Kabanata Kabanata 2 · Ozma and Dorothy

. Ozma and Dorothy

Residing in Ozma's palace at this time was a live Scarecrow, a most

remarkable and intelligent creature who had once ruled the Land of Oz

for a brief period and was much loved and respected by all the people.

Once a Munchkin farmer had stuffed an old suit of clothes with straw

and put stuffed boots on the feet and used a pair of stuffed cotton

gloves for hands. The head of the Scarecrow was a stuffed sack fastened

to the body, with eyes, nose, mouth and ears painted on the sack. When

a hat had been put on the head, the thing was a good imitation of a

man. The farmer placed the Scarecrow on a pole in his cornfield and it

came to life in a curious manner. Dorothy, who was passing by the

field, was hailed by the live Scarecrow and lifted him off his pole. He

then went with her to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz gave him

some excellent brains, and the Scarecrow soon became an important

personage.

Ozma considered the Scarecrow one of her best friends and most loyal

subjects, so the morning after her visit to Glinda she asked him to

take her place as Ruler of the Land of Oz while she was absent on a

journey, and the Scarecrow at once consented without asking any

questions.

Ozma had warned Dorothy to keep their journey a secret and say nothing

to anyone about the Skeezers and Flatheads until their return, and

Dorothy promised to obey. She longed to tell her girl friends, tiny

Trot and Betsy Bobbin, of the adventure they were undertaking, but

refrained from saying a word on the subject although both these girls

lived with her in Ozma's palace.

Indeed, only Glinda the Sorceress knew they were going, until after

they had gone, and even the Sorceress didn't know what their errand

might be.

Princess Ozma took the Sawhorse and the Red Wagon, although she was not

sure there was a wagon road all the way to the Lake of the Skeezers.

The Land of Oz is a pretty big place, surrounded on all sides by a

Deadly Desert which it is impossible to cross, and the Skeezer Country,

according to the map, was in the farthest northwestern part of Oz,

bordering on the north desert. As the Emerald City was exactly in the

center of Oz, it was no small journey from there to the Skeezers.

Around the Emerald City the country is thickly settled in every

direction, but the farther away you get from the city the fewer people

there are, until those parts that border on the desert have small

populations. Also those faraway sections are little known to the Oz

people, except in the south, where Glinda lives and where Dorothy has

often wandered on trips of exploration.

The least known of all is the Gillikin Country, which harbors many

strange bands of people among its mountains and valleys and forests and

streams, and Ozma was now bound for the most distant part of the

Gillikin Country.

"I am really sorry," said Ozma to Dorothy, as they rode away in the Red

Wagon, "not to know more about the wonderful Land I rule. It is my duty

to be acquainted with every tribe of people and every strange and

hidden country in all Oz, but I am kept so busy at my palace making

laws and planning for the comforts of those who live near the Emerald

City, that I do not often find time to make long journeys."

"Well," replied Dorothy, "we'll prob'bly find out a lot on this trip,

and we'll learn all about the Skeezers and Flatheads, anyhow. Time

doesn't make much diff'rence in the Land of Oz, 'cause we don't grow

up, or get old, or become sick and die, as they do other places; so, if

we explore one place at a time, we'll by-an'-by know all about every

nook and corner in Oz."

Dorothy wore around her waist the Nome King's Magic Belt, which

protected her from harm, and the Magic Ring which Glinda had given her

was on her finger. Ozma had merely slipped a small silver wand into the

bosom of her gown, for fairies do not use chemicals and herbs and the

tools of wizards and sorcerers to perform their magic. The Silver Wand

was Ozma's one weapon of offense and defense and by its use she could

accomplish many things.

They had left the Emerald City just at sunrise and the Sawhorse

traveled very swiftly over the roads towards the north, but in a few

hours the wooden animal had to slacken his pace because the farm houses

had become few and far between and often there were no paths at all in

the direction they wished to follow. At such times they crossed the

fields, avoiding groups of trees and fording the streams and rivulets

whenever they came to them. But finally they reached a broad hillside

closely covered with scrubby brush, through which the wagon could not

pass.

"It will be difficult even for you and me to get through without

tearing our dresses," said Ozma, "so we must leave the Sawhorse and the

Wagon here until our return."

"That's all right," Dorothy replied, "I'm tired riding, anyhow. Do you

s'pose, Ozma, we're anywhere near the Skeezer Country?"

"I cannot tell, Dorothy dear, but I know we've been going in the right

direction, so we are sure to find it in time."

The scrubby brush was almost like a grove of small trees, for it

reached as high as the heads of the two girls, neither of whom was very

tall. They were obliged to thread their way in and out, until Dorothy

was afraid they would get lost, and finally they were halted by a

curious thing that barred their further progress. It was a huge web--as

if woven by gigantic spiders--and the delicate, lacy film was fastened

stoutly to the branches of the bushes and continued to the right and

left in the form of a half circle. The threads of this web were of a

brilliant purple color and woven into numerous artistic patterns, but

it reached from the ground to branches above the heads of the girls and

formed a sort of fence that hedged them in.

"It doesn't look very strong, though," said Dorothy. "I wonder if we

couldn't break through." She tried but found the web stronger than it

seemed. All her efforts could not break a single thread.

