Chapter 13
The Tin Owl gave a hoot of delight when he saw the RedWagon draw up before Jinjur's house, and the Brown Beargrunted and growled with glee and trotted toward Ozmaas fast as he could wobble. As for the Canary, it flewswiftly to Dorothy's shoulder and perched there, sayingin her ear:
"Thank goodness you have come to our rescue!"
"But who are you?" asked Dorothy
"Don't you know?" returned the Canary.
"No; for the first time we noticed you in the MagicPicture, you were just a bird, as you are now. Butwe've guessed that the giant woman had transformed you,as she did the others."
"Yes; I'm Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter,"announced the Canary.
"Goodness me!" cried Dorothy. "How dreadful."
"Well, I make a rather pretty bird, I think,"returned Polychrome, "but of course I'm anxious toresume my own shape and get back upon my rainbow."
"Ozma will help you, I'm sure," said Dorothy. "Howdoes it feel, Scarecrow, to be a Bear?" she asked,addressing her old friend.
"I don't like it," declared the Scarecrow Bear. "Thisbrutal form is quite beneath the dignity of a wholesomestraw man."
"And think of me," said the Owl, perching upon thedashboard of the Red Wagon with much noisy clatteringof his tin feathers. "Don't I look horrid, Dorothy,with eyes several sizes too big for my body, and soweak that I ought to wear spectacles?"
"Well," said Dorothy critically, as she looked himover, "you're nothing to brag of, I must confess. ButOzma will soon fix you up again."
The Green Monkey had hung back, bashful at meetingtwo lovely girls while in the form of a beast; butJinjur now took his hand and led him forward while sheintroduced him to Ozma, and Woot managed to make a lowbow, not really ungraceful, before her girlish Majesty,the Ruler of Oz.
"You have all been forced to endure a sadexperience," said Ozma, "and so I am anxious to do allin my power to break Mrs. Yoop's enchantments. Butfirst tell me how you happened to stray into thatlonely Valley where Yoop Castle stands."
Between them they related the object of theirjourney, the Scarecrow Bear telling of the TinWoodman's resolve to find Nimmie Amee and marry her, asa just reward for her loyalty to him. Woot told oftheir adventures with the Loons of Loonville, and theTin Owl described the manner in which they had beencaptured and transformed by the Giantess. ThenPolychrome related her story, and when all had beentold, and Dorothy had several times reproved Toto forgrowling at the Tin Owl, Ozma remained thoughtful for awhile, pondering upon what she had heard. Finally shelooked up, and with one of her delightful smiles, saidto the anxious group:
"I am not sure my magic will be able to restoreevery one of you, because your transformations areof such a strange and unusual character. Indeed,Mrs. Yoop was quite justified in believing no powercould alter her enchantments. However, I am sureI can restore the Scarecrow to his original shape.He was stuffed with straw from the beginning, andeven the yookoohoo magic could not alter that. TheGiantess was merely able to make a bear's shape ofa man's shape, but the bear is stuffed with straw,just as the man was. So I feel confident I can makea man of the bear again."
"Hurrah!" cried the Brown Bear, and tried clumsily todance a jig of delight.
"As for the Tin Woodman, his case is much the same,"resumed Ozma, still smiling. "The power of the Giantesscould not make him anything but a tin creature,whatever shape she transformed him into, so it will notbe impossible to restore him to his manly form. Anyhow,I shall test my magic at once, and see if it will dowhat I have promised."
She drew from her bosom a small silver Wand and,making passes with the Wand over the head of the Bear,she succeeded in the brief space of a moment inbreaking his enchantment. The original Scarecrow of Ozagain stood before them, well stuffed with straw andwith his features nicely painted upon the bag whichformed his head.
The Scarecrow was greatly delighted, as you maysuppose, and he strutted proudly around while thepowerful fairy, Ozma of Oz, broke the enchantment thathad transformed the Tin Woodman and made a Tin Owl intoa Tin Man again.
"Now, then," chirped the Canary, eagerly; "I'mnext, Ozma!"
"But your case is different," replied Ozma, nolonger smiling but wearing a grave expression onher sweet face. "I shall have to experiment on you,Polychrome, and I may fail in all my attempts."
She then tried two or three different methods ofmagic, hoping one of them would succeed in breakingPolychrome's enchantment, but still the Rainbow'sDaughter remained a Canary-Bird. Finally, however, sheexperimented in another way. She transformed the Canaryinto a Dove, and then transformed the Dove into aSpeckled Hen, and then changed the Speckled Hen into arabbit, and then the rabbit into a Fawn. And at thelast, after mixing several powders and sprinkling themupon the Fawn, the yookoohoo enchantment was suddenlybroken and before them stood one of the daintiest andloveliest creatures in any fairyland in the world.Polychrome was as sweet and merry in disposition as shewas beautiful, and when she danced and capered aroundin delight, her beautiful hair floated around her likea golden mist and her many-hued raiment, as soft ascobwebs, reminded one of drifting clouds in a summersky.
Woot was so awed by the entrancing sight of thisexquisite Sky Fairy that he quite forgot his own sadplight until be noticed Ozma gazing upon him with anintent expression that denoted sympathy and sorrow.Dorothy whispered in her friend's ear, but the Ruler ofOz shook her head sadly.
Jinjur, noticing this and understanding Ozma's looks,took the paw of the Green Monkey in her own hand andpatted it softly.
"Never mind," she said to him. "You are a verybeautiful color, and a monkey can climb better than aboy and do a lot of other things no boy can ever do."
