"I have an idea," said Spots, his markings changing from blue moons to electric lights. "Since you are really very well protected by the Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion, and since I have an excellent sense of direction, why don't I take the Court Jester to the Emerald City, and we can await your arrival there."
Dorothy agreed that this was an excellent suggestion, and the Rhyming Dictionary acquiesced wholeheartedly. So the little girl wrote a note to the Patchwork Girl, telling her that the Jester and Spots were old friends, and that she should make them welcome at the palace. She folded the note, gave it to the little book-man, and he and Spots were ready to go on their way.
"Take good care of yourselves, "cautioned Spots" We'll wait for you at the palace."
"To all of you, I bid adieu But hope I'll soon be meeting you.
Of Terp take care-I could not bear To think that he was eating you!"
Said the Rhyming Dictionary gaily. Then he hopped up on Spots' back, and the great leopard raced away to the south.
Chapter 16
The Snowmen of Icetown
THE friends waved goodby to their two companions and then proceeded along the path that had taken them to Bookville. Soon they were at the signpost again, and began walking toward Icetown.
"I don't know what it'll be like there," said Dorothy, "but I'll bet they don't try to make books of us."
"Animal Book indeed, "muttered the Hungry Tiger still angry at the insults they had received from the books.
"And I'm the King of the Forest," declared the Cowardly Lion. "I certainly don't belong in any book."
"Our fate was to be bad, too," said Nick Chopper.
"The Scarecrow and I were to have the least dignified fate of all. At least the rest of you were to be in books, while we were to be placed in a very menial position."
"Let us hope that we receive better treatment in Icetown," fervently said the Scarecrow.
"Maybe they'll have ice cream cones," Jam said hungrily.
"Maybe we can just breeze through the place and keep on going, kiddos," said Percy, and the rest agreed that was really the best idea of all.
They had walked for perhaps a mile when Dorothy began to shiver, and Jam felt a cold wind blowing in his face. The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow didn't feel the change in temperature, but Percy remarked that it seemed a lot colder than it had been and the Hungry Tiger and the Cowardly Lion said that they preferred warmer climates than this. In the midst of their comments, they came to a hollow in the land, and there, below them, lay a most curious village. The ground was covered with snow and ice and the houses were built of blocks of snow and shaped like Eskimo igloos. Since the path led straight down the hill into the town, the group began the descent, getting colder with each step they took toward the snow houses.
Suddenly a figure appeared in the path ahead of them and said "Who goes there?"
It was the queerest man Dorothy and Jam had ever seen, for he was a live snowman, complete with carrot nose, eyes made from chunks of coal, and on his head was an old, battered stovepipe hat. Around his neck was knotted a red, knitted muffler, and there were coal buttons down the front of his coat.
"Look," cried Jam, "A snowman. A live snowman!"
"Hello, there," Dorothy said to him. "My, this certainly is a curious place. I didn't know that any such place existed in all the Land of Oz."
"This," said the Snowman in icy tones, "is Icetown. No visitors are allowed."
"That's what is known as giving us the cold shoulder, I'd say," murmured Percy.
"We are sorry to intrude," said the Scarecrow in diplomatic tones," but your village lies in our path and we shall have to pass through it in order to continue upon our mission. I am sure that you will understand and will not refuse our humble request."
"Travel at your own risk," said the Snowman to them. "Visitors are discouraged."
With these words, he turned his back on the group and hurried off down the path in front of them. The travelers paused, shivering, to discuss what they should do.
"We'll have to go on," said Dorothy to her companions, "for the only other path is the one through Bookville."
"And we certainly don't want to go back there,"
added Jam.
"I don't see what harm there'd be in walking through this cold burg, kiddos," said Percy. "What objections can 'frozen face' have to that?"
"Then on we go," said the Tin Woodman. "It shouldn't take us too long to get to the other side of the town. It doesn't look too large."
The group moved forward, walking carefully because the path was slippery with ice. Suddenly the Scarecrow, who was in front, slipped and fell, sliding down the path and skidding around a corner out of sight.