"We must go back, I think, and try to get around this peculiar web,"

Ozma decided.

So they turned to the right and, following the web found that it seemed

to spread in a regular circle. On and on they went until finally Ozma

said they had returned to the exact spot from which they had started.

"Here is a handkerchief you dropped when we were here before," she said

to Dorothy.

"In that case, they must have built the web behind us, after we walked

into the trap," exclaimed the little girl.

"True," agreed Ozma, "an enemy has tried to imprison us."

"And they did it, too," said Dorothy. "I wonder who it was."

"It's a spider-web, I'm quite sure," returned Ozma, "but it must be the

work of enormous spiders."

"Quite right!" cried a voice behind them. Turning quickly around they

beheld a huge purple spider sitting not two yards away and regarding

them with its small bright eyes.

Then there crawled from the bushes a dozen more great purple spiders,

which saluted the first one and said:

"The web is finished, O King, and the strangers are our prisoners."

Dorothy did not like the looks of these spiders at all. They had big

heads, sharp claws, small eyes and fuzzy hair all over their purple

bodies.

"They look wicked," she whispered to Ozma. "What shall we do?"

Ozma gazed upon the spiders with a serious face.

"What is your object in making us prisoners?" she inquired.

"We need someone to keep house for us," answered the Spider King.

"There is sweeping and dusting to be done, and polishing and washing of

dishes, and that is work my people dislike to do. So we decided that if

any strangers came our way we would capture them and make them our

servants."

"I am Princess Ozma, Ruler of all Oz," said the girl with dignity.

"Well, I am King of all Spiders," was the reply, "and that makes me

your master. Come with me to my palace and I will instruct you in your

work."

"I won't," said Dorothy indignantly. "We won't have anything to do with

you."

"We'll see about that," returned the Spider in a severe tone, and the

next instant he made a dive straight at Dorothy, opening the claws in

his legs as if to grab and pinch her with the sharp points. But the

girl was wearing her Magic Belt and was not harmed. The Spider King

could not even touch her. He turned swiftly and made a dash at Ozma,

but she held her Magic Wand over his head and the monster recoiled as

if it had been struck.

"You'd better let us go," Dorothy advised him, "for you see you can't

hurt us."

"So I see," returned the Spider King angrily. "Your magic is greater

than mine. But I'll not help you to escape. If you can break the magic

web my people have woven you may go; if not you must stay here and

starve." With that the Spider King uttered a peculiar whistle and all

the spiders disappeared.

"There is more magic in my fairyland than I dreamed of," remarked the

beautiful Ozma, with a sigh of regret. "It seems that my laws have not

been obeyed, for even these monstrous spiders defy me by means of

Magic."

"Never mind that now," said Dorothy; "let's see what we can do to get

out of this trap."

They now examined the web with great care and were amazed at its

strength. Although finer than the finest silken hairs, it resisted all

their efforts to work through, even though both girls threw all their

weight against it.

"We must find some instrument which will cut the threads of the web,"

said Ozma, finally. "Let us look about for such a tool."

So they wandered among the bushes and finally came to a shallow pool of

water, formed by a small bubbling spring. Dorothy stooped to get a

drink and discovered in the water a green crab, about as big as her

hand. The crab had two big, sharp claws, and as soon as Dorothy saw

them she had an idea that those claws could save them.

"Come out of the water," she called to the crab; "I want to talk to

you."

Rather lazily the crab rose to the surface and caught hold of a bit of

rock. With his head above the water he said in a cross voice:

"What do you want?"

"We want you to cut the web of the purple spiders with your claws, so

we can get through it," answered Dorothy. "You can do that, can't you?"

"I suppose so," replied the crab. "But if I do what will you give me?"

"What do you wish?" Ozma inquired.

"I wish to be white, instead of green," said the crab. "Green crabs are

very common, and white ones are rare; besides the purple spiders, which

infest this hillside, are afraid of white crabs. Could you make me

white if I should agree to cut the web for you?"

"Yes," said Ozma, "I can do that easily. And, so you may know I am

speaking the truth, I will change your color now."

She waved her silver wand over the pool and the crab instantly became

snow-white--all except his eyes, which remained black. The creature saw

his reflection in the water and was so delighted that he at once

climbed out of the pool and began moving slowly toward the web, by

backing away from the pool. He moved so very slowly that Dorothy cried

out impatiently: "Dear me, this will never do!" Caching the crab in her

hands she ran with him to the web.

She had to hold him up even then, so he could reach with his claws

strand after strand of the filmy purple web, which he was able to sever

with one nip.

When enough of the web had been cut to allow them to pass, Dorothy ran

back to the pool and placed the white crab in the water, after which

she rejoined Ozma. They were just in time to escape through the web,

for several of the purple spiders now appeared, having discovered that

their web had been cut, and had the girls not rushed through the

opening the spiders would have quickly repaired the cuts and again

imprisoned them.

Ozma and Dorothy ran as fast as they could and although the angry

spiders threw a number of strands of web after them, hoping to lasso

them or entangle them in the coils, they managed to escape and clamber

to the top of the hill.