The merchant did not have long to wait. All unconscious of the part he was to play in Matiah's dark schemes, a young Kitchen Boy came whistling his way toward a great golden bin of potatoes. The bin was just beyond the trapdoor, and lowering it to a mere crack, Matiah let the boy pass. Then, as he leaned down to fill his basket, the wily merchant flung up the trapdoor, fell upon the boy and carried him kicking and screaming down the stairs. Here, with threats, promises and innumerable shakings, he finally reduced the poor lad to a state of frightened submission. With the sparkling necklaces round his neck, he touched one and then another of the emeralds as Matiah wished and counted and counted and wished. After each unsuccessful trial the merchant would rage and stamp and shake his fists, till the boy was quite convinced he was in the presence and power of a mad man, and frantically waited for someone to overhear Matiah's ravings and come down to rescue him. But nobody did!
While the unfortunate Kitchen Boy was spending a miserable morning in the underground chamber, Skamperoo and Chalk were going through the motions of enjoying themselves above stairs, but without any real zest or pleasure. Only half-heartedly Skamperoo laughed at the jokes of the Scarecrow, and Chalk, for all his bright interest in the long recital of Kabumpo's adventures, was really in a fidget of uneasiness, trying to keep an eye on all the doors and windows in the Throne Room at once. Something was going to happen. The white horse felt it in every bone. And just as the soft musical gong sounded the call for luncheon, his worst fears were realized. Suddenly, without reason or warning, the castle was plunged into total darkness. Thumps, bumps, hysterical shouts and screams followed closely on the heels of this disconcerting event. Chalk, who had been standing back of Skamperoo, immediately leaned forward and grasped his impetuous little Master by the seat of his Royal Breeches.
"Be still!" commanded the white horse through his teeth and the white leather of Skamperoo's riding pants, and he held on for dear life as the Emperor, like all the rest of the court and guests tried to rush in every direction.
"He's done it! He's done it, and everything, is ruined," wailed Skamperoo, struggling in vain to pull away from Chalk. "Matiah has discovered the secret of the necklaces and now we are ruined—do you hear—ruined!"
"I hear," hissed Chalk, giving Skamperoo a little shake, "and so will everyone else unless you shut your mouth. Be quiet, I tell you, do nothing till the right moment, unless you want to dash out your brains against a pillar in the dark." Too frightened to argue or struggle further, Skamperoo at last subsided. All about courtiers, servants, and guests were screaming and bumping into each other or the furniture, and when a stern hand suddenly seized his bridle, Chalk trembled violently in spite of himself.
"Follow me," directed a firm, stern little voice, "and no harm will come to you." Now Chalk had been expecting to see or hear Matiah, and the sound of this small strange voice was a welcome relief and surprise. Taking a firmer hold on Skamperoo, he thrust out his head in an endeavor to touch or feel the newcomer. As he did so, the hand on his bridle began to tug him gently but firmly forward.
"Look out there, mind what you are about, the Emperor of Oz is just ahead!" whinnied Chalk, now thoroughly alarmed. "We are not used to taking orders from strangers."
"Oh, we won't be strangers long," promised the strange voice pleasantly. "So THIS is the Emperor of Oz, and is this the way you usually carry him?"
"Come on Bitty Bit, what's the use of all this arguing?" put in another voice impatiently. "Let's get out of that confusion. The Wizard's laboratory is right across the hall. Tell him to come there."
"A girl!" decided Chalk with another gulp of relief. "Maybe we are not so badly off, after all!" And lifting his head, in spite of Skamperoo's great weight, he spoke proudly and confidently, "Whoever you are, we welcome you to Oz, and if you can explain this unearthly and unexpected darkness we will gladly follow you and do as you say."
"Good!" chuckled Bitty Bit, tugging manfully at his bridle, "this way, please." There was still so much screaming and confusion in the Throne Room no one had overheard the conversation between the newcomers and the Emperor's horse, and, guided by the invisible hand, Chalk crossed the room without bumping into anything or anybody. A moment later they were in the dark, quiet laboratory that had once belonged to the Wizard of Oz.
