Kabanata Kabanata 14 · Ozma's Counsellors

to this palace. Then we can decide what is best to be done."

The Scarecrow lost no time in doing this. Fortunately most of the royal

counsellors were in the Emerald City or near to it, so they all met in

the throne room of the palace that same evening.

Chapter 14. Ozma's Counsellors

No Ruler ever had such a queer assortment of advisers as the Princess

Ozma had gathered about her throne. Indeed, in no other country could

such amazing people exist. But Ozma loved them for their peculiarities

and could trust every one of them.

First there was the Tin Woodman. Every bit of him was tin, brightly

polished. All his joints were kept well oiled and moved smoothly. He

carried a gleaming axe to prove he was a woodman, but seldom had cause

to use it because he lived in a magnificent tin castle in the Winkie

Country of Oz and was the Emperor of all the Winkies. The Tin Woodman's

name was Nick Chopper. He had a very good mind, but his heart was not

of much account, so he was very careful to do nothing unkind or to hurt

anyone's feelings.

Another counsellor was Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, who was made

of a gaudy patchwork quilt, cut into shape and stuffed with cotton.

This Patchwork Girl was very intelligent, but so full of fun and mad

pranks that a lot of more stupid folks thought she must be crazy.

Scraps was jolly under all conditions, however grave they might be, but

her laughter and good spirits were of value in cheering others and in

her seemingly careless remarks much wisdom could often be found.

Then there was the Shaggy Man--shaggy from head to foot, hair and

whiskers, clothes and shoes--but very kind and gentle and one of Ozma's

most loyal supporters.

Tik-Tok was there, a copper man with machinery inside him, so cleverly

constructed that he moved, spoke and thought by three separate

clock-works. Tik-Tok was very reliable because he always did exactly

what he was wound up to do, but his machinery was liable to run down at

times and then he was quite helpless until wound up again.

A different sort of person was Jack Pumpkinhead, one of Ozma's oldest

friends and her companion on many adventures. Jack's body was very

crude and awkward, being formed of limbs of trees of different sizes,

jointed with wooden pegs. But it was a substantial body and not likely

to break or wear out, and when it was dressed the clothes covered much

of its roughness. The head of Jack Pumpkinhead was, as you have

guessed, a ripe pumpkin, with the eyes, nose and mouth carved upon one

side. The pumpkin was stuck on Jack's wooden neck and was liable to get

turned sidewise or backward and then he would have to straighten it

with his wooden hands.

The worst thing about this sort of a head was that it did not keep well

and was sure to spoil sooner or later. So Jack's main business was to

grow a field of fine pumpkins each year, and always before his old head

spoiled he would select a fresh pumpkin from the field and carve the

features on it very neatly, and have it ready to replace the old head

whenever it became necessary. He didn't always carve it the same way,

so his friends never knew exactly what sort of an expression they would

find on his face. But there was no mistaking him, because he was the

only pumpkin-headed man alive in the Land of Oz.

A one-legged sailor-man was a member of Ozma's council. His name was

Cap'n Bill and he had come to the Land of Oz with Trot, and had been

made welcome on account of his cleverness, honesty and good nature. He

wore a wooden leg to replace the one he had lost and was a great friend

of all the children in Oz because he could whittle all sorts of toys

out of wood with his big jack-knife.

Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., was another member of the council.

The "H. M." meant Highly Magnified, for the Professor was once a little

bug, who became magnified to the size of a man and always remained so.

The "T. E." meant that he was Thoroughly Educated. He was at the head

of Princess Ozma's Royal Athletic College, and so that the students

would not have to study and so lose much time that could be devoted to

athletic sports, such as football, baseball and the like, Professor

Wogglebug had invented the famous Educational Pills. If one of the

college students took a Geography Pill after breakfast, he knew his

geography lesson in an instant; if he took a Spelling Pill he at once

knew his spelling lesson, and an Arithmetic Pill enabled the student to

do any kind of sum without having to think about it.

These useful pills made the college very popular and taught the boys

and girls of Oz their lessons in the easiest possible way. In spite of

this, Professor Wogglebug was not a favorite outside his college, for

he was very conceited and admired himself so much and displayed his

cleverness and learning so constantly, that no one cared to associate

with him. Ozma found him of value in her councils, nevertheless.

