"Yes, it's better to be a goose than nothing at all," admitted Pajuka mournfully. "But never mind, when we find the King, he will restore Mombi's powers and she will restore my elegant figure and—"
"Oh, hold your bill," snapped Mombi crossly.
Looking very ruffled, Pajuka retired to the other side of the fire, where he and Snip conversed in low tones, while Mombi cleared away the supper and began her endless experiments in the old black frying pan.
"I should think in some ways, being a goose would be rather nice," observed Snip, looking inquisitively at Pajuka. "Having wings for instance, and never needing to get undressed or have your hair cut."
"Well," agreed Pajuka slowly, "feathers are more convenient than clothes and while the life of a goose is very simple, it is not all unpleasant. I've enjoyed flying a lot, and I never need to worry about rubbers or carrying an umbrella. But after all," Pajuka sighed and gazed sadly into the fire, "after all, my boy, there is nothing like being yourself."
Snip considered this for a little while in silence, trying to fancy himself in Pajuka's place. "Well, what do you miss the most?" he inquired suddenly. Pajuka had one eye shut and was preparing to close the other, but at Snip's words both flew wide open.
"My pockets," gasped Pajuka, with a great groan. "What is a man without his pockets? No place to put his hands or his bills!" Clapping his wing to his side, Pajuka looked tragically at Snip, and Snip patting his own bulging pockets—pockets full of cake crumbs, marbles, pencil stubs and string—nodded sympathetically. "And not only that," continued the goose in a grieved voice, "I waken at such ridiculous hours. Hah, hoh! I find myself falling asleep." Pajuka paused here for a simply tremendous yawn. "Right after supper, Hoh hum!" finished the goose apologetically. Then, tucking his head under his wing and drawing up one leg, he fell fast asleep before Snip could ask him another question.
Pajuka was so close to the fire that the little button boy was afraid he would singe his feathers. So, picking him up carefully, he set him back against a gnarled old tree and, curling up on a pile of leaves beside him, lay watching old Mombi. The wind fortunately was blowing away from him, or he certainly would have been choked by the awful mixtures in the black frying pan. If he had not known positively that her magic powers were gone, he would have taken to his heels at once, for the monsters that Mombi was trying to conjure up out of the frying pan, would have devoured him in a minute.
"Magicum squadgicum squidgicum squdgeI order a snooch to come out of this smudge!"
"Magicum squadgicum squidgicum squdgeI order a snooch to come out of this smudge!"
"Magicum squadgicum squidgicum squdge
I order a snooch to come out of this smudge!"
Mombi frowned darkly as she hissed this, but only a dense smoke rose from the frying pan, and after listening nervously to ten separate incantations and finding that nothing at all happened, Snip curled down among the leaves and was soon as fast asleep as Pajuka—asleep and dreaming he, himself, was a goose being chased up a pink mountain by a giant with a blue ax.
Mombi continued her experiments with the frying pan long after Snip and Pajuka were asleep, but finally she gave up in disgust and then she, too, lay down for a nap, which lasted until dawn.
The Rolling Hoopers
Snip was awakened by a tickling feeling of his nose and, opening his eyes, saw Pajuka standing over him with a big bunch of grapes in his bill. "Hello!" yawned Snip, sitting up and rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Is it morning?"
Pajuka dropped the grapes into his lap.
"Half past it. Been up since five, had a fly and a swim and brought you these for breakfast," clucked the goose, who seemed to be in a fine humor. "Mombi's eaten all the rest of the chicken herself, the old Scundermutch!"
The sun filtered down cheerily through the tree-tops and a fresh little breeze had set all the forest leaves to dancing. Snip, himself, felt curiously light hearted and gay. Perhaps it was the long sleep he had had in the open, or the friendly presence of Pajuka, or the thought of the strange adventures that lay ahead. Anyway, he jumped up with a will and even the scowl old Mombi gave him failed to dampen his spirits. She had already prepared and eaten her breakfast and was beating out the fire with her shoe. Following Pajuka to a small sparkling brook, Snip splashed his face and hands vigorously, ate his grapes and a large sugar bun that the thoughtful Pajuka had plucked from a nearby bun bush. By this time Mombi had her basket packed and, shaking her stick crossly, announced it was time to start.
"Which way are we going?" asked Snip, taking the basket and falling into step beside her.
"My way!" snapped Mombi fiercely.
"Well, that's a witch way, isn't it," observed Pajuka, flopping along a few feet overhead and winking down slyly at Snip, as he plodded down the road.
"Hold your bill," snapped Mombi, hobbling along so fast that the little button boy had to skip to keep pace with her. "I told you last night we were going to the Emerald City."