"Hey, wait for us!" Cried Percy.
"I hope he doesn't bump into anything," said the Tin Woodman anxiously.
"It won't hurt him if he does, "Dorothy remarked" for after all he's stuffed with straw. Falling down doesn't bother him a bit. I hope, "she added," that I don't fall down myself, because I'm made of flesh and bones, and bones break."
Picking their way carefully, they all reached the bend in the path around which the Scarecrow had slid.
But when they rounded the corner, there was no one in sigh-no snowmen; no Scarecrow; no nobody at all.
"Where did he go?" Asked Dorothy, looking around her in all directions. But look as she might, no Scarecrow appeared upon the scene.
"What's happened to him?" Wondered Jam, a little note of anxiety creeping into his voice. "He was here just a minute ago."
"Scarecrow, Scarecrow, where are you?" Called the Tin Woodman in a loud voice.
"Scarecrow, Scarecrow," echoed back to them. No other sound broke the icy stillness of the air. The Tin Woodman looked at Dorothy, a worried expression on his face. It wasn't like the Scarecrow to disappear like this.
"Something must have happened to him," said the little girl in dismay.
"But what?" Asked the Cowardly Lion, looking around him unhappily. This sort of thing was not to his liking. He preferred open combat in the jungle instead of these mysterious happenings in Icetown.
"Could he have fallen into a hole in the ice?" Asked Jam, searching the ground for some crevice into which the Scarecrow might have disappeared.
"The ground is as smooth as glass here and frozen solid," Dorothy said doubtfully. "I don't see how he could have fallen any place around here. And if he were within hearing distance, he would answer when he was called."
Percy said, "Brrr. It's so cold that it's freezing my whiskers. Let's move on or do something, kiddos, before we all turn into icicles."
At his words, a low wail began, and it became louder and louder until it sounded like the wild shrieking of the North Wind.
"What's that?" Cried Dorothy, who was by this time becoming rather frightened. "Is it the wind or is it someone that we hear crying?"
Again the wind whistled around them, and this time it seemed to them that they could distinguish words in the wailing sound.
"I am the North Wind," came faintly to their ears.
"I am slave to the Snowmen. Beware, oh travelers beware, beware," and the sound increased in volume until it sounded like the wintry blast through tall pine trees.
"Where is our friend, the Scarecrow?" Dorothy called to the North Wind.
"Gone," he shrieked. "Gone! Gone!"
"We must find him," said the Tin Woodman. "I for one will not be frightened by the wind."
"But where can we look?" Asked Jam. "He has disappeared completely. The North Wind must have blown him away."
"He's so light that it could have happened," agreed Dorothy. "What chance does a Straw Man have against the force of a strong wind?"
"But if he's been blown away, he must have been blown some place," remarked Nick Chopper logically.
"And I mean to find him, no matter where he may be."
At this, the North Wind laughed loudly and blew his cold blasts on the little group, showering icy crystals down on them
.
"Let's get away from here," exclaimed the Hungry Tiger who didn't like cold at all.
"I'd like to," answered the Cowardly Lion, "but the Scarecrow and I are old friends and have had many adventures together, so I can't desert him now. I'm for looking for him."
"Nobody's going any place without him," said Percy, who had grown to like the Scarecrow. "We need his brains in this outfit."
"Then let's quit talking about it and do something,"
said Jam. He was so cold that he wished he hadn't lost his cowboy hat in the river.
"Where shall we look first?" Inquired Dorothy.
"We must go down into the village and find some of the Snowmen," decided the Tin Woodman. "If the North Wind is their slave and if he has blown the Scarecrow away, then they must know where he is now. We'll demand that they tell us what they have done with our friend."
"Good," said Percy, who was dancing around on his toes, trying to keep warm.
Slipping and sliding, the little band hurried on down the icy path into the village. There they picked out the largest igloo and headed for it, for the Tin Woodman said that it probably was the home of the chief snowman, who would surely know where their friend was hidden. When they reached the entrance, they discovered that it was a low, narrow tunnel through which they would all have to crawl in order to get indoors.
