Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The collected and complete "Queer Visitors from the
Marvelous Land of Oz"
In which is related the strange and wonderful adventures of
the Scarecrow and his companions the Tin Woodman, Jack
Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, Professor H.M. Woggle-bug T.E., and
the flying Gump during a visit to the marvelous fairyland known
as the United States of America
BY L. FRANK BAUM
Introduction
Newspaper reports of the Queer Visitors
Proclamation Extraordinary
How the Adventurers Lost and Found Themselves
How the Tin Woodman Escaped the Magic Flood
How the Strangers Found Themselves Between the Auto and the
Deep Sea
How Uncle Eli Laughed Too Soon
How the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman Met Some Old Friends
How the Sawhorse Saved Dorothy's Life
How the Ozites Met a Beauty Doctor
How the Adventurers Encountered an Unknown Beast
Jack Pumpkinhead and the Scarecrow Win a Race and Incite a
Riot; the Wogglebug Restores Harmony
The Scarecrow Becomes a Man of Means in Spite of the Girls at
a Church Fair
How the Wogglebug Proved His Knowledge of Chemistry
How the Wogglebug Got a Thanksgiving Dinner
The Scarecrow Tells a Fairy Tale to Children and Hears an
Equally Marvelous True Story
Jack Pumpkinhead Pawns the Sawhorse
Dorothy Spends an Evening with Her Old Friends and is
Entertained with Wonderful Exhibitions
How the Wogglebug and His Friends Visited Santa Claus
How the Wogglebug Found a Lost Child and Gave a Lesson in
Heraldry
The Scarecrow Presents a Magic Automobile to a Little Girl
How the Tin Woodman Became a Fire Hero
The Two Wishes
Tim Nichols and the Cat
Mr. Wimble's Wooden Leg
A Magnetic Personality
Nan's Magic Button
Eliza and the Lozenges
The Wogglebug Encourages Charity
What Did The Woggle-Bug Say? song lyrics
INTRODUCTION
L. Frank Baum’s Queer
Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz
is a curious piece of Oziana. Queer Visitors
was a series of comic strips that advertised The Marvelous Land
of Oz from 1904 to 1905. The strips were actually full-size
newspaper pages, with a story by Baum, and illustrations by Walt
McDougall, which would include speech balloons.
The
Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, and the
Woggle-Bug visit America in the Gump, arriving at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, where they get into mischief. The visitors
take time heading from St. Louis to somewhere in Kansas, where the
Scarecrow and Tin Woodman are reunited with Dorothy and Toto.
As
they visit with Dorothy and travel across the United States even
more, more mischief ensues as the visitors attempt to do good
deeds, or just visit.
Baum pays special attention to the
Woggle-Bug's adventures. Many of the early newspaper stories
featured the "What Did The Woggle-Bug Say?" contest, in
which the Woggle-Bug solved a question, or showed off his
knowledge. Later, the Woggle-Bug is instrumental in resolving
plots, or carries them alone. The answers to the “What Did
The Woggle-Bug Say?” questions have been edited into the text
in this edition.
The Woggle-Bug Book follows up Queer
Visitors, giving the Woggle-Bug a misadventure that reads like
a "highly magnified" story from the series, and is also
considered Baum's worst story. The visit's conclusion was never
properly revealed. The Oz characters are next seen back in
fairyland and never speak of their adventures again.
What I
find most interesting about these stories is that they turn the
conventional idea of Oz on its head: usually, someone from America
goes to visit Oz. Now we have people from Oz visiting America.
The
stories, Queer Visitors and The Woggle-Bug Book, have
been questioned when it comes to continuity with the other Oz
books. While the proper Oz books seem to say that magic doesn't
work outside of Oz, Jack, the Sawhorse, and the Gump are alive
outside of Oz, the Woggle-Bug maintains his immense size, and only
here, the visitors practice magic. One could argue that they are
actually ambassadors, so technically, wherever they are is counted
as part of Oz, and Glinda gave them magical charms to use to keep
them out of trouble, or to help people. However, though these
explanations are reasonable, they require validation, and the
stories offer none.
In the Oz books, Baum indicates that Oz
is on a hidden continent on Earth somewhere. Promotional material
for the series told of the visitors visiting other planets,
however, Baum may not have written these. They are, however,
included just before the stories begin in this edition.
Another
is that, given that her old friends visit, it is odd that Aunt Em
doesn't believe Dorothy's tales of Oz, which is a factor that comes
into play in The Emerald City of Oz. Once again, one could
argue that Baum, not quite catching all the details, added Aunt
Em's skepticism, given that Dorothy relayed the Oz stories to him,
in-universe.
August 18, 1904: PLANET IN A PANIC OVER QUEER
VISITOR
Big As a Horse and Beats the Air With Fans.
ASTRONOMERS PUZZLED
Special wireless telegraph to The North American from an unknown
planet in the vicinity of Argo.
(Copyrighted, 1904, on all planets throughout the universe.)
August 17.
Professor Swoggleman, the great astronomer of our planet, states
that a body moving at a terrible rate of speed passed this planet
last night at 11:34.
The body had a most unusual appearance. It was as large as a
coraman; or, as it is termed on the earth, a horse. Around the body
there was a strange vibration or motion of air. This motion of the
air seemed to be affected as if by the operating of large fans.
The commotion seemed to be entirely beneath the body, and
Professor Swoggleman thinks that the air was used to hold it up and
give it motion.
There was no light connected with the body. Professor Swoggleman
thinks that it could not have been a meteor, unless it was just
beginning its journey and had not attained the general
characteristics of an aerolite.
The body passed on the west side of this planet, and Professor
Swoggleman was able to see it by the aid of his trans-reflector. The
trans-reflector is a new invention of the professor’s by which
he can see on any side of our planets.
A wireless dispatch has been sent to Professor Nindon, on the
west side of the planet, to watch for the body. He wired back that
he had already located it, and would send information about his
discoveries.
August 19, 1904: FELL IN FRIGHT AT SIGHT OF
MONSTER
Inhabitants of Argo Stricken by Queer
Apparition.
IS AS BIG AS A CAMEL.
Wireless special dispatch to The North American from the unknown
planet in the vicinity of Argo.
(Copyrighted, 1904, on all planets.)
August 18.
The following dispatch was received from Professor Nindon in
relation to the moving body which Professor Swoggleman discovered on
the other side of our planet:
"Professor Swoggleman.
"Dear Sir: The body you discovered passed on the west side
of this planet today. It passed very near, so that it was
unnecessary to use the telescope. Never have I seen its like in
astronomy.
"The body was as large as a smokdaugh; or, in the words of
the earth, a camel. It moved by flopping large, fan-like things
attached to its sides.
"Upon its back was a cluster of curious-looking objects,
tied together with rope. These curious things moved and looked at us
as if they were alive and understood their surroundings.
"The entire population of all the cities on this side was
terribly frightened at the monster. A large number of people
deserted their homes and fled to the mountains. Others rushed to the
temples, while many fell prostrate on the streets. It was a common
opinion that the monster had been sent to chastise the people for
their wickedness.
"For nearly three hours the object was in full view of the
entire populace. At the end of that time it disappeared in the sky.
"I am of the opinion that the monster might be one of those
things which on the Earth are known as birds. Of course we have no
birds on this planet; and I would not want my name used as saying it
was a bird."
August 20, 1904: 20,000 SOLDIERS LAY DOWN A
KING’S ARMS
Hoodman’s Guards Flee Because of Fear of
Strange Monster.
PEOPLE QUIT THE CITY
Special wireless dispatch to The North American from the North
Star. (Copyrighted on all planets.) August 19.
Over 20,000 soldiers deserted from the army of King Hoodman
today. The army rebelled at an order of the King to attack a foreign
monster which came through the air and alighted on Mount Haldon.
The monster circled about the city of Tarnia and frightened the
people so that thousands fled from every gate. Even the soldiers
were frightened, and they would not fire upon the monster unless the
entire army was called out.
The King accordingly called out the army of 30,000 men, and the
army fired upon the monster as it circled in the air. It is not
thought to have been hit, but it sped away to Haldon Mountain, where
it alighted on the top.
The King ordered the army to ascend the hill and attack the
monster. The men started, but were overcome by fear, and over 20,000
deserted.
After some time, the King got 10,000 men together, and he led the
army up the hill to where the monster was seen resting. Before the
King reached the top the creature went into the air again and sailed
away. Upon its back was a bag filled with berries which were picked
from the berry plants on top of the mountain. It is supposed that
the bad witch of the north picked them and gave them to the
creatures.
August 21, 1904: FARAWAY WORLD IS SWEPT BY A
CYCLONE
For Ten Miles it Leaves Behind a Trail of Ruin.
A MONSTER OF THE AIR
Special dispatch to The North American from one of the planets of
the Little Bear Constellation. (All rights reserved.)
August 20.
A most peculiar cyclone visited this planet at midnight. The
wind, instead of sweeping past the planet, swept down upon it and
seemed to turn us out of our orbit. A large number of houses were
sunk into the ground by the terrible pressure of air. In some cases
houses with weak foundations were sunk into the ground seven and
eight feet.
The results of the cyclone are to be traced for ten miles in a
straight line. The cities of Jalson, Frit and Hamal suffered the
greatest amount of damage.
Reports from various parts of the planet state that it was not a
cyclone but some air monster, which, in passing our planet, came too
near. The monster in passing beat the air with its tail and fins so
that it caused a rush of atmosphere, giving all the effects of a
cyclone.
Some of the guardians of the cities claim to have seen it. They
say that the monster was as large as a penapoleo or an elephant.
Others say that it was twice as large as a penapoleo.
Professor Hobblesmack saw the monster through a telescope. He was
about to examine it, when the creature hurled a large berry at him.
The berry struck his telescope and broke it so that he could not use
it until the monster was out of sight. He claims that the creature
was as large as the animal known as the horse, which lives on the
planet Earth.
The berry which the monster hurled at Professor Hobblesmack is
found on the plant North Star. A wireless telegram from there states
that the monster was attacked by an army of 30,000 soldiers, and
that it bewitched the entire army so that it escaped.
August 22, 1904: HEATHENS BESEECH THE GODS FOR
HELP
One of the Seven Stars Shaken by Aerial
Phenomenon.
Wireless dispatch to The North American from one of the seven
stars of the Dipper. (All rights reserved.)
August 21.
The gods of our people showed their wrath today by sending a
terrible air monster among us. The monster alighted near the cave of
the witch on Mount Sheekan, where no man dare go.
It could be seen from the city at the foot of the mountain. The
people were overcome by fear, and many deserted the city to flee in
the opposite direction.
The wise men of this planet gave forth a proclamation from the
King’s palace saying that the gods of the people had sent this
monster as a warning to them in their sins. Great hordes of people
took warning and rushed to the temples to expiate to the gods. In a
few hours the entire population was praying to the gods and
beseeching them to take the thing away.
Their words were heard, for before dark the monster arose into
the air and departed. It carried something on its back, which, it is
thought, the witch of the mountain must have placed there.
All the people of this planet are celebrating the departure of
the monster. Even the king and wise men are celebrating within the
castle.
August 23, 1904: PLANET URANUS IS SHAKEN TO
CENTRE
Monster as Big as 10,000 Uranians Pays
Unwelcome Visit.
Planet Uranus special wireless dispatch to The North American.
(Copyrighted, 1904, on all planets throughout the universe.)
URANUS, August 22.
A terrible air monster passed this planet today. The monster
approached from the direction of the Dipper and was headed toward
the planet Neptune. It was 1000 times as large as one of our
citizens.
The entire population of all the cities on this side of the
planet gathered to see it. The monster appeared, at first, like a
small bird, such as live on the planet Earth.
As it approached it gradually increased in size until it could be
plainly seen. It had a head with sharp, piercing eyes, and a set of
very sharp and dangerous-looking horns upon its head. Its tail stuck
out in the air like the branch of a tree.
Queen Nell XLIII, thinking that the monster was going to land
upon our planet, called out the entire army. When the monster saw
the army it flapped its wings all the more, making a terrible noise,
as if trying to frighten our men. When it saw that we were not
frightened it did not land. It was a good thing that it didn’t,
as we would have killed it.
Upon its back were to be seen some strange-looking objects tied
together with rope. One was thought to be a bag of meal, probably
for food. The other was big and round, and resembled a foot-ball
such as the people on the planet Earth use to start a fight between
a lot of men.
August 24, 1904: NEPTUNE SHOCKED: MONSTER IS
THERE
King Kala Defeated and His Brave Soldiers
Killed.
Neptune special to The North American. (All rights reserved.)
August 23, 10:34 A.M.
This planet is about to be destroyed. A terrible monster of the
air has alighted upon it and is now fighting our army on a mountain
near the city of Budaca.
Reports from Budaca state that a large number of our soldiers
have been killed, and King Kala, our greatest general, has been
forced to withdraw his army.
The monster occupied the top of the mountain, which has very
smooth sides. From this position it bombarded our men with a
terrible shot, which mowed our men down before they were able to
approach near enough to use their weapons.
It is thought that the monster is aided in the destruction of our
troops by some unknown witch. The beast seems able to fight on all
sides of the hill at once, and it mowed our men as if they were made
of mud.
King Kala has summoned aid from all sections of the planet, and
it is said that he will beseech the witch of the south to dispel the
terrible monster.
One hour later
The monster has departed. It went away in the air flying like a
bird such as inhabit the planet Earth.
August 25, 1904: SATURN DARKENED: SUN WAS
HIDDEN
Strange Body Passed Between the Planet and Its
Luminary.
Special wireless dispatch to The North American from the planet
Saturn. (Copyrighted on all planets.)
SATURN, August 24.
This planet has been dark for sixty hours. Not a ray of light has
shown upon us, and the people are in great stress. The end of the
world is feared.
The professors at the colleges state that some foreign body has
come between us and the sun. What it is they cannot say, and they
even do not know how long it will hide the sun from our planet.
Saturn, sixty hours later.
The sun is out. A foreign body flying through the air hid it from
sight. It is thought to have been a large meteor, and it is directed
toward Jupiter. A wireless dispatch has been sent to Jupiter to
prepare the people for the end, for if it strikes that planet it
will demolish it.
Our army was sent to attack and kill the monster and other
creatures, but as soon as the army approached the giants got upon
the monster’s back and flew away.
August 25, 1904: GOAT TRIES TO EAT WOGGLE-BUG
BUTTON
Animal Cannot Get Souvenir Down Its Throat, and
is Saved by Woman.
A goat belonging to Mrs. Patrick Murphy, living in the Highlands,
attempted to swallow a wogglebug button this afternoon, and caused
much excitement in that section of the city known as Forty Acres.
But the button did not go down, and a minute later the goat began
to turn red in the face. It coughed and spluttered, and straightway
started on a rampage about the Highlands. It overset a huckster’s
wagon, and the owner took refuge up a tree.
Pedestrians sprinted for places of safety, and somebody was
preparing to turn in an alarm of fire, when Mrs. Murphy appeared on
the scene.
She chased the goat for several blocks, calling it a variety of
pet names, and finally overtook it. She made a careful examination
of the goat, and, ascertaining the trouble, removed the button.
August 26, 1904: BIRD OR BEAST? ASK PEOPLE OF
JUPITER
Bells Rung to Summon Dwellers to Seek a
Monster.
Jupiter special wireless dispatch to The North American. (All
right reserved.) JUPITER, August 25.
The people of this planet were awakened last night by the ringing
of all the bells on the planet. The President of the planet had
received a wireless dispatch from Saturn warning him of a foreign
body moving through the air which would demolish our planet if it
struck it.
The body was discovered by the aid of telescopes. It was found to
be a large bird carrying several people on its back. The bird was
very large, and while it might hide the small sun of Saturn, it
would not even hide a star from Jupiter.
It alighted near the city of Dabin, where, the people say, the
objects on its back looked like giants.
They were twice as large as our men. One of them had a flat face,
with one eye larger than the other, and he never winked. His head
and body were stuffed with hay, which protruded through his clothing
at the elbows and knees.
Another was joined like a stovepipe, and at his side hung an oil
can, as if he had to oil his joints occasionally. Another had a
large head, forty inches in diameter. His face was set into a smile,
and he smiled all the time. His eyes, nose and mouth were nothing
but big holes cut into his head.
One of the giants had a terribly large head, which seemed to be
very loose. The wind lifted his head from his shoulders and sent it
against the straw man. The force of the blow knocked him down and
the head landed on top of him.
The tin man picked the head up and placed it back on the body of
the giant, who continued to laugh.
The company enjoyed themselves for a short time and then they
departed toward Mars.
August 27, 1904: FOUR GIANTS RIDE ON BIG BIRD’S
BACK
Winged Creature Big as a Horse Lands on Star.
