Tik Tok of Oz
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L. Frank Baum >> Tik Tok of Oz
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"You all know," said the girl Ruler, addressing
her three friends, "what a serious thing it is to
admit any mortals into this fairyland of Oz. It is
true I have invited several mortals to make their
home here, and all of them have proved true and
loyal subjects. Indeed, no one of you three was a
native of Oz. Dorothy and the Wizard came here
from the United States, and Tik-Tok came from the
Land of Ev. But of course he is not a mortal.
Shaggy is another American, and he is the cause of
all my worry, for our dear Shaggy will not return
here and desert the new friends he has found in
his recent adventures, because he believes they
need his services."
"Shaggy Man was always kind-hearted," remarked
Dorothy. "But who are these new friends he has
found?"
"One is his brother, who for many years has been
a prisoner of the Nome King, our old enemy
Ruggedo. This brother seems a kindly, honest
fellow, but he has done nothing to entitle him to
a home in the Land of Oz."
"Who else?" asked Dorothy.
"I have told you about Betsy Bobbin, the little
girl who was shipwrecked--in much the same way you
once were--and has since been following the Shaggy
Man in his search for his lost brother. You
remember her, do you not?"
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I've often
watched her and Hank in the Magic Picture, you
know. She's a dear little girl, and old Hank is a
darling! Where are they now?"
"Look and see," replied Ozma with a smile at
her friend's enthusiasm.
Dorothy turned to the Picture, which showed
Betsy and Hank, with Shaggy and his brother,
trudging along the rocky paths of a barren
country.
"Seems to me," she said, musingly, "that
they're a good way from any place to sleep, or
any nice things to eat."
"You are right," said Tik-Tok. "I have been in
that coun-try, and it is a wil-der-ness."
"It is the country of the nomes," explained the
Wizard, "who are so mischievous that no one cares
to live near them. I'm afraid Shaggy and his
friends will endure many hardships before they get
out of that rocky place, unless--"
He turned to Ozma and smiled.
"Unless I ask you to transport them all here?"
she asked.
"Yes, your Highness."
"Could your magic do that?" inquired Dorothy.
"I think so," said the Wizard.
"Well," said Dorothy, "as far as Betsy and Hank
are concerned, I'd like to have them here in Oz.
It would be such fun to have a girl playmate of my
own age, you see. And Hank is such a dear little
mule!"
Ozma laughed at the wistful expression in the
girl's eyes, and then she drew Dorothy to her and
kissed her.
"Am I not your friend and playmate?" she asked.
Dorothy flushed.
"You know how dearly I love you, Ozma!" she
cried. "But you're so busy ruling all this Land of
Oz that we can't always be together."
"I know, dear. My first duty is to my subjects,
and I think it would be a delight to us all to
have Betsy with us. There's a pretty suite of
rooms just opposite your own where she can live,
and I'll build a golden stall for Hank in the
stable where the Sawhorse lives. Then we'll
introduce the mule to the Cowardly Lion and the
Hungry Tiger, and I'm sure they will soon become
firm friends. But I cannot very well admit Betsy
and Hank into Oz unless I also admit Shaggy's
brother."
"And, unless you admit Shaggy's brother, you
will keep out poor Shaggy, whom we are all very
fond of," said the Wizard.
"Well, why not ad-mit him?" demanded Tik-Tok.
"The Land of Oz is not a refuge for all mortals
in distress," explained Ozma. "I do not wish to be
unkind to Shaggy Man, but his brother has no claim
on me."
"The Land of Oz isn't crowded," suggested
Dorothy.
"Then you advise me to admit Shaggy's brother?"
inquired Ozma.
"Well, we can't afford to lose our Shaggy Man,
can we?"
"No, indeed!" returned Ozma. "What do you say,
Wizard?"
"I'm getting my magic ready to transport them
all."
"And you, Tik-Tok?"
"Shag-gy's broth-er is a good fel-low, and we
can't spare Shag-gy."
"So, then; the question is settled," decided
Ozma. "Perform your magic, Wizard!"
He did so, placing a silver plate upon a small
standard and pouring upon the plate a small
quantity of pink powder which was contained in a
crystal vial. Then he muttered a rather difficult
incantation which the sorceress Glinda the Good
had taught him, and it all ended in a puff of
perfumed smoke from the silver plate. This smoke
was so pungent that it made both Ozma and Dorothy
rub their eyes for a moment.
"You must pardon these disagreeable fumes," said
the Wizard. "I assure you the smoke is a very
necessary part of my wizardry."
"Look!" cried Dorothy, pointing to the Magic
Picture; "they're gone! All of them are gone."
Indeed, the picture now showed the same rocky
landscape as before, but the three people and the
mule had disappeared from it.
"They are gone," said the Wizard, polishing the
silver plate and wrapping it in a fine cloth,
"because they are here."
At that moment Jellia Jamb entered the room.
"Your Highness," she said to Ozma, "the Shaggy
Man and another man are in the waiting room and
ask to pay their respects to you. Shaggy is crying
like a baby, but he says they are tears of joy."
"Send them here at once, Jellia!" commanded Ozma.