"But I thought you were banished from there forever," put in Snip, who knew his Oz history by heart.
"I shall disguise myself," shrilled Mombi triumphantly. "I'll pretend I'm a market woman selling a fat goose and while I'm arguing with the cook, Pajuka shall fly into the palace and steal some of Ozma's magic."
"How do you know I shall?" honked Pajuka sulkily. "Ozma has never done me any harm. The thing for us to do is to find the King. Once we've come to the little wood where you transformed him you'll remember where he is. Why, maybe we'll find him before then."
"Yes, but what good will it do if I don't remember my magic," sniffed Mombi. "Unless you want to be a goose for the rest of your life, you'd better make up your mind to do what I say. As foryou," the old witch whirled angrily upon Snip, "any more of this supposing and I'll turn you to a six pence and spend you at the first village."
Snip merely whistled and turned up his nose at this, for he knew perfectly well Mombi could not carry out her threat. Besides, Snip had a plan of his own. The little button boy had decided that as soon as they reached the famous capital of Oz he would slip away from Mombi and tell Princess Ozma the whole story. Then she herself could use her magic to help Pajuka find the King. So he stepped jauntily along, paying no attention to Mombi's mutterings, looking curiously to the right and left and thinking how much he should have to tell Kinda Jolly when he returned to Kimbaloo.
The forest, like all the northern lands of Oz, was slightly tinged with purple, the national color of the Gillikens. Pansies and tall purple flags grew around the bases of the giant trees and here and there clusters of violets nodded their pretty little heads in the breeze. Purple birds darted through the leaves overhead and the air was sweet from hidden beds of lavender, so that nothing could have been pleasanter than the first part of the day's journey. But toward noon they reached a portion of the forest so dark and impenetrable that they had to go single file, and even then had great difficulty in forcing their way through the trees and dense underbrush.
Growls and roars added still further to their discomforts, until Snip, feeling in his pocket for his trusty pen knife, began to wish himself safely back in the button wood. Pajuka half ran and waddled after him, giving every now and then a great flop of terror as a particularly fierce roar came echoing through the forest. Mombi, alone, seemed perfectly unconcerned and hobbled ahead whacking branches and bushes out of the way with her crooked stick.
"Must be lunch time," she called back hoarsely over her shoulder.
"Howja guess?" panted Pajuka, keeping as close to Snip as he could, for he was terribly frightened.
"Don't you hear the lions?" asked the old witch maliciously.
"Merciful feathers!" gasped the goose. "Have I come all this way to be a lion's lunch?"
"Here comes one now," shuddered Snip, flattening himself against a tree. But it was not a lion that came hurtling out of the brush. It was a weenix, a wild, bear-like beast with a walrus head. One look at its tusks set Snip's heart beating like a drum. Pajuka flung into the air, flapping his wings and hissing furiously, but the weenix came straight on and Snip, though determined to die with his pen knife in hand, trembled so violently he could scarcely stand up. Even Mombi looked frightened. Grabbing the basket from Snip, she fumbled among its packages and pans and just as the weenix, with outspread paws, leaped upon her, the old witch snatched out the pepper box and shook the entire contents upon its nose. It was purple pepper, fortunately, which is even stronger than red.
"Kawoosh!" spluttered the weenix falling backwards. "Kawoosh—Kawush! Kawoo!" With tears streaming down its tusks and trembling whiskers, it dashed into the shadows, where it could still be heard sneezing broken-heartedly. It evidently told its family and friends all about the dangerous travellers, for not another weenix so much as showed a whisker after that.
"Humph!" snorted Mombi, settling her hat, which had gone terribly askew. "I may have forgotten my magic, but I still know a few tricks, eh Pajuka?"
"Oh, my feathers," panted the goose, leaning up against a tree, "that was worse than roasting."
"How did you ever think of pepper?" asked Snip, who could not help admiring Mombi's quickness. But Mombi merely gave a grunt, thrust the basket back into his hands and began limping along faster than ever. Snip was tired and hungry, but the thought of being left alone in the forest was so much worse than being in the company of a witch that he stumbled and ran after her, comforting himself with the thought of the fine sights he should see in the Emerald City.
Pajuka was tired too, but he hopped and flopped after Snip and another hour brought them to the edge of the forest. The countryside, stretching pleasantly ahead, was shaded with purple, so they knew they were still in the land of the Gillikens. The old witch ordered a halt, while she considered the road.
Mombi pegged her map down on the grass and began studying it carefully. Snip sat down under a tree and began fanning himself with his hat, while Pajuka flew off to find a stream, for the poor goose was parched by his flight through the forest and never felt quite happy out of water.
"How far is the Emerald City?" asked Snip, after watching Mombi for a time in silence.