CHAPTER 18
The Emperor's Horse Makes a Bargain
Bitty Bit's shooting tower had made a record trip to the Emerald City, and guided by the little Seer of Some Summit, had come to a deft and dexterous stop right outside the windows of the great Throne Room. After a short, anxious look inside, and before anyone was aware of their arrival, Dorothy removed the lid from the box of the powder of darkness and threw a generous pinch into the air, plunging the Emerald City into an instant and thunderous dark. Under cover of this magic darkness, Dorothy, Pigasus, and Bitty Bit boldly entered the palace and singled out the white horse and his terrified Master. They had fully expected some resistance—Dorothy had brought a long piece of rope and Pigasus carried a stout club under his wing—but they were delighted to find the Emperor too frightened and his white horse too clever to resist an invisible foe. Being able to see in the dark themselves, they had Chalk and Skamperoo at a decided advantage. Dorothy's plans, now that they had actually returned to the Emerald City, were rather vague, but Bitty Bit knew just what he hoped and intended to do. His seerish powers had enabled him to discover that all the changes in Oz had been brought about by the magic emeralds which in some way had fallen into Skamperoo's hands, and these emeralds Bitty Bit meant to have at the earliest possible moment.
So first, he ordered all the windows and doors in the laboratory closed, then, annoyed by the screams and crashes still issuing from every room in the castle, he advised Dorothy to put the lid back on the powder of darkness.
"But supposing someone disturbs us before we finish," objected Pigasus, looking doubtfully at the tremendous war horse, who stood with feet braced and ears back ready to listen or defy them. Somehow Chalk had managed to toss Skamperoo back into the saddle and with both hands fixed grimly in the horse's mane, the Emperor was blinking his eyes in a vain attempt to see them or catch a glimpse of Matiah, for he was convinced that the merchant was at the bottom of the whole procedure.
"If we agree to lift this pall of darkness, will you agree to grant us an uninterrupted hour of your time?" asked Bitty Bit, turning toward the Emperor, but really addressing the horse, whom he considered the better man of the two.
"I think we can, without undue danger, promise that," answered Chalk guardedly, while Skamperoo hemmed and hawed with indecision. "Of course, you must promise to use no more magic against us."
"Well, the same goes for you too, remember," put in Pigasus quickly. "An hour's time and conversation and no trickery."
"But who—who are you?" muttered Skamperoo, finding his voice at last. "I seem to hear three different voices."
"You'll soon see," answered Dorothy, clapping the lid on her powder of darkness. With a suddenness that made them all gasp, the laboratory was again flooded with the bright noon sunshine, and in a determined row before him Skamperoo saw a pretty little girl in green, a fat pink pig with white wings, and a small wrinkled old gentleman in brown.
"W-why—" whinnied Chalk, drawing in a deep breath of relief, "at first I thought you were enemies, but now I see that you are merely visitors and friends."
"That depends," observed Bitty Bit, seating himself on a tall stool that brought him on a level with Chalk's nose. "I am the Seer of Some Summit, but these others are Princess Dorothy and Pigasus, the Winged Pig. They really belong in this palace and are close friends of the rightful ruler of this country, Ozma of Oz!"
"I am the rightful ruler of Oz!" shouted Skamperoo, growing red in the face and thrusting out his three chins belligerently.
"Oh, don't bother putting on a show for me," exclaimed Bitty Bit, waving his arms impatiently. "Remember, I am a Seer, I know all, I see all, and what is more, I TELL ALL! You, my pretty fellow, are really the King of Skampavia, a small, no-count country on the other side of the Deadly Desert. In some way the long-lost necklaces of Lorna the Wood Nymph have come into your possession. With these necklaces you have enchanted the people of Oz into believing you are their ruler. You have wickedly banished Ozma and her allies and counselors and unlawfully made yourself Emperor of Oz."
"That seems to cover everything," drawled Chalk, as Skamperoo turned from red to purple.
"Not everything!" went on Bitty Bit, shaking his finger sternly under Chalk's nose. "Kingdoms are not won and held by trickery, my friends, and we are here to see that those necklaces are returned and the Kingdom of Oz restored to its proper rulers."
"And suppose we refuse!" suggested the white horse in a bored voice. "What then?"
"Why then," Bitty Bit threw back his shoulders and spun round several times on his shiny stool, "why then it means WAR!" Bitty Bit did not say who were his friends or allies or where he should get his armies, but he spoke with such firm confidence, both Skamperoo and Chalk were taken aback and completely dismayed. Matiah had been bad enough, but this strange and determined little Seer was worse.
"Perhaps we can make a bargain, or come to some agreement?" suggested Chalk, resolved to save what he could for himself and his Master. "Suppose King Skamperoo and I agree to return the emerald necklaces, which undoubtedly belong in Oz, will you grant us the privilege of using them twice for ourselves?"
"But—but—" Skamperoo was about to blurt out the fact that they no longer had the necklaces when Chalk gave him a savage nip on the leg which silenced him effectively.
"Why should we do that?" inquired Pigasus, fluttering his wings nervously. "After all the grief and worry you have caused us, you are lucky to get off with your skins."
