The Magic of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum (8 ebook reader txt) đ
- Author: Lyman Frank Baum
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Trot jumped up, greatly frightened, and looked at the terrible animal as if fascinated by its fierce eyes, for the Kalidah was looking at her, too, and its look wasnât at all friendly. But Capân Bill called to her: âWade into the river, Trot, up to your kneesâanâ stay there!â and she obeyed him at once. The sailor-man hobbled forward, the stake in one hand and his axe in the other, and got between the girl and the beast, which sprang upon him with a growl of defiance.
Capân Bill moved pretty slowly, sometimes, but now he was quick as could be. As the Kalidah sprang toward him he stuck out his wooden leg and the point of it struck the beast between the eyes and sent it rolling upon the ground. Before it could get upon its feet again the sailor pushed the sharp stake right through its body and then with the flat side of the axe he hammered the stake as far into the ground as it would go. By this means he captured the great beast and made it harmless, for try as it would, it could not get away from the stake that held it.
Capân Bill knew he could not kill the Kalidah, for no living thing in Oz can be killed, so he stood back and watched the beast wriggle and growl and paw the earth with its sharp claws, and then, satisfied it could not escape, he told Trot to come out of the water again and dry her wet shoes and stockings in the sun.
âAre you sure he canât get away?â she asked.
âIâd bet a cookie on it,â said Capân Bill, so Trot came ashore and took off her shoes and stockings and laid them on the log to dry, while the sailor-man resumed his work on the raft.
The Kalidah, realizing after many struggles that it could not escape, now became quiet, but it said in a harsh, snarling voice:
âI suppose you think youâre clever, to pin me to the ground in this manner. But when my friends, the other Kalidahs, come here, theyâll tear you to pieces for treating me this way.â
âPâraps,â remarked Capân Bill, coolly, as he chopped at the logs, âanâ pâraps not. When are your folks cominâ here?â
âI donât know,â admitted the Kalidah. âBut when they DO come, you canât escape them.â
âIf they hold off long enough, Iâll have my raft ready,â said Capân Bill.
âWhat are you going to do with a raft?â inquired the beast.
âWeâre goinâ over to that island, to get the Magic Flower.â
The huge beast looked at him in surprise a moment, and then it began to laugh. The laugh was a good deal like a roar, and it had a cruel and derisive sound, but it was a laugh nevertheless.
âGood!â said the Kalidah. âGood! Very good! Iâm glad youâre going to get the Magic Flower. But what will you do with it?â
âWeâre going to take it to Ozma, as a present on her birthday.â
The Kalidah laughed again; then it became sober. âIf you get to the land on your raft before my people can catch you,â it said, âyou will be safe from us. We can swim like ducks, so the girl couldnât have escaped me by getting into the water; but Kalidahs donât go to that island over there.â
âWhy not?â asked Trot.
The beast was silent.
âTell us the reason,â urged Capân Bill.
âWell, itâs the Isle of the Magic Flower,â answered the Kalidah, âand we donât care much for magic. If you hadnât had a magic leg, instead of a meat one, you couldnât have knocked me over so easily and stuck this wooden pin through me.â
âIâve been to the Magic Isle,â said the Glass Cat, âand Iâve watched the Magic Flower bloom, and Iâm sure itâs too pretty to be left in that lonely place where only beasts prowl around it and no else sees it. So weâre going to take it away to the Emerald City.â
âI donât care,â the beast replied in a surly tone. âWe Kalidahs would be just as contented if there wasnât a flower in our forest. What good are the things anyhow?â
âDonât you like pretty things?â asked Trot.
âNo.â
âYou ought to admire my pink brains, anyhow,â declared the Glass Cat. âTheyâre beautiful and you can see âem work.â
The beast only growled in reply, and Capân Bill, having now cut all his logs to a proper size, began to roll them to the waterâs edge and fasten them together.
10. Stuck FastThe day was nearly gone when, at last, the raft was ready.
âIt ainât so very big,â said the old sailor, âbut I donât weigh much, anâ you, Trot, donât weigh half as much as I do, anâ the glass pussy donât count.â
âBut itâs safe, isnât it?â inquired the girl.
âYes; itâs good enough to carry us to the island anâ back again, anâ thatâs about all we can expect of it.â
Saying this, Capân Bill pushed the raft into the water, and when it was afloat, stepped upon it and held out his hand to Trot, who quickly followed him. The Glass Cat boarded the raft last of all.
The sailor had cut a long pole, and had also whittled a flat paddle, and with these he easily propelled the raft across the river. As they approached the island, the Wonderful Flower became more plainly visible, and they quickly decided that the Glass Cat had not praised it too highly. The colors of the flowers that bloomed in quick succession were strikingly bright and beautiful, and the shapes of the blossoms were varied and curious. Indeed, they did not resemble ordinary flowers at all.
