The Oz Series
Chapter 76
Part of the Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz: The Underground World arc.
What happens
The Mangaboos drive Jim the horse, the kitten Eureka, and the piglets into a yawning cave, called the Black Pit, located half way up a rugged, towering mountain of deep green glass, and push the buggy in after them, then begin piling big glass rocks across the entrance to entomb the prisoners. Jim groans that this is about the end of their adventures, and one of the piglets sobs bitterly that the Wizard would not let them suffer. Eureka, being lighter than the Mangaboos, leaps through the remaining opening and scampers up into the air; several Mangaboos give chase with their thorns but can rise only about a hundred feet while the kitten rises nearly two hundred, so she escapes over their heads, reaches the city and the House of the Sorcerer, enters at Dorothy's window in the dome, and wakes her. Dorothy learns what happened, rouses the Wizard and Zeb, and they prepare a rescue: the Wizard carries his heavy satchel, Zeb carries the two lanterns and the oil can, the harness and Dorothy's wicker suit-case are already in the buggy, so Dorothy need only carry Eureka, whose heart is still beating rapidly.
The Mangaboos spot the party leaving the House of the Sorcerer but allow them to walk toward the mountain unhindered, following in a crowd to block any retreat. At the Black Pit, a swarm of Mangaboos led by their Princess is piling glass rocks before the entrance. The Wizard angrily commands them to stop and begins pulling down the rocks to free Jim and the piglets; the vegetable people stand back in silence until he has opened a good-sized hole, then at the Princess's order they thrust out their sharp thorns. Dorothy hops inside the opening to escape being pricked, and Zeb and the Wizard, after enduring a few stabs, follow her. The Mangaboos at once re-pile the glass rocks, sealing all four (plus animals) inside the mountain. Realizing they are entombed, the Wizard asks the children whether they should jump out and fight; Dorothy and Zeb both say they would rather die there than live among the cruel Mangaboos, and the Wizard agrees to abide by their choice. He tucks his nine piglets into his inside pocket, and Zeb lights one of the lanterns as the last chinks in the wall are filled and the colored suns are shut out forever.
Zeb explores the cave with the lantern and finds it does not end but slants upward through the glass mountain toward the side opposite the Mangaboo country. The Wizard proposes they follow this tunnel, since their lanterns can light the dark passage the vegetable folk feared. Zeb harnesses Jim to the buggy; the three take their seats, Zeb driving while the Wizard and Dorothy each hold a lighted lantern so the horse can see. The tunnel varies from narrow, grazing the buggy wheels, to street-wide, but the floor is mostly smooth; Jim stops occasionally to rest during the steep, tiresome climb. After a long ascent, the way suddenly grows lighter with a white light, so Zeb extinguishes the lanterns to save oil; the tunnel walls resemble the inside of a long spy-glass, the floor levels, and they emerge from the mountain face to face with a new and charming country.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- underground_traveling_party
- Zeb
- Jim
- Land of the Mangaboos
- Mangaboos
- Oz
- the Royal Princess
- Eureka
- the Black Pit
- the House of the Sorcerer
- a can of kerosene oil
- the buggy
- the nine tiny piglets
- the six colored suns
- the two lanterns