L. Frank Baum - Oz 34

by The Wonder City Of Oz

  The Wogglebug hurried near to the Leprechaun. “Sir, you’ve come just in time. Both candidates have had an equal number of voters. If you step on one scale, there should be someone else to step on the other scale. But since you are a visitor to the city, you must choose which scale you prefer, and decide the ozlection.”

  Jenny ran to the Leprechaun. She felt light-hearted with confidence. “Dear Siko Pompus, vote for me! You are my friend!”

  The Leprechaun took Jenny’s hand, saying, “Yes, Jenny, it’s your friend I am. That’s why I’m wantin’ to save ye a heap of responsibility. Stay a simple

  girl!”

  Before Jenny could understand him, he had dropped her hand and jumped on Ozma ‘s scale.

  “QUEEN OZMA IS QUEEN!” Professor Woggle

  bug cried.

  The people’s shouts rocked the city. “Ozma, our beloved Queen!” they shouted.

  Jenny stamped her foot. “He made me lose the ozlection!” she cried furiously. She felt her temper rising until it seemed to be boiling in her blood. “I’ll get you, you old Leprechaun!” she shouted and rushed at the little man.

  CHAPTER 26

  Jenny’s Last Flare-Up

  JENNY rushed at the little man, her temper beyond her control. But just as she was about to grab him, he ran up a moonbeam, out of her reach. “I’ll get you!” Jenny cried again and tried to run up the moonbeam. But she fell through to the ground. The Leprechaun went higher and higher until he was out of sight.

  “I’ll get somebody!” Jenny cried, and she dashed at the Wogglebug. The Professor scampered under the platform.

  Ozma went to Jenny. “Please, Jenny, keep calm. Everything will be all right.”

  “Everything is all wrong!” Jenny said. “And I’m going to get even!”

  She ran toward the people, and they parted before her as if she were a ferocious animal. Jenny ran

  on through the streets.

  “I’m going to do something to make them sorry that I’m not Queen!” she cried to herself. She ran on, not knowing where she was going or what she would do. She ran until she came to the gate of the animal-plant enclosure. Her temper gave her extra strength, and she threw open the gate and ran into the enclosure.

  All around her the animal-plants were peacefully sleeping. “I’ll set them free!” she stormed. “They’ll run loose, smashing everything, and the wild animal plants will knock over all the people!”

  Jerking a forked branch from a tree, she prodded a dandy-lion. The dandy-lion reared up and went rushing through the enclosure and out of the gate Jenny wrenched open the doors of the fox-glove kennels. The blue, gray, silver, and red foxes ran out, so excited that they began nipping at the legs of other animals.

  Cries, bellows, and yowls began coming up from the enclosure. All the animal-plants were awake and pulling at their flower chains. Jenny prodded the tiger-lilies. The tigers leaped from the plants, ran wildly round and round, then burst through the gate.

  From the city came cries, “The animal-plants are

  loose!”

  “Yes,” Jenny shouted, “the animal-plants are loose, and more will be loose.” Her temper was so high and so hot, it seemed it would burn the top of her head off. She freed the holly-hawks, catnip cats, dogwood dogs, and the snap-dragons.

  She ran, kicking and striking at everything that got in her way, toward another corner of the enclosure. A dark shape rushed toward her. There was a threatening cry.

  “Look out Bullhead!”

  “Who’s a bullhead!” Jenny shouted. “I’ll get you!”

  “You’re in the bull-rush pen now,” said the heavy voice, closer. It gave a long bellow.

  “I’m not afraid of bulls!” Jenny said. Just then she was tripped by a horn and fell flat on her face.

  “Who made you stum-bull?” said the animal.

  Jenny gasped, trying to get back enough breath to answer. Other bulls came running up, and Jenny saw that she was in a bull ring. Heads were lowered, silver horns flashed in the moonlight. In the face of danger, Jenny’s temper was cooling rapidly.

  “Who are you, anyway?” she cried to the circle of bulls. They answered, one by one.

  “I’m Tum-bull.”

  “I’m F’um-bull.”

  “I’m Gum-bull.” “I’m Mum-bull.” “I’m Gob-bull.”

  “I’m Hum-bull,” said a mild and pathetic voice. A heavy black shape lumbered close and blew its heavy breath in her face. “You’ll never get away from me. I’m Trou-bull!”

  “Go away, or I’ll fix you,” Jenny said, her temper beginning to boil again. She jumped up, and, in a sudden spasm of fury, threw herself at Trou-bull’s head, catching hold of the horns. The great, shaggy beast swung around, lowered its head, jerked her up, and sent her sailing through the air.

  Crack! Jenny hit against the fence of the enclosure and fell into the grass. The fence awoke and promptly loosened one of its rails. The rail hit Jenny over the head.

  “Oh, oh, what happened?” she said, her eyes closing. “Why did I have to get angry?”

  Then she didn’t know any more, for she had

  fainted.

  CHAPTER 27

  The Animals Run Wild

  THE CITY was filled with confusion. The people were running away from the animals who had escaped from their plants. Many of them pursued people into the houses and cellars. Others ran wildly, trying to find shelter. Foxes, lions, and tigers sniffed at the houses. The houses passed the alarm from door to door. When the animals came too close, the houses began fighting them.

