Chapter 21
Next morning Dorothy's breakfast was served in her own pretty sittingroom, and she sent to invite Polly and the shaggy man to join her andButton-Bright at the meal. They came gladly, and Toto also hadbreakfast with them, so that the little party that had traveledtogether to Oz was once more reunited.
No sooner had they finished eating than they heard the distant blastof many trumpets, and the sound of a brass band playing martial music;so they all went out upon the balcony. This was at the front of thepalace and overlooked the streets of the City, being higher than thewall that shut in the palace grounds. They saw approaching down thestreet a band of musicians, playing as hard and loud as they could,while the people of the Emerald City crowded the sidewalks and cheeredso lustily that they almost drowned the noise of the drums and horns.
Dorothy looked to see what they were cheering at, and discovered thatbehind the band was the famous Scarecrow, riding proudly upon the backof a wooden Saw-Horse which pranced along the street almost asgracefully as if it had been made of flesh. Its hoofs, or rather theends of its wooden legs, were shod with plates of solid gold, and thesaddle strapped to the wooden body was richly embroidered andglistened with jewels.
As he reached the palace the Scarecrow looked up and saw Dorothy, andat once waved his peaked hat at her in greeting. He rode up to thefront door and dismounted, and the band stopped playing and went awayand the crowds of people returned to their dwellings.
By the time Dorothy and her friends had re-entered her room, theScarecrow was there, and he gave the girl a hearty embrace and shookthe hands of the others with his own squashy hands, which were whitegloves filled with straw.
The shaggy man, Button-Bright, and Polychrome stared hard at thiscelebrated person, who was acknowledged to be the most popular andmost beloved man in all the Land of Oz.
"Why, your face has been newly painted!" exclaimed Dorothy, when thefirst greetings were over.
"I had it touched up a bit by the Munchkin farmer who first made me,"answered the Scarecrow, pleasantly. "My complexion had become a bitgrey and faded, you know, and the paint had peeled off one end of mymouth, so I couldn't talk quite straight. Now I feel like myselfagain, and I may say without immodesty that my body is stuffed withthe loveliest oat-straw in all Oz." He pushed against his chest."Hear me crunkle?" he asked.
"Yes," said Dorothy; "you sound fine."
Button-Bright was wonderfully attracted by the strawman, and so wasPolly. The shaggy man treated him with great respect, because he wasso queerly made.
Jellia Jamb now came to say that Ozma wanted Princess Dorothy toreceive the invited guests in the Throne-Room, as they arrived. TheRuler was herself busy ordering the preparations for the morrow'sfestivities, so she wished her friend to act in her place.
Dorothy willingly agreed, being the only other Princess in the EmeraldCity; so she went to the great Throne-Room and sat in Ozma's seat,placing Polly on one side of her and Button-Bright on the other. TheScarecrow stood at the left of the throne and the Tin Woodman at theright, while the Wonderful Wizard and the shaggy man stood behind.
The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger came in, with bright new bows ofribbon on their collars and tails. After greeting Dorothyaffectionately the huge beasts lay down at the foot of the throne.
While they waited, the Scarecrow, who was near the little boy, asked:
"Why are you called Button-Bright?"
"Don't know," was the answer.
"Oh yes, you do, dear," said Dorothy. "Tell the Scarecrow how yougot your name."
"Papa always said I was bright as a button, so mama always called meButton-Bright," announced the boy.
"Where is your mama?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"Where is your home?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"Don't you want to find your mama again?" asked the Scarecrow.
"Don't know," said Button-Bright, calmly.
The Scarecrow looked thoughtful.
"Your papa may have been right," he observed; "but there are manykinds of buttons, you see. There are silver and gold buttons, whichare highly polished and glitter brightly. There are pearl and rubberbuttons, and other kinds, with surfaces more or less bright. But thereis still another sort of button which is covered with dull cloth, andthat must be the sort your papa meant when he said you were bright asa button. Don't you think so?"
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
Jack Pumpkinhead arrived, wearing a pair of new, white kid gloves; andhe brought a birthday present for Ozma consisting of a necklace ofpumpkin-seeds. In each seed was set a sparkling carolite, which isconsidered the rarest and most beautiful gem that exists. Thenecklace was in a plush case and Jellia Jamb put it on a table withthe Princess Ozma's other presents.
Next came a tall, beautiful woman clothed in a splendid trailing gown,trimmed with exquisite lace as fine as cobweb. This was the importantSorceress known as Glinda the Good, who had been of great assistanceto both Ozma and Dorothy. There was no humbug about her magic, youmay be sure, and Glinda was as kind as she was powerful. She greetedDorothy most lovingly, and kissed Button-Bright and Polly, and smiledupon the shaggy man, after which Jellia Jamb led the Sorceress to oneof the most magnificent rooms of the royal palace and appointed fiftyservants to wait upon her.
