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17 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, how the balloon was launched. For three days,
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  Speaker 1: Dorothy heard nothing from Oz. These were sad days for
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  Speaker 1: the little girl, although her friends were all quite happy
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  Speaker 1: and contented. The scarecrow told them there were wonderful thoughts
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  Speaker 1: in his head, but he would not say what they were,
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  Speaker 1: because he knew no one could understand them but himself.
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  Speaker 1: When the tin woodman walked about, he felt his heart
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  Speaker 1: rattling around in his breast, and he told Dorothy he
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  Speaker 1: had discovered it to be a kinder and more tender
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  Speaker 1: heart than the one he had owned when he was
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  Speaker 1: made of flesh. The lion declared he was afraid of
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  Speaker 1: nothing on earth, and would gladly face an army or
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  Speaker 1: a dozen of the fierce Kalidahs. Thus each of the
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  Speaker 1: little party was satisfied, except Dorothy, who longed more than
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  Speaker 1: ever to get back to Kansas. On the fourth day,
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  Speaker 1: to her great joy, Oz sent for her, and when
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  Speaker 1: she entered the throne room, he greeted her pleasantly. Sit down,
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  Speaker 1: my dear, I think I have found a way to
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  Speaker 1: get you out of this country and back to Kansas.
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  Speaker 1: She asked eagerly. Well, I'm not sure about Kansas, said Oz,
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  Speaker 1: for I haven't the faintest notion which way it lies.
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  Speaker 1: But the first thing to do is to cross the desert,
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  Speaker 1: and then it should be easy to find your way home.
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  Speaker 1: How can I cross the desert, she inquired, Well, I'll
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  Speaker 1: tell you what I think, said the little man. You see,
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  Speaker 1: when I came to this country, it was in a balloon.
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  Speaker 1: You also came through the air, being carried by a cyclone,
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  Speaker 1: So I believe the best way to get across the
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  Speaker 1: desert will be through the air. Now, it is quite
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  Speaker 1: beyond my powers to make a cyclone, but I've been
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  Speaker 1: thinking the matter over, and I believe I can make
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  Speaker 1: a balloon. How, asked Dorothy. A balloon, said Oz, is
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  Speaker 1: made of silk, which is coated with glue to keep
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  Speaker 1: the gas in it. I have plenty of silk in
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  Speaker 1: the palace, so it will be no trouble to make
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  Speaker 1: the balloon. But in all this country there is no
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  Speaker 1: gas to fill the balloon with to make it float.
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  Speaker 1: If it won't float, remarked Dorothy, it will be of
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  Speaker 1: no use to us, true, answered Oz. But there is
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  Speaker 1: another way to make it float, which is to fill
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  Speaker 1: it with hot air. Hot air isn't as good as gas,
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  Speaker 1: for if the air should get cold, the balloon would
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  Speaker 1: come down in the desert and we should be lost,
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  Speaker 1: we exclaimed the girl. Are you going with me? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: of course, replied Oz. I am tired of being such
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  Speaker 1: a humbug. If I should go out of this palace,
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  Speaker 1: my people would soon discover I am not a wizard,
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  Speaker 1: and then they would be vexed with me for having
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  Speaker 1: deceived them. So I have to stay shut up in
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  Speaker 1: these rooms all day, and it gets tiresome. I'd much
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  Speaker 1: rather go back to Kansas with you and be in
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  Speaker 1: a circus again. I shall be glad to have your company,
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  Speaker 1: said Dorothy. Thank you, he answered, Now, if you will
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  Speaker 1: help me sew the silk together, we will begin work
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  Speaker 1: on our balloon. So Dorothy took a needle and thread,
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  Speaker 1: and as fast as Oz cut the strips of silk
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  Speaker 1: into proper shape, the girl sewed them neatly together. First
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  Speaker 1: there was a strip of light green silk, then a
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  Speaker 1: strip of dark green, and then a strip of emerald green,
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  Speaker 1: for Oz had a fancy to make the balloon in
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  Speaker 1: different shades of the color about them. It took three
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  Speaker 1: days to sew all the strips together, but when it
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  Speaker 1: was finished, they had a big bag of green silk
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  Speaker 1: more than twenty feet long. Then Oz painted it on
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  Speaker 1: the inside with a coat of thin glue to make
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  Speaker 1: it air tight, after which he announced that the balloon
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  Speaker 1: was ready. But we must have a basket to ride in,
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  Speaker 1: he said. So he sent the soldier with the green
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  Speaker 1: whiskers for a big clothes basket, which he fashioned with
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  Speaker 1: many ropes to the bottom of the balloon. When it
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  Speaker 1: was already Oz sent word to his people that he
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  Speaker 1: was going to make a visit to a great brother
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  Speaker 1: wizard who lived in the clouds. The news spread rapidly
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  Speaker 1: throughout the city, and everyone came to see the wonderful sight.
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  Speaker 1: Oz ordered the balloon carried out in front of the palace,
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  Speaker 1: and the people gazed upon it with much curiosity. The
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  Speaker 1: tin woodman had chopped a big pile of wood, and
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  Speaker 1: now he made a fire of it, and Oz held
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of the balloon over the fire, so that
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  Speaker 1: the hot air that rose from it would be caught
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  Speaker 1: in the silken bag. Gradually, the balloon swelled out and
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  Speaker 1: rose into the air, until finally the basket just touched
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  Speaker 1: the ground. Then Oz got into the basket and said
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  Speaker 1: to all the people in a loud voice. I am
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  Speaker 1: now going away to make a visit. While I am gone,
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  Speaker 1: the Scarecrow will rule over you. I command you to
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  Speaker 1: obey him as you would me. The balloon was by
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  Speaker 1: this time tugging hard at the rope that held it
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  Speaker 1: to the ground, for the air within was hot, and
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  Speaker 1: this made it so much lighter in weight than the
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  Speaker 1: air without that it pulled hard to rise into the sky. Come, Dorothy,
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  Speaker 1: cried the wizard. Hurry up, or the balloon will fly away.
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  Speaker 1: I can't find Toto anywhere, replied Dorothy, who did not
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  Speaker 1: wished to leave her little dog behind. Toto had run
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  Speaker 1: into the crowd to bark at a kitten, and Dorothy
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  Speaker 1: at last found him. She picked him up and ran
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  Speaker 1: towards the balloon. She was within a few steps of it,
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  Speaker 1: and Oz was holding out his hands to help her
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  Speaker 1: into the basket when crack went the ropes and the
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  Speaker 1: balloon rose into the air without her. Come back, she screamed,
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  Speaker 1: I want to go too. I can't come back, my dear,
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  Speaker 1: called Oz from the basket. Goodbye, goodbye, shouted everyone, and
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  Speaker 1: all eyes were turned upward to where the Wizard was
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  Speaker 1: riding in the basket, rising every moment farther and farther
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  Speaker 1: into the sky. And that was the last any of
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  Speaker 1: them ever saw of Oz the Wonderful Wizard. Though he
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  Speaker 1: may have reached Omaha safely and be there now for
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  Speaker 1: all we know. But the people remembered him lovingly and
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  Speaker 1: said to one another, Oz was always our friend. When
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  Speaker 1: he was here, he built for us this beautiful emerald city.
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  Speaker 1: And now he is gone. He has left us the
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  Speaker 1: wide Scarecrow to rule over us. Still, for many days
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  Speaker 1: they grieved over the loss of the wonderful Wizard and
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  Speaker 1: would not be comforted. End of Chapter seventeen.