand that."

Then Dorothy fell silent again. The yellow hen was some company, and a bit of comfort, too; but it was

After a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat of the coop, which was a little above

Dorothy's head when she was sitting upon the bottom, as she had been doing for some moments past.

"Over there a little way," answered the hen, nodding her head in a certain direction. "We seem to be drifting

"I shall like that!" said Dorothy, with a little sigh, for her feet and legs were still wetted now and then by the

"So shall I," answered her companion. "There is nothing in the world so miserable as a wet hen."

The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it grew more distinct every minute, was quite

beautiful as viewed by the little girl in the floating hencoop. Next to the water was a broad beach of white

sand and gravel, and farther back were several rocky hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees

that marked the edge of a forest. But there were no houses to be seen, nor any sign of people who might

"I hope we shall find something to eat," said Dorothy, looking eagerly at the pretty beach toward which they

"Why don't you eat the egg?" asked the child. "You don't need to have your food cooked, as I do."

"Do you take me for a cannibal?" cried the hen, indignantly. "I do not know what I have said or done that

"I beg your pardon, I'm sure Mrs.Mrs.by the way, may I inquire your name, ma'am?" asked the little

"Of course. But when I was first hatched out no one could tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so

the little boy at the farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of me because I was the only yellow

chicken in the whole brood. When I grew up, and he found that I didn't crow and fight, as all the roosters do,

he did not think to change my name, and every creature in the barnyard, as well as the people in the house,

"But it's all wrong, you know," declared Dorothy, earnestly; "and, if you don't mind, I shall call you 'Billina.'

"Oh, I don't mind it in the least," returned the yellow hen. "It doesn't matter at all what you call me, so long as

"Very well, Billina. MY name is Dorothy Galejust Dorothy to my friends and Miss Gale to strangers. You

may call me Dorothy, if you like. We're getting very near the shore. Do you suppose it is too deep for me to

"Wait a few minutes longer. The sunshine is warm and pleasant, and we are in no hurry."

"But my feet are all wet and soggy," said the girl. "My dress is dry enough, but I won't feel real comfor'ble till

She waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big wooden coop grated gently on the sandy

It did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may be sure. The yellow hen flew to the sands at

once, but Dorothy had to climb over the high slats. Still, for a country girl, that was not much of a feat, and as

soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew off her wet shoes and stockings and spread them upon the

Then she sat down and watched Billina, who was pickpecking away with her sharp bill in the sand and

"Oh, some fat red ants, and some sandbugs, and once in a while a tiny crab. They are very sweet and nice, I

"What is dreadful?" asked the hen, lifting her head to gaze with one bright eye at her companion.

"Why, eating live things, and horrid bugs, and crawly ants. You ought to be 'SHAMED of yourself!"

"Goodness me!" returned the hen, in a puzzled tone; "how queer you are, Dorothy! Live things are much

fresher and more wholesome than dead ones, and you humans eat all sorts of dead creatures."

"You do, indeed," answered Billina. "You eat lambs and sheep and cows and pigs and even chickens."

"A good deal," said the girl, in a graver tone. "I can't just 'splain the diff'rence, but it's there. And, anyhow, we

"But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs," retorted the yellow hen, with an odd cackle. "So you are just as

This made Dorothy thoughtful. What Billina said was true enough, and it almost took away her appetite for

breakfast. As for the yellow hen, she continued to peck away at the sand busily, and seemed quite contented

Finally, down near the water's edge, Billina stuck her bill deep into the sand, and then drew back and

"Nonsense. I know a rock from metal, I guess," said the hen. "There's a different feel to it."

"But there couldn't be any metal on this wild, deserted seashore," persisted the girl. "Where's the place? I'll

Billina showed her the place where she had "stubbed her bill," as she expressed it, and Dorothy dug away the

sand until she felt something hard. Then, thrusting in her hand, she pulled the thing out, and discovered it to

"What did I tell you?" cried the hen, with a cackle of triumph. "Can I tell metal when I bump into it, or is the

"It's metal, sure enough," answered the child, gazing thoughtfully at the curious thing she had found. "I think

it is pure gold, and it must have lain hidden in the sand for a long time. How do you suppose it came there,

"I can't say," replied the hen. "You ought to know more about locks and keys than I do."

Dorothy glanced around. There was no sign of any house in that part of the country, and she reasoned that

every key must fit a lock and every lock must have a purpose. Perhaps the key had been lost by somebody

Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her dress and then slowly drew on her shoes and

"I b'lieve, Billina," she said, "I'll have a look 'round, and see if I can find some breakfast."

Walking a little way back from the water's edge, toward the grove of trees, Dorothy came to a flat stretch of

white sand that seemed to have queer signs marked upon its surface, just as one would write upon sand with a

"What does it say?" she asked the yellow hen, who trotted along beside her in a rather dignified fashion.

"Well, I have," admitted Dorothy; "but the letters are big and far apart, and it's hard to spell out the words."

But she looked at each letter carefully, and finally discovered that these words were written in the sand:

"That's rather strange," declared the hen, when Dorothy had read aloud the words. "What do you suppose the

"Folks that wheel, I guess. They must have wheelbarrows, or babycabs or handcarts," said Dorothy.

"Perhaps they're automobiles," suggested the yellow hen. "There is no need to beware of babycabs and

wheelbarrows; but automobiles are dangerous things. Several of my friends have been run over by them."

"It can't be auto'biles," replied the girl, "for this is a new, wild country, without even trolleycars or

tel'phones. The people here haven't been discovered yet, I'm sure; that is, if there ARE any people. So I don't

"Over to those trees, to see if I can find some fruit or nuts," answered Dorothy.

She tramped across the sand, skirting the foot of one of the little rocky hills that stood near, and soon reached

At first she was greatly disappointed, because the nearer trees were all punita, or cottonwood or eucalyptus,

and bore no fruit or nuts at all. But, bye and bye, when she was almost in despair, the little girl came upon

One was quite full of square paper boxes, which grew in clusters on all the limbs, and upon the biggest and

ripest boxes the word "Lunch" could be read, in neat raised letters. This tree seemed to bear all the year

around, for there were lunchbox blossoms on some of the branches, and on others tiny little lunchboxes

that were as yet quite green, and evidently not fit to eat until they had grown bigger.

The leaves of this tree were all paper napkins, and it presented a very pleasing appearance to the hungry little

But the tree next to the lunchbox tree was even more wonderful, for it bore quantities of tin dinnerpails,

which were so full and heavy that the stout branches bent underneath their weight. Some were small and

darkbrown in color; those larger were of a dull tin color; but the really ripe ones were pails of bright tin that

Dorothy was delighted, and even the yellow hen acknowledged that she was surprised.

The little girl stood on tiptoe and picked one of the nicest and biggest lunchboxes, and then she sat down

upon the ground and eagerly opened it. Inside she found, nicely wrapped in white papers, a ham sandwich, a

piece of spongecake, a pickle, a slice of new cheese and an apple. Each thing had a separate stem, and so

had to be picked off the side of the box; but Dorothy found them all to be delicious, and she ate every bit of

"A lunch isn't zactly breakfast," she said to Billina, who sat beside her curiously watching. "But when one is

"I hope your lunchbox was perfectly ripe," observed the yellow hen, in a anxious tone. "So much sickness is

"Oh, I'm sure it was ripe," declared Dorothy, "all, that is, 'cept the pickle, and a pickle just HAS to be green,

Billina. But everything tasted perfectly splendid, and I'd rather have it than a church picnic. And now I think

I'll pick a dinnerpail, to have when I get hungry again, and then we'll start out and 'splore the country, and

"None at all. But listen: I'm quite sure it's a fairy country, or such things as lunchboxes and dinnerpails

wouldn't be growing upon trees. Besides, Billina, being a hen, you wouldn't be able to talk in any civ'lized

"No, that can't be," answered the little girl; because I've been to the Land of Oz, and it's all surrounded by a

"I had a pair of silver shoes, that carried me through the air; but I lost them," said Dorothy.

"Anyhow," resumed the girl, "there is no seashore near the Land of Oz, so this must surely be some other

While she was speaking she selected a bright and pretty dinnerpail that seemed to have a stout handle, and

picked it from its branch. Then, accompanied by the yellow hen, she walked out of the shadow of the trees

They were part way across the sands when Billina suddenly cried, in a voice of terror:

Dorothy turned quickly around, and saw coming out of a path that led from between the trees the most

It had the form of a man, except that it walked, or rather rolled, upon all fours, and its legs were the same

length as its arms, giving them the appearance of the four legs of a beast. Yet it was no beast that Dorothy

had discovered, for the person was clothed most gorgeously in embroidered garments of many colors, and

wore a straw hat perched jauntily upon the side of its head. But it differed from human beings in this respect,

that instead of hands and feet there grew at the end of its arms and legs round wheels, and by means of these

wheels it rolled very swiftly over the level ground. Afterward Dorothy found that these odd wheels were of

the same hard substance that our fingernails and toenails are composed of, and she also learned that

creatures of this strange race were born in this queer fashion. But when our little girl first caught sight of the

first individual of a race that was destined to cause her a lot of trouble, she had an idea that the

brilliantlyclothed personage was on rollerskates, which were attached to his hands as well as to his feet.

"Run!" screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in great fright. "It's a Wheeler!"

"Don't you remember the warning in the sand: 'Beware the Wheelers'? Run, I tell yourun!"

So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came after her in full chase.

Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great procession of Wheelers emerging from the

forestdozens and dozens of themall clad in splendid, tightfitting garments and all rolling swiftly

"They're sure to catch us!" panted the girl, who was still carrying the heavy dinnerpail she had picked. "I

"Climb up this hill,quick!" said the hen; and Dorothy found she was very near to the heap of loose and

jagged rocks they had passed on their way to the forest. The yellow hen was even now fluttering among the

rocks, and Dorothy followed as best she could, half climbing and half tumbling up the rough and rugged

She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill a moment after her; but while the girl

scrambled up the rocks the creature stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.

"Don't hurry, my dear," cried Billina. "They can't follow us among these rocks, so we're safe enough now."

Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for she was all out of breath.

The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, but it was evident that their wheels would not

roll upon the rough and jagged rocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow Dorothy and the hen to

where they had taken refuge. But they circled all around the little hill, so the child and Billina were fast

Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a threatening manner, and it seemed they were able

to speak as well as to make their dreadful outcries, for several of them shouted:

"We'll get you in time, never fear! And when we do get you, we'll tear you into little bits!"

"Why are you so cruel to me?" asked Dorothy. "I'm a stranger in your country, and have done you no harm."

"No harm!" cried one who seemed to be their leader. "Did you not pick our lunchboxes and dinnerpails?

"I only picked one of each," she answered. "I was hungry, and I didn't know the trees were yours."

"That is no excuse," retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most gorgeous suit. "It is the law here that

"Don't you believe him," said Billina. "I'm sure the trees do not belong to these awful creatures. They are fit

for any mischief, and it's my opinion they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn't picked a

"Stay where we are," advised the yellow hen. "We are safe from the Wheelers until we starve to death,

After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back into the forest, leaving only three of their

number to guard the hill. These curled themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go to sleep on the sands;

but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled by this trick, so they remained in security among the rocks and

So Dorothy at once clambered to where Billina sat, and there, sure enough, was a smooth path cut between

the rocks. It seemed to wind around the mound from top to bottom, like a corkscrew, twisting here and there

Indeed, Dorothy wondered at first why the Wheelers did not roll up this path; but when she followed it to the

foot of the mound she found that several big pieces of rock had been placed directly across the end of the

way, thus preventing any one outside from seeing it and also preventing the Wheelers from using it to climb

Then Dorothy walked back up the path, and followed it until she came to the very top of the hill, where a

solitary round rock stood that was bigger than any of the others surrounding it. The path came to an end just

beside this great rock, and for a moment it puzzled the girl to know why the path had been made at all. But

the hen, who had been gravely following her around and was now perched upon a point of rock behind

"Why, that crack in the rock, just facing you," replied Billina, whose little round eyes were very sharp and

seemed to see everything. "It runs up one side and down the other, and across the top and the bottom."

"Why, the crack. So I think it must be a door of rock, although I do not see any hinges."

"Oh, yes," said Dorothy, now observing for the first time the crack in the rock. "And isn't this a keyhole,

"Of course. If we only had the key, now, we could unlock it and see what is there," replied the yellow hen.

"May be it's a treasure chamber full of diamonds and rubies, or heaps of shining gold, or"

"That reminds me," said Dorothy, "of the golden key I picked up on the shore. Do you think that it would fit

So Dorothy searched in the pocket of her dress and found the golden key. And when she had put it into the

hole of the rock, and turned it, a sudden sharp snap was heard; then, with a solemn creak that made the

shivers run down the child's back, the face of the rock fell outward, like a door on hinges, and revealed a

"Good gracious!" cried Dorothy, shrinking back as far as the narrow path would let her.

For, standing within the narrow chamber of rock, was the form of a manor, at least, it seemed like a man,

in the dim light. He was only about as tall as Dorothy herself, and his body was round as a ball and made out

of burnished copper. Also his head and limbs were copper, and these were jointed or hinged to his body in a

peculiar way, with metal caps over the joints, like the armor worn by knights in days of old. He stood

perfectly still, and where the light struck upon his form it glittered as if made of pure gold.

"It is only made out of copper, like the old kettle in the barnyard at home," continued the hen, turning her

head first to one side and then to the other, so that both her little round eyes could examine the object.

"Once," said Dorothy, "I knew a man made out of tin, who was a woodman named Nick Chopper. But he was

as alive as we are, 'cause he was born a real man, and got his tin body a little at a timefirst a leg and then a

finger and then an earfor the reason that he had so many accidents with his axe, and cut himself up in a

"But this copper man," continued Dorothy, looking at it with big eyes, "is not alive at all, and I wonder what

"That is a mystery," remarked the hen, twisting her head to arrange her wingfeathers with her bill.

Dorothy stepped inside the little room to get a back view of the copper man, and in this way discovered a

printed card that hung between his shoulders, it being suspended from a small copper peg at the back of his

neck. She unfastened this card and returned to the path, where the light was better, and sat herself down upon

Dorothy read the card aloud, spelling out the big words with some difficulty; and this is what she read:

MECHANICAL MAN | | Fitted with our Special ClockWork Attachment. | | Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and

Does Everything but Live. | | Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev. | | All infringements will

"I don't know," answered Dorothy, who had more to read. "Listen to this, Billina:"

For THINKING:Wind the Clockwork Man under his | | left arm, (marked No. 1.) | | For

SPEAKING:Wind the Clockwork Man under his | | right arm, (marked No. 2.) | | For WALKING and

ACTION:Wind Clockwork in the | | middle of his back, (marked No. 3.) | | N. B.This Mechanism is

"Well, I declare!" gasped the yellow hen, in amazement; "if the copper man can do half of these things he is a

very wonderful machine. But I suppose it is all humbug, like so many other patented articles."

"Then," said the hen, "let us try him, and find out if he will go. He is warranted for a thousand years, it seems;

"Which shall I wind up first?" she asked, looking again at the directions on the card.

"Number One, I should think," returned Billina. "That makes him think, doesn't it?"

