The watchers waited in breathless suspense until the boy again appeared, his arms now full of the wooden wings.
When he came to where the strap was hanging he tied the wings all in a bunch to the end of the line, and the Wizard drew them up. Then the line was let down again for Zeb to climb up by. Eureka quickly followed him, and soon they were all standing together upon the platform, with eight of the much prized wooden wings beside them.
The boy was no longer sleepy, but full of energy and excitement. He put the harness together again and hitched Jim to the buggy. Then, with the Wizard’s help, he tried to fasten some of the wings to the old cab-horse.
This was no easy task, because half of each one of the hinges of the wings was missing, it being still fastened to the body of the Gargoyle who had used it. However, the Wizard went once more to his satchel—which seemed to contain a surprising variety of odds and ends—and brought out a spool of strong wire, by means of which they managed to fasten four of the wings to Jim’s harness, two near his head and two near his tail. They were a bit wiggley, but secure enough if only the harness held together.
The other four wings were then fastened to the buggy, two on each side, for the buggy must bear the weight of the children and the Wizard as it flew through the air.
These preparations had not consumed a great deal of time, but the sleeping Gargoyles were beginning to wake up and move around, and soon some of them would be hunting for their missing wings. So the prisoners resolved to leave their prison at once.
They mounted into the buggy, Dorothy holding Eureka safe in her lap. The girl sat in the middle of the seat, with Zeb and the Wizard on each side of her. When all was ready the boy shook the reins and said:
“Fly away, Jim!”
“Which wings must I flop first?” asked the cab-horse, undecidedly.
“Flop them all together,” suggested the Wizard.
“Some of them are crooked,” objected the horse.
“Never mind; we will steer with the wings on the buggy,” said Zeb. “Just you light out and make for that rock, Jim; and don’t waste any time about it, either.”
So the horse gave a groan, flopped its four wings all together, and flew away from the platform. Dorothy was a little anxious about the success of their trip, for the way Jim arched his long neck and spread out his bony legs as he fluttered and floundered through the air was enough to make anybody nervous. He groaned, too, as if frightened, and the wings creaked dreadfully because the Wizard had forgotten to oil them; but they kept fairly good time with the wings of the buggy, so that they made excellent progress from the start. The only thing that anyone could complain of with justice was the fact that they wobbled first up and then down, as if the road were rocky instead of being as smooth as the air could make it.
The main point, however, was that they flew, and flew swiftly, if a bit unevenly, toward the rock for which they had headed.
Some of the Gargoyles saw them, presently, and lost no time in collecting a band to pursue the escaping prisoners; so that when Dorothy happened to look back she saw them coming in a great cloud that almost darkened the sky.
13. The Den of the Dragonettes
Our friends had a good start and were able to maintain it, for with their eight wings they could go just as fast as could the Gargoyles. All the way to the great rock the wooden people followed them, and when Jim finally alighted at the mouth of the cavern the pursuers were still some distance away.
“But, I’m afraid they’ll catch us yet,” said Dorothy, greatly excited.
“No; we must stop them,” declared the Wizard. “Quick Zeb, help me pull off these wooden wings!”
They tore off the wings, for which they had no further use, and the Wizard piled them in a heap just outside the entrance to the cavern. Then he poured over them all the kerosene oil that was left in his oil-can, and lighting a match set fire to the pile.
The flames leaped up at once and the bonfire began to smoke and roar and crackle just as the great army of wooden Gargoyles arrived. The creatures drew back at once, being filled with fear and horror; for such as dreadful thing as a fire they had never before known in all the history of their wooden land.
Inside the archway were several doors, leading to different rooms built into the mountain, and Zeb and the Wizard lifted these wooden doors from their hinges and tossed them all on the flames.
“That will prove a barrier for some time to come,” said the little man, smiling pleasantly all over his wrinkled face at the success of their stratagem. “Perhaps the flames will set fire to all that miserable wooden country, and if it does the loss will be very small and the Gargoyles never will be missed. But come, my children; let us explore the mountain and discover which way we must go in order to escape from this cavern, which is getting to be almost as hot as a bake-oven.”
To their disappointment there was within this mountain no regular flight of steps by means of which they could mount to the earth’s surface. A sort of inclined tunnel led upward for a way, and they found the floor of it both rough and steep. Then a sudden turn brought them to a narrow gallery where the buggy could not pass. This delayed and bothered them for a while, because they did not wish to leave the buggy behind them. It carried their baggage and was useful to ride in wherever there were good roads, and since it had accompanied them so far in their travels they felt it their duty to preserve it. So Zeb and the Wizard set to work and took off the wheels and the top, and then they put the buggy edgewise, so it would take up the smallest space. In this position they managed, with the aid of the patient cab-horse, to drag the vehicle through the narrow part of the passage. It was not a great distance, fortunately, and when the path grew broader they put the buggy together again and proceeded more comfortably. But the road was nothing more than a series of rifts or cracks in the mountain, and it went zig-zag in every direction, slanting first up and then down until they were puzzled as to whether they were any nearer to the top of the earth than when they had started, hours before.
