Chapter Chapter 9 · The Royal Family of Ev

. The Royal Family of Ev

The Tin Woodman was the first to address the meeting.

"To begin with," said he, "word came to our noble and illustrious

Ruler, Ozma of Oz, that the wife and ten children--five boys and five

girls--of the former King of Ev, by name Evoldo, have been enslaved by

the Nome King and are held prisoners in his underground palace. Also

that there was no one in Ev powerful enough to release them. Naturally

our Ozma wished to undertake the adventure of liberating the poor

prisoners; but for a long time she could find no way to cross the great

desert between the two countries. Finally she went to a friendly

sorceress of our land named Glinda the Good, who heard the story and at

once presented Ozma a magic carpet, which would continually unroll

beneath our feet and so make a comfortable path for us to cross the

desert. As soon as she had received the carpet our gracious Ruler

ordered me to assemble our army, which I did. You behold in these bold

warriors the pick of all the finest soldiers of Oz; and, if we are

obliged to fight the Nome King, every officer as well as the private,

will battle fiercely unto death."

Then Tiktok spoke.

"Why should you fight the Nome King?" he asked. "He has done no wrong."

"No wrong!" cried Dorothy. "Isn't it wrong to imprison a queen mother

and her ten children?"

"They were sold to the Nome King by King Ev-ol-do," replied Tiktok.

"It was the King of Ev who did wrong, and when he re-al-ized what he

had done he jumped in-to the sea and drowned him-self."

"This is news to me," said Ozma, thoughtfully. "I had supposed the

Nome King was all to blame in the matter. But, in any case, he must be

made to liberate the prisoners."

"My uncle Evoldo was a very wicked man," declared the Princess

Langwidere. "If he had drowned himself before he sold his family, no

one would have cared. But he sold them to the powerful Nome King in

exchange for a long life, and afterward destroyed the life by jumping

into the sea."

"Then," said Ozma, "he did not get the long life, and the Nome King

must give up the prisoners. Where are they confined?"

"No one knows, exactly," replied the Princess. "For the king, whose

name is Roquat of the Rocks, owns a splendid palace underneath the

great mountain which is at the north end of this kingdom, and he has

transformed the queen and her children into ornaments and bric-a-brac

with which to decorate his rooms."

"I'd like to know," said Dorothy, "who this Nome King is?"

"I will tell you," replied Ozma. "He is said to be the Ruler of the

Underground World, and commands the rocks and all that the rocks

contain. Under his rule are many thousands of the Nomes, who are

queerly shaped but powerful sprites that labor at the furnaces and

forges of their king, making gold and silver and other metals which

they conceal in the crevices of the rocks, so that those living upon

the earth's surface can only find them with great difficulty. Also

they make diamonds and rubies and emeralds, which they hide in the

ground; so that the kingdom of the Nomes is wonderfully rich, and all

we have of precious stones and silver and gold is what we take from the

earth and rocks where the Nome King has hidden them."

"I understand," said Dorothy, nodding her little head wisely.

"For the reason that we often steal his treasures," continued Ozma,

"the Ruler of the Underground World is not fond of those who live upon

the earth's surface, and never appears among us. If we wish to see

King Roquat of the Rocks, we must visit his own country, where he is

all powerful, and therefore it will be a dangerous undertaking."

"But, for the sake of the poor prisoners," said Dorothy, "we ought to

do it."

"We shall do it," replied the Scarecrow, "although it requires a lot of

courage for me to go near to the furnaces of the Nome King. For I am

only stuffed with straw, and a single spark of fire might destroy me

entirely."

"The furnaces may also melt my tin," said the Tin Woodman; "but I am

going."

"I can't bear heat," remarked the Princess Langwidere, yawning lazily,

"so I shall stay at home. But I wish you may have success in your

undertaking, for I am heartily tired of ruling this stupid kingdom, and

I need more leisure in which to admire my beautiful heads."

"We do not need you," said Ozma. "For, if with the aid of my brave

followers I cannot accomplish my purpose, then it would be useless for

you to undertake the journey."

"Quite true," sighed the Princess. "So, if you'll excuse me, I will

now retire to my cabinet. I've worn this head quite awhile, and I want

to change it for another."

When she had left them (and you may be sure no one was sorry to see her

go) Ozma said to Tiktok:

"Will you join our party?"

"I am the slave of the girl Dor-oth-y, who rescued me from pris-on,"

replied the machine. "Where she goes I will go."

"Oh, I am going with my friends, of course," said Dorothy, quickly. "I

wouldn't miss the fun for anything. Will you go, too, Billina?"

"To be sure," said Billina in a careless tone. She was smoothing down

the feathers of her back and not paying much attention.

"Heat is just in her line," remarked the Scarecrow. "If she is nicely

roasted, she will be better than ever."

"Then" said Ozma, "we will arrange to start for the Kingdom of the

Nomes at daybreak tomorrow. And, in the meantime, we will rest and

prepare ourselves for the journey."

Although Princess Langwidere did not again appear to her guests, the

palace servants waited upon the strangers from Oz and did everything in

their power to make the party comfortable. There were many vacant

rooms at their disposal, and the brave Army of twenty-seven was easily

provided for and liberally feasted.

