Snip's Great Adventure
The King! Poor Snip, crouched uncomfortably on the narrow sill, trembled with terror, for this time he was sure Mombi's incantation had taken effect and had turned King Kinda to a collar button. Mombi herself seemed as astonished as he. Dropping her hands at her sides, she peered sharply at the great white goose.
"Well!" wheezed the old witch, blinking her eyes rapidly, "Well, if it isn't Pajuka, and simple as ever he was!"
"Whose fault is that?" complained the goose bitterly. "Who took away my elegant figure and gave me this ridiculous shape?"
"You always were a goose," sniffed Mombi. "All you needed was a bill and feathers. You're one of the best transformations I ever did," she added proudly. "What are you fussing about anyway?"
"Would you like to be a goose?" asked the bird indignantly. "I should think you'd be ashamed of yourself, you old Scundermutch!"
"I don't care a waffle what you think," retorted Mombi, "but if you care to think anything more, be quick about it, for your time has come."
"Time?" puffed the goose. "What time?"
"Dinner time," said Mombi unfeelingly. "You are tired of being a goose. Well then, you shall be a dinner and I trust you will pan out well!"
"Dinner!" screamed the goose, fluttering all of his feathers. "You wouldn't dare serve me for dinner. I'm a Prime Minister and you know it."
"Prime goose, you mean," snickered Mombi, reaching behind the table for the ax.
Now all this, as you may well imagine, was frightfully interesting to Snip. Raising himself on his elbow he saw the two glaring furiously at one another.
"Don't sass me woman!" hissed Pajuka, flapping his wings.
"I'll apple sass you," sneered Mombi. "The sooner you're roasted the better. You know far too much." She made a snatch at the goose, but Pajuka, with a quick flounce, freed himself from the crate and soared into the air.
"Help! Help! This woman is a witch," he honked loudly. "Help! Help!"
"Hush!" raged the old woman, dropping the ax and running to slam the door. "Do you want to rouse the castle?" It was her turn to be alarmed now, for in Kimbaloo Mombi enjoyed more privileges than she would anywhere else, and she was not anxious to have it known that she was a witch and so be turned out of the kingdom. "Be quiet I tell you," she wheezed angrily. "What are you making such a racket about?"
"Mombi a witch!" Snip could hardly believe his ears, but frightened as he was he could not help chuckling. "Who wouldn't make a fuss at roasting," thought Snip, peering around the edge of the sill to see what Pajuka would do. The goose had settled on a cupboard high above Mombi's head.
"Very well," he breathed heavily. "I will be quiet, but now you will listen to me. I demand that you instantly restore my proper shape or—" He gave a loud squawk that made Mombi leap a foot into the air.
"How can I? How can I?" chattered the witch, wringing her hands. "I've forgotten all my witchcraft. Do you suppose I'd be here as a cook if I had my magic powers, you ridiculous old bird!" Snip could see Pajuka's eyes grow round as buttons at this dismal news.
"What?" wailed the unhappy goose. "Must I continue forever to lead this simple life? Must I associate with ducks and farmers to the end of my days?"
"You ought to be glad you're alive at all," mumbled Mombi uncomfortably. These words had a startling effect on Pajuka.
"Ah!" groaned the goose remorsefully. "Here I've been thinking of myself when it is the King who matters." And stretching his long neck he repeated the question that had so alarmed Snip in the first place. "Woman!" rasped Pajuka hoarsely, "Woman, what have you done with the King?"
"Not so loud," begged Mombi, raising her stick and glancing uneasily over her shoulder, as if she half suspected someone were listening. Then, seeing Pajuka was going to honk again, she added defiantly, "I don't remember what I did with him!"
Now Snip, who loved King Kinda Jolly with all his heart, was stunned at this dreadful news. Undecided whether to run for help or stay and listen, he finally decided to stay and crept close to the inner edge of the sill.
Pajuka seemed stunned too. "How frightful," choked the goose dolefully, "how careless of you to mislay the King. How dare you forget?"
"Well, there's no use quarreling about it," grumbled Mombi. "Who cares anyway? Ozma is Queen now and nobody even remembers there was a King of Oz!"
"Of Oz!" Snip, between relief at finding nothing had happened to King Kinda Jolly and shock at the old witch's words, lost his hold on the window bars and fell straight into Mombi's arms.
"A spy!" shrieked Mombi, beginning to shake him backward and forward. "A spy!"
"Now who's making a racket," demanded Pajuka triumphantly. "Keep that up and you'll have the whole castle about our ears. Besides, if he's a spy, where is his spy glass?"
"Idiot!" hissed Mombi, but she lowered her voice and stopped shaking Snip. "Why, you're as simple as you look," she muttered contemptuously.
"And you're as wicked," retorted the goose, staring sharply at Snip. "Let that boy alone or I'll honk my head off." Snip's ears were buzzing from the shaking and he looked gratefully at Pajuka.
"Do you think I'm going to let him carry his tales to Kinda Jolly? No sir! Into the soup kettle with him," puffed Mombi, rushing Snip toward the stove. But at her first step, the white goose flung himself at her head with such an outcry that she stopped at once.