"Ought to be there by night time," muttered the witch, forgetting for once to scowl. "All we have to do is to keep going south-west." Rolling up the map, Mombi took the rest of the bread and cheese from the basket. Seeing she meant to give him none, Snip went off in search of a bite for himself. In Oz this is not difficult, for the most marvelous plants and trees grow in all of its kingdoms. Scarcely a stone's throw away Snip found a huckleberry-pie plant. He ate several of the small tarts, and then picked a pocket full of plums from a pretty little plum tree that grew by the roadside. The purple Gilliken country is as famous for its plums as the yellow Winkie Land is for its peaches and pears.
Feeling quite refreshed, Snip went to search for Pajuka. Just beyond a thin fringe of trees ran a shallow stream, and Pajuka, in the strange manner of geese, was standing on his head, eating his lunch off the bottom. He looked so comical that Snip nearly burst out laughing, but remembering just in time that Pajuka was the King's prime minister he cleared his throat instead. With a great bounce, Pajuka came right side up and after a few dives and splashes waded ashore.
"What did you find to eat?" asked Snip curiously.
"Oh some water roots and—er other things," answered Pajuka. Seeing he was embarrassed Snip politely changed the subject.
"Tell me about the King," said the little button boy, "and about Oz before Ozma was Queen."
"Well, there was never a kindlier king anywhere," began Pajuka, shaking the water from his feathers.
"What kind?" asked Snip, biting into a plum. "How did he look?"
"Pleasant," explained Pajuka, putting one foot before the other and waddling from side to side in his queer goosey fashion. "He was tall and gentle and very absent-minded, and so kind that he never punished anyone at all."
"Then that's why there were so many witches," cried Snip triumphantly.
"Yes, and that's why it was so easy for Mombi to get him into her power," sighed Pajuka mournfully. "He would believe evil of no one—not even of a witch."
"Seems to me Ozma makes a better ruler," observed Snip, throwing his plum over a tree and standing on his tip toes to see how far it had gone. "She doesn't allow anyone to practice magic, excepting herself, Glinda and the Wizard." This is perfectly true and Oz has enjoyed under the littlest Princess in history an era of great peace and prosperity.
"Ozma is a pretender," insisted Pajuka stiffly.
"But she doesn't even know her father's alive," protested Snip. Though he had never seen Ozma, he had a great affection for the little Queen. "What will become of Ozma when we find the King?" he asked doubtfully.
"Oh, she can go back and play with her dolls. She's only a little girl anyway," answered the goose carelessly. Snip did not quite approve of this either, so he changed the subject again.
"There wasn't any Emerald City then, was there Pajuka?"
"No, but we had a splendid castle where the Emerald City now stands and hunting parks in every country of Oz. Ah, those were the good old days," sighed Pajuka sorrowfully. "If I could but see my dear master again I'd be content to remain a goose for the rest of my life."
"I s'pose youdomiss him," said Snip sympathetically.
"Miss him!" Pajuka gave a great gulp and turned his head to wipe his tears on his feathers. "Why, I miss him even more than my pockets," groaned the poor goose in a smothered voice.
Snip would have liked to hear more about the King, but a loud screech from Mombi interrupted the story. "Where've you been?" croaked the witch, emerging from a little patch of trees and blinking at them crossly. "I've been ready for hours. C'mon! Do you think this is a picnic?"
"Don't sass me, woman," wheezed Pajuka with great dignity, "or I'll not help you a mite. Who got us into this ridiculous mess, may I ask?"
Mombi paid no attention to Pajuka's remarks, but began hobbling down the road and Snip, who could hardly wait to reach the Emerald City, hurried after her, still mumbling crossly to herself. The goose sulkily brought up the rear. The road was fairly good, and zig-zagged pleasantly enough through meadows and fields.
"But aren't there any houses?" asked Snip, as they passed through a deserted stretch of woodland. "Aren't there any people or villages or towns?"
"There ought to be," honked Pajuka, who was resting his feet in the air. (That's one advantage of having wings, when your feet are tired you can fly.)
"There are!" snapped Mombi gruffly, and Mombi was right, for just then the wood came to an end and they found themselves facing a large, pleasant park, with dazzling white paths running in every direction. Snip was looking around with deep interest, when six of the strangest beings he had ever seen rose up from a bench a little distance off and stood examining them critically. They were certainly ten feet high and so thin and flat that Snip could scarcely believe they were people at all. But as they had heads, arms, legs and the usual number of eyes, ears and noses, he concluded they must be People. As the little button boy stared at them, the first of the creatures leaned down, caught hold of its toes and came hurtling at the travelers like a hurricane.