“Anyhow,” said Dorothy, “we’ve ‘scaped those awful Gurgles, and that’s ONE comfort!”
“Probably the Gargoyles are still busy trying to put out the fire,” returned the Wizard. “But even if they succeeded in doing that it would be very difficult for them to fly amongst these rocks; so I am sure we need fear them no longer.”
Once in a while they would come to a deep crack in the floor, which made the way quite dangerous; but there was still enough oil in the lanterns to give them light, and the cracks were not so wide but that they were able to jump over them. Sometimes they had to climb over heaps of loose rock, where Jim could scarcely drag the buggy. At such times Dorothy, Zeb and the Wizard all pushed behind, and lifted the wheels over the roughest places; so they managed, by dint of hard work, to keep going. But the little party was both weary and discouraged when at last, on turning a sharp corner, the wanderers found themselves in a vast cave arching high over their heads and having a smooth, level floor.
The cave was circular in shape, and all around its edge, near to the ground, appeared groups of dull yellow lights, two of them being always side by side. These were motionless at first, but soon began to flicker more brightly and to sway slowly from side to side and then up and down.
“What sort of place is this?” asked the boy, trying to see more clearly through the gloom.
“I cannot imagine, I’m sure,” answered the Wizard, also peering about.
“Woogh!” snarled Eureka, arching her back until her hair stood straight on end; “it’s den of alligators, or crocodiles, or some other dreadful creatures! Don’t you see their terrible eyes?”
“Eureka sees better in the dark than we can,” whispered Dorothy. “Tell us, dear, what do the creatures look like?” she asked, addressing her pet.
“I simply can’t describe ‘em,” answered the kitten, shuddering. “Their eyes are like pie-pla
tes and their mouths like coal-scuttles. But their bodies don’t seem very big.”
“Where are they?” enquired the girl.
“They are in little pockets all around the edge of this cavern. Oh, Dorothy—you can’t imagine what horrid things they are! They’re uglier than the Gargoyles.”
“Tut-tut! be careful how you criticise your neighbors,” spoke a rasping voice near by. “As a matter of fact you are rather ugly-looking creatures yourselves, and I’m sure mother has often told us we were the loveliest and prettiest things in all the world.”
Hearing these words our friends turned in the direction of the sound, and the Wizard held his lanterns so that their light would flood one of the little pockets in the rock.
“Why, it’s a dragon!” he exclaimed.
“No,” answered the owner of the big yellow eyes which were blinking at them so steadily; “you are wrong about that. We hope to grow to be dragons some day, but just now we’re only dragonettes.”
“What’s that?” asked Dorothy, gazing fearfully at the great scaley head, the yawning mouth and the big eyes.
“Young dragons, of course; but we are not allowed to call ourselves real dragons until we get our full growth,” was the reply. “The big dragons are very proud, and don’t think children amount to much; but mother says that some day we will all be very powerful and important.”
“Where is your mother?” asked the Wizard, anxiously looking around.
“She has gone up to the top of the earth to hunt for our dinner. If she has good luck she will bring us an elephant, or a brace of rhinoceri, or perhaps a few dozen people to stay our hunger.”
“Oh; are you hungry?” enquired Dorothy, drawing back.
“Very,” said the dragonette, snapping its jaws.
“And—and—do you eat people?”
“To be sure, when we can get them. But they’ve been very scarce for a few years and we usually have to be content with elephants or buffaloes,” answered the creature, in a regretful tone.
“How old are you?” enquired Zeb, who stared at the yellow eyes as if fascinated.
“Quite young, I grieve to say; and all of my brothers and sisters that you see here are practically my own age. If I remember rightly, we were sixty-six years old the day before yesterday.”
“But that isn’t young!” cried Dorothy, in amazement.
“No?” drawled the dragonette; “it seems to me very babyish.”
“How old is your mother?” asked the girl.
“Mother’s about two thousand years old; but she carelessly lost track of her age a few centuries ago and skipped several hundreds. She’s a little fussy, you know, and afraid of growing old, being a widow and still in her prime.”
“I should think she would be,” agreed Dorothy. Then, after a moment’s thought, she asked: “Are we friends or enemies? I mean, will you be good to us, or do you intend to eat us?”
“As for that, we dragonettes would love to eat you, my child; but unfortunately mother has tied all our tails around the rocks at the back of our individual caves, so that we can not crawl out to get you. If you choose to come nearer we will make a mouthful of you in a wink; but unless you do you will remain quite safe.”
There was a regretful accent in the creature’s voice, and at the words all the other dragonettes sighed dismally.
Dorothy felt relieved. Presently she asked:
“Why did your mother tie your tails?”
“Oh, she is sometimes gone for several weeks on her hunting trips, and if we were not tied we would crawl all over the mountain and fight with each other and get into a lot of mischief. Mother usually knows what she is about, but she made a mistake this time; for you are sure to escape us unless you come too near, and you probably won’t do that.”
“No, indeed!” said the little girl. “We don’t wish to be eaten by such awful beasts.”