So she wound up Number Two, and immediately the clockwork man said, without moving any part of his

The words sounded a little hoarse and creaky, and they were uttered all in the same tone, without any change

"Thank you for rescuing me," continued the machine, in the same monotonous voice, which seemed to be

worked by a bellows inside of him, like the little toy lambs and cats the children squeeze so that they will

"Don't mention it," answered Dorothy. And then, being very curious, she asked: "How did you come to be

"It is a long story," replied the copper man; "but I will tell it to you briefly. I was purchased from Smith

Tinker, my manufacturers, by a cruel King of Ev, named Evoldo, who used to beat all his

servants until they died. However, he was not able to kill me, because I was not alive, and one must

first live in order to die. So that all his beating did me no harm, and merely kept my copper body well

"This cruel king had a lovely wife and ten beautiful childrenfive boys and five girlsbut in a fit of

anger he sold them all to the Nome King, who by means of his magic arts changed them all into other

"Afterward the King of Ev regretted his wicked action, and tried to get his wife and children away

from the Nome King, but without avail. So, in despair, he locked me up in this rock, threw the key into

"It is, indeed," said the machine. "When I found myself imprisoned I shouted for help until my voice

ran down; and then I walked back and forth in this little room until my action ran down; and then I stood

still and thought until my thoughts ran down. After that I remember nothing until you wound me up

"It's a very wonderful story," said Dorothy, "and proves that the Land of Ev is really a fairy land, as I thought

"Of course it is," answered the copper man. "I do not suppose such a perfect machine as I am could be

"I found it on the shore, where it was prob'ly washed up by the waves," she answered. "And now, sir, if you

So she wound up Number Three, and at once the copper man in a somewhat stiff and jerky fashion walked

out of the rocky cavern, took off his copper hat and bowed politely, and then kneeled before Dorothy. Said

"From this time forth I am your obedient servant. Whatever you command, that I will do

"Tiktok," he replied. "My former master gave me that name because my clockwork always ticks

"So can I," said Dorothy. And then she added, with some anxiety: "You don't strike, do you?"

"No," answered Tiktok; "and there is no alarm connected with my machinery. I can tell the time,

though, by speaking, and as I never sleep I can waken you at any hour you wish to get up in the

"That's nice," said the little girl; "only I never wish to get up in the morning."

"You can sleep until I lay my egg," said the yellow hen. "Then, when I cackle, Tiktok will know it is time to

"About eight o'clock," said Billina. "And everybody ought to be up by that time, I'm sure."

"Now Tiktok," said Dorothy, "the first thing to be done is to find a way for us to escape from these rocks. The

"There is no reason to be afraid of the Wheelers," said Tiktok, the words coming more slowly than

He gave a sort of gurgle and stopped short, waving his hands frantically until suddenly he became motionless,

with one arm in the air and the other held stiffly before him with all the copper fingers of the hand spread out

"He's run down, I suppose," said the hen, calmly. "You couldn't have wound him up very tight."

"I didn't know how much to wind him," replied the girl; "but I'll try to do better next time."

She ran around the copper man to take the key from the peg at the back of his neck, but it was not there.

"It probably fell off when he made that low bow to you," returned the hen. "Look around, and see if you

Dorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl discovered the clockkey, which had fallen

At once she wound up Tiktok's voice, taking care to give the key as many turns as it would go around. She

found this quite a task, as you may imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock, but the machine man's first

words were to assure Dorothy that he would now run for at least twentyfour hours.

"You did not wind me much, at first," he calmly said, "and I told you that long story about King

She next rewound the action clockwork, and then Billina advised her to carry the key to Tiktok in her

"And now," said Dorothy, when all this was accomplished, "tell me what you were going to say about the

"Why, they are nothing to be frighten'd at," said the machine. "They try to make folks believe that they

are very terrible, but as a matter of fact the Wheelers are harmless enough to any one that dares to

fight them. They might try to hurt a little girl like you, perhaps, because they are very mischievous.

"And you won't find such a thing among these rocks, either," declared the yellow hen.

"Wind up my thinkworks tightly, and I will try to think of some other plan," said Tiktok.

So Dorothy rewound his thought machinery, and while he was thinking she decided to eat her dinner. Billina

was already pecking away at the cracks in the rocks, to find something to eat, so Dorothy sat down and

In the cover she found a small tank that was full of very nice lemonade. It was covered by a cup, which might

also, when removed, be used to drink the lemonade from. Within the pail were three slices of turkey, two

slices of cold tongue, some lobster salad, four slices of bread and butter, a small custard pie, an orange and

nine large strawberries, and some nuts and raisins. Singularly enough, the nuts in this dinnerpail grew

already cracked, so that Dorothy had no trouble in picking out their meats to eat.

She spread the feast upon the rock beside her and began her dinner, first offering some of it to Tiktok, who

declined because, as he said, he was merely a machine. Afterward she offered to share with Billina, but the

hen murmured something about "dead things" and said she preferred her bugs and ants.

"Do the lunchbox trees and the dinnerpail trees belong to the Wheelers?" the child asked Tiktok, while

"Of course not," he answered. "They belong to the royal family of Ev, only of course there is no

royal family just now because King Evoldo jumped into the sea and his wife and ten children have

been transformed by the Nome King. So there is no one to rule the Land of Ev, that I can think of. Perhaps

it is for this reason that the Wheelers claim the trees for their own, and pick the luncheons and dinners

to eat themselves. But they belong to the King, and you will find the royal "E" stamped upon the

Dorothy turned the pail over, and at once discovered the royal mark upon it, as Tiktok had said.

"No; they only inhabit a small portion of it just back of the woods," replied the machine. "But they have

always been mischievous and impertinent, and my old master, King Evoldo, used to carry a

whip with him, when he walked out, to keep the creatures in order. When I was first made the Wheelers

tried to run over me, and butt me with their heads; but they soon found I was built of too solid a

"The firm of Smith Tinker, in the town of Evna, where the royal palace stands," answered Tiktok.

"No; I am the only automatic mechanical man they ever completed," he replied. "They were

"They are both gone," replied the machine. "Mr. Smith was an artist, as well as an inventor, and he

painted a picture of a river which was so natural that, as he was reaching across it to paint some

"Mister Tinker," continued Tiktok, "made a ladder so tall that he could rest the end of it against the

moon, while he stood on the highest rung and picked the little stars to set in the points of the king's crown.

But when he got to the moon Mister Tinker found it such a lovely place that he decided to live there,

"He must have been a great loss to this country," said Dorothy, who was by this time eating her custard pie.

"He was," acknowledged Tiktok. "Also he is a great loss to me. For if I should get out of order I do not

know of any one able to repair me, because I am so complicated. You have no idea how full of

"And now," continued the machine, "I must stop talking and begin thinking again of a way to escape

from this rock." So he turned half way around, in order to think without being disturbed.

"The best thinker I ever knew," said Dorothy to the yellow hen, "was a scarecrow."

"It is true," declared Dorothy. "I met him in the Land of Oz, and he traveled with me to the city of the great

Wizard of Oz, so as to get some brains, for his head was only stuffed with straw. But it seemed to me that he

"Do you expect me to believe all that rubbish about the Land of Oz?" enquired Billina, who seemed a little

"Why, your impossible stories about animals that can talk, and a tin woodman who is alive, and a scarecrow

"That's 'cause you're so ign'rant," replied the girl, who was a little offended at her friend Billina's speech.

"In the Land of Oz," remarked Tiktok, turning toward them, "anything is possible. For it is a

"There, Billina! what did I say?" cried Dorothy. And then she turned to the machine and asked in an eager

"No; but I have heard about it," said the copper man. "For it is only separated from this Land of Ev

"I'm glad of that!" she exclaimed. "It makes me quite happy to be so near my old friends. The scarecrow I

"I know," said Tiktok, "but there was a revolution in the Land of Oz, and the Scarecrow was deposed

by a soldier woman named General Jinjur. And then Jinjur was deposed by a little girl named

Ozma, who was the rightful heir to the throne and now rules the land under the title of Ozma of Oz."

"That is news to me," said Dorothy, thoughtfully. "But I s'pose lots of things have happened since I left the

Land of Oz. I wonder what has become of the Scarecrow, and of the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.

But Tiktok did not reply to this. He had turned around again to resume his thinking.

Dorothy packed the rest of the food back into the pail, so as not to be wasteful of good things, and the yellow

hen forgot her dignity far enough to pick up all of the scattered crumbs, which she ate rather greedily,

although she had so lately pretended to despise the things that Dorothy preferred as food.

"Be kind enough to follow me," he said, "and I will lead you away from here to the town of Evna,

where you will be more comfortable, and also I will protect you from the Wheelers."

They walked slowly down the path between the rocks, Tiktok going first, Dorothy following him, and the

At the foot of the path the copper man leaned down and tossed aside with ease the rocks that encumbered the

She placed it in his right hand at once, and the copper fingers closed firmly over the stout handle.

As soon as the three Wheelers who were guarding the mound saw them, they began to shout their wild cries

and rolled swiftly toward the little group, as if to capture them or bar their way. But when the foremost had

approached near enough, Tiktok swung the tin dinnerpail and struck the Wheeler a sharp blow over its head

with the queer weapon. Perhaps it did not hurt very much, but it made a great noise, and the Wheeler uttered

a howl and tumbled over upon its side. The next minute it scrambled to its wheels and rolled away as fast as

"I told you they were harmless," began Tiktok; but before he could say more another Wheeler was upon

them. Crack! went the dinnerpail against its head, knocking its straw hat a dozen feet away; and that was

enough for this Wheeler, also. It rolled away after the first one, and the third did not wait to be pounded with

The yellow hen gave a cackle of delight, and flying to a perch upon Tiktok's shoulder, she said:

"Bravely done, my copper friend! and wisely thought of, too. Now we are free from those ugly creatures."

But just then a large band of Wheelers rolled from the forest, and relying upon their numbers to conquer, they

advanced fiercely upon Tiktok. Dorothy grabbed Billina in her arms and held her tight, and the machine

embraced the form of the little girl with his left arm, the better to protect her. Then the Wheelers were upon

Rattlety, bang! bang! went the dinnerpail in every direction, and it made so much clatter bumping against

the heads of the Wheelers that they were much more frightened than hurt and fled in a great panic. All, that

is, except their leader. This Wheeler had stumbled against another and fallen flat upon his back, and before he

could get his wheels under him to rise again, Tiktok had fastened his copper fingers into the neck of the

The leader of the Wheelers hesitated to give this order, so Tiktok shook him as a terrier dog does a rat, until

the Wheeler's teeth rattled together with a noise like hailstones on a window pane. Then, as soon as the

creature could get its breath, it shouted to the others to roll away, which they immediately did.

"You'll be sorry for treating me in this way," whined the Wheeler. "I'm a terribly fierce person."

"As for that," answered Tiktok, "I am only a machine, and cannot feel sorrow or joy, no matter what

"Because no one else thinks as you do. Your wheels make you helpless to injure any one. For you have

no fists and can not scratch or even pull hair. Nor have you any feet to kick with. All you can do is to yell

"Now I and my people are ruined forever!" he sobbed; "for you have discovered our secret. Being so helpless,

our only hope is to make people afraid of us, by pretending we are very fierce and terrible, and writing in the

sand warnings to Beware the Wheelers. Until now we have frightened everyone, but since you have

discovered our weakness our enemies will fall upon us and make us very miserable and unhappy."

"Oh, no," exclaimed Dorothy, who was sorry to see this beautifully dressed Wheeler so miserable; "Tiktok

will keep your secret, and so will Billina and I. Only, you must promise not to try to frighten children any

"I won'tindeed I won't!" promised the Wheeler, ceasing to cry and becoming more cheerful. "I'm not really

bad, you know; but we have to pretend to be terrible in order to prevent others from attacking us."

"That is not exactly true," said Tiktok, starting to walk toward the path through the forest, and still holding

fast to his prisoner, who rolled slowly along beside him. "You and your people are full of mischief, and

like to bother those who fear you. And you are often impudent and disagreeable, too. But if you

"I'll try, of course," replied the Wheeler, eagerly. "And thank you, Mr. Tiktok, for your kindness."

"I am only a machine," said Tiktok. "I can not be kind any more than I can be sorry or glad. I can only

"Yes; if you behave yourself. But tell me: who rules the Land of Ev now?" asked the machine.

"There is no ruler," was the answer, "because every member of the royal family is imprisoned by the Nome

King. But the Princess Langwidere, who is a niece of our late King Evoldo, lives in a part of the royal palace

and takes as much money out of the royal treasury as she can spend. The Princess Langwidere is not exactly a

ruler, you see, because she doesn't rule; but she is the nearest approach to a ruler we have at present."

"That I cannot say," replied the Wheeler, "although I have seen her twenty times. For the Princess

Langwidere is a different person every time I see her, and the only way her subjects can recognize her at all is

by means of a beautiful ruby key which she always wears on a chain attached to her left wrist. When we see

"That is strange," said Dorothy, in astonishment. "Do you mean to say that so many different princesses are

"Not exactly," answered the Wheeler. "There is, of course, but one princess; but she appears to us in many

"I do not think so," declared the Wheeler. "But there is some mystery connected with her, nevertheless. She is

a very vain creature, and lives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire herself

No one answered this speech, because they had just passed out of the forest and their attention was fixed

upon the scene before thema beautiful vale in which were many fruit trees and green fields, with pretty

farmhouses scattered here and there and broad, smooth roads that led in every direction.

In the center of this lovely vale, about a mile from where our friends were standing, rose the tall spires of the

royal palace, which glittered brightly against their background of blue sky. The palace was surrounded by

charming grounds, full of flowers and shrubbery. Several tinkling fountains could be seen, and there were

All these details Dorothy was, of course, unable to notice or admire until they had advanced along the road to

a position quite near to the palace, and she was still looking at the pretty sights when her little party entered

the grounds and approached the big front door of the king's own apartments. To their disappointment they

found the door tightly closed. A sign was tacked to the panel which read as follows:

"Now," said Tiktok to the captive Wheeler, "you must show us the way to the Left Wing."

"How can the left wing be at the right?" demanded Dorothy, who feared the Wheeler was fooling them.

"Because there used to be three wings, and two were torn down, so the one on the right is the only one left. It

Then the captive led them around to the wing, after which the machine man, having no further use for the

Wheeler, permitted him to depart and rejoin his fellows. He immediately rolled away at a great pace and was

It was opened by a little maid in a cap trimmed with gay ribbons, who bowed respectfully and asked:

"I will tell her you are here, miss, and ask her to grant you an audience," said the maid. "Step in, please, and

So Dorothy walked in, followed closely by the machine. But as the yellow hen tried to enter after them, the

"Shoo, yourself!" retorted the hen, drawing back in anger and ruffling up her feathers. "Haven't you any

"Can't you hear me?" snapped Billina. "Drop that apron, and get out of the doorway, so that I may enter with

"I don't care whether she likes it or not," replied Billina, and fluttering her wings with a loud noise she flew

straight at the maid's face. The little servant at once ducked her head, and the hen reached Dorothy's side in

"Very well," sighed the maid; "if you are all ruined because of this obstinate hen, don't blame me for it. It

"Tell her we are waiting, if you please," Dorothy requested, with dignity. "Billina is my friend, and must go

Without more words the maid led them to a richly furnished drawingroom, lighted with subdued rainbow

"I am Dorothy Gale, of Kansas," replied the child; "and this gentleman is a machine named Tiktok, and the

The little servant bowed and withdrew, going through several passages and mounting two marble stairways

Princess Langwidere's sittingroom was paneled with great mirrors, which reached from the ceiling to the

floor; also the ceiling was composed of mirrors, and the floor was of polished silver that reflected every

object upon it. So when Langwidere sat in her easy chair and played soft melodies upon her mandolin, her

form was mirrored hundreds of times, in walls and ceiling and floor, and whichever way the lady turned her

head she could see and admire her own features. This she loved to do, and just as the maid entered she was

"This head with the auburn hair and hazel eyes is quite attractive. I must wear it more often than I have done

"What a queer lot of names!" murmured the Princess, beginning to be a little interested. "What are they like?