"Whoop!" shrieked the second one, bending over as the first had done and turning itself into a sure enough hoop. "Whoop, whoop!"
"Honk!" screamed Pajuka defiantly, but before Snip and Mombi had time to recover from their surprise the six Hoopers had rolled upon them full-speed, knocking them flat upon their backs. Pajuka just saved himself by a quick flop into the air. Then, without unrolling, the six whizzed off backwards and by the time Snip and Mombi had scrambled up were ready for another dash.
"Get the pepper! Get the pepper!" squawked the goose wildly, but Mombi, furious at her fall, did nothing but hop and howl with rage and Snip, seeing that something must be done, snatched up her crooked stick. As the first Hooper came pelting upon them, he gave it a sharp crack that sent it whirling down the walk. The second and third he served in the same fashion. The fourth he missed, so that Mombi again was rolled in the dust, but the fifth and sixth he caught fairly and, beginning to enjoy the fun, started rolling them like hoops as fast as he could, whacking first one and then another and screaming with laughter at the comical expressions on their faces, when their faces came uppermost.
"Go it, Snip! Go it!" exulted Pajuka, flapping his wings delightedly. But Snip needed no encouragement and only stopped at last for lack of breath. Immediately the Hoopers unrolled and, groaning and whooping and holding their sides, limped off into the bushes. Hundreds of the creatures had gathered by this time and, as Snip sank down on a bench to rest, the very tallest Hooper came rolling toward them.
"What do you mean by beating my subjects in this heartless fashion?" demanded the great fellow, unrolling to his full height and glaring sternly down at the little button boy.
"Well, they started it," replied Snip, keeping a firm hold on Mombi's stick. "Didn't they, Pajuka?"
"They certainly did," asserted the goose, settling down on the bench beside Snip. "Is it usual to knock down innocent travelers without reason or ceremony?"
"Is it usual to sit in the presence of a king?" retorted the Hooper stiffly. At this all his subjects began whooping faintly, "Bow down to Rollo the Royal, bow down to King Rollo the Worst!"
"Oh, roll up!" said Snip scornfully. "You're only a lot of live hoops anyway. Why should we bow?"
"Leave the park instantly!" roared Rollo, bouncing up and down with rage.
"Let's," said Snip, grinning over at Pajuka.
"I'm ready," agreed the goose, "but where's Mombi?"
"Here!" spluttered the witch, rolling out of a bonnet bush. "Any more nonsense from these creatures and I'll turn them to breakfast rolls and eat them for supper."
"A witch!" whooped the King.
"A witch!" coughed all the others and, seizing their toes, the whole company of them whirled off together and disappeared in a cloud of dust. So without further excitement, the three adventurers reached the other side of the Hoopers' park and, opening a small gate in the fence that surrounded it, found themselves again on the zig-zag pathway. A large sign posted on one of the trees immediately attracted Snip's attention.
"Fifty leaps to the Corners," announced the sign curiously enough.
"Leaps!" gasped Snip, while Mombi pushed back her hat and stood on tip-toe to examine the crooked letters. "Must we leap all the way?"
"Better look before we do," chuckled Pajuka, scratching his head with the third toe of his left foot. "I've been in some pretty tight corners in my time, and prefer to go around the rest of them."
"We'll go straight on. Who's afraid?" sneered Mombi. Snip, thinking of the way she had hidden in the bonnet bush while he beat off the Hoopers, winked at Pajuka and Pajuka, with a little flutter of his wings, winked back. Then all three started along the narrow path together.
In Catty Corners
"Suppose the King were a goat, do you think you would still remember him?" asked Snip, as they zig-zagged along the strange pathway.
"Certainly!" honked Pajuka, fluttering down. "I'd know him in any shape. But why do you ask? What makes you think the King is a goat? Are there any goats around here?" Shooting out his neck, Pajuka began peering this way and that.
"I don't know," admitted Snip frankly. "I was just wondering."
"You talk too much," snapped Mombi, stopping to pull up her stocking. "If I could remember my magic I'd turn you to a parrot!"
At this several of the trees that edged the pathway burst into loud roars of laughter, shaking all over and clasping themselves about the trunk with their branches. Snip was so astonished that he jumped backward and Pajuka, stepping on his own toes, fell forward on his head.
"Oh, my dear Will, these are funny ones," chortled the first tree. "Look at that ridiculous bird and that squidgety old skumpus, and would you count the buttons on the boy's suit. Oh! Oh! I shall die laughing!"
Now Snip's suit, like all the suits of the button wood boys, was generously trimmed with buttons. He had always considered it quite handsome, but now, as the trees continued to rock and roar with merriment, he began to feel uncomfortable and a little provoked.
