“Hair cut! Hair cut! There he goes again!” fumed the Red Jinn fretfully. “Do you really think my hair is too long?” Randy measured the distance between
himself and the door and then spoke up boldly: “It is a little long, your Highness.” “It’s long enough to plait and tie with ribbons,” grunted Kabumpo, snatching Randy down the last step of the throne as Jinnicky began to call for the barber. But this time, when the barber appeared, he actually let the fellow cut his hair, groaning terribly as each lock fell under the shears and looking so reproachfully at Randy that the boy felt quite guilty and uncomfortable. But at last the disagreeable operation was over and Jinnicky, jumping to his feet, summoned three of his favorite servitors. These handy fellows quickly rigged up a cushioned seat for the Jinn on Kabumpo’s back with a neat rope ladder to help him up and down. The bottles and jugs were stowed in two wicker baskets and slung over the Elegant Elephant’s shoulders. Then Randy mounted to his favorite place back of Kabumpo’s left ear, the Jinn ran up the rope ladder and fell breathlessly among the cushions of his seat and Kabumpo, lifting his trunk, gave such a trumpet that a double line of courtiers drawn up to wish Jinnicky farewell tumbled over like ten pins. Then the Elegant Elephant charged like a hurricane out of the red glass palace. Jinnicky’s subjects, clad in
towering turbans and loose red trousers, waved cheerfully as they swept through the glittering streets of the red city, and the red glass guns in the fortress fired a salute of twenty glass cannon balls as they passed through the sparkling city gates.
“They seem to think a lot of you,” called Randy, when he could make himself heard.
“Doubtless! Doubtless,” answered Jinnicky, with a little sniff of satisfaction. “People grow terribly fond of you when they find you are about to depart.”
“But who’ll rule the country without you?” asked Randy, looking over his shoulder at the Jinn.
“Alibabble, I dare say, and well enough, too. Mercy me! I’ll be glad to be rid of the fellow for a while. He’s always telling me something I already know.”
“As you know so much, possibly you can tell me the shortest route to Oz,” puffed Kabumpo, looking impatiently around at Jinnicky.
“To tell the truth, I know very little about roads,” confessed Jinnicky. “Traveling swiftly through the air in my magic jinrikisha I see very few of them. However, I believe the road we are on now leads directly to the Deadly Desert.”
“So you travel very fast in that magic jinrikisha?” murmured Kabumpo, in a tone Randy did not quite
like. “Very fast. Ha! Well, how’s this?” The Jinn, as you can well imagine, made no answer. All he could do was hold on to the arms of his wicker seat, blink, groan and gasp and whisper magic words and incantations for his safety and protection. Randy, with both hands twisted securely in the Elegant Elephant’s collar, blew out and waved like a banner. Traveling at top speed on an elephant is like riding a stormy sea in a small boat. And how far or how long they tore through the wild rocky country of Ev, neither Randy nor the Red Jinn could have told you. Even the Elegant Elephant himself did not know, but soon the hot, stinging scent of burning sand made him slow down and peering through a thin fringe of trees ahead he came to a sudden and unceremonious stop.
“Well, here’s your desert,” he announced carelessly. “And now that we are here, what are you going to do about it?” The Jinn, who had withdrawn into his jar like a turtle into its shell, popped up his head and looked cautiously about.
“Why, it is the desert,” said Jinnicky, sniffing the sulphurous air fastidiously. “Mercy me.!” Randy thought it quite sporting of the Jinn to say nothing of the awful shaking he had endured. lie, himself, was
stiff and sore and extremely provoked at Kabumpo.
“Have you any magic in those baskets that will help us to cross the desert?” he asked anxiously.
“No!” answered the Jinn frankly. “I haven’t. But I’ll probably think of something before long.”
“Before long?” squealed Kabumpo indignantly. “Do you realize that the King, Queen, Prince arid Princesses of Pumperdink are in dire and awful danger and need your help at once?”
“Keep your skin on! Keep your skin on!” advised Jinnicky calmly. “Vanishing is neither dangerous nor awful. On the contrary it is quite pleasant and restful. You ought to try it some time. So just have patience and something will turn up to help us cross this desert. Just see if it doesn’t.” Folding his hands the Jinn settled back contentedly against his cushions. Even Randy began to feel a little annoyed at this. The idea of waiting on the edge of the desert for something to turn up seemed utterly foolish and ridiculous to him. As for Kabumpo, he was so put out that he snatched up a small tree by the roots and swallowed it whole.
