At Didjabo's call there was a slight rustle and stir behind the curtains in the doorway, and an immense wrinkled old native clad only in a turban and loin cloth stepped noiselessly into the Chamber of Justice. Without waiting for further orders, Boglodore began in a high, dismal, droning voice:
"Following the commands of the highest among you, I, Boglodore the Magician, did carry off on my famous, never known or seen flying umbrellaphant the heir and small King of this country, coming down after two days, on Patrippany Island. Not wishing to destroy the boy with my own hands, I left him to the wild beasts and savage Leopard Men known to inhabit this island. That, as you know, was five months and two weeks ago. Having just returned from a second flight to the Island where I found no trace or sign of the boy, I can safely assure you that he is no more, that he has undoubtedly been killed by the savages or the wild beasts of the jungle." There was not a trace of pity or remorse on the cruel flat faces of his listeners as Boglodore finished this shameful recital.
"In that case there is nothing left to do but punish the royal aunts and family, issue a proclamation of our accession to power, and divide up the Kingdom," mused Lotho, drumming thoughtfully on the table with his long skinny fingers.
"But do not forget my reward," wheezed Boglodore firmly. "For this cruel and infamous deed I was promised one tenth of Ozamaland and I am here to claim as my share the entire jungle reach of this country. Extending his arms, the old man of the jungle advanced threateningly toward the long table.
"Ha, ha! Just listen to him now," sneered Didjabo, gathering up his papers and looking insolently across at the angry native. "Have a care what you say, fellow. Too much of this and you'll go over the cliff with the royal relatives. Now, then, clear out! Your work is done! If you ever set foot in this city again, you shall be trampled beneath the feet of the royal elephants!"
"Ah—hhh!" Boglodore recoiled as if he had been confronted by a poisonous reptile. "So that's to be the way of it? Aha! Very good! I will go. But do not think this is the end! It is but the beginning!" Snapping his fingers under the long noses of the Ozamandarins, the old man, not bothering with the door, leapt out the window and vanished into the garden.
"Do you think that was quite wise?" questioned Teebo, third in rank of the Ozamandarins. "This fellow and his flying elephant are dangerous and may do us a world of harm."
"Do not forget, anything he says will involve himself, and he'll have a hard time proving to the people that it was on my orders the young King was carried off."
"Oh, hush!" warned Lotho, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Not another word!" Shrugging his shoulders and rising to indicate that the meeting was over, Didjabo started pompously for the door. "I will go now to prepare a Royal Proclamation explaining that as the young King has not after exhaustive search been found or located, the authority and governing power of the state shall pass to us, the Nine Faithful Ozamandarins of the Realm! We can then meet again and here in this star and barred Chamber of Justice divide the Kingdom among us."
"Very well, but see that you remember it is to be divided!" Staring fixedly at Didjabo, Lotho strode away, colliding violently at the door with a small breathless page who was entering on a veritable gallop.
"Your Honors! Your Ozamandarin Majesties!" shrilled the boy, wildly waving his trumpet instead of blowing upon it. "A ship—there is a ship with four masts beneath the chalk cliffs, a strange ship with full sail is riding into our harbor."
"There, there, don't shout!" snapped Didjabo, seizing the boy roughly by the shoulders. "Go back at once and discover what flag this ship flies from her masthead. Quickly now. RUN!"
"What could it mean? Where could it be from? Such a thing has never happened before!" muttered the others, hastening over to the long windows.
"Confoundation!" raged Didjabo as the page with frightened stutters turned and ran out of the Hall of Justice. "This ruins everything. Who are these meddling foreigners? And why do they have to arrive now of all times? NOW! Lotho! Teebo! Call out the camel corps and the white elephant guard. Have them drawn up in war formation on the chalk cliffs. You others!" impatiently Didjabo waved his arms at the six remaining Ozamandarins, "See to the defense of the palace! If these meddlers set foot upon our territory they are to be trampled upon, trampled upon—do you understand?" Nodding with fierce and cruel determination, the eight tall Keepers of the White City set about carrying out Didjabo's orders. Didjabo, hurrying up to the highest tower in the castle, looked through his telescope to see what manner of ship had come sailing out of the west to spoil or postpone his well-laid plans.
Driven by the pitiless wind, pounded by the merciless sea, theCrescent Moonrode before the gale, coming, toward morning, into quiet waters at last. The sky, now pale grey instead of black, showed a small single star in the east, and with a huge sigh of weariness and relief Samuel let go the anchor and bade his crew turn in all standing. This they were only too glad to do, sleeping heavily and thankfully in their clothes, Nikobo still wrapped in her sail snoring like a whole band of music beneath the mizzenmast.
Tandy, to whom the storm had been a thrilling adventure, was the first to waken. Still stiff and bruised from the pounding he had taken as theCrescent Moontossed and pitched in the terrible seas, he sprang eagerly out of his bunk, curious to know where the storm had carried them.