"That I cannot say, Your Highness. But he seems very bright. Will Your Gracious Highness see them?"

"Oh, I may as well, Nanda. But I am tired admiring this head, and if my visitor has any claim to beauty I must

take care that she does not surpass me. So I will go to my cabinet and change to No. 17, which I think is my

So the maid assisted her to gain her feet, although Langwidere was the stronger of the two; and then the

Princess slowly walked across the silver floor to her cabinet, leaning heavily at every step upon Nanda's arm.

Now I must explain to you that the Princess Langwidere had thirty headsas many as there are days in the

month. But of course she could only wear one of them at a time, because she had but one neck. These heads

were kept in what she called her "cabinet," which was a beautiful dressingroom that lay just between

Langwidere's sleepingchamber and the mirrored sittingroom. Each head was in a separate cupboard lined

with velvet. The cupboards ran all around the sides of the dressingroom, and had elaborately carved doors

with gold numbers on the outside and jeweledframed mirrors on the inside of them.

When the Princess got out of her crystal bed in the morning she went to her cabinet, opened one of the

velvetlined cupboards, and took the head it contained from its golden shelf. Then, by the aid of the mirror

inside the open door, she put on the headas neat and straight as could beand afterward called her maids

to robe her for the day. She always wore a simple white costume, that suited all the heads. For, being able to

change her face whenever she liked, the Princess had no interest in wearing a variety of gowns, as have other

Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed alike but all being of exceeding loveliness.

There were heads with golden hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none with gray hair. The

heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of brown and of black; but there were no red eyes among them, and

all were bright and handsome. The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse and Oriental, representing all types

of beauty; and the mouths were of assorted sizes and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the heads smiled.

As for dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, wherever they might be most charming, and one or two

heads had freckles upon the faces to contrast the better with the brilliancy of their complexions.

One key unlocked all the velvet cupboards containing these treasuresa curious key carved from a single

bloodred rubyand this was fastened to a strong but slender chain which the Princess wore around her left

When Nanda had supported Langwidere to a position in front of cupboard No. 17, the Princess unlocked the

door with her ruby key and after handing head No. 9, which she had been wearing, to the maid, she took No.

17 from its shelf and fitted it to her neck. It had black hair and dark eyes and a lovely pearlandwhite

complexion, and when Langwidere wore it she knew she was remarkably beautiful in appearance.

There was only one trouble with No. 17; the temper that went with it (and which was hidden somewhere

under the glossy black hair) was fiery, harsh and haughty in the extreme, and it often led the Princess to do

But she did not remember this today, and went to meet her guests in the drawingroom with a feeling of

However, she was greatly disappointed to find that her visitors were merely a small girl in a gingham dress, a

copper man that would only go when wound up, and a yellow hen that was sitting contentedly in

Langwidere's best workbasket, where there was a china egg used for darning stockings. (It may surprise you

to learn that a princess ever does such a common thing as darn stockings. But, if you will stop to think, you

will realize that a princess is sure to wear holes in her stockings, the same as other people; only it isn't

"Oh!" said Langwidere, slightly lifting the nose of No. 17. "I thought some one of importance had called."

"Then you were right," declared Dorothy. "I'm a good deal of 'portance myself, and when Billina lays an egg

"StopStop!" commanded the Princess, with an angry flash of her splendid eyes. "How dare you annoy me

"Why, you horrid thing!" said Dorothy, who was not accustomed to being treated so rudely.

"Huh!" cried the Princess, scornfully. "You are a foolish child, and I cannot allow you to annoy me. Run

Dorothy was so indignant that for a moment she could find no words to reply. But she rose from her chair,

and was about to leave the room when the Princess, who had been scanning the girl's face, stopped her by

Dorothy obeyed, without a thought of fear, and stood before the Princess while Langwidere examined her

"You are rather attractive," said the lady, presently. "Not at all beautiful, you understand, but you have a

certain style of prettiness that is different from that of any of my thirty heads. So I believe I'll take your head

"It will do you no good to refuse," continued the Princess; "for I need your head for my collection, and in the

Land of Ev my will is law. I never have cared much for No. 26, and you will find that it is very little worn.

Besides, it will do you just as well as the one you're wearing, for all practical purposes."

"I don't know anything about your No. 26, and I don't want to," said Dorothy, firmly. "I'm not used to taking

"Then," said Langwidere, "I shall lock you up in a tower until you decide to obey me. Nanda," turning to her

Nanda rang a silver bell, and at once a big fat colonel in a bright red uniform entered the room, followed by

ten lean soldiers, who all looked sad and discouraged and saluted the princess in a very melancholy fashion.

"Carry that girl to the North Tower and lock her up!" cried the Princess, pointing to Dorothy.

"To hear is to obey," answered the big red colonel, and caught the child by her arm. But at that moment

Tiktok raised his dinnerpail and pounded it so forcibly against the colonel's head that the big officer sat

down upon the floor with a sudden bump, looking both dazed and very much astonished.

There was great excitement for the next few moments, and Tiktok had knocked down seven of the army, who

were sprawling in every direction upon the carpet, when suddenly the machine paused, with the dinnerpail

She tried to obey, but the big colonel had by this time managed to get upon his feet again, so he grabbed fast

"This is too bad," said the machine. "I ought to have run six hours longer, at least, but I suppose my long

"Then lock her up," said Langwidere to her soldiers, and they led Dorothy to a high tower at the north of the

The soldiers afterward tried to lift Tiktok, but they found the machine so solid and heavy that they could not

"People will think I have a new statue," said Langwidere, "so it won't matter in the least, and Nanda can keep

"What shall we do with the hen?" asked the colonel, who had just discovered Billina in the workbasket.

"Put her in the chickenhouse," answered the Princess. "Someday I'll have her fried for breakfast."

"That is a base slander!" cried Billina, struggling frantically in the colonel's arms. "But the breed of chickens

"Then," remarked Langwidere, "I will not fry the hen, but keep her to lay eggs; and if she doesn't do her duty

Nanda brought Dorothy bread and water for her supper, and she slept upon a hard stone couch with a single

In the morning she leaned out of the window of her prison in the tower to see if there was any way to escape.

The room was not so very high up, when compared with our modern buildings, but it was far enough above

To the east she saw the forest, with the sands beyond it and the ocean beyond that. There was even a dark

speck upon the shore that she thought might be the chickencoop in which she had arrived at this singular

Then she looked to the north, and saw a deep but narrow valley lying between two rocky mountains, and a

Westward the fertile Land of Ev suddenly ended a little way from the palace, and the girl could see miles and

miles of sandy desert that stretched further than her eyes could reach. It was this desert, she thought, with

much interest, that alone separated her from the wonderful Land of Oz, and she remembered sorrowfully that

she had been told no one had ever been able to cross this dangerous waste but herself. Once a cyclone had

carried her across it, and a magical pair of silver shoes had carried her back again. But now she had neither a

cyclone nor silver shoes to assist her, and her condition was sad indeed. For she had become the prisoner of a

disagreeable princess who insisted that she must exchange her head for another one that she was not used to,

Really, there seemed no hope of help for her from her old friends in the Land of Oz. Thoughtfully she gazed

Wait, though! Something surely WAS stirring on the desertsomething her eyes had not observed at first.

Now it seemed like a cloud; now it seemed like a spot of silver; now it seemed to be a mass of rainbow colors

Then, gradually, but in a brief space of time nevertheless, the vision drew near enough to Dorothy to make

A broad green carpet was unrolling itself upon the desert, while advancing across the carpet was a wonderful

First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by a great Lion and an immense Tiger, who stood shoulder to

shoulder and trotted along as gracefully as a wellmatched team of thoroughbred horses. And standing

upright within the chariot was a beautiful girl clothed in flowing robes of silver gauze and wearing a jeweled

diadem upon her dainty head. She held in one hand the satin ribbons that guided her astonishing team, and in

the other an ivory wand that separated at the top into two prongs, the prongs being tipped by the letters "O"

The girl seemed neither older nor larger than Dorothy herself, and at once the prisoner in the tower guessed

that the lovely driver of the chariot must be that Ozma of Oz of whom she had so lately heard from Tiktok.

Following close behind the chariot Dorothy saw her old friend the Scarecrow, riding calmly astride a wooden

SawHorse, which pranced and trotted as naturally as any meat horse could have done.

And then came Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his funnelshaped cap tipped carelessly over his left

ear, his gleaming axe over his right shoulder, and his whole body sparkling as brightly as it had ever done in

The Tin Woodman was on foot, marching at the head of a company of twentyseven soldiers, of whom some

were lean and some fat, some short and some tall; but all the twentyseven were dressed in handsome

Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolled itself up again, so that there was always just enough of it for the

procession to walk upon, in order that their feet might not come in contact with the deadly, lifedestroying

Dorothy knew at once it was a magic carpet she beheld, and her heart beat high with hope and joy as she

realized she was soon to be rescued and allowed to greet her dearly beloved friends of Ozthe Scarecrow,

Indeed, the girl felt herself as good as rescued as soon as she recognized those in the procession, for she well

knew the courage and loyalty of her old comrades, and also believed that any others who came from their

As soon as the last bit of desert was passed and all the procession, from the beautiful and dainty Ozma to the

last soldier, had reached the grassy meadows of the Land of Ev, the magic carpet rolled itself together and

Then the chariot driver turned her Lion and Tiger into a broad roadway leading up to the palace, and the

others followed, while Dorothy still gazed from her tower window in eager excitement.

They came quite close to the front door of the palace and then halted, the Scarecrow dismounting from his

SawHorse to approach the sign fastened to the door, that he might read what it said.

"Dorothy who?" asked the Scarecrow, tipping his head to look upward until he nearly lost his balance and

"Why, hello, Dorothy!" said the Scarecrow. "What in the world are you doing up there?"

"Nothing," she called down, "because there's nothing to do. Save me, my friendsave me!"

"That's all right," said the Scarecrow. "You might be worse off, little Dorothy. Just consider the matter. You

can't get drowned, or be run over by a Wheeler, or fall out of an appletree. Some folks would think they

"Well, I don't," declared the girl, "and I want to get down immed'i'tly and see you and the Tin Woodman and

"Very well," said the Scarecrow, nodding. "It shall be just as you say, little friend. Who locked you up?"

At this Ozma, who had been listening carefully to the conversation, called to Dorothy from her chariot,

"Because," exclaimed Dorothy, "I wouldn't let her have my head for her collection, and take an old, castoff

"I do not blame you," exclaimed Ozma, promptly. "I will see the Princess at once, and oblige her to liberate

"Oh, thank you very, very much!" cried Dorothy, who as soon as she heard the sweet voice of the girlish

Ozma now drove her chariot around to the third door of the wing, upon which the Tin Woodman boldly

As soon as the maid opened the door Ozma, bearing in her hand her ivory wand, stepped into the hall and

made her way at once to the drawingroom, followed by all her company, except the Lion and the Tiger. And

the twentyseven soldiers made such a noise and a clatter that the little maid Nanda ran away screaming to

her mistress, whereupon the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger by this rude invasion of her palace,

There she stood before the slight and delicate form of the little girl from Oz and cried out;

"How dare you enter my palace unbidden? Leave this room at once, or I will bind you and all your people in

"Sit down, please," she said, quietly. "I have traveled a long way to see you, and you must listen to what I

"Must!" screamed the Princess, her black eyes flashing with furyfor she still wore her No. 17 head. "Must,

"To be sure," said Ozma. "I am Ruler of the Land of Oz, and I am powerful enough to destroy all your

kingdom, if I so wish. Yet I did not come here to do harm, but rather to free the royal family of Ev from the

thrall of the Nome King, the news having reached me that he is holding the Queen and her children

"I wish you could, indeed, free my aunt and her ten royal children," said she, eagerly. "For if they were

restored to their proper forms and station they could rule the Kingdom of Ev themselves, and that would save

me a lot of worry and trouble. At present there are at least ten minutes every day that I must devote to affairs

of state, and I would like to be able to spend my whole time in admiring my beautiful heads."

"Then we will presently discuss this matter," said Ozma, "and try to find a way to liberate your aunt and

cousins. But first you must liberate another prisonerthe little girl you have locked up in your tower."

"Of course," said Langwidere, readily. "I had forgotten all about her. That was yesterday, you know, and a

Princess cannot be expected to remember today what she did yesterday. Come with me, and I will release the

So Ozma followed her, and they passed up the stairs that led to the room in the tower.

While they were gone Ozma's followers remained in the drawingroom, and the Scarecrow was leaning

against a form that he had mistaken for a copper statue when a harsh, metallic voice said suddenly in his ear:

"No," said Tiktok, "I am only a machine. But I can think and speak and act, when I am properly wound

"That's all right," replied the Scarecrow. Dorothy will soon be free, and then she'll attend to your works. But

"Oh, yes, I have," returned Tiktok. "I am fitted with Smith Tinker's Improved Combination Steel

"I don't know," admitted the Scarecrow. "They were given to me by the great Wizard of Oz, and I didn't get a

chance to examine them before he put them in. But they work splendidly and my conscience is very active.

"And no heart, I suppose?" added the Tin Woodman, who had been listening with interest to this

"Then," continued the Tin Woodman, "I regret to say that you are greatly inferior to my friend the Scarecrow,

and to myself. For we are both alive, and he has brains which do not need to be wound up, while I have an

"I congratulate you," replied Tiktok. "I cannot help being your inferior for I am a mere machine.

When I am wound up I do my duty by going just as my machinery is made to go. You have no idea

"I can guess," said the Scarecrow, looking at the machine man curiously. "Some day I'd like to take you apart

"Do not do that, I beg of you," said Tiktok; "for you could not put me together again, and my

"In that case," the Scarecrow kindly promised, "I won't fool with your interior at all. For I am a poor

Just then Ozma reentered the room, leading Dorothy by the hand and followed closely by the Princess

The first thing Dorothy did was to rush into the embrace of the Scarecrow, whose painted face beamed with

delight as he pressed her form to his strawpadded bosom. Then the Tin Woodman embraced hervery

These greetings having been exchanged, Dorothy took the key to Tiktok from her pocket and wound up the

machine man's action, so that he could bow properly when introduced to the rest of the company. While

doing this she told them now useful Tiktok had been to her, and both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman

shook hands with the machine once more and thanked him for protecting their friend.

"She's a yellow hen who is another friend of mine," answered the girl, anxiously. "I wonder what has become

"She is in the chicken house, in the back yard," said the Princess. "My drawingroom is no place for hens."

Without waiting to hear more Dorothy ran to get Billina, and just outside the door she came upon the

Cowardly Lion, still hitched to the chariot beside the great Tiger. The Cowardly Lion had a big bow of blue

ribbon fastened to the long hair between his ears, and the Tiger wore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in

"I am also glad to see you, Dorothy," said the Lion. "We've had some fine adventures together, haven't we?"

"As cowardly as ever," the beast answered in a meek voice. "Every little thing scares me and makes my heart

"Oh! Are you hungry?" she asked, turning to the other beast, who was just then yawning so widely that he

"Dreadfully hungry," answered the Tiger, snapping his jaws together with a fierce click.

"It's no use," said the Tiger sadly. "I've tried that, but I always get hungry again."

"But you eat harmless things, so it doesn't matter," replied the Tiger. "For my part, I'm a savage beast, and

have an appetite for all sorts of poor little living creatures, from a chipmunk to fat babies.

"Isn't it, though?" returned the Hungry Tiger, licking his lips with his long red tongue. "Fat babies! Don't they

sound delicious? But I've never eaten any, because my conscience tells me it is wrong. If I had no conscience

I would probably eat the babies and then get hungry again, which would mean that I had sacrificed the poor

babies for nothing. No; hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die. But I'll not have any cruel deeds on my

"I think you are a very good tiger," said Dorothy, patting the huge head of the beast.