Special wireless telegraph to The North American from one of the
Astrepoids.
August 26.
A large black bird bearing four giants upon its back landed on
our planet today. The company did not seem to have any desire to
injure our inhabitants, so they were allowed to go. They flew away
through the air as they had come.
The monster was as large as a horse and had huge wings, with a
large set of horns upon its head.
The giants were a curious-looking set. One of them was made of
tin, and he carried an axe. The first thing he did when he alighted
was to oil his joints. He was evidentally afraid he would rust.
Another of the giants was not very strong, as he could not stand
in the strong wind that swept over the mountain. He seemed to be
made of straw, and the wind doubled him up easily.
August 28, 1904: WANDERING MONSTER KNOWN TO
MARTIANS
It’s the Gump, Carrying Visitors From
Land of Oz.
Mars special to The North American. (All rights reserved.)
August 27.
The great bird of the air which has visited a great many planets
in the universe arrived here today.
We are surprised that the natives of other planets should have
been frightened, as it was simply the Gump from the "Land of
Oz" bearing his companions, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and
Pumpkinhead to the Earth.
Of course the natives of other planets are not familiar with the
funny things that take place on Earth, and for that reason they were
probably frightened.
The members of the company were the guests of the King while
here. They stated that they were on their way to the United States,
where they have an engagement with The North American.
They left the "Land of Oz" ten days ago and had many
peculiar experiences on their trip. On some of the planets the
people were very much frightened, and they were unable to stay
longer than an hour, lest the people would become desperate and
injure themselves.
After luncheon with the King, the little party left for the
Earth. They expect to be well read during their stay in the United
States, and the adventures which they will experience in that land
are to be told in full in The North American every Sunday for many
weeks.
August 28, 1904: WOGGLE-BUG KILLED: CHICKENS
NOW SAFE
The Woggle-Bug has been killed, and owners of chickens breathe
freer. For several weeks chickens have been fatally stung on the
head. The mystery surrounding the creature caused it to be called
the Woggle-Bug.
Mrs. George Schockly yesterday killed a large, queer-looking bug
in her hennery, although two chickens had been stung before she
struck the insect with a paddle. It will be placed on exhibition. No
one recalls having seen its like before.
August 28, 1904: ‘TWAS EXCITING, BUT NOT
THE WOGGLE-BUG
Crowd Witnessed Spectacle With Curiosity That
Indicated Great Expectations.
FLIGHT THROUGH AIR
Stretched across Arch Street, between Ninth and Tenth, during
luncheon hour yesterday, was a heavy wire. Beneath it with upturned
faces stood more than 5000 persons. The expressions varied from that
of mere curiosity to open-mouthed astonishment. It was plain that
something out of the ordinary was in the air, and the wire seemed to
have something to do with it.
"Dear me," said one old man, as he tried to make his
way through the crowd. "What on earth is the trouble?"
"It’s in the air, mister," screamed an urchin.
"The Woggle-Bug’s comin’ in and he’s goin’
to let us have that say of his."
The old man hastily rubbed his spectacles and joined the
multitude.
"My, my!" he exclaimed. "I’ve heard so much
about that Woggle-Bug! So it’s to be here at last!"
With that he adjusted his spectacles and set his eyes skyward.
It was the difference between fiction and fact. It was not the
Woggle-Bug, after all. Press agents, like poets and novelists, have
license to utilize the imagination.
Norman Jeffries, whom everybody knows, announced that one of his
performers, supported solely by one foot and holding by his teeth a
woman weighing 150 pounds, would slide down the wire.
It was all right; but there was no woman. From a small wheel on
the wire hung a strap. Holding the latter in his teeth, he (not
Norman) made the slide.
"Was that the Woggle-Bug?" asked the old man, whose
eyes failed to show him the fleeting figure.
"What did the Woggle-Bug say?"
FROM THE LAND OF OZ TO THE UNITED STATES
HERE THEY COME! THE SCARECROW AND TIN WOODMAN JACK
PUMPKINHEAD, THE
WOGGLE-BUG THE ANIMATED SAWHORSE AND THE GUMP.
THEY ARE ON THEIR FIRST VACATION AWAY FROM THE
EMERALD CITY AND THE
LAND OF OZ. THEY WANT TO ROMP WITH THE CHILDREN OF
THE UNITED STATES. THE
GLAD NEWS COMES TO THIS NEWSPAPER AS FOLLOWS:
PROCLAMATION EXTRAORDINARY
TO: MR. L. FRANK BAUM
By Royal Appointment Historian to the Land of
Oz
At the request of your Highly Esteemed Writeness, I have issued a
Decree permitting my beloved subjects, the Scarecrow, the Tin
Woodman, the Woggle-Bug, and Jack Pumpkinhead, to visit the United
States of America, in order that they may accumulate a great store
of knowledge and experience in your most prosaic country. They are
permitted to take with them the Animated Sawhorse and their journey
will be made in the flying Gump. They should arrive upon your earth
planet withijn a brief space of time, and I trust you will accord
them a warm welcome and watch carefully over their interests.
Given under my Hand and Seal at my Royal Palace in the Emerald
City in the Ninth Division of the Second Year of my Reign.
OZMA
Reigning Princess of the fairyland of Oz
(Successor to the Wizard of Oz)
Well, I felt like shouting "Hurrah!" when I got the
above letter. These visitors from Oz are fine fellows. They may not
be so worldly wise as some of the Americans are, and it is possible
their ignorance of our ways and manners may get them in a few
scrapes before their return to Princess Ozma. But they are used to
adventures, and I have no doubt the Scarecrow and his friends will
have a royal good time here. The Woggle-Bug is said to be very wise
and quick to discover things, and the Scarecrow has proven more
times than one that he can think and think clearly. As for Nick
Chopper, the Tin Woodman, he allows his kindly nature to direct his
actions, and I understand the Pumpkinhead has learned to look to the
Tin Woodman to protect him in case he does anything stupid and gets
into trouble. I'm glad they brought the animated Sawhorse, for that
remarkable creature can always be depended upon to do the right
thing at the right time.
And you will notice they have arrived in the Gump, which is a
sort of flying-machine they have made by tying two sofas together
and putting a stuffed gump's head in front for a figurehead. The
wings of this curious airship are merely four big palm leaves
fastened to the sides of the sofas; and the whole thing has been
given life by means of a magic powder such as could exsist in no
place but Fairyland.
Whereabouts in the United States our friends from Oz first landed
is a mystery — just at present anyway. Walt McDougall and I
(both wearing Magic Caps that render us invisible) are going to
follow the Scarecrow's party wherever they go, so that we can tell
about their adventures and make to pictures of them to amuse the
readers of this paper. And now that they are safely arrived and have
begun to explore America,
let us watch and see what happens.
L. FRANK BAUM, 1904
HOW THE ADVENTURERS LOST AND FOUND THEMSELVES
As day dawned the travelers from the Land of Oz looked over the
sides of the Gump, which had been flying steadily all night, and
discovered a large group of buildings just beneath them.
"Stop!" called the Scarecrow to the Gump; "we have
doubtless reached our destination. Please land us as gently as
possible."
So the Gump fluttered down in the center of a large enclosure
surrounded by many rows of vacant seats, and the travelers alighted
and assisted the Sawhorse to reach the ground. Their first act was
to place Jack Pumpkinhead upon the back of the steed, because the
poor fellow, being somewhat carelessly made, can ride more safely
than he can walk.
"Where are the United States?" asked Jack, looking
around. "I don't see them anywhere."
"Where are the inhabitants of this strange place?"
asked the Tin Woodman.
"Asleep, probably," returned the Scarecrow. "You
mustn't forget that the unfortunate people who are made of flesh are
obliged to sleep at night; and some of them forget to waken at
daybreak. At least, that's what little Dorothy once told me."
"Let's go home," suggested the Gump, in a gruff voice;
"this place is so strange it frightens me.
Where are we, anyhow?"
No one could answer this question, and the Sawhorse shivered and
said; "I'm getting nervous myself.
Suppose something should happen!"
"Something's got to happen," declared the Scarecrow;
"it always does. Something happened the minute we arrived. Now
follow me, and we'll explore this strange place."
So they walked around the enclosure, and presently discovered a
placard announcing a series of athletic games, which the educated
Woggle-Bug read to his astonished friends. Also they chanced upon a
number of dumb-bells, which delighted the Tin Woodman greatly. But
while he amused his friends by lifting and juggling the dumb-bells,
a strange sound — like the roar of waters — was
heard,and Wash White, a colored groundskeeper with a track roller,
appeared upon the scene, still half asleep and not noting the group
of queer people that stood in the enclosure. The Sawhorse reared so
wildly that he nearly dislocated Jack's wooden joints, and the
others were equally startled at the sudden appearance of the
wonderful jet-black Man of Flesh. Their cries caused sleepy Wash
White to open his eyes, and what he saw made him yell with fear and
run like the wind to the entrances, through which he escaped.
"What's the matter?" asked a Guard, who was tying his
necktie.
"Matteh 'nuff!" screamed Wash, trembling. "I's
seed de debbil an' all his relations!"
In the meantime our friends from Oz had captured the track-roller
and formed a procession to explore the place. For not one of the
party could guess where they were, and all were, and all were more
or less uneasy at being so soon lost in a strange land. As they
reached the entrance to the enclosure the Guard, trying hard not to
believe in Wash White's "debbils" advanced with drawn club
and chattering teeth and commanded them to halt.
At this instant the truth burst upon the Woggle-Bug, who cried in
a loud voice: "I know where we are!"
"Where?" asked the Scarecrow, and the Woggle-Bug leaned
close to his ear and said something in a whisper.
"Oh yes!" exclaimed the Scarecrow, nodding his head
cheerfully, "how stupid of us not to have guessed!" Then
he turned to his friend and said: "Come on, comrades. We've
found ourselves again.
We're at the stadium Athletic Field at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States of America,
and the year is 1904."
HOW THE TIN WOODMAN ESCAPED THE MAGIC FLOOD
It was now that the true mettle of the adventurers from the
Marvelous Land of Oz was clearly shown.
Undaunted by the strange sights of this strange United States,
they decided to explore the country thoroughly — in the same
way Columbus once did.
Soon they came to a series of small waterfalls tumbling downward
in pretty cascades from a tall building on the brow of a hill. There
was not much water in the channel just then, but the marble banks
were broad and deep enough to contain a river
The Tin Woodman, seeing some pipes protrude from the bed of the
stream, became curious to know what these queer-looking things were
used for, and bravely ventured forth to explore and examine them.
After a brief inspection he turned to his comrades upon the bank and
said: "My dear friends, the pipes were doubtlessly placed here
to — "
He got no further in his speech, for suddenly some hidden power
turned on a monstrous flow of water; the pipes spouted a deluge upon
the poor Tin Woodman, who — amidst the plaudits of his
friends, who thought he had himself caused this mighty flood —
was swept off his feet and borne swiftly down the stream.
In his terror the Tin Woodman clutched at Jack Pumpkinhead to
save himself; but alas! the pumpkin came away in his grasp, and
falling into the flood, floated along in his wake. Seeing now that
something was seriously wrong, the thoughtful Scarecrow began
running along the bank, hoping to find a way to save his friend, and
the others followed him. Finding he was about to sink, the Tin
Woodman, with great presence of mind, caught at Jack's pumpkinhead,
which floated near, and used it as a life-preserver to sustain him;
for otherwise the tin of which he was made would have forced him to
the bottom, to become forever rusted and useless.
Finally the wise Woggle-Bug, being a swifter runner than the
others, managed to seize the Tin Woodman with two of his hands,
while with the other two he cleverly rescued Jack's pumpkin head,
bringing both the unfortunates to dry land. Then, when the Tin
Woodman sank down exhausted, but saved, at the feet of his faithful
friends, the Scarecrow affectionately supported him and supplied him
with quantities of oil to prevent his joints from becoming rusted,
and to soothe and restore him to his usual vigor. Jack's head being
replaced, that personage also found himself to be in perfect
condition, so throughout the little party of adventurers the moments
of intense excitement gave way to joy and thanksgiving.
"Where am I?" suddenly asked the Tin Woodman, raising
his head. But none was able to reply until the discerning
Woggle-Bug, whose bright eyes nothing seemed to escape, made the
answer: "I'll tell you in a minute."
And then, while all the party grouped around him and listened
intently, the Woggle-Bug told them,
"This is the famous man-made Cascades, fountains of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition."
HOW THE STRANGERS FOUND THEMSELVES BETWEEN THE AUTO AND THE
DEEP SEA
Once on a day the queer people from the Land of Oz arrived upon
the seashore, where they gazed with much wonder at the vast expanse
of water. Indeed, the unusual sight made them all rather timid,
especially the Sawhorse; and the Tin Woodman exclaimed with a
shudder: "It makes me feel rusty just to look at so much wet
and dampness."
At that instant their eyes discovered a peculiar boat afloat far
out among the waves. It was neither upon nor under the water, but
partially submerged: and, after carefully inspecting it, the
Woggle-Bug declared: "It's what they call a submarine boat, and
can float both under water and upon it."
"What flag is that upon the masthead?" inquired the
Scarecrow.
"I can't tell what nation it belongs to," replied the
educated insect, "because the wind blows it so many different
ways that it hides the design."
"Still," said the Pumpkinhead, "I'd like to know
what country has designs upon this coast," and he tried to urge
the Sawhorse nearer to the water. But the wooden steed seemed to
regard the strange boat with fear, and refused to obey its rider,
backing away with a haste that threatened to splinter its maple
legs. So the Scarecrow, with rare presence of mind, cast a long rope
about the neck of the frightened Sawhorse, to which they all clung
in order to restrain his excited actions. "Do try to control
yourself,"
said the Tin Woodman, in a reproachful voice. "I assure you
there is nothing to be afraid of."
Before the Sawhorse could reply a horrible shriek rent the air
clanging and groaning and wheezing as might well startle the
stoutest nerves. The Woggle-Bug was trembling like a leaf; the
Pumpkinhead gasped so hard that he coughed out three seeds; the Tin
Woodman looked as if he were going to tarnish and moistened his
tongue with a spurt of oil from his can, while the straw within the
Scarecrow rustled as if stirred by a brisk breeze. As for the
Sawhorse, terror deprived him of all reason and, as the huge
automobile that had caused such consternation shot by them, the
wooden steed forgot his fear of the great water and the submarine
boat, and, rearing high in the air, he first threw Jack Pumpkinhead
from his back and the bolted away with such vigor that all the party
holding the rope was dragged over the beach and plunged headlong
into the surf.
Fortunately, they were all able to scramble to dry land again.
The automobile was out of sight and hearing, and the cold plunge
having restored the Sawhorse to his senses, the animal soon regained
his usual self-possession.
"We shall quickly dry in this sunshine," said the Tin
Woodman, encouragingly; and then he again noticed the boat and
added, "I really wonder what nation that flag belongs to!"
As he spoke, a strong breeze fluttered the flag out from the mast
and the Woggle-Bug's sharp eyes quickly made out the design.
"I know," exclaimed the insect, greatly pleased. "Tell
me," pleaded the Tin Woodman, and the Woggle-Bug obligingly
whispered the information in his tin ear.
"Would you mind telling the rest of us what the Woggle-Bug
said?" the Scarecrow asked his friend, somewhat stiffly.
"Guess!" answered the Tin Woodman with a laugh. "That's
what all the children will have to do!"
But after all had failed to guess, he told them that it was the
Naval flag of Germany.
HOW UNCLE ELI LAUGHED TOO SOON
Now it happened that while the travelers from the Marvelous Land
of Oz were going along a country road, the Tin Woodman discovered a
queer looking object suspended from the limb of a tree.
"How curious!" exclaimed the Scarecrow. "This must
be one of those peculiar fruits which grow in this magical land of
America. Let us pluck it."
"No; don't touch it, I beg of you!" cried the wise
Woggle-Bug, in a horrified tone. "It's one of those awful
hornets' nests."
But already the Tin Woodman had thrust a tin finger into the
nest, and now the angry hornets swarmed out and circled in great
numbers around the adventurers. Our friends stood still and watched
the little hornets with much interest for they were made of material
that could not be stung. The Woggle-Bug was, of course, an
exception; but his wisdom led him to do exactly the right thing.He
sprang into the Gump and ordered that obedient creature to fly with
him to a safe distance, beyond the brow of a neighboring hill.
All this had been watched with great amusement by old Uncle Eli,
whose farm lay just across the road. Eli had never heard of the
queer people from Oz, because — as he said — he never
had any time to waste reading newspapers; so at first he thought
some circus had broken loose, and approached the fence in order to
get a free sight of the entertainment.