“Something will come along soon,” repeated Jinnicky, blinking his red glass eyes sleepily. “Look -something’s coming up now!” He turned a fat pink finger toward the sky which was turning a
leaden and thunderous grey.
“A storm!” gasped Kabumpo, staring worriedly at the darkening clouds. “A storm’s coming up. Great grump, what good will that do?”
CHAPTER 13
The Red Jinn’s Looking Glasses
A LONG, threatening rumble of thunder sent the Elegant Elephant on a quick rush for cover, but there was in all that dreary waste land, not a tree, rock or shack of any kind to shelter them. Jinnicky, after a second look at the sky, handed his umbrella to Randy and ducked into his jar; and just in time, too, for the rain fell in torrents and the wind rose to such a gale that Kabumpo swayed like a ship in a storm and Randy found it impossible to put up the red umbrella. There was a great deal to be said for Jinnicky’s jar, for he had not only drawn in his head, but his arms and legs as well, and was perfectly dry and secure while Kabumpo and Randy shivered with wet and discomfort. Looking at him enviously, the boy wondered how it would feel to be so strangely and magically constructed. The
wind howled fearfully, Kabumpo’s ears flapped like sails in the blast and conversation of any kind was simply impossible.
“If that Post Man had not gone off we might have been in Pumperdink by this time,” thought Randy sadly, “and now, dear knows whether we shall ever get there.” But the storm, as quickly as it had risen, passed. The sky turned grey, then pink and though it was still raining the sun came out and a rainbow burst suddenly through the clouds.
“Oh, look!” called Randy, pointing to the vivid arch of light. But Kabumpo, paying no attention to the rainbow, shook himself so vigorously that the Jinn rattled in his jar and all the jugs and vases jingled noisily together.
“Very pretty, no doubt,” sniffed Kabumpo shortly, “but this is no time to look for rainbows, my boy. Our clothes are ruined, you’ll probably catch pneumonia and how are we to cross this grumpy desert? A fine help this Jinn’s been! I’ll bet he just came for the ride.”
“Sh-hh!” warned Randy anxiously. “Don’t you remember, he can hear through his lid. Oh, look! Look! Do look, Kabumpo, the rainbow’s coming right down to the edge of the rocks and there’s a girl or a fairy dancing on the rim.”
“Why, it’s Polychrome!” exclaimed Kabumpo, his interest aroused at last. “It’s the rainbow’s daughter. She has often visited in Oz. Polly! Polly, my dear, come on down and let’s have a look at you.”
“I told you something would turn up,” observed Jinnicky, popping out his head. “Next time, maybe, you’ll believe me.” Randy was much too interested in the little sky fairy to pay any attention to Jinnicky. Though she seemed to be a maid of mist and light, Polychrome was at the same time as real and as lovely as the loveliest of Oz maidens. Dancing down the rainbow, she jumped off the end, skipped lightly across the rocks and seated herself cozily in the bend of the Elegant Elephant’s trunk.
“Hello, Kabumpo, aren’t you a long way from home?” she asked affectionately.
“A very long way,” admitted the Elegant Elephant glumly. “But it’s a long, long story, my dear!”
“Ju
st like your nose,” laughed Polly mischievously. “Well, I like long noses and stories and-travelers.” She smiled gaily up at Randy and the Red Jinn as Kabumpo pompously introduced them, and in less time than it has taken me to write one page of this story, Kabumpo had explained the whole reason and purpose of their journey.
“And the sooner we reach Pumperdink, the sooner the Red Jinn can restore the royal family,” put in Randy, as Kabumpo paused for breath. “But we cannot cross this desert, so here we are!”
“Why, that’s easy!” Polly jumped to the ground with a little laugh. “I’ll just lend you my rainbow. See-!” She stretched her arms up gleefully. “It arches all the way across and all you have to do is follow ~
“But I’m too heavy! I’d fall through-or off, or puncture it,” objected Kabumpo nervously.
