The Hidden Valley of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  "Come, Percy," said Jam, "it will soon be dark, and we should walk over to the tin castle and see if we can find the Emperor of the Winkies."

  As they approached the tin walls they began to meet Winkies who greeted them cordially. They were similar in appearance to the Gillikens whom they had already met, but the Winkies were dressed in yellow costumes instead of purple. The flowers were yellow with sunflowers and dandelions brightening the countryside. Even the grass had a yellow-green hue.

  They walked along a road which led directly to the gate of the castle. On either side stood tin statues.

  Even though he did not recognize them, Jam thought they must be of famous people of the Land of Oz.

  Arriving at the castle gate, Jam decided that he had better tie the Collapsible Kite to a small tree that grew nearby, so it would not drift away while he was in the castle.

  "I'll be all right here," the Collapsible Kite assured him. "Take all the time you want."

  At the castle gate, Jam and Percy were stopped by a guard who wore tin armor and carried a tin spear.

  "Halt and state your business," commanded the guard in a firm voice.

  "Is this the castle of the Tin Woodman?" Timidly inquired Jam, awed by all the splendor around him.

  "It is," replied the guard. "The Tin Woodman is our Emperor."

  "Then, if you please, I'd very much like to see him,"

  said Jam. "I have been told that he might help me out of my difficulties."

  "Our ruler is just and wise, and in addition, he possesses the kindest heart in all the Land of Oz," loyally declared the guard. "His heart was given to him by the famous Wizard of Oz, you know," he added as an afterthought.

  "We didn't know," said Percy, "but it's nice to know that he has a heart."

  "Then will he see us?" Asked Jam eagerly.

  "I shall announce you," said the soldier. "What are your names and where are you from?"

  "I am Jonathan Andrew Manley from Ohio in the United States of America," said Jam. "And this huge rat is my friend, Percy."

  "Percy, the personality kid," said the white creature. "The largest white rat in existence."

  "Please come into the reception room and wait while I tell our illustrious ruler that you desire to see him."

  The guard led them into a tin room in the tin castle and gave them tin chairs to sit on. Then he left, closing the tin door behind him. Jam and Percy looked around the tin room, noticing the tin furniture and tin ornaments upon the tin whatnots in the corners.

  It certainly was the strangest house they had ever seen. In the corner there was even a tin piano which played tinny tunes.

  In a few minutes the guard had returned and ushered Jam and Percy into the presence of the Tin Woodman. Jam stopped in amazement when he saw this strange man, for his body, and arms, and legs, and even his head were made of tin. He was jointed so that he moved with ease, and when he spoke, he sounded just like a human being.

  "Come in, come in," he cried to them. "I am very happy to have visitors at this hour," and he beckoned them into his private apartment, which was all tin like the reception room had been. "So you are from Ohio," he continued. "Is that near Kansas?"

  "Kansas?" Asked Jam, surprised.

  "Yes, I know a nice little girl who used to live in Kansas."

  "Well," said Jam, "they're both in the United States."

  "Good, good, it makes me doubly glad to welcome you. Any fellow countryman of my friend, Dorothy is a friend of mine," and he shook Jam's hand enthusiastically. "But where," he added, looking in amazement at Percy, "Did you ever meet such a huge rat?"

  "That's a long story," said Percy.

  "And a very strange one, no doubt," said the Tin Man, who had had many marvelous adventures himself. "But, before you tell your tale, perhaps you would like to have some food. I, myself, am never hungry, and do not need to eat, being made of tin but my flesh and blood friends always enjoy a good meal."

  "We are hungry," admitted the little boy; so the Tin Woodman called for a servant and ordered a feast to be prepared for the two travelers. Soon the butler carried in a fine dinner on a tin tray and set up a small tin table from which Jam and Percy ate their meal, which was served on tin plates. After eating the last bite of pie with a tin fork, Jam pushed his tin chair back from the tin table and prepared to tell his strange story to the Tin Woodman.

  He related all the amazing things that had happened to him, beginning at home in Ohio with his kite and telling all about Terp, the Terrible. When he spoke of the giant, the Tin Woodman nodded knowingly.