"Why, the dumb fools!" said Uncle Eli, "they're
monkeyin' with that there hornets' nest!" And the thought of
all the trouble the strangers were innocently encouraging was so
pleasing to the farmer that he bent himself nearly double and fairly
screamed with laughter.
"B'gosh!" roared Uncle Eli, wiping the tears of joy
from his eyes with his chin whiskers, "the critters'll git
stinged 'til they've got as many knobs on 'emas cucumbers!"
But the sound of his laughter had attracted the attention of the
Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the animated
Sawhorse, and all these turned from the maddened hornets and pressed
close to the fence to examine Uncle Eli. The hornets naturally
swarmed with them, and thus discovering the old farmer, they at once
decided that he was a victim much easier to sting than the people of
straw and tin and wood. So they settled down upon Uncle Eli by the
hundred, turning his chuckling laughter into howls of fear and
distress. He amazed the good folks of Oz by jumping frantically up
and down, swinging his arms like a windmill, and finally dashing
away at a speed that made the Sawhorse envious. And every hornet
followed after him.
"He has forgotten his rake," said the observant
Scarecrow; "so I think I'll go and get it." With these
words he climbed the fence into the field, and the Tin Woodman did
likewise, for his glittering eyes had noticed a strange plant
growing upon some vines nearby.
"How very odd!" said he, kicking the vines with his
foot, and thereby detaching several of the peculiar formations that
grew upon them. "I wonder what this plant is called?"
The Woggle-Bug, finding that the hornets had flown away, by this
time had rejoined the party; and he was about to answer the Tin
Woodman's question when suddenly from amid the vines a number of
streams began to squirt — like those from miniature
fire-engines — and these struck the Tin Woodman, Jack
Pumpkinhead and the Scarecrow and almost deluged them with a sticky
fluid. Even the Sawhorse, which stood in the road, received a slight
sprinkling.
"More magic!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman, as he ran to a
safer and drier spot. "Event the plants are enchanted in this
wonderful United States."
"You were very foolish to touch those vines," declared
the Woggle-Bug.
"True; but what are they?" asked the Scarecrow,
recovering from his astonishment.
Whereupon the Woggle-Bug obligingly told him; and, of course, the
children who read this will have no trouble guessing that the
Woggle-Bug said that they were called Squirting Cucumbers.
HOW THE SCARECROW AND TIN WOODMAN MET SOME OLD FRIENDS
No doubt every child that has followed the adventures in the
United States of the living Scarecrow and the other queer people
from the Land of Oz has been struck by the singular fact that
everything here seems as wonderful to them as they themselves are
wonderful to us. In their own fairyland they accomplish things by
simple magic which we have to accomplish by complicated mechanical
inventions. It is not a strange thing to them to bring a wooden
Sawhorse to life by means of a magic powder; but an automobile
(which is even more wonderful than a living Sawhorse) filled their
simple minds with wonder. On the contrary, the Gump — a
carelessly made creature at best — could fly much better than
any of our recently invented and carefully planned flying-machines.
But the latter astonished the Ozites because, not being alive, they
could do so much by means of machinery alone. So perhaps the United
States is, after all, as great a fairyland as the kingdom of Oz, if
we look at the matter in the right way.
These strangers in our country are learning something new every
day, and undergoing adventures that, while perhaps rather tame had
they happened to any one of us, are very exciting to the Scarecrow
and his comrades.
It was only the other day that they took a long ride in the Gump,
which carried them so swiftly away from the scenes of their previous
exploits that presently a vast prairie spread beneath them, and had
they been better posted in our geography they might have known they
had reached the great State of Kansas.
“Let us alight here,” said the Woggle-Bug. “Would
it not be better to see what lies beyond the prairie?” asked
the Scarecrow.
“Perhaps; but I’d like to see what an American farm
is like,” replied the Insect.
“So would I,” added Jack Pumpkinhead. “If they
grow pumpkins here I might get a new head. It strikes me that this
one is not so fresh as it might be.”
“But its alive, which a new one would not be,”
remarked the Tin Woodman, “and I can imagine a no more
disagreeable feeling than to have a lifeless head upon a live body.”
“Nevertheless,” said the Woggle-Bug, “our
friend Jack may well be interested in his own species. I, who have
much more excuse for being alive than any of you — since I was
born living — can sympathize with poor Jack. The seeds of
discontent are in his brain. Let me alight and prove to him how much
better off he is than all other pumpkins.”
So, the Scarecrow consenting, they ordered the Gump to settle
down slowly upon the prairie, which the creature did, coming to a
halt at a spot near to a comfortable looking farmhouse. A man who
was reaping in a field gazed upon the strange Gump with amazement; a
woman who was hanging out clothes in the yard was so frightened that
she dropped everything and rushed for the cyclone-cellar; and a
little girl, followed by a black, curly dog, stood in the door of
the house and shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked earnestly
at the fluttering palm-leaf wings of the Gump. The Scarecrow and Tin
Woodman decided to remain aboard, so Jack climbed over the side of
the sofa that formed the body of the Gump and stood upon the ground.
But the dog, now barking fiercely, rushed across from the house and
began to bite the wooden legs of the Pumpkinhead.
“Call him off!” exclaimed Jack, who was trying to
help the Sawhorse out of the Gump.
“I can’t, for I don’t know what to call him,”
replied the Woggle-Bug, getting down and standing beside Jack. The
Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, being in deep conversation regarding a
cloud that floated above them, did not see the little dog, which,
finding he could not bite Jack’s wooden legs, flew furiously
at the Woggle-Bug. The Insect might have been severely bitten had he
not used two of his four arms to hold the dog at a safe distance,
while with the other two he helped the Sawhorse to the ground.
Now, it is a well-known fact that dogs — and little dogs,
especially — think it is their duty to bark at anything
strange or unusual; so it is no wonder that when the dog saw the
Sawhorse he made a dash at it with so much energy that it appeared
to be his ambition to tear the wooden steed to pieces. And the
Sawhorse, not being pleased at the attack, kicked with both his hind
legs just as the dog sprang at him.
So up into the air flew the dog, howling as he went, and then the
Tin Woodman, who was still looking at the cloud in the sky, saw a
black ball descending through the air straight in his direction. He
cleverly caught the little creature in his tin arms, and the dog,
more astonished than hurt by the Sawhorse's kick, now found himself
staring into the painted face of the Scarecrow. At once the dog
seemed to recognize the Scarecrow, for he barked and wiggled around
in the Tin Woodman's arms with every _expression of delight, and
licked the stuffed features of the Scarecrow with manifestations of
extreme joy.
“Why, Toto — my dear little Toto!” cried the
Scarecrow, “where did you come from, and where is your
mistress?”
The dog, of course, made no reply, but the little girl at this
moment ran toward them crying: “My dear old friends! How glad
I am to see you!”
“Dorothy!” shouted the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman,
together.
But there was no time then for more words, for the little dog
sprang from the Gump to greet his mistress, thereby tripping up the
Woggle-Bug, who fell across the Sawhorse and so frightened that
animal that he bucked and threw both the Insect and Jack to the
ground in a heap. Their jumbled bodies made a convenient
stepping-stone for the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, who both left the
Gump to meet and embrace the little girl in the most friendly and
even affectionate manner.
As Jack disentangled himself from the heap he asked: “Who
are these people?” And the Scarecrow replied: “Dorothy
and Toto once visited us in the Land of Oz, and we were great chums
there. But her home is here in Kansas, where the wheat fields grow.”
“Oh!” responded Jack, adjusting his head, which had
become turned to one side in his fall, “is that stuff wheat,
that the farmer is cutting out there?”
“No, indeed,” said the Woggle-Bug, who was anxious to
air his wisdom. And he told the Pumpkinhead that the kind of grain
was barley.
HOW THE SAWHORSE SAVED DOROTHY'S LIFE
Little Dorothy took great delight in showing the Scarecrow and
his companions all the wonders of Kansas farm; and you may be sure
the people from Oz were greatly pleased by this thoughtful
attention. One time a cyclone had visited Kansas and whirled Dorothy
far away to the Land of Oz where she had formed the acquaintance of
the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow and encountered a series of
thrilling adventures in their company. And now that they, in turn,
had come to visit Dorothy's own country, the girl did her best to
entertain and interest her old friends.
One day the Scarecrow took Dorothy for a ride upon the Sawhorse,
himself walking by her side, and presently they came to a big field
that had been fenced in to confine an ugly bull that was owned by
Dorothy's uncle. Pausing beside the fence, the Scarecrow happened to
admire the pretty flowers growing within the field, and so Dorothy
immediately jumped off the Sawhorse and climbed over the fence to
pick the flowers for her friend.
But at this minute the bull spied her and came dashing up behind;
so Dorothy, with a cry of fear, started to run across the field to
the opposite fence, with the bull after her full tilt. The
Scarecrow, seeing the child's danger, tossed the Sawhorse over the
fence, and quickly following himself he mounted the wooden steed and
rode swiftly in pursuit. Before long he managed to get between the
fleeing Dorothy and the angry bull; but the animal, furious at this
interference, hooked its sharp horns into the Scarecrow's stuffed
body and sent him soaring high into the air. But it chanced that in
the same instant the Sawhorse let his hind legs fly at the bull, and
so powerful was the stroke of the wooden heels against the bull's
forehead that the larger animal was knocked completely over, and
rolled upon the ground half stunned by the shock.
Fortunately the Scarecrow, on descending to earth again, fell
across the body of the Sawhorse; and although he was limp and
considerably twisted by his flight and by the horns of the bull, the
Scarecrow retained sufficient presence of mind to wind his long legs
around the neck of the Sawhorse and so cling on to its back.
All this time Dorothy was running across the field as fast as her
little legs would carry her, and the Sawhorse followed her, bearing
the Scarecrow. The bull, soon recovering from the kick, and more
maddened than ever, now came galloping after them so furiously that
it was evident the girl could never gain the opposite side of the
field in time to save herself. But the Sawhorse was swifter than the
bull. He dashed past Dorothy at full speed, and as he did so the
Scarecrow reached out his big arms and caught up the little girl,
whom he managed to hold until the Sawhorse had crossed the field,
and leaped with one great spring the stone wall that on this side
formed the boundary. Next minute they had landed safely in the
roadway, where stood the Woggle-Bug and the Tin Woodman, who had
been taking a walk and had thus witnessed the adventure.
Right behind the Sawhorse had come the frantic bull, and when the
wooden steed from Oz rose into the air to clear the wall, the bull,
unable to stop himself, dashed headforemost against the stones. So
great was the shock the bull was pushed together endwise, and
flattened almost to a pancake; and when he staggered backward to try
and think what had happened to him, he was wrinkled up to just like
one of those Japanese lanterns that you push end to end when not in
use.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Dorothy, looking at the dazed and
flattened bull from the safe side of the wall.
"What will Uncle Henry say when he sees this?"
"He'll say it serves the creature right for chasing little
girls, and trying to hook them," remarked the Tin Woodman,
calmly.
"I'm glad the dear old Sawhorse saved my life,"
continued Dorothy, "but the bull cost lots and lots of money,
and Uncle Henry says he's awful valuable."
"He isn't worth much now," mused the Scarecrow, looking
critically at the animal, "unless he can be pulled out again
and worked over into his old shape. But what ever could make such an
ugly creature as that valuable?"
"Why, he's a thoroughbred," explained Dorothy, "and
belongs to a very rare breed, besides."
"Indeed!" returned the Scarecrow; "what breed of
cattle, then, does the creature belong to?"
"I know!" interrupted the Woggle-Bug, before Dorothy
could reply. And then, proud of his knowledge, the Woggle-Bug told
them truly that the breed of bull was the Galloway breed.
HOW THE OZITES MET A BEAUTY DOCTOR
It was much to be regretted that some thoughtless people made
remarks upon the personal appearance of our visitors from the Land
of Oz. When the sensitive Scarecrow overheard a High School say that
"in her opinion he was not at all handsome," it grieved
him very much. "For," said he,
"while I have no desire to be exceptionally beautiful, I
have always thought myself to be as good-looking as the average
man."
"Yet you are not," returned the Woggle-Bug, regarding
his friend critically. "I am myself very handsome for a bug;
but you cannot be justly called a handsome man."
"Excuse me, H. M.," said the Tin Woodman, in a
confidential voice, "but I heard a person say yesterday that
there be bugs and bugs, but that you are the buggiest bug that ever
bugged."
"Indeed!" exclaimed the Insect, much shocked. "But
don't worry," continued the Tin Woodman. "It is not
possible for everyone to look as bright and beautiful as I do
myself."
"You may be right," remarked Jack Pumpkinhead, "but
if you are beautiful why did the lady say yesterday that your nose
reminded her of Cyrano de Bergerac, and that your gaiters are
dreadfully out of fashion?"
"Did she say that?" asked the Tin Woodman, suddenly
becoming grave. "Then, perhaps, after all, American ladies may
not consider me attractive. But what can I do? It is impossible for
me to remove either my nose or my gaiters, for they are riveted and
soldered to my body."
"Well, I am sorry for you all," said Jack. "But as
long as I can remain handsome, the rest of you may console
yourselves by gazing upon me."
"True," growled the Sawhorse. "Probably that boy
meant nothing at all when he told me this morning that the
Pumpkinhead reminded him of pies-an'-things. And he said you scared
his pet cat into fits."
"I? With my winning smile?" demanded Jack in a worried
voice.
"Yes," gruffly answered the Sawhorse, as he strolled
away and left them.
The adventurers looked at one another earnestly, to see if their
remarks could possibly be just, and to their dismay they perceived
that there was much truth in the criticisms they had overheard.
"When beauty was passed around, we must have been behind the
barn," reflected the Woggle-Bug, gloomily. But at that moment
he chanced to look up and saw a sign upon a neighboring house that
read as follows:
"Mme. QUI-SYM,
BEAUTY SPECIALIST,
HOMELY FOLKS MADE RADIANTLY BEAUTIFUL
WHILE YOU WAIT."
"Ah!" said the Woggle-Bug, "here is our
opportunity. Let us all become beautiful and then we need not worry
about our looks."
He then led his comrades into the office of the Beauty
Specialist, and asked that they all be furnished with the best brand
of beauty she had in stock.
"Of course you understand my treatments are expensive,"
said Mme. Qui-Sym, who was a stately dame with a pug nose and a
squint in her left eye. "But since you people are so famous,
and have had your pictures in the papers, I will treat you free of
all expenses — if you will sign these testimonials."
It was delightful to see the Tin Woodman lying upon his back and
twisting his limbs into all sorts of positions in order to reduce
the rotundity of his tin body. The Woggle-Bug meantime was running
four little — one with each hand — up and down his form,
to improve his complexion, while the Pumpkinhead sat patiently in a
chair in a corner with a rubber mask over his face that made him
look positively frightful. As for the Scarecrow, he was instructed
to anoint his head liberally with a pomade from a pot labeled:
"Cleopatra's Secret Bloom of Beauty. Prepared in a Condensed
and Double-Distilled Form from the Original Recipe. Never known to
Fail but Once." Meantime the Beauty Specialist was busily
engaged in preparing the testimonials for the newspapers.
Presently the Tin Woodman sat up and said: "My gaiters seem
to be still in the same old fashion as before, and my nose is quite
unchanged. Yet I have performed the required exercises so faithfully
that I have made a dent in the back of my neck with my right toe."
"I am obliged to confess these rollers a failure,"
joined in the Woggle-Bug. "A bug has no business with a
complexion, anyhow. Let's get out of here."
The Pumpkinhead now removed his mask, but it was the same old
Pumpkinhead that met their view, and Jack gazed at the Beauty
Specialist reproachfully.
Soon the Scarecrow rubbed the "Beauty Bloom" from his
face with a towel, and his friends were filled with horror when they
found that every vestige of paint had come off also, and instead of
his usual exhibit of pleasing features, the Scarecrow's head was now
nothing more than a cloth sack stuffed with bran and short bits of
straw.
Great was the grief of the party from Oz at this mishap to their
leader. But Mme. Qui-Sym was quite equal to the emergency.
"Fortunately, I can paint his old features on the sack
again, for I have a picture of the Scarecrow that I cut from a
recent newspaper."
So she took a newspaper picture out of a drawer, to serve as a
model, and then began painting, while the others watched her. But
she had only made a nose and a mouth and a mustache when they all
cried:
"Stop!" and the Woggle-Bug added, angrily: "You're
putting another man's features on our friend."
"Why, to be sure!" exclaimed the Beauty Specialist.
"It's an equally famous personage, but I got hold of the wrong
picture. Never mind, I'll wash it off and begin over again."
