He looked so anxious, as he said this, that the little girl asked:
'There isn't anything wrong with Ozma, is there?'
'Not yet,' said he; 'but I'm afraid the time has come when I must tell you some very bad news, little friend.'
'Oh, what is it?' cried Dorothy.
'Do you remember the Nome King?' asked the Tin Woodman.
'I remember him very well,' she replied.
'The Nome King has not a kind heart,' said the Emperor, sadly, 'and he has been harboring wicked thoughts of revenge, because we once defeated him and liberated his slaves and you took away his Magic Belt. So he has ordered his Nomes to dig a long tunnel underneath the deadly desert, so that he may march his hosts right into the Emerald City. When he gets there he intends to destroy our beautiful country.'
Dorothy was much surprised to hear this.
'How did Ozma find out about the tunnel?' she asked.
'She saw it in her Magic Picture.'
'Of course,' said Dorothy; 'I might have known that. And what is she going to do?'
'I cannot tell,' was the reply.
'Pooh!' cried the Yellow Hen. 'We're not afraid of the Nomes. If we roll a few of our eggs down the tunnel they'll run away back home as fast as they can go.'
'Why, that's true enough!' exclaimed Dorothy. 'The Scarecrow once conquered all the Nome King's army with some of Billina's eggs.'
'But you do not understand all of the dreadful plot,' continued the Tin Woodman. 'The Nome King is clever, and he knows his Nomes would run from eggs; so he has bargained with many terrible creatures to help him. These evil spirits are not afraid of eggs or anything else, and they are very powerful. So the Nome King will send them through the tunnel first, to conquer and destroy, and then the Nomes will follow after to get their share of the plunder and slaves.'
They were all startled to hear this, and every face wore a troubled look.
'Is the tunnel all ready?' asked Dorothy.
'Ozma sent me word yesterday that the tunnel was all completed except for a thin crust of earth at the end. When our enemies break through this crust, they will be in the gardens of the royal palace, in the heart of the Emerald City. I offered to arm all my Winkies and march to Ozma's assistance; but she said no.'
'I wonder why?' asked Dorothy.
'She answered that all the inhabitants of Oz, gathered together, were not powerful enough to fight and overcome the evil forces of the Nome King. Therefore she refuses to fight at all.'
'But they will capture and enslave us, and plunder and ruin all our lovely land!' exclaimed the Wizard, greatly disturbed by this statement.
'I fear they will,' said the Tin Woodman, sorrowfully. 'And I also fear that those who are not fairies, such as the Wizard, and Dorothy, and her uncle and aunt, as well as Toto and Billina, will be speedily put to death by the conquerors.'
'What can be done?' asked Dorothy, shuddering a little at the prospect of this awful fate.
'Nothing can be done!' gloomily replied the Emperor of the Winkies. 'But since Ozma refuses my army I will go myself to the Emerald City. The least I may do is to perish beside my beloved Ruler.'
25. How the Scarecrow Displayed His Wisdom
This amazing news had saddened every heart and all were now anxious to return to the Emerald City and share Ozma's fate. So they started without loss of time, and as the road led past the Scarecrow's new mansion they determined to make a brief halt there and confer with him.
'The Scarecrow is probably the wisest man in all Oz,' remarked the Tin Woodman, when they had started upon their journey. 'His brains are plentiful and of excellent quality, and often he has told me things I might never have thought of myself. I must say I rely a great deal upon the Scarecrow's brains in this emergency.'
The Tin Woodman rode on the front seat of the wagon, where Dorothy sat between him and the Wizard.
'Has the Scarecrow heard of Ozma's trouble?' asked the Captain General.
'I do not know, sir,' was the reply.
'When I was a private,' said Omby Amby, 'I was an excellent army, as I fully proved in our war against the Nomes. But now there is not a single private left in our army, since Ozma made me the Captain General, so there is no one to fight and defend our lovely Ruler.'
'True,' said the Wizard. 'The present army is composed only of officers, and the business of an officer is to order his men to fight. Since there are no men there can be no fighting.'
'Poor Ozma!' whispered Dorothy, with tears in her sweet eyes. 'It's dreadful to think of all her lovely fairy country being destroyed. I wonder if we couldn't manage to escape and get back to Kansas by means of the Magic Belt? And we might take Ozma with us and all work hard to get money for her, so she wouldn't be so VERY lonely and unhappy about the loss of her fairyland.'
'Do you think there would be any work for ME in Kansas?' asked the Tin Woodman.
'If you are hollow, they might use you in a canning factory,' suggested Uncle Henry. 'But I can't see the use of your working for a living. You never eat or sleep or need a new suit of clothes.'
'I was not thinking of myself,' replied the Emperor, with dignity. 'I merely wondered if I could not help to support Dorothy and Ozma.'
As they indulged in these sad plans for the future they journeyed in sight of the Scarecrow's new mansion, and even though filled with care and worry over the impending fate of Oz, Dorothy couldn't help a feeling of wonder at the sight she saw.
The Scarecrow's new house was shaped like an immense ear of corn. The rows of kernels were made of solid gold, and the green upon which the ear stood upright was a mass of sparkling emeralds. Upon the very top of the structure was perched a figure representing the Scarecrow himself, and upon his extended arms, as well as upon his head, were several crows carved out of ebony and having ruby eyes. You may imagine how big this ear of corn was when I tell you that a single gold kernel formed a window, swinging outward upon hinges, while a row of four kernels opened to make the front entrance. Inside there were five stories, each story being a single room.
The gardens around the mansion consisted of cornfields, and Dorothy acknowledged that the place was in all respects a very appropriate home for her good friend the Scarecrow.
'He would have been very happy here, I'm sure,' she said, 'if only the Nome King had left us alone. But if Oz is destroyed of course this place will be destroyed too.'
'Yes,' replied the Tin Woodman, 'and also my beautiful tin castle, that has been my joy and pride.'
'Jack Pumpkinhead's house will go too,' remarked the Wizard, 'as well as Professor Wogglebug's Athletic College, and Ozma's royal palace, and all our other handsome buildings.'
'Yes, Oz will indeed become a desert when the Nome King gets through with it,' sighed Omby Amby.
The Scarecrow came out to meet them and gave them all a hearty welcome.
'I hear you have decided always to live in the Land of Oz, after this,' he said to Dorothy; 'and that will delight my heart, for I have greatly disliked our frequent partings. But why are you all so downcast?'
'Have you heard the news?' asked the Tin Woodman.
'No news to make me sad,' replied the Scarecrow.
Then Nick Chopper told his friend of the Nome King's tunnel, and how the evil creatures of the North had allied themselves with the underground monarch for the purpose of conquering and destroying Oz. 'Well,' said the Scarecrow, 'it certainly looks bad for Ozma, and all of us. But I believe it is wrong to worry over anything before it happens. It is surely time enough to be sad when our country is despoiled and our people made slaves. So let us not deprive ourselves of the few happy hours remaining to us.'
'Ah! that is real wisdom,' declared the Shaggy Man, approvingly. 'After we become really unhappy we shall regret these few hours that are left to us, unless we enjoy them to the utmost.'