“Or get rainbow-legged,” chuckled the Red Jinn, who had been quiet as long as he could manage. “The plain truth is, you’re afraid. Why not admit
it?”
“Ha!” raged Kabumpo, and with a furious glance at Jinnicky stamped after Polychrome, who had already stepped up on the bow and was beckoning for them to follow.
Randy, it must be confessed, shared Kabumpo’s misgivings, and as they approached the misty and fragile arch he shivered with something besides cold and dampness. They would certainly fall through, fall on the deadly desert and vanish as utterly as the King of Pumperdink. But Polychrome and the Red Jinn seemed so gay and indifferent that the
mountain boy resolved to perish manfully, and as Kabumpo stepped up on the rainbow, he began to whistle an old Gilliken jig.
The rainbow slanted gradually at the start and as Kabumpo cautiously started upward, his feet seemed scarcely to touch the iridescent path of light. But for all its transparency, the rainbow proved sturdy as steel. It was like crossing the desert on some unreal and airy bridge, and with Polychrome dancing ahead Kabumpo quickly and safely reached the center. Here Polly bade them an affectionate farewell and regretfully Randy waved good-bye to the little sky fairy. Going down was more difficult than going up and though the Elegant Elephant held back and braced his legs as best he could, he found himself running faster and faster. So fast, in fact, did he run that everything grew blurred and when he came to the end of the rainbow he plunged off and ran for half a mile before he could stop himself.
“Very neat,” approved Jinnicky, straightening his lid, which had fallen over one ear. “And this, I suppose, is the famous Winkie country of Oz!”
“Tell me something I don’t already know,” grunted Kabumpo, still panting from his dash down the rainbow. “Of course it’s the Winkie country. Isn’t
everything yellow?”
“Everything excepting you, And you, old El, seem rather blue,
though I don’t see why,” said Jinnicky, with a wink at Randy. “That rainbow was a very pleasant solution of a very unpleasant difficulty.”
“I wish Polychrome had come with us,” sighed Randy. “Do you know her very well, Kabumpo?”
“As well as anyone ever knows a fairy,” answered Kabumpo, squinting up at the sky, where the rainbow was just melting out of sight. “But now,” he concluded briskly, “we must find the shortest route to Pumperdink. Let-me-see!” Kabumpo flapped his big ears and blinked across the valley.
“Since you know so much about the Winkie country, that surely will not be difficult,” teased Jinnicky, folding his hands complacently.
“Oh, dear!” thought Randy, as Kabumpo glared over his shoulder at the little Jinn, “I do wish they’d stop snapping at each other this way. They’re both so nice separately. Why can’t they be nice together?” To save the Elegant Elephant’s honor and reputation, he began to peer around anxiously for signs of a road or highway. But as far as he could see
there were nothing but plains, hills and forests. Not a road, nor a house, nor even a castle! As Kabumpo swayed uncertainly from left to right, Jinnicky leaned forward and touched Randy on the shoulder.
“Just hand me my red glasses, will you?” he muttered hurriedly. Randy had put the Jinn’s silver bell and glasses in his pocket and now, without thinking much about it, he handed Jinnicky his specs. Clapping them on his nose, Jinnicky clambered down the rope ladder and began hurrying as fast as his fat little feet would carry him toward a deep and dangerous looking forest.
“Stop! What are you doing? Where are you going?” roared Kabumpo, lunging angrily after him. Much as the Red Jinn annoyed him, he did not intend to let him get away at this stage of the journey. “Come back! Come back!” he trumpeted loudly. “Do you want to ruin your shoes?” he puffed, as he caught up with the strange little figure.
“No, not especially,” answered the Jinn, squinting over his shoulder at the Elegant Elephant. “I’m looking for the road to Pumperdink and this is the only way to find it.”
“How do you expect to find the road when you know nothing of this part of the country?” inquired Kabumpo sarcastically.
“I expect to find it with the help of these looking glasses,” announced Jinnicky, tapping his red specs proudly. “They will look for anything I ask them to look for. See?” And elevating his little red nose, the Jinn ran determinedly on into the forest.
“M-mm! They must be magic glasses,” breathed Randy, leaning forward eagerly.