This time she selected the right picture from those in the
drawer, and cleverly painted a new face upon the sack.
"Thanks," murmured the Scarecrow. "I now realize
now necessary a face is to the average person, for without one I
found myself at a serious disadvantage."
"Yes," agreed the Tin Woodman, "it strikes me a
face is equally useful whether it happens to be plain or beautiful.
So let us abandon this absurd quest of beauty, and be thankful that
we possess faces that answer all practical purposes."
The Scarecrow looked into a mirror. "For a Scarecrow, I am
really not bad looking," said he.
"And my pumpkinhead will, I am sure hold its own with any
other pumpkin head," declared Jack.
"I have yet failed to meet a tin man who is my superior,"
said Nick Chopper, confidently.
"Why, then, let us turn over this Beauty Specialist to those
who are more foolish and discontented than we are," observed
the Scarecrow. "I am sorry all the world does not consider us
handsome, but let us remember that old adage that 'handsome is as
handsome does'."
"Nevertheless," said the Woggle-Bug, airily, "you
had a narrow escape. For had she painted upon you that she first
started, you would have lost your identity."
"Whose face was it?" asked the Scarecrow, anxiously.
And the Woggle-Bug told him that the Beauty Specialist had almost
made him look like the famous financier J. Pierpont Morgan.
HOW THE ADVENTURERS ENCOUNTERED AN UNKNOWN BEAST
Now the Scarecrow and his party had been assured more than once
that they are perfectly safe anywhere in the United States; so they
have no fears whatever in venturing to explore this country, which
is said to be highly civilized and so energetically governed that
danger cannot lurk in any of its darkest corners.
Never doubting the truth of these assertions, our visitors from
the Land of Oz have no hesitation in making long excursions into
various parts of the country, and it was while upon one of these
excursions that the adventure befell them which I am about to
relate.
They had journeyed in the flying Gump to a barren and uninhabited
in Arizona, and although at one time tempted to alight in a little
village where a big tent with flying streamers was displayed, the
Scarecrow induced them to restrain their curiosity and proceed to
the alkali plains, which were an interesting sight indeed to those
who had always lived in the fertile Land of Oz, where rich
vegetation prevailed on every hand.
"There is not much to see here," said the Tin Woodman,
after glancing around.
"That is the beauty of this landscape," declared the
Woggle-Bug, pompously.
"There isn't a living thing in sight," sighed the Tin
Woodman, as the Gump slowly fluttered to the ground.
"Oh, yes, there is," said the Pumpkinhead, whose eyes
were considerably bigger than those of his comrades. "I see
something waving at us from behind that big rock over there."
They all looked in the direction of the big rock; and there, sure
enough, was something that resembled a rope with the end frayed out,
moving slowly to and fro above the summit.
"Let us see what it is!" exclaimed the Scarecrow, whose
curiosity was excited.
So Jack got his Sawhorse to the ground and mounted it, and the
Gump fluttered with the others close to the vicinity of the big
rock.
"It's the tail of some animal," declared the Scarecrow.
"Then don't venture too near, until we discover if the
animal is friend or foe," suggested the WoggleBug, beginning to
get uneasy.
Just as he spoke a curious sound came from behind the rock, and
then the head of a beast, decked with a long flowing mane, was
suddenly raised above the barrier.
"A lion!" cried the Woggle-Bug, and immediately the
most startling confusion prevailed. For the Gump twisted sideways
and tumbled its occupants to the ground, and then fled, screaming,
to a far distance. The Sawhorse, plunging with fright, also threw
his rider into the midst of the group and bolted away with frantic
leaps.
Left thus to confront the supposed lion, and without means to
escape, the confusion of the adventurers redoubled; but when the
animal leaped upon the summit of the rock and began hurling stones
at them with its hands, the calm judgment of the Scarecrow at once
assured them that their enemy could not be a lion.
Somewhat reassured by this, the others struggled to regain their
feet, and the Woggle-Bug implored the Tin Woodman to chop the
strange animal with his gleaming axe. This the kind-hearted Woodman
refused to do; but when a stone struck him in his chest and made a
dent in his bright tin, his indignation overcame his gentleness and
he seized and rushed furiously upon the foe.
The animal turned tail at once and scrambled back over the rock;
but when the Tin Woodman attempted to follow it he was astonished to
come face to face with a queer-looking old man, who waved him aside
and shouted in a cracked voice:
"You let that beast alone! He's mine."
"I'm sure you are welcome to him," said the Woggle-Bug,
"but why did you allow your property to fling stones at us?"
"I was asleep," returned the old man, in a surly tone.
"This fellow escaped last night from our Circus and Menagerie —
Greatest Show on Earth, you know — and hid out amid these
rocks. And I've had the chase of my life to get him again. So I sat
down to rest and fell asleep just as you came along."
"We accept your apology," said the Scarecrow politely.
"But what sort of a beast is it?"
"I've got to get back to the circus," declared the man,
who was dressed in a soiled and faded and otherwise outlandish
costume.
"What kind of beast is it?" asked the Tin Woodman,
gently but firmly.
"Admission twenty-five cents, children half price,"
said the man.
"Please tell us what it is!" implored Jack Pumpkinhead.
"Only one in captivity," muttered the man, turning to
depart.
The people from Oz were by this time so annoyed by the old man's
impolite treatment that they might have protested in a forcible
manner had not the Woggle-Bug said:
"Never mind that circus fellow. I know what kind of animal
it is, and will gladly tell you."
So they gathered around the Woggle-Bug, who told them that the
queer creature was a Gelada baboon.
JACK PUMPKINHEAD AND THE SAWHORSE WIN A RACE AND INCITE A
RIOT: THE WOGGLE-BUG RESTORES HARMONY
The Scarecrow and the Woggle-Bug, with their comrades, decided to
visit the Jones County Fair, as Dorothy assured them it was one of
the most interesting events of the year. But their appearance on the
Fair Grounds spoiled the business of all the sideshows, for the
people thought nothing quite so wonderful as the queer visitors from
Oz, and it cost nothing at all to stare at them.
Dorothy decided to take them over to the race track, which was
the center of attraction at the Fair.
But once there, the Scarecrow became so greatly interested in the
event of the day that he decided to enter the animated Sawhorse in
the Free-for-all Running Race, although they warned him the race was
to be run under regular Jockey Club rules, which would be strictly
enforced. Jack Pumpkinhead readily agreed to ride his famous steed.
When Jack rode calmly upon the track the crowd jeered at sight of
the wooden horse, and the bookmakers at once made the Sawhorse a 90
to 1 shot and found no takers. For the assembled farmers had no
confidence in an animal made of wood, a hickory pedigree being
considered of little account.
There was some trouble in getting a start for this great race, as
the Sawhorse got nervous at mixing with common horses, and pranced
around to show that although he was not so big as they were he was
certainly more handsome and more agile.
At last the judge cried the word "Go!" and away swept
the race horses, with the wooden animal far behind the others. But
now the Sawhorse realized that it was time to prove his great speed;
so he settled down to a steady run that was swift as the wind. One
by one he overtook the other horses and passed them, but when the
racers turned into the homestretch the judges in their stand and all
the people in the grand stand behind them all saw that the Sawhorse
was in the lead, with the others stringing after him in single file.
As he dashed along, Jack carelessly leaned backward, and the wind
caught his head and jerked it from the wooden neck that supported it
and sent the pumpkin, which weighed over ten pounds, full tilt
against the jockey who was riding just behind. The force of the blow
sent the fellow sprawling in the dust of the track, but the pumpkin
head, still keeping its course, struck down the next jockey —
and the next — until all the jockeys were down.
The Woggle-Bug, who was standing outside the paling, saw Jack's
head fall off, and sprang over the fence and upon the track just as
the last rider had been bowled over. And by good fortune he saved
the head from being smashed or cracked by cleverly catching it in
his arms and running with it to Jack, whom he knew to be always
uneasy without his head. The Sawhorse, coming first under the wire,
had passed abruptly under the judges' stand, while the other horses
had bolted for the stables; but now the dismounted jockeys came
running up, angrily protesting against Jack, while the farmers in
the grand stand shook their fists at the Sawhorse and yelled.
Seeing this, the Woggle-Bug, using all his arms and legs to good
advantage, crawled up the outside of the judges' stand, and, making
the surprised officials a polite bow, said to them: "It is
evident, your honors, that the horses are all disqualified, and it
is no race."
"That is my opinion," answered the chief judge; "but
be good enough to explain why, under the rules, the horses are
disqualified,"
So the Woggle-Bug whispered the reason in the judge's ear, and
the official nodded his approval and rang the gong furiously to
compel the crowd to silence.
"We have decided," he shouted, as soon as he could be
heard, "to call it no race, and an eminent visitor from Oz, Mr.
H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E., will now explain to you the reason."
With one hand on his heart, another waving a flag and a third
throwing kisses to the ladies, the Woggle-Bug gracefully removed his
hat with his fourth hand and addressed the crowd in a clear,
distinct voice.
Immediately, the greatest confusion prevailed, with joy taking
the place of anger; for the occupants of the grand stand shouted
gleefully and tossed their hats into the air and everybody shook
hands excitedly with everybody else and embraced the persons nearest
them without stopping to consider whether they had been previously
introduced or not.
In fact, the entire crowd was happy except one old gentleman who
was quite deaf, and therefore uncertain as to what had happened. But
he had an ear-trumpet with him, so he held the big horn toward
Dorothy, who sat next to him, and inquired, eagerly:
"What did the Woggle-Bug say?"
And the little girl had to shout with all her might in order to
make the old gentleman hear her answer.
"The horses were disqualified because when they came under
the wire, they were under weight."
THE SCARECROW BECOMES A MAN OF MEANS IN SPITE OF THE GIRLS AT
A CHURCH FAIR
It was during a morning ride among the mountains that a strange
accident happened to the queer people from the Land of Oz. The Gump
hit his left wing against a rocky pinnacle and dumped all our
friends into a great Jackdaw's nest that was perched upon a ledge of
rock. At once the Jackdaws began screaming and fighting the
intruders, and when at last they were driven away by the efforts of
the Tin Woodman and the Woggle-Bug, it was discovered that the birds
had stolen every wisp of straw from the Scarecrow's body and left
nothing of him but his head and the clothes and boots he had worn.
At first our friends despaired of saving the poor Scarecrow; but
Jack Pumpkinhead, on searching the nest, discovered bushels of odds
and ends that the thieving Jackdaws had stolen during many years and
hidden in their inaccessible nest. Among the treasures were many
banknotes, of large and small denominations, and with these the
Ozites restuffed the Scarecrow, who was thereby in reality "made
of money."
Feeling quite proud of their work, they now boarded the Gump and
flew away from the nest, landing presently in a pretty town where a
Church Fair was being held. All of the party except the Gump and the
Sawhorse paid a visit to the Fair, where the pretty girls in
attendance soon discovered the money sticking out of the Scarecrow
and joyfully decided to sacrifice him to the cause of Charity.
Pretty girls at Church Fairs know how to do this neatly and with
dispatch, so that presently the Tin Woodman discovered that the
unfortunate Scarecrow had been picked as clean by the girls as he
had been by the Jackdaws! Calling to his friends to assist him, the
Tin Woodman gathered up the Scarecrow's empty clothes, while the
Pumpkinhead carried his head and hat and the Woggle-Bug his boots;
and then they marched sorrowfully away to rejoin the waiting Gump.
Just then the Woggle-Bug, thrusting his hand into one of the
boots, drew out five bills that had been crowded into the toe and so
escaped the notice of the Church Fair girls. "Good!" cried
the Insect, much pleased; "our friend the Scarecrow is saved!"
"How do you make that out?" inquired the Pumpkinhead.
"Why, they are luckily very big bills," returned the
wise Woggle-Bug. "Three of them are Unites States banknotes for
$1000 each; one is for 500 pounds on the Bank of England; and one
for $100 in Canadian money. These we will take to the nearest Bank
and have them changed into one-dollar United States bills, and there
ought to be enough of the to stuff the Scarecrow in fine shape."
So they made haste to reach a Bank, where the Woggle-Bug
presented the five bills to the to the cashier and asked to have
them changed into the one-dollar United States bills. The cashier
made some figures on a piece of paper and the began handing out
great bundles of one-dollar bills, which the Tin Woodman and the
Woggle-Bug separated and crumpled up and stuffed into the
Scarecrow's clothes.
When they had finished he stood before them smiling as genially
as ever, and made a speech thanking the Woggle-Bug for rescuing him
from ruin.
"You are not so rich as you were before the girls saw you,"
said the Tin Woodman; "but you may yet be considered a wealthy
man."
"How many one-dollar bills did the cashier give you?"
asked the Pumpkinhead.
The Woggle-Bug looked at the paper on which the cashier had made
his figures and started to reply.
"Stop!" cried the Scarecrow; "I don't want anyone
but myself to know how much I am worth. But you may tell, friend
Woggle-Bug, how many dollars you got for that English and Canadian
money." So the Woggle-Bug took him aside and told him that the
cashier's figures added up to $3,431.25.
HOW THE WOGGLE-BUG PROVED HIS KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY
That adventures may be met with in the hamlets of these strange
United States, as well as in the wild and unsettled portions of the
country, was fully demonstrated by the visitors from Oz when they
halted in a quiet little village that the Woggle-Bug might quench
his thirst at a well.
This the Insect quickly did, the water being cool and refreshing;
but the others of the party, who never drink anything at all because
of their peculiar constitutions, began to exhibit great curiousity
as to how the water got into this deep well, and why the sides were
built of stone, and a dozen other things that would probably never
occur to us who are accustomed to seeing wells.
Jack Pumpkinhead seemed especially interested, and, although the
Scarecrow warned him not to lean too far over the well, he insisted
upon gazing down into the depths beneath. The result of this
recklessness might well have been anticipated, for the pumpkinhead
that Jack wore was merely set upon a wooden pin that served him for
a neck, and was constantly getting twisted. Sometimes, indeed, it
slipped off entirely; and this was what happened as Jack leaned over
the well. Next moment his frightened companions heard a great splash
as the pumpkin struck the water far below them.
"There!" cried the Scarecrow, with a catch in his
breath; "our poor friend is indeed ruined!"
"A person who loses his head so easily as Jack,"
growled the Saw-Horse, "is never to be depended upon. All he's
good for now is kindling wood." This unfeeling speech referred
to Jack's body being made of wood, the various parts being jointed
together so that he could use them conveniently. But without a head
to direct it, this body was, in truth, of very little worth.
The Woggle-Bug, although startled by the accident to his friend,
had little to say. Instead he was already busily engaged in thinking
of a way of rescuing Jack from his watery grave.
It has been said, with considerable lack of kindness, that the
Woggle-Bug's excellent education is of little acount, because it is
applied to a Woggle-Bug intellect; but the wonderful insect is
constantly proving the falsity of this scandal by doing and saying
brilliant things which many people of regulation brains would be
very proud of.
The Woggle-Bug's learning served him well at this critical
moment, for an idea came to him that soon sent him running to a
nearby drug store as fast as his slender legs would carry him.
Presently he returned with two great packets, the mysterious
contents of which he quickly dumped into the well. Next moment, to
the astonishment of his comrades, who were wondering if the Insect
had gone crazy, a great sizzling and bubbling was heard from the
depths of the well, accompanied by strong fumes, that made them gasp
and sneeze as they withdrew from the edge of the curb.
Higher and higher rose the water in the well, roaring and
spluttering as it came, and Jack's floating head rose with it, until
the pumpkin suddenly popped high into the air and was caught by the
Tin Woodman in a nervous but safe embrace.
Then, as the water slowly subsided again, the adventurers from
the Land of Oz cried "Saved!" with one glad voice, and
shook the Woggle-Bug's numerous hands with real gratitude.
The Scarecrow carefully wiped the moisture from the pumpkin with
a wisp of straw taken from his own body, and then restored the head
to Jack's neck; and you may be sure the poor fellow was highly
delighted at the reunion.
As they proceeded merrily upon their journey the Tin Woodman
inquired curiously:
"My dear Wog, what was that powder you so cleverly used to
rescue Jack?"
And the highly magnified Woggle-Bug, with justifiable pride in
his achievement, willingly told that it was Seidlitz powder.
HOW THE WOGGLE-BUG GOT A THANKSGIVING DINNER
One day, while the Woggle-Bug was walking through the streets of
a big city, he came upon a little girl who was crying bitterly. She
was dressed in worn and faded garments, and her feet were bare —
although the air was frosty and the pavement of the street very
cold. Now, the Woggle-Bug would surely have felt the cold himself
had not his body been so warmly clothed, so he had pity for the poor
child, and removing his hat as politely as if she were a great lady
he asked:
"Tell me, little one, why are you dripping water from
between your eyelids?"
