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Chapter 26 · The Emerald City of Oz

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  For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The Emerald
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  City of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Chapter twenty six, How Ozma
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  refused to fight for her kingdom. Ozma was in her rose garden picking a
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  bouquet when the party arrived, and she greeted all her old and new friends
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  as smilingly and sweetly as ever. Dorothy's eyes were full of tears as she
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  kissed the lovely ruler of oz and she whispered to her, Oh, Ozma,
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  Ozma, I'm so sorry, Ozma seemed surprised. Sorry for what,
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  Dorothy, she asked, for all your trouble about the Nome king, was
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  the reply. Ozma laughed with genuine amusement. Why that has not troubled me
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  a bit, dear princess, she replied, Then, looking around at the
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  sad faces of her friend, she added, have you all been worrying about
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  this tunnel? We have? They exclaimed in a chorus. Well, perhaps
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  it is more serious than I imagined, admitted the fair ruler, But I
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  haven't given the matter much thought. After dinner, we will all meet together
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  and talk it over. So they went to their rooms and prepared for dinner,
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  and Dorothy dressed herself in her prettiest gown and put on her coronet,
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  for she thought that this might be the last time she would ever appear as
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  the Princess of oz The Scarecrow, the tin Woodman, and Jack Pumpkinhead all
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  sat at the dinner table, although none of them was made so he could
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  eat. Usually, they served to enliven the meal with their merry talk,
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  but to night all seemed strangely silent and uneasy. As soon as the dinner
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  was finished, Ozma led the company to her own private room, in which
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  hung the magic picture. When they had seated themselves, the Scarecrow was the
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  first to speak. Is the Nome King's Tongue finished, Ozma? He asked,
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  It was completed to day, She replied. They have built it right
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  under my palace grounds, and it ends in front of the Forbidden Fountain.
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  Nothing but a crust of earth remains to separate our enemies from us, and
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  when they march here, they will easily break through this crust and rush upon
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  us. Who will assist the Nome King inquired the Scarecrow, the Whimsies,
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  the Growleywogs, and the Phanfasms. She replied, I watched to day in
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  my magic picture the messengers whom the Nome King sent to all these people to
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  summon them to assemble in his great caverns. Let us see what they are
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  doing. Now, suggested the tin woodman. So Ozma wished to see the
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  Nome King's cavern, and at once the landscape faded from the magic picture and
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  was replaced by the scene then being enacted in the jeweled cavern of King Roquat.
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  A wild and startling scene it was which the oz people beheld. Before
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  the Nome King stood the chief of the Whimsies and the grand Galipot of the
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  Growleywogs, surrounded by their most skillful generals. Very fierce and powerful they looked.
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  So even the Nome King and General Guph, who stood beside his master,
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  seemed a bit fearful in the presence of their allies. Now a still
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  more formidable creature entered the cavern. It was the first and foremost of the
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  Phanfasms, and he proudly sat down in King Roquat's own throne and demanded the
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  right to lead his forces through the tunnel in advance of all the others.
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  The First and Foremost now appeared to all eyes in his hairy skin and the
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  bear's head. What his real form was, even Roquat did not know.
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  Through the arches leading into the vast series of caverns that lay beyond the throne
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  room of King Roquat could be seen ranks upon ranks of the invaders, thousands
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  of phanfasms, Growleywogs, and whimsies standing in serried lines, while behind them
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  were masked the thousands upon thousands of General Guph's own army of Nomes. Listen,
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  whispered Ozma, I think we can hear what they are saying. So
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  they kept still and listened. Is all ready demanded the First and Foremost,
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  Haughtily, The tunnel is finally completed, replied General Guph. How long will
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  it take us to march to the Emerald city, asked the Grand Gallipoot of
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  the Growleywogs. If we start at midnight, replied the Nome king, we
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  shall arrive at the Emerald City by daybreak. Then, while all the oz
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  people are sleeping, we will capture them and make them our slaves. After
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  that we will destroy the city itself and march through the land of Oz,
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  burning and devastating as we go, good, cried the First and Foremost.
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  When we get through with Oz, it will be a desert wilderness. Ozma
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  shall be my slave. She shall be my slave, shouted the Grand Gallipoot
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  angrily. We'll decide that by and by, said King Roquet hastily. Don't
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  let us quarrel now, friends, First let us conquer Oz, and then
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  we will divide the spoils of war in a satisfactory manner. The First and
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  Foremost smiled wickedly, but he only said, I and my Phanfasms go first,
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  for nothing on earth can oppose our power. They all agreed to that,
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  knowing the Phanfasms to be the mightiest of the combined forces. King Roquat
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  now invited them to attend a banquet he had prepared, where they might occupy
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  themselves in eating and drinking until midnight arrived. As they had now seen and
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  heard all of the plot against them that they cared to, Ozma allowed her
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  magic picture to fade away. Then she turned to her friends and said,
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  our enemies will be here sooner than I expected. What do you advise me
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  to do? It is now too late to assemble our people, said the
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  tin woodman, despondently. If you had allowed me to arm and drill my
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  winkies, we have put up a good fight and destroyed many of our enemies
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  before we were conquered. The Munchkins are good fighters, too, said Omby
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  Amby, and so are the Gillikins. But I do not wish to fight,
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  declared Ozma firmly. No one has the right to destroy any living creatures,
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  however evil they may be, or to hurt them or make them unhappy.
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  I will not fight, even to save my kingdom. The Nome king
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  is not so particular, remarked the Scarecrow. He intends to destroy us all
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  and ruin our beautiful country. Because the Nome King intends to do evil,
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  is no excuse for my doing the same, replied Ozma. Self preservation is
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  the first law of nature, quoted the Shaggy Man. True, she said
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  readily. I would like to discover a plan to save ourselves without fighting.
