Already the thought of offering his services to the Queen and building a city had begun to bore him. This pounding about chipped his toes and jarred his granite. Why had he ever made that ridiculous promise to the Cowardly Lion? But made it was, and a Stone Man can no sooner break his promise than his head. Kicking the earth up fretfully, Crunch tried to think of a way out of the difficulty. Just as the twentieth star came pricking out in the Heavens, he had an idea. Crunch, being of stone, never tired and could therefore travel indefinitely. If this Mudge business had to be got through with, then the sooner they arrived in Mudge the better. He knew that he could go three times as quickly as an ordinary flesh and bone man, therefore he ought to reach Mustafa's Kingdom by morning.
Snatching into the air a startled Munchkin shepherd, who was strolling along with his hands in his pockets, he asked him the way to Mudge. When the lad's teeth stopped chattering long enough to tell him, he dropped him carelessly on the ground and picked up the Cowardly Lion. The next instant he was running with all his might toward Mustafa's dreadful desert, trampling under his feet any fences or small buildings that got in the way, and jarring the whole country with his heavy strides. The Cowardly Lion awakened almost immediately and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but escape from those mighty arms was an impossibility.
Crunch, the stone giant, picked up the Cowardly Lion, who tried to wiggle from his grasp
Crunch, the stone giant, picked up the Cowardly Lion, who tried to wiggle from his grasp
Crunch, the stone giant, picked up the Cowardly Lion, who tried to wiggle from his grasp
"Where are you going?" he growled angrily, the words being fairly jolted out of him.
"To Mudge!" shouted Crunch without slackening his speed. "I promised not to change you to a courageous lion till we finished with Mustafa. Well, now, I am going to finish Mustafa."
"Stop!" implored the Cowardly Lion, but he might as well have argued with the wind, and to continue the argument, when Crunch's every step deprived him of his breath, took the whole of his strength and determination. But continue it he did, with roars, threats and rumblings. To these the Stone Man paid not the slightest attention, and finally the Cowardly Lion was too exhausted and shaken to utter another roar.
"There's no use reasoning with me," Crunch had insisted stubbornly, "for I am a hard mass of mineral matter. I will take you to Mudge because that I promised to do, but as soon as we reach Mudge you will be mine forever!"
The Cowardly Lion had not even strength to tremble at these awful words, so he closed his eyes and tried not to think about Mustafa and his nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions, nor Crunch and his terrible threat. It would be impossible for Notta and Bob to reach Mudge in time to help him now, so the poor Cowardly Lion resolved to fight as long as he could, and then bravely resign himself to whatever fate had in store for him. At every step of the Stone Man, he more bitterly regretted the moment he had trusted himself to the company of this treacherous giant.
Whether he fell asleep, or was shaken into unconsciousness, the Cowardly Lion never knew. The next thing he remembered was leaning up against an iron enclosure and hearing Crunch calling loudly for admittance into Mudge. For the Stone Man had run, without turning so much as an inch out of the way, directly to the land of the Mudgers.
The sun was high in the Heavens, and winds from Mustafa's desert blew hotly in their faces. The Mudger Guard, hearing the terrible clamor, came running to see who was hammering on the gates, and when they saw Crunch and the Cowardly Lion they turned and flew toward their master's striped tent.
Mustafa, still gazing fixedly at his ring, hardly heard their terrified description of the stone giant. All that he heard was the wonderful news that a lion, undoubtedly the Cowardly Lion of Oz, had at last been delivered into his power. Calling Panapee, and running so fast he lost both of his sandals, Mustafa rushed out to the lion enclosure and with trembling hands unlocked the gates. Fortunately the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions were in another part, and when he waved for Crunch and the Cowardly Lion to enter, they did so without disturbing Mustafa's ferocious pets. The Cowardly Lion wobbled slightly, for he was still shaken by his terrible journey, but the Stone Man tramped defiantly toward the blue whiskered monarch of Mudge.
"Welcome!" wheezed Mustafa, waving his scimitar. Panny, with an outraged glance at the Stone Man, climbed the nearest palm tree.
"I understand you wished to have me captured," growled the Cowardly Lion, trembling slightly, but resolved to go through with this disagreeable business.