"In that you are mistaken," was the reply. "I am a good beast, perhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger. For it is

the nature of tigers to be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to eat harmless living creatures I am acting as no

good tiger has ever before acted. That is why I left the forest and joined my friend the Cowardly Lion."

"But the Lion is not really cowardly," said Dorothy. "I have seen him act as bravely as can be."

"All a mistake, my dear," protested the Lion gravely. "To others I may have seemed brave, at times, but I

"Nor I," said Dorothy, truthfully. "But I must go and set free Billina, and then I will see you again."

She ran around to the back yard of the palace and soon found the chicken house, being guided to it by a loud

cackling and crowing and a distracting hubbub of sounds such as chickens make when they are excited.

Something seemed to be wrong in the chicken house, and when Dorothy looked through the slats in the door

she saw a group of hens and roosters huddled in one corner and watching what appeared to be a whirling ball

of feathers. It bounded here and there about the chicken house, and at first Dorothy could not tell what it was,

But suddenly the bunch of feathers stopped whirling, and then, to her amazement, the girl saw Billina

crouching upon the prostrate form of a speckled rooster. For an instant they both remained motionless, and

then the yellow hen shook her wings to settle the feathers and walked toward the door with a strut of proud

defiance and a cluck of victory, while the speckled rooster limped away to the group of other chickens,

"I really think I have," retorted Billina. "Do you think I'd let that speckled villain of a rooster lord it over ME,

and claim to run this chicken house, as long as I'm able to peck and scratch? Not if my name is Bill!"

"It isn't Bill, it's Billina; and you're talking slang, which is very undig'n'fied," said Dorothy, reprovingly.

"Come here, Billina, and I'll let you out; for Ozma of Oz is here, and has set us free."

So the yellow hen came to the door, which Dorothy unlatched for her to pass through, and the other chickens

"Oh, Billina! how dreadful you look. You've lost a lot of feathers, and one of your eyes is nearly pecked out,

"That's nothing," said Billina. "Just look at the speckled rooster! Didn't I do him up brown?"

"I don't 'prove of this, at all," she said, carrying Billina away toward the palace. "It isn't a good thing for you

to 'sociate with those common chickens. They would soon spoil your good manners, and you wouldn't be

"I didn't ask to associate with them," replied Billina. "It is that cross old Princess who is to blame. But I was

raised in the United States, and I won't allow any onehorse chicken of the Land of Ev to run over me and

Soon they came to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to whom the girl introduced the Yellow Hen.

"Glad to meet any friend of Dorothy's," said the Lion, politely. "To judge by your present appearance, you are

"Your present appearance makes my mouth water," said the Tiger, looking at Billina greedily. "My, my! how

good you would taste if I could only crunch you between my jaws. But don't worry. You would only appease

"Besides, it wouldn't be right," continued the Tiger, looking steadily at Billina and clicking his jaws together.

"Of course not," cried Dorothy, hastily. "Billina is my friend, and you mustn't ever eat her under any

"I'll try to remember that," said the Tiger; "but I'm a little absentminded, at times."

Then Dorothy carried her pet into the drawingroom of the palace, where Tiktok, being invited to do so by

Ozma, had seated himself between the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. Opposite to them sat Ozma herself

and the Princess Langwidere, and beside them there was a vacant chair for Dorothy.

Around this important group was ranged the Army of Oz, and as Dorothy looked at the handsome uniforms

"They are, all except one," answered the Tin Woodman. "I have in my Army eight Generals, six Colonels,

seven Majors and five Captains, besides one private for them to command. I'd like to promote the private, for

I believe no private should ever be in public life; and I've also noticed that officers usually fight better and are

more reliable than common soldiers. Besides, the officers are more important looking, and lend dignity to our

"And now," announced the girlish Ruler of Oz, "we will hold a solemn conference to decide the best manner

of liberating the royal family of this fair Land of Ev from their long imprisonment."

"To begin with," said he, "word came to our noble and illustrious Ruler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten

childrenfive boys and five girlsof the former King of Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by the

Nome King and are held prisoners in his underground palace. Also that there was no one in Ev powerful

enough to release them. Naturally our Ozma wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the poor

prisoners; but for a long time she could find no way to cross the great desert between the two countries.

Finally she went to a friendly sorceress of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the story and at once

presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would continually unroll beneath our feet and so make a comfortable

path for us to cross the desert. As soon as she had received the carpet our gracious Ruler ordered me to

assemble our army, which I did. You behold in these bold warriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of Oz;

and, if we are obliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as well as the private, will battle fiercely unto

"No wrong!" cried Dorothy. "Isn't it wrong to imprison a queen mother and her ten children?"

"They were sold to the Nome King by King Evoldo," replied Tiktok. "It was the King of Ev who did

wrong, and when he realized what he had done he jumped into the sea and drowned himself."

"This is news to me," said Ozma, thoughtfully. "I had supposed the Nome King was all to blame in the

"My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man," declared the Princess Langwidere. "If he had drowned himself

before he sold his family, no one would have cared. But he sold them to the powerful Nome King in

exchange for a long life, and afterward destroyed the life by jumping into the sea."

"Then," said Ozma, "he did not get the long life, and the Nome King must give up the prisoners. Where are

"No one knows, exactly," replied the Princess. "For the king, whose name is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a

splendid palace underneath the great mountain which is at the north end of this kingdom, and he has

transformed the queen and her children into ornaments and bricabrac with which to decorate his rooms."

"I will tell you," replied Ozma. "He is said to be the Ruler of the Underground World, and commands the

rocks and all that the rocks contain. Under his rule are many thousands of the Nomes, who are queerly shaped

but powerful sprites that labor at the furnaces and forges of their king, making gold and silver and other

metals which they conceal in the crevices of the rocks, so that those living upon the earth's surface can only

find them with great difficulty. Also they make diamonds and rubies and emeralds, which they hide in the

ground; so that the kingdom of the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all we have of precious stones and silver

and gold is what we take from the earth and rocks where the Nome King has hidden them."

"For the reason that we often steal his treasures," continued Ozma, "the Ruler of the Underground World is

not fond of those who live upon the earth's surface, and never appears among us. If we wish to see King

Roquat of the Rocks, we must visit his own country, where he is all powerful, and therefore it will be a

"We shall do it," replied the Scarecrow, "although it requires a lot of courage for me to go near to the

furnaces of the Nome King. For I am only stuffed with straw, and a single spark of fire might destroy me

"I can't bear heat," remarked the Princess Langwidere, yawning lazily, "so I shall stay at home. But I wish

you may have success in your undertaking, for I am heartily tired of ruling this stupid kingdom, and I need

"We do not need you," said Ozma. "For, if with the aid of my brave followers I cannot accomplish my

"Quite true," sighed the Princess. "So, if you'll excuse me, I will now retire to my cabinet. I've worn this head

When she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to see her go) Ozma said to Tiktok:

"I am the slave of the girl Dorothy, who rescued me from prison," replied the machine. "Where she goes I

"Oh, I am going with my friends, of course," said Dorothy, quickly. "I wouldn't miss the fun for anything.

"To be sure," said Billina in a careless tone. She was smoothing down the feathers of her back and not paying

"Heat is just in her line," remarked the Scarecrow. "If she is nicely roasted, she will be better than ever."

"Then" said Ozma, "we will arrange to start for the Kingdom of the Nomes at daybreak tomorrow. And, in

Although Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests, the palace servants waited upon the

strangers from Oz and did everything in their power to make the party comfortable. There were many vacant

rooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of twentyseven was easily provided for and liberally feasted.

The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the chariot and allowed to roam at will

throughout the palace, where they nearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no harm at all. At

one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda crouching in terror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing

"You certainly look delicious," the beast was saying. "Will you kindly give me permission to eat you?"

"Then," said the Tiger, yawning frightfully, "please to get me about thirty pounds of tenderloin steak, cooked

rare, with a peck of boiled potatoes on the side, and five gallons of icecream for dessert."

"II'll do the best I can!" said Nanda, and she ran away as fast as she could go.

"You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite," replied the Tiger, sadly. "It seems to fill my whole body,

from the end of my throat to the tip of my tail. I am very sure the appetite doesn't fit me, and is too large for

the size of my body. Some day, when I meet a dentist with a pair of forceps, I'm going to have it pulled."

The little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who related to

her all that had taken place in the Land of Oz since Dorothy had left it. She was much interested in the story

of Ozma, who had been, when a baby, stolen by a wicked old witch and transformed into a boy. She did not

know that she had ever been a girl until she was restored to her natural form by a kind sorceress. Then it was

found that she was the only child of the former Ruler of Oz, and was entitled to rule in his place. Ozma had

many adventures, however, before she regained her father's throne, and in these she was accompanied by a

pumpkinheaded man, a highly magnified and thoroughly educated WoggleBug, and a wonderful sawhorse

that had been brought to life by means of a magic powder. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman had also

assisted her; but the Cowardly Lion, who ruled the great forest as the King of Beasts, knew nothing of Ozma

until after she became the reigning princess of Oz. Then he journeyed to the Emerald City to see her, and on

hearing she was about to visit the Land of Ev to set free the royal family of that country, the Cowardly Lion

Having heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own adventures, and then went out with her friends to

find the Sawhorse, which Ozma had caused to be shod with plates of gold, so that its legs would not wear out.

They came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the garden gate, but when Dorothy was introduced

to him he bowed politely and blinked his eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged his tail, which was

"I quiet agree with you," replied the Sawhorse, in a rough but not unpleasant voice. "A creature like me has

no business to live, as we all know. But it was the magic powder that did it, so I cannot justly be blamed."

"Of course not," said Dorothy. "And you seem to be of some use, 'cause I noticed the Scarecrow riding upon

"Oh, yes; I'm of use," returned the Sawhorse; "and I never tire, never have to be fed, or cared for in any way."

"Not very," said the creature. "It would be foolish to waste intelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so

many professors need it. But I know enough to obey my masters, and to giddup, or whoa, when I'm told to.

That night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bedchamber next to that occupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina

perched upon the foot of the bed and tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly in that position as

But before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon the adventurers were eating a hasty

breakfast in the great diningroom of the palace. Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on a raised platform,

with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow on her left. The Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but

Ozma placed him near her so that she might ask his advice about the journey while she ate.

Lower down the table were the twentyseven warriors of Oz, and at the end of the room the Lion and the

Tiger were eating out of a kettle that had been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered around to pick up

It did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and the Tiger were harnessed to the chariot and the

First rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot and holding Billina fast in her arms. Then

came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side just behind

him. After these tramped the Army, looking brave and handsome in their splendid uniforms. The generals

commanded the colonels and the colonels commanded the majors and the majors commanded the captains

and the captains commanded the private, who marched with an air of proud importance because it required so

And so the magnificent procession left the palace and started along the road just as day was breaking, and by

the time the sun came out they had made good progress toward the valley that led to the Nome King's

The road led for a time through a pretty farm country, and then past a picnic grove that was very inviting. But

the procession continued to steadily advance until Billina cried in an abrupt and commanding manner:

Ozma stopped her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow's Sawhorse nearly ran into it, and the ranks of the

army tumbled over one another before they could come to a halt. Immediately the yellow hen struggled from

"Yes; she lays one every morning, about this time; and it's quite fresh," said the girl.

"But does your foolish old hen suppose that this entire cavalcade, which is bound on an important adventure,

is going to stand still while she lays her egg?" enquired the Tin Woodman, earnestly.

"What else can we do?" asked the girl. "It's a habit of Billina's and she can't break herself of it."

So they stood and waited, although all were restless and anxious to proceed. And by and by the yellow hen

"Forwardmarch!" shouted the Tin Woodman, waving his axe, and the procession started just as Dorothy

"I'll get it," said the Scarecrow; and at his command the Sawhorse pranced into the bushes. The straw man

soon found the egg, which he placed in his jacket pocket. The cavalcade, having moved rapidly on, was even

then far in advance; but it did not take the Sawhorse long to catch up with it, and presently the Scarecrow was

"It would not be enough to fill one of my back teeth," remarked the Tiger. "A bushel of them, hard boiled,

might take a little of the edge off my appetite; but one egg isn't good for anything at all, that I know of."

"No; it wouldn't even make a sponge cake," said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "The Tin Woodman might

carry it with his axe and hatch it; but after all I may as well keep it myself for a souvenir." So he left it in his

They had now reached that part of the valley that lay between the two high mountains which Dorothy had

seen from her tower window. At the far end was the third great mountain, which blocked the valley and was

the northern edge of the Land of Ev. It was underneath this mountain that the Nome King's palace was said to

The path was becoming rocky and difficult for the wheels of the chariot to pass over, and presently a deep

gulf appeared at their feet which was too wide for them to leap. So Ozma took a small square of green cloth

from her pocket and threw it upon the ground. At once it became the magic carpet, and unrolled itself far

enough for all the cavalcade to walk upon. The chariot now advanced, and the green carpet unrolled before it,

He was not long in making the discovery, for the sides of the mountain came closer together until finally

there was but a narrow path between them, along which Ozma and her party were forced to pass in single file.

They now heard a low and deep "thump! thump!thump!" which echoed throughout the valley and

seemed to grow louder as they advanced. Then, turning a corner of rock, they saw before them a huge form,

which towered above the path for more than a hundred feet. The form was that of a gigantic man built out of

plates of cast iron, and it stood with one foot on either side of the narrow road and swung over its right

shoulder an immense iron mallet, with which it constantly pounded the earth. These resounding blows

explained the thumping sounds they had heard, for the mallet was much bigger than a barrel, and where it

struck the path between the rocky sides of the mountain it filled all the space through which our travelers

Of course they at once halted, a safe distance away from the terrible iron mallet. The magic carpet would do

them no good in this case, for it was only meant to protect them from any dangers upon the ground beneath

"Wow!" said the Cowardly Lion, with a shudder. "It makes me dreadfully nervous to see that big hammer

"The iron giant is a fine fellow," said Tiktok, "and works as steadily as a clock. He was made for the

Nome King by Smith Tinker, who made me, and his duty is to keep folks from finding the

"Can he think, and speak, as you do?" asked Ozma, regarding the giant with wondering eyes.

"No," replied the machine; "he is only made to pound the road, and has no thinking or speaking

"Too well," observed the Scarecrow. "He is keeping us from going farther. Is there no way to stop his

He retired, then, to a position in the rear, where he turned his painted face to the rocks and began to think.

Meantime the giant continued to raise his iron mallet high in the air and to strike the path terrific blows that

echoed through the mountains like the roar of a cannon. Each time the mallet lifted, however, there was a

moment when the path beneath the monster was free, and perhaps the Scarecrow had noticed this, for when

"The matter is a very simple one, after all. We have but to run under the hammer, one at a time, when it is

"It will require quick work, if we escape the blow," said the Tin Woodman, with a shake of his head. "But it

They looked at one another hesitatingly for a moment. Then the Cowardly Lion, who was trembling like a

"I suppose the head of the procession must go firstand that's me. But I'm terribly afraid of the big

"What will become of me?" asked Ozma. "You might rush under the hammer yourself, but the chariot would

"We must leave the chariot," said the Scarecrow. "But you two girls can ride upon the backs of the Lion and

So this was decided upon, and Ozma, as soon as the Lion was unfastened from the chariot, at once mounted

"Cling fast to his mane," advised Dorothy. "I used to ride him myself, and that's the way I held on."

So Ozma clung fast to the mane, and the lion crouched in the path and eyed the swinging mallet carefully

Then, before anyone thought he was ready, he made a sudden leap straight between the iron giant's legs, and

before the mallet struck the ground again the Lion and Ozma were safe on the other side.