"Quit your laughing!" puffed Pajuka indignantly. "What right have trees to laugh at people?"
"Every right in Oz," chuckled the second tree, leaning down to tickle Mombi under the chin with one of its twigs. "We're laughing willows, we are, always looking for a good joke, Hah! Hah! And the laugh is on us, Ho! Ho! Isn't that funny, Tree He?"
"Well, we're not jokes," said Snip stiffly. "Come on, Pajuka!" This set the willows to laughing so heartily that their leaves fell in perfect showers. Mombi, in a rage, clapped her hands to her ears and hobbled off and Snip, after a few more remarks which only made the trees laugh harder, ran after her.
"I must say I prefer weeping willows," wheezed Pajuka, catching up with Snip and smoothing out his feathers with his bill. One of the willows had actually had the temerity to tweak him by the tail.
"When I find the King, I'll have you chopped down and up!" screamed Mombi, turning to shake her stick at the offending trees, but neither Snip nor Pajuka bothered to listen to her. They were staring ahead in great astonishment, for the last zig in the road had brought them quite suddenly to the edges of a sparkling inland sea.
"Water!" exulted the goose, instantly restored to good humor. "Oh, let's go swimming!"
"Swimming!" shuddered Mombi, whirling around in a hurry. "Don't you know water is death and destruction to witches?"
"Is it?" asked Snip in pleased surprise, and secretly wondered whether he hadn't better push Mombi in at once. But Pajuka, half guessing what was in his mind, shook his head reprovingly.
"But how are we to get across?" demanded the goose. "I don't see any boats or ferries and—"
"It's pretty wide to swim," ventured Snip, shading his eyes with his hands and looking anxiously over the tumbling waves. Snip's only experience with swimming had been in a small pool in the button wood and he was not at all sure he would ever reach the other side.
"I could tug you across," said Pajuka, "but what about Mombi?"
"Hold your bill!" snapped the witch in her usual pleasant fashion, and sitting on a stone she scowled down at the sandy beach. Then all at once she hopped up and, hobbling over to Snip, took the basket again.
"Now what?" whispered the little button boy. Pajuka shrugged his wings and rolled up his eyes, but they had not long to wait or wonder, for Mombi, having found what she wanted, sprang on a big rock and hurled a small purple can as far as she could into the rippling blue waters. Then with a grunt of satisfaction, she resumed her seat upon the stone.
"Well?" wheezed Pajuka inquiringly.
"What are we waiting for?" demanded Snip.
"For the sea to jell, idiot!" sniffed Mombi. "In that can is the strongest gelatin in Oz. It took me six years to refine and collect it. Watch the sea and we shall see."
"Itisjelling," marvelled Snip, hopping up and down. "Look, Pajuka, the waves have stopped rolling!" This was quite true. The dancing blue waters, caught in their liveliest tumbling, had stiffened with their white frills still upon them and the whole sea was becoming smooth and glassy as a bowl of gelatin, only no gelatin Snip ever had seen was half so beautiful, for the blue sea, tinged in spots with purple and green, sparkled in the sunshine like some large and lovely amethyst.
"Well, do I know any tricks or not?" shrilled Mombi, snapping her fingers under Pajuka's bill. "Come on! Let's cross!" She rose stiffly and Snip, taking up the basket, set one foot experimentally upon the jelly. It shook a little under his weight, but seemed firm and solid, so the three stepped out and were soon half way over.
"How about the fish?" asked Pajuka, looking down through the clear, jellied water.
"They'll be jelly fish for a while," snickered Mombi, who was in a fine humor at the trick she had turned. "I wish the Wizard of Oz could see this. I'll wager I can get as much magic out of a cook book as he can out of a whole library of sorcery."
"It certainly looks good enough to eat," admitted Snip. "Wonder if it is?" He scooped up a bit to taste, but it was so salty it choked him. If it was not good to eat it was surely fine to walk on and Snip, bouncing along beside Pajuka, was quite sorry when they reached the other side. "I think traveling's pretty interesting," observed the little button boy, looking back over his shoulder. "Don't you Pajuka?"
The goose sighed. "I used to think so, Snip, but I've traveled so far searching for the King, I'm homesick for my slippers, a quiet old castle and my pipe. Haven't had a smoke since I was a goose," mourned the poor prime minister, rolling his eyes sadly. Snip couldn't help thinking how funny Pajuka would look with a pipe and a pair of slippers, but he stifled this thought quickly.
"Don't you care!" he whispered comfortingly. "You'll find the King and when we reach the Emerald City, I'll tell Ozma all about you," he promised, lowering his voice so Mombi could not hear. "I am sure she'll help us."
