Chapter Fourteen. Ozma's Counsellors

Glinda of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

No Ruler ever had such a queer assortment of advisers as the
Princess Ozma had gathered about her throne. Indeed, in no other
country could such amazing people exist. But Ozma loved them for
their peculiarities and could trust every one of them.

First there was the Tin Woodman. Every bit of him was tin,
brightly polished. All his joints were kept well oiled and moved
smoothly. He carried a gleaming axe to prove he was a woodman, but
seldom had cause to use it because he lived in a magnificent tin
castle in the Winkie Country of Oz and was the Emperor of all the
Winkies. The Tin Woodman's name was Nick Chopper. He had a very good
mind, but his heart was not of much account, so he was very careful
to do nothing unkind or to hurt anyone's feelings.

Another counsellor was Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, who was
made of a gaudy patchwork quilt, cut into shape and stuffed with
cotton. This Patchwork Girl was very intelligent, but so full of fun
and mad pranks that a lot of more stupid folks thought she must be
crazy. Scraps was jolly under all conditions, however grave they
might be, but her laughter and good spirits were of value in cheering
others and in her seemingly careless remarks much wisdom could often
be found.

Then there was the Shaggy Man -- shaggy from head to foot, hair
and whiskers, clothes and shoes -- but very kind and gentle and one
of Ozma's most loyal supporters.

Tik-Tok was there, a copper man with machinery inside him, so
cleverly constructed that he moved, spoke and thought by three
separate clock-works. Tik-Tok was very reliable because he always did
exactly what he was wound up to do, but his machinery was liable to
run down at times and then he was quite helpless until wound up
again.

A different sort of person was Jack Pumpkinhead, one of Ozma's
oldest friends and her companion on many adventures. Jack's body was
very crude and awkward, being formed of limbs of trees of different
sizes, jointed with wooden pegs. But it was a substantial body and
not likely to break or wear out, and when it was dressed the clothes
covered much of its roughness. The head of Jack Pumpkinhead was, as
you have guessed, a ripe pumpkin, with the eyes, nose and mouth
carved upon one side. The pumpkin was stuck on Jack's wooden neck and
was liable to get turned sidewise or backward and then he would have
to straighten it with his wooden hands.

The worst thing about this sort of a head was that it did not
keep well and was sure to spoil sooner or later. So Jack's main
business was to grow a field of fine pumpkins each year, and always
before his old head spoiled he would select a fresh pumpkin from the
field and carve the features on it very neatly, and have it ready to
replace the old head whenever it became necessary. He didn't always
carve it the same way, so his friends never knew exactly what sort of
an expression they would find on his face. But there was no mistaking
him, because he was the only pumpkin- headed man alive in the Land of
Oz.

A one-legged sailor-man was a member of Ozma's council. His name
was Cap'n Bill and he had come to the Land of Oz with Trot, and had
been made welcome on account of his cleverness, honesty and good
nature. He wore a wooden leg to replace the one he had lost and was a
great friend of all the children in Oz because he could whittle all
sorts of toys out of wood with his big jack-knife.

Professor H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., was another member of the
council. The "H. M." meant Highly Magnified, for the Professor was
once a little bug, who became magnified to the size of a man and
always remained so. The "T. E." meant that he was Thoroughly
Educated. He was at the head of Princess Ozma's Royal Athletic
College, and so that the students would not have to study and so lose
much time that could be devoted to athletic sports, such as football,
baseball and the like, Professor Wogglebug had invented the famous
Educational Pills. If one of the college students took a Geography
Pill after breakfast, he knew his geography lesson in an instant; if
he took a Spelling Pill he at once knew his spelling lesson, and an
Arithmetic Pill enabled the student to do any kind of sum without
having to think about it.

These useful pills made the college very popular and taught the
boys and girls of Oz their lessons in the easiest possible way. In
spite of this, Professor Wogglebug was not a favorite outside his
college, for he was very conceited and admired himself so much and
displayed his cleverness and learning so constantly, that no one
cared to associate with him. Ozma found him of value in her councils,
nevertheless.

