L. Frank Baum - Oz 34

by The Wonder City Of Oz

  his own parts out of the litter. They set back their chimneys, straightened their railings and fences, stood up their stoops, and returned every last brick and flower-pot to its place. At last the street looked as neat and pretty as ever.

  A crowd gathered curiously before the Style Shop, to stare at the girl who was running against Ozma in the ozlection and had caused the houses to grow so angry. Jenny didn’t know why they were looking at her.

  She returned to her shop. There was Number Nine, still whirling on the turn-style. Jenny pressed some buttons and stopped it. The boy stood up, clothed once more in his whistlebreeches.

  “There is a crowd outside. Hurry, and take out some of the latest styles and hang them on the trees for the people to see,” Jenny ordered briskly. “We can’t miss such a good chance for a Grand Opening.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Casts Her Vote

  THE FIRST person to step into the shop was Jellia Jamb, Ozma’s maid-in-waiting.

  “I have a message for you from Queen Ozma,” Jellia said. Her words were coming out of her ear. “The ozlection has started, and right shoes are to be the votes.”

  Jenny was so startled to hear Jellia talking out of her ear, that she hardly paid attention to what Jellia was saying.

  “You poor dear, what has sealed your lips?” Jenny exclaimed.

  “They are sewed with magic thread and cannot be undone until Ozma’s new birthday dress of cobwebs is finished.” Jellia’s ear spoke sadly. “That won’t be until next year. The spiders are weaving the thread for it now.”

  Number Nine came forward curiously. “How can you tell your earaches from your toothaches?” he asked.

  Jenny waved him aside.

  “Nonsense!what an old-fashioned idea. You don’t have to wait until next year,” said Jenny to Jellia. “Just bring me Ozma’s last birthday dress, and we’ll see what can be done.”

  Jellia’s eyes opened wide. “Do you think you can undo the magic threads?” she asked disbelievingly.

  “I don’t know,” said Jenny, “but I can try. Hurry

  along.”

  Jellia departed and was back in a few minutes, carrying the silver and gold birthday dress that Ozma had worn in the parade. Jenny carried the dress to the turn-style and laid it across the spokes. She pressed a dozen different buttons and spun the style.

  Flash! The silver and gold dress was gone, and in its place was a most delightful dream-dress of cobwebs and bubbles.

  “Oh-h-h!” exclaimed Jellia. “Isn’t it a beauty!” Quickly she put her hand to her mouth with a cry of delight.

  “Cake’s sake! It worked! I’m talking through my

  mouth!”

  Jenny came close to examine Jellia’s lips. The turn-style had truly freed Jellia from the enchantment. There was not a trace of the silver thread or golden needles in the maid’s mouth.

  “What is that wonderful machine?” asked Jellia, going close to the turn-style.

  Jenny stepped before the turn-style. ”Never mind,” she said. “You may take Ozma’s new birthday dress to her. I hope she likes it. Give her my thanks for the news of the ozlection.”

  “How can I repay you for what you have done?” Jellia asked.

  “You can leave your vote,” said Jenny promptly. Jellia looked unwilling, but she slipped off her shoe and hurried away.

  “There! I have my first vote,” said Jenny triumphantly. She looked at the office boy. “And yours can be the second. Off with your shoe!”

  “First you must do me a favor,” said Number Nine. “Give me the day off.”

  “I cannot spare you on the day of the Grand Opening. But you shall have tomorrow,” Jenny promised.

  Number Nine took off his right shoe and placed it beside Jellia’s in the corner. Then three women came into the shop-a tall red Quadling, a short purple Gillikin, and a fat yellow Winkie.

  “What are these new styles?” they asked. “We have never had new styles in Oz before. when clothes wear out, we make others just like them.”

  “That’s a great pity, ladies,” said Jenny in her best sales manner. “Clothes make the man, but man doesn’t have to make his clothes. Step through the magic turn-style. A new hair-set is given with each costume today.”

  The first to go through the turn-style was the tall red Quadling.