The Tiger went next. Dorothy sat upon his back and locked her arms around his striped neck, for he had no

mane to cling to. He made the leap straight and true as an arrow from a bow, and ere Dorothy realized it she

Now came the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse, and while they made the dash in safety they were within a hair's

Tiktok walked up to the very edge of the spot the hammer struck, and as it was raised for the next blow he

calmly stepped forward and escaped its descent. That was an idea for the Tin Woodman to follow, and he

also crossed in safety while the great hammer was in the air. But when it came to the twentysix officers and

"In battle we are wonderfully courageous," said one of the generals, "and our foes find us very terrible to

face. But war is one thing and this is another. When it comes to being pounded upon the head by an iron

"Our knees shake so that we cannot run," answered a captain. "If we should try it we would all certainly be

"Well, well," sighed the Cowardly Lion, "I see, friend Tiger, that we must place ourselves in great danger to

So, Ozma and Dorothy having already dismounted from their backs, the Lion and the Tiger leaped back again

under the awful hammer and returned with two generals clinging to their necks. They repeated this daring

passage twelve times, when all the officers had been carried beneath the giant's legs and landed safely on the

further side. By that time the beasts were very tired, and panted so hard that their tongues hung out of their

"Oh, leave him there to guard the chariot," said the Lion. "I'm tired out, and won't pass under that mallet

The officers at once protested that they must have the private with them, else there would be no one for them

to command. But neither the Lion or the Tiger would go after him, and so the Scarecrow sent the Sawhorse.

Either the wooden horse was careless, or it failed to properly time the descent of the hammer, for the mighty

weapon caught it squarely upon its head, and thumped it against the ground so powerfully that the private

flew off its back high into the air, and landed upon one of the giant's castiron arms. Here he clung

The Scarecrow dashed in to rescue his Sawhorse, and had his left foot smashed by the hammer before he

could pull the creature out of danger. They then found that the Sawhorse had been badly dazed by the blow;

for while the hard wooden knot of which his head was formed could not be crushed by the hammer, both his

ears were broken off and he would be unable to hear a sound until some new ones were made for him. Also

Billina having fluttered under the hammer, it now remained only to rescue the private who was riding upon

The Scarecrow lay flat upon the ground and called to the man to jump down upon his body, which was soft

because it was stuffed with straw. This the private managed to do, waiting until a time when he was nearest

the ground and then letting himself drop upon the Scarecrow. He accomplished the feat without breaking any

Therefore, the Tin Woodman having by this time fitted new ears to the Sawhorse, the entire party proceeded

By and by, when they drew near to the mountain that blocked their path and which was the furthermost edge

of the Kingdom of Ev, the way grew dark and gloomy for the reason that the high peaks on either side shut

out the sunshine. And it was very silent, too, as there were no birds to sing or squirrels to chatter, the trees

Ozma and Dorothy were a little awed by the silence, and all the others were quiet and grave except the

Sawhorse, which, as it trotted along with the Scarecrow upon his back, hummed a queer song, of which this

"Would a wooden horse in a woodland go? Aye, aye! I sigh, he would, although Had he not had a wooden

But no one paid any attention to this because they were now close to the Nome King's dominions, and his

Suddenly they heard a shout of jeering laughter, and stopped short. They would have to stop in a minute,

anyway, for the huge mountain barred their further progress and the path ran close up to a wall of rock and

There was no reply, but in the gloom they could see strange forms flit across the face of the rock. Whatever

the creations might be they seemed very like the rock itself, for they were the color of rocks and their shapes

were as rough and rugged as if they had been broken away from the side of the mountain. They kept close to

the steep cliff facing our friends, and glided up and down, and this way and that, with a lack of regularity that

was quite confusing. And they seemed not to need places to rest their feet, but clung to the surface of the rock

"Do not mind them," said Tiktok, as Dorothy shrank back. "They are only the Nomes."

"They are rock fairies, and serve the Nome King," replied the machine. "But they will do us no harm. You

must call for the King, because without him you can never find the entrance to the palace."

Just then the Nomes laughed again, and the sound was so weird and disheartening that the twentysix officers

commanded the private to "rightaboutface!" and they all started to run as fast as they could.

The Tin Woodman at once pursued his army and cried "halt!" and when they had stopped their flight he

"II find I've forgotten the brush for my whiskers," said a general, trembling with fear. "Ssso we are

"That is impossible," replied the Tin Woodman. "For the giant with the hammer would kill you all if you

"You seem to forget a good many things," remarked the Tin Woodman. "I hope you won't forget that you are

"For my part," said the private, meekly, "I must obey my officers; so when I am told to run, I run; and when I

"That is right," agreed the Tin Woodman. "And now you must all come back to Ozma, and obey HER orders.

And if you try to run away again I will have her reduce all the twentysix officers to privates, and make the

This terrible threat so frightened them that they at once returned to where Ozma was standing beside the

There was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the mountain laughed in derision.

"You must not command the Nome King," said Tiktok, "for you do not rule him, as you do your own

Only the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes continued to flit here and there upon the

"Try entreaty," said Tiktok to Ozma. "If he will not come at your request, then the Nome King may

"Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome King?" she asked. "Shall Ozma of Oz humble

"If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole, like a fox, and conquer his stubbornness. But our sweet

"I'm not afraid to plead with him," said Dorothy. "I'm only a little girl from Kansas, and we've got more

"Do," said the Hungry Tiger; "and if he makes hash of you I'll willingly eat you for breakfast tomorrow

The Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the mountain, and in a flash they had all

"Never mind," replied Ozma. "We came here to rescue the poor Queen of Ev and her ten children, and we

"The Nome King is honest and good natured," said Tiktok. "You can trust him to do what is right."

So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed through the arched doorway of rock and

entered a long passage which was lighted by jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind them. There was

no one to escort them, or to show them the way, but all the party pressed through the passage until they came

In the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid boulder of rock, rude and rugged in shape but

glittering with great rubies and diamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface. And upon the throne sat

This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat man clothed in graybrown garments that

were the exact color of the rock throne in which he was seated. His bushy hair and flowing beard were also

colored like the rocks, and so was his face. He wore no crown of any sort, and his only ornament was a broad,

jewelstudded belt that encircled his fat little body. As for his features, they seemed kindly and good

humored, and his eyes were turned merrily upon his visitors as Ozma and Dorothy stood before him with

"Why, he looks just like Santa Clausonly he isn't the same color!" whispered Dorothy to her friend; but the

"'He had a red face and a round little belly That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!'"

quoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see that he really did shake like jelly when he

Both Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King so jolly, and a minute later he waved his

"Sit down, my dears," said the King, "and tell me why you have come all this way to see me, and what I can

While they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and taking a glowing red coal out of his

pocket he placed it in the bowl of the pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled in rings above

his head. Dorothy thought this made the little monarch look more like Santa Claus than ever; but Ozma now

"Your Majesty," said she, "I am the ruler of the Land of Oz, and I have come here to ask you to release the

good Queen of Ev and her ten children, whom you have enchanted and hold as your prisoners."

"Oh, no; you are mistaken about that," replied the King. "They are not my prisoners, but my slaves, whom I

"According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no wrong," answered the monarch, eying a ring of smoke he

had just blown from his mouth; "so that he had a perfect right to sell his family to me in exchange for a long

"You cheated him, though," declared Dorothy; "for the King of Ev did not have a long life. He jumped into

"That was not my fault," said the Nome King, crossing his legs and smiling contentedly. "I gave him the long

"Easily enough," was the reply. "Now suppose, my dear, that I gave you a pretty doll in exchange for a lock

of your hair, and that after you had received the doll you smashed it into pieces and destroyed it. Could you

"And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the lock of hair, just because you had smashed the doll?"

"Of course not," the Nome King returned. "Nor will I give up the Queen and her children because the King of

Ev destroyed his long life by jumping into the sea. They belong to me and I shall keep them."

"But you are treating them cruelly," said Ozma, who was much distressed by the King's refusal.

"Cruelty," remarked the monarch, puffing out wreathes of smoke and watching them float into the air, "is a

thing I can't abide. So, as slaves must work hard, and the Queen of Ev and her children were delicate and

tender, I transformed them all into articles of ornament and bricabrac and scattered them around the

various rooms of my palace. Instead of being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my apartments, and I

"But what a dreadful fate is theirs!" exclaimed Ozma, earnestly. "And the Kingdom of Ev is in great need of

its royal family to govern it. If you will liberate them, and restore them to their proper forms, I will give you

"Then," said Ozma, firmly, "I am here with my friends and my army to conquer your kingdom and oblige you

The Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he coughed; and he coughed until his face

turned from grayishbrown to bright red. And then he wiped his eyes with a rockcolored handkerchief and

"You are as brave as you are pretty, my dear," he said to Ozma. "But you have little idea of the extent of the

He arose and took Ozma's hand, leading her to a little door at one side of the room. This he opened and they

stepped out upon a balcony, from whence they obtained a wonderful view of the Underground World.

A vast cave extended for miles and miles under the mountain, and in every direction were furnaces and forges

glowing brightly and Nomes hammering upon precious metals or polishing gleaming jewels. All around the

walls of the cave were thousands of doors of silver and gold, built into the solid rock, and these extended in

While the little maid from Oz gazed wonderingly upon this scene the Nome King uttered a shrill whistle, and

at once all the silver and gold doors flew open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers marched out from every one.

So great were their numbers that they quickly filled the immense underground cavern and forced the busy

Although this tremendous army consisted of rockcolored Nomes, all squat and fat, they were clothed in

glittering armor of polished steel, inlaid with beautiful gems. Upon his brow each wore a brilliant electric

light, and they bore sharp spears and swords and battleaxes of solid bronze. It was evident they were

perfectly trained, for they stood in straight rows, rank after rank, with their weapons held erect and true, as if

"This," said the Nome King, "is but a small part of my army. No ruler upon Earth has ever dared to fight me,

He whistled again, and at once the martial array filed through the silver and gold doorways and disappeared,

Then, sad and discouraged, Ozma of Oz turned to her friends, and the Nome King calmly reseated himself on

"It would be foolish for us to fight," the girl said to the Tin Woodman. "For our brave TwentySeven would

"Ask the King where his kitchen is," suggested the Tiger. "I'm hungry as a bear."

"I might pounce upon the King and tear him in pieces," remarked the Cowardly Lion.

"Try it," said the monarch, lighting his pipe with another hot coal which he took from his pocket.

The Lion crouched low and tried to spring upon the Nome King; but he hopped only a little way into the air

and came down again in the same place, not being able to approach the throne by even an inch.

"It seems to me," said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, "that our best plan is to wheedle his Majesty into giving

"This is the most sensible thing any of you have suggested," declared the Nome King. "It is folly to threaten

me, but I'm so kindhearted that I cannot stand coaxing or wheedling. If you really wish to accomplish

"Very well," said Ozma, more cheerfully. "Let us be friends, and talk this over in a friendly manner."

"I am very anxious," she continued, "to liberate the Queen of Ev and her children who are now ornaments and

bricabrac in your Majesty's palace, and to restore them to their people. Tell me, sir, how this may be

"Are you willing to take a few chances and risks yourself, in order to set free the people of Ev?"

"Then," said the Nome King, "I will make you this offer: You shall go alone and unattended into my palace

and examine carefully all that the rooms contain. Then you shall have permission to touch eleven different

objects, pronouncing at the time the word 'Ev,' and if any one of them, or more than one, proves to be the

transformation of the Queen of Ev or any of her ten children, then they will instantly be restored to their true

forms and may leave my palace and my kingdom in your company, without any objection whatever. It is

possible for you, in this way, to free the entire eleven; but if you do not guess all the objects correctly, and

some of the slaves remain transformed, then each one of your friends and followers may, in turn, enter the

"If none of the eleven objects you touch proves to be the transformation of any of the royal family of Ev,

then, instead of freeing them, you will yourself become enchanted, and transformed into an article of

bricabrac or an ornament. This is only fair and just, and is the risk you declared you were willing to take."

Hearing this condition imposed by the Nome King, Ozma became silent and thoughtful, and all her friends

"Don't you do it!" exclaimed Dorothy. "If you guess wrong, you will be enslaved yourself."

"But I shall have eleven guesses," answered Ozma. "Surely I ought to guess one object in eleven correctly;

and, if I do, I shall rescue one of the royal family and be safe myself. Then the rest of you may attempt it, and

"What if we fail?" enquired the Scarecrow. "I'd look nice as a piece of bricabrac, wouldn't I?"

"We must not fail!" cried Ozma, courageously. "Having come all this distance to free these poor people, it

would be weak and cowardly in us to abandon the adventure. Therefore I will accept the Nome King's offer,

"Come along, then, my dear," said the King, climbing down from his throne with some difficulty, because he

He approached a wall of the cave and waved his hand. Instantly an opening appeared, through which Ozma,

She found herself in a splendid hall that was more beautiful and grand than anything she had ever beheld. The

ceilings were composed of great arches that rose far above her head, and all the walls and floors were of

polished marble exquisitely tinted in many colors. Thick velvet carpets were on the floor and heavy silken

draperies covered the arches leading to the various rooms of the palace. The furniture was made of rare old

woods richly carved and covered with delicate satins, and the entire palace was lighted by a mysterious rosy

glow that seemed to come from no particular place but flooded each apartment with its soft and pleasing

Ozma passed from one room to another, greatly delighted by all she saw. The lovely palace had no other

occupant, for the Nome King had left her at the entrance, which closed behind her, and in all the magnificent

Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were clustered ornaments of every

description, seemingly made out of all sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles. There were vases,

and figures of men and animals, and graven platters and bowls, and mosaics of precious gems, and many

other things. Pictures, too, were on the walls, and the underground palace was quite a museum of rare and

After her first hasty examination of the rooms Ozma began to wonder which of all the numerous ornaments

they contained were the transformations of the royal family of Ev. There was nothing to guide her, for

everything seemed without a spark of life. So she must guess blindly; and for the first time the girl came to

realize how dangerous was her task, and how likely she was to lose her own freedom in striving to free others

from the bondage of the Nome King. No wonder the cunning monarch laughed good naturedly with his

But Ozma, having undertaken the venture, would not abandon it. She looked at a silver candelabra that had

ten branches, and thought: "This may be the Queen of Ev and her ten children." So she touched it and uttered

aloud the word "Ev," as the Nome King had instructed her to do when she guessed. But the candelabra

Then she wandered into another room and touched a china lamb, thinking it might be one of the children she

sought. But again she was unsuccessful. Three guesses; four guesses; five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten she

The girl shivered a little and grew pale even under the rosy light; for now but one guess remained, and her

She resolved not to be hasty, and strolled through all the rooms once more, gazing earnestly upon the various

ornaments and trying to decide which she would touch. Finally, in despair, she decided to leave it entirely to

chance. She faced the doorway of a room, shut her eyes tightly, and then, thrusting aside the heavy draperies,

Slowly, softly she crept forward until her hand came in contact with an object upon a small round table. She

The rooms were quite empty of life after that. The Nome King had gained a new ornament. For upon the edge

of the table rested a pretty grasshopper, that seemed to have been formed from a single emerald. It was all

In the throne room just beyond the palace the Nome King suddenly looked up and smiled.

Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, who had been sitting in anxious silence, each gave a start of

"So it seems," answered the little monarch, cheerfully. "But that is no reason one of you should not succeed.