"Don't say captured," cried Mustafa slyly. "Let us say that I wished to have my court honored by your cowardly and perfect presence. I understand you are a terrible fighter," he added, tugging at his whiskers joyfully.
"Shall I crush or crumble him?" asked Crunch, interrupting Mustafa's further remarks and ramblings. And then Mustafa for the first time became really aware of the Stone Man. The more he examined, the more horribly aware of him he became.
"Panny!" he shrilled, looking all around for his chief chamberlain, "Panny, call out the Guard!"
"Call them out yourself," chattered the trembling chamberlain, frightened out of his usual submissiveness. "I'll not stir from this tree." Crunch made a snatch at Mustafa, but the Cowardly Lion hastily intervened. Wicked though Mustafa had been, the kind-hearted lion was not going to stand by and see him crushed to a crumble. He motioned for Crunch to follow him a few steps aside and quite sulkily the Stone Man obeyed.
"This is my fight," puffed the Cowardly Lion. "Now be a good fellow and keep out of it till I need you."
"How long will it take?" grated Crunch, slightly mollified. To tell the truth, he wanted to think over the formula needed to change the Cowardly Lion. One of the magic words had slipped his stone memory.
"Oh, an hour or two," answered the lion uneasily, determined, if he could, to escape from both of these treacherous villains.
"All right, old fellow," Crunch smiled as he said this. He felt he could afford to be generous, for in a few hours the Cowardly Lion would belong to him for good. So he leaned stolidly against the enclosure, while the Cowardly Lion hurried after Mustafa, who was running in a cloud of sand toward his tent.
"Where's that animated tombstone?" gasped Mustafa, sinking down on his throne.
"Outside," panted the Cowardly Lion, too tired to notice the signal that passed between Mustafa and two Guardsmen in the opening of the tent. In an instant a gold collar and chain had been clapped 'round his tawny neck.
"Now then," exulted Mustafa, "who says you're not captured." Forgetting all about the Stone Man and his threats, he bade the two Guardsmen drag the Cowardly Lion to the royal enclosure. As they left through an opening in another side of the tent, Crunch knew nothing of their going. The Cowardly Lion planted all four feet and roared terribly but six more Guardsmen came to help the others and ignominiously he was dragged along.
"Now we shall see a famous fight, and discover whether this Cowardly Lion is as brave as he is said to be," chuckled Mustafa, shuffling along beside him. The part of the enclosure to which they were taking the lion was widened out into a regular arena. Already the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions, with noses pressed against the bars, were watching the approach of their rival. For Mustafa had talked so long and tiresomely of the Cowardly Lion, who was coming to fight the whole company of them, that they considered him an enemy to be destroyed upon the spot. They did not have long to wait, for while two Guardsmen opened the gates of the enclosure, six more with the ends of their scimitars urged the Cowardly Lion forward. Stars! What an array of eyes, tails and gleaming teeth! What a thunder of savage growls, roars and rumbles!
Before they made a spring at the Cowardly Lion an unexpected interruption startled them. It was Sir Hokus of Pokes, falling down like a ton of kitchen tins beside the monarch of Mudge. And before the lions had stopped blinking at that, down rattled the Tin Woodman and Tik Tok, Glinda and the little Wizard of Oz, followed by Dorothy, Snorer and Bob and last of all, Ozma, the Scarecrow and Notta Bit More.
"Help!" screeched the Guards running in every direction.
"It's raining royalty!" shrilled Tazzywaller, who had sneaked out to witness the fight. "Fly for your life!" The fat little lion feeder tugged at Mustafa's robe, for he had at once recognized Princess Dorothy and Ozma of Oz. But before Mustafa could flee, or the company from the Emerald City had caught their breath, Mustafa's lions, recovering from the shock of so many fallers, sprang with nine thousand different dreadful roars toward the Cowardly Lion.
Dorothy screamed and the Scarecrow recklessly tried to squeeze himself through the bars, but before anyone from the Emerald City could raise a hand, Crunch, aroused by the thumps and roars, came pounding upon the scene. Just as the Cowardly Lion crouched to meet the overwhelming rush of Mustafa's lions, the Stone Man held up his arm and shouted seven magic words!
