Tik Tok of Oz
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L. Frank Baum >> Tik Tok of Oz
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Polychrome might have thought Quox was dead had
she not known that dragons do not die easily or
had she not observed his huge body swelling as he
breathed. She picked up a piece of rock and
pounded against his eyelids with it, saying:
"Wake up, Quox--wake up!" But he would not waken.
"Dear me, how unfortunate!" sighed the
lovely Rainbow's Daughter. "I wonder what is
the best and surest way to waken a dragon. All
our friends may be captured and destroyed
while this great beast lies asleep."
She walked around Quox two or three times,
trying to discover some tender place on his body
where a thump or a punch might he felt; but he lay
extended along the rocks with his chin flat upon
the ground and his legs drawn underneath his body,
and all that one could see was his thick sky-blue
skin--thicker than that of a rhinoceros--and his
silver scales.
Then, despairing at last of wakening the beast,
and worried over the fate of her friends,
Polychrome again ran down to the entrance and
hurried along the passage into the Nome King's
cavern.
Here she found Ruggedo lolling in his throne and
smoking a long pipe. Beside him stood General Guph
and Kaliko, and ranged before the King were the
Rose Princess, Files and the Shaggy Man. Tik-Tok
still lay upon the floor, weighted down by the big
diamond.
Ruggedo was now in a more contented frame of
mind. One by one he had met the invaders and
easily captured them. The dreaded Love Magnet was
indeed in Shaggy's pocket, only a few feet away
from the King, but Shaggy was powerless to show it
and unless Ruggedo's eyes beheld the talisman it
could not affect him. As for Betsy Bobbin and her
mule, he believed Kaliko had placed them in the
Slimy Cave, while Ann and her officers he thought
safely imprisoned in the pit. Ruggedo had no fear
of Files or Ozga, but to be on the safe side he
had ordered golden handcuffs placed upon their
wrists. These did not cause them any great
annoyance but prevented them from making an
attack, had they been inclined to do so.
The Nome King, thinking himself wholly master of
the situation, was laughing and jeering at his
prisoners when Polychrome, exquisitely beautiful
and dancing like a ray of light, entered the
cavern.
"Oho!" cried the King; "a Rainbow under ground,
eh?" and then he stared hard at Polychrome, and
still harder, and then he sat up and pulled the
wrinkles out of his robe and arranged his
whiskers. "On my word," said he, "you are a very
captivating creature; moreover, I perceive you
are a fairy."
"I am Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter," she
said proudly.
"Well," replied Ruggedo, "I like you. The others
I hate. I hate everybody--but you! Wouldn't you
like to live always in this beautiful cavern,
Polychrome? See! the jewels that stud the walls
have every tint and color of your Rainbow--and
they are not so elusive. I'll have fresh dewdrops
gathered for your feasting every day and you shall
be Queen of all my nomes and pull Kaliko's nose
whenever you like."
"No, thank you," laughed Polychrome. "My home is
in the sky, and I'm only on a visit to this solid,
sordid earth. But tell me, Ruggedo, why my friends
have been wound with cords and bound with chains?"
"They threatened me," answered Ruggedo. "The
fools did not know how powerful I am."
"Then, since they are now helpless, why not
release them and send them back to the earth's
surface?"
"Because I hate 'em and mean to make 'em suffer
for their invasion. But I'll make a bargain with
you, sweet Polly. Remain here and live with me and
I'll set all these people free. You shall be my
daughter or my wife or my aunt or grandmother--
whichever you like--only stay here to brighten my
gloomy kingdom and make me happy!"
Polychrome looked at him wonderingly. Then she
turned to Shaggy and asked:
"Are you sure he hasn't seen the Love Magnet?"
"I'm positive," answered Shaggy. "But you seem
to be something of a Love Magnet yourself,
Polychrome."
She laughed again and said to Ruggedo: "Not even
to rescue my friends would I live in your kingdom.