"Where are the necklaces now?" asked Dorothy, stepping close to Chalk and looking eagerly up into the face of the discomfited Emperor. Skamperoo's face grew long as a balloon suddenly punctured, but remembering Chalk's last bite, he managed to keep silent.
"When you have answered OUR question, we will answer yours," stated Chalk, firmly but pleasantly. "You can, of course, appeal to the Court and members of the household, but I think you will find them entirely satisfied with their present Emperor and ready to stand by him to the last man." At Chalk's words, Bitty Bit looked rather crestfallen. As the white horse had so quietly stated, they were perfectly powerless to take the necklaces by force and a quick inspection of the Emperor, when he first reached the palace, had convinced him Skamperoo was not wearing the precious emeralds. At this rather embarrassing moment a series of thumps, kicks, and knocks on the door made not only the rescuers, but the Emperor and Chalk turn rather pale.
"Oh! Oh! It's Matiah!" quavered Skamperoo, whose nerves were completely shaken by the shocking disclosures of the last few moments. "Oh! Oh! What'll we do now?"
"Hold your tongue," advised Chalk, and swinging round he trotted briskly over to the door.
"Who's there?" he demanded in a dignified voice.
"'Tis I-Iva the Kitchen Boy!" stuttered a frightened treble. "I must see the Emperor at once."
"Well, shall we let him in?" Bitty Bit looked uneasily at Pigasus and Dorothy and then rather thoughtfully at Chalk.
"Suit yourselves," yawned the white horse indifferently. "It's probably a messenger telling us the pudding is cold with all this delay and darkness. You asked for an hour's time and conversation and we agreed to that demand, so it is for you to decide what to do, not us."
"Oh, let him in," fumed Pigasus, "and tell him to stop this hammering and yammering. What harm is there in a Kitchen Boy?"
So Bitty Bit, taking the key from the lock and squinting through the keyhole to assure himself there was only a small boy outside, quickly admitted him. Now in darted Iva, screaming loudly of a mad man in the cellar and bursting into tearful and incoherent recital of his woes. Scarcely had he got out two sentences before Skamperoo fell bodily off his horse and made a desperate snatch at the Kitchen Boy's throat. But Bitty Bit was too quick for him. His eyes, too, had caught the glimmer of emeralds, and jerking the three chains from the lad's neck as Chalk made a savage lunge forward, he tossed them to Pigasus. Catching them on his nose as cleverly as a trained seal, the pink pig spread his wings and flew up to the top of a tall cabinet, where he sat panting and puffing with satisfaction and defiance.
"Come down, you fat scoundrel!" roared Skamperoo, dancing up and down like a dervish, while the poor Kitchen Boy, outraged by the way both Skamperoo and Bitty Bit had rushed upon him, burst into loud sobs and rushing out the still open door, ran crying down the corridor. Slamming the door and locking it after him, Bitty Bit rather anxiously waited for Chalk's next move, and as usual Chalk was quite prepared and ready to make it.
"Well," he observed with a jaunty flick of his tail, "now that you have the famous wishing emeralds, I suppose you are satisfied and we may as well go. Come along, Skamperoo, you will get nowhere in an argument with a pig. Just casting pearls before swine, you know, and he already has our emeralds!"
"You mean your wishing necklaces!" shrieked Pigasus furiously, "and I'll tell you what I wish. I wish that you and your silly Master were clams at the bottom of the Nonestic Ocean!" Thoroughly shocked and startled by the pink pig's unexpected wish, Bitty Bit and Dorothy rushed toward the cabinet, hoping in some way to prevent the wish from taking effect. But they need not have worried, for of course, nothing happened at all. Then Skamperoo, urged by Chalk, hastily climbed into the saddle.
"Well," whinnied the white horse, twitching his ears provokingly, "goodbye to you. Goodbye! We'll just be trotting along."
"Wait! Look here, hold on a bit." The little Seer of Some Summit stepped angrily in front of the white horse. "How do these emeralds work, how are we to disenchant the rulers of Oz and restore Ozma to the throne unless we know the proper way to use these magic chains?"
"I'm afraid that's YOUR problem," sighed Chalk, rolling his eyes round at Skamperoo. "Come now, my little mannikin, open up the door. We kept our promise and you must keep yours. After all, my Master has done no real harm here. There has been no war or bloodshed. In fact, everything has been decidedly gay and jolly. If his laudable ambition to better himself brought Ozma and her counselors a little well-earned rest, at least they have suffered no pain or unpleasantness, and are perfectly unaware of what has happened to them. Open the door, I tell you, or I'll call for help and there are many in this palace who would gladly come to our assistance."
