“I’ve tried to eat a lot while I had the chance,” said he, “for it’s likely to be a long while between meals in this strange country. But I’m ready to go, now, at any time you wish.”
So, after the Wizard had put the piglets back into his inside pocket, where they cuddled up and went to sleep, the three climbed into the buggy and Jim started back to the town.
“Where shall we stay?” asked the girl.
“I think I shall take possession of the House of the Sorcerer,” replied the Wizard; “for the Prince said in the presence of his people that he would keep me until they picked another Sorcerer, and the new Princess won’t know but that we belong there.”
They agreed to this plan, and when they reached the great square Jim drew the buggy into the big door of the domed hall.
“It doesn’t look very homelike,” said Dorothy, gazing around at the bare room. “But it’s a place to stay, anyhow.”
“What are those holes up there?” enquired the boy, pointing to some openings that appeared near the top of the dome.
“They look like doorways,” said Dorothy; “only there are no stairs to get to them.”
“You forget that stairs are unnecessary,” observed the Wizard. “Let us walk up, and see where the doors lead to.”
With this he began walking in the air toward the high openings, and Dorothy and Zeb followed him. It was the same sort of climb one experiences when walking up a hill, and they were nearly out of breath when they came to the row of openings, which they perceived to be doorways leading into halls in the upper part of the house. Following these halls they discovered many small rooms opening from them, and some were furnished with glass benches, tables and chairs. But there were no beds at all.
“I wonder if these people never sleep,” said the girl.
“Why, there seems to be no night at all in this country,” Zeb replied. “Those colored suns are exactly in the same place they were when we came, and if there is no sunset there can be no night.”
“Very true,” agreed the Wizard. “But it is a long time since I have had any sleep, and I’m tired. So I think I shall lie down upon one of these hard glass benches and take a nap.”
“I will, too,” said Dorothy, and chose a little room at the end of the hall.
Zeb walked down again to unharness Jim, who, when he found himself free, rolled over a few times and then settled down to sleep, with Eureka nestling comfortably beside his big, boney body. Then the boy returned to one of the upper rooms, and in spite of the hardness of the glass bench was soon deep in slumberland.
6. The Mangaboos Prove Dangerous
When the Wizard awoke the six colored suns were shining down upon the Land of the Mangaboos just as they had done ever since his arrival. The little man, having had a good sleep, felt rested and refreshed, and looking through the glass partition of the room he saw Zeb sitting up on his bench and yawning. So the Wizard went in to him.
“Zeb,” said he, “my balloon is of no further use in this strange country, so I may as well leave it on the square where it fell. But in the basket-car are some things I would like to keep with me. I wish you would go and fetch my satchel, two lanterns, and a can of kerosene oil that is under the seat. There is nothing else that I care about.”
So the boy went willingly upon the errand, and by the time he had returned Dorothy was awake. Then the three held a counsel to decide what they should do next, but could think of no way to better their condition.
“I don’t like these veg’table people,” said the little girl. “They’re cold and flabby, like cabbages, in spite of their prettiness.”
“I agree with you. It is because there is no warm blood in them,” remarked the Wizard.
“And they have no hearts; so they can’t love anyone—not even themselves,” declared the boy.
“The Princess is lovely to look at,” continued Dorothy, thoughtfully; “but I don’t care much for her, after all. If there was any other place to go, I’d like to go there.”
“But IS there any other place?” asked the Wizard.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
Just then they heard the big voice of Jim the cab-horse calling to them, and going to the doorway leading to the dome they found the Princess and a throng of her people had entered the House of the Sorcerer.
So they went down to greet the beautiful vegetable lady, who said to them:
“I have been talking with my advisors about you meat people, and we have decided that you do not belong in the Land of the Mangaboos and must not remain here.”
“How can we go away?” asked Dorothy.
“Oh, you cannot go away, of course; so you must be destroyed,” was the answer.
“In what way?” enquired the Wizard.
“We shall throw you three people into the Garden of the Twining Vines,” said the Princess, “and they will soon crush you and devour your bodies to make themselves grow bigger. The animals you have with you we will drive to the mountains and put into the Black Pit. Then our country will be rid of all its unwelcome visitors.”
“But you are in need of a Sorcerer,” said the Wizard, “and not one of those growing is yet ripe enough to pick. I am greater than any thorn-covered sorcerer that every grew in your garden. Why destroy me?”
“It is true we need a Sorcerer,” acknowledged the Princess, “but I am informed that one of our own will be ready to pick in a few days, to take the place of Gwig, whom you cut in two before it was time for him to be planted. Let us see your arts, and the sorceries you are able to perform. Then I will decide whether to destroy you with the others or not.”
At this the Wizard made a bow to the people and repeated his trick of producing the nine tiny piglets and making them disappear again. He did it very cleverly, indeed, and the Princess looked at the strange piglets as if she were as truly astonished as any vegetable person could be. But afterward she said:
“I have heard of this wonderful magic. But it accomplishes nothing of value. What else can you do?”
The Wizard tried to think. Then he jointed together the blades of his sword and balanced it very skillfully upon the end of his nose. But even that did not satisfy the Princess.
Just then his eye fell upon the lanterns and the can of kerosene oil which Zeb had brought from the car of his balloon, and he got a clever idea from those commonplace things.
“Your Highness,” said he, “I will now proceed to prove my magic by creating two suns that you have never seen before; also I will exhibit a Destroyer much more dreadful that your Clinging Vines.”
So he placed Dorothy upon one side of him and the boy upon the other and set a lantern upon each of their heads.
“Don’t laugh,” he whispered to them, “or you will spoil the effect of my magic.”
Then, with much dignity and a look of vast importance upon his wrinkled face, the Wizard got out his matchbox and lighted the two lanterns. The glare they made was very small when compared with the radiance of the six great colored suns; but still they gleamed steadily and clearly. The Mangaboos were much impressed because they had never before seen any light that did not come directly from their suns.
Next the Wizard poured a pool of oil from the can upon the glass floor, where it covered quite a broad surface. When he lighted the oil a hundred tongues of flame shot up, and the effect was really