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                             The WONDERFUL
                                 WIZARD
                                   OF
                                   OZ

                            BY L. Frank Baum

                             W. W. Denslow.

[Illustration]

                            Geo. M. Hill Co.
                               New York.




                             INTRODUCTION.


Folk lore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood
through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and
instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly
unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more
happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.

Yet the old-time fairy tale, having served for generations, may
now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the
time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the
stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all
the horrible and blood-curdling incident devised by their authors
to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes
morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its
wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

[Illustration]

Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to
being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are
retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.

                     L. FRANK BAUM.

  CHICAGO, APRIL, 1900.

[Illustration]

  Copyright 1899
  By L. Frank Baum
  and W. W. Denslow.
  All rights reserved

[Illustration]




                           LIST OF CHAPTERS.


  CHAPTER I.--The Cyclone.

  CHAPTER II.--The Council with The Munchkins.

  CHAPTER III.--How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow.

  CHAPTER IV.--The Road Through the Forest.

  CHAPTER V.--The Rescue of the Tin Woodman.

  CHAPTER VI.--The Cowardly Lion.

  CHAPTER VII.--The Journey to The Great Oz.

  CHAPTER VIII.--The Deadly Poppy Field.

  CHAPTER IX.--The Queen of the Field Mice.

  CHAPTER X.--The Guardian of the Gates.

  CHAPTER XI.--The Wonderful Emerald City of Oz.

  CHAPTER XII.--The Search for the Wicked Witch.

  CHAPTER XIII.--How the Four were Reunited.

  CHAPTER XIV.--The Winged Monkeys.

  CHAPTER XV.--The Discovery of Oz the Terrible.

  CHAPTER XVI.--The Magic Art of the Great Humbug.

  CHAPTER XVII.--How the Balloon was Launched.

  CHAPTER XVIII.--Away to the South.

  CHAPTER XIX.--Attacked by the Fighting Trees.

  CHAPTER XX.--The Dainty China Country.

  CHAPTER XXI.--The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts.

  CHAPTER XXII.--The Country of the Quadlings.

  CHAPTER XXIII.--The Good Witch grants Dorothy's Wish.

  CHAPTER XXIV.--Home Again.


  _This book is dedicated to my
  good friend & comrade.

                My Wife

                      L.F.B._




                               Chapter I.

                              The Cyclone.


[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle
Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried
by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof,
which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cooking
stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs,
and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner,
and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at
all, and no cellar--except a small hole, dug in the ground, called a
cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great
whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It
was reached by a trap-door in the middle of the floor, from which a
ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see
nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a
house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached the edge of
the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a
gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was
not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until
they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had
been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it
away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

[Illustration: "_She caught Toto by the ear._"]

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The
sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from
her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her
cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt,
and never smiled, now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came
to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that
she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's
merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl
with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and
did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to
his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as
gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little
black dog, with long, silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled
merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day
long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

[Illustration]

To-day, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the
door-step and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than
usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at
the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle
Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves
before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the
air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw
ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife; "I'll go look
after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and
horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of
the danger close at hand.

"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed; "run for the cellar!"

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the
girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the
trap-door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small,
dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last, and started to follow her
aunt. When she was half way across the room there came a great shriek
from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing
and sat down suddenly upon the floor.

A strange thing then happened.

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through
the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the
exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is
generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of
the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very
top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and
miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but
Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls
around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as
if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there,
barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited
to see what would happen.

Once Toto got too near the open trap-door, and fell in; and at first
the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his
ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air
was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole,
caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again; afterward
closing the trap-door so that no more accidents could happen.

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright;
but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about
her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she
would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours
passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and
resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last
she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it;
and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind,
Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

[Illustration]




                              Chapter II.

                            The Council with
                             The Munchkins.


[Illustration]

[Illustration]


She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy
had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it
was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened;
and Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally.
Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it
dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the
little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran
and opened the door.

The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her
eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.

The cyclone had set the house down, very gently--for a cyclone--in
the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches
of green sward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and
luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and
birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees
and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling
along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to
a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.

While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights,
she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had
ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been
used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about
as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although
they were, so far as looks go, many years older.

[Illustration: "_I am the Witch of the North._"]

Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore
round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with
little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The
hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she
wore a white gown that hung in plaits from her shoulders; over it were
sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. The men
were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well
polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the tops. The men, Dorothy
thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards.
But the little woman was doubtless much older: her face was covered
with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in
the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid
to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made
a low bow and said, in a sweet voice,

"You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins.
We are so grateful to you for having killed the wicked Witch of the
East, and for setting our people free from bondage."