"Let me go first," said the Cowardly Lion, who was really quite brave. And he crouched down and crawled into the igloo entrance.
He was followed by the Tin Woodman who was beginning to be covered with frost, Jam, Dorothy Percy, and finally the Hungry Tiger. The tunnel was dark and long, and the walls and floor and ceiling were a sheet of glittering ice, so it was difficult for them to crawl through to the building. Once inside the igloo, they saw that they were in a huge, dome-shaped room that was lighted by a mysterious flickering colored light that seemed to come from the walls themselves and cast curious shadows about the room.
Directly in front of them was a large chair made of ice, and in it sat a huge Snowman with a crown upon his head instead of the battered hat that they had seen on the first Snowman. To one side of the throne was the Scarecrow, bound securely to a huge icicle that hung from the ceiling. When the Cowardly Lion saw his old friend in such a predicament, he lunged forward with a roar, only to be stopped short by a wall of ice which appeared around the Scarecrow when the King of the Snowmen waved a snowy hand in that direction.
"Hello, my friends," the Scarecrow said sadly, his voice muffled by the sheet of ice that surrounded him.
"I hoped that you would escape, but I see that you have been captured, too."
"We aren't prisoners," his tin friend said. "We have come here to rescue you."
At these words the travelers heard a chorus of laughter behind them and spinning quickly around in their tracks, they saw that the doorway was now guarded by a large number of the cold people that inhabited this strange city.
"You cannot escape," declared the Chief Snowman in a cold voice. "You have fallen into the trap which we so cleverly set for you, and there is no hope for you now."
Dorothy shuddered at his chilling prediction, and all the rest of the group huddled together for warmth and protection.
"What do you intend to do to us?" Asked the Tin Woodman. "Why molest us at all? We have done you no harm and intended none. All we wished to do was to walk through your city so that we could continue upon our journey which lay in this direction."
"Visitors are not allowed," stated the king positively. "All trespassers are punished. That is the law, and the law must be obeyed or I will be replaced by another ruler."
"Punish the trespassers!" Shouted the Snowmen loudly. "Freeze them out!"
"Please don't talk about freezing," begged Dorothy. "I'm so cold now that I don't think I'll ever be warm again.
At this remark the Snowmen went into gales of laughter, rocking back and forth merrily.
"She doesn't think she'll ever be warm again," they gasped, when they were able to talk. "How true, how true."
"What do they mean?" Asked Jam. He was very frightened by now, and he wished sincerely that he had never been carried away in his kite. It looked now as if he would never see his home again.
"It is the law that you shall be frozen into Snowmen," announced the Chief when the hall was again quiet. "Although I fear that you won't make very handsome additions to our population, "he added eyeing them distastefully.
"But I don't want to be a snowman," cried Dorothy. "I think that would be dreadful."
"What you think matters little to us," said the Chief in his icy voice. "Summon the Lord High Freezer!"
"Summon the Lord High Freezer!" Said one of the Snowmen to another.
"Summon the Lord High Freezer!" This one said to his companions.
"Summon the Lord High Freezer!" The cry sounded through the large hall, echoing back from the dome above them.
Soon the crowd behind them parted to allow a fat little roly-poly Snowman to enter. He looked even colder than the rest, for he had a beard of long, drooping icicles hanging down over his coat front, and the very air around him grew even colder than it had been.
"Make way for the Lord High Freezer," cried the Snowmen, bowing to him as he puffed along toward the throne.
He bowed to the Chief Snowman and said, "Did you call for me, your highness?"
"Yes, Lord High Freezer, I have work for you. We have trespassers in our midst," and he pointed to Jam and his friends.
"Ah, ha," said the Lord High Freezer.
"Ah, ha," echoed the Snowmen who were crowded into the hall.
"It is my wish and command that these miserable intruders be frozen into Snowmen," continued the Chief.
"Ah, yes, indeed," commented the Lord High Freezer, nodding his head and looking closely at the little band with his black coal eyes.