  “I’ve always wanted a sea-spray dress,” she said. Jenny pressed some buttons, and zoom! The lady

  came out dressed in a dazzling dress made of sea-spray. Her hair, that had been pinned in a thick red biscuit, was bobbed and bent in the latest style.

  “My, oh, my!” squealed the Winkle and the Gillikin. “Make us look like that!”

  Jenny put them through the turn-style, and in a few minutes the tall red woman, the short purple one, and the fat yellow one were standing side by side before the mirror. They were dressed in three different styles of beautiful sea-spray dresses.

  “We’ll run out and be the first ones to show the latest style!”

  The tall lady, the short one, and the fat one started from the shop.

  “Wait!” said Jenny. “Your votes, please. For each dress, a shoe should be left.”

  The three stopped long enough to take off their shoes, and then they departed.

  After them a constant stream of women, men, and children came pouring into the Style Shop. Everyone who went out told a friend about the magical turn-style, and people from all over the city kept coming to be re-styled.

  Each time, Jenny said, “In return for a style, a shoe should be left.”

  The turn-style was kept busily whirling. The votes kept piling up until there were so many that Number Nine had to move them to the basement.

  Jenny was happier than she had ever been in her life. She was the most important person in the Emerald City today. And, if the votes kept coming so fast, Miss Jenny Jump might be the next Ruler

  of Oz!

  At the end of the day, when the shop was closed, Jenny and the office boy went down to the basement with a lighted candle to count the votes.

  when Jenny had counted to 621, she suddenly cried out, “Whistlebreeches, we’ve made a terrible mistake! All these shoes are left shoes. We don’t have the right ones! They can’t count as votes.”

  “I knew it all the time,” the boy said. “You kept telling the people that the shoe must be left.”

  “Why didn’t you correct me?” said Jenny angrily. “I didn’t dare, Boss. I’m afraid of your temper.” The the office boy ran for his life, for Jenny began throwing 621 shoes after him.

  CHAPTER 12

  Jack Pumpkinhead’s Concert

  IT WAS early evening in the Emerald City. At the palace, Queen Ozma and Princess Dorothy were getting ready for the concert.

  Dorothy came out of her private rooms and went into Ozma’s dressing room.

  “All ready so soon?” asked Ozma, turning with a

  smile.

  “I hurried as fast as I could,” said Dorothy. “I am so eager to hear Jack Pumpkinhead’s Glee Club and Orchestra. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are waiting for us on the palace stairs.”

  Dorothy looked at Ozma’s gown. Then she said, “Isn’t that a new dress, Ozma dear? I’ve never seen it before.”

  Ozma was wearing a green and purple dress of spun glass. With every move, it glittered as if moonlight had been woven into it.

  “Jellia and I visited Jenny Jump’s new Style Shop this afternoon,” she said. “Jenny imagined this dress for me. I like it very much. I am glad that I allowed Jenny to use her mild form of magic.”

  Ozma smoothed her skirt. Jellia fastened the last button on the gown. Then she stepped back and looked at Ozma, holding her head on one side.

  The three girls went out. When they reached the

  palace stairs, they were joined by Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. All five proceeded to Ozma’s waiting carriage. The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were harnessed to this green carriage with golden wheels. The Cowardly Lion was wearing a white satin ribbon in his
mane, and the Hungry Tiger had a black satin bow around his tail. Tik Tok, the coachman, shone with a new copper polish.

  Clusters of red, yellow, purple, and blue people were coming along the street toward the palace. These were some of the visitors who had come in from the four countries of Oz. They had come into town to attend Jack Pumpkinhead’s concert, and to vote in the ozlection.

  As each group reached the palace, they untied their right shoes and cast them into a large moving van standing near the palace stairs. Kabumpo the Elephant was harnessed to this van. The van and Kabumpo were gaily decorated with green and gold streamers. Kabumpo looked a little tired. Today he had pulled twenty-two loads of Ozma’s votes from the palace to Jack Pumpkinhead’s ozoplane.

  Professor Wogglebug came along the street, carrying a book under his arm and swinging an empty gallon can. When he came to Ozma’s carriage, he stopped and swept off his hat in a bow.

  “Good evening, Professor,” said Ozma.