"Because," she sobbed, "Th-Th-Thanksgiving is
c-coming!"
"Can't it be stopped?" inquired the Woggle-Bug,
sympathetically.
"I don't want it s-s-stopped," replied the child; "only
I'd like a turkey for Thanks-giving, like the rich people have."
"Oh, turkey, eh?" said the Insect, thoughtfully. "Now,
whatever could a little girl like you do with a turkey, I wonder."
"Ea-ea-eat it!" she sobbed.
"To be sure!" exclaimed the Woggle-Bug. "How
strange I never thought of eating turkeys for Thanksgiving. But why
haven't you a turkey to eat?"
"We're too poo-poor to b-buy one!" she answered.
"Well, well, my dear," said the Bug, in a kindly tone,
"I'll promise to bring you all the turkeys you can eat-and I
never break a promise. So shut off the water from your eyes, and
turn on a few smiles."
Then, after inquiring where the girl lived, he left her and went
back to his friends from the Land of Oz.
"I must have a few turkeys for a little girl to eat,"
said he. "Now, where would you advise me to get them?"
"This morning as I rode in the Gump," announced the Tin
Woodman, "I saw great flocks of wild turkeys flying over the
woods."
"Oh! That gives me an idea," cried the Insect. "I'll
take the Gump and catch some fine wild turkeys for my little
friend."
So he climbed into the Gump, which was always ready and willing
to serve the queer people from Oz, and in less than an hour the
Woggle-Bug was floating over the forests where the wild turkeys
lived.
Several flocks of the birds were then flying about; but they were
shy of the Gumo, and kept away from it. Therefore the Woggle-Bug
resolved to capture them in another way, and made four lassoes out
of a roll of stout cord, tying a slip-noose in the end of each. The
next flock of turkeys that he saw he ordered the Gump to chase, and
so swift was the flight of this marvelous creature that before the
birds knew it the Gump was in the centre of the flock.
Then the Woggle-Bug threw the four lassoes with his four hands,
and a slip-noose settled over the heads of four of the birds,
arresting their flight very suddenly. A minute after they were drawn
into the Gump.
With much pride the Woggle-Bug displayed the four birds before
the wondering eyes of his friends; and then, accompanied by the
Scarecrow, he carried them to the home of the poor child.
"Oh! Oh!" she exclaimed; "what beautiful turkeys!"
"Only three of them are turkeys," said the wise Insect.
"The fourth bird was flying with the flock, but it's quite
different from the turkeys. However, I think the three turkeys will
be sufficient for your Thanksgiving dinner."
"Oh, yes, indeed!" said she, greatly delighted. "But
what IS the strange bird?"
And the Woggle-Bug, who seemed to know everything, at once told
her it was a Hornbill.
THE SCARECROW TELLS A FAIRY TALE TO CHILDREN AND HEARS A
EQUALLY MARVELOUS TRUE STORY
"Tell me a fairy story about America," said the
Scarecrow, as he sat upon a park bench with a group of children
about him.
"All right," replied a bright-faced boy standing at the
straw man's knee. "Once upon a time a man used a great ship to
lay a wire rope along the bottom of the ocean, with one end of the
rope resting in America and the other end in Europe. And since then
a person in America can talk to a person in Europe, and recieve an
answer in return, in the space of a few minutes, although it takes
days to make the voyage across. And the words are carried along the
wire rope by means of signs that stand for letters.
"That is indeed a surprising story," exclaimed the
Scarecrow. "You must have wonderful fairies here.
We have nothing to match that achievement in the country I came
from."
"But now tell us a fairy story about the Land of Oz,"
begged the boy eagerly. So the Scarecrow began as follows:
"You must know, my dears, that in the Land of Oz everything
has life that can become of any use by living. Now, I do not know of
what use a live Scarecrow can be unless he serves to amuse children;
but it is a fact that, as soon as the farmer had stuffed me into the
shape of a man, and made me a head by using this excellent cotton
sack, I began to realize that I was a part of the big world and had
come to life.
"Of course, I could not see, nor hear, nor talk at first;
but the farmer brought a paint pot and a brush, and upon the front
surface of my head, where a face properly belongs, he began to
paint. First he made this left eye, which you observe is a beautiful
circle, with a dot in the centre of it. The first object I saw with
this eye was the farmer himself, and, you may be sure, I watched him
carefully as he painted my other eye. I have always considered that
man an artist; otherwise he could not have made me so handsome. My
right is even finer than the left, and, after making it, the farmer
gave me this exquisite nose with which I gathered the scent of the
wild flowers and the new-mown hay and the furrows of sweet and
fertile earth. Next my mouth was manufactured, so excellently shaped
that I have never ceased to be proud of it; but I could not then
speak, for I knew no words by which to express my feelings. Then
followed these lovely ears, which completed my features. And now I
heard the loud breathing of the farmer, who was fat and inclined to
asthma, and the twittering songs of the birds and the whisper of the
winds as they glided across the meadows, and the chatter of the
field mice — and many other pleasant and delightful sounds.
"Indeed, I now believed myself fully the equal of the man
who had made me; but the idea was soon dispelled when the farmer sat
me upon a stout pole in the cornfield and then walked away with his
paint pot and left me. I tried at once to follow , but my feet would
not touch the earth, and so I could not escape from the pole.
"Near me was a stile, and people crossing the fields would
often stop at the stile and converse; so that by listening to them I
soon learned how to speak properly. I had a fine view of the country
from my elevation, and plenty of time to examine it curiously.
Moreover, the crows often came and perched upon my head and
shoulders and talked of the big world they had seen; so my education
was unusually broad and diverse.
"But I longed to see the big world of Oz for myself, and my
real mission in life — to scare the crows
— seemed to be a failure. The birds even grew fond me and
spoke to me pleasantly while they dug up the grains of corn the
farmer had planted.
"One day I noticed a little girl sitting upon the stile. She
was a stranger, I knew at once, and by the perplexed look on her
face I guessed she had lost her way. So I spoke to her, and we made
friends; and, after telling me that she had been blown by a cyclone
from a far-away land called Kansas, the girl consented to lift me
from the pole and set me upon my feet. I could hardly walk at first,
being unused to my legs and not knowing how to manage them; but the
little girl helped me along, and, before we had traveled many miles,
I could walk as perfectly as I do now.
"Since then I have had many strange adventures, but life in
the Land of Oz was really peaceful when compared to the experiences
I am meeting in America."
As the Scarecrow concluded his story the children clapped their
hands in delight.
"Now, that was a real fairy tale, and truly marvelous!"
cried the boy at his knee.
"But not more marvelous than your own tale of the wire rope
that carried words across the ocean,"
replied the Scarecrow.
"That wire rope is called a cabe," said a soft voice
behind the Scarecrow, and turning his head he saw that the
Woggle-Bug had joined them and was standing behind the bench.
"Oh! do you know about the story?" asked the Scarecrow,
surprised at his friend's great knowledge.
"Yes, indeed," answered the Woggle-Bug. "I can
even tell you the exact year the first telegraph message was sent
from America to Europe across the Atlantic cable."
"What year was it?" asked the Scarecrow, much
interested.
And the Woggle-Bug, after a moment's thought, told him truly that
the exact year was 1858.
JACK PUMPKINHEAD PAWNS THE SAW-HORSE
As Jack Pumpkinhead rode his wooden steed along the street one
day, he passed by a department store, where his attention was
arrested by a fine Mexican saddle displayed in the window. It at
once occured to Jack that this saddle would be quite pretty and
comfortable upon the back of the Saw-horse, and he longed to posess
it. But upon the saddle was a card reading: "Only $7.93,"
and Jack reflected, with a sigh, that he did not own a single penny
of that money which the people in America demand in exchange for
merchandise. So he continued upon his way, until, presently, he
noticed a peculiar emblem swinging above the door to the shop. This
symbol, so remarkable to the man from Oz, was composed of three
golden balls arranged in the form of a triangle, and our Pumpkinhead
halted the Saw-Horse while he stared at it curiously. Then he
allowed his to wander the shop window, which bore upon the glass
this inscription: "A. Jackson Lily, Money Lender."
"Why, here is a way provided for me to purchase that pretty
saddle," said Jack, with real pleasure; "I have only to
ask this Mr. Lily to lend me the money, and then return to the store
and get the saddle.
These queer American ways are not at all difficult to understand,
if one tries to be intelligent!"
So he boldly rode the Saw-Horse through the doorway over which
the three golden balls hung, and the wooden hoofs of the Saw-Horse
clattered merrily upon the floor and soon brought a man from a
little room in the rear.
"Here, you fellow! Don't you know better than to ride into a
gentleman's shop?" exclaimed the man.
"No, indeed," responded Jack. "If I knew better I
would not do such a thing."
"What do you want?" asked the man.
"I wish to borrow $7.93," returned the Pumpkinhead
readily.
"Very well, sir," said the man. "Where is your
security?"
"My security?" answered Jack, puzzled. "My
security? Ah! My security lies in keeping my head fresh as long as
possible."
The man stared at him and shook his curly head as if perplexed.
"You must give me something that is worth $7.93 as a pledge
that you will return the money," he explained; and your head
won't do at all, as I can get better pumpkins for a nickel apiece."
"I am sure you underestimate my worth," replied the
Pumpkinhead, stiffly. With these words he turned the Saw-Horse
around in order to leave the shop; but as soon as the wooden animal
began to move, the money lender expressed great interest and cried
out: "Stop, my friend! I will gladly lend you the money you
wish, if you will leave this wooden horse with me as a pledge."
"That seems fair and reasonable," answered Jack, and he
at once dismounted from the back of the Saw-Horse. The man counted
him out the sum of $7.93 and gave it to Jack, together with a little
green ticket.
Greatly pleased with his sucess, Jack Pumpkinhead walked from the
shop of the money lender and retraced his steps to the department
store. The pretty saddle, surrounded by many other articles, was
still displayed in the window, and, standing before the glass, Jack
found no less a personage that Mr.
H.M. Woggle-Bug, T.E.
"Hullo!" said he to his friend. "Come inside with
me while I get a saddle for the Saw-Horse."
"You cannot get it without money," answered the
Woggle-Bug. "These Americans want money for everything."
"I am not so ignorant as you suppose," declared Jack,
proudly. "See! Here is the sum of money require — exactly
$7.93."
"Where did you get it?" inquired his friend, curiously.
"From a money lender down the street," replied Jack.
"And what did you give him in exchange?"
"The Saw-Horse," said Jack."
"Dear me!" sighed the Woggle-Bug; "why did I not
keep an eye upon you? You need a guardian, friend Jack."
"Why so?" asked Jack, wonderingly.
"Because you have given away the Saw-Horse for money to buy
him a saddle. When you have bought the saddle, you will have no
Saw-Horse to put it on. Does not that strike you as being an absurd
act?"
"Yes, it really does," admitted Jack.
"Then, instead of buyinh the saddle, return the money to the
man and get back your Saw-Horse, which is of great value to you
during your travels."
So Jack, accompanied by the Woggle-Bug, returned to the shop of
the money lender. Mr. Lily had placed the Saw-Horse in his show
window, where it had attracted great attention. Somewhat dazed at
being abandone by it's master, the Saw-Horse stood with outspread
legs in a patient attitude, while around it was arranged a profusion
of old guitars, teapots, second-hand eye glasses and last year's
straw hats.
Jack entered the shop and handed the gentleman the money and the
green ticket and asked for the Saw-Horse. But the money lender
refused to make the exchange without more money.
"I must have interest," said he, "to pay me for
making the loan. One more dollar, please!"
"I have no more money," answered Jack; "and, as I
have returned to you the full sum that I recieved, I now demand my
Saw-Horse."
"I shall keep both the Saw-Horse and the money until you pay
me the interest," declared Mr. Lily.
So Jack and the Woggle-Bug returned to the street, where they
gazed sadly though the glass at the beloved form of the Saw-Horse.
Goodbye, dear friend!" said Jack, wiping a tear from his
left eye. "Through my ignorance I have lost your companionship
forever!"
But, as they turned away, the Saw-Horse solved the problem by
dashing his wooden heels against the glass so forcibly that the pane
was shattered to fragments. Next moment he leaped through the
opening to the sidewalk, and Jack mounted to his back rode away
before the astonished Mr. Lily could recover from his astonishment.
"It is always well to avoid those shops where the three
golden balls are displayed," said the WoggleBug, when they were
at a safe distance.
"Why do money lenders display three golden balls?"
asked Jack.
"It is an ancient custom," replied the wise Insect;
"for the three balls were taken from the armorial bearings of a
famous and nocle Lombard family of the thirteenth century, the head
of which family was among the first money lenders.
"What was the name of that famous Lombard family?"
inquired the Pumpkinhead, as he patted the neck of his Saw-Horse.
"I'll tell you," said the Woggle-Bug, and at once gave
Jack the desired information: that it was the de Medici family.
DOROTHY SPENDS AN EVENING WITH HER OLD FRIENDS AND IS
ENTERTAINED WITH WONDERFUL EXHIBITIONS
Dorothy had come to spend an evening with her old friends from
Oz, who were occupying pleasant rooms provided for them by the Mayor
of the city.
"It does seem like old times to be with folks from the Land
of Oz again," said she. "I think the reason I love you all
is because you are so different."
"Yes," remarked the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "I
have learned since we came to visit America that we are quite
different from your earth people. They call us fairies, and think
everything we do is the result of magic."
"But, really, you are fairies, in a way," declared
little Dorothy, "and you do wonderful things."
"You people also do wonderful things," said the
Woggle-Bug, who was present; "but no one here seems surprised
at moving-pictures, talking-machines, or telephones — which
surely owe their origin to magical arts."
"That is because we are used to them," the little girl
replied. "The things that interest us are those we seldom see.
Won't you perform some of your own magic for me this evening?"
"With great pleasure," answered the Scarecrow, "it
is our duty to strive to amuse our guests, and we will attempt to do
some things you seldom see in America."
As he spoke he looked around the room and noticed, hanging upon
the wall, a full-length picture of an old gentleman standing in a
gilt frame. Folding his arms behind hs back the Scarecrow uttered
the magic word: "Naubau!"
At once the old gentleman stepped from the background of the
picture and made a polite bow to the company. The he unfastened the
empty frame from the wall, caught it under his left arm, and began
to dance a graceful and dignified jig, while the Woggle-Bug whistled
a tune for accompaniment.
Dorothy watched him with great delight, and when he had completed
his dance the old gentleman wiped his brow with his handkerchief,
made another bow, hung the gilt frame upon its nail, and then
stepped back into it. Next moment he was a picture again, flat and
motionless as before.
"That was very interesting," said Dorothy.
The Tin Woodman now stepped forward and made three magic signs,
one after the other.
"Look out," said he, "but don't get frightened."
The he took off his funnel-shaped hat and held it in front of
him, and immediately a stream of water gushed from the funnel and
fell upon the carpet. Dorothy screamed a little and stood upon her
chair to keep from getting wet. Faster and faster came the water
from the funnel, flooding all the floor of the room, and rising
steadily until it almost reached the seats of the chairs on which
all the party were now perched.
The Tin Woodman spoke a queer word that sounded like
"chugaremolumchug!" and at once the little girl perceived
enormous fishes swimming in the water. They were of many brilliant
colors and all were lighted from within themselves, so that their
bright colored scales glowed like the stained-glass windows of
churches.
While the girl looked on wonderingly the Tin Woodman spoke
another word and replaced the funnel upon his head. At once the
gorgeous fish disappeared; the flood subsided, and — strange
to say — not a drop of moisture remained upon the carpet or
furniture to show where the water had been.
"That was strange and beautiful!" said Dorothy, with a
sigh, as she resumed her seat upon the chair.
It was now the Woggle-Bug's turn. The wise Insect took a
flower-pot filled with fresh earth and proceeded to bury a seed
within the soil. Then he set the flower-pot upon the floor and said:
"Usually, as you know, it takes many years for a tree to
grow from a seed. That is because Nature supplies very slowly the
elements of chemistry required to enable the tree to increase in
size, and therefore it is obliged to grow just as slowly. But
tonight I shall give the seed a large quantity of food it requires
to make it grow, and you will be surprised at the result."
He now crossed two fingers of his right upper hand, three fingers
of his left upper hand, and four fingers of his right lower hand.
Then with his left lower hand he made rapid circles above the
flower-pot. At once a plant sprang into sight, rising higher and
higher and spreading its breadth until it reached the ceiling, while
it many branches nearly filled the room. Birds then appeared upon
the limbs of this magic tree, warbling sweet songs; and although the
night without was cold and dreary, this beautiful tree seemed to
breathe a fragrance of summer and sunshine.