[Illustration]

Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little
woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she
had killed the wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent,
harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles
from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy
said, with hesitation,

"You are very kind; but there must be some mistake. I have not killed
anything."

"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh;
"and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing to the
corner of the house; "there are her two toes, still sticking out from
under a block of wood."

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just
under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were
sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in
dismay; "the house must have fallen on her. What ever shall we do?"

"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman, calmly.

[Illustration]

"But who was she?" asked Dorothy.

"She was the wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the
little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many
years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set
free, and are grateful to you for the favour."

"Who are the Munchkins?" enquired Dorothy.

"They are the people who live in this land of the East, where the
wicked Witch ruled."

"Are you a Munchkin?" asked Dorothy.

"No; but I am their friend, although I live in the land of the North.
When they saw the Witch of the East was dead the Munchkins sent a swift
messenger to me, and I came at once. I am the Witch of the North."

"Oh, gracious!" cried Dorothy; "are you a real witch?"

"Yes, indeed;" answered the little woman. "But I am a good witch, and
the people love me. I am not as powerful as the wicked Witch was who
ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself."

"But I thought all witches were wicked," said the girl, who was half
frightened at facing a real witch.

"Oh, no; that is a great mistake. There were only four witches in all
the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the
South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them
myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the
West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one
of them, there is but one wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz--the one
who lives in the West."

"But," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "Aunt Em has told me
that the witches were all dead--years and years ago."

"Who is Aunt Em?" inquired the little old woman.

"She is my aunt who lives in Kansas, where I came from."

The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head
bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said,

"I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country
mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?"

"Oh, yes;" replied Dorothy.

"Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I believe
there are no witches left; nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor
magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for
we are cut off from all the rest of the world. Therefore we still
have witches and wizards amongst us."

"Who are the Wizards?" asked Dorothy.

"Oz himself is the Great Wizard," answered the Witch, sinking her
voice to a whisper. "He is more powerful than all the rest of us
together. He lives in the City of Emeralds."

Dorothy was going to ask another question, but just then the Munchkins,
who had been standing silently by, gave a loud shout and pointed to the
corner of the house where the Wicked Witch had been lying.

[Illustration]

"What is it?" asked the little old woman; and looked, and began
to laugh. The feet of the dead Witch had disappeared entirely and
nothing was left but the silver shoes.

"She was so old," explained the Witch of the North, "that she dried
up quickly in the sun. That is the end of her. But the silver shoes
are yours, and you shall have them to wear." She reached down and
picked up the shoes, and after shaking the dust out of them handed
them to Dorothy.

"The Witch of the East was proud of those silver shoes," said one of
the Munchkins; "and there is some charm connected with them; but what
it is we never knew."

Dorothy carried the shoes into the house and placed them on the
table. Then she came out again to the Munchkins and said,

"I am anxious to get back to my Aunt and Uncle, for I am sure they
will worry about me. Can you help me find my way?"

The Munchkins and the Witch first looked at one another, and then at
Dorothy, and then shook their heads.

"At the East, not far from here," said one, "there is a great desert,
and none could live to cross it."

"It is the same at the South," said another, "for I have been there
and seen it. The South is the country of the Quadlings."

"I am told," said the third man, "that it is the same at the West. And
that country, where the Winkies live, is ruled by the wicked Witch of
the West, who would make you her slave if you passed her way."

"The North is my home," said the old lady, "and at its edge is the
same great desert that surrounds this land of Oz. I'm afraid, my
dear, you will have to live with us."

Dorothy began to sob, at this, for she felt lonely among all
these strange people. Her tears seemed to grieve the kind-hearted
Munchkins, for they immediately took out their handkerchiefs and
began to weep also. As for the little old woman, she took off her
cap and balanced the point on the end of her nose, while she counted
"one, two, three" in a solemn voice. At once the cap changed to a
slate, on which was written in big, white chalk marks:

"LET DOROTHY GO TO THE CITY OF EMERALDS."

[Illustration]

The little old woman took the slate from her nose, and, having read
the words on it, asked,

"Is your name Dorothy, my dear?"

"Yes," answered the child, looking up and drying her tears.

"Then you must go to the City of Emeralds. Perhaps Oz will help you."

"Where is this City?" asked Dorothy.

"It is exactly in the center of the country, and is ruled by Oz, the
Great Wizard I told you of."

"Is he a good man?" enquired the girl, anxiously.

"He is a good Wizard. Whether he is a man or not I cannot tell, for I
have never seen him."

"How can I get there?" asked Dorothy.

"You must walk. It is a long journey, through a country that is
sometimes pleasant and sometimes dark and terrible. However, I will
use all the magic arts I know of to keep you from harm."

