Baum, L Frank Oz 16 Kabumpo in Oz

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they reached the top, so unreal did it seem in the moonlight. There was no
one in the garden but there were lights in the castle windows. "Just as if they
expected us," said the Elegant Elephant, as they reached the tall gates. Pompa
opened the gates and next instant they were standing before the great castle
door.
"Shall we knock?" chattered Wag, his eyes sticking out with excitement.
"No! Wait a minute," begged the Prince, who was becoming more
agitated every minute.
"Here's the mirror and the door knob," quavered Kabumpo. "Didn't the
Question Box say to trust them? Why, look here, Pompa, my boy, it fits!"
Clumsily, Kabumpo held up the glittering door knob he had brought all the
way from Pumperdink; then he slipped it easily on the small gold bar
projecting from the door.
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But instead of looking joyful Pompa groaned dismally. He started to
protest but Kabumpo had already turned the knob and they found themselves
in a glittering gold court room.
"Now for the Princess," puffed Kabumpo, looking around with his
twinkling little eyes. "Here, take the mirror, Pompa." The room was empty,
although brilliantly lighted, and the Prince stood uncertainly in the very
center. Suddenly, with a determined little cry, Pompa rushed over to Peg
Amy, who stood leaning against a tall gold chair.
"Peg," choked Pompa, dropping on his knees beside the Wooden Doll,
"I'll have to find some other way to save Pumperdink. I'm not going to marry
this Princess and have you taken away from me. You're a proper enough
Princess for me and we'll just go back to Pumperdink and be--
"The mirror! Look in the mirror!" screamed Wag, who was sitting
beside Peg Amy.
Unconsciously, Pompa had held out the gold mirror and Peg, leaning
over to listen, had looked directly into it. Above Peg's pleasant reflection in
the mirror they read these startling and important words:
This is Peg Amy, Princess of Sun Top Mountain.
While Pompa stared with round eyes the words faded out and this new
legend formed in the glass:
The Proper Princess is Found! This is the Proper Princess.
"I always knew you were a Princess," cried Wag, turning a somersault.
The big rabbit had just come right-side-up, when a still more amazing
thing happened. The wooden body of Peg melted before their eyes and in its
place stood the loveliest little Princess in the world. And yet, with all her
beauty, she was strangely like the old Peg. Her eyes had the same merry
twinkle and her mouth the same pleasant curve.
"Oh!" cried Princess Peg, holding her arms out to her friends. "Now I
am the happiest person in Oz!"
CHAPTER 21
How It All Came About
Before Pompa had time to rise, a tall, richly clad old nobleman rushed
into the room.
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"Peg!" cried the old gentleman, clasping the Princess in his arms. "You
are back! At last the enchantment is broken!"
For moment the two forgot all about Pompa and the others. Then,
gently disengaging herself, Peg seized the Prince's hands and drew him to his
feet.
"Uncle," she said breathlessly, holding to Pompa with one hand and
waving with the other at Kabumpo and Wag, "here are the friends responsible
for my release. This is my Uncle Tozzyfog," she explained quickly, and
impulsively Uncle Tozzyfog sprang to his feet and embraced each in turn-even
Kabumpo.
"Sit down," begged the old nobleman, sinking into a golden chair and
mopping his head with a flowered silk kerchief.
Pompa, who could not take his eyes from his new and wonderful Peg
Amy, dropped into another chair. Kabumpo leaned limply against a pillar and
Wag sat where he was, his nose twitching faster than ever and his ears stuck
out straight behind him.
"You are probably wondering about the change in Peg," began Uncle
Tozzyfog, as the Princess perched on the arm of his chair, "so I'll try to tell my
part of the story. Three years ago an ugly old peddler climbed the path to Sun
Top Mountain. He said his name was Glegg and, forcing his way into the
castle, he demanded the hand of my niece in marriage."
Peg shuddered and Uncle Tozzyfog blew his nose violently at the
distressing memory. Then, speaking rapidly and pausing every few minutes to
appeal to the Princess, he continued the story of Peg's enchantment.
Naturally the old peddler had been refused and thrown out of the castle. That
night as Uncle Tozzyfog prepared to carve the royal roast, there came an
explosion, and when the courtiers had picked themselves up Peg Amy was
nowhere to be seen, and only a threatening scroll remained to explain the
mystery. Glegg, who was really a powerful magician, infuriated by Uncle
Tozzyfog's treatment, had changed the little Princess into a tree.
"Know ye," began the scroll quite like the one that had spoiled Pompa's
birthday, "know ye that unless ye Princess of Sun Top Mountain consents to
wed J. Glegg she shall remain a tree forever, or until two shall call and believe
her to be a Princess.
The whole castle had been plunged into utmost gloom by this terrible
happening, for Peg was the kindliest, best loved little Princess any Kingdom
could wish for. Lord Tozzyfog and nearly all the Courtiers set out at once to
search for the little tree and for two years they wandered over Oz, addressing
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every hopeful tree as Princess, but never happening on the right one. Finally
they returned in despair and Sun Top Mountain, once the most cheerful [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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