the middle of the forest, isn't it?'
'Yes,' said Unc.
'Then let's go away and visit the Munchkin Country and its jolly, good-natured people. I'd love to get a sight of something besides woods, Unc Nunkie.'
'Too little,' said Unc.
'Why, I'm not so little as I used to be,' answered the boy earnestly. 'I think I can walk as far and as fast through the woods as you can, Unc. And now that nothing grows in our back yard that is good to eat, we must go where there is food.'
Unc Nunkie made no reply for a time. Then he shut down the window and turned his chair to face the room, for the sun was sinking behind the tree-tops and it was growing cool.
By and by Ojo lighted the fire and the logs blazed freely in the broad fireplace. The two sat in the firelight a long time – the old, white– bearded Munchkin and the little boy. Both were thinking. When it grew quite dark outside, Ojo said:
'Eat your bread, Unc, and then we will go to bed.'
But Unc Nunkie did not eat the bread; neither did he go directly to bed. Long after his little nephew was sound asleep in the corner of the room the old man sat by the fire, thinking.
Chapter Two
The Crooked Magician
Just at dawn next morning Unc Nunkie laid his hand tenderly on Ojo's head and awakened him.
'Come,' he said.
Ojo dressed. He wore blue silk stockings, blue knee pants with gold buckles, a blue ruffled waist and a jacket of bright blue braided with gold. His shoes were of blue leather and turned up at the toes, which were pointed. His hat had a peaked crown and a flat brim, and around the brim was a row of tiny golden bells that tinkled when he moved. This was the native costume of those who inhabited the Munchkin Country of the Land of Oz, so Unc Nunkie's dress was much like that of his nephew. Instead of shoes, the old man wore boots with turnover tops and his blue coat had wide cuffs of gold braid.
The boy noticed that his uncle had not eaten the bread, and supposed the old man had not been hungry. Ojo was hungry, though; so he divided the piece of bread upon the table and ate his half for breakfast, washing it down with fresh, cool water from the brook. Unc put the other piece of bread in his jacket pocket, after which he again said, as he walked out through the doorway: 'Come.'
Ojo was well pleased. He was dreadfully tired of living all alone in the woods and wanted to travel and see people. For a long time he had wished to explore the beautiful Land of Oz in which they lived. When they were outside, Unc simply latched the door and started up the path. No one would disturb their little house, even if anyone came so far into the thick forest while they were gone.
At the foot of the mountain that separated the Country of the Munchkins from the Country of the Gillikins, the path divided. One way led to the left and the other to the right – straight up the mountain. Unc Nunkie took this right-hand path and Ojo followed without asking why. He knew it would take them to the house of the Crooked Magician, whom he had never seen but who was their nearest neighbor.
All the morning they trudged up the mountain path and at noon Unc and Ojo sat on a fallen tree-trunk and ate the last of the bread which the old Munchkin had placed in his pocket. Then they started on again and two hours later came in sight of the house of Dr. Pipt.
It was a big house, round, as were all the Munchkin houses, and painted blue, which is the distinctive color of the Munchkin Country of Oz. There was a pretty garden around the house, where blue trees and blue flowers grew in abundance and in one place were beds of blue cabbages, blue carrots and blue lettuce, all of which were delicious to eat. In Dr. Pipt's garden grew bun– trees, cake-trees, cream-puff bushes, blue buttercups which yielded excellent blue butter and a row of chocolate-caramel plants. Paths of blue gravel divided the vegetable and flower beds and a wider path led up to the front door. The place was in a clearing on the mountain, but a little way off was the grim forest, which completely surrounded it.
Unc knocked at the door of the house and a chubby, pleasant-faced woman, dressed all in blue, opened it and greeted the visitors with a smile.
'Ah,' said Ojo; 'you must be Dame Margolotte, the good wife of Dr. Pipt.'
'I am, my dear, and all strangers are welcome to my home.'
'May we see the famous Magician, Madam?'
'He is very busy just now,' she said, shaking her head doubtfully. 'But come in and let me give you something to eat, for you must have traveled far in order to get our lonely place.'
'We have,' replied Ojo, as he and Unc entered the house. 'We have come from a far lonelier place than this.'
'A lonelier place! And in the Munchkin Country?' she exclaimed. 'Then it must be somewhere in the Blue Forest.'
'It is, good Dame Margolotte.'
'Dear me!' she said, looking at the man, 'you must be Unc Nunkie, known as the Silent One.' Then she looked at the boy. 'And you must be Ojo the Unlucky,' she added.
'Yes,' said Unc.
'I never knew I was called the Unlucky,' said Ojo, soberly; 'but it is really a good name for me.'
'Well,' remarked the woman, as she bustled around the room and set the table and brought food from the cupboard, 'you were unlucky to live all alone in that dismal forest, which is much worse than the forest around here; but perhaps your luck will change, now you are away from it. If, during your travels, you can manage to lose that 'Un' at the beginning of your name 'Unlucky,' you will then become Ojo the Lucky, which will be a great improvement.'
'How can I lose that 'Un,' Dame Margolotte?'
'I do not know how, but you must keep the matter in mind and perhaps the chance will come to you,' she replied.
Ojo had never eaten such a fine meal in all his life. There was a savory stew, smoking hot, a dish of blue peas, a bowl of sweet milk of a delicate blue tint and a blue pudding with blue plums in it. When the visitors had eaten heartily of this fare the woman said to them:
'Do you wish to see Dr. Pipt on business or for pleasure?'
Unc shook his head.
'We are traveling,' replied Ojo, 'and we stopped at your house just to rest and refresh ourselves. I do not think Unc Nunkie cares very much to see the famous Crooked Magician; but for my part I am curious to look at such a great man.'
The woman seemed thoughtful.
'I remember that Unc Nunkie and my husband used to be friends, many years ago,' she said, 'so perhaps they will be glad to meet again. The Magician is very busy, as I said, but if you will promise not to disturb him you may come into his workshop and watch him prepare a wonderful charm.'
'Thank you,' replied the boy, much pleased. 'I would like to do that.'
She led the way to a great domed hall at the back of the house, which was the Magician's workshop. There was a row of windows extending nearly around the sides of the circular room, which rendered the place very light, and there was a back door in addition to the one leading to the front part of the house. Before the row of windows a broad seat was built and there were some chairs and benches in the room besides. At one end stood a great fireplace, in which a blue log was blazing with a blue flame, and over the fire hung four kettles in a row, all bubbling and steaming at a great rate. The Magician was stirring all four of these kettles at the same time, two with his hands and two with his feet, to the latter, wooden ladles being strapped, for this man was so very crooked that his legs were as handy as his arms.
Unc Nunkie came forward to greet his old friend, but not being able to shake either his hands or his feet, which were all occupied in stirring, he patted the Magician's bald head and asked: 'What?'