"Won't you go with me?" pleaded the girl, who had begun to look upon
the little old woman as her only friend.

"No, I cannot do that," she replied; "but I will give you my kiss,
and no one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch
of the North."

She came close to Dorothy and kissed her gently on the forehead.
Where her lips touched the girl they left a round, shining mark, as
Dorothy found out soon after.

"The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick," said the
Witch; "so you cannot miss it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of
him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-bye, my dear."

[Illustration]

The three Munchkins bowed low to her and wished her a pleasant
journey, after which they walked away through the trees. The Witch
gave Dorothy a friendly little nod, whirled around on her left heel
three times, and straightway disappeared, much to the surprise of
little Toto, who barked after her loudly enough when she had gone,
because he had been afraid even to growl while she stood by.

But Dorothy, knowing her to be a witch, had expected her to disappear
in just that way, and was not surprised in the least.




                              Chapter III

                           How Dorothy saved
                             the Scarecrow.

[Illustration]

When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry. So she went
to the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with
butter. She gave some to Toto, and taking a pail from the shelf
she carried it down to the little brook and filled it with clear,
sparkling water. Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the
birds sitting there. Dorothy went to get him, and saw such delicious
fruit hanging from the branches that she gathered some of it, finding
it just what she wanted to help out her breakfast.

Then she went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto
to a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready
for the journey to the City of Emeralds.

Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and
was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks
of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with
many washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself
carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink
sunbonnet on her head. She took a little basket and filled it with
bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she
looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.

"They surely will never do for a long journey, Toto," she said. And
Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged
his tail to show he knew what she meant.

At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that
had belonged to the Witch of the East.

"I wonder if they will fit me," she said to Toto. "They would be just
the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out."

She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones,
which fitted her as well as if they had been made for her.

Finally she picked up her basket.

"Come along, Toto," she said, "we will go to the Emerald City and ask
the great Oz how to get back to Kansas again."

She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the
pocket of her dress. And so, with Toto trotting along soberly behind
her, she started on her journey.

There were several roads near by, but it did not take her long to
find the one paved with yellow brick. Within a short time she was
walking briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling
merrily on the hard, yellow roadbed. The sun shone bright and the
birds sang sweet and Dorothy did not feel nearly as bad as you might
think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her
own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.

[Illustration]

She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country
was about her. There were neat fences at the sides of the road,
painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and
vegetables in abundance. Evidently the Munchkins were good farmers
and able to raise large crops. Once in a while she would pass a
house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she
went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the
wicked witch and setting them free from bondage. The houses of the
Munchkins were odd looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big
dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this country of the
East blue was the favorite color.

Towards evening, when Dorothy was tired with her long walk and began
to wonder where she should pass the night, she came to a house rather
larger than the rest. On the green lawn before it many men and women
were dancing. Five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible and
the people were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was
loaded with delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other
good things to eat.

The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to
pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest
Munchkins in the land, and his friends were gathered with him to
celebrate their freedom from the bondage of the wicked witch.

Dorothy ate a hearty supper and was waited upon by the rich Munchkin
himself, whose name was Boq. Then she sat down upon a settee and
watched the people dance.

When Boq saw her silver shoes he said,

"You must be a great sorceress."

"Why?" asked the girl.

"Because you wear silver shoes and have killed the wicked witch.
Besides, you have white in your frock, and only witches and
sorceresses wear white."

[Illustration: "_You must be a great sorceress._"]

"My dress is blue and white checked," said Dorothy, smoothing out the
wrinkles in it.

"It is kind of you to wear that," said Boq. "Blue is the color of
the Munchkins, and white is the witch color; so we know you are a
friendly witch."

Dorothy did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed
to think her a witch, and she knew very well she was only an ordinary
little girl who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.

When she had tired watching the dancing, Boq led her into the house,
where he gave her a room with a pretty bed in it. The sheets were
made of blue cloth, and Dorothy slept soundly in them till morning,
with Toto curled up on the blue rug beside her.

She ate a hearty breakfast, and watched a wee Munchkin baby, who
played with Toto and pulled his tail and crowed and laughed in a way
that greatly amused Dorothy. Toto was a fine curiosity to all the
people, for they had never seen a dog before.

"How far is it to the Emerald City?" the girl asked.

[Illustration]

"I do not know," answered Boq, gravely, "for I have never been there.
It is better for people to keep away from Oz, unless they have
business with him. But it is a long way to the Emerald City, and it
will take you many days. The country here is rich and pleasant, but
you must pass through rough and dangerous places before you reach the
end of your journey."

This worried Dorothy a little, but she knew that only the great Oz
could help her get to Kansas again, so she bravely resolved