Perhaps the most splendidly dressed of all those present was a
great frog as large as a man, called the Frogman, who was noted for
his wise sayings. He had come to the Emerald City from the Yip
Country of Oz and was a guest of honor. His long-tailed coat was of
velvet, his vest of satin and his trousers of finest silk. There were
diamond buckles on his shoes and he carried a gold-headed cane and a
high silk hat. All of the bright colors were represented in his rich
attire, so it tired one's eyes to look at him for long, until one
became used to his splendor.

The best farmer in all Oz was Uncle Henry, who was Dorothy's own
uncle, and who now lived near the Emerald City with his wife Aunt Em.
Uncle Henry taught the Oz people how to grow the finest vegetables
and fruits and grains and was of much use to Ozma in keeping the
Royal Storehouses well filled. He, too, was a counsellor.

The reason I mention the little Wizard of Oz last is because he
was the most important man in the Land of Oz. He wasn't a big man in
size but he was a man in power and intelligence and second only to
Glinda the Good in all the mystic arts of magic. Glinda had taught
him, and the Wizard and the Sorceress were the only ones in Oz
permitted by law to practice wizardry and sorcery, which they applied
only to good uses and for the benefit of the people.

The Wizard wasn't exactly handsome but he was pleasant to look
at. His bald head was as shiny as if it had been varnished; there was
always a merry twinkle in his eyes and he was as spry as a schoolboy.
Dorothy says the reason the Wizard is not as powerful as Glinda is
because Glinda didn't teach him all she knows, but what the Wizard
knows he knows very well and so he performs some very remarkable
magic. The ten I have mentioned assembled, with the Scarecrow and
Glinda, in Ozma's throne room, right after dinner that evening, and
the Sorceress told them all she knew of the plight of Ozma and
Dorothy

"Of course we must rescue them," she continued, "and the sooner
they are rescued the better pleased they will be; but what we must
now determine is how they can be saved. That is why I have called you
together in council."

"The easiest way," remarked the Shaggy Man, "is to raise the
sunken island of the Skeezers to the top of the water again."

"Tell me how?" said Glinda.

"I don't know how, your Highness, for I have never raised a
sunken island."

"We might all get under it and lift," suggested Professor
Wogglebug.

"How can we get under it when it rests on the bottom of the
lake?" asked the Sorceress.

"Couldn't we throw a rope around it and pull it ashore?"
inquired Jack Pumpkinhead.

"Why not pump the water out of the lake?" suggested the
Patchwork Girl with a laugh.

"Do be sensible!" pleaded Glinda. "This is a serious matter, and
we must give it serious thought."

"How big is the lake and how big is the island?" was the
Frogman's question.

"None of us can tell, for we have not been there."

"In that case," said the Scarecrow, "it appears to me we ought
to go to the Skeezer country and examine it carefully."

"Quite right," agreed the Tin Woodman.

"We-will-have-to-go-there-any-how," remarked Tik-Tok in his
jerky machine voice.

"The question is which of us shall go, and how many of us?" said
the Wizard.

"I shall go of course," declared the Scarecrow.

"And I," said Scraps.

"It is my duty to Ozma to go," asserted the Tin Woodman.

"I could not stay away, knowing our loved Princess is in
danger," said the Wizard.

"We all feel like that," Uncle Henry said.

Finally one and all present decided to go to the Skeezer
country, with Glinda and the little Wizard to lead them. Magic must
meet magic in order to conquer it, so these two skillful
magic-workers were necessary to insure the success of the
expedition.

They were all ready to start at a moment's notice, for none had
any affairs of importance to attend to. Jack was wearing a newly made
Pumpkin-head and the Scarecrow had recently been stuffed with fresh
straw. Tik-Tok's machinery was in good running order and the Tin
Woodman always was well oiled.

"It is quite a long journey," said Glinda, "and while I might
travel quickly to the Skeezer country by means of my stork chariot
the rest of you will be obliged to walk. So, as we must keep
together, I will send my chariot back to my castle and we will plan
to leave the Emerald City at sunrise to-morrow."