"Oh! Oh! What shall we do?" wailed Dorothy, as Bitty Bit stood uncertainly with his back to the door. "You're the horridest horse I've ever known!"
"Well, that's all in the way you look at me," answered Chalk, staring steadily into Dorothy's eyes. "You, my dear, are fond of your Mistress, Queen Ozma of Oz, and are trying to help her. I, on my part, am exceedingly fond of my Master, the King of Skampavia, and am trying to help him. You can't blame me for that, you know."
"The creature is right," sighed Bitty Bit, "and we'll have to agree to his plans, preposterous though they are."
"That would, of course, be the sensible thing to do," murmured Chalk, lowering his eyes modestly. "You grant me two wishes and I will tell you the proper way to use the magic wishing chains."
"But suppose they are bad wishes—I mean," Bitty Bit corrected himself hastily, "good for you, but bad for us, what then? With the necklaces in your possession, you could wish yourselves away in an instant."
"That," admitted Chalk, "is perfectly true, but I am afraid you will have to take that chance—and trust me."
"Never do it! Never do it!" squealed Pigasus, who now had the necklaces tucked tightly under his wing. "We might as well throw ourselves out of the window."
But Bitty Bit, closing his eyes and pressing his fingers close to his forehead, made no reply. "I'll trust you," he said after a short silence, and opening his eyes he looked cheerfully up at the white horse. "Hand down those necklaces, Pigasus, and be quick about it too; I hear footsteps in the passageway."
"Well, don't blame me if we're turned to pretzels and pumpernickel," grunted the pig, dropping the necklaces into the seer's outstretched hand. "Goodbye, all." Turning his back in disgust and covering his ears with his wings, Pigasus waited in fear and trembling for the end. But Bitty Bit quite calmly handed the emeralds to Skamperoo, and Skamperoo immediately draped them over Chalk's left ear.
"Now, then," murmured Chalk, looking firmly back at the unhappy Emperor, "repeat exactly what I say and all will yet be well."
"I wish," began Chalk, while Skamperoo listened with bulging eyes, "I wish that the five wishes I make when we return to Skampavia shall be instantly granted." As Skamperoo repeated the wish and slowly started to count to a hundred, Dorothy fidgeted with uneasiness and Pigasus fairly groaned with alarm, for it seemed to them both that their danger had only been postponed and not averted.
"My second wish I will keep for our return," decided Chalk. "Now, my dear, attend closely. Since you are the avowed friend of Ozma and live with her in this palace, it seems to me you are the one to keep safely the secret of the magic emeralds." Moving close to Dorothy, Chalk put his soft pink nose close to her ear and whispered several very hoarse sentences. "Get it? Get it?" he demanded, backing away exuberantly.
"Oh—is THAT all?" Dorothy pushed back her hair in surprise and bewilderment, "why anyone could do that!"
"Then prove it by sending us back to Skampavia," beamed Chalk, shaking his mane approvingly. "It would be embarrassing for us to be here when Ozma and her friends return. Here, my child, take the necklaces and I'll do the wishing." Pigasus, now more interested than frightened, tried his best to see what Dorothy did after she clasped the emeralds around her neck and the white horse solemnly wished himself and Skamperoo back in Skampavia, but before Chalk reached ten in his counting, there was a whiff and puff and except for a slight rustle in the air, no sign at all of the splendid white steed and his red-faced Master.
"It works! It works!" exulted Bitty Bit, hopping about like a Brownie. "Can you do it again, my dear? All we need to do is to wish that the people of Oz shall be released from this wicked spell of forgetting and then wish Ozma and all the others safely back to this palace."
"Don't forget Highboy!" cried Pigasus, switching his little tail violently. "He's gone, too, you know, and don't forget Jinnicky and old Willy Green Whiskers!"
"I'll remember!" promised Bitty Bit. "All ready, Dorothy?" The little girl nodded and Bitty Bit, looking and feeling more serious and important than he had ever felt in his whole little life, slowly made the wish that was to restore peace and happiness to Oz.
"I wish," said the little sage sternly, "that the wicked enchantment cast by Skamperoo upon the inhabitants of Oz be instantly dispelled. I wish that Ozma herself, the Wizard of Oz, the Red Jinn of Ev, the King and Queen of the Munchkins and their son Prince Philador, the King and Queen of the Gillikens and their giant horse, Glinda the Good Sorceress of the South, Nick Chopper the Tin Emperor of the East, and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers be immediately released from Thunder Mountain and restored to this palace. One—two—three—four—five—six—seven."
