AbdulHannanMujawar/ch_development · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 83
"Well, I declare!" suddenly exclaimed the little Wizard. "What in the
world is this?"

They turned around and found a man standing on the floor in the center
of the cave, who bowed very politely when he saw he had attracted their
attention. He was a very old man, bent nearly double; but the queerest
thing about him was his white hair and beard. These were so long that
they reached to his feet, and both the hair and the beard were
carefully plaited into many braids, and the end of each braid fastened
with a bow of colored ribbon.

"Where did you come from?" asked Dorothy, wonderingly.

"No place at all," answered the man with the braids; "that is, not
recently. Once I lived on top the earth, but for many years I have had
my factory in this spot--half way up Pyramid Mountain."

"Are we only half way up?" enquired the boy, in a discouraged tone.

"I believe so, my lad," replied the braided man. "But as I have never
been in either direction, down or up, since I arrived, I cannot be
positive whether it is exactly half way or not."

"Have you a factory in this place?" asked the Wizard, who had been
examining the strange personage carefully.

"To be sure," said the other. "I am a great inventor, you must know, and
I manufacture my products in this lonely spot."

"What are your products?" enquired the Wizard.

"Well, I make Assorted Flutters for flags and bunting, and a superior
grade of Rustles for ladies' silk gowns."

"I thought so," said the Wizard, with a sigh. "May we examine some of
these articles?"

[Illustration: THE CLOUD FAIRIES.]

[Illustration: THE BRAIDED MAN.]

"Yes, indeed; come into my shop, please," and the braided man turned and
led the way into a smaller cave, where he evidently lived. Here, on a
broad shelf, were several card-board boxes of various sizes, each tied
with cotton cord.

"This," said the man, taking up a box and handling it gently, "contains
twelve dozen rustles--enough to last any lady a year. Will you buy it,
my dear?" he asked, addressing Dorothy.

"My gown isn't silk," she said, smiling.

"Never mind. When you open the box the rustles will escape, whether you
are wearing a silk dress or not," said the man, seriously. Then he
picked up another box. "In this," he continued, "are many assorted
flutters. They are invaluable to make flags flutter on a still day, when
there is no wind. You, sir," turning to the Wizard, "ought to have this
assortment. Once you have tried my goods I am sure you will never be
without them."

"I have no money with me," said the Wizard, evasively.

"I do not want money," returned the braided man, "for I could not spend
it in this deserted place if I had it. But I would like very much a blue
hair-ribbon. You will notice my braids are tied with yellow, pink,
brown, red, green, white and black; but I have no blue ribbons."

"I'll get you one!" cried Dorothy, who was sorry for the poor man; so
she ran back to the buggy and took from her suit-case a pretty blue
ribbon. It did her good to see how the braided man's eyes sparkled when
he received this treasure.

"You have made me very, very happy, my dear!" he exclaimed; and then he
insisted on the Wizard taking the box of flutters and the little girl
accepting the box of rustles.

"You may need them, some time," he said, "and there is really no use in
my manufacturing these things unless somebody uses them."

"Why did you leave the surface of the earth?" enquired the Wizard.

"I could not help it. It is a sad story, but if you will try to restrain
your tears I will tell you about it. On earth I was a manufacturer of
Imported Holes for American Swiss Cheese, and I will acknowledge that I
supplied a superior article, which was in great demand. Also I made
pores for porous plasters and high-grade holes for doughnuts and
buttons. Finally I invented a new Adjustable Post-hole, which I thought
would make my fortune. I manufactured a large quantity of these
post-holes, and having no room in which to store them I set them all end
to end and put the top one in the ground. That made an extraordinary
long hole, as you may imagine, and reached far down into the earth; and,
as I leaned over it to try to see to the bottom, I lost my balance and
tumbled in. Unfortunately, the hole led directly into the vast space you
see outside this mountain; but I managed to catch a point of rock that
projected from this cavern, and so saved myself from tumbling headlong
into the black waves beneath, where the tongues of flame that dart out
would certainly have consumed me. Here, then, I made my home; and
although it is a lonely place I amuse myself making rustles and
flutters, and so get along very nicely."