"What are you whispering about?" snarled the witch, glaring back suspiciously.
"About a second," whistled Pajuka, soaring into the air. "Hello, what's this?"
"Why, it's the Corners," cried Snip, running ahead to read a large sign suspended from a pussy willow under the great gray walls.
"Catty Corners," announced the sign, in black scratchy letters.
"Catty Corners," hissed the goose. "Well, this is no place for me. Let us fly at once!"
"But I adore cats," declared Mombi and, before anyone could stop her, she thumped hard upon the gates. The walls surrounding Catty Corners formed a huge triangle and were so high that even by bending backward Snip could not see the top. As he straightened up, a door in the gray wall flew open and a simply enormous Tabby Cat, dressed as a guard, seized Pajuka by the wing and Mombi by the arm.
"No boys allowed!" bawled the guard, bristling his whiskers at Snip. Before the little button boy could even wink, the cat had dragged his two companions in and slammed the door. Snip could hear Pajuka hissing and Mombi protesting in a shrill voice and next instant the door flew open and he, himself, was seized by a cat guard and jerked through.
"He's my prisoner," cried Mombi defiantly, as Snip was lined up beside her. She had no intention of letting Snip out of her clutches. He knew entirely too much for that.
"Well, he's my prisoner now," snarled the guard, giving Snip a shake. Then, looking more closely at Mombi, his eyes began to sparkle with pleasure. "Who are you, beauteous being?" purred the cat, doffing his cap. Pajuka, though badly scared by his predicament, could not restrain a loud chuckle.
"I'm a witch!" answered Mombi, drawing herself up proudly.
"A witch!" cried the second cat guard, releasing his hold on Mombi's arm. "Oh cousin, how splendid! The Queen must know of this."
Throwing back his head he began to yowl in a hundred piercing and alarming cat cries.
"What's he saying?" gasped Snip.
"Sounds like cat fish to me," gurgled Pajuka, ducking his head under his wing.
At the cat guard's call, hundreds of cats began to race toward the prisoners. They were as large as Snip himself, and of every kind and color imaginable. As soon as they saw Mombi, they began to purr with pleasure and delight, rubbing against her knees, knocking her hat sideways and pressing so close that Snip and Pajuka were almost suffocated. Then, forming a triumphant procession, they started for the center of Catty Corners. Mombi, like all witches, was fonder of cats than of anything else and walked along fondling first one and then another, while Snip and Pajuka, still in the clutches of the guards, followed in huge disgust. Several of the cats cast hungry looks at the goose, but most of them were too taken up with Mombi to even notice him.
"Did you ever see such a place?" sniffed the little button boy scornfully. "Why, it's all fences."
Even as he spoke, his cat guard sprang up on a white fence, dragging him along. It was so perfectly unexpected that Snip nearly fell on his nose but, glancing ahead, he saw Mombi nimbly walking the fence between two black cats. Pajuka had no trouble walking the fence either, though he was greatly inconvenienced by the guard who had hold of his wing.
"If I just had a pair of clothes props," sighed Snip, balancing himself precariously.
"Take hold of my tail," advised the guard gruffly, "and if you fall I'll scratch you."
Another cat sprang up behind him and put one paw under his arm, so between the two Snip managed fairly well. He had to keep his eyes so closely on the fence that he did not see as much of Catty Corners as he otherwise might have. But he saw enough to interest him tremendously. A perfect network of fences divided this curious city into a great many little enclosures. Snip would have called them back yards. In each yard was a catnip bed, a pussy willow tree, and a lovely fountain of cream. They passed many ponds well stocked with fish, and Snip shivered uncomfortably as one of the Tabby Cats jumped down from the fence, snatched a gold fish from a pond, and began eating it as if it were a cracker, salting it generously from a shaker he carried around his neck.
"Hateful things," thought the little button boy, looking anxiously ahead to see how Pajuka was faring. "I hope we don't have to stay here long." A sudden yowling and waving of tails told him something was happening. Stretching his neck, he saw that Mombi had reached the Queen's garden.
"Are you prepared to meet The Imperial and Puissant Pussy?" asked the guard, looking severely over his shoulder.
"Another cat?" groaned Snip.
"Scratch him," hissed a big grey Tom, but the Tabby Cat merely reached down, and clutching Snip by the front of his jacket, jumped down from the fence.
Her Majesty lay luxuriously under a catsup tree. Ten small kittens fanned her with large leaves and there was a Tabby Cat Guard in every corner of the garden. There was not room for all the other cats, so they ranged themselves expectantly on the surrounding fences, while Mombi, Pajuka and Snip were brought forward. The Queen, a sleek maltese, opened her eyes languidly as they approached, but at sight of Mombi she sprang up so impulsively, she bumped her head on a catsup bottle.