The next may have twelve guesses, instead of eleven, for there are now twelve persons transformed into

"Not so," replied the Tin Woodman. "As commander of Ozma's army, it is my privilege to follow her and

"I will," promised the Tin Woodman; and then he followed the Nome King to the entrance to the palace and

In a moment the King returned to his throne and relighted his pipe, and the rest of the little band of

adventurers settled themselves for another long wait. They were greatly disheartened by the failure of their

girl Ruler, and the knowledge that she was now an ornament in the Nome King's palacea dreadful, creepy

place in spite of all its magnificence. Without their little leader they did not know what to do next, and each

one, down to the trembling private of the army, began to fear he would soon be more ornamental than useful.

"Why, your friend, the Tin Woodman, has become the funniest thing you can imagine," replied the King,

wiping the tears of merriment from his eyes. "No one would ever believe he could make such an amusing

They gazed at each other with sinking hearts. One of the generals began to weep dolefully.

"What are you crying for?" asked the Scarecrow, indignant at such a display of weakness.

"Never mind," said the jolly monarch. "If he doesn't care to enter the palace and make his guesses I'll throw

"I'll go!of course I'm going," yelled the general, as quick as scat. "Where is the entrancewhere is it? Let

So the Nome King escorted him into the palace, and again returned to await the result. What the general did,

no one can tell; but it was not long before the King called for the next victim, and a colonel was forced to try

Thus, one after another, all of the twentysix officers filed into the palace and made their guesses and

Meantime the King ordered refreshments to be served to those waiting, and at his command a rudely shaped

Nome entered, bearing a tray. This Nome was not unlike the others that Dorothy had seen, but he wore a

heavy gold chain around his neck to show that he was the Chief Steward of the Nome King, and he assumed

an air of much importance, and even told his majesty not to eat too much cake late at night, or he would be

Dorothy, however, was hungry, and she was not afraid of being ill; so she ate several cakes and found them

good, and also she drank a cup of excellent coffee made of a richly flavored clay, browned in the furnaces

Of all the party which had started upon this adventure, the little Kansas girl was now left alone with the

Scarecrow, Tiktok, and the private for counsellors and companions. Of course the Cowardly Lion and the

Hungry Tiger were still there, but they, having also eaten some of the cakes, had gone to sleep at one side of

the cave, while upon the other side stood the Sawhorse, motionless and silent, as became a mere thing of

wood. Billina had quietly walked around and picked up the crumbs of cake which had been scattered, and

now, as it was long after bedtime, she tried to find some dark place in which to go to sleep.

Presently the hen espied a hollow underneath the King's rocky throne, and crept into it unnoticed. She could

still hear the chattering of those around her, but it was almost dark underneath the throne, so that soon she

"Next!" called the King, and the private, whose turn it was to enter the fatal palace, shook hands with

Dorothy and the Scarecrow and bade them a sorrowful goodbye, and passed through the rocky portal.

They waited a long time, for the private was in no hurry to become an ornament and made his guesses very

slowly. The Nome King, who seemed to know, by some magical power, all that took place in his beautiful

rooms of his palace, grew impatient finally and declared he would sit up no longer.

"I love ornaments," said he, "but I can wait until tomorrow to get more of them; so, as soon as that stupid

private is transformed, we will all go to bed and leave the job to be finished in the morning."

"Why, it is after midnight," said the King, "and that strikes me as being late enough. There is neither night

nor day in my kingdom, because it is under the earth's surface, where the sun does not shine. But we have to

sleep, just the same as the upstairs people do, and for my part I'm going to bed in a few minutes."

Indeed, it was not long after this that the private made his last guess. Of course he guessed wrongly, and of

course he at once became an ornament. So the King was greatly pleased, and clapped his hands to summon

"Show these guests to some of the sleeping apartments," he commanded, "and be quick about it, too, for I'm

"You've no business to sit up so late," replied the Steward, gruffly. "You'll be as cross as a griffin tomorrow

His Majesty made no answer to this remark, and the Chief Steward led Dorothy through another doorway

into a long hall, from which several plain but comfortable sleeping rooms opened. The little girl was given

the first room, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok the nextalthough they never sleptand the Lion and the

Tiger the third. The Sawhorse hobbled after the Steward into a fourth room, to stand stiffly in the center of it

until morning. Each night was rather a bore to the Scarecrow, Tiktok and the Sawhorse; but they had learned

from experience to pass the time patiently and quietly, since all their friends who were made of flesh had to

"I am in great sorrow over the loss of my old comrade, the Tin Woodman. We have had many dangerous

adventures together, and escaped them all, and now it grieves me to know he has become an ornament, and is

"True; but now the Nome King laughs at him, and calls him the funniest ornament in all the palace. It will

"We will make rather absurd ornaments, ourselves, tomorrow," observed the machine, in his

"Why, I thought she was with you," said the Scarecrow. "Yet I do not remember seeing the yellow hen since

"We must have left her in the room where the King's throne is," decided Dorothy, and at once she turned and

ran down the hall to the door through which they had entered. But it was fast closed and locked on the other

side, and the heavy slab of rock proved to be so thick that no sound could pass through it. So Dorothy was

The Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console the girl for the loss of her feathered friend.

"The yellow hen is well able to take care of herself," said he; "so don't worry about her, but try to get all the

"I'll prob'ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when I become an orn'ment," said Dorothy, sleepily. But she lay down

upon her couch, nevertheless, and in spite of all her worries was soon in the land of dreams.

Meantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room, where he said to the King:

"What!" cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice that it awoke Billina, who was asleep under his throne.

"Because I like to speak the truth," said the Steward. "Why didn't you enchant them all at once, instead of

allowing them to go one by one into the palace and guess which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her

"Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way," returned the King, "and it serves to keep me amused for a

"But suppose some of them happen to guess aright," persisted the Steward; "then you would lose your old

"There is no chance of their guessing aright," replied the monarch, with a laugh. "How could they know that

"There are many other colors, however, and the purple ones are scattered throughout the rooms, and are of

many different shapes and sizes. Take my word for it, Steward, they will never think of choosing the purple

Billina, squatting under the throne, had listened carefully to all this talk, and now chuckled softly to herself as

"Still, you are acting foolishly by running the chance," continued the Steward, roughly; "and it is still more

"I did that because they came from the Emerald City," replied the King; "and I had no green ornaments in my

collection until now. I think they will look quite pretty, mixed with the others. Don't you?"

"Have your own way, since you are the King," he growled. "But if you come to grief through your

carelessness, remember that I told you so. If I wore the magic belt which enables you to work all your

transformations, and gives you so much other power, I am sure I would make a much wiser and better King

"Oh, cease your tiresome chatter!" commanded the King, getting angry again. "Because you are my Chief

Steward you have an idea you can scold me as much as you please. But the very next time you become

impudent, I will send you to work in the furnaces, and get another Nome to fill your place. Now follow me to

my chamber, for I am going to bed. And see that I am wakened early tomorrow morning. I want to enjoy the

Then the voices died away, and Billina knew that the King and his Steward had left the room. She fixed up

some of her tail feathers that were not straight, and then tucked her head under her wing again and went to

In the morning Dorothy and the Lion and Tiger were given their breakfast in their rooms, and afterward

joined the King in his throne room. The Tiger complained bitterly that he was half starved, and begged to go

into the palace and become an ornament, so that he would no longer suffer the pangs of hunger.

"Oh, I had just a bite," replied the beast. "But what good is a bite, to a hungry tiger?"

"He ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter full of fried sausages, eleven loaves of bread and twentyone

"A fat baby. I want a fat baby," said the Hungry Tiger. "A nice, plump, juicy, tender, fat baby. But, of course,

if I had one, my conscience would not allow me to eat it. So I'll have to be an ornament and forget my

"Impossible!" exclaimed the King. "I'll have no clumsy beasts enter my palace, to overturn and break all my

pretty nicknacks. When the rest of your friends are transformed you can return to the upper world, and go

"As for that, we have no business, when our friends are gone," said the Lion. "So we do not care much what

Dorothy begged to be allowed to go first into the palace, but Tiktok firmly maintained that the slave should

face danger before the mistress. The Scarecrow agreed with him in that, so the Nome King opened the door

for the machine man, who tramped into the palace to meet his fate. Then his Majesty returned to his throne

and puffed his pipe so contentedly that a small cloud of smoke formed above his head.

"I'm sorry there are so few of you left. Very soon, now, my fun will be over, and then for amusement I shall

"It seems to me," said Dorothy, "that you are not so honest as you pretend to be."

"Why, you made us think it would be easy to guess what ornaments the people of Ev were changed into."

"It IS easy," declared the monarch, "if one is a good guesser. But it appears that the members of your party

"Nothing," replied the King, with a frown. "He is standing perfectly still, in the middle of a room."

"Oh, I expect he's run down," said Dorothy. "I forgot to wind him up this morning. How many guesses has he

"All that he is allowed except one," answered the King. "Suppose you go in and wind him up, and then you

"Why, you don't want to go away and leave me all alone, do you?" asked the girl. "Besides, if I go now I can

"Very well, then," said the Scarecrow, with a sigh. "Run along, little Dorothy, and may good luck go with

So Dorothy, trying to be brave in spite of her fears, passed through the doorway into the gorgeous rooms of

the palace. The stillness of the place awed her, at first, and the child drew short breaths, and pressed her hand

Yes, it was a beautiful place; but enchantments lurked in every nook and corner, and she had not yet grown

accustomed to the wizardries of these fairy countries, so different from the quiet and sensible

Slowly she passed through several rooms until she came upon Tiktok, standing motionless. It really seemed,

then, that she had found a friend in this mysterious palace, so she hastened to wind up the machine man's

"Thank you, Dorothy," were his first words. "I have now one more guess to make."

"Yes. But the Nome King has us in his power, and he has set a trap for us. I fear we are all lost." he answered.

"If Smith Tinker had given me a guessing clockwork attachment," continued Tiktok, "I might have

defied the Nome King. But my thoughts are plain and simple, and are not of much use in this case."

"Do the best you can," said Dorothy, encouragingly, "and if you fail I will watch and see what shape you are

So Tiktok touched a yellow glass vase that had daisies painted on one side, and he spoke at the same time the

In a flash the machine man had disappeared, and although the girl looked quickly in every direction, she

could not tell which of the many ornaments the room contained had a moment before been her faithful friend

So all she could do was to accept the hopeless task set her, and make her guesses and abide by the result.

"It can't hurt very much," she thought, "for I haven't heard any of them scream or cry outnot even the poor

officers. Dear me! I wonder if Uncle Henry or Aunt Em will ever know I have become an orn'ment in the

Nome King's palace, and must stand forever and ever in one place and look pretty'cept when I'm moved to

be dusted. It isn't the way I thought I'd turn out, at all; but I s'pose it can't be helped."

She walked through all the rooms once more, and examined with care all the objects they contained; but there

were so many, they bewildered her, and she decided, after all, as Ozma had done, that it could be only guess

"That's one failure, anyhow," she thought. "But how am I to know which thing is enchanted, and which is

Next she touched the image of a purple kitten that stood on the corner of a mantel, and as she pronounced the

word "Ev" the kitten disappeared, and a pretty, fairhaired boy stood beside her. At the same time a bell rang

somewhere in the distance, and as Dorothy started back, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the little one

"Saved myself from being an ornament," replied the girl, with a laugh, "and saved you from being forever a

"I know," she answered. "But there was, a minute ago. Don't you remember standing on a corner of the

"Of course not. I am a Prince of Ev, and my name is Evring," the little one announced, proudly. "But my

father, the King, sold my mother and all her children to the cruel ruler of the Nomes, and after that I

"A purple kitten can't be 'spected to remember, Evring," said Dorothy. "But now you are yourself again, and

I'm going to try to save some of your brothers and sisters, and perhaps your mother, as well. So come with

She seized the child's hand and eagerly hurried here and there, trying to decide which object to choose next.

Little Evring could not imagine what she was doing, but he trotted along beside her very willingly, for he

Dorothy's further quest proved unsuccessful; but after her first disappointment was over, the little girl was

filled with joy and thankfulness to think that after all she had been able to save one member of the royal

family of Ev, and could restore the little Prince to his sorrowing country. Now she might return to the terrible

Nome King in safety, carrying with her the prize she had won in the person of the fairhaired boy.

So she retraced her steps until she found the entrance to the palace, and as she approached, the massive doors

of rock opened of their own accord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the portals and enter the throne

Now when Dorothy had entered the palace to make her guesses and the Scarecrow was left with the Nome

King, the two sat in moody silence for several minutes. Then the monarch exclaimed, in a tone of

"The machine man. He won't need to be wound up any more, for he has now become a very neat ornament.

"Oh, she will begin to guess, pretty soon," said the King, cheerfully. "And then she will join my collection,

The good Scarecrow was much distressed by the thought that his little friend was about to suffer the fate of

Ozma and the rest of their party; but while he sat in gloomy reverie a shrill voice suddenly cried:

"What do you mean by making a noise like that?" shouted the King, angrily, as the yellow hen came from

"I've got a right to cackle, I guess," replied Billina. "I've just laid my egg."

"What! Laid an egg! In my throne room! How dare you do such a thing?" asked the King, in a voice of fury.

"I lay eggs wherever I happen to be," said the hen, ruffling her feathers and then shaking them into place.

"Butthunderation! Don't you know that eggs are poison?" roared the King, while his rockcolored eyes

"Poison! well, I declare," said Billina, indignantly. "I'll have you know all my eggs are warranted strictly

"You don't understand," retorted the little monarch, nervously. "Eggs belong only to the outside worldto

the world on the earth's surface, where you came from. Here, in my underground kingdom, they are rank

"Well, you'll have to bear this one around," declared Billina; "for I've laid it."

The King jumped three feet into the air, so anxious was he to get away from the throne.

"I'll take the egg," said the Scarecrow. "I'm making a collection of Billina's eggs. There's one in my pocket

Hearing this, the monarch hastened to put a good distance between himself and the Scarecrow, who was

"Don't take the egg unless the King will allow me to enter the palace and guess as the others have done," said

"Pshaw!" returned the King. "You're only a hen. How could you guess my enchantments?"

"I can try, I suppose," said Billina. "And, if I fail, you will have another ornament."

"A pretty ornament you'd make, wouldn't you?" growled the King. "But you shall have your way. It will

properly punish you for daring to lay an egg in my presence. After the Scarecrow is enchanted you shall

"With my claws," said the hen; "and I can speak the word 'Ev' as plainly as anyone. Also I must have the right

He knelt down and reached underneath the throne and found the egg, which he placed in another pocket of

his jacket, fearing that if both eggs were in one pocket they would knock together and get broken.

Just then a bell above the throne rang briskly, and the King gave another nervous jump.

"She has made one guess that is right, and broken one of my neatest enchantments. By ricketty, it's too bad! I

"Do I understand that she will now return to us in safety?" enquired the Scarecrow, joyfully wrinkling his

"Of course," said the King, fretfully pacing up and down the room. "I always keep my promises, no matter

how foolish they are. But I shall make an ornament of the yellow hen to replace the one I have just lost."

"Perhaps you will, and perhaps you won't," murmured Billina, calmly. "I may surprise you by guessing

"Guessing right?" snapped the King. "How could you guess right, where your betters have failed, you stupid

Billina did not care to answer this question, and a moment later the doors flew open and Dorothy entered,

The Scarecrow welcomed the girl with a close embrace, and he would have embraced Evring, too, in his

delight. But the little Prince was shy, and shrank away from the painted Scarecrow because he did not yet

But there was little time for the friends to talk, because the Scarecrow must now enter the palace. Dorothy's

success had greatly encouraged him, and they both hoped he would manage to make at least one correct

However, he proved as unfortunate as the others except Dorothy, and although he took a good deal of time to

So he became a solid gold cardreceiver, and the beautiful but terrible palace awaited it's next visitor.