"Also," continued the maid, "a girl and a small-
sized mule have mysteriously arrived, but they
don't seem to know where they are or how they came
here. Shall I send them here, too?"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Dorothy, eagerly jumping up
from her chair; "I'll go to meet Betsy myself,
for she'll feel awful strange in this big palace."
And she ran down the stairs two at a time to
greet her new friend, Betsy Bobbin.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Land of Love
"Well, is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?"
inquired the Sawhorse, as he examined Hank with
his knot eyes and slowly wagged the branch that
served him for a tail.
They were in a beautiful stable in the rear of
Ozma's palace, where the wooden Sawhorse--very
much alive--lived in a gold-paneled stall, and
where there were rooms for the Cowardly Lion and
the Hungry Tiger, which were filled with soft
cushions for them to lie upon and golden troughs
for them to eat from.
Beside the stall of the Sawhorse had been placed
another for Hank, the mule. This was not quite so
beautiful as the other, for the Sawhorse was
Ozma's favorite steed; but Hank had a supply of
cushions for a bed (which the Sawhorse did not
need because he never slept) and all this luxury
was so strange to the little mule that he could
only stand still and regard his surroundings and
his queer companions with wonder and amazement.
The Cowardly Lion, looking very dignified, was
stretched out upon the marble floor of the stable,
eyeing Hank with a calm and critical gaze, while
near by crouched the huge Hungry Tiger, who seemed
equally interested in the new animal that had just
arrived. The Sawhorse, standing stiffly before
Hank, repeated his question:
"Is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?"
Hank moved his ears in an embarrassed manner.
"I have never said anything else, until now," he
replied; and then he began to tremble with fright
to hear himself talk.
"I can well understand that," remarked the Lion,
wagging his great head with a swaying motion.
"Strange things happen in this Land of Oz, as they
do everywhere else. I believe you came here from
the cold, civilized, outside world, did you not?"
"I did," replied Hank. "One minute I was outside
of Oz--and the next minute I was inside! That was
enough to give me a nervous shock, as you may
guess; but to find myself able to talk, as Betsy
does, is a marvel that staggers me."
"That is because you are in the Land of Oz,"
said the Sawhorse. "All animals talk, in this
favored country, and you must admit it is more
sociable than to bray your dreadful 'hee-haw,'
which nobody can understand."
"Mules understand it very well," declared Hank.
"Oh, indeed! Then there must be other mules in
your outside world," said the Tiger, yawning
sleepily.
"There are a great many in America," said Hank.
"Are you the only Tiger in Oz?"
"No," acknowledged the Tiger, "I have many
relatives living in the Jungle Country; but I am
the only Tiger living in the Emerald City."
"There are other Lions, too," said the Sawhorse;
"but I am the only horse, of any description, in
this favored Land."
"That is why this Land is favored," said the
Tiger. "You must understand, friend Hank, that the
Sawhorse puts on airs because he is shod with
plates of gold, and because our beloved Ruler,
Ozma of Oz, likes to ride upon his back."
"Betsy rides upon my back," declared Hank
proudly.
"Who is Betsy?"
"The dearest, sweetest girl in all the world!"
The Sawhorse gave an angry snort and stamped his
golden feet. The Tiger crouched and growled.
Slowly the great Lion rose to his feet, his mane
bristling.
"Friend Hank," said he, "either you are mistaken
in judgment or you are willfully trying to deceive
us. The dearest, sweetest girl in the world is our
Dorothy, and I will fight anyone--animal or human--
who dares to deny it!"
"So will I!" snarled the Tiger, showing two
rows of enormous white teeth.
"You are all wrong!" asserted the Sawhorse in a
voice of scorn. "No girl living can compare with
my mistress, Ozma of Oz!"
Hank slowly turned around until his heels were
toward the others. Then he said stubbornly:
"I am not mistaken in my statement, nor will I
admit there can be a sweeter girl alive than Betsy
Bobbin. If you want to fight, come on--I'm ready
for you!"
While they hesitated, eyeing Hank's heels
doubtfully, a merry peal of laughter startled the
animals and turning their heads they beheld three
lovely girls standing just within the richly
carved entrance to the stable. In the center was
Ozma, her arms encircling the waists of Dorothy
and Betsy, who stood on either side of her. Ozma
was nearly half a head taller than the two other
girls, who were almost of one size. Unobserved,
they had listened to the talk of the animals,
which was a very strange experience indeed to
little Betsy Bobbin.
"You foolish beasts!" exclaimed the Ruler of Oz,
in a gentle but chiding voice. "Why should you
fight to defend us, who are all three loving
friends and in no sense rivals? Answer me!" she
continued, as they bowed their heads sheepishly.
"I have the right to express my opinion, your
Highness," pleaded the Lion.
"And so have the others," replied Ozma. "I am
glad you and the Hungry Tiger love Dorothy best,
for she was your first friend and companion. Also
I am pleased that my Sawhorse loves me best, for
together we have endured both joy and sorrow. Hank
has proved his faith and loyalty by defending his
own little mistress; and so you are all right in
one way, but wrong in another. Our Land of Oz is a
Land of Love, and here friendship outranks every
other quality. Unless you can all be friends, you
cannot retain our love."