"Why, you dear, beautiful, dreadful old thing!" purred the Queen, clasping her paws delightedly.
"Dear, beautiful, dreadful old thing!" purred all the other cats, waving their tails approvingly.
"You shall stay and bewitch us forever," murmured her Highness, stroking Mombi's wrinkled cheek affectionately. "But who let this boy in?" she screamed furiously, catching a glimpse of Snip.
"Mean, horrid, naughty little wretch, puller of tails and thrower of stones!" Her eyes flashed so threateningly Snip was really alarmed and began to look around for some way to escape.
"He never pulled a cat-tail in his life," blustered Pajuka indignantly, "except in a swamp!"
"In a swamp?" shrieked the Queen. "What right has he to pull cat-tails in a swamp? Who areyou?"
"A Prime Minister when I am myself," answered Pajuka promptly, "but unfortunately just now I am not myself."
"A goose!" purred the cat Queen, licking her lips hungrily. "Ah, it's years since I've tasted a goose. How old are you? How much do you weigh? Are you tender?"
At each dreadful question, her Maltese Majesty drew nearer to Pajuka. Snip looked appealingly at Mombi, but the old witch had forgotten them both and was seated blissfully under the catsup tree, her lap full of kittens.
"As a man I was in my prime, but I'm a very old goose," panted Pajuka, edging nervously away from the greedy Queen.
"I don't believe it," said her Majesty, giving Pajuka a playful poke. "What fun! A guest! A prisoner and a dinner! The witch shall stay, the boy shall be publicly chased and scratched and the goose, ah the goose shall be eaten! You may kiss my paw!" purred her Highness, advancing graciously toward Snip.
"Mombi! Mombi! Do you hear that?" screamed Pajuka wildly. "I'm to be served up for dinner!"
"Serve you right," yawned the witch drowsily.
"I'll not let them eat you!" shouted Snip, brushing aside the Queen's paw and struggling to free himself from the cat guard.
"Take them away!" commanded the Queen, with a wave of her tail. "And keep tabs on them until wanted."
"You'll be sorry for this!" honked Pajuka. "I'm very bad for cats. If you eat me I'll give you fits."
"Hush!" hissed her Highness haughtily. "You are now the dinner and the dinner is not supposed to converse."
"Come along, dinner!" said the guard gruffly, and dragging Pajuka by the wing and Snip by the arm, he marched them sternly away, while all the inhabitants of Catty Corners howled with derision and delight.
The Magic Pudding
"Snip," wheezed Pajuka mournfully, "when I am cooked and eaten, will you save a few of my feathers for Ozma? And if you find the King will you tell him that old Pajuka was faithful to—to—the last?"
In spite of himself the poor goose's voice broke and ended in a great gulp.
"When they get through with me there'll be just enough feathers left to stuff a pillow," choked Pajuka.
"Don't!" begged the little button boy, flinging his arms around his friend's neck. "Besides, if I'm to be chased and scratched by all those cats, there won't be anything left of me at all."
"I'll nip off their tails, I'll snatch out their whiskers!" raged Pajuka, thrusting his bill through the bars of their prison. The two had been thrown unceremoniously into a small summer house at the end of the Queen's garden. It was surrounded by cat guards, so their chances for escape were cut off on every side.
"Maybe something'll happen," sighed Snip, pressing his nose against the slats. It had been late afternoon when they reached Catty Corners and in the gathering gloom the giant cats, parading up and down, looked like some dreadful sort of goblins. Turning back to Pajuka for comfort, Snip was horrified to see that the goose had drawn up one foot and closed his eyes.
"Don't fall asleep, Pajuka," begged the little boy, shaking him frantically. "Don't fall asleep and leave me all alone."
"Can't help it Snip—hah hoh! This is what comes of being a goose—hum!" yawned the poor prime minister. He blinked rapidly, stamped both feet and fluttered his feathers, but it was no use. His eyes simply would not stay open.
"Well, if I'm to be eaten," gulped Pajuka sadly, with a last monstrous yawn, "I might as well be asleep anyway." Folding his head away dejectedly under his wing, he stood perfectly still. At this Snip felt so down-hearted that he sat on the floor and took the goose in his lap.
"Wonder what Mombi's doing," he shuddered, trying to catch a glimpse of the old witch through the chinks in the lattice. To tell the truth, Mombi was in as tight a catty corner as Snip. Having indulged her fondness for cats to the fullest extent and, noting with alarm the approach of night, she had finally risen and bidding the Catty Queen an affectionate farewell, declared herself ready to depart. "And the goose and boy must come with me," croaked Mombi, grinning secretly at the joke she had played on them.
