The Oz Series

Chapter 55

Part of the Ozma of Oz: The Land of Ev and the Nome King arc.

This encyclopedia covers chapters 1 to 100 of the story and shows the world as it stands at chapter 100, so it contains spoilers up to that point. To read it spoiler free, one chapter at a time, open the interactive codex.

What happens

Nanda brings Dorothy bread and water for supper, and Dorothy sleeps on a hard stone couch with a single pillow and silken coverlet in her tower prison. In the morning she leans out the window to look for a way to escape. The room is not very high but far enough above the trees and farm-houses to give a good view. To the east she sees the forest, the sands beyond, the ocean beyond that, and even a dark speck on the shore she thinks might be the chicken-coop in which she arrived. To the north she sees a deep, narrow valley lying between two rocky mountains, with a third mountain shutting off the valley's far end. Westward the fertile Land of Ev ends a little way from the palace, giving way to miles of sandy desert. Dorothy recalls that this desert alone separates her from the Land of Oz, that no one but herself has ever crossed it, and that she once crossed by cyclone and returned by magical silver shoes, but now has neither, leaving her condition sad as the prisoner of a disagreeable princess demanding she exchange her head.

Gazing hopelessly across the desert, Dorothy notices something stirring where nothing living seemed to move. It appears first like a cloud, then a spot of silver, then a mass of rainbow colors moving swiftly toward her. As it nears, she sees a broad green carpet unrolling itself upon the desert while a wonderful procession advances across it. First comes a magnificent golden chariot drawn by a great Lion and an immense Tiger standing shoulder to shoulder like a well-matched team. Standing upright in the chariot is a beautiful girl in flowing robes of silver gauze, wearing a jeweled diadem, holding satin ribbons in one hand and in the other an ivory wand forking at the top into two prongs tipped with diamond letters "O" and "Z." The girl seems no older or larger than Dorothy, who guesses she is the Ozma of Oz she heard about from Tiktok.

Behind the chariot rides Dorothy's old friend the Scarecrow astride a wooden Saw-Horse that prances naturally. Then comes Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, with his funnel-shaped cap tipped over his left ear, his axe over his right shoulder, and his body sparkling brightly. The Tin Woodman marches on foot at the head of a company of twenty-seven soldiers of varied heights and builds, all in handsome uniforms of various designs and colors, no two alike. Behind the soldiers the green carpet rolls itself up again, always providing just enough for the procession to walk upon so their feet never touch the deadly, life-destroying desert sands. Dorothy recognizes the magic carpet and rejoices, knowing she will soon be rescued by her Oz friends, including the Cowardly Lion, whose courage and loyalty she trusts.

As the last bit of desert is passed and the whole procession reaches the grassy meadows of Ev, the magic carpet rolls together and disappears. The chariot driver turns her Lion and Tiger onto a broad roadway to the palace, and the others follow while Dorothy watches eagerly. They halt near the front door, and the Scarecrow dismounts to read the sign. Dorothy shouts down that she is there; the Scarecrow, tipping his head back until he nearly topples, recognizes Dorothy Gale of Kansas and asks what she is doing up there. She pleads to be saved, explaining she is a locked-in prisoner, but the Scarecrow jokingly says she seems safe, unable to be drowned, run over by a Wheeler, or fall from an apple-tree. Dorothy insists she wants down to see him, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, and tells him the Princess Langwidere, a horrid creature, locked her up.

Ozma, having listened, calls up to ask why the Princess locked Dorothy up. Dorothy explains it was because she refused to give up her head for the Princess's collection in exchange for a cast-off head. Ozma promptly declares she does not blame Dorothy and will oblige the Princess to liberate her. Dorothy thanks her warmly, feeling she will soon come to love the girlish Ruler of Oz. Ozma drives her chariot to the third door of the wing, and the Tin Woodman knocks boldly. When the maid opens it, Ozma, bearing her ivory wand, enters the hall and proceeds to the drawing-room followed by her company, except the Lion and Tiger. The twenty-seven soldiers make such a clatter that the little maid Nanda runs screaming to her mistress, and the Princess Langwidere, roused to great anger, comes running into the drawing-room unassisted.

Langwidere confronts Ozma, threatening to bind her and all her people in chains and throw them into her darkest dungeons for entering unbidden. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman murmur about her dangerous, nervous manner, but Ozma only smiles and quietly bids the Princess sit and listen. When Langwidere screams "Must, to ME!", Ozma declares herself Ruler of the Land of Oz, powerful enough to destroy the whole kingdom, but says she came not to harm but to free the royal family of Ev from the Nome King, who holds the Queen and her children prisoner. Hearing this, Langwidere becomes quiet and eagerly wishes Ozma could free her aunt and ten royal cousins so they could rule Ev themselves, sparing Langwidere the ten minutes of daily statecraft that keep her from admiring her heads. Ozma agrees to discuss the matter but insists Langwidere first free the girl locked in the tower. Langwidere, having forgotten Dorothy since it happened "yesterday," agrees and leads Ozma up the stairs to release the prisoner.

While they are gone, the Scarecrow leans against what he mistook for a copper statue, and Tiktok's harsh metallic voice tells him to get off his foot and stop scratching his polish. Tiktok explains he is only a machine that thinks, speaks, and acts when wound, but his action has run down and Dorothy has the key. The Scarecrow says Dorothy will soon be free and attend to him, and expresses pity that Tiktok is not alive because he has no brains. Tiktok counters that he is fitted with Smith & Tinker's Improved Combination Steel Brains that make him think, and asks what brains the Scarecrow has; the Scarecrow admits he does not know, having received his from the great Wizard of Oz without examining them, but notes they work splendidly and his conscience is active. Tiktok has neither conscience nor heart. The Tin Woodman, listening, tells Tiktok he is greatly inferior to himself and the Scarecrow, who are both alive with brains that need no winding and an ever-beating heart. Tiktok concedes his inferiority as a mere machine that does its duty as its machinery is made to go, and the Scarecrow expresses interest in taking him apart someday. Tiktok begs him not to, since he could not be put together again and his usefulness would be destroyed; the Scarecrow, admitting he is a poor mechanic, promises not to meddle. Just then Ozma re-enters, leading Dorothy by the hand and followed by Princess Langwidere.

Who is in play

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