The Essential Works of L. Frank Baum - L. Frank Baum

Скачать книгу

far over the bend in the circle. Suddenly I began to slide, and I went faster and faster until at last I bumped on the ground, at the very end. Just then father lifted the rainbow again, without noticing me at all, and though I tried to seize the end of it and hold fast, it melted away entirely and I was left alone and helpless on the cold, hard earth!”

      “It doesn’t seem cold to me, Polly,” said Dorothy; “but perhaps you’re not warmly dressed.”

      “I’m so used to living nearer the sun,” replied the Rainbow’s Daughter, “that at first I feared I would freeze down here. But my dance has warmed me some, and now I wonder how I am ever to get home again.”

      “Won’t your father miss you, and look for you, and let down another rainbow for you?”

      “Perhaps so, but he’s busy just now because it rains in so many parts of the world at this season, and he has to set his rainbow in a lot of different places. What would you advise me to do, Dorothy?”

      “Come with us,” was the answer. “I’m going to try to find my way to the Emerald City, which is in the fairy Land of Oz. The Emerald City is ruled by a friend of mine, the Princess Ozma, and if we can manage to get there I’m sure she will know a way to send you home to your father again.”

      “Do you really think so?” asked Polychrome, anxiously.

      “I’m pretty sure.”

      “Then I’ll go with you,” said the little maid; “for travel will help keep me warm, and father can find me in one part of the world as well as another—if he gets time to look for me.”

      “Come along, then,” said the shaggy man, cheerfully; and they started on once more. Polly walked beside Dorothy a while, holding her new friend’s hand as if she feared to let it go; but her nature seemed as light and buoyant as her fleecy robes, for suddenly she darted ahead and whirled round in a giddy dance. Then she tripped back to them with sparkling eyes and smiling cheeks, having regained her usual happy mood and forgotten all her worry about being lost.

      They found her a charming companion, and her dancing and laughter—for she laughed at times like the tinkling of a silver bell—did much to enliven their journey and keep them contented.

      6. The City Of Beasts

       Table of Contents

      When noon came they opened the Fox-King’s basket of luncheon, and found a nice roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and some slices of bread and butter. As they sat on the grass by the roadside the shaggy man cut up the turkey with his pocket-knife and passed slices of it around.

      “Haven’t you any dewdrops, or mist-cakes, or cloudbuns?” asked Polychrome, longingly.

      “‘Course not,” replied Dorothy. “We eat solid things, down here on the earth. But there’s a bottle of cold tea. Try some, won’t you?”

      The Rainbow’s Daughter watched Button-Bright devour one leg of the turkey.

      “Is it good?” she asked.

      He nodded.

      “Do you think I could eat it?”

      “Not this,” said Button-Bright.

      “But I mean another piece?”

      “Don’t know,” he replied.

      “Well, I’m going to try, for I’m very hungry,” she decided, and took a thin slice of the white breast of turkey which the shaggy man cut for her, as well as a bit of bread and butter. When she tasted it Polychrome thought the turkey was good—better even than mist-cakes; but a little satisfied her hunger and she finished with a tiny sip of cold tea.

      “That’s about as much as a fly would eat,” said Dorothy, who was making a good meal herself. “But I know some people in Oz who eat nothing at all.”

      “Who are they?” inquired the shaggy man.

      “One is a scarecrow who’s stuffed with straw, and the other a woodman made out of tin. They haven’t any appetites inside of ‘em, you see; so they never eat anything at all.”

      “Are they alive?” asked Button-Bright.

      “Oh yes,” replied Dorothy; “and they’re very clever and very nice, too. If we get to Oz I’ll introduce them to you.”

      “Do you really expect to get to Oz?” inquired the shaggy man, taking a drink of cold tea.

      “I don’t know just what to ‘spect,” answered the child, seriously; “but I’ve noticed if I happen to get lost I’m almost sure to come to the Land of Oz in the end, somehow ‘r other; so I may get there this time. But I can’t promise, you know; all I can do is wait and see.”

      “Will the Scarecrow scare me?” asked Button-Bright.

      “No; ‘cause you’re not a crow,” she returned. “He has the loveliest smile you ever saw—only it’s painted on and he can’t help it.”

      Luncheon being over they started again upon their journey, the shaggy man, Dorothy and Button-Bright walking soberly along, side by side, and the Rainbow’s Daughter dancing merrily before them.

      Sometimes she darted along the road so swiftly that she was nearly out of sight, then she came tripping back to greet them with her silvery laughter. But once she came back more sedately, to say:

      “There’s a city a little way off.”

      “I ‘spected that,” returned Dorothy; “for the fox-people warned us there was one on this road. It’s filled with stupid beasts of some sort, but we musn’t be afraid of ‘em ‘cause they won’t hurt us.”

      “All right,” said Button-Bright; but Polychrome didn’t know whether it was all right or not.

      “It’s a big city,” she said, “and the road runs straight through it.”

      “Never mind,” said the shaggy man; “as long as I carry the Love Magnet every living thing will love me, and you may be sure I shan’t allow any of my friends to be harmed in any way.”

      This comforted them somewhat, and they moved on again. Pretty soon they came to a signpost that read:

      “HAF A MYLE TO DUNKITON.”

      “Oh,” said the shaggy man, “if they’re donkeys, we’ve nothing to fear at all.”

      “They may kick,” said Dorothy, doubtfully.

      “Then we will cut some switches, and make them behave,” he replied. At the first tree he cut himself a long, slender switch from one of the branches, and shorter switches for the others.

      “Don’t be afraid to order the beasts around,” he said; “they’re used to it.”

      Before long the road brought them to the gates of the city. There was a high wall all around, which had been whitewashed, and the gate just before our travelers was a mere opening in the wall, with no bars across it. No towers or steeples or domes showed above the enclosure, nor was any living thing to be seen as our friends drew near.

      Suddenly, as they were about to boldly enter through the opening, there arose a harsh clamor of sound that swelled and echoed on every side, until they were nearly deafened by the racket and had to put their fingers to their ears to keep the noise out.

      It was like the firing of many cannon, only there were no cannonballs or other missiles to be seen; it was like the rolling of mighty thunder, only not a cloud was in the sky; it was like the roar of countless breakers on a rugged seashore, only there was no sea or other water anywhere about.

      They hesitated to advance; but, as the noise did no harm, they entered through the whitewashed wall and quickly discovered the cause of the turmoil. Inside were suspended many sheets of

Скачать книгу