So intently did Trot and Capân Bill gaze upon the Golden Flower-pot that held the Magic Flower that they scarcely noticed the island itself until the raft beached upon its sands. But then the girl exclaimed: âHow funny it is, Capân Bill, that nothing else grows here excepâ the Magic Flower.â
Then the sailor glanced at the island and saw that it was all bare ground, without a weed, a stone or a blade of grass. Trot, eager to examine the Flower closer, sprang from the raft and ran up the bank until she reached the Golden Flower-pot. Then she stood beside it motionless and filled with wonder. Capân Bill joined her, coming more leisurely, and he, too, stood in silent admiration for a time.
âOzma will like this,â remarked the Glass Cat, sitting down to watch the shifting hues of the flowers. âIâm sure she wonât have as fine a birthday present from anyone else.â
âDo you âspose itâs very heavy, Capân? And can we get it home without breaking it?â asked Trot anxiously.
âWell, Iâve lifted many bigger things than that,â he replied; âbut letâs see what it weighs.â
He tried to take a step forward, but could not lift his meat foot from the ground. His wooden leg seemed free enough, but the other would not budge.
âI seem stuck, Trot,â he said, with a perplexed look at his foot. âIt ainât mud, anâ it ainât glue, but somethinâs holdinâ me down.â
The girl attempted to lift her own feet, to go nearer to her friend, but the ground held them as fast as it held Capân Billâs foot. She tried to slide them, or to twist them around, but it was no use; she could not move either foot a hairâs breadth.
âThis is funny!â she exclaimed. âWhat do you âspose has happened to us, Capân Bill?â
âIâm tryinâ to make out,â he answered. âTake off your shoes, Trot. Pâraps itâs the leather soles thatâs stuck to the ground.â
She leaned down and unlaced her shoes, but found she could not pull her feet out of them. The Glass Cat, which was walking around as naturally as ever, now said:
âYour foot has got roots to it, Capân, and I can see the roots going into the ground, where they spread out in all directions. Itâs the same way with Trot. Thatâs why you canât move. The roots hold you fast.â
Capân Bill was rather fat and couldnât see his own feet very well, but he squatted down and examined Trotâs feet and decided that the Glass Cat was right.
âThis is hard luck,â he declared, in a voice that showed he was uneasy at the discovery. âWeâre prisâners, Trot, on this funny island, anâ Iâd like to know how weâre ever goinâ to get loose, soâs we can get home again.â
âNow I know why the Kalidah laughed at us,â said the girl, âand why he said none of the beasts ever came to this island. The horrid creature knew weâd be caught, and wouldnât warn us.â
In the meantime, the Kalidah, although pinned fast to the earth by Capân Billâs stake, was facing the island, and now the ugly expression which passed over its face when it defied and sneered at Capân Bill and Trot, had changed to one of amusement and curiosity. When it saw the adventurers had actually reached the island and were standing beside the Magic Flower, it heaved a breath of satisfactionâa long, deep breath that swelled its deep chest until the beast could feel the stake that held him move a little, as if withdrawing itself from the ground.
âAh ha!â murmured the Kalidah, âa little more of this will set me free and allow me to escape!â
So he began breathing as hard as he could, puffing out his chest as much as possible with each indrawing breath, and by doing this he managed to raise the stake with each powerful breath, until at last the Kalidahâusing the muscles of his four legs as well as his deep breathsâfound itself free of the sandy soil. The stake was sticking right through him, however, so he found a rock deeply set in the bank and pressed the sharp point of the stake upon the surface of this rock until he had driven it clear through his body. Then, by getting the stake tangled among some thorny bushes, and wiggling his body, he managed to draw it out altogether.
âThere!â he exclaimed, âexcept for those two holes in me, Iâm as good as ever; but I must admit that that old wooden-legged fellow saved both himself and the girl by making me a prisoner.â
Now the Kalidahs, although the most disagreeable creatures in the Land of Oz, were nevertheless magical inhabitants of a magical Fairyland, and in their natures a certain amount of good was mingled with the evil. This one was not very revengeful, and now that his late foes were in danger of perishing, his anger against them faded away.
âOur own Kalidah King,â he reflected, âhas certain magical powers of his own. Perhaps he knows how to fill up these two holes in my body.â
So without paying any more attention to Trot and Capân Bill than they were paying to him, he entered the forest and trotted along a secret path that led to the hidden lair of all the Kalidahs.
While the Kalidah was making good its escape Capân Bill took his pipe from his pocket and filled it with tobacco and lighted it. Then, as he puffed out the smoke, he tried to think what could be done.
âThe Glass Cat seems all right,â he said, âanâ my wooden leg didnât take roots and grow, either. So itâs only flesh that gets caught.â
âItâs magic that does it, Capân!â
âI know, Trot, and thatâs what sticks me. Weâre livinâ in a magic country, but neither of us knows any magic anâ so we canât help ourselves.â
âCouldnât the Wizard of Oz help usâor Glinda the Good?â
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