At seven Pigasus with a loud squall of astonishment fell from the top of the cabinet, and Dorothy rushed joyfully forward. For now, every chair around the Wizard's table was occupied. At the head sat Ozma, calm and gracious as ever, at the foot the spry little Wizard, and between, all the others who had so recently lain at the bottom of Lightning Lake. Highboy stood over by the window looking dreamily out across the garden and none of them seemed in the least surprised or excited to find themselves in the Wizard's laboratory.
"Let—me—see—" mused Ozma, raising her hand gravely—"Ah, yes—we are here to discuss a threatened danger to ourselves and the Kingdom of Oz."
"But it's all over now," cried Dorothy, running over to Ozma and flinging both arms round her waist. "It's all over and we're safe and you're safe, and my, how glad we are to have you back here again!"
"Here!" exclaimed the Wizard, popping up like a startled Jack-in-the-Box, "where else would we be?"
"Only at the bottom of Lightning Lake in Thunder Mountain," murmured Bitty Bit, coming modestly forward to meet the Fairy Ruler of Oz and winking merrily at Jinnicky, whom he already knew.
CHAPTER 19
The Story of the Necklaces
Ozma's surprise and the astonishment of all the rest of that company around the Wizard's table can well be imagined.
"I didn't hear any thunder," snorted Highboy, lowering himself down to Bitty Bit's level. "Not a clap! And if we were at the bottom of Lightning Lake, what did we eat?"
"We didn't!" announced Jinnicky in a hollow voice, "what COULD we have eaten in such a place, you old fire-eater, you?" To have been enchanted and put out of existence for three whole days was an amazing experience, and as Dorothy and Bitty Bit, helped out now and then by Pigasus, explained all that had happened to the victims of Skamperoo's ambition and to themselves in the course of their journey of rescue, Ozma's face grew both grave and serious. It was disturbing to realize how easily Oz had been captured and the powerful Wizards and Glinda the Sorceress pushed aside. The Wizard of Oz himself seemed to feel the most discouraged and downcast of all to think he had been so easily overcome, and that his magic had not been strong enough to withstand the wicked spell of the invaders.
"I should have foreseen something like this, and been prepared," mourned the little man, mopping his head with a map of Oz which he happened to have in his pocket.
"Yes," sighed the Tin Woodman, feeling his joints anxiously to see whether they had been rusted by his three-day immersion in Lightning Lake, "we might have been prisoners in Thunder Mountain forever had it not been for Dorothy and Pigasus and this sagacious little Seer. But tell me, Dorothy, how was it that you alone, of all the people in the palace, remembered and missed us?"
"Well," confessed Dorothy, seating herself cautiously on Nick Chopper's tin knees, "it must have been the Wizard's wishing pill. You see, just as the Soldier's beard turned red, I found one in my pocket, and popping it into my mouth, wished that I might save Oz from any danger that threatened. It kept me from forgetting Ozma and all of you, and when I sat on Pigasus' back, he remembered, too, and we—"
"Did save Oz!" finished the little Wizard, bounding triumphantly to his feet and restored to instant cheerfulness by Dorothy's generous statement. "I tell you, I'll match my wishing powers with any wishing powers in the country!"
"But you won't have to, now," smiled Bitty Bit with an envious glance at the sparkling necklaces Dorothy had placed on the table before Ozma. "With these emeralds and your own magic powers, nothing like this could ever happen in Oz again."
"Thank you, Bitty Bit," smiled the little Queen, nodding graciously. "Thank you a hundred times for all you have done for us and for Oz, and perhaps, if we coaxed, you might remain as our Royal Seer?"
"Hear, hear, our Royal Seer!" cried Pigasus, clapping his wings. "Will you be it, Sir Bitty Bit?"
"Well," acknowledged Bitty Bit, with a low bow toward Ozma, "I'm tempted to accept, but, on the other hand, I am so foolishly fond of my own castle, I just could not be content in any other place. But if Your Majesty ever needs me for serious business, you can always command my services by using either the wishing necklaces or your magic belt."
"And he'll come like a shot in his shooting tower," Dorothy smiled as she slid carefully from Nick Chopper's knee. "But, say—what's that?" A hundred footsteps sounded in the corridor, accompanied by confused voices, questioning calls and finally loud thumps on the door. "It must be all the rest of the courtiers and visitors remembering they have a Queen!"
"I hear Scraps and the Scarecrow," squealed Pigasus, "I hear Bettsy Bobbin and Trot. Quick, Dorothy, open the door."
"No, no, not yet," said Ozma gently but firmly. "There is more, much more for us to hear and settle. But you go out, Pigasus, and tell them all about our enchantment, Skamperoo's reign and our rescue."