Nor could I endure for long the society of such a
wicked monster as you."
"You forget," retorted the King, scowling
darkly, "that you also are in my power."
"Not so, Ruggedo. The Rainbow's Daughter is
beyond the reach of your spite or malice."
"Seize her!" suddenly shouted the King, and
General Guph sprang forward to obey. Polychrome
stood quite still, yet when Guph attempted to
clutch her his hands met in air, and now the
Rainbow's Daughter was in another part of the
room, as smiling and composed as before.
Several times Guph endeavored to capture her and
Ruggedo even came down from his throne to assist
his General; but never could they lay hands upon
the lovely sky fairy, who flitted here and there
with the swiftness of light and constantly defied
them with her merry laughter as she evaded their
efforts.
So after a time they abandoned the chase and
Ruggedo returned to his throne and wiped the
perspiration from his face with a finely-woven
handkerchief of cloth-of-gold.
"Well," said Polychrome, "what do you intend to
do now?"
"I'm going to have some fun, to repay me for all
my bother," replied the Nome King. Then he said to
Kaliko: "Summon the executioners."
Kaliko at once withdrew and presently returned
with a score of nomes, all of whom were nearly as
evil looking as their hated master. They bore
great golden pincers, and prods of silver, and
clamps and chains and various wicked-looking
instruments, all made of precious metals and set
with diamonds and rubies.
"Now, Pang," said Ruggedo, addressing the leader
of the executioners, "fetch the Army of Oogaboo
and their Queen from the pit and torture them here
in my presence--as well as in the presence of
their friends. It will be great sport."
"I hear Your Majesty, and I obey Your Majesty,"
answered Pang, and went with his nomes into the
passage. In a few minutes he returned and bowed to
Ruggedo.
"They're all gone," said he.
"Gone!" exclaimed the Nome King. "Gone where?"
"They left no address, Your Majesty; but they
are not in the pit."
"Picks and puddles!" roared the King; "who took
the cover off?"
"No one," said Pang. "The cover was there, but
the prisoners were not under it."
"In that case," snarled the King, trying to
control his disappointment, "go to the Slimy Cave
and fetch hither the girl and the donkey. And
while we are torturing them Kaliko must take a
hundred nomes and search for the escaped
prisoners--the Queen of Oogaboo and her officers.
If he does not find them, I will torture Kaliko."
Kaliko went away looking sad and disturbed, for
he knew the King was cruel and unjust enough to
carry out this threat. Pang and the executioners
also went away, in another direction, but when
they came back Betsy Bobbin was not with them, nor
was Hank.
"There is no one in the Slimy Cave, Your
Majesty," reported Pang.
"Jumping jellycakes!" screamed the King.
"Another escape? Are you sure you found the right
cave?"
"There is but one Slimy Cave, and there is no
one in it," returned Pang positively.
Ruggedo was beginning to be alarmed as well as
angry. However, these disappointments but made him
the more vindictive and he cast an evil look at
the other prisoners and said:
"Never mind the girl and the donkey. Here are
four, at least, who cannot escape my vengeance.
Let me see; I believe I'll change my mind about
Tik-Tok. Have the gold crucible heated to a white,
seething heat, and then we'll dump the copper man
into it and melt him up."
"But, Your Majesty," protested Kaliko, who had
returned to the room after sending a hundred nomes
to search for the Oogaboo people, "you must
remember that Tik-Tok is a very curious and
interesting machine. It would be a shame to
deprive the world of such a clever contrivance."
"Say another word, and you'll go into the
furnace with him!" roared the King. "I'm getting
tired of you, Kaliko, and the first thing you know
I'll turn you into a potato and make Saratoga-
chips of you! The next to consider," he added more
mildly, "is the Shaggy Man. As he owns the Love
Magnet, I think I'll transform him into a dove,
and then we can practice shooting at him with Tik-
Tok's gun. Now, this is a very interesting
ceremony and I beg you all to watch me closely and
see that I've nothing up my sleeve."
He came out of his throne to stand before the
Shaggy Man, and then he waved his hands, palms
downward, in seven semicircles over his victim's
head, saying in a low but clear tone of voice the
magic wugwa:
"Adi, edi, idi, odi, udi, oo-i-oo!
Idu, ido, idi, ide, ida, woo!"
The effect of this well-known sorcery was
instantaneous. Instead of the Shaggy Man, a pretty
dove lay fluttering upon the floor, its wings
confined by tiny cords wound around them. Ruggedo
gave an order to Pang, who cut the cords with a
pair of scissors. Being freed, the dove quickly
flew upward and alighted on the shoulder of the
Rose Princess, who stroked it tenderly.
"Very good! Very good!" cried Ruggedo, rubbing
his hands gleefully together. "One enemy is out of
my way, and now for the others."
(Perhaps my readers should be warned not to
attempt the above transformation; for, although
the exact magical formula has been described, it
is unlawful in all civilized countries for anyone
to transform a person into a dove by muttering the
words Ruggedo used. There were no laws to prevent
the Nome King from performing this transformation,
but if it should be attempted in any other
country, and the magic worked, the magician would
be severely punished.)
When Polychrome saw Shaggy Man transformed into
a dove and realized that Ruggedo was about do
something as dreadful to the Princess and Files,
and that Tik-Tok would soon be melted in a
crucible, she turned and ran from the cavern,
through the passage and back to the place where
Quox lay asleep.
Chapter Eighteen
A Clever Conquest
The great dragon still had his eyes closed and was
even snoring in a manner that resembled distant
thunder; but Polychrome was now desperate, because
any further delay meant the destruction of her
friends. She seized the pearl necklace, to which
was attached the great locket, and jerked it with
all her strength.
The result was encouraging. Quox stopped
snoring and his eyelids flickered. So Polychrome
jerked again--and again--till slowly the great
lids raised and the dragon looked at her steadily.
Said he, in a sleepy tone:
"What's the matter, little Rainbow?"
"Come quick!" exclaimed Polychrome. "Ruggedo has
captured all our friends and is about to destroy
them."
"Well, well," said Quox, "I suspected that would
happen. Step a little out of my path, my dear, and
I'll make a rush for the Nome King's cavern."
She fell back a few steps and Quox raised
himself on his stout legs, whisked his long tail
and in an instant had slid down the rocks and made
a dive through the entrance.
Along the passage he swept, nearly filling it
with his immense body, and now he poked his head
into the jeweled cavern of Ruggedo.
But the King had long since made arrangements to
capture the dragon, whenever he might appear. No
sooner did Quox stick his head into the room than
a thick chain fell from above and encircled his
neck. Then the ends of the chain were drawn tight--
for in an adjoining cavern a thousand nomes were
pulling on them--and so the dragon could advance
no further toward the King. He could not use his
teeth or his claws and as his body was still in
the passage he had not even room to strike his
foes with his terrible tail.
Ruggedo was delighted with the success of his
stratagem. He had just transformed the Rose
Princess into a fiddle and was about to transform
Files into a fiddle bow, when the dragon appeared
to interrupt him. So he called out:
"Welcome, my dear Quox, to my royal
entertainment. Since you are here, you shall
witness some very neat magic, and after I have
finished with Files and Tik-Tok I mean to
transform you into a tiny lizard--one of the
chameleon sort--and you shall live in my cavern
and amuse me."
"Pardon me for contradicting Your Majesty,"
returned Quox in a quiet voice, "but I don't
believe you'll perform any more magic."
"Eh? Why not?" asked the King in surprise.
"There's a reason," said Quox. "Do you see this
ribbon around my neck?"
"Yes; and I'm astonished that a dignified dragon
should wear such a silly thing."
"Do you see it plainly?" persisted the dragon,
with a little chuckle of amusement.
"I do," declared Ruggedo.
"Then you no longer possess any magical powers,
and are as helpless as a clam," asserted Quox. "My
great master, Tititi-Hoochoo, the Jinjin,
enchanted this ribbon in such a way that whenever
Your Majesty looked upon it all knowledge of magic
would desert you instantly, nor will any magical
formula you can remember ever perform your
bidding."
"Pooh! I don't believe a word of it!" cried
Ruggedo, half frightened, nevertheless. Then he
turned toward Files and tried to transform him
into a fiddle bow. But he could not remember the
right words or the right pass of the hands and
after several trials he finally gave up the
attempt.
By this time the Nome King was so alarmed that
he was secretly shaking in his shoes.
"I told you not to anger Tititi-Hoochoo,"
grumbled Kaliko, "and now you see the result of
your disobedience."
Ruggedo promptly threw his sceptre at his Royal
Chamberlain, who dodged it with his usual
cleverness, and then he said with an attempt to
swagger:
"Never mind; I don't need magic to enable me to
destroy these invaders; fire and the sword will do
the business and I am still King of the Nomes and
lord and master of my Underground Kingdom!"
"Again I beg to differ with Your Majesty," said
Quox. "The Great Jinjin commands you to depart
instantly from this Kingdom and seek the earth's
surface, where you will wander for all time to
come, without a home or country, without a friend
or follower, and without any more riches than you
can carry with you in your pockets. The Great
Jinjin is so generous that he will allow you to
fill your pockets with jewels or gold, but you
must take nothing more."
Ruggedo now stared at the dragon in amazement.
"Does Tititi-Hoochoo condemn me to such a fate?"
he asked in a hoarse voice.
"He does," said Quox.
"And just for throwing a few strangers down the
Forbidden Tube?"
"Just for that," repeated Quox in a stern, gruff
voice.
"Well, I won't do it. And your crazy old Jinjin
can't make me do it, either!" declared Ruggedo. "I
intend to remain here, King of the Nomes, until
the end of the world, and I defy your Tititi-
Hoochoo and all his fairies--as well as his clumsy
messenger, whom I have been obliged to chain up!"
The dragon smiled again, but it was not the sort
of smile that made Ruggedo feel very happy.
Instead, there was something so cold and merciless
in the dragon's expression that the condemned Nome
King trembled and was sick at heart.
There was little comfort for Ruggedo in the fact
that the dragon was now chained, although he had
boasted of it. He glared at the immense head of
Quox as if fascinated and there was fear in the
old King's eyes as he watched his enemy's
movements.
For the dragon was now moving; not abruptly, but
as if he had something to do and was about to do
it. Very deliberately he raised one claw, touched
the catch of the great jeweled locket that was
suspended around his neck, and at once it opened
wide.
Nothing much happened at first; half a dozen
hen's eggs rolled out upon the floor and then the
locket closed with a sharp click. But the effect
upon the nomes of this simple thing was
astounding. General Guph, Kaliko, Pang and his
band of executioners were all standing close to
the door that led to the vast series of
underground caverns which constituted the
dominions of the nomes, and as soon as they saw
the eggs they raised a chorus of frantic screams
and rushed through the door, slamming it in
Ruggedo's face and placing a heavy bronze bar
across it.
Ruggedo, dancing with terror and uttering
loud cries, now leaped upon the seat of his
throne to escape the eggs, which had rolled
steadily toward him. Perhaps these eggs, sent
by the wise and crafty Tititi-Hoochoo, were in
some way enchanted, for they all rolled directly
after Ruggedo and when they reached the
throne where he had taken refuge they began
rolling up the legs to the seat.
This was too much for the King to bear. His
horror of eggs was real and absolute and he made a
leap from the throne to the center of the room and
then ran to a far corner.
