FANTASTICAL ADVENTURES – L. Frank Baum Edition (Childhood Essentials Library). Лаймен Фрэнк Баум

cannot forget it,” retorted the SawHorse, “for it is quite as flimsy as the rest of your person.”

      “Flimsy! me flimsy!” cried Jack, in a rage. “How dare you call me flimsy?”

      “Because you are built as absurdly as a jumping-jack,” sneered the horse, rolling his knotty eyes in a vicious manner. “Even your head won’t stay straight, and you never can tell whether you are looking backwards or forwards!”

      “Friends, I entreat you not to quarrel!” pleaded the Tin Woodman, anxiously. “As a matter of fact, we are none of us above criticism; so let us bear with each others’ faults.”

      “An excellent suggestion,” said the WoggleBug, approvingly. “You must have an excellent heart, my metallic friend.”

      “I have,” returned Nick, well pleased. “My heart is quite the best part of me. But now let us start upon our Journey.

      They perched the one-legged Pumpkinhead upon the SawHorse, and tied him to his seat with cords, so that he could not possibly fall off.

      And then, following the lead of the Scarecrow, they all advanced in the direction of the Emerald City.

      14. Old Mombi indulges in Witchcraft

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      They soon discovered that the SawHorse limped, for his new leg was a trifle too long. So they were obliged to halt while the Tin Woodman chopped it down with his axe, after which the wooden steed paced along more comfortably. But the SawHorse was not entirely satisfied, even yet.

      “It was a shame that I broke my other leg!” it growled.

      “On the contrary,” airily remarked the WoggleBug, who was walking alongside, “you should consider the accident most fortunate. For a horse is never of much use until he has been broken.”

      “I beg your pardon,” said Tip, rather provoked, for he felt a warm interest in both the SawHorse and his man Jack; “but permit me to say that your joke is a poor one, and as old as it is poor.”

      “Still, it is a Joke,” declared the WoggleBug; firmly, “and a Joke derived from a play upon words is considered among educated people to be eminently proper.”

      “What does that mean?” enquired the Pumpkinhead, stupidly.

      “It means, my dear friend,” explained the WoggleBug, “that our language contains many words having a double meaning; and that to pronounce a joke that allows both meanings of a certain word, proves the joker a person of culture and refinement, who has, moreover, a thorough command of the language.”

      “I don’t believe that,” said Tip, plainly; “anybody can make a pun.”

      “Not so,” rejoined the WoggleBug, stiffly. “It requires education of a high order. Are you educated, young sir?”

      “Not especially,” admitted Tip.

      “Then you cannot judge the matter. I myself am Thoroughly Educated, and I say that puns display genius. For instance, were I to ride upon this SawHorse, he would not only be an animal he would become an equipage. For he would then be a horse-and-buggy.”

      At this the Scarecrow gave a gasp and the Tin Woodman stopped short and looked reproachfully at the WoggleBug. At the same time the SawHorse loudly snorted his derision; and even the Pumpkinhead put up his hand to hide the smile which, because it was carved upon his face, he could not change to a frown.

      But the WoggleBug strutted along as if he had made some brilliant remark, and the Scarecrow was obliged to say:

      “I have heard, my dear friend, that a person can become over-educated; and although I have a high respect for brains, no matter how they may be arranged or classified, I begin to suspect that yours are slightly tangled. In any event, I must beg you to restrain your superior education while in our society.”

      “We are not very particular,” added the Tin Woodman; “and we are exceedingly kind hearted. But if your superior culture gets leaky again—” He did not complete the sentence, but he twirled his gleaming axe so carelessly that the WoggleBug looked frightened, and shrank away to a safe distance.

      The others marched on in silence, and the Highly Magnified one, after a period of deep thought, said in an humble voice:

      “I will endeavor to restrain myself.”

      “That is all we can expect,” returned the Scarecrow pleasantly; and good nature being thus happily restored to the party, they proceeded upon their way.

      When they again stopped to allow Tip to rest—the boy being the only one that seemed to tire—the Tin Woodman noticed many small, round holes in the grassy meadow.

      “This must be a village of the Field Mice,” he said to the Scarecrow. “I wonder if my old friend, the Queen of the Mice, is in this neighborhood.”

      “If she is, she may be of great service to us,” answered the Scarecrow, who was impressed by a sudden thought. “See if you can call her, my dear Nick.”

      So the Tin Woodman blew a shrill note upon a silver whistle that hung around his neck, and presently a tiny grey mouse popped from a near-by hole and advanced fearlessly toward them. For the Tin Woodman had once saved her life, and the Queen of the Field Mice knew he was to be trusted.

      “Good day, your Majesty,” said Nick, politely addressing the mouse; “I trust you are enjoying good health?”

      “Thank you, I am quite well,” answered the Queen, demurely, as she sat up and displayed the tiny golden crown upon her head. “Can I do anything to assist my old friends?”

      “You can, indeed,” replied the Scarecrow, eagerly. “Let me, I intreat you, take a dozen of your subjects with me to the Emerald City.”

      “Will they be injured in any way?” asked the Queen, doubtfully.

      “I think not,” replied the Scarecrow. “I will carry them hidden in the straw which stuffs my body, and when I give them the signal by unbuttoning my jacket, they have only to rush out and scamper home again as fast as they can. By doing this they will assist me to regain my throne, which the Army of Revolt has taken from me.”

      “In that case,” said the Queen, “I will not refuse your request. Whenever you are ready, I will call twelve of my most intelligent subjects.”

      “I am ready now” returned the Scarecrow. Then he lay flat upon the ground and unbuttoned his jacket, displaying the mass of straw with which he was stuffed.

      The Queen uttered a little piping call, and in an instant a dozen pretty field mice had emerged from their holes and stood before their ruler, awaiting her orders.

      What the Queen said to them none of our travelers could understand, for it was in the mouse language; but the field mice obeyed without hesitation, running one after the other to the Scarecrow and hiding themselves in the straw of his breast.

      When all of the twelve mice had thus concealed themselves, the Scarecrow buttoned his Jacket securely and then arose and thanked the Queen for her kindness.

      “One thing more you might do to serve us,” suggested the Tin Woodman; “and that is to run ahead and show us the way to the Emerald City. For some enemy is evidently trying to prevent us from reaching it.”

      “I will do that gladly,” returned the Queen. “Are you ready?”

      The Tin Woodman looked at Tip.

      “I’m rested,” said the boy. “Let us start.”

      Then they resumed their journey, the little grey Queen of the Field Mice running swiftly ahead and then pausing until the travelers drew near, when away she would dart again.

      Without this unerring guide the Scarecrow and