The morning mists, lifting like a shimmering veil or the curtain of a stage on some new and strange scene, showed a long white line of chalk cliffs to the east, and beyond the cliffs the dim outline of a great and splendid city. With joy and lively expectations Tandy had run out on deck, but now, after a long look over the port rail, he crept silently and soberly back to his cabin, closing the door softly behind him. Later, as the sun rose higher, and his shipmates awoke, the excited screams of Nikobo and Roger and the eager voices of Samuel and Ato told him that they too had seen the bright land beyond the cliffs. Already Samuel was clewing up his sail and above the rattle in the rigging Tandy could hear the rasp of the anchor cable as it came winding over the side. But he only bent lower over the fat book in his lap, and when the Read Bird, loudly calling his name, came hurtling through the port-hole, he did not even look up.
"Land! Land and MORELAND!" croaked Roger, dancing up and down on the foot of the bunk. "None of your pesky islands this time, but a whole long new continent. What in salt's the matter, youngster, this is no time to be a-reading! Come on, come on, the Captain's looking for you!" As Roger peered sharply down at the book in Tandy's lap two tears splashed on the open page. Quickly brushing two more off his nose, the ship's cabin boy unwillingly met the puzzled gaze of the Read Bird.
"Roger," demanded Tandy in a smothered and unsteady voice, "which is most important, being a King or being a person?" Roger, his head on one side, considered this for a moment and then spoke quickly.
"Well, you can't be a good King without being a good person, so I should say, being a good person is most important."
"But it says here," with a furious sniff Tandy put his finger on the middle paragraph of the page, "'In no circumstances and for no reason may a King forsake his country nor desert his countrymen.'"
"What's that? What's this? Humph!Maxims for Monarchs.Well, what in topsails do we care for that musty volume?" Giving the book a vicious shove, Roger, forgetting how much he had formerly praised Ato's fat volume, fluttered down on Tandy's shoulder. "So THAT'S it!" he burst out explosively. "This pernicious country yonder is Ozamaland. Well, we can't spare you and that's final. They didn't know how to treat a good King when they had one, now let 'em practice on somebody else. Say the word, m'lad, and we'll put about and sail away as fast as a good ship can take us! CAPTAIN! Master Salt! Deck ahoy! All hands 'HOY!" Without waiting for Tandy's answer, Roger skimmed through the port and winged over to the Captain.
"Wait! Wait!" sputtered Tandy, hurrying aft where the officers and crew of theCrescent Moonwere now engaged in earnest conversation. "Don't you remember you wanted some of those creeping birds and flying reptiles, Captain? Well, this is the place!" puffed the little boy, waving his arm toward the cliffs. "This is Ozamaland and I've got to go ashore. It's really all right," he continued earnestly as Samuel began unhappily rubbing his chin, "it's been a grand voyage and I've learned a lot, but a King has to stick to his post, hasn't he?"
"Not all the time," snapped Ato, giving his belt an indignant jerk. "You stuck to your post and they stuck you in a tower and then in a pig pen in the jungle. So what do you owe them? Nothing, say I, absolutely nothing!"
But Samuel Salt, regretful as he was to lose this handy young artist and cabin boy, felt that Tandy must decide the matter for himself. "If you're as good a King as you are a seaman, I'm not the one to hold you back," he sighed sorrowfully. "But just let these lubbers start any more nonsense and I'll give them a taste of the rope. HAH! And we'll not be leaving you till everything's shipshape, and you can lay to that!"
"I'm not leaving you at all," snorted Nikobo, lumbering hugely over to Tandy and almost flattening him against the port rail. "I'll miss this ship worse'n the river, and Ato's cooking and the Captain's stories and Roger's jokes, but wherever Tandy goes I go, and that's flat!"
"Just plain noddling nonsense, putting him ashore," fumed Ato angrily. "He's not old enough to manage these wild tribesmen and scheming aristocrats. Besides, we need him on this expedition, and you know it." Samuel, sighing deeply, smiled at Tandy and Tandy, sighing just as deeply, smiled back.
"Never you mind," promised the former Pirate with a wink that somehow lacked conviction, "there'll be other voyages!" And seizing the wheel, he began tacking in toward Tandy's homeland. But he had lost all pleasure and interest in charting for the first time on any map the long continent of Tarara and adding strange animals and plants to his ever-growing collection. Losing Tandy spoiled the whole expedition for him, and by taking longer and wider tacks he delayed their landing to the latest possible moment.
But at last there they were in the very shadow of the chalk cliffs and with no further excuse for not going ashore. Nikobo had agreed to carry them and had abruptly heaved herself overboard, sending up a fountain of spray as high as the ship itself when she struck the water, thus astonishing no end the watchers on the bank. Tandy, after running down to the hold to say goodbye to Mo-fi and have a last look at the jellyfish boy, regretfully joined the others at the port rail. Having brought nothing aboard theCrescent Moon, he insisted on leaving in the same way, soberly waving aside all the gifts and presents Ato and Samuel sought to press upon him. Clad only in the leopard skin he had worn on Patrippany Island, he swung nimbly down the rope ladder. The Captain and the cook, in honor of Tandy's homecoming, had donned their finest shore-going togs, and Samuel, with a scimiter in his teeth, and Ato, armed as usual with his bread knife and a package he refused to explain, followed him more slowly down the ladder. Then they all climbed aboard the hippopotamus.
Roger, flying ahead with some Oz flags just for luck, could not help comparing the brown, hard-muscled young seaman with the skinny, fretful boy they had taken on at Patrippany Island. Trying to comfort himself with Tandy's improved health and spirits, he looked curiously at the great company assembled on the cliffs. All of the Nobles and their families in flowing white robes were present and many of the immense turbanned tribesmen who happened to be in the capital had gathered to see for themselves the first ship that had ever touched the shore of Ozamaland. Beyond the Nobles and natives Roger could see row on row of white guards mounted on enormous white elephants and snow-white camels.
"Trouble, trouble, nothing but trouble!" mourned the Read Bird drearily to himself. Tandy, familiar with the whole coast, guided Nikobo to the only possible spot for landing and, grunting and mumbling, the hippopotamus hauled herself up on the rocks, glancing sharply and suspiciously at the little boy's subjects. A narrow path wound and curved up through the cliffs and, puffing and panting, Nikobo finally made her way to the top, where she stood uncertainly facing the milling multitude.
"Hail and greetings!" called Samuel Salt, raising his arm to attract their attention, for the crowd looked both dangerous and unfriendly. "We are here to return to you safe and sound your lost King, Tazander Tazah, rescued by us from the wild jungle of Patrippany Island."
"King? King?" shrilled a dozen shrill and unbelieving voices. "Where? Where?" and everyone craned his neck to get a better view of Nikobo and her three curious riders. "Is it really our lost and stolen Kinglet?"
"Yes!" cried Tandy, springing erect. "I am Tazander Tazah, King's son and son of a King's son. You are my lawful subjects and Ozamaland is my Kingdom!" A little shiver of excitement ran through the crowd at these words.
"He does in truth resemble our young ruler," murmured one Noble to another, "though much stronger and more bold." Drawing a long sword, he waved it imperiously above his head. "Summon the Ozamandarins," he called loudly. "They will decide whether this be our King or some small Impostor, and DEATH to all strangers and enemies who come in ships to lay waste our realm."
"Oh, hold your tongue!" advised Ato, settling himself more comfortably between Nikobo's shoulders. "Who are you to challenge the Royal Explorer of Oz, the King of the Octagon Isle—"
"And his Royal Read Bird," piped Roger, flying savagely round and round the head of the speaker.
"Yes, who are you to challenge the rightful ruler of Ozamaland?" cried Tandy, folding his arms and gazing calmly out over the curious throng.
"Hi, is this the young slip they kept locked in the tower? Hoo, Hoo!" yelled an old tribesman, brandishing his long lance. "He's the salt of the sea and the sand of the desert. Shame on you, Zamen, not to recognize and welcome your young King.I'mfor you, young one, down to my last breath!" In spite of these brave words, the nobles, natives and guards made no move or motion to let Nikobo pass through. Then suddenly there was a break in the crowd and the nine square-hatted Ozamandarins stepped rigidly forward. And nine taller, thinner, meaner-visaged rogues, decided Samuel, lovingly fingering his scimiter, it had never been his misfortune to encounter. Didjabo, recognizing Tandy at once in spite of his new and seaman-like bearing, was the first to speak.
"The blessing of the stars, moon and sun upon you!" cried the wily chief, bowing rapidly ten times in succession, "And upon these strangers who have brought you safely back to these shores! Welcome, most welcome, small King and ruler of the Ozamanders!" Speaking calmly but with black fury in his heart to have his plans so unexpectedly thwarted, Didjabo advanced rapidly toward Nikobo. "And now that you are here and really safe, we must see that you are locked securely in the White Tower of the Wise Man away from all future hurt and harm!" Reaching the side of the hippopotamus, he put up his hand to help Tandy dismount.
"But I'm not going back to the Tower!" said Tandy, looking the Chief Ozamandarin straight in the eye. "Ever! I'm riding on to the castle, so kindly order some refreshments for my friends and shipmates."
"Hi, Yi, Yi!" approved the old tribesman, pounding the cliff with his lance. "Here's a King for us. What good did your Tower do before, old Square-Hat? He was carried off in spite of it, wasn't he? Well, trot along now and do as he says; he's the King, and I'm here to see he gets his rights!" Shocked by the determination in Tandy's voice and the evident delight of the crowd at his defiance, Didjabo put up his hand for silence.
"It is the law of the land that the nine Ozamandarins shall guard the life and preserve the health of the country's sovereign," stated Didjabo in his cold and impressive voice. "Until this boy becomes of age he must be cared for and protected from his enemies. Forward, guards! On to the Tower! You OTHERS!" Didjabo nodded disagreeably at Samuel Salt, Ato, Roger and Nikobo, "You others may return to your ship, where a suitable reward will be sent out to you. We are deeply indebted to you for finding our King, but the law of Ozamaland says that all foreigners landing on our shores shall instantly and without delay be flung over the cliffs. In your case we graciously permit you to leave. Come, Tazander!"
While Samuel Salt could not help admiring the way the old Ozamandarin was trying to keep the upper hand, he had no intention of leaving till he had assured himself that Tandy was in safe and proper hands. "But surely you will wish to hear the story of how we found this boy and explain how he happened to be on that jungle island!" observed Samuel mildly. "Step back, my good fellow, Nikobo has large feet and she just might happen to tread on you."
"Yes," wheezed Nikobo sullenly, "I just might happen to do that very thing." Slipping round to the other side of the hippopotamus, Didjabo, paying no attention to either remark, tried to pull Tandy to the ground. But the little boy, remembering Roger's advice about lubbers gave him a fast and sudden poke in the nose that sent his hat flying off and the Ozamandarin himself rolling head over heels.
"Hurray, Hurray! Avast and belay! And down with old Square-Hats forever!" shrilled the Read Bird, while Ato and Samuel exchanged a proud and pleased glance. While the other Ozamandarins stood uncertainly, the crowd, long weary of the rigid rule of the nine judges, began to laugh and cheer.
"The King is King! Long live the King!" shouted the old tribesman vociferously.
But Didjabo pulling himself furiously to his feet, flung up his arm. "Guards! Guards!" he screeched venomously, "Do your work! Save this poor, misguided child from these unspeakable foreigners or we are all lost. Can you not see they are savages, sorcerers and enemies? Seize the King and over the cliff with these hippopotamic invaders!"
The word "hippopotamic" seemed to rouse the undecided guards to action, and Samuel, as the crowd moved uneasily aside to let the elephant and camel mounted guardsmen through, heartily wished himself back on the ship. Nikobo, squealing with rage and defiance, began moving cautiously back toward the path down the cliffs, but Ato, who had been merely biding his time, tore open his package and began tossing right and left the tumbleweeds and creeping vines which fortunately it had contained.
The first creeper caught Didjabo, bound him up and laid him by the heels before he could issue another order. Taking careful aim, Ato threw a creeping vine at each of the other Ozamandarins. The tumbleweeds, whirling beneath the feet of the elephants and camels, caused them to fall to their knees, tossing their riders over their heads, and between the yells of the guards, the squeals of the camels, and trumpeting of the elephants, confusion was terrific. The natives and Nobles and all who could still move or run set off at top speed for the city without once looking behind them. Muttering angrily under his breath, Ato continued to hurl vines and tumbleweeds till none was left. Unable to advance an inch, the white guard and their mounts rolled and groveled together in the deep sand.
"Now we can go on to the palace!" cried Tandy, a bit breathless by the suddenness of it all. "Oh, Ato, how did you ever happen to bring those plants along?"
"I suspected some of these subjects of yours were villains," answered Ato grimly, "and the only way to meet villains is with villainy. Forward march, my Lass! On to the King's castle!"
Picking her way around the fallen men and beasts, Nikobo, snorting at each step to show her superiority and contempt, set out for the Royal Palace. Of all the people who had run out on the cliffs, besides the securely bound Ozamandarins and the guard, only the old tribesman who had first cheered Tandy remained.
"Oh, please do come with us," invited Tandy earnestly as the old man stepped smilingly out of Nikobo's way. "You could tell me all about the tent dwellers and help me so much if you would."
"I am Chunum, the Sheik, head of a thousand tribes and speaking for them, I can say they all will proudly and gladly serve your brave young Majesty. Too long have the city dwellers ruled this great liberty-loving land."
"Then over the side and under the hatches with 'em," cried Roger, beside himself with joy and exuberance at the neat way Ato had handled Tandy's subjects. "This boy's an able-bodied seaman and explorer and will stand no nonsense!"
"My sea is the desert," said Chunum, striding jauntily along beside Nikobo, "and my ship is a camel, but I'll wager we'll understand each other well enough for all that."
To Tandy, conversing eagerly with Chunum, the splendor of the White City of Om was an old story, but to the others it seemed, with its flashing marble walks, great waving palms and towering dwellings and castle, one of the loveliest capitals they had yet visited.
Word of the happenings on the cliff had traveled fast. Longing to welcome the young King, but fearing the strange magicians who had come with him, the Nobles had barred themselves in their fine houses and the natives had fled to the hills beyond the city gates. The many-domed marble palace was absolutely deserted when Nikobo pushed her way through the wide doors. Not a footman, page or courtier was in sight. Seeing no attention or service was to be had for some time, Ato hurried away to the kitchens and was soon happily at work preparing a splendid feast to celebrate Tandy's homecoming.
Tandy himself felt quiet and sad, examining with scant interest and enthusiasm the splendid rooms which he had never yet been allowed to live in. To tell the truth, he would have traded the whole castle for his small cabin aboard Samuel's ship. Samuel himself, never really happy or comfortable ashore, wandered about aimlessly, opening books on the long tables, peering out windows, and finally settling with a sigh of resignation in a huge chair beside the throne.
Nikobo had found a long pool and fountain in the same room and, lying at full length in this luxuriant marble bath, tranquilly waited for events to shape themselves.
"Why not sit on your throne?" asked Roger as Tandy seated himself on a small stool beside Samuel Salt.
"Oh, it's much too big for me," sighed Tandy, thinking how very big and lonely the palace would seem when all his shipmates had gone.
"Aho, and methinks you are right! Ahoy, the beginning of a beautiful idea doth at this moment start to seep through the head feathers, of which,moreanon!" Chunum, who had never before heard a bird talk, stared at Roger in amazed interest and surprise, but giving him no more satisfaction than a mischievous wink, the Read Bird flew off to help Ato with the dinner. And now Samuel proceeded to tell the old tribesman how he had found Tandy in the jungle imprisoned in the wooden cage. As he finished, Chunum shook his head in stern displeasure.
"It has long been my conviction and belief," he stated solemnly, "that the Ozamandarins are at the bottom of this. Every year they usurp more and more power, and keeping the young King shut up in the Tower was but an excuse to give them their own will and way. Nor can I believe that the royal parents of this boy accidentally fell into the sea as they were reported to have done, or that the young aunts mentioned in the prophecy had anything at all to do with Tandy's abduction. Tell me, how long will the vines hold those villains prisoner, for only that long is Tazander safe. We must think and act quickly," said Chunum, tapping his staff thoughtfully on the floor.
"The vines will not unwind for two days and before THEN—HAH!" Samuel expelled his breath in a mighty blast and sprang purposefully to his feet. "Before then we shall put those fellows in a very safe place for Tandy and for them too, shiver my timbers!" Taking Chunum by the shoulder, Samuel started toward the door, and seeing the two intended to leave the castle, Nikobo climbed out of the fountain and offered to carry them. Tandy nodded absently as the two left the castle, his thoughts still far away on theCrescent Moon, and considering the work they had to do, Samuel and Chunum were well pleased to leave him behind.
With surprising speed the hippopotamus made the return trip to the cliffs. The effects of the tumbleweed had evidently worn off and the guards and their mounts had fled with the rest of the inhabitants of White City to the hills. But the nine Ozamandarins still lay in their curious cradles in the deep coarse sand. As Samuel and Chunum, in absolute agreement as to what should be done, rolled off Nikobo's back, a furious bellow and screech brought them up short. Nikobo, startled out of her usual calm, fell back on her haunches and after one horrified look upward buried her head in the sand.
"It can't be!" cried Samuel, clutching Chunum's sleeve. "It can't be, but it is!"
"An elephant, a flying elephant!" panted Chunum, dragging Samuel from under the immense shadow. "Flatten yourself in the sand, seaman, and we may yet be spared." As Samuel, more amazed than scared at so strange and curious a specimen, and even vaguely hopeful of capturing the unwieldy creature, made no move, Chunum dragged him down by main force. The elephant meanwhile lighted like some gigantic butterfly on the edge of the cliff. Fairly bleating with fright and terror, the nine Ozamandarins watched him swooping toward them with a sinister and soundless speed. Just behind his ear perched Boglodore, the Old Man of the Jungle, looking cruel and ugly as the genie of all evil.
"Revenge! Revenge!" shrilled the turbaned native, clenching his fists. "Now shall Boglodore have his reward!" Addressing himself to Chunum and Samuel Salt, the Old Man of the Jungle began screaming out the story of his wrongs. "For these scheming rascals I carried away on Umbo, my great and useful umbrellaphant, the young King of this country. For this I was to receive one-tenth of the Kingdom, the Ozamandarins themselves to divide the rest of the country among them. But Hah! What happened?" Dancing up and down on the elephant's head, Boglodore again clenched his fists, his face distorted with rage and fury. "What happened? Why, these miserable cheats refused to pay me, intending to keep the whole country for themselves. But hearken well, you and YOU!" Jerking his thumb contemptuously toward his rigid and helpless enemies, the Old Man continued his story.
