She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at
first that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as
they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my
grandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in
the river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word for
them also; so that Gayelette finally spared them, on condition that
the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the bidding of
the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been made for a wedding
present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the princess half
her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and all the other Monkeys at
once agreed to the condition, and that is how it happens that we
are three times the slaves of the owner of the Golden Cap,
whosoever he may be."
"And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatly
interested in the story.
"Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," replied the
Monkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride
could not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the
forest after he had married her and ordered us always to keep where
she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were
glad to do, for we were all afraid of her.
"This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into
the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the
Winkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the
West. Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the
right to lay your wishes upon us."
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and
saw the green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She
wondered at the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the
journey was over. The strange creatures set the travelers down
carefully before the gate of the City, the King bowed low to
Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away, followed by all his band.
"That was a good ride," said the little girl.
"Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles," replied the Lion."Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles," replied the Lion.
"How lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"The four travelers walked up to the great gate of Emerald City
and rang the bell. After ringing several times, it was opened by
the same Guardian of the Gates they had met before.
"What! are you back again?" he asked, in surprise.
"Do you not see us?" answered the Scarecrow.
"But I thought you had gone to visit the Wicked Witch of the
West."
"We did visit her," said the Scarecrow.
"And she let you go again?" asked the man, in wonder.
"She could not help it, for she is melted," explained the
Scarecrow.
"Melted! Well, that is good news, indeed," said the man. "Who
melted her?"
"It was Dorothy," said the Lion gravely.
"Good gracious!" exclaimed the man, and he bowed very low indeed
before her.
Then he led them into his little room and locked the spectacles
from the great box on all their eyes, just as he had done before.
Afterward they passed on through the gate into the Emerald City.
When the people heard from the Guardian of the Gates that Dorothy
had melted the Wicked Witch of the West, they all gathered around
the travelers and followed them in a great crowd to the Palace of
Oz.
The soldier with the green whiskers was still on guard before
the door, but he let them in at once, and they were again met by
the beautiful green girl, who showed each of them to their old
rooms at once, so they might rest until the Great Oz was ready to
receive them.
The soldier had the news carried straight to Oz that Dorothy and
the other travelers had come back again, after destroying the
Wicked Witch; but Oz made no reply. They thought the Great Wizard
would send for them at once, but he did not. They had no word from
him the next day, nor the next, nor the next. The waiting was
tiresome and wearing, and at last they grew vexed that Oz should
treat them in so poor a fashion, after sending them to undergo
hardships and slavery. So the Scarecrow at last asked the green
girl to take another message to Oz, saying if he did not let them
in to see him at once they would call the Winged Monkeys to helpin to see him at once they would call the Winged Monkeys to help
them, and find out whether he kept his promises or not. When the
Wizard was given this message he was so frightened that he sent
word for them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes after nine
o'clock the next morning. He had once met the Winged Monkeys in the
Land of the West, and he did not wish to meet them again.
The four travelers passed a sleepless night, each thinking of
the gift Oz had promised to bestow on him. Dorothy fell asleep only
once, and then she dreamed she was in Kansas, where Aunt Em was
telling her how glad she was to have her little girl at home
again.
Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning the green-whiskered
soldier came to them, and four minutes later they all went into the
Throne Room of the Great Oz.
Of course each one of them expected to see the Wizard in the
shape he had taken before, and all were greatly surprised when they
looked about and saw no one at all in the room. They kept close to
the door and closer to one another, for the stillness of the empty
room was more dreadful than any of the forms they had seen Oz
take.
Presently they heard a solemn Voice, that seemed to come from
somewhere near the top of the great dome, and it said:
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?"
They looked again in every part of the room, and then, seeing no
one, Dorothy asked, "Where are you?"
"I am everywhere," answered the Voice, "but to the eyes of
common mortals I am invisible. I will now seat myself upon my
throne, that you may converse with me." Indeed, the Voice seemed
just then to come straight from the throne itself; so they walked
toward it and stood in a row while Dorothy said:
"We have come to claim our promise, O Oz."
"What promise?" asked Oz.
"You promised to send me back to Kansas when the Wicked Witch
was destroyed," said the girl.
"And you promised to give me brains," said the Scarecrow.
"And you promised to give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman.