28. How They Drank at the Forbidden Fountain

The Emerald City of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

The Scarecrow had no need to sleep; neither had the Tin Woodman
or Tiktok or Jack Pumpkinhead. So they all wandered out into the
palace grounds and stood beside the sparkling water of the Forbidden
Fountain until daybreak. During this time they indulged in
occasional conversation.

"Nothing could make me forget what I know," remarked the
Scarecrow, gazing into the fountain, "for I cannot drink the Water of
Oblivion or water of any kind. And I am glad that this is so, for I
consider my wisdom unexcelled."

"You are cer-tain-ly ve-ry wise," agreed Tiktok. "For my part,
I can on-ly think by ma-chin-er-y, so I do not pre-tend to know as
much as you do."

"My tin brains are very bright, but that is all I claim for
them," said Nick Chopper, modestly. "Yet I do not aspire to being
very wise, for I have noticed that the happiest people are those who
do not let their brains oppress them."

"Mine never worry me," Jack Pumpkinhead acknowledged. "There
are many seeds of thought in my head, but they do not sprout easily.
I am glad that it is so, for if I occupied my days in thinking I
should have no time for anything else."

In this cheery mood they passed the hours until the first golden
streaks of dawn appeared in the sky. Then Ozma joined them, as fresh
and lovely as ever and robed in one of her prettiest gowns.

"Our enemies have not yet arrived," said the Scarecrow, after
greeting affectionately the sweet and girlish Ruler.

"They will soon be here," she said, "for I have just glanced at
my Magic Picture, and have seen them coughing and choking with the
dust in the tunnel."

"Oh, is there dust in the tunnel?" asked the Tin Woodman.

"Yes; Ozma placed it there by means of the Magic Belt,"
explained the Scarecrow, with one of his broad smiles.

Then Dorothy came to them, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em following
close after her. The little girl's eyes were heavy because she had
had a sleepless and anxious night. Toto walked by her side, but the
little dog's spirits were very much subdued. Billina, who was always
up by daybreak, was not long in joining the group by the fountain.

The Wizard and the Shaggy Man next arrived, and soon after
appeared Omby Amby, dressed in his best uniform.

"There lies the tunnel," said Ozma, pointing to a part of the
ground just before the Forbidden Fountain, "and in a few moments the
dreadful invaders will break through the earth and swarm over the
land. Let us all stand on the other side of the Fountain and watch
to see what happens."

At once they followed her suggestion and moved around the
fountain of the Water of Oblivion. There they stood silent and
expectant until the earth beyond gave way with a sudden crash and up
leaped the powerful form of the First and Foremost, followed by all
his grim warriors.

As the leader sprang forward his gleaming eyes caught the play
of the fountain and he rushed toward it and drank eagerly of the
sparkling water. Many of the other Phanfasms drank, too, in order to
clear their dry and dusty throats. Then they stood around and looked
at one another with simple, wondering smiles.

The First and Foremost saw Ozma and her companions beyond the
fountain, but instead of making an effort to capture her he merely
stared at her in pleased admiration of her beauty--for he had
forgotten where he was and why he had come there.

But now the Grand Gallipoot arrived, rushing from the tunnel
with a hoarse cry of mingled rage and thirst. He too saw the
fountain and hastened to drink of its forbidden waters. The other
Growleywogs were not slow to follow suit, and even before they had
finished drinking the Chief of the Whimsies and his people came to
push them away, while they one and all cast off their false heads
that they might slake their thirst at the fountain.

When the Nome King and General Guph arrived they both made a
dash to drink, but the General was so mad with thirst that he knocked
his King over, and while Roquat lay sprawling upon the ground the
General drank heartily of the Water of Oblivion.

This rude act of his General made the Nome King so angry that
for a moment he forgot he was thirsty and rose to his feet to glare
upon the group of terrible warriors he had brought here to assist
him. He saw Ozma and her people, too, and yelled out:

"Why don't you capture them? Why don't you conquer Oz, you
idiots? Why do you stand there like a lot of dummies?"

But the great warriors had become like little children. They
had forgotten all their enmity against Ozma and against Oz. They had
even forgotten who they themselves were, or why they were in this
strange and beautiful country. As for the Nome King, they did not
recognize him, and wondered who he was.

The sun came up and sent its flood of silver rays to light the
faces of the invaders. The frowns and scowls and evil looks were all
gone. Even the most monstrous of the creatures there assembled smiled
innocently and seemed light-hearted and content merely to be
alive.

Not so with Roquat, the Nome King. He had not drunk from the
Forbidden Fountain and all his former rage against Ozma and Dorothy
now inflamed him as fiercely as ever. The sight of General Guph
babbling like a happy child and playing with his hands in the cool
waters of the fountain astonished and maddened Red Roquat. Seeing
that his terrible allies and his own General refused to act, the Nome
King turned to order his great army of Nomes to advance from the
tunnel and seize the helpless Oz people.

But the Scarecrow suspected what was in the King's mind and
spoke a word to the Tin Woodman. Together they ran at Roquat and
grabbing him up tossed him into the great basin of the fountain.

The Nome King's body was round as a ball, and it bobbed up and
down in the Water of Oblivion while he spluttered and screamed with
fear lest he should drown. And when he cried out, his mouth filled
with water, which ran down his throat, so that straightway he forgot
all he had formerly known just as completely as had all the other
invaders.

Ozma and Dorothy could not refrain from laughing to see their
dreaded enemies become as harmless as babies. There was no danger
now that Oz would be destroyed. The only question remaining to solve
was how to get rid of this horde of intruders.

The Shaggy Man kindly pulled the Nome King out of the fountain
and set him upon his thin legs. Roquat was dripping wet, but he
chattered and laughed and wanted to drink more of the water. No
thought of injuring any person was now in his mind.

Before he left the tunnel he had commanded his fifty thousand
Nomes to remain there until he ordered them to advance, as he wished
to give his allies time to conquer Oz before he appeared with his own
army. Ozma did not wish all these Nomes to overrun her land, so she
advanced to King Roquat and taking his hand in her own said
gently:

"Who are you? What is your name?"

"I don't know," he replied, smiling at her. "Who are you, my
dear?"

"My name is Ozma," she said; "and your name is Roquat."

"Oh, is it?" he replied, seeming pleased.

"Yes; you are King of the Nomes," she said.

"Ah; I wonder what the Nomes are!" returned the King, as if
puzzled.

"They are underground elves, and that tunnel over there is full
of them," she answered. "You have a beautiful cavern at the other
end of the tunnel, so you must go to your Nomes and say: 'March
home!' Then follow after them and in time you will reach the pretty
cavern where you live."

The Nome King was much pleased to learn this, for he had
forgotten he had a cavern. So he went to the tunnel and said to his
army: 'March home!' At once the Nomes turned and marched back
through the tunnel, and the King followed after them, laughing with
delight to find his orders so readily obeyed.

The Wizard went to General Guph, who was trying to count his
fingers, and told him to follow the Nome King, who was his master.
Guph meekly obeyed, and so all the Nomes quitted the Land of Oz
forever.

But there were still the Phanfasms and Whimsies and Growleywogs
standing around in groups, and they were so many that they filled the
gardens and trampled upon the flowers and grass because they did not
know that the tender plants would be injured by their clumsy feet.
But in all other respects they were perfectly harmless and played
together like children or gazed with pleasure upon the pretty sights
of the royal gardens.

After counseling with the Scarecrow Ozma sent Omby Amby to the
palace for the Magic Belt, and when the Captain General returned with
it the Ruler of Oz at once clasped the precious Belt around her
waist.

"I wish all these strange people--the Whimsies and the
Growleywogs and the Phanfasms--safe back in their own homes!" she
said.

It all happened in a twinkling, for of course the wish was no
sooner spoken than it was granted.

All the hosts of the invaders were gone, and only the trampled
grass showed that they had ever been in the Land of Oz.