"All along I have suspected these thieving Zamans; all along I intended to fool them and return the little King to his castle, keeping only the jungle for my own. That is why I built the boy his cage in the jungle and set Nikobo, the great hippopotamus, to watch over him, giving her the power of speech and the desire to seek out and protect this unfortunate child of an unfortunate country. I am a magician and could well bring about these things. You, whoever you are, who found and brought him back to Ozamaland did no more than I myself intended to do and intend to do now. After restoring Tandy to his throne, I meant to deal with his enemies, and now as they are so neatly bound up and ready, I shall reward them well for their pains and treachery."
"Stop! Stop! Avast there and belay!" shouted Samuel Salt as the umbrellaphant, obeying an order from the terrible Old Man, picked up Didjabo in his trunk and flew swiftly toward the cliff's edge. But Chunum, again dragging Samuel down, whispered fiercely in his ear.
"It is justice, seaman, and only what we ourselves planned to do. The vines will keep these rogues afloat for two days, then haply they will sink—not to die, as death comes not to the people of my country, but to lie for long forgotten ages at the bottom of the sea, harmless and sodden, and unable to do any more harm to the country they have so dishonorably served and betrayed!"
Shuddering and in a tense silence, Samuel and the Sheik watched the umbrellaphant toss the wretched Ozamandarins one after the other into the sea. The immense zooming monster fascinated the Captain of theCrescent Moon. Not wings, but a balloon-like structure of its own tough skin billowing over its back like a howdah, enabled Umbo to navigate in the air. Samuel was anxious for further talk with the Old Man of the Jungle, but as the last Ozamandarin fell over the cliff the umbrellaphant, with a trumpet of defiance, headed rapidly for the open sea.
"Look! Look! It's getting away!" cried Samuel, rushing to the cliff's edge and almost tumbling over. "Do you realize that there goes the only umbrellaphant in captivity?"
"Well, well, and what if it is?" muttered Chunum, again pulling Samuel back to safety. "I expect Boglodore does not find this country healthy after the pretty story he has just told us, and come, COME, Master Seaman, what would you do with a flying elephant aboard your ship?"
"I'd tie it to the mast and carry it back to Oz," explained Samuel, staring gloomily after the disappearing prize. "Why, it would be the most rare and amazing specimen ever brought back from anywhere, and now—now—I've lost it—" Samuel's arms dropped heavily to his sides and turning away from the cliff, he began walking slowly back toward Nikobo, who had at last ventured to lift her head from the sand. Surprised enough was the hippopotamus to learn that she had been given her power of speech by the ugly little magician on the umbrellaphant, and frightened lest she forget Tandy's language, she began talking rapidly to herself.
"But you forget what all this means!" panted Chunum, catching up with the Explorer and shaking him energetically by the shoulder. "Why, this clears up the whole mystery. Not an AUNT but an ELEPHant carried Tazander to Patrippany Island. We must return quickly to the castle and release his innocent relatives. I myself will call back Tandy's frightened subjects and tell them of the great good fortune that has befallen, that we are rid of nine rogues and have a brave young King to rule Ozamaland. Come, come, do not stand here dreaming about lost elephants; there is much to be accomplished and done."
"Goosewing my topsails, you're right!" breathed Samuel Salt, coming completely out of his reverie. "Round up the citizens, comrade, and I'll carry the good news to the castle."
When Samuel reached the castle, he found Ato and Roger had set a small cozy table in the Throne Room, and Tandy was anxiously looking out of one of the gold-framed windows for his return. The whiffs from the covered dishes were so appetizing the Royal Explorer of Oz was almost inclined to let his news wait till afterward. But thinking better of it, he blurted out the whole story of what had happened to the Ozamandarins.
"Then they're all gone and done for," sniffed Ato, seating himself at the head of the table. "Well, a couple of hundred years at the bottom of the sea should soak all the sin and wickedness out of 'em! And you say it was an umbrellaphant that carried Tandy off? My! and MY! Dear, dear and DEAR! Just pour me a cup of coffee, Roger. I'm feeling weaker than soup!"
"Well, how do you supposeIfeel," grumbled Samuel Salt, throwing his hat up on a bronze figure, "to lose an elegant specimen like that? Why, I'll wager we'll never see another creature like it!"
"There! There! Always talking about the elephant that got away instead of appreciating your good fortune!" scolded Ato, throwing a corn muffin down to Nikobo and lifting the gold cover off the roast fowl.
"Yes, and you'd better listen to OUR news, Master Salt!" Roger said, pouring a cup of coffee for all hands.
"News? NEWS? Has anything happened here?" Samuel looked more anxious than interested.
"Oh, YES!" cried Tandy, running round to his side of the table and pressing eagerly against Samuel's knee. "Roger has a wonderful plan and I as King of Ozamaland have agreed to it, and oh, Samuel, SAMUEL!" Forgetting he usually called the tremendous seaman "Captain," Tandy flung both arms round his neck and almost squeezed the breath out of him. "I'm going straight back on theCrescent Moon, and I'm not coming ashore for years and years. I'm going with you to Ev, Oz, Elbow Island and everywhere!"
