L Frank Baum Oz 07 The Patchwork Girl of Oz

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of water from a dark well.'
The Wizard shook his head. "That," said he,
"will be a hard task, but if you travel far enough
you may discover it."
"I am willing to travel for years, if it will
save Unc Nunkie," declared Ojo, earnestly.
"Then you'd better begin your journey at
once," advised the Wizard.
Dorothy bad been listening with interest to
this conversation. Now she turned to Ozma and
asked: "May I go with Ojo, to help him?"
"Would you like to?" returned Ozma.
"Yes. I know Oz pretty well, but Ojo doesn't
know it at all. I'm sorry for his uncle and poor
Margolotte and I'd like to help save them. May
I go?"
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"If you wish to," replied Ozma.
"If Dorothy goes, then I must go to take care of
her," said the Scarecrow, decidedly. "A dark well
can only be discovered in some out-of-the-way
place, and there may be dangers there."
"You have my permission to accompany Dorothy,"
said Ozma. "And while you are gone I will take
care of the Patchwork Girl."
"I'll take care of myself," announced Scraps,
"for I'm going with the Scarecrow and Dorothy.
I promised Ojo to help him find the things he
wants and I'll stick to my promise."
"Very well," replied Ozma. "But I see no need
for Ojo to take the Glass Cat and the Woozy."
"I prefer to remain here," said the cat. "I've
nearly been nicked half a dozen times, already,
and if they're going into dangers it's best for me
to keep away from them."
"Let Jellia Jamb keep her till Ojo returns,"
suggested Dorothy. "We won't need to take the
Woozy, either, but he ought to be saved because
of the three hairs in his tail."
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"Better take me along," said the Woozy. "My eyes
can flash fire, you know, and I can growl--a
little."
"I'm sure you'll be safer here," Ozma decided,
and the Woozy made no further objection to the
plan.
After consulting together they decided that Ojo
and his party should leave the very next day to
search for the gill of water from a dark well, so
they now separated to make preparations for the
journey.
Ozma gave the Munchkin boy a room in the palace
for that night and the afternoon he passed with
Dorothy--getting acquainted, as she said--and
receiving advice from the Shaggy Man as to where
they must go. The Shaggy Man had wandered in many
parts of Oz, and so had Dorothy, for that matter,
yet neither of them knew where a dark well was to
be found.
"If such a thing is anywhere in the settled
parts of Oz," said Dorothy, "we'd prob'ly have
heard of it long ago. If it's in the wild parts of
the country, no one there would need a dark
well. P'raps there isn't such a thing."
"Oh, there must he!" returned Ojo, positively;
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"or else the recipe of Dr. Pipt wouldn't call
for it."
"That's true," agreed Dorothy; "and, if it's
anywhere in the Land of Oz, we're bound to find
it."
"Well, we're bound to search for it, anyhow,"
said the Scarecrow. "As for finding it, we must
trust to luck."
"Don't do that," begged Ojo, earnestly. "I'm
called Ojo the Unlucky, you know."
Chapter Nineteen
Trouble with the Tottenhots
A day's journey from the Emerald City brought the
little band of adventurers to the home of Jack
Pumpkinhead, which was a house formed from the
shell of an immense pumpkin. Jack had made it
himself and was very proud of it. There was a
door, and several windows, and through the top was
stuck a stovepipe that led from a small stove
inside. The door was reached by a flight of three
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steps and there was a good floor on which was
arranged some furniture that was quite
comfortable.
It is certain that Jack Pumpkinhead might
have had a much finer house to live in bad he
wanted it, for Ozma loved the stupid fellow,
who had been her earliest companion; but Jack
preferred his pumpkin house, as it matched
himself very well, and in this he was not so
stupid, after all.
The body of this remarkable person was made of
wood, branches of trees of various sizes having
been used for the purpose. This wooden framework
was covered by a red shirt--with white spots in
it--blue trousers, a yellow vest, a jacket of
green-and-gold and stout leather shoes. The neck
was a sharpened stick on which the pumpkin head
was set, and the eyes, ears, nose and mouth were
carved on the skin of the pumpkin, very like a
child's jack-o'-lantern.
The house of this interesting creation stood [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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