Perhaps the most splendidly dressed of all those present was a great

frog as large as a man, called the Frogman, who was noted for his wise

sayings. He had come to the Emerald City from the Yip Country of Oz and

was a guest of honor. His long-tailed coat was of velvet, his vest of

satin and his trousers of finest silk. There were diamond buckles on

his shoes and he carried a gold-headed cane and a high silk hat. All of

the bright colors were represented in his rich attire, so it tired

one's eyes to look at him for long, until one became used to his

splendor.

The best farmer in all Oz was Uncle Henry, who was Dorothy's own uncle,

and who now lived near the Emerald City with his wife Aunt Em. Uncle

Henry taught the Oz people how to grow the finest vegetables and fruits

and grains and was of much use to Ozma in keeping the Royal Storehouses

well filled. He, too, was a counsellor.

The reason I mention the little Wizard of Oz last is because he was the

most important man in the Land of Oz. He wasn't a big man in size but

he was a man in power and intelligence and second only to Glinda the

Good in all the mystic arts of magic. Glinda had taught him, and the

Wizard and the Sorceress were the only ones in Oz permitted by law to

practice wizardry and sorcery, which they applied only to good uses and

for the benefit of the people.

The Wizard wasn't exactly handsome but he was pleasant to look at. His

bald head was as shiny as if it had been varnished; there was always a

merry twinkle in his eyes and he was as spry as a schoolboy. Dorothy

says the reason the Wizard is not as powerful as Glinda is because

Glinda didn't teach him all she knows, but what the Wizard knows he

knows very well and so he performs some very remarkable magic. The ten

I have mentioned assembled, with the Scarecrow and Glinda, in Ozma's

throne room, right after dinner that evening, and the Sorceress told

them all she knew of the plight of Ozma and Dorothy.

"Of course we must rescue them," she continued, "and the sooner they

are rescued the better pleased they will be; but what we must now

determine is how they can be saved. That is why I have called you

together in council."

"The easiest way," remarked the Shaggy Man, "is to raise the sunken

island of the Skeezers to the top of the water again."

"Tell me how?" said Glinda.

"I don't know how, your Highness, for I have never raised a sunken

island."

"We might all get under it and lift," suggested Professor Wogglebug.

"How can we get under it when it rests on the bottom of the lake?"

asked the Sorceress.

"Couldn't we throw a rope around it and pull it ashore?" inquired Jack

Pumpkinhead.

"Why not pump the water out of the lake?" suggested the Patchwork Girl

with a laugh.

"Do be sensible!" pleaded Glinda. "This is a serious matter, and we

must give it serious thought."

"How big is the lake and how big is the island?" was the Frogman's

question.

"None of us can tell, for we have not been there."

"In that case," said the Scarecrow, "it appears to me we ought to go to

the Skeezer country and examine it carefully."

"Quite right," agreed the Tin Woodman.

"We-will-have-to-go-there-any-how," remarked Tik-Tok in his jerky

machine voice.

"The question is which of us shall go, and how many of us?" said the

Wizard.

"I shall go of course," declared the Scarecrow.

"And I," said Scraps.

"It is my duty to Ozma to go," asserted the Tin Woodman.

"I could not stay away, knowing our loved Princess is in danger," said

the Wizard.

"We all feel like that," Uncle Henry said.

Finally one and all present decided to go to the Skeezer country, with

Glinda and the little Wizard to lead them. Magic must meet magic in

order to conquer it, so these two skillful magic-workers were necessary

to insure the success of the expedition.

They were all ready to start at a moment's notice, for none had any

affairs of importance to attend to. Jack was wearing a newly made

Pumpkin-head and the Scarecrow had recently been stuffed with fresh

straw. Tik-Tok's machinery was in good running order and the Tin

Woodman always was well oiled.

"It is quite a long journey," said Glinda, "and while I might travel

quickly to the Skeezer country by means of my stork chariot the rest of

you will be obliged to walk. So, as we must keep together, I will send

my chariot back to my castle and we will plan to leave the Emerald City

at sunrise to-morrow."