  One old house had been lazily scratching its back with its chimney, when it felt a dragon sniffing at the foot of its stairs. The house was so startled that its eyes bulged out, cracking three panes of glass. It began to tremble, and it looked so sick with fright that its dark green paint began to pale. When the dragon passed on, the house recovered its color.

  The dragon passed to another dwelling. This house became so enraged that it walloped the beast with its chimney. But in the meantime, a catnip slipped into the house, crawled into a bed, and fell asleep.

  The merrymaking was over in the Emerald City. Everywhere people were trying to get to their homes and put the frightened children to bed. Queen Ozma sent the Town Crier to cry the animals back to their enclosure and to quiet the people. But the Town

  Crier took one look at the animals fighting the houses, and turned and ran.

  Number Nine and his father had succeeded in getting their family safe within the Uncle’s house. Then Number Nine began to worry about Jenny.

  “I’m going out to see what has happened to my

  Boss.”

  “I’ll go with you, son. Maybe I can do some good. If not that, maybe I can find the blue-blooded horses I’ve been trying to get.”

  Soon after they set out, the father saw a bull caught halfway in a window. The window had shut itself on the bull, squeezing with all its might. The clothesline had tied itself around its tail and was trying to pull the animal out.

  The Munchkin father grasped the clothesline and helped pull the bull into the street. When he had got the animal out, he said to it, “What were you trying to do?”

  “I was just getting away from all this dreadful noise,” answered the bull. “And I want to find a friend.”

  A large tear rolled down the bull’s nose. “You’re the first person who hasn’t chased me this night.”

  “Would you like me to be your friend?” asked the

  father.

  “But you pulled my tail!” said the bull.

  “I won’t do that again,” promised the father.

  “All right, then I’ll let you own me,” said the bull. When the father proceeded down the street, the bull followed quietly.

  Number Nine and his father went on, and soon they came to the dragon that had been having trouble with the houses. The dragon was lying in the middle of the road, panting hard. It had just been knocked down by a sturdy Banana Boulevard mansion. It raised its heads a
s Number Nine and his father passed.

  “Will you help me to my feet?”

  “If you want my help, dragon, just blow your breath the other way,” said the father. “This is my new suit of clothes.” He pinched out a few burning spots in his sleeves. Then he helped the dragon to its feet, saying, “Go and lie under a tree.”

  “I tried that,” said the dragon. “But the trees and bushes stuck twigs and briars into my tender skin. I’ll just limp along after you.”

  The dragon and the bull were now following Number Nine and his father. His father’s four blue mules were straying about. Seeing this small procession, they joined it. Other animals slipped into

  line. A catnip wildcat with saucy eyes stood in the middle of the road, blocking the way.

  “Will you please step aside?” said Number Nine’s

  father.

  “Why should I?” retorted the snippy wildcat, her hair bristling.

  “Can’t you see you’re in the way?” the father replied patiently.

  “Let me join your parade,” said the wildcat.

  The father looked around and was surprised to see a string of animals two blocks long following him.

  “Well, if this keeps on, I’ll have all the animals with me, and I can take them to the enclosure,” he said.

  Number Nine felt important at the head of this parade. “I wish Jenny could see me,” he thought.

  The bull was walking directly behind Number Nine’s father. It rubbed its nose on his neck and asked, “Where can I get two or three buckets of water to drink?”

  “We’ll stop at the elephant fountain and water all the animals,” said the father.

  They marched to the corner of Pancake Park, where an enormous statue of an elephant sprayed green water out of its stone trunk into a basin. The

  animals crowded around the basin and began drinking. Other animals kept coming from other parts of the city.

  Many hours had passed since the ozlection. A green dawn was beginning to show in the east.

  “Here are the blue-blooded horses I’ve been looking for!” exclaimed the father. Number Nine looked across the park and saw, in the first rays of morning, four blue horses trotting abreast. They came close to the bull and stood whispering to it. Then they turned and trotted up to the father.

  “The bull says that you are the animals’ friend. We want to come with you,” said one of the horses.

  “That will be fine. I have a snug, clean barn on my farm in the Munchkin country,” said the father. “I have been hunting for you many days.”

  When the animals had drunk all they wanted, they formed in a procession. Just as the farmer was going to lead them off, up came a large girl dressed in a suit of brilliant green spangles, with a belt of gold and a bright gold sword hanging jauntily at her side.

  She marched up to the farmer and saluted. “I am General Jinjur,” she announced.

  “What I need is not a general, but a Field Marshal, to marshal these animals back to their field,”

  said the father.

  General Jinjur gave him a haughty stare and replied, “In private life, I, too, am a farmer. I can handle animals very well.”

  “Good!” said Number Nine’s father. “You can lead these back to the enclosure and see that they are safely locked up. I’ll take my four blue-blooded horses and this bull that wants me for a friend. I’ll gather my family and start back for the Munchkin country. We’ve had lots of fun and excitement on our vacation in the Emerald City. But it’s time we all got back to the farm.”