  “Pardon me for differing with you but it’s not a good evening at all,” said the Wogglebug.

  “Looks like a good evening to me,” Uncle Henry spoke up. “Fine corn-growing weather, in Kansas.”

  Aunt Em nudged Uncle Henry. “Henry! You know better than to correct a professor. You forgot, this isn’t Kansas.”

  The Professor bowed to Aunt Em. “I take you to be a sensible woman, madam, who understands the dignity of the learned professions.”

  Aunt Em straightened her hat and smiled proudly. Ozma said, “Won’t you get into the carriage and come to the concert with us, Professor?”

  “Hum, humph! Would love to, but can’t.” He held up the empty gallon can. “I am on my way to a gas station to get this filled with midnight oil. Then I shall go to the Ivory Tower in the library to continue my research on the Heelers. You remember I told you they feed on votes and may try to rob us. This afternoon I discovered some startling new information in a book I wrote last week. If Your Majesty will permit me, I shall read from page one million and six.”

  Without waiting for an answer, the Professor put

  down the can and opened his book. He leafed through a million and five pages and then began to read.

  “The Heeler is such a mean animal, that he is hated by his own shadow. Whenever it gets a chance, the shadow bites, kicks, or pulls the Heeler’s tail. Consequently the Heeler is afraid of his own shadow. Therefore he comes out only in the dark, when his shadow won’t be following him. On moonless nights, Heelers attack. BEWARE OF THE HEELERS!” The Professor shut his book with a snap. “Tonight there will be no moon. And the Heelers are so slippery that I fear they may slip through the barrier around Oz. Therefore, Your Majesty, it is NOT a good evening! I advise you to return to the palace and lock all the doors. The Heeler is a slippery sneak and no magic has the slightest effect on him!”

  Ozma said, “But poor Jack Pumpkinhead would be too disappointed if we didn’t come to his concert. It has been a dull week for him, staying in his ozoplane to guard the votes. To pass the time, he trained the shoes to perform as a Glee Club and Orchestra. Tonight he is giving his first concert.”

  “Be warned, Your Majesty!” The Wogglebug stood on the tips of his toes, and his antennae quivered.

  Tik Tok turned around. “It-is-getting-late,” he

  tocked.

  “Good night, Professor! Don’t forget your can of midnight-oil,” said Ozma.

  Tik Tok flapped the reins over the backs of the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, but the Cowardly Lion refused to move. He was crouching with his tail over his eyes.

  “I am afraid,” said the Cowardly Lion. “I am terribly afraid of the Heelers. If I should see one, I’d

  faint!”

  “If we blindfold you, you won’t see anything to be afraid of,” suggested Dorothy.

  She got down from the carriage and tied her handkerchief across his eyes.

  “That’s better,” said the Cowardly Lion.

  “Can these Heelers be eaten?” the Hungry Tiger wanted to know.

  Ozma replied, “The Professor once said that they are only sponges.”

  “Ugh! I would rather go hungry,” said the Tiger. The team trotted off, drawing the carriage. Soon they arrived at a large pumpkin field at the edge of the city, where the concert was to be held. It was to be an open-air concert. In the soft green twilight, the people could be seen sitting on hundreds of pumpkins that grew in the field. Beside each person

  sat a cat, held by a leash. The cats had been brought because they could see in the dark and were to lead their masters home after the concert.

  In one corner of the pumpkin field stood Jack Pumpkinhead’s ozoplane. It was being used as the stage for the concert. This ozoplane was last year’s model. It had been invented and built by the Wizard of Oz, who gave it to Ozma. When the new year’s model was made, the old ozoplane was given to Jack Pumpkinhead.

  The shoes were gathered in a half-circle near the ozoplane. The Sawhorse stood patiently near the door of the ozoplane, guarding the rest of the shoes inside. The musical shoes were tuning up for the concert. Jack Pumpkinhead stood before them, holding a soundproof bag filled with their squeaks and broken chords. As any last-minute squeak came from a shoe, Jack caught it and stuffed it into the bag.