"Be glad to! Charmed! And trust me to do it right." Swelling up with importance and pride, Pigasus flew out the window before Dorothy had time to open the door. A few moments later, the company in the Wizard's laboratory heard him calling everyone to follow him to the Throne Room and hear the most startling news since Dorothy killed the wicked Witches of the East and West.
"And how he'll love telling it," said Bitty Bit, smiling across at the Wizard of Ev. "A great idea of yours, this pig, Jinny. Even if his verses are low, I like him."
"Oh, everyone likes Pigasus," declared Dorothy, coming over to sit on the arm of Glinda's chair. "But what I'd like to know is how that Kitchen Boy happened to have the emeralds, how Skamperoo got them and where they came from in the first place?"
"Yes," murmured Glinda, who, like the Wizard, felt very much annoyed to have been overpowered by a fat, unimportant monarch like Skamperoo. "Now that we have these wishing chains, we must guard them carefully to keep them from falling into such mischievous hands again."
"I believe Bitty Bit can tell us the story of the emeralds," said Ozma, who had been much impressed by the cheerful little seer of Some Summit. "With his gift of foreseeing and foretelling he probably knows the whole story."
"Can he look backward as well as forward?" inquired the Wizard challengingly.
"Just as well," confessed Bitty Bit with an embarrassed little cough, and as every head turned expectantly toward him, the sage closed his eyes and quietly told them the interesting history of Matiah's three necklaces.
"These magic emeralds," began Bitty Bit, waving his hands rhythmically backward and forward, "were first collected and strung into necklaces by a wizard named Wam for the King of the Green Mountain as a gift for the wood nymph Lorna. But the King of the Green Mountain was an ugly little dwarf, and though she had promised to marry him, no sooner did Lorna have the necklaces than she turned the King into a frog and hid herself away in her own forest. In the giant hollow tree where Lorna lived there was a mischievous family of squirrels. That night, as Lorna lay sleeping with the emeralds on a little golden plate beside her, one of the squirrels, thinking the gems some new and delicious kind of nuts, stole and buried them away for the winter. Next morning, though Lorna ran crying and searching all through the forest, she was unable to find her wishing necklaces."
"Then what became of them?" gasped Dorothy as Bitty Bit, opening his eyes for a moment, blinked cheerfully over their heads.
"Wait, I'll tell you!" Closing his eyes, the sage went hurriedly on with the story. "Ah, so this is it! A woodcutter's boy, poking about among the leaves, found the emeralds and as emeralds in themselves are not uncommon in Oz, he traded them to a peddler for a new ax. The peddler, arriving after a long while in Skampavia, had no trouble in disposing of the jewels. In Skampavia, you must know, emeralds, pearls, or jewels of any kind are practically unknown, and a merchant gave the peddler not only his house and shop, but all of his merchandise for the three sparkling chains. By a law in Skampavia every subject must render to the King one-third of all he owns or raises, and in due course, one of the necklaces was sent to Skamperoo. The King, delighted with the sparkling gems, insisted on having all three necklaces, and Matiah himself brought them to the castle, determined, if possible, to steal them back at the first opportunity. In order to do so without arousing the suspicions of the King, he pretends to be a Wizard and tells him if he, Matiah, wears the three necklaces, he can grant any wish the King may make, but that as he makes the wish he must close his eyes and count to a hundred. As soon as Skamperoo began to count, Matiah started to run off with the emeralds and that accounts for the white horse, for you see Skamperoo's first wish was for a splendid white charger with a golden mane and tail. Frightened almost out of his senses by the sudden appearance of the horse and the knowledge that the chains really did have some magic power, Matiah steals back beside the King, resolved to wait for another opportunity to procure the necklaces. Meanwhile, Skamperoo, excited and happy over the granting of his first wish, confides in the merchant his second wish and ambition to be ruler of Oz. Matiah, to gain time in which he can work out the secret of the emeralds' power, approves of the King's idea, but tells him he can only grant one wish a week. He then advises Skamperoo to cause all the people in Oz to forget their former rulers and to remove the Wizard and all his magic, Ozma, and the rulers of the four Oz countries to the inaccessible caverns of Thunder Mountain.
"Now while Matiah is trying his best to discover the trick of the magic emeralds, Skamperoo, growing tired of the tempery fellow, appealed to his horse. The horse, being magically brought to life and being unusually sharp-witted and quick, soon worked out the problem. With his help Skamperoo wished the spell of forgetting upon Ozma's subjects, banished her Highness and all of the others just as Matiah had suggested and managed to rule Oz for three whole days."
"But what became of Matiah?" asked Glinda, leaning forward eagerly.