"Let the boy alone," panted Pajuka. Then, seeing that it was useless to appeal to Mombi's goodness he began to appeal to her badness. "The King will reward you generously, if you restore him to the throne," began Pajuka craftily. "Nothing is to be gained by this quarreling. Let us put our heads together and find the King of Oz."
Still holding Snip tightly by the wrist, Mombi sank upon a crooked stool and, half closing her eyes, began to think of the bad old days before little Ozma was Queen—the bad old days when witches had been free to practice their arts and she herself was one of the most powerful witches in the land.
"I'll do it!" declared Mombi suddenly. "But how shall we find him when I forget what I have done with him?"
"I'd know him anywhere," gulped Pajuka, two tears dropping off the end of his bill. "Haven't I been hunting him all these years?"
"Yes, but I think he is transformed," muttered Mombi uneasily. "If the King is not himself how do you expect to recognize him?"
"I'd know him in any shape," insisted the goose. "But try—try to remember. You turned Ozma to a boy and me to a goose. What did you do with the King?"
So interested had the two become by this time, they had almost forgotten the presence of Snip. But Snip was listening with all his might, his ears fairly tingling with curiosity. The lad, like many another Gilliken boy, was perfectly familiar with the history of Oz. For while they gathered buttons in the wood, King Kinda had read them many a strange chapter from the big purple history books.
Snip knew that Oz was a great oblong Kingdom divided into four parts with the capital, a splendid Emerald City, in the exact center. The Northern Land was the Gilliken country and Kimbaloo was but one of the many kingdoms in that interesting section. The Eastern part of Oz belonged to the Winkies; the Southern country was the Quadling Country; while the Western lands belonged to the Munchkins. Snip knew the names of the rulers of Oz as well as you know the names of the Presidents—perhaps even better—for as only a part of Oz history has been written down there have not been so many. The first ruler mentioned was the famous Wizard of Oz, who had flown to the marvelous country in a balloon from Omaha. It was the Wizard who had built the famous Emerald City, and who had given Ozma, the little girl ruler, into the keeping of an old witch. This witch had already captured the King, Ozma's father, and very little was known about the royal gentleman.
The Wizard had ruled Oz for years. At last, desiring to return to America, he had made the Scarecrow Emperor. This lively man of straw had held the throne until captured by an ambitious girl named Jinjur, and her army of girls. But Jinjur was only ruler for a few days and was herself captured by Glinda, the good sorceress of the South, to whom the Scarecrow had gone for help. Glinda, looking through her magic record books, had discovered that Ozma, who had been deposed by the Wizard, was still in the old witch's clutches. So Glinda had compelled her to restore Ozma to the throne. The witch had transformed the little Princess into a boy named Tip, but was forced by Glinda to disenchant her and amid general rejoicing Ozma was proclaimed Queen of Oz and had been ruler ever since, while the old witch had been deprived of her magic powers and banished from the Emerald City forever.
The Wizard of Oz had later returned and become one of Ozma's most trusted counselors, regretting exceedingly his part in giving her to the witch. As Snip listened, all of these facts went scurrying through his head, and while Professor Wogglebug in his history had neglected to put in the witch's name, looking at the dreadful old woman beside him, Snip realized with a shudder that Mombi was that witch.
It had been generally supposed that the King, Ozma's father, had been utterly destroyed by Mombi's magic, but if what Pajuka said were true, the King in some shape or other was still alive and the rightful ruler of Oz, while this faithful goose was his prime minister. Snip longed to run to Kinda Jolly with the amazing news and to warn him against Mombi herself, but the old hag had him fast by the wrist, so there was nothing to do but listen. Even this was becoming harder and harder, for Mombi and Pajuka had lowered their voices to a whisper. Just as Snip had determined to jerk away and make a run for it, Mombi sprang to her feet.
"We'll start at once!" she cried determinedly, and jerking off her cook's cap and without releasing her hold on Snip, she snatched her peaked witch hat from a low cupboard and set it jauntily on the side of her head. Then, dragging Snip with her, she began hobbling about the kitchen, collecting pepper shakers, mustard boxes, spices, herbs and various other supplies from the shelves. These she tossed quickly into a basket with a loaf of bread, a cold chicken and some cheese.
"C'mon!" croaked the witch, motioning to Pajuka. "C'mon before anyone misses us."
"What about the boy?" asked the goose doubtfully.
"Let him carry the basket," snapped the witch.
Thrusting the basket into Snip's hands, Mombi gave him such a glare that the poor lad's heart dropped into his boots. Then, grabbing him by the sleeve, she rushed him through the door leading into the kitchen garden. A high hedge surrounded the garden, so no one saw them go. The garden ran down to the edge of a gloomy forest. Into this forest plunged Mombi, Pajuka waddling and flying after her and poor Snip, casting many longing glances over his shoulder at the dear old castle of Kimbaloo where life had been so care-free and so merry.
It is one thing to set out on a journey of adventures yourself, but to be dragged away against your will by a wicked old witch is another pair of pickles entirely, and though Snip was as brave as the next fellow he could not keep back his tears at parting from Kinda Jolly, Rosa Merry and his many gay comrades in the button wood.