Oz Magic Triumphs
Seven magic words! No sooner were they uttered than the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions were turned to so many stone statues—some just as they were about to spring, some half way in the air, so that they came clattering heavily down one on top of the other, and the poor Cowardly Lion at the bottom of the heap!
"Somebody stop him!" gasped Ozma who was sitting exactly as she had fallen on a small sand dune. Sir Hokus of Pokes sprang bravely at Crunch, but his sword snapped at the first thrust, and the Stone Man, paying no more attention to the people from the Emerald City than if they had been so many flies, began bending out the iron bars of the lion enclosure. Mustafa, petrified with terror, might have been a statue himself, and the Mudger Guards had long since taken to their heels.
"What have you done?" wailed Notta, trying to attract the Stone Man's attention. He seized an iron bar that Crouch had loosened and began valiantly belaboring Crunch about the shins.
"Oh, hello!" rasped Crouch, glancing down at the clown. "Back again? Well, I've taken your advice, you see."
"My advice!" groaned Notta.
"Yes." Crunch, who had now broken an opening for himself, stepped into the enclosure. "I've helped the Cowardly Lion by changing him to stone. Now he will never feel cowardly again, and what's more, he belongs to me!" Leaning over, he began tossing Mustafa's lions aside as if they had been so many paper weights.
"Oh, help!" screamed Snorer. "Aren't there any wizards here to stop this fellow? Are you going to sit like images while he runs off with the bravest lion in Oz?"
"I must think!" groaned the Scarecrow, putting his white cotton glove to his head, while Dorothy and Bob ran close to the bars and looked anxiously for the first glimpse of their old friend.
But Glinda and the Wizard of Oz already had their heads together. "First," whispered the little Wizard of Oz, "we will let him find the Cowardly Lion, for those statues would be too heavy for us to lift. Then, we will deprive him of all power to move."
Tik Tok and Sir Hokus had followed the Stone Man into the enclosure, but a stone lion flung carelessly to one side, knocked Tik Tok head over heels, and Sir Hokus, deciding that flight was the better part of valor, retired to a safe distance, where he began threatening the Stone Man with every sort of destruction from hammering to hanging. But Crunch continued calmly tossing the lions about, and at last uncovered the Cowardly Lion himself. He recognized him at once, for his mane, a mass of stony waves, stood straight on end. The Cowardly Lion, you see, had been petrified in one of his most trying moments, and, while he was preparing to fight with all his might, he could not control his mane and hence looked as natural as possible.
Dorothy could not help crying as Crunch tucked this lifelike image of her old chum under his arm and prepared to tramp off. But he got no further than two steps, for at the second step the combined magic of Glinda and the Wizard of Oz deprived him of all power to move. Crunch dropped the Cowardly Lion with a crash that chipped off a piece of his mane, and with one foot raised in the air stood perfectly motionless. The Stone Man was no longer alive!
"Oh!" cried Notta, frightened by the ease with which Glinda had deprived the stone giant of life, "who will bring the Cowardly Lion to himself again?" And at once everyone ran over to the poor petrified lion, and tugging and pulling, managed to get him to his feet.
"It was the only thing we could do," puffed the little Wizard of Oz, gazing up worriedly at the huge statue of Crunch. "He did not know how to use the gift of life, and would only have brought more trouble upon us."
"Isn't this trouble enough?" cried Dorothy, throwing her arms around the cold, still figure of the Cowardly Lion.
"There, there, my dear! Glinda will find a way out of all this," comforted the Scarecrow, and Notta and Bob joined him in his efforts to console the little girl, while Sir Hokus and the Tin Woodman ran to help Tik Tok to his feet.
"All this has happened because of you!" declared Ozma, stamping her foot for the first time in her gentle little life, and looking sternly at Mustafa.
"And for a punishment," she pointed at the huge, craggy figure of Crunch, "for a punishment this Stone Man shall stand forever in Mudge, a monument to your greediness and folly."
"Take away his ring," whispered Bob, tip-toeing up to the little fairy ruler, for he had seen Mustafa slyly beginning to take it off and Bob knew its dreadful power. Without losing a minute, Ozma commanded Mustafa to hand over the ring. Tremblingly, the wretched old Mudger obeyed. So much had happened in the last few minutes, he was positively stunned by his misfortune. Not only had he offended the ruler of all Oz, lost the Cowardly Lion and his ring, but all of his other lions were turned to stone. Jerking his turban over one eye, the miserable monarch shuffled mournfully to his tent, and no one cared enough to stop him. Then, as the whole party was heartily disgusted with the hot, desert city of the Mudgers, Glinda, by a quick transportation phrase, wished them all safely back to the Emerald City.
There, for several hours Glinda, the Wizard of Oz, and Ozma worked over the Cowardly Lion, but all of their magic failed to undo the Stone Man's spell, and it looked as if the huge beast would have to spend the rest of his life as a garden ornament. Twenty of the palace servants bore him down the steps and placed him gently in the center of a large flower bed, and all the inhabitants of the city came and gazed sadly at their once lively and cowardly comrade.
"He is the image of himself," choked the Scarecrow, hanging a wreath of daisies round his neck, which was still adorned with Mustafa's gold collar.
"But I don't want an image," cried Princess Dorothy and, climbing on the Cowardly Lion's stone back, she cried as if her heart would break. Notta and Bob were too overcome by this dreadful misfortune to think about themselves. It did not even seem right to enjoy the lovely sights in the Emerald City, so the clown and little boy sat on a bench in the garden and gazed sorrowfully at the monument of their faithful old friend.
Dorothy cried as she came upon the petrified figure of her friend, the Cowardly Lion
Dorothy cried as she came upon the petrified figure of her friend, the Cowardly Lion
Dorothy cried as she came upon the petrified figure of her friend, the Cowardly Lion
Then, all at once Bob jumped up with a little shout. "Look," he cried, waving his cap joyfully. "Look! He's coming alive again!" And so he was! For tears are more magic than anything else, when it comes to melting stone, and every spot where Dorothy's tears fell was beginning to quiver with life. When Notta ran to the palace with the news, the excitement was tremendous. Everyone, from Ozma down to the littlest kitchen maid, came to weep over the Cowardly Lion, and bring him back to life. The Tin Woodman cried a perfect torrent of tears and quite rusted his chain. The Scarecrow and Scraps had not a tear in their cotton constitutions, but Snorer made up for this by crying enough for three. Everybody cried, and in less than a minute the dear, old kind-hearted lion opened his eyes. Shaking himself sleepily, he looked inquiringly at the weeping company and wanted to know what was the matter. All talking at once, and each trying to hug him first, they explained what had happened. The Cowardly Lion remembered nothing after being pushed into the lion enclosure. You can well imagine his relief when he discovered what a hard and horrible fate he had escaped.
"All this comes of my foolish wish for courage," roared the Cowardly Lion, shaking his mane, which was quite perfect except for the piece Crunch had broken off. "I would rather be a Cowardly Lion for five minutes than a stone lion for a century. Why, a stone lion has not enough sense to be frightened."
"Hurrah for the Cowardly Lion of Oz!" shouted the Scarecrow, and Bob Up, who felt more at home among these odd and friendly people than he had ever felt anywhere in his life, climbed on the Cowardly Lion's back and hugged him with both arms. Dorothy hopped up again too, and in triumph they all trooped back to the throne room.
A Happy Home in Oz
"And now," sighed the little Queen of Oz, sinking down among the soft cushions of her emerald throne, "let's have the whole story!" Nothing could have exceeded her amazement, as Notta told of their marvelous adventures in Oz—of Doorways and Un and Preserva the Great, of the Flyaboutabus and the Fiddlebow Boat. Dorothy was so curious about the Skyle of Un that they all ran to look in Ozma's Magic Picture, which shows any place or person one wishes to see.
"Show us the Uns," commanded Ozma breathlessly, and Bob and Notta almost tumbled over backwards when the Magic Picture showed them I-wish-I-was and his Featherheads. A great battle was in progress, for I-wish-I-was was furious at the loss of the Flyaboutabus. The Guards and their friends on one side and the wicked ruler on the other were fighting tumultuously. Sticks and feathers were flying in every direction and they were even pulling down their tree houses.