"It's all over," remarked the King, with a sigh of satisfaction; "and it has been a very amusing performance,

except for the one good guess the Kansas girl made. I am richer by a great many pretty ornaments.

"Oh, I'd forgotten you," said the King. "But you needn't go if you don't wish to. I will be generous, and let

"No you won't," replied the hen. "I insist upon having my guesses, as you promised."

"Then go ahead, you absurd feathered fool!" grumbled the King, and he caused the opening that led to the

"Don't go, Billina," said Dorothy, earnestly. "It isn't easy to guess those orn'ments, and only luck saved me

from being one myself. Stay with me and we'll go back to the Land of Ev together. I'm sure this little Prince

"Don't worry, my dear," cried Billina, with a cluck that was meant for a laugh. "I may not be human, but I'm

"Oh, Billina!" said Dorothy, "you haven't been a chicken in a long time. Not since youyou've

"Perhaps that's true," answered Billina, thoughtfully. "But if a Kansas farmer sold me to some one, what

"Never mind that, Dorothy. I'm going. I won't say goodbye, because I'm coming back. Keep up your

Then Billina gave several loud "cluckclucks" that seemed to make the fat little King MORE nervous than

"I hope I've seen the last of THAT bird," declared the monarch, seating himself again in his throne and

mopping the perspiration from his forehead with his rockcolored handkerchief. "Hens are bothersome

"Billina's my friend," said Dorothy quietly. "She may not always be 'zactly polite; but she MEANS well, I'm

The yellow hen, stepping high and with an air of vast importance, walked slowly over the rich velvet carpets

of the splendid palace, examining everything she met with her sharp little eyes.

Billina had a right to feel important; for she alone shared the Nome King's secret and knew how to tell the

objects that were transformations from those that had never been alive. She was very sure that her guesses

would be correct, but before she began to make them she was curious to behold all the magnificence of this

underground palace, which was perhaps one of the most splendid and beautiful places in any fairyland.

As she went through the rooms she counted the purple ornaments; and although some were small and hidden

in queer places, Billina spied them all, and found the entire ten scattered about the various rooms. The green

ornaments she did not bother to count, for she thought she could find them all when the time came.

Finally, having made a survey of the entire palace and enjoyed its splendor, the yellow hen returned to one of

the rooms where she had noticed a large purple footstool. She placed a claw upon this and said "Ev," and at

once the footstool vanished and a lovely lady, tall and slender and most beautifully robed, stood before her.

The lady's eyes were round with astonishment for a moment, for she could not remember her transformation,

"Good morning, ma'am," said Billina, in her sharp voice. "You're looking quite well, considering your age."

"Why, my name's Bill, by rights," answered the hen, who was now perched upon the back of a chair;

"although Dorothy has put scollops on it and made it Billina. But the name doesn't matter. I've saved you

"Then I thank you for the gracious favor," said the Queen, with a graceful courtesy. "But, my childrentell

me, I beg of youwhere are my children?" and she clasped her hands in anxious entreaty.

"Don't worry," advised Billina, pecking at a tiny bug that was crawling over the chair back. "Just at present

"What mean you, O kindly stranger?" asked the Queen, striving to repress her anxiety.

"They're enchanted," said Billina, "just as you have beenall, that is, except the little fellow Dorothy picked

out. And the chances are that they have been good boys and girls for some time, because they couldn't help

"Not at all," returned the hen. "Don't let their condition make you unhappy, ma'am, because I'll soon have

them crowding 'round to bother and worry you as naturally as ever. Come with me, if you please, and I'll

She flew down from her perch and walked into the next room, the Queen following. As she passed a low

table a small green grasshopper caught her eye, and instantly Billina pounced upon it and snapped it up in her

sharp bill. For grasshoppers are a favorite food with hens, and they usually must be caught quickly, before

they can hop away. It might easily have been the end of Ozma of Oz, had she been a real grasshopper instead

of an emerald one. But Billina found the grasshopper hard and lifeless, and suspecting it was not good to eat

"I might have known better," she muttered to herself, "for where there is no grass there can be no live

A moment later she approached one of the purple ornaments, and while the Queen watched her curiously the

hen broke the Nome King's enchantment and a sweetfaced girl, whose golden hair fell in a cloud over her

"Evanna!" cried the Queen, "my own Evanna!" and she clasped the girl to her bosom and covered her face

"That's all right," said Billina, contentedly. "Am I a good guesser, Mr. Nome King? Well, I guess!"

Then she disenchanted another girl, whom the Queen addressed as Evrose, and afterwards a boy named

Evardo, who was older than his brother Evring. Indeed, the yellow hen kept the good Queen exclaiming and

embracing for some time, until five Princesses and four Princes, all looking very much alike except for the

The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and Evedna, while the Princes were Evrob,

Evington, Evardo and Evroland. Of these Evardo was the eldest and would inherit his father's throne and be

crowned King of Ev when he returned to his own country. He was a grave and quiet youth, and would

Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their proper forms, now began to select the green

ornaments which were the transformations of the people of Oz. She had little trouble in finding these, and

before long all the twentysix officers, as well as the private, were gathered around the yellow hen, joyfully

congratulating her upon their release. The thirtyseven people who were now alive in the rooms of the palace

knew very well that they owed their freedom to the cleverness of the yellow hen, and they were earnest in

"Now," said Billina, "I must find Ozma. She is sure to be here, somewhere, and of course she is green, being

For a while, however, they could discover nothing more that was green. But the Queen, who had kissed all

her nine children once more and could now find time to take an interest in what was going on, said to the hen:

"Of course it's the grasshopper!" exclaimed Billina. "I declare, I'm nearly as stupid as these brave soldiers.

So she went into the room where she had seen the grasshopper, and presently Ozma of Oz, as lovely and

dainty as ever, entered and approached the Queen of Ev, greeting her as one high born princess greets

"But where are my friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman?" asked the girl Ruler, when these

"I'll hunt them up," replied Billina. "The Scarecrow is solid gold, and so is Tiktok; but I don't exactly know

what the Tin Woodman is, because the Nome King said he had been transformed into something funny."

Ozma eagerly assisted the hen in her quest, and soon the Scarecrow and the machine man, being ornaments

of shining gold, were discovered and restored to their accustomed forms. But, search as they might, in no

place could they find a funny ornament that might be the transformation of the Tin Woodman.

"Only one thing can be done," said Ozma, at last, "and that is to return to the Nome King and oblige him to

"He must," returned Ozma, firmly. "The King has not treated us honestly, for under the mask of fairness and

good nature he entrapped us all, and we would have been forever enchanted had not our wise and clever

"His laugh is worse than another man's frown," said the private, with a shudder.

"I thought he was honest, but I was mistaken," remarked Tiktok. "My thoughts are usually correct,

but it is Smith Tinker's fault if they sometimes go wrong or do not work properly."

"Smith Tinker made a very good job of you," said Ozma, kindly. "I do not think they should be blamed if you

"Then," said Billina, in her brisk little voice, "let us all go back to the Nome King, and see what he has to say

So they started for the entrance, Ozma going first, with the Queen and her train of little Princes and

Princesses following. Then came Tiktok, and the Scarecrow with Billina perched upon his strawstuffed

As they reached the hall the doors flew open before them; but then they all stopped and stared into the domed

cavern with faces of astonishment and dismay. For the room was filled with the mailclad warriors of the

Nome King, rank after rank standing in orderly array. The electric lights upon their brows gleamed brightly,

their battleaxes were poised as if to strike down their foes; yet they remained motionless as statues, awaiting

And in the center of this terrible army sat the little King upon his throne of rock. But he neither smiled nor

laughed. Instead, his face was distorted with rage, and most dreadful to behold.

After Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down to await the success or failure of her

mission, and the Nome King occupied his throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a cheerful and

Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an enchantment was broken, began to ring, and the

When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, "Smudge and blazes!" and at a third ring he

screamed in a fury, "Hippikaloric!" which must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.

After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the King was now so violently enraged that he could

not utter a word, but hopped out of his throne and all around the room in a mad frenzy, so that he reminded

The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the bell, for it announced the fact that Billina had

transformed one more ornament into a living person. Dorothy was also amazed at Billina's success, for she

could not imagine how the yellow hen was able to guess correctly from all the bewildering number of articles

clustered in the rooms of the palace. But after she had counted ten, and the bell continued to ring, she knew

that not only the royal family of Ev, but Ozma and her followers also, were being restored to their natural

forms, and she was so delighted that the antics of the angry King only made her laugh merrily.

Perhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was before, but the girl's laughter nearly drove

him frantic, and he roared at her like a savage beast. Then, as he found that all his enchantments were likely

to be dispelled and his victims every one set free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the

At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and

into the throne room, led by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had nearly filled the

throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern below, and then stood still until they were told

Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors entered, and now she stood holding

little Prince Evring's hand while the great Lion crouched upon one side and the enormous Tiger crouched on

"Seize that girl!" shouted the King to his captain, and a group of warriors sprang forward to obey. But both

the Lion and Tiger snarled so fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth so threateningly, that the men drew

"Don't mind them!" cried the Nome King; "they cannot leap beyond the places where they now stand."

"I'll fix that," answered the King. "I'll enchant them again, so that they can't open their jaws."

He stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the Sawhorse ran up behind him and gave the fat

"Ow! Murder! Treason!" yelled the King, who had been hurled against several of his warriors and was

"I did," growled the Sawhorse, viciously. "You let Dorothy alone, or I'll kick you again."

"We'll see about that," replied the King, and at once he waved his hand toward the Sawhorse and muttered a

But in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so quickly toward the King, that the fat little

man could not get out of his way. ThumpBANG! came the wooden heels, right against his round body,

and the King flew into the air and fell upon the head of his captain, who let him drop flat upon the ground.

"Well, well!" said the King, sitting up and looking surprised. "Why didn't my magic belt work, I wonder?"

"The creature is made of wood," replied the captain. "Your magic will not work on wood, you know."

"Ah, I'd forgotten that," said the King, getting up and limping to his throne. "Very well, let the girl alone. She

The warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents, now formed their ranks again, and the

Sawhorse pranced across the room to Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.

At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and the people of Ev and the people of Oz were

disclosed to view. They paused, astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome King, seated in their

"Go 'long!" answered Billina, from the Scarecrow's shoulder. "You promised me that if I guessed correctly

"I said you might leave the palace in safety," retorted the King; "and so you may, but you cannot leave my

dominions. You are my prisoners, and I will hurl you all into my underground dungeons, where the volcanic

fires glow and the molten lava flows in every direction, and the air is hotter than blue blazes."

"That will be the end of me, all right," said the Scarecrow, sorrowfully. "One small blaze, blue or green, is

Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow's ear that made him smile and put his hands in his jacket

"Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and yourselves, unto death!"

"Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma," replied one of her generals; "but I find that I and my brother officers all

suffer from heart disease, and the slightest excitement might kill us. If we fight we may get excited. Would it

"Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that way," declared another general, twirling his moustache

thoughtfully. "If your Royal Highness desires, we will order our private to attack yonder warriors."

"Forwardmarch!" cried all the generals, with one voice. "Forwardmarch!" yelled the colonels.

The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden onslaught that he forgot to command his warriors

to fight, so that the ten men in the first row, who stood in front of the private's spear, fell over like so many

toy soldiers. The spear could not go through their steel armor, however, so the warriors scrambled to their

Then the captain brought down his battleaxe with such a strong blow that the private's spear was shattered

The Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his warriors to the front ranks, so he could see what

was going on; but as he faced Ozma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to action by the valor of the

private, drew one of Billina's eggs from his right jacket pocket and hurled it straight at the little monarch's

It struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed and scattered, as eggs will, and covered his face

"Help, help!" screamed the King, clawing with his fingers at the egg, in a struggle to remove it.

"An egg! an egg! Run for your lives!" shouted the captain of the Nomes, in a voice of horror.

And how they DID run! The warriors fairly tumbled over one another in their efforts to escape the fatal

poison of that awful egg, and those who could not rush down the winding stair fell off the balcony into the

Even while the King was still yelling for help his throne room became emptied of every one of his warriors,

and before the monarch had managed to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow threw the second

egg against his right eye, where it smashed and blinded him entirely. The King was unable to flee because he

could not see which way to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted and screamed in abject fear.

While this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and perching herself upon the Lion's back the hen

"Get his belt! Get the Nome King's jeweled belt! It unbuckles in the back. Quick, Dorothyquick!"

Dorothy obeyed. She ran at once behind the Nome King, who was still trying to free his eyes from the egg,

and in a twinkling she had unbuckled his splendid jeweled belt and carried it away with her to her place

beside the Tiger and Lion, where, because she did not know what else to do with it, she fastened it around her

Just then the Chief Steward rushed in with a sponge and a bowl of water, and began mopping away the

broken eggs from his master's face. In a few minutes, and while all the party stood looking on, the King

regained the use of his eyes, and the first thing he did was to glare wickedly upon the Scarecrow and exclaim:

"I'll make you suffer for this, you haystuffed dummy! Don't you know eggs are poison to Nomes?"

"Really," said the Scarecrow, "they DON'T seem to agree with you, although I wonder why."

"They were strictly fresh and above suspicion," said Billina. "You ought to be glad to get them."

"I'll transform you all into scorpions!" cried the King, angrily, and began waving his arms and muttering

But none of the people became scorpions, so the King stopped and looked at them in surprise.

"Why, you are not wearing your magic belt," replied the Chief Steward, after looking the King over carefully.

The Nome King clapped his hand to his waist, and his rock colored face turned white as chalk.

"Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your people back to the land of the living. Billina

has saved you from your troubles, and now we will leave this drea'ful place, and return to Ev as soon as

While the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic belt, and a great cheer went up from all her

friends, which was led by the voices of the Scarecrow and the private. But the Nome King did not join them.

He crept back onto his throne like a whipped dog, and lay there bitterly bemoaning his defeat.

"But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin Woodman," said Ozma to Dorothy, "and without

"He must be there," said Billina; "but I had no clue to guide me in guessing the Tin Woodman, so I must have

"We will go back into the rooms," said Dorothy. "This magic belt, I am sure, will help us to find our dear old

So she reentered the palace, the doors of which still stood open, and everyone followed her except the Nome

King, the Queen of Ev and Prince Evring. The mother had taken the little Prince in her lap and was fondling

But the others went with Dorothy, and when she came to the middle of the first room the girl waved her hand,

as she had seen the King do, and commanded the Tin Woodman, whatever form he might then have, to

resume his proper shape. No result followed this attempt, so Dorothy went into another room and repeated it,

and so through all the rooms of the palace. Yet the Tin Woodman did not appear to them, nor could they

Sadly they returned to the throne room, where the King, seeing that they had met with failure, jeered at

"You do not know how to use my belt, so it is of no use to you. Give it back to me and I will let you go

freeyou and all the people who came with you. As for the royal family of Ev, they are my slaves, and shall

"Easily enough," answered the girl. "All we need to do is to walk out the way that we came in."

"Oh, that's all, is it?" sneered the King. "Well, where is the passage through which you entered this room?"

They all looked around, but could not discover the place, for it had long since been closed. Dorothy, however,

would not be dismayed. She waved her hand toward the seemingly solid wall of the cavern and said:

Instantly the order was obeyed; the opening appeared and the passage lay plainly before them.

"Why, then, if the belt obeys you, were we unable to discover the Tin Woodman?" asked Ozma.

"See here, girl," proposed the King, eagerly; "give me the belt, and I will tell you what shape the Tin

"Don't you do it! If the Nome King gets the belt again he will make every one of us prisoners, for we will be

in his power. Only by keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to leave this place in safety."

