Chapters (28)
- THE MAGIC OF OZ
- *
- Contents
- The Magic of Oz
- To My Readers
- 1 - Mount Munch
- 2 - The Hawk
- 3 - Two Bad Ones
- 4 - Conspirators
- 5 - A Happy Corner of Oz
- 6 - Ozma's Birthday Presents
- 7 - The Forest of Gugu
- 8 - The Li-Mon-Eags Make Trouble
- 9 - The Isle of the Magic Flower
- 10 - Stuck Fast
- 11 - The Beasts of the Forest of Gugu
- 12 - Kiki Uses His Magic
- 13 - The Loss of the Black Bag
- 14 - The Wizard Learns the Magic Word
- 15 - The Lonesome Duck
- 16 - The Glass Cat Finds the Black Bag
- 17 - A Remarkable Journey
- 18 - The Magic of the Wizard
- 19 - Dorothy and the Bumble Bees
- 20 - The Monkeys Have Trouble
- 21 - The College of Athletic Arts
- 22 - Ozma's Birthday Party
- 23 - The Fountain of Oblivion
"I'll fix it," promised Cap'n Bill. "I'll make a flat board out of one of these tree trunks, an' tie the board on the lion's back, an' set the flower-pot on the board." He set to work at once to do this, but as he only had his big knife for a tool his progress was slow.
So the Wizard took from his black bag a tiny saw that shone like silver and said to it:
"Saw, Little Saw, come show your power;
Make us a board for the Magic Flower."
And at once the Little Saw began to move and it sawed the log so fast that those who watched it work were astonished. It seemed to understand, too, just what the board was to be used for, for when it was completed it was flat on top and hollowed beneath in such a manner that it exactly fitted the Lion's back.
"That beats whittlin'!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, admiringly. "You don't happen to have TWO o' them saws; do you, Wizard?"
"No," replied the Wizard, wiping the Magic Saw carefully with his silk handkerchief and putting it back in the black bag. "It's the only saw of its kind in the world; and if there were more like it, it wouldn't be so wonderful."
They now tied the board on the Lion's back, flat side up, and Cap'n Bill carefully placed the Magic Flower on the board.
"For fear o' accidents," he said, "I'll walk beside the Lion and hold onto the flower-pot."
Trot and Dorothy could both ride on the back of the Hungry Tiger, and between them they carried the cage of monkeys. But this arrangement left the Wizard, as well as the sailor, to make the journey on foot, and so the procession moved slowly and the Glass Cat grumbled because it would take so long to get to the Emerald City.
The Cat was sour-tempered and grumpy, at first, but before they had journeyed far, the crystal creature had discovered a fine amusement. The long tails of the monkeys were constantly sticking through the bars of their cage, and when they did, the Glass Cat would slyly seize the tails in her paws and pull them. That made the monkeys scream, and their screams pleased the Glass Cat immensely. Trot and Dorothy tried to stop this naughty amusement, but when they were not looking the Cat would pull the tails again, and the creature was so sly and quick that the monkeys could seldom escape. They scolded the Cat angrily and shook the bars of their cage, but they could not get out and the Cat only laughed at them.