Ozma shook her head gravely, but Bob Up, who had been thinking about the only good Un ever since they left the skyland, suddenly remembered his name and triumphantly whispered it to Ozma. Instantly Ozma, with the help of Glinda and the Wizard, commanded the good Un to come out from his hiding and sit upon the throne. The fighting ceased at once and the Uns began to look at one another with puzzled expressions, as if they could not remember what they had been quarreling about. Bob and Notta and the Cowardly Lion shouted with approval, forgetting in their interest that the Uns in the picture could not hear them.
The good Un's name was Unselfish and, as Glinda assured Ozma that the skyle would thereafter be ruled wisely and well, they all returned to the throne room. After Dorothy had hugged Notta a dozen times for his devotion to the Cowardly Lion, and the clown had turned his best somersaults, told his best jokes and generally made himself so funny that everyone was doubled up with laughter, Ozma again raised her scepter for silence.
"I suppose," said the little fairy regretfully, for she had taken a great fancy to the clown and Snorer and Bob Up, "I suppose that now you are anxious to return to America."
Notta took off his cap and scratched his ear, a habit he had when puzzled or embarrassed.
"Don't go yet!" begged Dorothy, seizing the clown's arm imploringly. As for Bob Up, he retired behind an emerald pillar so that no one could see that he was crying.
"Oh, yes," cawed Snorer, flapping down from the back of a tall chair where he had been enjoying a noisy little nap. "Oh, yes, we must go to America and make our fortune. I am going to have my nose patented and teach the people there how to snore properly."
"That's right," agreed Notta soberly. "I'm a family man now and must go back and earn enough to send Bob to college, and I must save up for my old age, for clowns can't be tumbling around the country forever."
"Why, it's nothing but fun," cried Scraps, who had been quiet as long as she could contain herself.
"Not always," sighed Notta. "Making people laugh is the hardest work in the world. Look how easy it is to make them cry? But come along, Bob Up. It's high time we were going, and if this little lady will just say the magic word we'll bid you all good-bye. I must be saving up for my old age," he repeated mournfully.
When Notta was sad, he always thought about his old age, and the idea of leaving the Cowardly Lion and all of this merry and childlike company made him sad indeed. And Ozma, who is the cleverest little mind and heart reader anywhere in the world or out—Ozma guessed his secret.
"Don't go!" cried the little Queen impulsively. "Stay with us and you won't have any old age. Stay in Oz, dear Notta, and be happy forever."
At this the excitement was terrific. Every man, woman, child, animal, and celebrity added his or her voice to Ozma's, and when the clown, with tears in his eyes, accepted the little Queen's generous offer, they seized hands or paws, as the case might be, and danced merrily 'round Bob, Snorer and Notta Bit More.
"You shall have the jolliest cottage in Oz," promised the Scarecrow, when the excitement had subsided a bit.
"A tent would seem more homelike," whispered Notta in the cloth ear of that charming gentleman. And a tent he did have, on the outskirts of the Emerald City—a tent shared with Snorer and Bob, where, with the help of the charming and unusual inhabitants of Oz, the clown gave the most surprising shows that had ever been seen in that magical country.
Bob, in his good fortune, did not forget the half a lion, and the Wizard of Oz reunited the unfortunate creature, after bringing both halves, with the aid of Ozma's magic belt, to the Emerald City. The poor beast, whose hind quarters had fortunately escaped Crunch's stone spell, was so overjoyed to see his tail again that he raced round in circles for several hours after his reunion.
As for Mustafa, he grew amazingly rich from the sale of his stone lions, and you can see them any fine day, guarding the doors of public buildings or standing proudly in the various parks of Oz. But in spite of his great wealth, he was far from happy, for his eyes, from staring so hard at his ring, had become hopelessly crossed, and cross-eyed he remained to the end of his days.
Bob Up is friends with everyone, but most of all with Button Bright, a little boy who once visited Sky Island and who could not hear enough of the Skyle of Un.
Notta has saved up enough for Bob's entire education and has gone off to confer with Professor Wogglebug, President of the College of Art and Athletic Perfection, about the future of the little boy.