"What?" spluttered Samuel Salt, disentangling himself with great difficulty and holding Tandy off at arm's length. "Are you joking? Are you crazy? Have you abdicated or what? Why, this is too good to be true!"
"But itistrue!" insisted Roger, strutting up and down the table and illy concealing his pride and satisfaction.
"Oh, tell him, tell him," begged Tandy, too happy to speak for himself.
"Well," said Roger, spreading his wings self-consciously, for the plan was his and he felt prouder of it every minute, "we are placing Ozamaland under the general rule and protection of Oz and leaving as Ruler in Tandy's place that long-legged son of the desert, Chunum. Now there's a fellow who can handle these scary Nobles and natives and wild elephant and camel riders. A King must complete his education before he starts ruling, you know." Roger paused to scratch his head and wink gaily at Samuel Salt. "And if this King chooses to finish his education on our ship, that is his own affair."
"Oh, quite! Quite!" Samuel began to rock backward and forward and roar with merriment. "Roger, you rascal, you've done as good a job of reasoning as a whole flock of Wise Men! Fall to, Mates, now we can enjoy our victuals and I give you a toast to King Tandy, Cabin Boy, Explorer and Artist Extraordinary to this Expedition!"
"Tandy! Tandy!" echoed Ato and Roger, lifting their coffee cups.
"Tandy! Tandy!" mumbled Nikobo, who was lunching largely and luxuriantly on the flowers in a low window box. "When do we sail?"
Anxious as Tandy was to return to theCrescent Moonand continue the voyage, it was a whole week before they finally shoved off. Chunum, true to his word, had rounded up the frightened citizens of the capital and explained to them the wicked plots of the Ozamandarins and their punishment by Boglodore, the Old Man of the Jungle. Then Tandy, addressing them from the castle balcony, called upon them to consider Chunum as their King until he himself should have completed his education in foreign parts and aboard theCrescent Moon, during which time he promised to keep them always in mind and have their welfare always at heart. Next, Tandy explained how Ozamaland was now a province and under the general rule and protection of Ozma of Oz, how settlers from that famous fairyland would soon arrive to help them build new cities and towns, tame the wild jungles of the interior and repel the dangerous invasions of the Greys.
Here Chunum rose to declare he himself would be responsible for peace along the border between Amaland and Ozamaland, that the Greys had long desired to be friends with the Whites, but trouble had been stirred up by the Ozamandarins so they might have the credit of protecting the country. Then Tandy spoke again of all the advantages that would be enjoyed from their association with the Kingdom of Oz. It was a long and splendid speech, Roger and Tandy having spent the whole morning in its preparation, and delighted and surprised by the energy and ambition of their young Ruler, Tandy's subjects cheered him long and vociferously, greeting each new plan and proposal with loud acclaim and enthusiasm. The royal aunts and relatives, already released from the castle dungeons and restored to their royal dwellings, could not speak highly enough of their young relative's bravery and cleverness and the bravery and cleverness of all of his new friends. They quite wore Nikobo out with their questions and petting and the hippopotamus sighed hugely for the time when they would all be at sea.
"Was I right or was I wrong?" questioned Roger on the third afternoon as Tandy, resplendent in his court suit of white velvet, reviewed the vast parade of Loyal Nobles and Natives, and the long lines of elephants and camels went sweeping by the palace. "They love you just as much for going away as they would if you stayed. And Chunum is a Man in a Million."
"Right!" Tandy nodded, waving happily to the crowds that in a high holiday mood thronged the walks and parks of the beautiful White City.
Chunum had taken Samuel Salt and Ato on an expedition into the jungle so that the Royal Explorer of Oz could procure a creeping bird and flying reptile for his collection. Nikobo, old jungaleer that she was, had gone along to see that no harm came to them. To Tandy a snake with feathers and a bird with scales and fangs was no novelty, but Samuel, returning with a pair of each, considered them the most peculiar and precious of his queer specimens. He carried their cages everywhere he went and spent long rapt hours watching the snakes fly and the birds creep about their new cages. Ato had discovered a new and rare fruit and had brought along several slips to plant in the rail boxes he had outside the galley. Nikobo had swum to her heart's content in a green and muddy jungle stream and all three were now quite ready and anxious to continue the voyage. Aboard theCrescent Moonone of the Guards had been established to feed the monkey fish and water boy and tend to the plants in the hold and serve as watchman. And early one bright morning, just a week after they had landed, the members of the Royal Exploration Party of Oz set forth from the palace.