  Number Nine looked sorry to hear his father’s words. He said, “Then I must say goodbye, father. For I must find Jenny Jump and return with her to

  the Style Shop.”

  Number Nine and General Jinjur started toward the animal-plant enclosure. General Jinjur walked with a spunky strut.

  The animals paraded after them, and in the grow-mg daylight the remaining ones who had been loosened by Jenny the night before came from the houses and other hiding-places and joined the parade.

  The animals quickly went to their places in the enclosure. Some lay rubbing their bumps and cuts where they had been hit by the houses.

  “Poor animals,” said Number Nine, “they need a

  doctor.”

  “That looks like one coming,” said General Jinjur. Looking toward the gate, Number Nine saw a short man, dressed in a high black hat and a dark frock coat, wearing spectacles, with a stethoscope around his neck, and carrying a black bag. Under his arm he held a tiny door.

  The little man came bustling by, passing up the hurt animals. Number Nine called out, “Say, Doc, aren’t you going to help these poor creatures?”

  The man in the frock coat stopped. “Later in the morning,” he said, “I shall pay them a call. Just now I have a more urgent case.”

  “A ease of what?” asked General Jinjur.

  “The Consequences of Bad Temper,” said the doctor. “This disease is very rare in Oz. The patient is a nice little girl, otherwise.”

  “Why, you must be talking about Jenny Jump!” said Number Nine. “Where is she?”

  “Over there, against the wall of the bull pen. Unconscious from a bad bump on her head,” said the doctor. General Jinjur pointed her finger at him.

  “I know who you are,” she said. “You’re the

  Wizard of Oz!”

  “Hush! You know better than to mention my name in public!” The little man waved his hand before General Jinjur. “Back to your farm!” he said.

  Number Nine’s eyes popped. General Jinjur had

  vanished!

  “Where is she?” cried the boy.

  The doctor chuckled. “Didn’t you hear me send her home? Right now she is getting ready to milk the cow. Jinjur is a good girl, but she has to be kept in her place. Now to Jenny Jump.”

  The Wizard and Number Nine hurried toward the wall of the bull pen. “A bull pen is not a suitable place for a doctor to work,” said the Wizard. He tapped the little door that he was carrying under his arm. “Do you remember the Ambassa-door that transported you from my laboratory to the first floor of the palace? This is Ambassa-door, Junior. It is going to take Jenny, you, and me to the palace. And when Jenny wakes up, she is going to find herself a mightily changed girl!”

  CHAPTER 28

  How Grand I Feel!”

  JENNY lay in the Sapphire Guest Room of the palace. Queen Ozma stood at the foot of the bed. A scepter hung like an ornament at the side of her dress. Her usually smooth forehead was drawn with worry. Number Nine sat on a stool in a corner of the room. The Wizard of Oz leaned over the bed where Jenny lay.

  The Wizard straightened up. “That bump on her forehead is not serious,” he said.

  “Why doesn’t she waken?” asked Ozma.

  “I’m keeping her under a spell. While she can feel nothing, I am going to remove that bad temper.” The Wizard looked around at Number Nine. “Will you please hand me my bag, there on the table?” Number Nine picked up the common looking black bag and took it to the Wizard.

  “Open it, young man.”

  Number Nine obeyed. The bag was cranimed full of vials, bottles, thermometers, and an object that looked like a dunce cap made of fine screen wire.

  “The cap, please,” said the Wizard. There was a light rap at the door. Ozma tiptoed over and admitted Princess Dorothy with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.

  “How is Jenny?” they whispered.

  “I don’t know yet. The Wizard is going to perform

  the operation,” said Ozma as she led the three toward the bed.

  While the two girls and Number Nine looked on, the Wizard put the conical screen cap on Jenny’s head. “This extractor has never failed me,” he said. Jenny slept on, and as Number Nine watched, he saw a slight smile forming on her lips.

  “She looks as if she is having a pleasant dream,” said the boy.

  “She is feeling better already,” said Ozma, “for her temper just passed into that extractor she i
s wearing.”

  Number Nine leaned over to examine the cap. He could see nothing inside it. But he did not say anything.

  The Wizard turned to the boy with a smile. “You will hardly recognize your Boss after today. There will be no sweeter-tempered girl in the land.” He looked closely at the mesh cap. “Every bit of ill temper is out now.”

  Then the Wizard turned to Ozma. “While Jenny is wearing the extractor, is there anything else that ought to come out?”

  Ozma thought a moment and then said, “She has a little too much envy, and that makes her unhappy.

  And perhaps too much ambition.”

  “You are right,” said the Wizard. “They must come out. Envy first.” He turned a small screw at the side of the cap. He waited a minute and said,

  “There, that’s done.”

  Number Nine again leaned close to the conical cap, but he still saw nothing inside it.

  “Now for the ambition that had Jenny’s head turned.” This time the Wizard not only adjusted the screw, but turned the cap. He was smiling at Jenny.

  Number Nine was amazed at the change that now came to Jenny’s face. Not only was she looking milder, happier, and younger; she was actually twice as pretty as she had been. Number Nine’s blue face shone with affection. He could hardly wait for Jenny to awaken.