"Ah, yes, indeed," cried the gathering of Snowmen.
"I protest," said the Tin Woodman angrily. "We have done no harm to you, and furthermore we are loyal friends of Ozma, the ruler of all Oz. I demand in her name, that we be released immediately, and be allowed to continue our journey unmolested."
"Quiet," said the Chief, eyeing him coldly.
"Quiet," said the Lord High Freezer.
"Quiet," cried the assembly.
"I fear we are lost," came the Scarecrow's voice from behind the wall of ice. "What a queer snowman I'll make."
"None of you will make ideal Snowmen," declared the Chief, looking them over carefully, "but the Lord High Freezer will do his best."
"At least I'll be the right color, kiddos," said Percy sadly. "One frozen rat coming up!"
"Take them away," the Chief Snowman commanded as he rose, adjourning the assembly. "After they are well frozen, I will inspect them."
Chapter 17
The Scarecrow to the Rescue
A GROUP of Snowmen advanced and surrounded the Tin Woodman and his companions and brought the Scarecrow along with his friends. Then they were taken to the tunnel and made to leave the assembly hall. Once outside, they were conducted to a smaller igloo which had a large sign over the entrance: DEEP FREEZER.
"This," said the Scarecrow, "seems to be it."
"It was nice to have known all of you," said the Tin Woodman sadly, and he shook hands with the Scarecrow, Dorothy, Jam and even shook the paws of the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, and Percy.
"Come, come," ordered the Lord High Freezer, "no need to tarry. Into the Deep Freezer with you."
One by one the little band crawled into the igloo and when all were inside the Snowmen rolled a huge snowball in front of the door. It was cold in the small room-very cold and getting colder by the minute.
"I don't want to be a snowman," sobbed Dorothy.
"I want to go home," cried Jam.
"Brrr," said Percy, the Cowardly Lion, and the Hungry Tiger.
The Tin Woodman was so cold that his joints were creaking. Only the Scarecrow was able to resist the extreme cold. He sat on a b
lock of ice and rubbed his forehead with his padded glove fingers.
"We must find some way to escape," he thought aloud.
"How?" Asked Dorothy, her teeth chattering like castinets.
"There's only one way to warm us up," continued the Scarecrow. "We must build a fire. That would melt this igloo, and we could get away."
"A fire!" Exclaimed Nick Chopper. "That's an excellent idea."
"I'd like a fire," shivered Jam.
"But what'll we use to make a fire, kiddos?" Asked Percy.
They looked all around the small room, but they could find nothing but ice.
"There isn't any fuel here at all," said the Hungry Tiger who was so cold by this time that he had forgotten to be hungry.
"The fire was a good idea, but there isn't anything here that will burn, I fear," said Nick Chopper with difficulty, for his jaw joints were frozen nearly solid by this time.
"I guess we're really in for it this time," said Dorothy, "Although we've been through many strange adventures and have escaped, this one seems to be more than we can manage."
"I have a feeling that we are overlooking something," said the Scarecrow thoughtfully. "There must be something here that will burn."
And suddenly there came over his face a look of discovery.
"What is it?" Asked Dorothy hopefully.
"Have you thought of a means of escape, my old friend?" Asked the Tin Woodman.
"Yes," said the Scarecrow. "I have overlooked the most obvious source of fuel here."
"What could it be?" Asked Jam.
"My stuffing," said the Scarecrow.
"Your stuffing!" They all exclaimed. "But we can't burn your stuffing!"
"Why not?" He asked. "You must take out my straw and build a bonfire with it. Roll my head and clothing in a bundle and carry them with you when you escape, and then you can restuff me when you find a strawstack. I'll be as good as new."
"My dear old friend," exclaimed Nick Chopper with emotion in his voice. "You are always so thoughtful of others. Once before," he told them, "the Scarecrow sacrificed his straw to an enormous Hippo-gy-raf to save us. Sometimes I think that even with the kind heart that I was given by the Wizard of Oz, I cannot begin to equal the kindness of my friend, the Scarecrow."
The Hidden Valley of Oz Page 9