Oz flags fluttered and snapped in the fresh morning breeze, mingling with the white banners of Ozamaland, and the streets and avenues were lined with Tandy's cheering and now quite cheerful subjects. Riding Nikobo, accompanied by Chunum on a white elephant and the entire camel corps and elephant guard, the party made their way down to the water's edge, feeling exactly, as Ato whispered in a laughing undertone to Roger, like a whole circus and a zoo. Besides Roger, Tandy, Samuel Salt and Ato, Nikobo carried two large cages and two small cages. In the small cages were the flying reptiles and creeping birds. In the large cages a baby white camel and a baby white elephant.
"You'll sink, my Lass," worried Samuel Salt, as Nikobo, having safely made her way down the rocky cliff road, waded confidently out into the sea.
"Not me," murmured the hippopotamus comfortably. "You may get wet, but I'll get you safely out to the ship. Trust me."
"Goodbye! Goodbye, all!" cried Tandy, standing up on her back to wave to the crowds collected on the cliffs. Now that he was leaving, he felt a strange fondness for them. "Goodbye, Chunum! I'll be back, never fear!"
"Goodbye, Little Fellow! Goodbye, Little King! A fair and far-away voyage to you," called the tall old desert chief, standing up in his stirrups to wave his long lance. "To the sun—the moon—the stars I commend you! Go in happiness and return in health and live long to rule over Ozamaland."
"You take care of the country and we'll take care of the King," shouted Samuel. "Goodbye! Goodbye! Be watching, all of you, for the ships from Oz!"
"Goodbye! Goodbye!" called the Nobles, the natives, the guards; even the elephants and camels raised their shrill voices in farewell as Nikobo swam strongly away from the shore and toward theCrescent Moon.
The guard left in charge of the ship thankfully turned the vessel over to its rightful owners and, shaking Tandy feelingly by the hand, climbed down the ladder and dropped nervously on the back of the hippopotamus, who was to carry him to shore.
"Here, Brainless, lend a hand with the freight," yelled Roger as Tandy stood gazing rather thoughtfully toward the cliffs. "The King's ashore! Long live his cabin boy! I'll carry these pesky reptilia if you take the camel." Roger winked at Tandy as Samuel Salt, bent double under the baby elephant's cage, started carefully down to the hold. The baby camel and its cage were so small Tandy could manage them quite easily, and with a little laugh he hurried after Samuel and Roger. By the time they had finished Nikobo had returned from her shore trip and climbed thankfully back on her raft.
"All hands stand by to heave up the anchor," bellowed Samuel, stepping cheerfully over to his sail controls. "Anchors aweigh! and away we go, boys, and the hippopotamus take the hindmost!"
"Ho, ho! Well, she's built for it," roared Ato, bending his weight to the cable as sail after sail rattled up the masts and bellied out from the yards. "Where to now, Sam-u-el? Oz?"
"OZ, I should say not! We've a lot of geography to discover before we go back to Oz. We'll need a roc's egg before we go there, eh, Tandy? A roc's egg and sixty more islands for Ozma's Christmas stocking."
"Oh! Will we really spend Christmas in Oz?" cried Tandy, skipping up and down the deck, and forgetting all about his subjects waving from the cliffs.
"Why not?" demanded Samuel Salt, letting his hands fall happily upon the wheel. "Oz is as merry a place as any to spend Christmas, eh, Roger?"
"Merry as eight bells!" cried Roger, flying joyfully into the rigging. "Ahoy! Ahoy! Nothing but sea t'seaward!"
And when theCrescent Moonflies over Ev and drops down the Winkie River on Christmas morning with its chart full of islands and curious continents and its hold full of strange beasts, plants and treasure, I for one should like to be there, shouldn't you?
A Word about the Oz Books
Since 1900, when L. Frank Baum introduced to the children of America, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ and all the other exciting characters who inhabit the land of Oz, these delightful fairy tales have stimulated the imagination of millions of young readers.
These are stories which are genuine fantasy—creative, funny, tender, exciting and surprising. Filled with the rarest and most absurd creatures, each of the 39 volumes which now comprise the series, has been eagerly sought out by generation after generation until today they are known to all except the very young or those who were never young at all.
When, in a recent survey,The New York Timespolled a group of teen agers on the books they liked best when they were young, the Oz books topped the list.
Captain Salt In Oz
A voyage on the famous Nonestic Ocean! What could be more thrilling than that? We—many of us—have taken trips on the prosaic Atlantic or even Pacific, but have we found a SEA FOREST with flying fish and swimming birds? Have we been pursued by a real SEA SERPENT, or had our ship transfixed by the immense ivory tusk of a NARWHAL? Have we come upon the glittering island of PEAKENSPIRE, or made friends with a charming talking hippopotamus?
Yet all these things and more befall Captain Salt, one time Pirate and now Royal Explorer of Oz, and his merry crew. They come back with their hold bursting with unique and fascinating specimens, with their chart crowded with new islands, claimed for Ozma, and drawn so realistically by the delightful little boy Tandy, Cabin Boy and Artist of the Expedition.
The Oz Books