When the wonderful tidings reached
the ears of Queen Jinjur -- how Mombi the Witch had been captured; how
she had confessed her crime to Glinda; and how the long-lost Princess
Ozma had been discovered in no less a personage than the boy Tip -- she
wept real tears of grief and despair.
"To think," she moaned, "that
after having ruled as Queen, and lived in a palace, I must go back to
scrubbing floors and churning butter again! It is too horrible to think
of! I will never consent!"
So when her soldiers, who spent
most of their time making fudge in the palace kitchens, counseled Jinjur
to resist, she listened to their foolish prattle and sent a sharp
defiance to Glinda the Good and the Princess Ozma. The result was a
declaration of war, and the very next day Glinda marched upon the
Emerald City with pennants flying and bands playing, and a forest of
shining spears, sparkling brightly beneath the sun's rays.
|
But when it came to the
walls this brave assembly made a sudden halt; for Jinjur had
closed and barred every gateway, and the walls of the Emerald
City were builded high and thick with many blocks of green
marble. Finding her advance thus baffled, Glinda bent her brows
in deep thought, while the Woggle-Bug said, in his most positive
tone:
"We must lay siege to the
city, and starve it into submission. It is the only thing we can
do."
"Not so," answered the
Scarecrow. "We still have the Gump, and the Gump can still fly"
The Sorceress turned
quickly at this speech, and her face now wore a bright smile.
"You are right," she
exclaimed, "and certainly have reason to be proud of your
brains. Let us go to the Gump at once!"
So they passed through the
ranks of the army until they came to the place, near the
Scarecrow's tent, where the Gump lay. Glinda and Princess Ozma
mounted first, and sat upon the sofas. Then the Scarecrow and
his friends climbed aboard, and still there was room for a
Captain and three soldiers, which Glinda considered sufficient
for a guard.
Now, at a word from the
Princess, the queer Thing they had called the Gump flopped its
palm-leaf wings and rose into the air, carrying the party of
adventurers high above the walls. They hovered over the palace,
and soon perceived Jinjur reclining in a hammock in the
courtyard, where she was comfortably reading a novel with a
green cover and eating green chocolates, confident that the
walls would protect her from her enemies. Obeying a quick
command, the Gump alighted safely in this very courtyard, and
before Jinjur had time to do more than scream, the Captain and
three soldiers leaped out and made the former Queen a prisoner,
locking strong chains upon both her wrists. |
|
That act really ended the war; for the
Army of Revolt submitted as soon as they knew Jinjur to be a captive, and
the Captain marched in safety through the streets and up to the gates of the
city, which she threw wide open. Then the bands played their most stirring
music while Glinda's army marched into the city, and heralds proclaimed the
conquest of the audacious Jinjur and the accession of the beautiful Princess
Ozma to the throne of her royal ancestors.
At once the men of the Emerald City
cast off their aprons. And it is said that the women were so tired eating of
their husbands' cooking that they all hailed the conquest of Jinjur with
Joy. Certain it is that, rushing one and all to the kitchens of their
houses, the good wives prepared so delicious a feast for the weary men that
harmony was immediately restored in every family.
Ozma's first act was to oblige the
Army of Revolt to return to her every emerald or other gem stolen from the
public streets and buildings; and so great was the number of precious stones
picked from their settings by these vain girls, that every one of the royal
jewelers worked steadily for more than a month to replace them in their
settings.
Meanwhile the Army of Revolt was
disbanded and the girls sent home to their mothers. On promise of good
behavior Jinjur was likewise released.
Ozma made the loveliest Queen the
Emerald City had ever known; and, although she was so young and
inexperienced, she ruled her people with wisdom and Justice. For Glinda gave
her good advice on all occasions; and the Woggle-Bug, who was appointed to
the important post of Public Educator, was quite helpful to Ozma when her
royal duties grew perplexing.
The girl, in her gratitude to the Gump
for its services, offered the creature any reward it might name.
"Then," replied the Gump, "please take
me to pieces. I did not wish to be brought to life, and I am greatly ashamed
of my conglomerate personality. Once I was a monarch of the forest, as my
antlers fully prove; but now, in my present upholstered condition of
servitude, I am compelled to fly through the air -- my legs being of no use
to me whatever. Therefore I beg to be dispersed."
So Ozma ordered the Gump taken apart.
The antlered head was again hung over the mantle-piece in the hall, and the
sofas were untied and placed in the reception parlors. The broom tail
resumed its accustomed duties in the kitchen, and finally, the Scarecrow
replaced all the clotheslines and ropes on the pegs from which he had taken
them on the eventful day when the Thing was constructed.
You might think that was the end of
the Gump; and so it was, as a flying-machine. But the head over the
mantle-piece continued to talk whenever it took a notion to do so, and it
frequently startled, with its abrupt questions, the people who waited in the
hall for an audience with the Queen.
The Saw-Horse, being Ozma's personal
property, was tenderly cared for; and often she rode the queer creature
along the streets of the Emerald City. She had its wooden legs shod with
gold, to keep them from wearing out, and the tinkle of these golden shoes
upon the pavement always filled the Queen's subjects with awe as they
thought upon this evidence of her magical powers.
"The Wonderful Wizard was never so
wonderful as Queen Ozma," the people said to one another, in whispers; "for
he claimed to do many things he could not do; whereas our new Queen does
many things no one would ever expect her to accomplish."
Jack Pumpkinhead remained with Ozma to
the end of his days; and he did not spoil as soon as he had feared, although
he always remained as stupid as ever. The Woggle-Bug tried to teach him
several arts and sciences; but Jack was so poor a student that any attempt
to educate him was soon abandoned.
After Glinda's army had marched back
home, and peace was restored to the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman announced
his intention to return to his own Kingdom of the Winkies.
"It isn't a very big Kingdom," said he
to Ozma, "but for that very reason it is easier to rule; and I have called
myself an Emperor because I am an Absolute Monarch, and no one interferes in
any way with my conduct of public or personal affairs. When I get home I
shall have a new coat of nickel plate; for I have become somewhat marred and
scratched lately; and then I shall be glad to have you pay me a visit."
"Thank you," replied Ozma. "Some day I
may accept the invitation. But what is to become of the Scarecrow?"
"I shall return with my friend the Tin
Woodman," said the stuffed one, seriously. "We have decided never to be
parted in the future."
"And I have made the Scarecrow my
Royal Treasurer," explained the Tin Woodman." For it has occurred to me that
it is a good thing to have a Royal Treasurer who is made of money. What do
you think?"
"I think," said the little Queen,
smiling, "that your friend must be the richest man in all the world."
"I am," returned the Scarecrow. "but
not on account of my money. For I consider brains far superior to money, in
every way. You may have noticed that if one has money without brains, he
cannot use it to advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will
enable him to live comfortably to the end of his days."
"At the same time," declared the Tin
Woodman, "you must acknowledge that a good heart is a thing that brains can
not create, and that money can not buy. Perhaps, after all, it is I who am
the richest man in all the world."
"You are both rich, my friends," said
Ozma, gently; "and your riches are the only riches worth having -- the
riches of content!"
The End
Back to
English Stories ::
Learning English