  "I once had trouble with another giant who lived in the Gilliken country," he stated. "Or rather, I should say, a giantess, Mrs. Yoop, who very wickedly transformed me into a tin owl for a time. The North Country seems to be the place where most of the giants of Oz live."

  Then Jam told the ruler of the Winkies about the famous magic muffin tree that was guarded by the two-headed monster and how Percy had grown large when he had eaten a bite of the magic muffin.

  "See," said Percy proudly, standing up beside Jam "I'm as tall as he is, kiddo."

  "Well, almost," admitted the Tin Woodman. "You come up to his shoulder."

  "Shoulder!" Shrieked Percy. "I'm taller than that."

  "I am sorry to say otherwise," insisted the Tin Man, "you are not only shorter than Jam, but you seem to be shrinking by the minute."

  And sure enough, Percy was becoming smaller and smaller at a great rate of speed. He was now only waist high, so he cried "Help! Do something! I like being big. Give me some more of the magic muffin, kiddo, before I dwindle away to nothing."

  Jam hastily snatched up his knapsack which he had put in the corner before dinner and began rummaging in it for the piece of magic muffin that Percy had not eaten. After a few minutes he found it and pulled it out of the bottom of the sack. By this time Percy was only as high as Jam's knees. Jam quickly handed him the piece of magic muffin which Percy seized eagerly and began nibbling. Instantly he began to grow again, and within a few minutes' time he was again ten times his original size.

  "Ah," he said in a relieved tone, "that's better."

  "Most amazing," murmured the Tin Woodman.

  "Very interesting indeed. I think I see why Terp the Terrible, guards his magic muffin tree so jealously. It is, no doubt, the secret of growth that has made a giant out of what once was an ordinary man no bigger than anyone else."

  "The Gilliken farmers were right when they said that if someone would cut down the magic muffin tree, Terp would lose his power. They want you to come and rescue them by chopping down the tree,"

  he added to the Tin Woodman. "They said that the birds who flew over their hidden valley had told them of a famous woodman in the land of the Winkies who could help them; and that famous woodman must be none other than you."

  "I should be glad to help them if I can do it. With some thought on the matter, I may be able to figure out some way to chop down the tree and take all of Terp's wicked power from him."

  "The Gillikens also said that you might be able to help me to get back to my home," said Jam hopefully. "I would be very happy if you could, because I miss my mother and father."

  "There isn't much I can do for you," said the Tin Woodman, "but perhaps our ruler, Ozma, can help you-she, and the Wizard of Oz, and Glinda, the good sorceress of the Quadling country have helped Dorothy to return to the outside world on various occasions. Of course, Dorothy now lives here all of the time, because she prefers to be a citizen of Oz."

  "Doesn't she love her family and want to be with them?" Asked Jam.

  "Oh, yes, she has brought her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, with whom she lived, to Oz, and they are very happy here."

  "Well, I don't think my parents would want to be here," said the little boy positively, "for my father is a college professor."

  "He might like to meet Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., Head of the Royal College of Athletic Sciences, near the Emerald City," said the Tin Woodman. "The professor is a
very interesting character who has invented many marvelous pills, such as the square meal tablet, which gives you the equivalent of a full meal in one small pill."

  "Wonder how it tastes?" Murmured Percy to himself.

  "Do you think that I might see Ozma and ask her to send me home?" Inquired the boy anxiously.

  "Tomorrow we can travel to the Emerald City, and I shall present you to her royal highness," kindly replied the Tin Woodman. "I feel sorry for you, for I possess a kind and sympathetic heart which was given to me by the Wonderful Wizard many years ago."

  This statement cheered up the small boy, who hoped to see an end to his odd adventures soon.

  By this time, it was growing late; so the Tin Woodman, who saw that his small visitor was very weary suggested that Jam wait until morning to finish telling the story of his adventures. A servant showed the boy and the rat to a fine tin bedroom, where Jam soon fell asleep in a tin bed, with Percy fast asleep on a rug on the tin floor beneath a window which overlooked the beautiful gardens of the tin castle.