The eggs followed, rolling slowly but steadily
in his direction. Ruggedo threw his sceptre at
them, and then his ruby crown, and then he drew
off his heavy golden sandals and hurled these at
the advancing eggs. But the eggs dodged every
missile and continued to draw nearer. The King
stood trembling, his eyes staring in terror, until
they were but half a yard distant; then with an
agile leap he jumped clear over them and made a
rush for the passage that led to the outer
entrance.
Of course the dragon was in his way, being
chained in the passage with his head in the
cavern, but when he saw the King making toward him
he crouched as low as he could and dropped his
chin to the floor, leaving a small space between
his body and the roof of the passage.
Ruggedo did not hesitate an instant. Impelled
by fear, he leaped to the dragon's nose and then
scrambled to his back, where he succeeded in
squeezing himself through the opening. After
the head was passed there was more room and
he slid along the dragon's scales to his tail and
then ran as fast as his legs would carry him to
the entrance. Not pausing here, so great was his
fright, the King dashed on down the mountain
path, but before he had gone very far he
stumbled and fell.
When he picked himself up he observed that no
one was following him, and while he recovered his
breath he happened to think of the decree of the
Jinjin--that he should be driven from his Kingdom
and made a wanderer on the face of the earth.
Well, here he was, driven from his cavern in
truth; driven by those dreadful eggs; but he would
go back and defy them; he would not submit to
losing his precious Kingdom and his tyrannical
powers, all because Tititi-Hoochoo had said he
must.
So, although still afraid, Ruggedo nerved
himself to creep back along the path to the
entrance, and when he arrived there he saw the six
eggs lying in a row just before the arched
opening.
At first he paused a safe distance away to
consider the case, for the eggs were now
motionless. While he was wondering what could be
done, he remembered there was a magical charm
which would destroy eggs and render them harmless
to nomes. There were nine passes to be made and
six verses of incantation to be recited; but
Ruggedo knew them all. Now that he had ample time
to be exact, he carefully went through the entire
ceremony.
But nothing happened. The eggs did not
disappear, as he had expected; so he repeated the
charm a second time. When that also failed, he
remembered, with a moan of despair, that his magic
power had been taken away from him and in the
future he could do no more than any common mortal.
And there were the eggs, forever barring him
from the Kingdom which he had ruled so long with
absolute sway! He threw rocks at them, but could
not hit a single egg. He raved and scolded and
tore his hair and beard, and danced in helpless
passion, but that did nothing to avert the just
judgment of the Jinjin, which Ruggedo's own evil
deeds had brought upon him.
From this time on he was an outcast--a wanderer
upon the face of the earth--and he had even
forgotten to fill his pockets with gold and jewels
before he fled from his former Kingdom!
Chapter Nineteen
King Kaliko
After the King had made good his escape Files said
to the dragon, in a sad voice:
"Alas! why did you not come before? Because you
were sleeping instead of conquering, the lovely
Rose Princess has become a fiddle without a bow,
while poor Shaggy sits there a cooing dove!"
"Don't worry," replied Quox. "Tititi-Hoochoo
knows his business, and I have my orders from the
Great Jinjin himself. Bring the fiddle here and
touch it lightly to my pink ribbon."
Files obeyed and at the moment of contact with
the ribbon the Nome King's charm was broken and
the Rose Princess herself stood before them as
sweet and smiling as ever.
The dove, perched on the back of the throne, had
seen and heard all this, so without being told
what to do it flew straight to the dragon and
alighted on the ribbon. Next instant Shaggy was
himself again and Quox said to him grumblingly:
"Please get off my left toe, Shaggy Man, and be
more particular where you step."
"I beg your pardon!" replied Shaggy, very
glad to resume his natural form. Then he ran
to lift the heavy diamond off Tik-Tok's chest
and to assist the Clockwork Man to his feet.
"Ma-ny thanks!" said Tik-Tok. "Where is the
wicked King who want-ed to melt me in a cru-ci-
ble?"