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  That seemed a hopeless task to them, but realizing that Ozma was determined not
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  to fight, they tried to think of some means that might promise escape.
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  Couldn't we bribe our enemies by giving them a lot of emeralds and gold,
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  asked Jack Pumpkinhead. No, because they believe they are able to take everything
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  we have, replied the ruler. I have thought of something, said Dorothy.
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  What is it, dear, asked Ozma. Let us use the magic
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  belt to wish all of us in Kansas. We will put some emeralds in
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  our pockets and can sell them in Topeka for enough to pay off the mortgage
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  on Uncle Henry's farm. Then we can all live together and be happy.
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  A clever idea, exclaimed the scarecrow. Kansas is a very good country.
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  I've been there, said the shaggy Man. That seems to me an excellent
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  plan, approved the tin Woodman. No, said Ozma. Decidedly. Never
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  will I desert my people and leave them to so cruel a fate. I
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  will use the magic Belt to send the rest of you to Kansas if you
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  wish. But if my beloved country must be destroyed and my people enslaved,
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  I will remain and share their fate. Quite right, asserted the scarecrow,
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  sighing, I will remain with you, and so will I, declared the
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  tin Woodman and the Shaggy Man and Jack Pumpkinhead in turn. Tik Tok the
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  machine Man also said he intended to stand by Ozma, for said he.
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  I should be of no use at all in Kansas. For my part,
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  announced Dorothy gravely. If the ruler of Oz must not desert her people,
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  a princess of Oz has no right to run away either. I'm willing to
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  become a slave with the rest of you, so all we can do with
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  the magic Belt is to use it to send Uncle Henry and aunt Em back
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  to Kansas. I've been a slave all my life, aunt Em replied with
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  considerable cheerfulness, and so has Henry. I guess we won't go back to
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  Kansas anyway. I'd rather take my chances with the rest of you. Ozma
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  smiled upon them all gratefully. There is no need to despair just yet,
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  she said. I'll get up early tomorrow morning and be at the Forbidden Fountain
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  when the fierce warriors break through the crust of earth. I will speak to
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  them pleasantly, and perhaps they won't be so very bad after all. Why
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  do they call it the Forbidden Fountain, asked Dorothy thoughtfully, don't you know,
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  dear returned Ozma, surprised. No, said Dorothy. Of course,
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  I've seen the fountain in the palace grounds ever since I first came to Oz,
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  and I've read the sign which says all persons are forbidden to drink at
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  this fountain, but I never knew why they were forbidden. The water seems
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  clear and sparkling, and it bubbles up in a golden basin all the time.
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  That water, declared Ozma, gravely, is the most dangerous thing in
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  all the land of Oz. It is the water of oblivion. What does
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  that mean, asked Dorothy. Whoever drinks at the forbidden fountain at once forgets
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  everything he has ever known. Ozma asserted, it wouldn't be a bad way
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  to forget our troubles, suggested Uncle Henry. That is true, but you
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  would forget everything else and become as ignorant as a baby, returned Ozma.
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  Does it make one crazy, asked Dorothy. No, it only makes one
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  forget, replied the girl ruler. It is said that once, long long
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  ago, a wicked king ruled Oz and made himself and all his people very
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  miserable and unhappy. So Glinda, the Good Sorceress, placed this fountain here
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  and the king drank of its water and forgot all his wickedness. His mind
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  became innocent and vacant, and when he learned the things of life again,
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  they were all good things. But the people remembered how wicked their king had
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  been, and were still afraid of him. Therefore he made them all drink
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  of the water of Oblivion and forget everything they had known, so that they
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  became as simple and innocent as their king. After that they all grew wise
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  together, and their wisdom was good, so that peace and happiness reigned in
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  the land. But for fear some one might drink of the water again,
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  and in an instant forget all he had learned. The king put that sign
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  upon the fountain, where it has remained for many centuries up to this very
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  day. They had all listened intently to Ozma's story, and when she finished
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  speaking, there was a long period of silence, while all thought upon the
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  curious, magical power of the water of Oblivion. Finally, the scarecrow's painted
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  face took on a broad smile that stretched the cloth as far as it would
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  go. How thankful I am, he said, that I have such an
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  excellent assortment of brains I gave you the best brains I ever mixed, declared
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  the Wizard, with an air of pride. You did, indeed, agreed
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  the Scarecrow. And they work so splendidly that they have found a way to
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  save oz to save us all. I'm glad to hear that, said the
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  Wizard. We never needed saving more than we do. Just now, do
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  you mean to say you can save us from those awful phanfasms and growleywogs and
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  whimsies, asked Dorothy eagerly. I'm sure of it, my dear, asserted
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  the Scarecrow, still smiling genially. Tell us, how, cried the tin
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  Woodman. Not now, said the Scarecrow. You may all go to bed,
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  and I advise you to forget your worries just as completely as if you
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  had drunk of the water of oblivion in the Forbidden Fountain. I'm going to
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  stay here and tell my plan to Ozma alone. But if you will all
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  be at the Forbidden Fountain at daybreak, you'll see how easily we will save
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  the kingdom when our enemies break through the crust of earth and come from the
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  tunnel. So they went away and left the Scarecrow and Ozma alone but Dorothy
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  could not sleep a wink all night. He is only a scarecrow, she
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  said to herself. And I'm not sure that his mixed brains are as clever
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  as he thinks they are. But she knew that if the Scarecrow's plan failed,
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  they were all lost, so she tried to have faith in him.
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  End of Chapter twenty six