Dorothy's eyes were fixed admiringly upon the tree when the
Woggle-Bug made a quick movement with all his four arms — a
signal well known in magic by the people of Oz.
At once the tree shrank down into the pot and disappeared, and
the room resumed its former appearance.
"That was indeed wonderful!" exclaimed the little girl.
"What kind of a tree was it that you made to grow?"
"I'll tell you," said the Woggle-Bug, and he whispered
to her that the name of the tree was Banyan.
HOW THE WOGGLE-BUG AND HIS FRIENDS VISITED SANTA CLAUS
"It's nearly Christmas time," said the Scarecrow,
yesterday, "and I really think we ought to do something for the
children of America who have welcomed us so kindly."
"What can we do?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"Why, it seems that on every Christmas Santa Claus brings
the children toys for presents. So it strikes me that we also ought
to furnish toys for the little ones, to prove our love for them,"
returned the Scarecrow.
"But where can we get the toys?" the Woggle-Bug
inquired. "We have no money with which to purchase such
things."
"True," acknowledged the Straw Man; "but in Oz we
do without money, because when we want a thing we create it by means
of the magical arts we are learned in. Let us therefore provide, by
means of our magic, the toys we require for the children."
This suggestion being agreed to, they all retired to private
rooms, that they might create the toys undisturbed and before long
the Tin Woodman came back with an armful of tiny tin men that were
exact duplicates of himself. They were all jointed in their legs and
arms, and their heads could be made to turn to right or left.
Soon after, the Scarecrow entered the room carrying a lot of rag
dolls that were small images of himself. These baby scarecrows were
very quaint and amusing, and there was no doubt the children would
like them. Then Jack Pumpkinhead brought in a number of small
pumpkin heads, made out of paper, but with features exactly
resembling Jack himself.
"They're hollow inside," said Jack; "but the
children can fill them with candy."
When the Woggle-Bug entered the room he brought quantities of wee
wogglebugs, dressed just like himself, and having their four arms
and their legs made of wire and covered with fuzzy worsted. These
toys were so comical that all the party laughed when they saw them.
"But our friend the Saw-Horse must not be neglected,"
said the Scarecrow; so he went away and did a little more magic, and
soon returned with a drove of small wooden sawhorses, which had
wheels under each of their legs, so that the children could draw
them over the floor by means of strings.
"Let us carry them to Santa Claus," suggested the Tin
Woodman. "He can take them in his sleigh and distribute them
with his other Christmas gifts."
This plan being approved, the entire party mounted aboard the
Gump, which flew with them far away to the Laughing Valley where
Santa Claus lives. They found the dear old man sitting in an easy
chair before the fire, and smoking a short pipe. He had finished his
yearly labors, and his sleigh was already loaded with packages of
toys for the children's Christmas, while thw ten reindeer stamped
impatiently to be off and away upon their journey.
"You are just in time!" exclaimed Santa, "and I
will gladly carry your toys to the little ones."
"We would like every child to have one of them," said
the Scarecrow.
"But — good gracious, my friends!" cried the
bluff old Santa, "you haven't enough for a quarter of the
children I shall visit."
This news made the people from Oz very sad and downcast; but,
noticing this, the good old man added: "Never mind; I'll make
them go as far as I can, and these toys are so pretty that next year
I will make a lot of them myself, so that every child may get one
for Christmas. But now I must be off, or I shall never get my
journey finished by Christmas morning."
So Santa Claus placed the toys in his sleigh and himself mounted
the seat. The people of Oz also got into the Gump again, and then
Santa said, with a sly wink:
"Let's have a race."
"To be sure," agreed the Scarecrow; "but nothing
can go so swiftly as the flight of the Gump."
Santa Claus made no answer in words, but he cracked his long
whip, and away shot the reindeer —
swift as the wind.
The Gump flew as it had never flown before, but every effort to
keep pace with the sleigh of jolly Santa was in vain, and presently
the people of Oz looked down through the moonlight and saw a tiny
speck far ahead of them, which was their last view of the
sleigh-load of toys destined for the children's Christmas.
"We are beaten," remarked the Scarecrow. "But I
imagine Santa Claus is a greater magician than any that has ever
lived in our Land of Oz."
And the Woggle-Bug quoted, impressively, these lines:
" 'Around the man who seeks a noble end,
Not angels, but divinities attend.'
"That," said he, "was written by a famous American
poet."
"What was his name?" asked the Scarecrow, curiously.
And the Woggle-Bug told him that it was Ralph Waldo Emerson.
HOW THE WOGGLE-BUG FOUND A LOST CHILD AND GAVE A LESSON IN
HERALDRY
One day, while the queer visitors from the marvelous Land of Oz
were strolling along the street, a woman ran up to them, crying in a
loud voice:
"Help, kind people! Good people, help!"
"Certainly," answered the Scarecrow. "Give us but
an idea of how we may assist you and we will gladly be of service."
"My child is lost!" sobbed the woman. "Please —
oh, please help me to find her."
"I'll go!" cried the sympathetic Jack Pumpkinhead, and
at once he put spurs to the Saw-Horse and dashed down the street.
"Now, that is just like a pumpkinhead," remarked the
Woggle-Bug, looking after him. "He has gone to find a child he
has never seen. Nor has he any description to guide him."
"My child! My child!" wailed the mother. "Please
help me to find her. You are fairies from Oz —
you can do anything! Please find her."
"Be patient, my poor woman," said the Tin Woodman, "and
tell us in what way you lost your child."
"I was walking down the street with her, and stopped to look
in a shop window. It was only for a moment, kind sirs, but during
that time my little girl disappeared in the crowd, and I cannot find
her anywhere. Oh — boo hoo! — what shall I do?"
"Stop crying, for one thing," suggested the Woggle-Bug,
"and tell us what your little girl looks like."
"She wears a white dress and a pink bonnet," said the
woman, trying hard to suppress her tears.
"All right, I'll find her!" exclaimed the kind-hearted
Tin Woodman; and away he rushed up the street.
"Another foolish one," remarked the Woggle-Bug. "There
may be a dozen little girls running around loose and dressed in
white, with pink bonnets. Tell me, madam, the color of your child's
hair and eyes."
"She has yellow hair and blue eyes, sir," answered the
mother, beginning to weep afresh.
The sight of her tears greatly affected the good Scarecrow.
"I'll search for your child, ma'am," said he, and
started off as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him.
"Dear me!" sighed the Woggle-Bug; "how much more
useful folks could be in an emergency if they would only stop to
think. My friends will never be able to find your child, madam; so I
must do it myself. And in order to recognize her, I will use one of
the magical agencies we sometimes employ in Oz."
Saying this, he made a tiny prick in the woman's hand, so that a
drop of blood appeared; and, taking this upon the end of his upper
right-hand finger, the Woggle-Bug made a queer mark upon her
forehead. It looked like this: 
.
"Now," said the Woggle-Bug, "the same mark will be
plainly seen on the forehead of your child, wherever she may chance
to be. So please remain here for a few moments, and I will promise
to find your little girl and return her to your arms."
"Oh, thank you! I knew you were a fairy!" exclaimed the
woman, gratefully.
"Well, of course we do things in Oz that are not done in
America," admitted the Woggle-Bug, and started at once upon his
quest.
The poor woman, still nervous and excited sat down to wait, and
presently up rode Jack Pumpkinhead with a lot of children of all
ages perched upon the Saw-Horse.
"Are any of these yours?" he asked, anxiously.
"No, indeed," answered the woman.
Just then appeared the Tin Woodman, a child riding upon his
shoulders, one under each arm, and two more led by his tin hands.
"They all have pink bonnets, ma'am," he cried: "are
any of them yours?"
"Not one of them!" replied the woman.
And now came the Scarecrow, pushing before him a crowd of
children of all sorts and conditions.
"One of these surely must be yours, ma'am," said he,
pleasantly, "for all have yellow hair and blue eyes."
"No, no!" she answered with big tears of anguish
rolling down her cheeks. "Take 'em away!"
But now the Woggle-Bug strolled up, a pretty little girl held
fast in his four arms.
"Here you are, madam!" said he. "See! She has the
same mark upon her forehead."
And while the others looked on in surprise, the mother sprang up
with a cry of joy and pressed the child to her breast, covering its
little face with a hundred loving kisses.
"Oh, thank you! thank you!" she exclaimed, in rapture;
"I knew you would find her, for you are a fairy!"
Then she turned away, and as she did so the strange red mark
disappeared from the foreheads of both mother and child.
"What was that mark?" the Scarecrow asked the
Woggle-Bug.
"A peculiar design much used in heraldry," answered the
wise insect.
"But what is it called?" inquired the Tin Woodman. The
Woggle-Bug smiled.
"It really has a name of its own," said he, "and I
shall be pleased to tell you what the mark is called."
And, while they listened intently, he told them that it was the
Cross Crosslet.
THE SCARECROW PRESENTS A MAGIC AUTOMOBILE TO A LITTLE GIRL
Now, although the queer people from Oz had come to the United
States on a pleasure trip, they were greatly pleased when an
opportunity arose for any og them to do a kindly act.
The Scarecrow was walking one day along a street where the houses
were set close together and only the poorer classes of people dwelt.
And soon he found, sitting upon a doorstep, a pretty little girl who
had covered her face with her hands and was crying softly — as
if to herself — in a very affecting manner.
The good Scarecrow was very sorry to see the child so grieved, so
he sat down beside her and said:
"Tell me, my dear, why are you so sorrowful?"
"I — I wants a — a — a automobile!"
sobbed the girl.
"Good gracious! An automobile! Then why don't you have one?"
asked the Scarecrow, somewhat surprised that so small a child should
want so large a toy.
"Because my pop's too poor to buy me one," she
answered, looking at her new friend in amazement that he should ask
such a question.
"In that case, my dear, you shouldn't want an automobile,"
said the Scarecrow, gravely.
"But I do — I do!" sobbed the child, and began
crying again.
Her tears were too much for the Scarecrow. "Very well; dry
your eyes, and I'll give you an automobile — since that is the
only thing that will make you happy," said he.
The girl thought her queer companion was making fun of her; but
he was not, indeed. He knew what an automobile was, for he had
curiously noted one of the big red ones going along the street only
that morning. So all he had to do was walk to the curbstone, where
by means of a few magic words accompanied by the magical gestures
that are usually required, he created an automobile that was exactly
the same as the one he had seen.
The little girl sprang to her feet with a cry of astonishment;
for there, before the door, stood a beautiful big red touring-car,
fitted up with leather cushions and handsome embroidered dust-robes
and lunch and golf baskets and sparkling silver lanterns, and all
the things that the most expensive automobiles possess!
"There," said the Scarecrow, "I will make you a
present of this automobile. It is your very own, to do what you like
with it; and I hope it will make you happy."
Then he bade her good-bye and walked away, soon disappearing
around a corner. The girl half expected to see the automobile
disappear, too, but it did not. It still stood before her, big and
beautiful enough to delight the heart of a millionaire.
Now, this child had especially wanted an automobile because she
believed it impossible for her ever to possess one, and now that the
coveted machine was before her she had no idea what to do with it.
She was still staring at it when her father came home from his
work to get his dinner. The man couldn't refuse to believe the
wonderful story the girl told him, for there stood the automobile to
prove it, and he had often heard of the magical powers possessed by
the people from Oz. But he was greatly perplexed, nevertheless.
"We haven't any barn to keep it in," said he, "nor
any clothes good enough to wear while riding in such a swell
chariot. And it would cost more than I earn to feed with gasoline. I
think we ought to sell it, and buy coal for the winter. Anyhow, I've
got to get back to work now, and we'll talk it over when I come home
tonight."
But the girl was quite indignant at the idea of selling her
beautiful automobile, and when her father had gone away and a crowd
of admiring children from all over the neighborhood had congregated
to gaze upon the wonderful thing, she proudly informed them that she
was about to take a ride.
"Let me run it! Let me run it for you!" shouted a dozen
boys, at once. Not one of them knew anything about an automobile,
but most boys are willing to undertake any task that is really
dangerous; so the girl thoughtfully selected one who had divided his
stick of candy with her that very morning.
She climbed to a back seat and drew an embroidered robe over her
faded gingham dress, and the barefooted boy chauffeur proudly
mounted in front and gave a glance at the machinery.
"Get out of the way, you dubs!" he shouted to the crowd
of children, who were spellbound with awe
— and then he shut his teeth tight together and pushed over
the lever.
Slowly the huge machine, like a thing of life, moved down the
street; then it gathered headway, and, as the crowd shouted and
cheered, the boy, swelling with pride, put the lever over as far as
it would go.
Next instant the magic automobile was flying down the street like
a red streak of lightning swaying all the while from side to side
and bumping furiously over the broken pavement.
At first the girl had hard work to catch her breath. Then she
screamed:
"Stop it! Stop it!"
But the boy didn't know how to stop it. Pale, but courageous, he
seized the steering wheel and swung the machine around a corner.
They were getting into the more frequented streets, and the teams
they passed crept close to the sidewalks as the great red monster
whirled by them.
"It can't last long!" thought the girl, gasping for
breath.
And it didn't.
They were building a house down the street, and big piles of
brick had been placed far out into the roadway. Perhaps an expert
automobilist could have avoided the obstruction with ease; but the
boy, wild-eyed and frightened, abandoned hope.
Next minute there was a crash and a scream. The girl flew into
the air, made a graceful curve, and fell flat into a big box of
mortar the workmen had prepared. The boy flew higher, and landed in
a sitting position on a scaffold of the new house —
breathless, but unhurt. As for the magic automobile, it was a
crumpled mass of red slivers and twisted steel and tag-ends of
leather; for it struck the brick-pile squarely, and what was left
could be called by no especial name.
The boy caught a ride home on a delivery wagon and was soon back
home again; but the workmen pulled the little girl from the
mortar-box, and scraped her off as well as they could in the time
they had to spare, and she finally walked home in a very subdued
state of mind.
"That Scarecrow was right," she reflected, shivering
also at the thought of what her mother would say about her soiled
clothes. "Nobody — not even a little girl — has any
right to want a thing they ought not to have. What I really need is
a good switching, and the chances are that I'll get it when I get
home!"
HOW THE TIN WOODMAN BECAME A FIRE HERO
Night was a rather dreary time for our friends, the visitors from
the marvelous Land of Oz. For, with the single exception of the
Woggle-Bug, not one of the queer people ever slept. One was straw,
and one was tin; one had a carved pumpkin head, and their Saw-Horse
was made of wood. To such creatures, sleep was, of course, an
impossibility; but to avoid annoying other folks who DID sleep, they
made a practice of standing in the corners of a room with their
faces to the wall during all the night, so they might not be tempted
to talk or make a noise.
This standing still for so long a time was somewhat tedious, as
any child who has tried it will be glad to acknowledge; so that one
night, when the bells began clanging, and the whistles tooting, they
all turned around from their corners with a sigh of relief.
"Someone else is making a racket now," said the
Scarecrow. "I wonder what all those bells and whistles mean?"
But before any could answer, they heard cries of "Fire!
Fire!" coming from the street.
"How dreadful!" exclaimed the Pumpkinhead. "But I
dare not go near the fire, because my body is made of wood."
And he turned his face resolutely to the wall again.
"Those are exactly my sentiments!" declared the
Saw-Horse, and poked his nose as far into the corner as it would go.
"For my part," remarked the Scarecrow, "fire has
ever been my great abhorrence. Any chance spark would soon be an end
of me."
"My case is different," said the Tin Woodman. "I
am composed of three-ply metal plate of the best quality, and fire
does not worry me in the least. So, if you will excuse me, I'll go
see if I can be of any service."
He walked into the street, and seeing people running in a certain
direction, he followed them to a tall apartment building, from the
windows of which smoke was pouring in great clouds. The firemen had
already arrived and were shooting streams of water through some of
the windows, while across the street were groups of half-dressed
people shivering in the cold, who had been driven from their beds by
the burning of the house. As the Tin Woodman joined the crowd of
spectators, a very short but very fat woman, with variegated yellow
hair and pink cheeks, rushed forward and cried out:
"Oh, my darling; my darling! He will be burned alive!"
"Where is he?" asked a big fireman, excitedly.
"There! There in that corner room!" screamed the woman,
pointing to the second story.
At once the fireman placed a ladder against the building, and the
big fellow bravely ran up the rungs to the window that the woman had
indicated. But a burst of flame and smoke quickly drove him back
again, and the woman began dancing hysterically up and down and
crying: "My darling will be burned alive!"
"I'm afraid he will," said the fireman, sadly, "for
no person can enter that room through the window without being
killed."