The next arrival was Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T.E.; the "H. M." meaningHighly Magnified and the "T.E." meaning Thoroughly Educated. TheWoggle-Bug was head professor at the Royal College of Oz, and he hadcomposed a fine Ode in honor of Ozma's birthday. This he wanted toread to them; but the Scarecrow wouldn't let him.
Soon they heard a clucking sound and a chorus of "cheep! cheep!" anda servant threw open the door to allow Billina and her ten fluffychicks to enter the Throne-Room. As the Yellow Hen marched proudly atthe head of her family, Dorothy cried, "Oh, you lovely things!" andran down from her seat to pet the little yellow downy balls. Billinawore a pearl necklace, and around the neck of each chicken was a tinygold chain holding a locket with the letter "D" engraved upon the outside.
"Open the lockets, Dorothy," said Billina. The girl obeyed and founda picture of herself in each locket. "They were named after you, mydear," continued the Yellow Hen, "so I wanted all my chickens to wearyour picture. Cluck--cluck! come here, Dorothy--this minute!" shecried, for the chickens were scattered and wandering all around thebig room.
They obeyed the call at once, and came running as fast as they could,fluttering their fluffy wings in a laughable way.
It was lucky that Billina gathered the little ones under her softbreast just then, for Tik-tok came in and tramped up to the throne onhis flat copper feet.
"I am all wound up and work-ing fine-ly," said the clock-workman to Dorothy.
"I can hear him tick," declared Button-Bright.
"You are quite the polished gentleman," said the Tin Woodman. "Standup here beside the shaggy man, Tik-tok, and help receive the company."
Dorothy placed soft cushions in a corner for Billina and her chicks,and had just returned to the Throne and seated herself when theplaying of the royal band outside the palace announced the approach ofdistinguished guests.
And my, how they did stare when the High Chamberlain threw open thedoors and the visitors entered the Throne-Room!
First walked a gingerbread man neatly formed and baked to a lovelybrown tint. He wore a silk hat and carried a candy cane prettilystriped with red and yellow. His shirt-front and cuffs were whitefrosting, and the buttons on his coat were licorice drops.
Behind the gingerbread man came a child with flaxen hair and merryblue eyes, dressed in white pajamas, with sandals on the soles of itspretty bare feet. The child looked around smiling and thrust itshands into the pockets of the pajamas. Close after it came a bigrubber bear, walking erect on its hind feet. The bear had twinklingblack eyes, and its body looked as if it had been pumped full of air.
Following these curious visitors were two tall, thin men and twoshort, fat men, all four dressed in gorgeous uniforms.
Ozma's High Chamberlain now hurried forward to announce the names ofthe new arrivals, calling out in a loud voice:
"His Gracious and Most Edible Majesty, King Dough the First, Ruler ofthe Two Kingdoms of Hiland and Loland. Also the Head Boolywag of hisMajesty, known as Chick the Cherub, and their faithful friend ParaBruin, the rubber bear."
These great personages bowed low as their names were called, andDorothy hastened to introduce them to the assembled company. Theywere the first foreign arrivals, and the friends of Princess Ozma werepolite to them and tried to make them feel that they were welcome.
Chick the Cherub shook hands with every one, including Billina, andwas so joyous and frank and full of good spirits that John Dough'sHead Booleywag at once became a prime favorite.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" whispered Dorothy.
"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
"Goodness me! what a queer lot of people you are," exclaimed therubber bear, looking at the assembled company.
"So're you," said Button-Bright, gravely. "Is King Dough good to eat?"
"He's too good to eat," laughed Chick the Cherub.
"I hope none of you are fond of gingerbread," said the King,rather anxiously.
"We should never think of eating our visitors, if we were," declaredthe Scarecrow; "so please do not worry, for you will be perfectly safewhile you remain in Oz."
"Why do they call you Chick?" the Yellow Hen asked the child.
"Because I'm an Incubator Baby, and never had any parents," replied theHead Booleywag.
"My chicks have a parent, and I'm it," said Billina.
"I'm glad of that," answered the Cherub, "because they'll have morefun worrying you than if they were brought up in an Incubator. TheIncubator never worries, you know."
King John Dough had brought for Ozma's birthday present a lovelygingerbread crown, with rows of small pearls around it and a fine bigpearl in each of its five points. After this had been received byDorothy with proper thanks and placed on the table with the otherpresents, the visitors from Hiland and Loland were escorted to theirrooms by the High Chamberlain.
They had no sooner departed than the band before the palace began toplay again, announcing more arrivals, and as these were doubtless fromforeign parts the High Chamberlain hurried back to receive them inhis most official manner.