  Chapter 11

  Dorothy and the Scarecrow Join the Party

  JAM slept late the next morning. He was very weary from his journey. When he awoke the sun was shining brightly, and he could hear birds singing in the trees outside his window. Percy was sitting up, yawning and stretching, and when he saw that Jam was awake he said "Good morning, kiddo. We're off to the Emerald City today, aren't we? I wonder if I could prevail upon this Ozma person to enchant me in some way so that I'd stay big without having to keep up a diet of magic muffin? If the Tin Woodman hacks down that tree, my goose is cooked. I'm getting used to being a curiosity, and I don't want to be just an ordinary white rat again."

  "Maybe she will," said Jam. "I'm beginning to think that almost anything is possible in the Land of Oz."

  The little boy was hungry, so he set out in search of his host, the Tin Woodman, whom he found waiting in the room he had been in the night before. The Emperor immediately ordered a fine breakfast for his guests and chatted with them while they ate.

  After the meal he asked Jam to relate the rest of his adventures, but before the boy could begin, they were interrupted by a servant who announced: "Her Royal Highness, the Princess Dorothy of Oz and the wise and illustrious Scarecrow to see the Emperor of the Winkies."

  "Show them in!" Cried the delighted Nick Chopper.

  "Show them in!"

  In a moment a lovely little girl with golden hair entered the room, followed by the oddest character yet seen by Jam or Percy. It was a real, live Scarecrow, stuffed with straw, wisps of which were sticking out of his body. He was dressed in a faded blue costume, similar to the standard garb of the inhabitants of Oz, complete with blue boots that turned up at the toes and an old blue hat with round brim and pointed crown.

  The Tin Woodman shook hands with Dorothy and embraced the Scarecrow. It seemed to Jam they must all be old friends.

  "I am so happy to see you," smiled the Tin Man.

  "We decided to pay you a little visit," said Dorothy, "because Ozma has gone to the Quadling country for a few days to visit Glinda."

  "Excellent," cried the Tin Woodman. "But please forgive my rudeness. I have not introduced my guests. May I present Jam from Ohio in the United States and his friend, Percy, the giant white rat.

  These are Dorothy Gale from Kansas, now a Princess of Oz, and my old and dear friend, the Scarecrow."

  Dorothy gazed with wonder at Percy, while Jam stared at the Scarecrow. After a moment Dorothy said, "How did you get to Oz from Ohio?"

  "And where did such a large rat come from?"

  Added the Scarecrow.

  "I came by Collapsible Kite, quite by accident," said Jam, "and I am very anxious to get home again. I had hoped that Ozma would know some way to get me there."

  "We had planned to go to the Emerald City today,"

  explained the Tin Woodman; "but if Ozma is visiting Glinda, the Good, we shall have to wait until she has returned to see her."

  Jam was very much disappointed when he heard this, for even a few days' delay in returning home was discouraging.

  "Jam was just getting ready to finish the strange story of his adventures," said Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, "when you arrived. I'm sure that you will want to hear the story, too."

  He briefly told as much of Jam's story as he knew including the part about Terp, the Terrible, and how Percy had grown larger by eating a bit of the magic muffin. The Scarecrow and Dorothy were fascinated by this tale and begged Jam to continue, so he told of their escape from the Equinots and their adventure on Kite Island.

  "Now I want to go home," he finished, "but if Ozma is not at home, I guess I'll just have to wait."

  "Why do you have to see Ozma about getting home?" The little girl asked. "Why not have your kite fly you back, now that it has been repaired?"

  "I don't know the way home," Jam explained. "The wind blew me here, but it might not blow me home again."

  "Anyway, I wanted to ask her to make me permanently big," said Percy, "For a white rat of my size is much more of a curiosity than one of the regular size."

  "All very true," said the Scarecrow, "and probably within the power of Ozma and her consultant, the Wizard of Oz."

  "I can sympathize with you, "Dorothy said to Jam" for I remember how anxious I was to return home when I first came to Oz and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were still in Kansas. I am sure that Ozma will help you when she returns from the south."

  "In the meantime," said the Tin Woodman, "we could all go to the Gilliken Country and see if we could destroy the magic muffin tree and rid the Hidden Valley of Terp, the Terrible, who has made their lives so miserable."