“Permit me to say,” returned the dragonette, “that you are rather impolite to call us names, knowing that we cannot resent your insults. We consider ourselves very beautiful in appearance, for mother has told us so, and she knows. And we are of an excellent family and have a pedigree that I challenge any humans to equal, as it extends back about twenty thousand years, to the time of the famous Green Dragon of Atlantis, who lived in a time when humans had not yet been created. Can you match that pedigree, little girl?”
“Well,” said Dorothy, “I was born on a farm in Kansas, and I guess that’s being just as ‘spectable and haughty as living in a cave with your tail tied to a rock. If it isn’t I’ll have to stand it, that’s all.”
“Tastes differ,” murmured the dragonette, slowly drooping its scaley eyelids over its yellow eyes, until they looked like half-moons.
Being reassured by the fact that the creatures could not crawl out of their rock-pockets, the children and the Wizard now took time to examine them more closely. The heads of the dragonettes were as big as barrels and covered with hard, greenish scales that glittered brightly under the light of the lanterns. Their front legs, which grew just back of their heads, were also strong and big; but their bodies were smaller around than their heads, and dwindled away in a long line until their tails were slim as a shoe-string. Dorothy thought, if it had taken them sixty-six years to grow to this size, that it would be fully a hundred years more before they could hope to call themselves dragons, and that seemed like a good while to wait to grow up.
“It occurs to me,” said the Wizard, “that we ought to get out of this place before the mother dragon comes back.”
“Don’t hurry,” called one of the dragonettes; “mother will be glad to meet you, I’m sure.”
“You may be right,” replied the Wizard, “but we’re a little particular about associating with strangers. Will you kindly tell us which way your mother went to get on top the earth?”
“That is not a fair question to ask us,” declared another dragonette. “For, if we told you truly, you might escape us altogether; and if we told you an untruth we would be naughty and deserve to be punished.”
“Then,” decided Dorothy, “we must find our way out the best we can.”
They circled all around the cavern, keeping a good distance away from the blinking yellow eyes of the dragonettes, and presently discovered that there were two paths leading from the wall opposite to the place where they had entered. They selected one of these at a venture and hurried along it as fast as they could go, for they had no idea when the mother dragon would be back and were very anxious not to make her acquaintance.
14. Ozma Uses the Magic Belt
For a considerable distance the way led straight upward in a gentle incline, and the wanderers made such good progress that they grew hopeful and eager, thinking they might see sunshine at any minute. But at length they came unexpectedly upon a huge rock that shut off the passage and blocked them from proceeding a single step farther.
This rock was separate from the rest of the mountain and was in motion, turning slowly around and around as if upon a pivot. When first they came to it there was a solid wall before them; but presently it revolved until there was exposed a wide, smooth path across it to the other side. This appeared so unexpectedly that they were unprepared to take advantage of it at first, and allowed the rocky wall to swing around again before they had decided to pass over. But they knew now that there was a means of escape and so waited patiently until the path appeared for the second time.
The children and the Wizard rushed across the moving rock and sprang into the passage beyond, landing safely though a little out of breath. Jim the cab-horse came last, and the rocky wall almost caught him; for just as he leaped to the floor of the further passage the wall swung across it and a loose stone that the buggy wheels knocked against fell into the narrow crack where the rock turned, and became wedged there.
They heard a crunching, grinding sound, a loud snap, and the
turn-table came to a stop with its broadest surface shutting off the path from which they had come.
“Never mind,” said Zeb, “we don’t want to get back, anyhow.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” returned Dorothy. “The mother dragon may come down and catch us here.”
“It is possible,” agreed the Wizard, “if this proves to be the path she usually takes. But I have been examining this tunnel, and I do not see any signs of so large a beast having passed through it.”
“Then we’re all right,” said the girl, “for if the dragon went the other way she can’t poss’bly get to us now.”
“Of course not, my dear. But there is another thing to consider. The mother dragon probably knows the road to the earth’s surface, and if she went the other way then we have come the wrong way,” said the Wizard, thoughtfully.
“Dear me!” cried Dorothy. “That would be unlucky, wouldn’t it?”
“Very. Unless this passage also leads to the top of the earth,” said Zeb. “For my part, if we manage to get out of here I’ll be glad it isn’t the way the dragon goes.”
“So will I,” returned Dorothy. “It’s enough to have your pedigree flung in your face by those saucy dragonettes. No one knows what the mother might do.”
They now moved on again, creeping slowly up another steep incline. The lanterns were beginning to grow dim, and the Wizard poured the remaining oil from one into the other, so that the one light would last longer. But their journey was almost over, for in a short time they reached a small cave from which there was no further outlet.
They did not realize their ill fortune at first, for their hearts were gladdened by the sight of a ray of sunshine coming through a small crack in the roof of the cave, far overhead. That meant that their world—the real world—was not very far away, and that the succession of perilous adventures they had encountered had at last brought them near the earth’s surface, which meant home to them. But when the adventurers looked more carefully around them they discovered that there were in a strong prison from which there was no hope of escape.
The Classic Children's Literature Collection: 39 Classic Novels Page 161