  When Ozma, Dorothy, Jellia, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry had seated themselves on pumpkins in the front row, Jack Pumpkinhead waved a golden-rod and announced, “The first number by our Orchestra and Glee Club is Shoeman’s Sonata. I hope you will not find our work slip-shod.”

  From the shoe horns came the opening notes. The shoe strings soon joined in, strumming solefully.

  Then the Glee Club waggled their tongues and began to sing. As the first number ended, applause broke out over the pumpkin field.

  Next was Shoebert’s Serenade. Then a riding boot Played a solo, “A-hunting We Will Go.” The Glee Club offered “0 Dem Golden Slippers,” and it was so well liked that the audience clapped and whistled. Out in the pumpkin field it was growing so dark that the colors of the people could no longer be seen. The hundreds of cat eyes glowed like emeralds.

  Ozma bent toward Dorothy and whispered, “It’s getting so dark, I can’t help thinking of the Professor’s warning.”

  Just then a terrific screaming came from the opposite end of the city. The audience jumped up and began to run about in fright.

  “what is happening in the city?” they cried.

  “Run, everyone!” called Ozma. “It’s the Heelers. They’ve broken through the city gate!”

  CHAPTER 13

  Beware of the Heelers!”

  WHILE Ozma and hundreds of her people were

  at the concert, the Guardian of the Gate was dozing in his tower above the city wall. It had been a busy day. Many people in the city had not cast their votes. They would wait until the last day. But those who lived outside the city had wanted to vote early, lest they lose their chance. Their right shoes Were piled in the ozoplane, guarded by the Sawhorse. Most of the city people still had both shoes. The old Guardian was tired. “No more voters will come this late,” he said to himself, “so I think I’ll take a little snooze.”

  He closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep. At this very hour, from the Shifting Sands beyond the Munchkin country, was coming a procession of slinking creatures. They were the Heelers! They had got wind of the ozlection. Right shoes, they had heard, would be votes. There would be plenty of votes for their greedy snouts. As soon as it was dark, they had set out for the Emerald City. Already they had crossed the Munchkin country, where, pushing their ugly Snouts through every window, they searched for the shoes. Those Munchkins who were not at the concert were asleep in their beds, and did not hear soft movements of the thieves. Onward toward the Emerald City the procession

  was creeping. It was so dark that there were shadows, and the Heelers felt brave. Nevertheless they walked with a cringing stoop. They walked on their heels, with their toes sticking up and their snouts feeling along the ground. Their snou
ts had funnel openings for sucking in votes, on which these monsters lived. The heels of their four feet were so run over that their legs were bowed. Their eyes were oily and shifting. Their bodies were shapeless and sodden sponges, with short tails. They were colorless, except for their leader, who had a green back. The rest of the Heelers kept after this green back, as if it were a magnet, drawing them. When the Heelers reached the gate of the Emerald City, their leader ordered a dozen of them to form a living ladder against the wall. This was done by one Heeler getting on the shoulders of another, a third standing on the second, a fourth standing on him, and so on, until the top of the wall was reached. The highest Heeler climbed onto the wall, and, dragging himself on his worn-down heels, he came to the tower. The Guardian of the Gate was peacefully snoring. The Heeler poked his wet snout through the window of the tower. He wriggled it along the floor until he found the Guardian’s right foot. Fastening down the funnel end of his snout, he sucked: SHLUSH! SHLUSH! The shoe slid off the Guardian’s foot and into the Heeler’s stomach. The Guardian kept on snoring! Then the Heeler slunk down the tower steps inside the city and opened the gate for the others. There Was a rush of dark shapes into the Emerald City. Their bodies slithered along every street, and their snouts poked into every open window, sucking in the shoes. The houses had been sleeping quietly. They awakened, drew back in disgust, and slammed their windows shut; but it was too late. The Heelers had already stolen the votes!

  Sir Hokus, the armor-clad knight of Oz, had left the concert early and he was being led home by his cat. He was taking a short cut through Pancake Park, when suddenly he saw something move before him. The cat arched its back and began to spit. Then the terrified animal broke its leash and sprang up a tree. Sir Hokus reached for his sword and cried out, “Oz bodkins! Who goes there? Friend or foe?”