  "A splendid idea," said the Scarecrow, "and I for one am in favor of it. All in favor say, 'Aye.'"

  "I think it would be lots of fun," exclaimed Dorothy. "We always have such good times together when we travel over the countryside."

  "I might as well go along, too," said Jam, "I can't get home until I've seen Ozma, and I'd like to help you because you've all been so kind to me."

  "Count me in, too, kiddos," said Percy. "I'll be glad to help get rid of Terp. Maybe I can get a supply of the magic muffins while we're there and keep my new size for a while, anyway."

  So the five of them decided to journey to the Hidden Valley in the Country of the Gillikens. The Tin Woodman ordered food prepared to take on the trip for although he and his friend, the Scarecrow, did not eat, he knew that Percy, Dorothy, and Jam were not constructed as he and the Straw Man were.

  "The Scarecrow and I brought along the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger," said Dorothy. "Ozma took the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon, so we rode in style on our feline friends."

  "They'll be good company on this journey," added the Scarecrow. "The country of the Gillikens is wild and we may encounter dangers along the way. The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger are always good protection."

  "Do you mean that you rode on a real lion and a real tiger?" Gasped Jam. "Weren't you afraid that they would eat you up?"

  "Gracious, no," laughed Dorothy. "They are as tame as anything and are our friends. But other people and beasts are afraid of them, so they are good protection for us."

  "In fact," added the Scarecrow, "the Cowardly Lion is afraid of everything. But he is brave and hides his fear by his acts of valor, so that only his friends know how cowardly he really is."

  "I don't know how I'll get along with two wild beasts," said Percy. "Maybe they won't like me and will devour me in one gulp."

  "Never fear," said Dorothy. "They never harm any of our friends. They are really quite pleasant and friendly, and I'm sure you will grow to be fast friends."

  "Well, maybe," said Percy, "But I'll be careful at first, kiddo."

  "We had better start," said the Tin Woodman, "for it will take us longer to reach Terp's castle than it did for Jam and Percy to get here. They came by kite, but Jam's kite can't possibly carry all of us back to the Hidden Valley."

  "I guess
I'd better leave the kite here," Jam decided. Going to the tree that served as an anchor for the kite, he said, "We're all going back to the Gilliken country. Do you think that you could be happy here with the other kites?"

  "Oh, yes," replied the Collapsible Kite. So Jam removed the swinging seats from the kite, untied it from the tree, and watched it fly away to find its new friends.

  Then the little band prepared to leave, bound for the country of the Gillikens and the castle of Terp the Terrible, and his magic tree.

  Jam was a little frightened when he first met the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; for these huge beasts were fierce looking indeed. They proved to be very gentle, however, and Jam soon learned to like them. He had heard why the Cowardly Lion was so named, but he was puzzled about the Hungry Tiger.

  "Are you really so very hungry?" He asked, and the Tiger replied "Yes. I crave nice fat babies." At this remark Jam and Percy shuddered with horror. "Don't be mistaken," the Tiger hastened to add. "I never eat them, for my conscience will not allow it. But I'm hungry for them, just the same."

  "Never fear, "laughed Dorothy." The Hungry Tiger wouldn't hurt a fly."

  It was decided that Jam and Dorothy should ride on the Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman did not need to ride for they could walk indefinitely without getting tired.

  Percy ran along by them, although he kept his distance from the two huge beasts, still fearing them even though Jam seemed to enjoy their company.

  Chapter 12

  The Leopard with the Changing Spots

  AS they traveled along the road, they were greeted on all sides by the happy Winkie people; for it was little Dorothy who had saved them from the Wicked Witch of the West by melting her with a pail of water, and the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodman, and the Scarecrow had been with her on this adventure. Before long they had passed from the tilled fields of the farmers with their rows of yellow corn, and pumpkin vines, to the wilder sections of the land of the west. They passed through fields of yellow poppies, until they saw looming before them a large forest Because they had the two large cats with them and because, in addition, the Tin Woodman was armed with his gleaming axe, they did not fear any beasts that might be encountered in the woods.