"He has gone, and gone for good," answered
Polychrome, who had managed to squeeze into the
room beside the dragon and had witnessed the
occurrences with much interest. "But I wonder
where Betsy Bobbin and Hank can be, and if any
harm has befallen them."
"We must search the cavern until we find them,"
declared Shaggy; but when he went to the door
leading to the other caverns he found it shut and
barred.
"I've a pretty strong push in my forehead," said
Quox, "and I believe I can break down that door,
even though it's made of solid gold."
"But you are a prisoner, and the chains that
hold you are fastened in some other room, so that
we cannot release you," Files said anxiously.
"Oh, never mind that," returned the dragon. "I
have remained a prisoner only because I wished to
be one," and with this he stepped forward and
burst the stout chains as easily as if they had
been threads.
But when he tried to push in the heavy metal
door, even his mighty strength failed, and after
several attempts he gave it up and squatted
himself in a corner to think of a better way.
"I'll o-pen the door," asserted Tik-Tok, and
going to the King's big gong he pounded upon it
until the noise was almost deafening.
Kaliko, in the next cavern, was wondering what
had happened to Ruggedo and if he had escaped the
eggs and outwitted the dragon. But when he heard
the sound of the gong, which had so often called
him into the King's presence, he decided that
Ruggedo had been victorious; so he took away the
bar, threw open the door and entered the royal
cavern.
Great was his astonishment to find the King gone
and the enchantments removed from the Princess and
Shaggy. But the eggs were also gone and so Kaliko
advanced to the dragon, whom he knew to be
Tititi-Hoochoo's messenger, and bowed humbly
before the beast.
"What is your will?" he inquired.
"Where is Betsy?" demanded the dragon.
"Safe in my own private room," said Kaliko.
"Go and get her!" commanded Quox.
So Kaliko went to Betsy's room and gave three
raps upon the door. The little girl had been
asleep, but she heard the raps and opened the
door.
"You may come out now," said Kaliko. "The King
has fled in disgrace and your friends are asking
for you."
So Betsy and Hank returned with the Royal
Chamberlain to the throne cavern, where she was
received with great joy by her friends. They told
her what had happened to Ruggedo and she told them
how kind Kaliko had been to her. Quox did not have
much to say until the conversation was ended, but
then he turned to Kaliko and asked:
"Do you suppose you could rule your nomes better
than Ruggedo has done?"
"Me?" stammered the Chamberlain, greatly
surprised by the question. "Well, I couldn't be a
worse King, I'm sure."
"Would the nomes obey you?" inquired the dragon.
"Of course," said Kaliko. "They like me better
than ever they did Ruggedo."
"Then hereafter you shall be the Metal Monarch,
King of the Nomes, and Tititi-Hoochoo expects you
to rule your Kingdom wisely and well," said Quox.
"Hooray!" cried Betsy; "I'm glad of that. King
Kaliko, I salute Your Majesty and wish you joy in
your gloomy old Kingdom!"
"We all wish him joy," said Polychrome; and then
the others made haste to congratulate the new
King.
"Will you release my dear brother?" asked
Shaggy.
"The Ugly One? Very willingly," replied Kaliko.
"I begged Ruggedo long ago to send him away, but
he would not do so. I also offered to help your
brother to escape, but he would not go."
"He's so conscientious!" said Shaggy, highly
pleased. "All of our family have noble natures.
But is my dear brother well?" he added anxiously.
"He eats and sleeps very steadily," replied the
new King.
"I hope he doesn't work too hard," said Shaggy.
"He doesn't work at all. In fact, there is
nothing he can do in these dominions as well as
our nomes, whose numbers are so great that it
worries us to keep them all busy. So your brother
has only to amuse himself."
"Why, it's more like visiting, than being a
prisoner," asserted Betsy.
"Not exactly," returned Kaliko. "A prisoner
cannot go where or when he pleases, and is not
his own master."
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