The Oz Series
Chapter 58
Part of the Ozma of Oz: The Land of Ev and the Nome King arc.
What happens
The road leads through pretty farm country and past an inviting picnic grove, but the procession advances steadily until Billina cries out commandingly to wait. Ozma stops her chariot so suddenly that the Scarecrow's Sawhorse nearly runs into it and the army tumbles over one another. Billina struggles from Dorothy's arms and flies into a roadside clump of bushes. When the Tin Woodman anxiously asks what is the matter, Dorothy explains Billina wants to lay her egg, which she does every morning about this time. The Tin Woodman is astonished that the whole cavalcade, bound on an important adventure, must stand still while the hen lays; Dorothy says it is a habit she cannot break. The Scarecrow warns that if Billina hurries she may lay scrambled eggs. They wait restlessly until the yellow hen emerges cackling. The Tin Woodman shouts "For-ward--march!" and the procession starts as Dorothy grabs Billina, but the hen cries that no one is getting her egg. The Scarecrow volunteers, sends the Sawhorse into the bushes, retrieves the egg, and places it in his jacket pocket, then catches up to his accustomed place behind Ozma's chariot.
The Scarecrow asks what to do with the egg; Dorothy suggests the Hungry Tiger, but the Tiger says one egg would not fill a back tooth, that a bushel hard-boiled might dull his appetite, but a single egg is good for nothing. The Scarecrow decides to keep it in his pocket as a souvenir. They reach the part of the valley between the two high mountains Dorothy saw from her tower, with the third great mountain blocking the far end as the northern edge of Ev, beneath which the Nome King's palace is said to lie. The path becomes rocky and difficult for the chariot wheels, and a deep gulf appears, too wide to leap. Ozma takes a small square of green cloth from her pocket and throws it down; it becomes the magic carpet and unrolls across the gulf on a level with its banks, letting all pass over safely. The Scarecrow wonders what will happen next.
The mountain sides close together until only a narrow single-file path remains, and they hear a deep, growing "thump!--thump!--thump!" echoing through the valley. Turning a corner of rock, they see a gigantic man built of cast-iron plates towering more than a hundred feet, standing with one foot on either side of the narrow road and swinging an immense iron mallet over its right shoulder to constantly pound the earth; the mallet, bigger than a barrel, fills the whole passage where it strikes. The party halts a safe distance away. The magic carpet is useless here because it protects only from dangers on the ground, not from dangers in the air. The Cowardly Lion shudders, noting one blow would crush him into a door-mat. Tiktok explains the iron giant is a fine fellow that works as steadily as a clock, made for the Nome King by Smith & Tinker (his own makers), whose duty is to keep folks from finding the underground palace; the giant cannot think or speak, having no such attachment, and only the Nome King, who has the key, can stop his machinery.
The Scarecrow retires to the rear, turns his painted face to the rocks, and thinks. Meanwhile the giant continues striking terrific blows, but each time the mallet lifts there is a moment when the path beneath is free. The Scarecrow returns and proposes the simple solution of running under the hammer one at a time when it is lifted and passing to the other side before it falls. The Tin Woodman notes it requires quick work but seems the only option. The Cowardly Lion, trembling, says the head of the procession must go first, meaning himself. Ozma asks what will become of her, since the chariot would be crushed; the Scarecrow decides they must leave the chariot and have the two girls ride on the backs of the Lion and Tiger. Ozma mounts the unfastened Lion, clings fast to his mane as Dorothy advises, and the Lion, eyeing the mallet to time it, leaps between the giant's legs and reaches the other side safely before the mallet falls. The Tiger goes next with Dorothy, who locks her arms around his striped neck since he has no mane, and leaps straight and true to safety.
The Scarecrow on the Sawhorse dashes across but within a hair's breadth of the descending hammer. Tiktok walks to the edge, steps forward as the hammer rises, and escapes; the Tin Woodman follows the same idea and crosses safely. But the twenty-six officers and the private have knees too weak to walk. One general explains they are wonderfully courageous in battle but object to being pounded on the head by an iron hammer and smashed into pancakes; a captain says their shaking knees prevent them from running. The Cowardly Lion and Tiger, though Ozma and Dorothy have dismounted, leap back under the awful hammer and return with two generals clinging to their necks, repeating the daring passage twelve times until all the officers are landed safely, by which time the beasts are exhausted with tongues hanging out.
Ozma asks what is to become of the private. The Lion suggests leaving him to guard the chariot, being too tired to pass again. The officers protest they must have the private with them, else there is no one to command. Since neither beast will go, the Scarecrow sends the Sawhorse. The wooden horse, careless or mistiming the descent, is caught squarely on the head by the mighty hammer and thumped against the ground so hard that the private flies off high into the air and lands on one of the giant's cast-iron arms, clinging desperately as the arm rises and falls with each stroke. The Scarecrow dashes in to rescue his Sawhorse and has his left foot smashed by the hammer before pulling the creature out. The Sawhorse is found badly dazed: though its hard wooden knot head cannot be crushed, both ears are broken off, leaving it deaf until new ones are made, and its left knee is cracked and must be bound with string. With Billina having fluttered under the hammer, only the private remains, riding the giant's arm high in the air. The Scarecrow lies flat and calls to the private to jump onto his straw-stuffed body; the private waits until nearest the ground, drops onto the Scarecrow, and accomplishes the feat without breaking bones, and the Scarecrow declares himself uninjured. The Tin Woodman fits new ears to the Sawhorse, and the entire party proceeds, leaving the giant pounding the path behind them.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Ozma
- Tin Woodman
- Billina
- Saw-Horse
- Scarecrow
- Tiktok
- ozma_rescue_expedition
- iron giant
- magic carpet
- Nome King's Palace
- the Nome King
- immense Tiger
- Land of Ev
- the twenty-seven soldiers