"I think that is true," said the Scarecrow. "But I have another idea, due to my excellent brains. Let Dorothy

transform the King into a gooseegg unless he agrees to go into the palace and bring out to us the ornament

"Well, a gooseegg you will be unless you go and fetch us the ornament we want," declared Billina, with a

"You can see for yourself that Dorothy is able to use the magic belt all right," added the Scarecrow.

The Nome King thought it over and finally consented, for he did not want to be a gooseegg. So he went into

the palace to get the ornament which was the transformation of the Tin Woodman, and they all awaited his

return with considerable impatience, for they were anxious to leave this underground cavern and see the

sunshine once more. But when the Nome King came back he brought nothing with him except a puzzled and

"I'm very sure," answered the King, trembling, "for I know just what I transformed him into, and exactly

where he stood. But he is not there, and please don't change me into a gooseegg, because I've done the best I

"There is no use punishing the Nome King any more, and I'm 'fraid we'll have to go away without our friend."

"If he is not here, we cannot rescue him," agreed the Scarecrow, sadly. "Poor Nick! I wonder what has

"And he owed me six weeks back pay!" said one of the generals, wiping the tears from his eyes with his

Very sorrowfully they determined to return to the upper world without their former companion, and so Ozma

The army went first, and then the royal family of Ev, and afterward came Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, the

They left the Nome King scowling at them from his throne, and had no thought of danger until Ozma

chanced to look back and saw a large number of the warriors following them in full chase, with their swords

and spears and axes raised to strike down the fugitives as soon as they drew near enough.

Evidently the Nome King had made this last attempt to prevent their escaping him; but it did him no good,

for when Dorothy saw the danger they were in she stopped and waved her hand and whispered a command to

Instantly the foremost warriors became eggs, which rolled upon the floor of the cavern in such numbers that

those behind could not advance without stepping upon them. But, when they saw the eggs, all desire to

advance departed from the warriors, and they turned and fled madly into the cavern, and refused to go back

Our friends had no further trouble in reaching the end of the passage, and soon were standing in the outer air

upon the gloomy path between the two high mountains. But the way to Ev lay plainly before them, and they

fervently hoped that they had seen the last of the Nome King and of his dreadful palace.

The cavalcade was led by Ozma, mounted on the Cowardly Lion, and the Queen of Ev, who rode upon the

back of the Tiger. The children of the Queen walked behind her, hand in hand. Dorothy rode the Sawhorse,

while the Scarecrow walked and commanded the army in the absence of the Tin Woodman.

Presently the way began to lighten and more of the sunshine to come in between the two mountains. And

before long they heard the "thump! thump! thump!" of the giant's hammer upon the road.

"How may we pass the monstrous man of iron?" asked the Queen, anxious for the safety of her children. But

The giant paused, with his hammer held motionless in the air, thus allowing the entire party to pass between

If there were any shifting, rockcolored 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 to

On the other side they found Ozma's golden chariot, standing as they had left it. Soon the Lion and the Tiger

were harnessed to the beautiful chariot, in which was enough room for Ozma and the Queen and six of the

Little Evring preferred to ride with Dorothy upon the Sawhorse, which had a long back. The Prince had

recovered from his shyness and had become very fond of the girl who had rescued him, so they were fast

friends and chatted pleasantly together as they rode along. Billina was also perched upon the head of the

wooden steed, which seemed not to mind the added weight in the least, and the boy was full of wonder that a

When they came to the gulf, Ozma's magic carpet carried them all over in safety; and now they began to pass

the trees, in which birds were singing; and the breeze that was wafted to them from the farms of Ev was spicy

with flowers and newmown hay; and the sunshine fell full upon them, to warm them and drive away from

"I would be quite content," said the Scarecrow to Tiktok, "were only the Tin Woodman with us. But it breaks

"He was a fine fellow," replied Tiktok, "although his material was not very durable."

"Oh, tin is an excellent material," the Scarecrow hastened to say; "and if anything ever happened to poor Nick

Chopper he was always easily soldered. Besides, he did not have to be wound up, and was not liable to get

"I sometimes wish," said Tiktok, "that I was stuffed with straw, as you are. It is hard to be made of

"I have no reason to complain of my lot," replied the Scarecrow. "A little fresh straw, now and then, makes

me as good as new. But I can never be the polished gentleman that my poor departed friend, the Tin

You may be sure the royal children of Ev and their Queen mother were delighted at seeing again their

beloved country; and when the towers of the palace of Ev came into view they could not forbear cheering at

the sight. Little Evring, riding in front of Dorothy, was so overjoyed that he took a curious tin whistle from

his pocket and blew a shrill blast that made the Sawhorse leap and prance in sudden alarm.

"What is that?" asked Billina, who had been obliged to flutter her wings in order to keep her seat upon the

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 toy with her bright eyes.

"Why, I picked it up in the Nome King's palace, while Dorothy was making her guesses, and I put it in my

Billina laughed; or at least she made the peculiar cackle that served her for a laugh.

"No wonder I couldn't find the Tin Woodman," she said; "and no wonder the magic belt didn't make him

"Well, then, watch me," returned the hen, and reaching out a claw she touched the whistle and said "Ev."

"Good afternoon," said the Tin Woodman, taking off his funnel cap and bowing to Dorothy and the Prince. "I

think I must have been asleep for the first time since I was made of tin, for I do not remember our leaving the

"You have been enchanted," answered the girl, throwing an arm around her old friend and hugging him tight

"Hush!" cautioned Billina. "The whistle is lost, but you may have another when you get home."

The Scarecrow had fairly thrown himself upon the bosom of his old comrade, so surprised and delighted was

he to see him again, and Tiktok squeezed the Tin Woodman's hand so earnestly that he dented some of his

fingers. Then they had to make way for Ozma to welcome the tin man, and the army caught sight of him and

For the Tin Woodman was a great favorite with all who knew him, and his sudden recovery after they had

Before long the cavalcade arrived at the royal palace, where a great crowd of people had gathered to welcome

their Queen and her ten children. There was much shouting and cheering, and the people threw flowers in

They found the Princess Langwidere in her mirrored chamber, where she was admiring one of her

handsomest headsone with rich chestnut hair, dreamy walnut eyes and a shapely hickorynut nose. She was

very glad to be relieved of her duties to the people of Ev, and the Queen graciously permitted her to retain her

Then the Queen took her eldest son out upon a balcony that overlooked the crowd of subjects gathered below,

"Here is your future ruler, King Evardo Fifteenth. He is fifteen years of age, has fifteen silver buckles on his

The people shouted their approval fifteen times, and even the Wheelers, some of whom were present, loudly

So the Queen placed a big crown of gold, set with rubies, upon Evardo's head, and threw an ermine robe over

his shoulders, and proclaimed him King; and he bowed gratefully to all his subjects and then went away to

Ozma of Oz and her people, as well as Dorothy, Tiktok and Billina, were splendidly entertained by the Queen

mother, who owed all her happiness to their kind offices; and that evening the yellow hen was publicly

presented with a beautiful necklace of pearls and sapphires, as a token of esteem from the new King.

Dorothy decided to accept Ozma's invitation to return with her to the Land of Oz. There was no greater

chance of her getting home from Ev than from Oz, and the little girl was anxious to see once more the

country where she had encountered such wonderful adventures. By this time Uncle Henry would have

reached Australia in his ship, and had probably given her up for lost; so he couldn't worry any more than he

They bade goodbye to the people of Ev, and the King promised Ozma that he would ever be grateful to her

And then they approached the edge of the dangerous desert, and Ozma threw down the magic carpet, which

at once unrolled far enough for all of them to walk upon it without being crowded.

Tiktok, claiming to be Dorothy's faithful follower because he belonged to her, had been permitted to join the

party, and before they started the girl wound up his machinery as far as possible, and the copper man stepped

Ozma also invited Billina to visit the Land of Oz, and the yellow hen was glad enough to go where new

They began the trip across the desert early in the morning, and as they stopped only long enough for Billina

to lay her daily egg, before sunset they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of the beautiful Land of Oz.

They entered it in the Munchkin territory, and the King of the Munchkins met them at the border and

welcomed Ozma with great respect, being very pleased by her safe return. For Ozma of Oz ruled the King of

the Munchkins, the King of the Winkies, the King of the Quadlings and the King of the Gillikins just as those

kings ruled their own people; and this supreme ruler of the Land of Oz lived in a great town of her own,

called the Emerald City, which was in the exact center of the four kingdoms of the Land of Oz.

The Munchkin king entertained them at his palace that night, and in the morning they set out for the Emerald

City, travelling over a road of yellow brick that led straight to the jewelstudded gates. Everywhere the

people turned out to greet their beloved Ozma, and to hail joyfully the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the

Cowardly Lion, who were popular favorites. Dorothy, too, remembered some of the people, who had

befriended her on the occasion of her first visit to Oz, and they were well pleased to see the little Kansas girl

At one place, where they stopped to refresh themselves, Ozma accepted a bowl of milk from the hands of a

"Yes, your Highness," was the reply, as Jinjur dropped a low curtsy. And Dorothy looked wonderingly at this

lively appearing person, who had once assembled an army of women and driven the Scarecrow from the

throne of the Emerald City, and even fought a battle with the powerful army of Glinda the Sorceress.

"I've married a man who owns nine cows," said Jinjur to Ozma, "and now I am happy and contented and

"He is in the house, nursing a black eye," replied Jinjur, calmly. "The foolish man would insist upon milking

the red cow when I wanted him to milk the white one; but he will know better next time, I am sure."

Then the party moved on again, and after crossing a broad river on a ferry and passing many fine farm houses

that were dome shaped and painted a pretty green color, they came in sight of a large building that was

"That is the College of Art and Athletic Perfection," replied Ozma. "I had it built quite recently, and the

WoggleBug is it's president. It keeps him busy, and the young men who attend the college are no worse off

than they were before. You see, in this country are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the

And now they came in sight of the Emerald City, and the people flocked out to greet their lovely ruler. There

were several bands and many officers and officials of the realm, and a crowd of citizens in their holiday

Thus the beautiful Ozma was escorted by a brilliant procession to her royal city, and so great was the

cheering that she was obliged to constantly bow to the right and left to acknowledge the greetings of her

That evening there was a grand reception in the royal palace, attended by the most important persons of Oz,

and Jack Pumpkinhead, who was a little overripe but still active, read an address congratulating Ozma of Oz

upon the success of her generous mission to rescue the royal family of a neighboring kingdom.

Then magnificent gold medals set with precious stones were presented to each of the twentysix officers; and

the Tin Woodman was given a new axe studded with diamonds; and the Scarecrow received a silver jar of

complexion powder. Dorothy was presented with a pretty coronet and made a Princess of Oz, and Tiktok

received two bracelets set with eight rows of very clear and sparkling emeralds.

Afterward they sat down to a splendid feast, and Ozma put Dorothy at her right and Billina at her left, where

the hen sat upon a golden roost and ate from a jeweled platter. Then were placed the Scarecrow, the Tin

Woodman and Tiktok, with baskets of lovely flowers before them, because they did not require food. The

twentysix officers were at the lower end of the table, and the Lion and the Tiger also had seats, and were

The wealthiest and most important citizens of the Emerald City were proud to wait upon these famous

adventurers, and they were assisted by a sprightly little maid named Jellia Jamb, whom the Scarecrow

"Oh, he is sweeping out the barracks," replied one of the generals, who was busy eating a leg of a turkey.

"But I have ordered him a dish of bread and molasses to eat when his work is done."

The private now entered, saluting his officers and the royal Ozma very respectfully.

"Then, Omby Amby," said she, "I promote you to be Captain General of all the armies of my kingdom, and

"It is very expensive to hold so many offices," said the private, hesitating. "I have no money with which to

Then the private was given a seat at the table, where the other officers welcomed him cordially, and the

"But that is not the worst of it," declared the Tiger, mournfully. "Somewhere or somehow, I've actually lost

Dorothy passed several very happy weeks in the Land of Oz as the guest of the royal Ozma, who delighted to

please and interest the little Kansas girl. Many new acquaintances were formed and many old ones renewed,

One day, however, as she sat in Ozma's private room, she noticed hanging upon the wall a picture which

constantly changed in appearance, at one time showing a meadow and at another time a forest, a lake or a

"How curious!" she exclaimed, after watching the shifting scenes for a few moments.

"Yes," said Ozma, "that is really a wonderful invention in magic. If I wish to see any part of the world or any

Instantly the well remembered farmhouse appeared in the picture, and Aunt Em could be seen quite plainly.

She was engaged in washing dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented. The hired

men and the teams were in the harvest fields behind the house, and the corn and wheat seemed to the child to

be in prime condition. On the side porch Dorothy's pet dog, Toto, was lying fast asleep in the sun, and to her

surprise old Speckles was running around with a brood of twelve new chickens trailing after her.

"Everything seems all right at home," said Dorothy, with a sigh of relief. "Now I wonder what Uncle Henry is

The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in a pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was

seated in an easy chair, solemnly smoking his briar pipe. He looked sad and lonely, and his hair was now

"Oh!" cried Dorothy, in an anxious voice, "I'm sure Uncle Henry isn't getting any better, and it's because he is

"I don't know," replied Dorothy; "but let us go to Glinda the Good. I'm sure she will help me, and advise me

Ozma readily agreed to this plan and caused the Sawhorse to be harnessed to a pretty green and pink phaeton,

Glinda received them graciously, and listened to Dorothy's story with attention.

"I have the magic belt, you know," said the little girl. "If I buckled it around my waist and commanded it to

"And then," continued Dorothy, "if I ever wanted to come back here again, the belt would bring me."

"In that you are wrong," said the sorceress. "The belt has magical powers only while it is in some fairy

country, such as the Land of Oz, or the Land of Ev. Indeed, my little friend, were you to wear it and wish

yourself in Australia, with your uncle, the wish would doubtless be fulfilled, because it was made in

fairyland. But you would not find the magic belt around you when you arrived at your destination."

"It would be lost, as were your silver shoes when you visited Oz before, and no one would ever see it again. It

"Then," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "I will give the magic belt to Ozma, for she can use it in her

own country. And she can wish me transported to Uncle Henry without losing the belt."

So they rode back to the Emerald City, and on the way it was arranged that every Saturday morning Ozma

would look at Dorothy in her magic picture, wherever the little girl might chance to be. And, if she saw

Dorothy make a certain signal, then Ozma would know that the little Kansas girl wanted to revisit the Land of

Oz, and by means of the Nome King's magic belt would wish that she might instantly return.

This having been agreed upon, Dorothy bade goodbye to all her friends. Tiktok wanted to go to Australia;

too, but Dorothy knew that the machine man would never do for a servant in a civilized country, and the

chances were that his machinery wouldn't work at all. So she left him in Ozma's care.

Billina, on the contrary, preferred the Land of Oz to any other country, and refused to accompany Dorothy.

"The bugs and ants that I find here are the finest flavored in the world," declared the yellow hen, "and there

are plenty of them. So here I shall end my days; and I must say, Dorothy, my dear, that you are very foolish

"Uncle Henry needs me," said Dorothy, simply; and every one except Billina thought it was right that she

All Dorothy's friends of the Land of Ozboth old and newgathered in a group in front of the palace to bid

her a sorrowful goodbye and to wish her long life and happiness. After much hand shaking, Dorothy kissed

"Now, dear Princess, when I wave my handkerchief, please wish me with Uncle Henry. I'm aw'fly sorry to

leave youand the Scarecrowand the Tin Woodmanand the Cowardly Lionand Tiktokandand

Then the little girl stood on one of the big emeralds which decorated the courtyard, and after looking once

"No," said Dorothy, "I wasn't drowned at all. And I've come to nurse you and take care of you, Uncle Henry,