"What's the matter?" asked Woot, a sinking feeling athis heart. "Is Ozma's magic all used up?"
Ozma herself answered him.
"Your form of enchantment, my poor boy," she saidpityingly, "is different from that of the others.Indeed, it is a form that is impossible to alter by anymagic known to fairies or yookoohoos. The wickedGiantess was well aware, when she gave you the form ofa Green Monkey, that the Green Monkey must exist in theLand of Oz for all future time."
Woot drew a long sigh.
"Well, that's pretty hard luck," he said bravely,"but if it can't be helped I must endure it; that'sall. I don't like being a monkey, but what's the use ofkicking against my fate?"
They were all very sorry for him, and Dorothyanxiously asked Ozma:
"Couldn't Glinda save him?"
"No," was the reply. "Glinda's power in trans-formations is no greater than my own. Before I left mypalace I went to my Magic Room and studied Woot's casevery carefully. I found that no power can do away withthe Green Monkey. He might transfer, or exchange hisform with some other person, it is true; but the GreenMonkey we cannot get rid of by any magic arts known toscience."
"But -- see here," said the Scarecrow, who hadlistened intently to this explanation, "why not put themonkey's form on some one else?"
"Who would agree to make the change?" asked Ozma. "Ifby force we caused anyone else to become a GreenMonkey, we would be as cruel and wicked as Mrs. Yoop.And what good would an exchange do?" she continued."Suppose, for instance, we worked the enchantment, andmade Toto into a Green Monkey. At the same moment Wootwould become a little dog."
"Leave me out of your magic, please," said Toto, witha reproachful growl. "I wouldn't become a Green Monkeyfor anything."
"And I wouldn't become a dog," said Woot. "A greenmonkey is much better than a dog, it seems to me."
"That is only a matter of opinion," answered Toto.
"Now, here's another idea," said the Scarecrow. "Mybrains are working finely today, you must admit. Whynot transform Toto into Woot the Wanderer, and thenhave them exchange forms? The dog would become a greenmonkey and the monkey would have his own natural shapeagain."
"To be sure!" cried Jinjur. "That's a fine idea."
"Leave me out of it," said Toto. "I won't do it."
"Wouldn't you be willing to become a green monkey --see what a pretty color it is -- so that this poor boycould be restored to his own shape?" asked Jinjur,pleadingly
"No," said Toto.
"I don't like that plan the least bit," declaredDorothy, "for then I wouldn't have any little dog."
"But you'd have a green monkey in his place,"persisted Jinjur, who liked Woot and wanted to helphim.
"I don't want a green monkey," said Dorothypositively.
"Don't speak of this again, I beg of you," said Woot."This is my own misfortune and I would rather suffer italone than deprive Princess Dorothy of her dog, ordeprive the dog of his proper shape. And perhaps evenher Majesty, Ozma of Oz, might not be able to transformanyone else into the shape of Woot the Wanderer."
"Yes; I believe I might do that," Ozma returned; "butWoot is quite right; we are not justified in inflictingupon anyone -- man or dog -- the form of a greenmonkey. Also it is certain that in order to relieve theboy of the form he now wears, we must give it tosomeone else, who would be forced to wear it always."
"I wonder," said Dorothy, thoughtfully, "if wecouldn't find someone in the Land of Oz who would bewilling to become a green monkey? Seems to me a monkeyis active and spry, and he can climb trees and do a lotof clever things, and green isn't a bad color for amonkey -- it makes him unusual."
"I wouldn't ask anyone to take this dreadful form,"said Woot; "it wouldn't be right, you know. I've been amonkey for some time, now, and I don't like it. Itmakes me ashamed to be a beast of this sort when byright of birth I'm a boy; so I'm sure it would bewicked to ask anyone else to take my place."
They were all silent, for they knew he spoke thetruth. Dorothy was almost ready to cry with pity andOzma's sweet face was sad and disturbed. The Scarecrowrubbed and patted his stuffed head to try to make itthink better, while the Tin Woodman went into the houseand began to oil his tin joints so that the sorrow ofhis friends might not cause him to weep. Weeping isliable to rust tin, and the Emperor prided himself uponhis highly polished body -- now doubly dear to himbecause for a time he had been deprived of it.
Polychrome had danced down the garden paths and backagain a dozen times, for she was seldom still a moment,yet she had heard Ozma's speech and understood verywell Woot's unfortunate position. But the Rainbow'sDaughter, even while dancing, could think and reasonvery clearly, and suddenly she solved the problem inthe nicest possible way. Coming close to Ozma, shesaid:
"Your Majesty, all this trouble was caused by thewickedness of Mrs. Yoop, the Giantess. Yet even nowthat cruel woman is living in her secluded castle,enjoying the thought that she has put this terribleenchantment on Woot the Wanderer. Even now she islaughing at our despair because we can find no way toget rid of the green monkey. Very well, we do not wishto get rid of it. Let the woman who created the formwear it herself, as a just punishment for herwickedness. I am sure your fairy power can give to Mrs.Yoop the form of Woot the Wanderer -- even at thisdistance from her --and then it will be possible toexchange the two forms. Mrs. Yoop will become the GreenMonkey, and Woot will recover his own form again."
Ozma's face brightened as she listened to this cleverproposal.
"Thank you, Polychrome," said she. "The task youpropose Is not so easy as you suppose, but I will makethe attempt, and perhaps I may succeed."