_How_ THE CUTTENCLIPS LIVED
CHAPTER TEN
The travelers had taken no provisions with them because they knew thatthey would be welcomed wherever they might go in the Land of Oz, andthat the people would feed and lodge them with genuine hospitality. Soabout noon they stopped at a farm-house and were given a deliciousluncheon of bread and milk, fruits and wheat cakes with maple syrup.After resting a while and strolling through the orchards with theirhost--a round, jolly farmer--they got into the wagon and again startedthe Sawhorse along the pretty, winding road.
There were sign-posts at all the corners, and finally they came to onewhich read:
(hand pointing right)] TAKE THIS ROAD TO THE CUTTENCLIPS
There was also a hand pointing in the right direction, so they turnedthe Sawhorse that way and found it a very good road, but seeminglylittle traveled.
"I've never been to see the Cuttenclips before," remarked Dorothy.
"Nor I," said the Captain General.
"Nor I," said the Wizard.
"Nor I," said Billina.
"I've hardly been out of the Emerald City since I arrived in thiscountry," added the Shaggy Man.
"Why, none of us has been there, then," exclaimed the little girl. "Iwonder what the Cuttenclips are like."
"We shall soon find out," said the Wizard, with a sly laugh. "I've heardthey are rather flimsy things."
The farm-houses became fewer as they proceeded, and the path was attimes so faint that the Sawhorse had hard work to keep in the road. Thewagon began to jounce, too; so they were obliged to go slowly.
After a somewhat wearisome journey they came in sight of a high wall,painted blue with pink ornaments. This wall was circular, and seemed toenclose a large space. It was so high that only the tops of the treescould be seen above it.
The path led up to a small door in the wall, which was closed andlatched. Upon the door was a sign in gold letters reading as follows:
_VISITORS are requested to MOVE SLOWLY and CAREFULLY, and to avoidCOUGHING or making any BREEZE or DRAUGHT_
"That's strange," said the Shaggy Man, reading the sign aloud. "Who_are_ the Cuttenclips, anyhow?"
"Why, they're paper dolls," answered Dorothy. "Didn't you know that?"
"Paper dolls! Then let's go somewhere else," said Uncle Henry. "We'reall too old to play with dolls, Dorothy."
"But these are different," declared the girl. "They're alive."
"Alive!" gasped Aunt Em, in amazement.
"Yes. Let's go in," said Dorothy.
So they all got out of the wagon, since the door in the wall was not bigenough for them to drive the Sawhorse and wagon through it.
"You stay here, Toto!" commanded Dorothy, shaking her finger at thelittle dog. "You 're so careless that you might make a breeze if I letyou inside."
Toto wagged his tail as if disappointed at being left behind; but hemade no effort to follow them. The Wizard unlatched the door, whichopened outward, and they all looked eagerly inside.
Just before the entrance was drawn up a line of tiny soldiers, withuniforms brightly painted and paper guns upon their shoulders. They wereexactly alike, from one end of the line to the other, and all were cutout of paper and joined together in the centers of their bodies.
As the visitors entered the enclosure the Wizard let the door swing backinto place, and at once the line of soldiers tumbled over, fell flatupon their backs, and lay fluttering upon the ground.
"Hi, there!" called one of them; "what do you mean by slamming the doorand blowing us over?"
"I beg your pardon, I'm sure," said the Wizard, regretfully. "I didn'tknow you were so delicate."
"We're not delicate!" retorted another soldier, raising his head fromthe ground. "We are strong and healthy; but we can't stand draughts."
"May I help you up?" asked Dorothy.
"If you please," replied the end soldier. "But do it gently, littlegirl."
Dorothy carefully stood up the line of soldiers, who first dusted theirpainted clothes and then saluted the visitors with their paper muskets.From the end it was easy to see that the entire line had been cut out ofpaper, although from the front the soldiers looked rather solid andimposing.
"I've a letter of introduction from Princess Ozma to Miss Cuttenclip,"announced Dorothy.
"Very well," said the end soldier, and blew upon a paper whistle thathung around his neck. At once a paper soldier in a Captain's uniformcame out of a paper house near by and approached the group at theentrance. He was not very big, and he walked rather stiffly anduncertainly on his paper legs; but he had a pleasant face, with very redcheeks and very blue eyes, and he bowed so low to the strangers thatDorothy laughed, and the breeze from her mouth nearly blew the Captainover. He wavered and struggled and finally managed to remain upon hisfeet.
