The Defiance of Ugu the Shoemaker
CHAPTER 23
The delay caused by Scraps had prevented anyone from running to theshelves to secure the magic instruments so badly needed. Even Caykeneglected to get her diamond-studded dishpan because she was watchingthe Patchwork Girl. And now the magician had opened his trap door andappeared in his golden cage again, frowning angrily because hisprisoners had been able to turn their upside-down prison right-side-up.
"Which of you has dared defy my magic?" he shouted in a terrible voice.
"It was I," answered Dorothy calmly.
"Then I shall destroy you, for you are only an Earth girl and no fairy,"he said, and began to mumble some magic words.
Dorothy now realized that Ugu must be treated as an enemy, so sheadvanced toward the corner in which he sat, saying as she went:
"I am not afraid of you, Mr. Shoemaker, and I think you'll be sorry,pretty soon, that you're such a bad man. You can't destroy me and Iwon't destroy you, but I'm going to punish you for your wickedness."
Ugu laughed a laugh that was not nice to hear, and then he waved hishand. Dorothy was halfway across the room when suddenly a wall of glassrose before her and stopped her progress. Through the glass she couldsee the magician sneering at her because she was a weak little girl, andthis provoked her. Although the glass wall obliged her to halt sheinstantly pressed both hands to her Magic Belt and cried in a loudvoice:
"Ugu the Shoemaker, by the magic virtues of the Magic Belt, I commandyou to become a dove!"
The magician instantly realized he was being enchanted, for he couldfeel his form changing. He struggled desperately against theenchantment, mumbling magic words and making magic passes with hishands. And in one way he succeeded in defeating Dorothy's purpose, forwhile his form soon changed to that of a gray dove, the dove was of anenormous size--bigger even than Ugu had been as a man--and this feat hehad been able to accomplish before his powers of magic wholly desertedhim.
And the dove was not gentle, as doves usually are, for Ugu was terriblyenraged at the little girl's success. His books had told him nothing ofthe Nome King's Magic Belt, the Country of the Nomes being outside theLand of Oz. He knew, however, that he was likely to be conquered unlesshe made a fierce fight, so he spread his wings and rose in the air andflew directly toward Dorothy. The Wall of Glass had disappeared theinstant Ugu became transformed.
Dorothy had meant to command the Belt to transform the magician into aDove of Peace, but in her excitement she forgot to say more than "dove,"and now Ugu was not a Dove of Peace by any means, but rather a spitefulDove of War. His size made his sharp beak and claws very dangerous, butDorothy was not afraid when he came darting toward her with his talonsoutstretched and his sword-like beak open.
She knew the Magic Belt would protect its wearer from harm.
But the Frogman did not know that fact and became alarmed at the littlegirl's seeming danger. So he gave a sudden leap and leaped full upon theback of the great dove.
Then began a desperate struggle. The dove was as strong as Ugu had been,and in size it was considerably bigger than the Frogman. But the Frogmanhad eaten the zosozo and it had made him fully as strong as Ugu theDove. At the first leap he bore the dove to the floor, but the giantbird got free and began to bite and claw the Frogman, beating him downwith its great wings whenever he attempted to rise. The thick, toughskin of the big frog was not easily damaged, but Dorothy feared for herchampion and by again using the transformation power of the Magic Beltshe made the dove grow small, until it was no larger than a canary bird.
Ugu had not lost his knowledge of magic when he lost his shape as a man,and he now realized it was hopeless to oppose the power of the MagicBelt and knew that his only hope of escape lay in instant action. So hequickly flew into the golden jeweled dishpan he had stolen from Caykethe Cookie Cook and, as birds can talk as well as beasts or men in theFairyland of Oz, he muttered the magic word that was required and wishedhimself in the Country of the Quadlings--which was as far away from thewicker castle as he believed he could get.
Our friends did not know, of course, what Ugu was about to do. They sawthe dishpan tremble an instant and then disappear, the dove disappearingwith it, and although they waited expectantly for some minutes for themagician's return, Ugu did not come back again.
"Seems to me," said the Wizard in a cheerful voice, "that we haveconquered the wicked magician more quickly than we expected to."
"Don't say 'we'--Dorothy did it!" cried the Patchwork Girl, turningthree somersaults in succession and then walking around on her hands."Hurrah for Dorothy!"
"I thought you said you did not know how to use the magic of the NomeKing's Belt," said the Wizard to Dorothy.
"I didn't know, at that time," she replied, "but afterward I rememberedhow the Nome King once used the Magic Belt to enchant people andtransform 'em into ornaments and all sorts of things; so I tried someenchantments in secret and after awhile I transformed the Sawhorse intoa potato-masher and back again, and the Cowardly Lion into a pussycatand back again, and then I knew the thing would work all right."
"When did you perform those enchantments?" asked the Wizard, muchsurprised.
"One night when all the rest of you were asleep but Scraps, and she hadgone chasing moonbeams."
"Well," remarked the Wizard, "your discovery has certainly saved us alot of trouble, and we must all thank the Frogman, too, for making sucha good fight. The dove's shape had Ugu's evil disposition inside it, andthat made the monster bird dangerous."
The Frogman was looking sad because the bird's talons had torn hispretty clothes, but he bowed with much dignity at this well-deservedpraise. Cayke, however, had squatted on the floor and was sobbingbitterly.
"My precious dishpan is gone!" she wailed. "Gone, just as I had found itagain!"
"Never mind," said Trot, trying to comfort her, "it's sure to be_some_where, so we'll cert'nly run across it some day."
"Yes, indeed," added Betsy; "now that we have Ozma's Magic Picture, wecan tell just where the Dove went with your dishpan."
They all approached the Magic Picture, and Dorothy wished it to show theenchanted form of Ugu the Shoemaker, wherever it might be. At once thereappeared in the frame of the Picture a scene in the far QuadlingCountry, where the Dove was perched disconsolately on the limb of a treeand the jeweled dishpan lay on the ground just underneath the limb.
"But where is the place--how far or how near?" asked Cayke anxiously.
"The Book of Records will tell us that," answered the Wizard. So theylooked in the Great Book and read the following:
"Ugu the Magician, being transformed into a dove by Princess Dorothy of Oz, has used the magic of the golden dishpan to carry him instantly to the northeast corner of the Quadling Country."
"That's all right," said Dorothy. "Don't worry, Cayke, for the Scarecrowand the Tin Woodman are in that part of the country, looking for Ozma,and they'll surely find your dishpan."
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Button-Bright, "we've forgot all about Ozma.Let's find out where the magician hid her."
Back to the Magic Picture they trooped, but when they wished to seeOzma, wherever she might be hidden, only a round black spot appeared inthe center of the canvas.
"I don't see how _that_ can be Ozma!" said Dorothy, much puzzled.
"It seems to be the best the Magic Picture can do, however," said theWizard, no less surprised. "If it's an enchantment, it looks as if themagician had transformed Ozma into a chunk of pitch."
The Lost Princess of Oz Page 24