"At this moment Matiah is lying in a senseless condition in the underground chamber beneath this castle," Bitty Bit told them solemnly and without opening his eyes. "Soon after Skamperoo left for Oz, the merchant was driven out of Skampavia by Pinny Penny, whom Skamperoo had made King. Matiah, furious to think the apparently stupid sovereign had outwitted him, bribed an eagle to carry him across the desert, arrived at the Emerald City and soon afterward managed to really steal the necklaces from Skamperoo. Discovering beneath the cellar the excavated chambers of the old Gnome King, he retired to this quiet spot to again experiment with the emeralds. Needing another person to help, he seized the Kitchen Boy who had come to the cellar for supplies and forced him to assist in his experiments. How soon he might have discovered the real trick of the chains I cannot say, but our own arrival and Gloma's powder of darkness happily interrupted him. The Kitchen Boy, who had kept his eyes glued to the stone steps and trapdoor during the entire morning, made an immediate dash for freedom and managed to escape in spite of the darkness. Matiah, not so fortunate, rushed into a stone pillar and knocked himself senseless. He's still lying there, and I suggest that your Majesty deal with him at once."
"I will," decided Ozma firmly, as Bitty Bit opened his eyes and looked cheerfully around the table. "And I'll do it by means of these very magic emeralds. Put on the emeralds, Dorothy, for you alone know the secret of their magic power." So Dorothy, anxious to have Matiah out of Oz before he recovered his wicked wits, hastily clasped the three chains around her slim throat.
"It is my earnest wish that Matiah shall immediately and henceforth forget the emerald necklaces of Oz, return to his country and become a good and simple citizen of Skampavia," said Ozma seriously, beginning her count to one hundred.
"He's gone! He's gone!" piped up Bitty Bit, who had closed his eyes as soon as Ozma started to speak. "And if I were you, my dear, I would send off that red eagle too. I see him lurking on the edge of our city with an exceedingly fierce light in his eye." So Ozma made another wish, turning the eagle to a harmless sparrow.
"And what about Skamperoo?" asked Cheeriobed, King of the Munchkins, who up to this time had not spoken a word. "Should he not be punished in some way?"
"I would not bother with old Skamper," advised Bitty Bit with a small chuckle. "Before I agreed to give his white horse those five wishes, I closed my eyes, looked ahead, and discovered that they would all be good wishes. Not only good but wise, and from now on I think you can trust that clever white horse and a little fellow called Pinny Penny to keep their Master out of mischief and Oz."
"Well, in that case," sighed Ozma, rather breathless from so much counting, "everything is happily settled."
"And in that case," boomed Joe King, gallantly helping his little Queen to her feet, "I suggest we start celebrating all over again, not only the discovery of Oz by mortals, but the saving of Oz as well! I, for one, feel terribly cheated at missing Notta's circus."
"So do I! So do I!" exclaimed little Prince Philador, climbing boisterously into Highboy's saddle. "I want to see a circus!"
"And so you shall," promised Ozma gaily, "we will start the celebration at exactly the point where we left Oz for Thunder Mountain, and have the tableaux, the pageants, and the picnics all over again."
And that, my dear, is exactly what they did do, and everyone, including Bitty Bit, enjoyed himself so much there was not an unhappy person in the Emerald City. And not until the end of the second day did Dorothy remember to tell Ozma the magic secret of the wishing emeralds.
"On the sixth count, you wink both eyes," whispered Dorothy, giving Ozma a little hug. "Good night!"
"Good gracious, so THAT'S it!" smiled Ozma, comprehending instantly what Dorothy meant. "I suppose Matiah did it in sheer excitement the first time. Well, I have often heard of doing things in the twinkling of an eye, but now we shall really be able to have them that way. No one knows this secret but you and me and a white horse, and no one must ever know it, for wishes are dangerous and cause more unhappiness than joy, so we'll never tell another soul, will we, Dorothy?"
"Never!" agreed the little girl, looking solemnly over her shoulder at the safe where Ozma had hidden her new treasure.
CHAPTER 20
Back in Skampavia!
"So there you are!" Pinny Penny straightened up with a little grimace, for he had been planting flowers in a new rock garden he was planning for the King. With an expression about equally compounded of exasperation and affection, he looked at his former Master and the white horse who had, without sound or warning, dropped down in the path before him. "I thought you'd come back," continued Pinny Penny, calmly rubbing the mud from his fingers and putting out his hand. "So it was your horse, after all." His gaze rested speculatively on the splendid white steed and richly jeweled robes of Skamperoo. "And you've made your fortune, I see! Well, welcome home anyway, your crown's hanging on a nail back of the throne and I think you will find everything in order."