"Take care, Miss!" he said, warningly. "You're breaking the rules, youknow, by laughing."
"Oh, I didn't know that," she replied.
"To laugh in this place is nearly as dangerous as to cough," said theCaptain. "You'll have to breathe very quietly, I assure you."
"We'll try to," promised the girl. "May we see Miss Cuttenclip, please?"
"You may," promptly returned the Captain. "This is one of her receptiondays. Be good enough to follow me."
He turned and led the way up a path, and as they followed slowly,because the paper Captain did not move very swiftly, they took theopportunity to gaze around them at this strange paper country.
Beside the path were paper trees, all cut out very neatly and painted abrilliant green color. And back of the trees were rows of cardboardhouses, painted in various colors but most of them having green blinds.Some were large and some small, and in the front yards were beds ofpaper flowers quite natural in appearance. Over some of the porchespaper vines were twined, giving them a cosy and shady look.
As the visitors passed along the street a good many paper dolls came tothe doors and windows of their houses to look at them curiously. Thesedolls were nearly all the same height, but were cut into various shapes,some being fat and some lean. The girl dolls wore many beautifulcostumes of tissue paper, making them quite fluffy; but their heads andhands were no thicker than the paper of which they were made.
Some of the paper people were on the street, walking along orcongregated in groups and talking together; but as soon as they saw thestrangers they all fluttered into the houses as fast as they could go,so as to be out of danger.
"Excuse me if I go edgewise," remarked the Captain, as they came to aslight hill. "I can get along faster that way and not flutter so much."
"That's all right," said Dorothy. "We don't mind how you go, I'm sure."
At one side of the street was a paper pump, and a paper boy was pumpingpaper water into a paper pail. The Yellow Hen happened to brush againstthis boy with her wing, and he flew into the air and fell into a papertree, where he stuck until the Wizard gently pulled him out. At the sametime the pail went soaring into the air, spilling the paper water, whilethe paper pump bent nearly double.
"Goodness me!" said the Hen. "If I should flop my wings I believe I'dknock over the whole village!"
"Then don't flop them--please don't!" entreated the Captain. "MissCuttenclip would be very much distressed if her village was spoiled."
"Oh, I'll be careful," promised Billina.
"Are not all these paper girls and women named Miss Cuttenclips?"inquired Omby Amby.
"No, indeed," answered the Captain, who was walking better since hebegan to move edgewise. "There is but one Miss Cuttenclip, who is ourQueen, because she made us all. These girls are Cuttenclips, to be sure,but their names are Emily and Polly and Sue and Betty and such things.Only the Queen is called Miss Cuttenclip."
"I must say that this place beats anything I ever heard of," observedAunt Em. "I used to play with paper dolls myself, an' cut 'em out; butI never thought I'd ever see such things alive."
"I don't see as it's any more curious than hearing hens talk," returnedUncle Henry.
/>
"You're likely to see many queer things in the Land of Oz, sir," saidthe Wizard. "But a fairy country is extremely interesting when you getused to being surprised."
"Here we are!" called the Captain, stopping before a cottage.
This house was made of wood, and was remarkably pretty in design. In theEmerald City it would have been considered a tiny dwelling, indeed; butin the midst of this paper village it seemed immense. Real flowers werein the garden and real trees grew beside it. Upon the front door was asign reading:
MISS CUTTENCLIP.
Just as they reached the porch the front door opened and a little girlstood before them. She appeared to be about the same age as Dorothy, andsmiling upon her visitors she said, sweetly:
"You are welcome."
All the party seemed relieved to find that here was a real girl, offlesh and blood. She was very dainty and pretty as she stood therewelcoming them. Her hair was a golden blonde and her eyes turquoiseblue. She had rosy cheeks and lovely white teeth. Over her simple whitelawn dress she wore an apron with pink and white checks, and in one handshe held a pair of scissors.
"May we see Miss Cuttenclip, please?" asked Dorothy.
"I am Miss Cuttenclip," was the reply. "Won't you come in?"
She held the door open while they all entered a pretty sitting-room thatwas littered with all sorts of paper--some stiff, some thin, and sometissue. The sheets and scraps were of all colors. Upon a table werepaints and brushes, while several pair of scissors, of different sizes,were lying about.
"Sit down, please," said Miss Cuttenclip, clearing the paper scraps offsome of the chairs. "It is so long since I have had any visitors that Iam not properly prepared to receive them. But I'm sure you will pardonmy untidy room, for this is my workshop."