"With you," cried the Cat Queen, springing up in alarm. "Why, you dear, ugly old darling, do you suppose I am ever going to let you go? Never! As for the boy—who cares for boys? He shall entertain us all day to-morrow. I'll call out my grand army of Maltesers, and they shall maul and tease him to death. What fun. And the goose! I could hug you for bringing that goose."
"But see here," panted Mombi in alarm, "I need that goose. I'm taking him as a present to Ozma, the Queen."
"Well, I'm a Queen," sniffed the Cat crossly, "and I don't give a yowl for Ozma. Come on, let's pluck out his feathers." And away across the garden scampered her Majesty. Mombi picked up her basket and followed in great haste. She knew that without Pajuka she would never recognize the King, nor regain her magic powers. Therefore, though she had no great love for the goose, she must find some way to save him.
"Wait!" puffed the old witch, catching up with the Queen. "Wait! I, myself, will prepare a feast to go with the goose. I am a famous cook and know more about roasts and sauces than anyone in Oz." Mombi rolled her eyes boastfully.
"Do you?" murmured the Imperial Pussy, stopping short and looking admiringly at the old witch.
"Did your Highness ever taste rice cream pudding?" inquired Mombi mysteriously. "No goose should be eaten without a dish of pudding before-hand. Keeps off the mullygrubs. Just let me make you a delicious little rice cream pudding!"
"Rice cream pudding? Why that sounds delicious!" purred the Queen, waving her tail rapturously. "Make enough for us all, dear old ugliness, and I'll take a cat nap while you do."
"Where's the kitchen?" demanded Mombi with a wicked grin. Already she had thought of a way out of her difficulties. Once in the catty kitchen, really only an enclosed corner of the garden with a stone fireplace and iron crane, Mombi set quickly to work. Filling the largest cauldron with rich cream from the fountain, she poured in all the boxes of rice she had in her basket and all the raisins. Then, setting it over the fire, which two tortoise shell cats kept at blazing point, she stirred and muttered and muttered and stirred, and just before it was done dropped in the contents of another of her purple cans.
Meanwhile, news of the coming treat had spread, and by the time the pudding was finished, the fences were simply crowded with cats, their eyes showing like green balls of fire in the darkness. There were only a few dim lanterns in Catty Corners, for cats can see quite as well by night as by day. Each cat had brought a saucer, and forming in an orderly procession, they lined up before the old witch, while Mombi ladled out helping after helping of the pudding, pausing every now and then to wipe her forehead on her sleeve and grin wickedly to herself.
None of the cats dared eat until the Queen arrived, and when her Highness finally did appear, a long sigh of anticipation went up from the fences. Mombi had saved a particularly large helping for the Queen, and when her Maltese Majesty lowered her chin over her saucer and all the other cats started lapping up the pudding, Mombi could hardly restrain her chuckles. The pudding really was delicious and the Queen lapped faster and faster, as did the rest, so that in scarcely a moment the saucers were quite empty and the company quite the reverse.
With half-closed eyes the Queen lifted her head to thank Mombi but before she could purr a purr, she, and that whole collection of cats, simply catapulted into the air and, while Mombi held her sides and rocked to and fro with malicious merriment, they rolled and tumbled toward the clouds like balloons released from their strings. No wonder! In that purple can was a baking powder powerful enough to raise an army—baking powder that the old witch had been collecting and refining for twenty years.
"Hah," snorted Mombi, rubbing her hands with satisfaction. Leaning over the fountain, she took a long drink of cream, for stirring the pudding had made her mighty thirsty. Then, without thought of her luckless victims, she picked up her basket and hobbled off to the summer house. Snip, after waiting in terror for the cats to come for Pajuka, had finally dropped into an uneasy slumber, and when Mombi flashed a small lantern in his eyes he almost jumped out of his jacket.
"Come along, you little lazy bones," grumbled the witch, jerking him roughly by the sleeve. "Is that silly old goose asleep too?"
"I'll carry him," said Snip stiffly and, bending over, he picked Pajuka carefully up in his arms. He was quite an armful, but never stirred nor wakened at all. Snip longed to tell Mombi what he thought of her, but she looked so fierce he decided not to try it.
"Where are the cats?" he shivered, tiptoeing nervously after the old witch. Mombi waved her stick aloft, and you can imagine the astonishment of the little boy to see a perfect cloud of cats sailing across the moon.
"Gave 'em rice pudding and they riz," wheezed the old witch gleefully. Having no one else to boast to, Mombi condescended to explain her trick to Snip. Snip, on his part, was glad to escape from the catty creatures, but he could not help feeling a bit sorry for them.