"I can!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman. "Fear not, my
good woman, for I will save your darling!"
A cheer broke from the crowd at hearing this courageous speech.
But the Tin Woodman reflected that if a child was in the room he
could not carry it out through the flames; so he looked around and
discovered a big flour can, which a man had carefully carried
downstairs after throwing his clocks and mirrors from the
third-story window. So the Tin Woodman grabbed the big round flour
can, which was also made of tin, and climbed up the ladder to the
window. In through the smoke and raging flames he made his way, and
in a few minutes the anxious crowd watching him from below saw him
reappear, carefully holding a flour can in his arms.
"Your darling is saved!" shouted the Tin Woodman to the
woman; and then a tremdous cheer greeted him as he came down the
ladder and reached the ground. For no one but a tin man could ever
have passed through the flames in safety, and even he was glowing
red in several places where the fire had caught him. The big
fireman, who admired bravery, grasped his tin hand with emotion —
and dropped it with a howl.
As soon as he was on the ground the Tin Woodman threw off the
cover of the flour can and out jumped a little poodle dog, which the
woman caught in her arms.
"Oh, thank you for saving my darling!" she cried,
joyfully.
"Your darling!" growled the big fireman, disgusted and
angry. "Were you raising all that row over a measly dog?"
"He isn't measly," she simpered; "he's a dear, and
a love, and a darling!"
The fireman turned to the Tin Woodman.
I don't blame you for being hot," he said, indignantly.
"It isn't my honor that's tarnished, anyhow," replied
the hero, with a slight sigh; "and if I'm obliged to get myself
replated in the morning I shall not complain. For, after all, to the
dog and the woman, the life I saved is very precious, and I am glad
I had the chance to make somebody happy."
But at this kind speech the fireman only frowned.
"You'll feel different when you've cooled off," he
said.
THE TWO WISHES
In a certain village lived a pair of twin brothers, Fred and Ned.
They were chubby, stout, freckle-faced boys, with big eyes and ears,
warts on their hands, and usually bandages around one or another of
their numerous fingers and toes.
One day the queer visitors to America from the marvelous Land of
Oz visited the village, and Fred and Ned were among the children who
thronged to see them. The boys were looking a bit grave and solemn
just then, having recieved a sound scolding from their mother. So
their sad faces attracted the attention of the kindhearted Tin
Woodman, who said to them:
"Come, look pleasant, my little men, for I have decided to
give you each a fine present."
"What is it?" asked Ned eagerly.
"You shall each have one wish granted — the first wish
you care to make," replied the Tin Woodman. "So run along
and be happy, and take care that you wish for exactly the right
thing."
So the boys trotted along home filled with joy at the fairy gift
of the good man of Oz, and on the way Fred said: "Look here,
Ned; I'm sick of getting scolded all the time. I wish I might be a
good boy."
"Well, then, you are," replied Ned with a grin, "for
your first wish is bound to come true."
"That's all right. I'm glad I made a wise wish,"
declared Fred, soberly. "What do you wish?"
"I'm going to save my wish. There's no hurry," said
Ned.
They entered the house through the back way, and there they spied
on the pantry shelf a great panful of cookies, which their mother
had just baked. "I'll make double the recipe for the boys'll be
sure to steal half of them," she had thought.
Well, Ned filled his pockets full of cookies; but Fred shook his
head and said:
"It's wrong to take those cookies without permission, so
I'll let them alone."
"Your wish was magic, all right," announced Ned, with
his mouth full of the delicious cookies.
Fred sighed, but said nothing.
In the afternoon, when they started for school the grocery wagon
was driving by.
"Let's catch on!" shouted Ned, and ran to grab at the
end board and swing there while the wagon rolled swiftly on. But
Fred refused to join him, and walked all the way to school, which
made him miss a fine snowball fight.
There Ned met him, and whispered: "Let's play hooky this
afternoon. Some of us boys are going to the pond to skate."
"No, indeed. It is wrong to run away from school, and wrong
to go skating without mother's knowledge. So I shall be good and go
straight to my seat," said Fred.
"Well, good luck to you!" cried his brother, and ran
off with the other bad boys.
Fred studied until his head ached, and then the teacher accused
him of throwing a paper-wad that had been slyly snapped by the bad
boy sitting behind him, and he had to stay an hour after school. He
got home, tired and sad, just in time for supper, and found Ned,
rosy-cheeked and fresh, coming in from the pond.
"The ice was great!" confided Ned. "Sorry as how
you couldn't come, being as how you're so good."
"Yes, my wish has come true, and I'm glad of it,"
answered noble Fred. But he had not much appetite for supper, and
enviously watched his bad brother, who ate with an eagerness that
proved he was hungry and the food tasted good.
Next morning their uncle gave them each a dime; but Fred put the
money in a missionary box to help buy neckties for the heathen in
Africa, while Ned spent his for gum-drops and ate them during school
hours.
"How do you like being good?" asked Ned, curiously,
when they were going home.
"Pretty well; but it ain't just the feeling I thought it
was," acknowldged Fred.
"Oh, you'll get used to it in time," declared his
brother, and then ran and hid in the barn while their father made
Fred sift the ashes from the furnace — a job that even good
boys cordially detest.
Next day the arithmetic examples were awfully hard. Ned got a boy
that clerked in the drug store to give him the right answers, and
was praised by the teacher. Fred scorned such a dishonest action,
and, therefore, failed in his lesson, and was obliged to take a note
from the teacher home to his mother, who read it, and promptly
punished him with a trunk strap.
While he was sobbing in the woodshed (the scene of his
humiliation), Ned came in and looked at his brother sympathetically.
"I'm sorry you're so confounded good, Fred," he
declared. "It spoils half my fun to leave you out of all the
joy that's going 'round."
"It spoils all my fun!" wailed Fred, feeling tenderly
of the sore places. "Honest, Fred; it's getting so it actually
hurts to be good."
Ned sighed, and rubbed a cobble-stone over the teeth of the
bucksaw in a reflective manner.
"Say," said Fred, suddenly, "have you wished yet?"
Ned shook his head.
"No, I'm saving my wish."
"Don't save it any longer," pleaded Fred, anxiously.
"You just wish I wasn't any better than the rest of the boys.
Do it, Ned, old man, and I'll make it all right with you."
"I don't seem to have much else to wish for, anyway,"
answered Ned, slowly. "So as it's lonesome havin' you such a
prig, I guess I'll do it."
And he did.
When the party from Oz stopped at the village on their return,
the Tin Woodman again met the two boys, and asked:
"Well, my little men, what did you wish?"
"Why," said Ned, "Fred wished he was good, and it
hurt him; and I wished he wasn't and now he's all right. So both
wishes came true, and we're much obliged to you."
The Tin Woodman looked thoughtful.
"When it hurts to be good," said he, "it can't
amount to much. And I don't suppose any one boy has a right to be
better than the rest of the boys. So I shall not give you any more
wishes, for fear they might lead you into mischief."
Then he got into the Gump and flew away.
TIM NICHOLS AND THE CAT
Tim Nichols was not what you could rightly call a bad boy,
because he was obedient to his parents, attended school regularly,
got his lessons, and submitted to the Saturday night bath with
remarkable courage and good nature. But there was a streak of boyish
cruelty in his nature that crept to the surface now and again, and
permitted him to do such naughty things as to tie a can to a stray
dog, stick bramble burrs in the calf's tail, or chase the chickens
until they were wild with terror. But the thing he most delighted to
torment was a cat,a nd the big gray pussy, named "Peggy,"
that belonged next door, lived in deadly fear of her life every
moment that Tim was around. To be sure, she had a habit of sitting
on the woodshed roof to utter strange cries at the dead of night,
and as Tim's room overlooked the woodshed he usually carried a
number of sticks and stones to his room, so that he could hurl them
at Peggy when she became noisy. Sometimes they would miss fire, but
often they struck the cat and tumbled her from the roof, and after
such an event she would keep quiet until morning. But right after
breakfast Tim, still relentless, would hunt her up and chase her
with stones and clubs, until she hid herself, and so managed to
escape the torment.
This state of affairs attracted the attention of our queer
visitors from the Land of Oz, and after a consultation they decided
to perform a little magic. So, through their efforts, all of Tim
Nichols, except his body, was transferred into the body of the cat
Peggy, and all of Peggy, except her body, was transferred into the
body of Tim Nichols.
This happened just before supper, as Tim was entering the house.
His parents only noticed that Tim ate as if he had not been fed for
a week, and afterward curled himself upon a rug before the fire, and
went to sleep, so that they had to shake him hard at 9 o'clock to
arouse him and send him to bed in the little room overlooking the
neighbor's woodshed.
As for the cat, she sat upon the back fence, blinking in a very
disturbed manner, for Tim's spirit, inside the fur body, was
wondering how on earth he ever came to be a cat!
He smelled supper, and crept toward the kitchen hungrily, but
Eliza scared him away with a broom stick, and he ran behind the ash
barrel and hid until the moon came out.
Then, scarcely knowing why he did it, he jumped to the roof of
the woodshed and eyed the moon with as much content as a hungry cat
can possibly feel. Bye and bye a strange feeling came over him, and,
for the first time since he could remember, Tim yearned to sing. So
he lifted up his voice, and in a long "Ker-r-r-o-mee-ow-w-w!"
sent a wailing cry soaring toward the moon.
Bang! came a big stone, bounding over the roof and just escaping
his left ear.
Tim reflected. "It's that confounded boy up in the room
there!" he growled. And then it struck him as curious that the
boy in the window wore the body he used to own.
Chug! came a heavy piece of wood, striking his front leg a blow
that made it tingle as if a thousand needles had pierced it.
"Why can't that brute leave a poor cat alone?" he
grumbled, when the pain would let him think. And then, to relieve
his anguish, he again lifted up his voice.
"Cuth-er-a-mee-ow! — ow! — ow!"
A second stick, hurled from the window, caught him unawares.
Plumb against his lean body it crashed, and sent him sliding from
the roof, to fall headlong upon the ground below. For a time, he lay
quiet, unable to move. My, how it hurt! Would the awful pain ever
cease?
No more singing to the moon tonight. After a time the stricken
cat, breathing slowly, and with dulled eyes, recovered sufficiently
to crawl to a refuge behind the ash barrel. And the boy went to bed
and slept.
Early in the morning the people from Oz completed the magic
charm, and transferred Tim back to his own body, and Peggy back to
hers.
At breakfast, the boy was very thoughtful and sober, and soon
afterward his mother found him sitting on the back steps and feeding
Peggy out of a big bowl.
"What do you mean by giving that horrid cat all my nice
cream?" demanded Tim's mother, reproachfully.
"Well," said Tim, "the poor old thing don't have
much fun in life, I guess. So I'm goin' to see that Peggy has a
square meal, once in a while, if I have to do without myself."
And, while Tim's mother stood by in silent astonishment, the cat
lifted her face from the bowl and eyed the boy gratefully.
MR. WIMBLE'S WOODEN LEG
Mr. Wimble was one of the heroes of Spanish War. In climbing San
Juan Hill a cannon ball carried away his left leg to the stump that
remained and so hobbled around with the aid of a cane.
The government paid him enough pension money to enable him to
live frugally, and Mrs. Wimble was such a good manager that she kept
the little cottage neat and comfortable and cooked her hero husband
dainty meals and cared for him most tenderly.
She placed a cushioned chair for him on the front porch every
morning, where he sat and enjoyed the sunshine and admiration of the
crowd of children that always assembled to look with awe upon his
wooden leg and listen enraptured to his tales of war. When he wanted
a match to light his pipe one of the children would eagerly run to
fetch it, and it was considered a great honor to any child to be
permitted to get the hero a cup of water from the pump.
At evening Mrs. Wimble helped him into the little parlor, where
his slipper was warming beside the stove, and she hung up his hat
and waited upon him lovingly, seeing that his place was supplied
with the choicest bits she could afford to provide.
It is really delightful to know how our gallant soldiers are
honored when they have suffered so much for their country.
Well, our friend Jack Pumpkinhead, one of the queer people from
the Marvelous Land of Oz, passed by one day and noticed Mr. Wimble's
wooden leg as he sat upon the porch sunning himself. "Poor
fellow!" thought Jack. "I must really do something to
relieve him!"
Jack is a bit stupid (being a Pumpkinhead), but he has a heart of
oak, so he went home and performed a magical incantation that a
powerful witch in the Land of Oz had once taught him. Mr.
Wimble knew nothing of what Jack was doing, and went to bed in a
peaceful frame of mind, his good wife unstrapping his woodenleg and
hanging it on a peg beside the bed. But during the night the
Pumpkinhead's incantation took effect, causing a new leg of flesh
and blood to grow upon the stump of Mr. Wimble's old leg, so that
when he got up the next morning he found, to his amazement, that he
was just as good a man as he was before he went to war!
Mrs. Wimble was too astonished to say much. All her husband's
trousers had the left leg cut off, so she had to patch up two pair
to make one of them have both legs, and this seemed to her very
wasteful.
While they were at breakfast the pension agent came around and,
finding the hero had now two legs, refused to pay him any more
money. This made Mrs. Wimble nervous and angry.
"Get out of here!" she cried, pushing her husband
toward the door. "You must find a job, now that you are an able
man, and hustle to earn us a living!"
Poor Mr. Wimble knew not what to do. He had got out of the habit
of work, and now found that, instead of being petted and cuddled, he
would be called upon to lead a strenuous life. Formerly he had been
a book-keeper, but he knew it would be quite difficult to get
another position as good as the one he had abandoned to fight for
his country.
As he stood upon the front porch thinking of this the children
came along, but finding that their formerly interesting hero was now
just like other men, they passed on their way to school with jeers
and jokes at his expense.
Poor Mr. Wimble! The grocer came up, having met the pension
agent, and said: "Now that you are no longer paid by the
government I must have cash in advance for my goods." And the
tailor followed, waving a bill for the last one-legged trouser he
had made and demanding his money.
Then came Jack Pumpkinhead, proud and glad to see the hero with
two whole legs, and he told Mr.
Wimble of his incantation.
"Alas!" cried the unhappy man, "why did you
interfere with the decrees of Providence? With one leg I was happy
and honored; with two I am miserable and despised!"
"Well," said Jack, surprised to find his kind
intentions had done harm rather than good. "It is easy enough
to remove the leg again."
"Then do! Do it by all means!" begged Mr. Wimble,
anxiously. "It was really shot away in the war, you know; and
you had no right to replace it without my consent."
So Jack did another incantation that same night, and when Mr.
Wimble awoke the following morning he called to his wife:
"Come, Susie, and strap on my wooden leg!" And, sure
enough, there was only a stump where his left leg should have been!
As he sat on the porch that morning, telling stories to an awed
group of children while his wife arranged cushions to support his
back, Mr. Wimble looked and saw the Pumpkinhead.
"Thank you, my friend from Oz," said he. "I'm all
right now; but for goodness' sake don't interfere in my affairs
again!"
A MAGNETIC PERSONALITY
One day, while the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were out for a
walk, they were caught in a severe thunderstorm. They were on the
brow of a bare hill when the storm broke, with no trees or other
refuge near where they might seek shelter. The rain fell in
torrents, wetting the Scarecrow so thoroughly that soon all the
crispness was gone from his straw, and he sank upon the ground as
limp as a rag and unable to move.
The Tin Woodman stood above his comrade in silent sympathy, while
the lightning flashed around him and ran up and down his tin body
and filled him so full of electricity that he became magnetized to a
wonderful degree. Of course, he knew nothing of this, or that his
body had acquired a power of magnetic attraction greater than 10,000
of those horse-shoe magnets which children use to pick up pins and
tacks with. To be sure, he tingled in every limb, but the sensation
was rather pleasant, and he did not mind it in the least.
When the storm had subsided he picked up the soaked form of his
friend, the Scarecrow, and carried it back to the town, where he
placed it, pulpy and helpless as it was, on a cot, and then ran out
to find a bundle of fresh straw to restuff him with.
But as the Tin Woodman walked down the street his magnetized body
created tremendous excitement. For when he passed Mrs. Van Druydur,
the president of the Woman's Club, every hairpin shot from her head
and stuck to the Woodman's body and stuck to his tin. The hatpins
came also, and the lady's hat and hair both fell to the pavement, to
her great confusion. A fat gentleman approached, and paused in his
surprise; for the metal buttons of his vest tore themselves loose
and joined the pins upon the Woodman's magnetized form, and his
scarf-pin and cuff buttons followed, leaving the gentleman in a
state that demanded instant attention. Mr. Spitzer now came along,
and three silver dollars, four quarters and a dime sprang from his
pocket and laid their flat surfaces against the Tin Woodman's
breast. Also his watch and chain failed to withstand the magnetic
attraction, and jerked themselves loose to fly to the Tin Man's
body.