“Well, all I say is-if he has to walk all the way to Pumperdink, he’ll never get there and neither will we.” Kabumpo spoke with conviction. “Look, he’s tired already. Look at the old goose, will you?” Randy had to agree that Kabumpo was right, for Jinnicky had taken off his glasses and was leaning against a yellow oak fanning himself with his lid.
“Maybe he’ll lend them to me,” whispered Randy, as Kabumpo stopped beside the oak.
“What good will that do?” sighed the Elegant Elephant. “You can’t walk much faster than he can. I am the one who should wear them.”
“What’s that?” asked Jinnicky, replacing his lid and glancing wearily up at Kabumpo.
“I said I was the one who should wear the looking glasses,” repeated Kabumpo calmly. “I can travel twenty times as fast as you can and at this rate we’ll never get anywhere.”
“Just what I was thinking,” sniffed Jinnicky, much
to Randy’s surprise, for he always expected an argument when Kabumpo and the Jinn got into a conversation.
“But they won’t fit,” exclaimed Randy.
“My looking glasses will fit anyone, even an elephant,” boasted Jinnicky, and before Kabumpo could change his mind or make any more remarks, he flung the red spectacles at his head. Instead of smashing to bits they sailed over the Elegant Elephant’s great ears and settled quietly on his trunk, and unless you have ever seen an elephant wearing red looking glasses you have no idea how comical Kabumpo looked.
“Get aboard! Hurry up!” he wheezed excitedly, speaking out of the corner of his mouth. “They’re beginning to tug me along like a magnet. Up with you! Quick, or you’ll be left behind. Great grump, wherever am I going?” Jinnicky had just time to seize the first rung of the rope ladder before Kabumpo started running like the wind through the yellow forest. Grasping Jinnicky’s hand, Randy helped him to his seat and soon they were speeding along so swiftly that the trees flashed by like telegraph poles when you ride in an express train. On the other side of the forest, the looking glasses had a little difficulty deciding which way to go; consequently
the speed of the Elegant Elephant slackened down to a more comfortable pace.
“Whew!” whistled Randy, rubbing his eye with one hand and hanging on tight with the other. Then, glancing ahead, he gave a terrible start. A monster twice as large as Kabumpo, with a rhinoceros’ head and a dragon’s body, stood gnashing its tusks directly in their path.
“Stop!” quavered Jinnicky, waving his umbrella
wildly.
“Stop!” begged Randy tugging at Kabumpo’s ear. But Kabumpo, if he heard them, gave no heed, quickening his pace, if anything, so that it seemed to poor Randy that they were rushing righ
t into the jaws of destruction, as, indeed they were. Clasping his small sword desperately, he was wondering what in Oz to do when Jinnicky, muttering and spluttering, crawled hurriedly past him and snatched the red looking glasses off Kabumpo’s trunk. No sooner had he done so than Kabumpo stopped just in time to keep from impaling himself with the monster’s horn, but not in time for Randy. The jolt of their sudden halt sent the boy flying into the air. With his sword clasped in both hands, he described a perfect arc and came crashing down on the horrible creature’s neck. There was a cough, choke and gurgle-Randy had
just presence of mind enough to pull out his sword and jump aside when the monster rolled over on its back and lay still.
“Bravo! Bravo!” shrilled Jinnicky, waving his umbrella, while Kabumpo’s eyes popped out with pride and admiration. “You have saved all our lives, my lad, and overcome the most formidable combinoceros I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet or lay eyes on!” Fairly tumbling down the ladder, the Red Jinn clasped Randy to his jar, showering him with praises and congratulations.
“Are you all right?” demanded Kabumpo anxiously, when Jinnicky finally let him go. “Great grump, what kind of rinkety-rank looking glasses are those? Couldn’t stop till you dragged them off. They’re dangerous, frightfully dangerous, that’s what they are!” Jinnicky nodded soberly.
“That’s why I didn’t wear them when we first started,” he explained quickly. “They would have rushed us right onto the Deadly Desert. One must wear my red looking glasses with very great care - very great care.”
“I’m not sure I wish to wear them at all,” shuddered Kabumpo, walking stiffly around the fallen monster. “Look at that horn! The King shall hear of this, my boy. You shall have twelve new suits
L. Frank Baum - Oz 26 Page 8