'Could your magic do that?' inquired Dorothy.
'I think so,' said the Wizard.
'Well,' said Dorothy, 'as far as Betsy and Hank are concerned, I'd like to have them here in Oz. It would be such fun to have a girl playmate of my own age, you see. And Hank is such a dear little mule!'
Ozma laughed at the wistful expression in the girl's eyes, and then she drew Dorothy to her and kissed her.
'Am I not your friend and playmate?' she asked.
Dorothy flushed.
'You know how dearly I love you, Ozma!' she cried. 'But you're so busy ruling all this Land of Oz that we can't always be together.'
'I know, dear. My first duty is to my subjects, and I think it would be a delight to us all to have Betsy with us. There's a pretty suite of rooms just opposite your own where she can live, and I'll build a golden stall for Hank in the stable where the Sawhorse lives. Then we'll introduce the mule to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, and I'm sure they will soon become firm friends. But I cannot very well admit Betsy and Hank into Oz unless I also admit Shaggy's brother.'
'And, unless you admit Shaggy's brother, you will keep out poor Shaggy, whom we are all very fond of,' said the Wizard.
'Well, why not ad-mit him?' demanded Tik-Tok.
'The Land of Oz is not a refuge for all mortals in distress,' explained Ozma. 'I do not wish to be unkind to Shaggy Man, but his brother has no claim on me.'
'The Land of Oz isn't crowded,' suggested Dorothy.
'Then you advise me to admit Shaggy's brother?' inquired Ozma.
'Well, we can't afford to lose our Shaggy Man, can we?'
'No, indeed!' returned Ozma. 'What do you say, Wizard?'
'I'm getting my magic ready to transport them all.'
'And you, Tik-Tok?'
'Shag-gy's broth-er is a good fel-low, and we can't spare Shag-gy.'
'So, then; the question is settled,' decided Ozma. 'Perform your magic, Wizard!'
He did so, placing a silver plate upon a small standard and pouring upon the plate a small quantity of pink powder which was contained in a crystal vial. Then he muttered a rather difficult incantation which the sorceress Glinda the Good had taught him, and it all ended in a puff of perfumed smoke from the silver plate. This smoke was so pungent that it made both Ozma and Dorothy rub their eyes for a moment.
'You must pardon these disagreeable fumes,' said the Wizard. 'I assure you the smoke is a very necessary part of my wizardry.'
'Look!' cried Dorothy, pointing to the Magic Picture; 'they're gone! All of them are gone.'
Indeed, the picture now showed the same rocky landscape as before, but the three people and the mule had disappeared from it.
'They are gone,' said the Wizard, polishing the silver plate and wrapping it in a fine cloth, 'because they are here.'
At that moment Jellia Jamb entered the room.
'Your Highness,' she said to Ozma, 'the Shaggy Man and another man are in the waiting room and ask to pay their respects to you. Shaggy is crying like a baby, but he says they are tears of joy.'
'Send them here at once, Jellia!' commanded Ozma.
'Also,' continued the maid, 'a girl and a small– sized mule have mysteriously arrived, but they don't seem to know where they are or how they came here. Shall I send them here, too?'
'Oh, no!' exclaimed Dorothy, eagerly jumping up from her chair; 'I'll go to meet Betsy myself, for she'll feel awful strange in this big palace.'
And she ran down the stairs two at a time to greet her new friend, Betsy Bobbin.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Land of Love
'Well, is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?' inquired the Sawhorse, as he examined Hank with his knot eyes and slowly wagged the branch that served him for a tail.
They were in a beautiful stable in the rear of Ozma's palace, where the wooden Sawhorse – very much alive – lived in a gold-paneled stall, and where there were rooms for the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, which were filled with soft cushions for them to lie upon and golden troughs for them to eat from.
Beside the stall of the Sawhorse had been placed another for Hank, the mule. This was not quite so beautiful as the other, for the Sawhorse was Ozma's favorite steed; but Hank had a supply of cushions for a bed (which the Sawhorse did not need because he never slept) and all this luxury was so strange to the little mule that he could only stand still and regard his surroundings and his queer companions with wonder and amazement.
The Cowardly Lion, looking very dignified, was stretched out upon the marble floor of the stable, eyeing Hank with a calm and critical gaze, while near by crouched the huge Hungry Tiger, who seemed equally interested in the new animal that had just arrived. The Sawhorse, standing stiffly before Hank, repeated his question:
'Is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?'
Hank moved his ears in an embarrassed manner.
'I have never said anything else, until now,' he replied; and then he began to tremble with fright to hear himself talk.
'I can well understand that,' remarked the Lion, wagging his great head with a swaying motion. 'Strange things happen in this Land of Oz, as they do everywhere else. I believe you came here from the cold, civilized, outside world, did you not?'
'I did,' replied Hank. 'One minute I was outside of Oz – and the next minute I was inside! That was enough to give me a nervous shock, as you may guess; but to find myself able to talk, as Betsy does, is a marvel that staggers me.'
'That is because you are in the Land of Oz,' said the Sawhorse. 'All animals talk, in this favored country, and you must admit it is more sociable than to bray your dreadful 'hee-haw,' which nobody can understand.'
'Mules understand it very well,' declared Hank.
'Oh, indeed! Then there must be other mules in your outside world,' said the Tiger, yawning sleepily.
'There are a great many in America,' said Hank. 'Are you the only Tiger in Oz?'
'No,' acknowledged the Tiger, 'I have many relatives living in the Jungle Country; but I am the only Tiger living in the Emerald City.'
'There are other Lions, too,' said the Sawhorse; 'but I am the only horse, of any description, in this favored Land.'
'That is why this Land is favored,' said the Tiger. 'You must understand, friend Hank, that the Sawhorse puts on airs because he is shod with plates of gold, and because our beloved Ruler, Ozma of Oz, likes to ride upon his back.'
'Betsy rides upon my back,' declared Hank proudly.
'Who is Betsy?'
'The dearest, sweetest girl in all the world!'
The Sawhorse gave an angry snort and stamped his golden feet. The Tiger crouched and growled. Slowly the great Lion rose to his feet, his mane bristling.
'Friend Hank,' said he, 'either you are mistaken in judgment or you are willfully trying to deceive us. The dearest, sweetest girl in the world is our Dorothy, and I will fight anyone – animal or human – who dares to deny it!'
'So will I!' snarled the Tiger, showing two rows of enormous white teeth.
'You are all wrong!' asserted the Sawhorse in a voice of scorn. 'No girl living can compare with my mistress, Ozma of Oz!'