They accepted this rebuke very meekly.
"All right," said the Sawhorse, quite
cheerfully; "shake hoofs, friend Mule."
Hank touched his hoof to that of the wooden
horse.
"Let us be friends and rub noses," said the
Tiger. So Hank modestly rubbed noses with the big
beast.
The Lion merely nodded and said, as he crouched
before the mule:
"Any friend of a friend of our beloved Ruler is
a friend of the Cowardly Lion. That seems to cover
your case. If ever you need help or advice, friend
Hank, call on me."
"Why, this is as it should be," said Ozma,
highly pleased to see them so fully reconciled.
Then she turned to her companions: "Come, my
dears, let us resume our walk."
As they turned away Betsy said wonderingly:
"Do all the animals in Oz talk as we do?"
"Almost all," answered Dorothy. "There's a
Yellow Hen here, and she can talk, and so can her
chickens; and there's a Pink Kitten upstairs in my
room who talks very nicely; but I've a little
fuzzy black dog, named Toto, who has been with me
in Oz a long time, and he's never said a single
word but 'Bow-wow!'"
"Do you know why?" asked Ozma.
"Why, he's a Kansas dog; so I s'pose he's
different from these fairy animals," replied
Dorothy.
"Hank isn't a fairy animal, any more than Toto,"
said Ozma, "yet as soon as he came under the spell
of our fairyland he found he could talk. It was
the same way with Billina, the Yellow Hen whom you
brought here at one time. The same spell has
affected Toto, I assure you; but he's a wise
little dog and while he knows everything that is
said to him he prefers not to talk."
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I never
s'pected Toto was fooling me all this time." Then
she drew a small silver whistle from her pocket
and blew a shrill note upon it. A moment later
there was a sound of scurrying footsteps, and a
shaggy black dog came running up the path.
Dorothy knelt down before him and shaking her
finger just above his nose she said:
"Toto, haven't I always been good to you?"
Toto looked up at her with his bright black eyes
and wagged his tail.
"Bow-wow!" he said, and Betsy knew at once that
meant yes, as well as Dorothy and Ozma knew it,
for there was no mistaking the tone of Toto's
voice.
"That's a dog answer," said Dorothy. "How would
you like it, Toto, if I said nothing to you but
'bow-wow'?"
Toto's tail was wagging furiously now, but
otherwise he was silent.
"Really, Dorothy," said Betsy, "he can talk with
his bark and his tail just as well as we can.
Don't you understand such dog language?"
"Of course I do," replied Dorothy. "But Toto's
got to be more sociable. See here, sir!" she
continued, addressing the dog, "I've just learned,
for the first time, that you can say words--if you
want to. Don't you want to, Toto?"
"Woof!" said Toto, and that meant "no."
"Not just one word, Toto, to prove you're as
any other animal in Oz?"
"Woof!"
"Just one word, Toto--and then you may run
away."
He looked at her steadily a moment.
"All right. Here I go!" he said, and darted away
as swift as an arrow.
Dorothy clapped her hands in delight, while
Betsy and Ozma both laughed heartily at her
pleasure and the success of her experiment. Arm in
arm they sauntered away through the beautiful
gardens of the palace, where magnificent flowers
bloomed in abundance and fountains shot their
silvery sprays far into the air. And by and by, as
they turned a corner, they came upon Shaggy Man
and his brother, who were seated together upon a
golden bench.
The two arose to bow respectfully as the Ruler
of Oz approached them.
"How are you enjoying our Land of Oz?" Ozma
asked the stranger.
"I am very happy here, Your Highness," replied
Shaggy's brother. "Also I am very grateful to you
for permitting me to live in this delightful
place."
"You must thank Shaggy for that," said Ozma.
"Being his brother, I have made you welcome here."
"When you know Brother better," said Shaggy
earnestly, "you will be glad he has become one of
your loyal subjects. I am just getting acquainted
with him myself and I find much in his character
to admire."
Leaving the brothers, Ozma and the girls
continued their walk. Presently Betsy exclaimed:
"Shaggy's brother can't ever be as happy in Oz
as I am. Do you know, Dorothy, I didn't believe
any girl could ever have such a good time--
anywhere--as I'm having now?"
"I know," answered Dorothy. "I've felt that way
myself, lots of times."
"I wish," continued Betsy, dreamily, "that every
little girl in the world could live in the Land of
Oz; and every little boy, too!"
Ozma laughed at this.
"It is quite fortunate for us, Betsy, that your
wish cannot be granted," said she, "for all that
army of girls and boys would crowd us so that we
would have to move away."
"Yes," agreed Betsy, after a little thought, "I
guess that's true."
THE END
The Wonderful Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
THE WIZARD OF OZ
THE LAND OF OZ
OZMA OF OZ
DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD IN OZ
THE ROAD TO OZ
THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ
THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ
TIK-TOK OF OZ
THE SCARECROW OF OZ
RINKITINK IN OZ
THE LOST PRINCESS OF OZ
THE TIN WOODMAN OF OZ
THE MAGIC OF OZ
GLINDA OF OZ
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