The poor Woodman attempted to restore these articles (for Mr.
Spitzer was yelling "Stop thief!" at the top of his
voice), but he could not keep the metal things away from him.
"They seem stuck on me, sir!" he exclaimed, with
annoyance. "I'm sorry, but it can't be helped."
He started to walk away, but the gentleman followed, protesting
loudly, although Mrs. Van Druydur had grabbed her hair and hat from
the ground and skipped down a side street.
Soon the Tin Woodman passed a peddler bearing a tray of pocket
knives, every one of which flew to the metal body of the man from Oz
and clung to it. The peddler shouted that he was robbed, and
followed with the fat gentleman and Mr. Spitzer, while the Tin
Woodman, becoming alarmed, started to run, and fled along the street
as rapidly as possible. A shower of collar buttons leaped from the
tray of another street peddler and attached themselves to the Tin
Man's back. A policeman, too astonished to move, stood still while
the Tin Woodman passed, and saw his silver star leap from his breast
and cling to the back of the magnetized one's head. A tiny poodle
dog, with a big brass collar around its neck, was drawn bodily to
the fleeing Woodman's left elbow, where it yelped and howled without
avail.
The Tin Woodman's body was by this time a regular curiousity shop
of miscellaneous wares, and the crowd of pursuers grew thick behind
him, crying to him to stop and restore the plunder. So he dodged
into the open door of an electric light plant — the first
refuge he saw — where the great dynamo was whirling rapidly to
assemble the electricity that was needed. The man in charge yelled
for everyone to keep back, as there was danger; but the Tin Woodman
was not afraid of the dynamo, so he stood beside it while the big
machine drew the magnetism out of his body that had been placed
there by lightning.
Presently the hairpins and collar buttons and the poodle dog and
money and other articles began to drop from his body and roll upon
the floor, where their owners scrambled for them until each obtained
possession of his property.
And while this restoration was taking place the Tin Woodman stole
out of a back door and escaped, being very glad indeed to lose his
personal magnetism.
He managed to secure a bundle of fresh straw and return with it
to his friend, the Scarecrpw, whom he carefully stuffed into his
usual dignified and attractive form.
"Ah, now we are all right again," said the Scarecrow,
much pleased.
"To be sure," rejoined the Tin Woodman, thoughtfully.
"But I think it will be best for both of us in the future, to
avoid thunderstorms."
NAN'S MAGIC BUTTON
The Woggle-Bug was about to start out one morning upon his
travels when little Nan Digsby came to him and said:
"Won't you please help me, Mr. Woggle-Bug?"
"Why, of course! But what can I do for you, little maiden?"
asked the wise insect.
"They tell me you are a fairy, and can do anything,"
replied the child, "and so I want you to tell me how to cook."
"To cook!" exclaimed the astonished Woggle-Bug.
"Yes, we haven't any mamma, you know, and I have to take
care of my four little brothers and sisters and do the cooking for
them and for daddy, when he comes home from work. And I'm afraid my
cooking is something dreadful, for daddy said this morning the toast
was burned and the coffee was dishwater and the bacon nothing but
chips! Isn't that terrible, dear Mr. Woggle-Bug? I do the best I
can, but I don't seem to know how to cook things. So I thought I'd
ask you to help me."
Now this appeal touched the Woggle-Bug's tender heart, so he said
to Nan:
"Here is a magic button, little girl. Sew it fast to your
dress, for while you wear it you will be the best cook in all
America."
Very gratefully she thanked him, and ran away home with the
button, which she at once sewed to her gingham dress with stout
linen thread.
My! what a supper Mr. Digsby found when he came home that night!
The biscuits were so light and delicious that they fairly melted in
his mouth; the coffee was fragrant and clear as amber; the ham was
broiled to a turn, and for dessert there was a wonderful pudding
that would have made the Prince of Chefs strut with pardonable
pride.
"My dear," said Mr. Digsby, "you've been a long
time experimenting; but you've struck the gait now, and if you keep
on in this way, you'll be worth your weight in gold!"
Nan did keep on in that way, and her arts of cookery soon became
famous in the neighborhood.
Never was bread so flakey or delicous as that Nan baked, and her
fried cakes were simply marvelous.
So the neighbors hired her to cook such things for them, and paid
her very well for it, and soon the girl heard of a "Woman's
Exchange," where good cakes and pies and doughnuts and other
edibles were sold to people who had no time to do their own cooking
or else didn't know how.
One evening she noticed that her father looked sad and gloomy,
and asked him the reason.
"Why, I fear we're living too well for people as poor as we
are," he replied. "I'm afraid to ask how big our grocery
bill is, for I haven't paid it in weeks, and the rent is three
months overdue, and I haven't been able to save enough money to pay
it. What in the world are we going to do, Nan?"
"Don't worry about money, daddy dear!" exclaimed the
little woman, proudly; "I've paid all the grocery bills and the
rent, too, and here are thirty dollars besides. And I earned it all
with my cooking!"
For more than a year the family of Digsby was the most prosperous
in the neighborhood. Nan was really famous, and earned money so fast
that a neat little bank account was the result. Then a great
misfortune occured. The magic button in way got loose and fell into
the dough Nan was mixing for some drop cakes. She never noticed the
loss, and the cakes were baked and sold at the Woman's Exchange and
purchased by Mrs. Middler, a very fashionable and uninteresting
lady. Mrs Middler was disgusted when she found a button in one of
the cakes, but as there was a button missing from her morning robe,
and this one nearly matched the others, she sewed it on and thought
no more of the incident. Suddenly, however, she conceieved a great
longing to cook, and as she lived in a respectable boarding house
where the boarders were not allowed in the kitchen, this longing
could not be gratified.
However, she relieved herself by writing a fashionable cook book,
which was printed and handsomely bound in delicate covers.
As for Nan, she had cooked for so long that she scarcely missed
the precious button which had originally taught her all she knew.
Occasionally, of course, she ruined a batch of cookies or burned the
meat or failed to make light bread; but she was a deft little body,
and knowing that she had no magic button to guide her, took great
pains with her cooking and so got along pretty well.
ELIZA AND THE LOZENGES
Mr. Jubb was a very small man, who was ashamed of his size, for
Mrs. Jubb was so large that she seemed a giantess beside him,
whenever they walked out together. Naturally, Mrs. Jubb was also
ashamed of being so exceedingly big, and so it was that this
otherwise happy couple were rendered constantly miserable by their
disparity of size.
Therefore, Mr. Jubb went to the Woggle-Bug one day and said: “O,
Wise and Considerate Insect!
Will you not make me taller and my wife shorter, so that we will
become properly mated?” And, after some thought, the
Woggle-Bug replied: “It seems to me that your request is only
reasonable. So, here in this roll you will find four lozenges that
are quite pleasant to take. Eat the first lozenge, and you will
begin to grow big. When you are big enough, then eat the second
lozenge, which will cause you to stop growing. The other two are for
your wife. When she eat the first she will begin to grow small, and
when she is small enough to suit her fancy, she must eat the last
lozenge, which will cause her to remain always just that size. Do
you understand the directions?”
“Yes,” returned the little man, “but how about
my clothes? Will they grow with me?”
“To be sure,” answered the Woggle-Bug; “that is
one of the great merits of these magic lozenges.”
“Thank you! Thank you very much, indeed!” cried the
delighted Mr. Jubb, and he took the roll of lozenges and hastened
home with them.
Now, the Jubbs had a little girl, named Eliza, who was taller
than her father and shorter than her mother, and had a strange habit
of getting into mischief.
While Mr. Jubb was explaining to his wife about the wonderful
lozenges which the Woggle-Bug had given him, Eliza saw them lying
upon the parlor table, and carried them away with her, thinking they
were candy.
She ate the first lozenge as she walked down the lane back of her
house, and before she realized what had happened she found she was
tall enough to look over the high hedge beside the lane. This made
her pause in surprise; but she continued to grow, and now could look
right into the middle of a cherry tree.
Indeed, it startled the child to find herself so big, and she
began to be much alarmed as she realized she was still growing.
The tops of the houses were on a level with her chin by this
time, and her feet had become so big that she stepped one foot over
into the next street, to keep from getting crowded in the lane.
It was now that Mr. Jubb ran out of the house, crying: “Where’s
my lozenges? Where’s Eliza?” But there was no need to
ask the last question—for there stood Eliza—’most
as big as a mountain, so that no one could fail to see her. She was
crying, too, she was so frightened, and one of her teardrops
splashed down upon poor Mr. Jubb’s head and nearly drowned
him, before he could scramble out of the pond it made.
“Eat another lozenge!” he screamed, knowing quite
well what had caused Eliza to grow; but the girl’s head was so
high in the air that she could not hear him.
Still she grew—bigger and bigger every minute! All the
village people were in the streets watching her, and Eliza was
afraid of hurting them; for her left heel had already crowded a barn
from its foundation and her right toes were spreading into Deacon
Migg’s orchard and breaking down the trees.
What lucky idea induced the girl to eat the next lozenge just
then I do not know, but she did eat it—
and stopped growing—which was certainly a fortunate thing.
Little Mr. Jubb, anxious and distressed, now tried to tell the
child to eat another of the lozenges, knowing it would cause her to
grow small again. But she could not hear him from her elevation,
although he used a megaphone, and she was afraid to stoop lest she
might lose her balance and fall upon the town—which would have
caused terrible havoc. So her father got out the hook-and-ladder
company, and climbed up the dizzy height until he was close to the
hand that hung down at her side.
Then the girl took the little man carefully in her fingers and
raised him up to her ear, where he at once shouted: “Eat the
next lozenge—quick!”
Without hesitation she obeyed, and began to grow small as rapidly
as she had grown big. She replaced her father upon the top round of
the ladder, and he hurriedly descended to the ground, amidst the
cheers of the spectators.
Smaller and smaller now grew Eliza, until she had to step her
right foot back into the lane again. By and by she was no bigger
than her mother, and finally she reached her former size—the
size she had been before she fooled with the magic lozenges.
Then her father commanded her to eat the last of the lozenges,
and she obeyed—to the great relief of her distressed and
loving parents and the satisfaction of the crowd.
Of course, this ended Eliza’s astonishing exhibition of
magic, and afterward her father and mother were so glad to have
their child restored to them that they agreed not to mourn over the
loss of the lozenges, but to gladly remain the sizes that nature had
made them, and be content with their lot.
And the Woggle-Bug said to himself: “I am often sorry for
those poor mortals, but perhaps it is a fortunate thing that foolish
and careless people do not understand the grave and important
Secrets of Magic.”
THE WOGGLE-BUG ENCOURAGES CHARITY
The Woggle-Bug is greatly interested in American customs, yet our
ways are sometimes difficult for him to understand.
The other day, in walking down the street, he came upon a beggar
sitting silently at the edge of the curb. His limbs and body were
bent and twisted, his clothing was old and ragged and his face
expressed considerable misery. In his hand he held a tin cup,
extended invitingly toward those who passed by.
The Woggle-Bug watched the beggar with much interest. A newsboy,
who had sold out his stock, came along and cheerfully dropped a
penny into the tin cup; a prosperous-looking gentleman passed by and
never saw it; several ladies, nicely dressed and wearing diamonds
and jewels, gave contemptuous glances at the beggar and passed on; a
bartender, clothed in loud checks, rattled a silver quarter into the
cup and a shop girl jumped on the car and gave the beggar the nickel
which the conductor had neglected to collect from her.
Then for a time the people streamed past without seeming to know
the beggar was there.
“It’s a great shame,” thought the Woggle-Bug,
“that so few people take notice of this poor man and give him
alms. I’ll see if I cannot help him.”
Then he ran to a big hardware store, and by leaving his watch for
security (for he had no money) managed to borrow from the proprietor
four large and bright tin cups. With these he returned to where the
beggar sat, and holding one of the cups in each of his four hands he
began rattling them noisily one against another, and crying out:
“Help the poor, good people! Please help the poor!”
People stopped to stare wonderingly at the Woggle-Bug, and then
laughingly began to rain pennies and nickels into his tin cups. If
afforded them much amusement to see the four-handed, highly
magnified insect thrusting his four cups in four directions at once,
and when people are amused they are usually quite willing to pay for
it. Before long the cups became so full that the Woggle-Bug had to
empty them into the pockets of the beggar; and then he began to fill
them anew.
For hours the generous Woggle-Bug stood there collecting coins
for the miserable beggar, whose countenance seemed to grow more and
more sad and pitiful as his wealth increased. But by and by evening
came on and the crowds grew thinner, because so many people had gone
home to supper. And now every pocket the beggar possessed was
bulging with the weight of the money the Woggle-Bug had collected.
“These American people are not really uncharitable,”
said the insect. “I think the reason they did not stop to give
you alms was because they failed to notice you sitting here by the
curb.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” answered the beggar,
speaking quite cheerfully and for the first time. “Business is
usually pretty good on this corner, but I have never known it half
as good as it was to-day. I think I’ll go home to dinner. Much
obliged to you, I’m sure.”
To the Woggle-Bug’s surprise he straightened out his
crooked limbs and slowly rose to his feet.
“A fellow gets cramped sitting like that all day,” he
remarked. “Here is my card; come and call on me some evening.
I’ll be glad to see you.”
He thrust a soiled card into the Woggle-Bug’s hand and
walked away with scarcely a limp.
“Clever fellow, that,” remarked a policeman, as the
Insect gazed wonderingly after the beggar’s departing form.
“He’s one of the syndicate, you know.”
“What’s that?” asked the Woggle-Bug.
“Why, the beggars’ syndicate have all the good
corners in the city, and pay us to let them stay here and keep the
other fellows out. It’s a pretty good business, too, and some
of ‘em get pretty rich. Why, only last week I was invited to
the ‘Blind and Crippled Beggars’ Ball,’ that was
held in Turner Hall, and they were dressed just as gay as the
Barbers’ Ball the week before.”
“But it’s a shame and an imposition!” declared
the Woggle-Bug, indignantly, “to solicit alms from the public
when help is not needed!”
“Perhaps it is,” answered the policeman,
reflectively, “but it does the public a heap of good, too.
Many a person drops a nickel into a tin cup and feels good all
day because he’s dome something generous. Lots of times it’s
real charity, too. They aren’t all frauds, you know. I’ve
thought it all over, and I believe the beggars a good thing, for
they encourage the people to kind actions, and my experience with
people is that they need just that sort of encouragement.”
“Perhaps you are right,” said the Woggle-Bug, and he
carried the cups back to the hardware store and redeemed his watch.
What Did the Woggle-Bug Say?
Now ev'rybody's guessing
About the Woggle-Bug.
What
he may be expressing
With smile so sly and smug:
They
say he's most discerning,
An oracle who "knows,"
So all
the world is yearning
For the secrets he bestows.
What did the Woggle-Bug say?
Just pull me next to his lay,
Can it be
Greek? oh tell me do!
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch" or "Parlez-vous?"
I want to
know right away,
Can't wait another day;
The question makes me
furious,
Because I'm mighty curious
What did the Woggle-Bug sa-ay?
If you wonder why an actress
Isn't happy till
divorced,
Or why a hobo never works
Unless he's gently
forced;
If you'd know why Lipton teases
Us so hard to
win our mug,
Perhaps you'll get an answer
If you ask
the Woggle-Bug.
What did the Woggle-Bug say?
Just pull me next to his lay,
Can it be
Greek? oh tell me do!
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch" or "Parlez-vous?"
I want to
know right away,
Can't wait another day;
The question makes me
furious,
Because I'm mighty curious
What did the Woggle-Bug sa-ay?
When Dowie made a convert of
A guileless
millionaire.
When the Czar of all the Russians found
He
had a son and heir:
When you get a tip of Change that
leaves
You stranded on the rocks,
Our save a thousand
trading-stamps
To get a rattle-box:
What did the Woggle-Bug say?
Just pull me next to his lay,
Can it be
Greek? oh tell me do!
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch" or "Parlez-vous?"
I want to
know right away,
Can't wait another day;
The question makes me
furious,
Because I'm mighty curious
What did the Woggle-Bug sa-ay?
The Woggle-Bug forever
Is making some remark
Which
may be mighty clever
But leaves us in the dark;
It's
most exasperating
And rouses all our ire.
Though bugs
abominating
We all eagerly enquire:
What did the Woggle-Bug say?
Just pull me next to his lay,
Can it be
Greek? oh tell me do!
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch" or "Parlez-vous?"
I want to
know right away,
Can't wait another day;
The question makes me
furious,
Because I'm mighty curious
What did the Woggle-Bug
sa-ay?