"In order! Why, it looks wonderful!" shouted Skamperoo, leaping exuberantly out of the saddle, and honestly surprised and pleased at the pleasure he felt in seeing old Pinny Penny again. "You've had the palace painted and this garden and that fountain and the flowers. They're all new, aren't they?"
"Yes," agreed Pinny Penny guardedly. "I made a few new laws while you were gone, Skamper, making the tax only one-twentieth of our subjects' earnings. They were so grateful and delighted, they've been sending you presents ever since. Then the guards (having no drill or marching to bother them, I did away with THAT, too), the guards in their odd time agreed to work around the castle and we've been brightening up the old place quite a bit. I tell you," Pinny Penny exhaled his breath noisily, "we'll make a going and coming country of this yet!"
"Of course we will," said Skamperoo, bouncing happily along at his side. "I've had a lot of experience since I saw you, old Skinny Pins. Ho, Pinny, my boy, I've been an Emperor in Oz!"
"OZ? Never!" Closing his lips into a thin line, Pinny Penny looked from his Master to Chalk, who was stepping sedately along on his other side.
"But it's perfectly true," whinnied the white horse, prancing a bit from sheer enjoyment, "and now we are home with five splendid wishes."
"Wishes?" sniffed Pinny Penny, rearing his head suspiciously. "What good are wishes?"
"But these wishes really work and come true," explained Chalk with a toss of his head, "and what's more they are going to work and come true for Skampavia!"
"Any wish you work hard enough for will come true," insisted Pinny Penny stubbornly. "Wishes—POOH! Wishes—POOH! 'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!'" finished the little Prime Minister half under his breath.
"But don't you see?" Skamperoo grasped Pinny Penny firmly by the shoulders. "This is one time when wishes WERE horses and beggars DID ride. My first wish was for a horse and here he is, and as true as you are and as wise and clever. Why, even if the magic emeralds give me nothing more, I am still the luckiest fellow on this side of the Deadly Desert!"
"Moons, stars, and rainbows! I believe you have gotten some sense," gasped Pinny Penny, staring with wide eyes into Skamperoo's face. "And that's the first good I ever knew to come of magic."
Pulling Pinny Penny down to his old bench, now neatly mended and painted green, the King of Skampavia told his little Prime Minister the whole story I have just been telling you. When he finished and settled back complacently, Pinny Penny instead of looking glad or pleased stared mournfully at the ground.
"Now what's the matter?" demanded Skamperoo, clapping him impatiently on the back, while Chalk, breaking off a little branch with his teeth, tickled Pinny Penny mischievously under the chin. "Why are you so sad and solemn?"
"Because"—Pinny Penny ground the toe of his boot deeply into the gravel in the path—"if you really have five more magic wishes, you'll probably be going to some grand other place and be spending the rest of your life in travel."
"If that were so, we wouldn't be here at all," puffed Skamperoo. "Now get this through your head, old fellow. We are here by our own wish and from now on my own country is good enough for me and when we've made these five good wishes—good enough for anybody!"
"There you go! There you go!" groaned Pinny Penny, covering his face with his hands. "It's the wishes I'm afraid of."
"Well, you needn't be!" With a great effort Skamperoo made his first really great and wise decision. "You shall make the wishes yourself, Pinny Penny, and I shall save only one in case of trouble!"
"Bravo! Bravo!" snorted Chalk, prancing three times round the green bench.
"Me? You really mean me?" quavered Pinny Penny, pointing an unbelieving finger at his own mid-section. Then, as Skamperoo nodded and before he could change his mind, the old Chancellor fairly leapt into the air.
"I wish the King of this country to always be as wise and generous as he has succeeded in being at this moment, as wise as the young Fairy Ruler of Oz," panted Pinny Penny. "I wish that the people of Skampavia, using the powers and abilities they already have, shall make this a rich, happy, and prosperous Kingdom. I wish that the climate and soil, the only bad features about which we might complain, shall become mild and fertile! That's all, that's all I can think of!" confessed Pinny Penny, shrinking happily back on the bench.
"Then I'll make a wish," whinnied Chalk, shaking his beautiful golden mane. "I wish that we three may never be separated! Long live the KING AND HIS PRIME MINISTER!"
"And his horse!" cried Skamperoo, bounding up to seize Chalk's bridle.
"And his horse!" echoed Pinny Penny heartily, running round to seize Chalk's bridle on the other side. "We three for Skampavia forever!"
Then, with Chalk stepping proudly in the center, these three strangely assorted comrades made their way into the palace. Knowing the power of the magic emeralds, and also the magic power of knowledge and experience, I am sure that Skampavia under its new regime, will soon be as happy and prosperous as any Nation in Oz!