The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were unharnessed from the

chariot and allowed to roam at will throughout the palace, where they

nearly frightened the servants into fits, although they did no harm at

all. At one time Dorothy found the little maid Nanda crouching in

terror in a corner, with the Hungry Tiger standing before her.

"You certainly look delicious," the beast was saying. "Will you kindly

give me permission to eat you?"

"No, no, no!" cried the maid in reply.

"Then," said the Tiger, yawning frightfully, "please to get me about

thirty pounds of tenderloin steak, cooked rare, with a peck of boiled

potatoes on the side, and five gallons of ice-cream for dessert."

"I--I'll do the best I can!" said Nanda, and she ran away as fast as

she could go.

"Are you so very hungry?" asked Dorothy, in wonder.

"You can hardly imagine the size of my appetite," replied the Tiger,

sadly. "It seems to fill my whole body, from the end of my throat to

the tip of my tail. I am very sure the appetite doesn't fit me, and is

too large for the size of my body. Some day, when I meet a dentist

with a pair of forceps, I'm going to have it pulled."

"What, your tooth?" asked Dorothy.

"No, my appetite," said the Hungry Tiger.

The little girl spent most of the afternoon talking with the Scarecrow

and the Tin Woodman, who related to her all that had taken place in the

Land of Oz since Dorothy had left it. She was much interested in the

story of Ozma, who had been, when a baby, stolen by a wicked old witch

and transformed into a boy. She did not know that she had ever been a

girl until she was restored to her natural form by a kind sorceress.

Then it was found that she was the only child of the former Ruler of

Oz, and was entitled to rule in his place. Ozma had many adventures,

however, before she regained her father's throne, and in these she was

accompanied by a pumpkin-headed man, a highly magnified and thoroughly

educated Woggle-Bug, and a wonderful sawhorse that had been brought to

life by means of a magic powder. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman had

also assisted her; but the Cowardly Lion, who ruled the great forest as

the King of Beasts, knew nothing of Ozma until after she became the

reigning princess of Oz. Then he journeyed to the Emerald City to see

her, and on hearing she was about to visit the Land of Ev to set free

the royal family of that country, the Cowardly Lion begged to go with

her, and brought along his friend, the Hungry Tiger, as well.

Having heard this story, Dorothy related to them her own adventures,

and then went out with her friends to find the Sawhorse, which Ozma had

caused to be shod with plates of gold, so that its legs would not wear

out.

They came upon the Sawhorse standing motionless beside the garden gate,

but when Dorothy was introduced to him he bowed politely and blinked

his eyes, which were knots of wood, and wagged his tail, which was only

the branch of a tree.

"What a remarkable thing, to be alive!" exclaimed Dorothy.

"I quite agree with you," replied the Sawhorse, in a rough but not

unpleasant voice. "A creature like me has no business to live, as we

all know. But it was the magic powder that did it, so I cannot justly

be blamed."

"Of course not," said Dorothy. "And you seem to be of some use, 'cause

I noticed the Scarecrow riding upon your back."

"Oh, yes; I'm of use," returned the Sawhorse; "and I never tire, never

have to be fed, or cared for in any way."

"Are you intel'gent?" asked the girl.

"Not very," said the creature. "It would be foolish to waste

intelligence on a common Sawhorse, when so many professors need it.

But I know enough to obey my masters, and to gid-dup, or whoa, when I'm

told to. So I'm pretty well satisfied."

That night Dorothy slept in a pleasant little bed-chamber next to that

occupied by Ozma of Oz, and Billina perched upon the foot of the bed

and tucked her head under her wing and slept as soundly in that

position as did Dorothy upon her soft cushions.

But before daybreak every one was awake and stirring, and soon the

adventurers were eating a hasty breakfast in the great dining-room of

the palace. Ozma sat at the head of a long table, on a raised

platform, with Dorothy on her right hand and the Scarecrow on her left.

The Scarecrow did not eat, of course; but Ozma placed him near her so

that she might ask his advice about the journey while she ate.

Lower down the table were the twenty-seven warriors of Oz, and at the

end of the room the Lion and the Tiger were eating out of a kettle that

had been placed upon the floor, while Billina fluttered around to pick

up any scraps that might be scattered.

It did not take long to finish the meal, and then the Lion and the

Tiger were harnessed to the chariot and the party was ready to start

for the Nome King's Palace.

First rode Ozma, with Dorothy beside her in the golden chariot and

holding Billina fast in her arms. Then came the Scarecrow on the

Sawhorse, with the Tin Woodman and Tiktok marching side by side just

behind him. After these tramped the Army, looking brave and handsome

in their splendid uniforms. The generals commanded the colonels and

the colonels commanded the majors and the majors commanded the captains

and the captains commanded the private, who marched with an air of

proud importance because it required so many officers to give him his

orders.

And so the magnificent procession left the palace and started along the

road just as day was breaking, and by the time the sun came out they

had made good progress toward the valley that led to the Nome King's

domain.