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all, once I am myself in the Land of Oz." |
"How?" they asked. |
"By using the Magic Belt. All I need do is to wish you with me, and |
there you'll be--safe in the royal palace!" |
"Good!" cried Zeb. |
"I built that palace, and the Emerald City, too," remarked the Wizard, |
in a thoughtful tone, "and I'd like to see them again, for I was very |
happy among the Munchkins and Winkies and Quadlings and Gillikins." |
"Who are they?" asked the boy. |
"The four nations that inhabit the Land of Oz," was the reply. "I wonder |
if they would treat me nicely if I went there again." |
"Of course they would!" declared Dorothy. "They are still proud of their |
former Wizard, and often speak of you kindly." |
"Do you happen to know whatever became of the Tin Woodman and the |
Scarecrow?" he enquired. |
"They live in Oz yet," said the girl, "and are very important people." |
"And the Cowardly Lion?" |
"Oh, he lives there too, with his friend the Hungry Tiger; and Billina |
is there, because she liked the place better than Kansas, and wouldn't |
go with me to Australia." |
"I'm afraid I don't know the Hungry Tiger and Billina," said the Wizard, |
shaking his head. "Is Billina a girl?" |
"No; she's a yellow hen, and a great friend of mine. You're sure to like |
Billina, when you know her," asserted Dorothy. |
"Your friends sound like a menagerie," remarked Zeb, uneasily. |
"Couldn't you wish me in some safer place than Oz." |
"Don't worry," replied the girl. "You'll just love the folks in Oz, when |
you get acquainted. What time is it, Mr. Wizard?" |
The little man looked at his watch--a big silver one that he carried in |
his vest pocket. |
"Half-past three," he said. |
"Then we must wait for half an hour," she continued; "but it won't take |
long, after that, to carry us all to the Emerald City." |
They sat silently thinking for a time. Then Jim suddenly asked: |
"Are there any horses in Oz?" |
"Only one," replied Dorothy, "and he's a sawhorse." |
"A what?" |
"A sawhorse. Princess Ozma once brought him to life with a witch-powder, |
when she was a boy." |
"Was Ozma once a boy?" asked Zeb, wonderingly. |
"Yes; a wicked witch enchanted her, so she could not rule her kingdom. |
But she's a girl now, and the sweetest, loveliest girl in all the |
world." |
"A sawhorse is a thing they saw boards on," remarked Jim, with a sniff. |
"It is when it's not alive," acknowledged the girl. "But this sawhorse |
can trot as fast as you can, Jim; and he's very wise, too." |
"Pah! I'll race the miserable wooden donkey any day in the week!" cried |
the cab-horse. |
Dorothy did not reply to that. She felt that Jim would know more about |
the Saw-Horse later on. |
The time dragged wearily enough to the eager watchers, but finally the |
Wizard announced that four o'clock had arrived, and Dorothy caught up |
the kitten and began to make the signal that had been agreed upon to the |
far-away, invisible Ozma. |
"Nothing seems to happen," said Zeb, doubtfully. |
"Oh, we must give Ozma time to put on the Magic Belt," replied the girl. |
She had scarcely spoken the words when she suddenly disappeared from the |
cave, and with her went the kitten. There had been no sound of any kind |
and no warning. One moment Dorothy sat beside them with the kitten in |
her lap, and a moment later the horse, the piglets, the Wizard and the |
boy were all that remained in the underground prison. |
[Illustration: DOROTHY MADE THE SIGNAL.] |
"I believe we will soon follow her," announced the Wizard, in a tone of |
great relief; "for I know something about the magic of the fairyland |
that is called the Land of Oz. Let us be ready, for we may be sent for |
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