"Well, I declare!" suddenly exclaimed the little Wizard. "What in the

world is this?"

They turned around and found a man standing on the floor in the center

of the cave, who bowed very politely when he saw he had attracted their

attention. He was a very old man, bent nearly double; but the queerest

thing about him was his white hair and beard. These were so long that

they reached to his feet, and both the hair and the beard were

carefully plaited into many braids, and the end of each braid fastened

with a bow of colored ribbon.

"Where did you come from?" asked Dorothy, wonderingly.

"No place at all," answered the man with the braids; "that is, not

recently. Once I lived on top the earth, but for many years I have had

my factory in this spot--half way up Pyramid Mountain."

"Are we only half way up?" enquired the boy, in a discouraged tone.

"I believe so, my lad," replied the braided man. "But as I have never

been in either direction, down or up, since I arrived, I cannot be

positive whether it is exactly half way or not."

"Have you a factory in this place?" asked the Wizard, who had been

examining the strange personage carefully.

"To be sure," said the other. "I am a great inventor, you must know, and

I manufacture my products in this lonely spot."

"What are your products?" enquired the Wizard.

"Well, I make Assorted Flutters for flags and bunting, and a superior

grade of Rustles for ladies' silk gowns."

"I thought so," said the Wizard, with a sigh. "May we examine some of

these articles?"

[Illustration: THE CLOUD FAIRIES.]

[Illustration: THE BRAIDED MAN.]

"Yes, indeed; come into my shop, please," and the braided man turned and

led the way into a smaller cave, where he evidently lived. Here, on a

broad shelf, were several card-board boxes of various sizes, each tied

with cotton cord.

"This," said the man, taking up a box and handling it gently, "contains

twelve dozen rustles--enough to last any lady a year. Will you buy it,

my dear?" he asked, addressing Dorothy.

"My gown isn't silk," she said, smiling.

"Never mind. When you open the box the rustles will escape, whether you

are wearing a silk dress or not," said the man, seriously. Then he

picked up another box. "In this," he continued, "are many assorted

flutters. They are invaluable to make flags flutter on a still day, when

there is no wind. You, sir," turning to the Wizard, "ought to have this

assortment. Once you have tried my goods I am sure you will never be

without them."

"I have no money with me," said the Wizard, evasively.

"I do not want money," returned the braided man, "for I could not spend

it in this deserted place if I had it. But I would like very much a blue

hair-ribbon. You will notice my braids are tied with yellow, pink,

brown, red, green, white and black; but I have no blue ribbons."

"I'll get you one!" cried Dorothy, who was sorry for the poor man; so

she ran back to the buggy and took from her suit-case a pretty blue

ribbon. It did her good to see how the braided man's eyes sparkled when

he received this treasure.

"You have made me very, very happy, my dear!" he exclaimed; and then he

insisted on the Wizard taking the box of flutters and the little girl

accepting the box of rustles.

"You may need them, some time," he said, "and there is really no use in

my manufacturing these things unless somebody uses them."

"Why did you leave the surface of the earth?" enquired the Wizard.

"I could not help it. It is a sad story, but if you will try to restrain

your tears I will tell you about it. On earth I was a manufacturer of

Imported Holes for American Swiss Cheese, and I will acknowledge that I

supplied a superior article, which was in great demand. Also I made

pores for porous plasters and high-grade holes for doughnuts and

buttons. Finally I invented a new Adjustable Post-hole, which I thought

would make my fortune. I manufactured a large quantity of these

post-holes, and having no room in which to store them I set them all end

to end and put the top one in the ground. That made an extraordinary

long hole, as you may imagine, and reached far down into the earth; and,

as I leaned over it to try to see to the bottom, I lost my balance and

tumbled in. Unfortunately, the hole led directly into the vast space you

see outside this mountain; but I managed to catch a point of rock that

projected from this cavern, and so saved myself from tumbling headlong

into the black waves beneath, where the tongues of flame that dart out

would certainly have consumed me. Here, then, I made my home; and

although it is a lonely place I amuse myself making rustles and

flutters, and so get along very nicely."