"Do you make all the paper dolls?" inquired Dorothy.
"Yes; I cut them out with my scissors, and paint the faces and some ofthe costumes. It is very pleasant work, and I am happy making my papervillage grow."
"But how do the paper dolls happen to be alive?" asked Aunt Em.
"The first dolls I made were not alive," said Miss Cuttenclip. "I usedto live near the castle of a great Sorceress named Glinda the Good,and she saw my dolls and said they were very pretty. I told her Ithought I would like them better if they were alive, and the next daythe Sorceress brought me a lot of magic paper. 'This is live paper,' shesaid, 'and all the dolls you cut out of it will be alive, and able tothink and to talk. When you have used it all up, come to me and I willgive you more.'
"Of course I was delighted with this present," continued MissCuttenclip, "and at once set to work and made several paper dolls,which, as soon as they were cut out, began to walk around and talk tome. But they were so thin that I found that any breeze would blow themover and scatter them dreadfully; so Glinda found this lonely place forme, where few people ever come. She built the wall to keep any wind fromblowing away my people, and told me I could build a paper village hereand be its Queen. That is why I came here and settled down to work andstarted the village you now see. It was many years ago that I built thefirst houses, and I've kept pretty busy and made my village grow finely;and I need not tell you that I am very happy in my work."
"Many years ago!" exclaimed Aunt Em. "Why, how old are you, child?"
"I never keep track of the years," said Miss Cuttenclip, laughing. "Yousee, I don't grow up at all, but stay just the same as I was when firstI came here. Perhaps I'm older even than you are, madam; but I couldn'tsay for sure."
They looked at the lovely little girl wonderingly, and the Wizard asked:
"What happens to your paper village when it rains?"
"It does not rain here," replied Miss Cuttenclip. "Glinda keeps all therain storms away; so I never worry about my dolls getting wet. But now,if you will come with me, it will give me pleasure to show you over mypaper kingdom. Of course you must go slowly and carefully, and avoidmaking any breeze."
They left the cottage and followed their guide through the variousstreets of the village. It was indeed an amazing place, when oneconsidered that it was all made with scissors, and the visitors were notonly greatly interested but full of admiration for the skill of littleMiss Cuttenclip.
In one place a large group of especially nice paper dolls assembled togreet their Queen, whom it was easy to see they loved dearly. Thesedolls marched and danced before the visitors, and then they all wavedtheir paper handkerchiefs and sang in a sweet chorus a song called "TheFlag of Our Native Land."
At the conclusion of the song they ran up a handsome paper flag on atall flagpole, and all of the people of the village gathered around tocheer as loudly as they could--although, of course, their voices werenot especially strong.
Miss Cuttenclip was about to make her subjects a speech in reply to thispatriotic song, when the Shaggy Man happened to sneeze.
He was a very loud and powerful sneezer at any time, and he had tried sohard to hold in this sneeze that when it suddenly exploded the resultwas terrible.
The paper dolls were mowed down by dozens, and flew and fluttered inwild confusion in every direction, tumbling this way and that andgetting more or less wrinkled and bent.
A wail of terror and grief came from the scattered throng, and MissCuttenclip exclaimed:
"Dear me! dear me!" and hurried at once to the rescue of her overturnedpeople.
"Oh, Shaggy Man! How could you?" asked Dorothy, reproachfully.
"I couldn't help it--really I couldn't," protested the Shaggy Man,looking quite ashamed. "And I had no idea it took so little to upsetthese paper dolls."
"So little!" said Dorothy. "Why, it was 'most as bad as a Kansascyclone." And then she helped Miss Cuttenclip rescue the paper folk andstand them on their feet again. Two of the cardboard houses had alsotumbled over, and the little Queen said she would have to repair themand paste them together before they could be lived in again.
And now, fearing they might do more damage to the flimsy paper people,they decided to go away. But first they thanked Miss Cuttenclip verywarmly for her courtesy and kindness to them.
"Any friend of Princess Ozma is always welcome here--unless he sneezes,"said the Queen, with a rather severe look at the Shaggy Man, who hunghis head. "I like to have visitors admire my wonderful village, and Ihope you will call again."
Miss Cuttenclip herself led them to the door in the wall, and as theypassed along the street the paper dolls peeped at them half fearfullyfrom the doors and windows. Perhaps they will never forget the ShaggyMan's awful sneeze, and I am sure they were all glad to see the meatpeople go away.
The Emerald City of Oz Page 11