Ozma of Oz | Page 8

giving them the
appearance of the four legs of a beast. Yet it was no beast that Dorothy
had discovered, for the person was clothed most gorgeously in
embroidered garments of many colors, and wore a straw hat perched
jauntily upon the side of its head. But it differed from human beings in

this respect, that instead of hands and feet there grew at the end of its
arms and legs round wheels, and by means of these wheels it rolled
very swiftly over the level ground. Afterward Dorothy found that these
odd wheels were of the same hard substance that our finger-nails and
toe-nails are composed of, and she also learned that creatures of this
strange race were born in this queer fashion. But when our little girl
first caught sight of the first individual of a race that was destined to
cause her a lot of trouble, she had an idea that the brilliantly-clothed
personage was on roller-skates, which were attached to his hands as
well as to his feet.
"Run!" screamed the yellow hen, fluttering away in great fright. "It's a
Wheeler!"
"A Wheeler?" exclaimed Dorothy. "What can that be?"
"Don't you remember the warning in the sand: 'Beware the Wheelers'?
Run, I tell you--run!"
So Dorothy ran, and the Wheeler gave a sharp, wild cry and came after
her in full chase.
Looking over her shoulder as she ran, the girl now saw a great
procession of Wheelers emerging from the forest--dozens and dozens
of them--all clad in splendid, tight-fitting garments and all rolling
swiftly toward her and uttering their wild, strange cries.
"They're sure to catch us!" panted the girl, who was still carrying the
heavy dinner-pail she had picked. "I can't run much farther, Billina."
"Climb up this hill,--quick!" said the hen; and Dorothy found she was
very near to the heap of loose and jagged rocks they had passed on their
way to the forest. The yellow hen was even now fluttering among the
rocks, and Dorothy followed as best she could, half climbing and half
tumbling up the rough and rugged steep.
She was none too soon, for the foremost Wheeler reached the hill a
moment after her; but while the girl scrambled up the rocks the creature

stopped short with howls of rage and disappointment.
Dorothy now heard the yellow hen laughing, in her cackling, henny
way.
"Don't hurry, my dear," cried Billina. "They can't follow us among
these rocks, so we're safe enough now."
Dorothy stopped at once and sat down upon a broad boulder, for she
was all out of breath.
The rest of the Wheelers had now reached the foot of the hill, but it was
evident that their wheels would not roll upon the rough and jagged
rocks, and therefore they were helpless to follow Dorothy and the hen
to where they had taken refuge. But they circled all around the little hill,
so the child and Billina were fast prisoners and could not come down
without being captured.
Then the creatures shook their front wheels at Dorothy in a threatening
manner, and it seemed they were able to speak as well as to make their
dreadful outcries, for several of them shouted:
"We'll get you in time, never fear! And when we do get you, we'll tear
you into little bits!"
"Why are you so cruel to me?" asked Dorothy. "I'm a stranger in your
country, and have done you no harm."
"No harm!" cried one who seemed to be their leader. "Did you not pick
our lunch-boxes and dinner-pails? Have you not a stolen dinner-pail
still in your hand?"
"I only picked one of each," she answered. "I was hungry, and I didn't
know the trees were yours."
"That is no excuse," retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most
gorgeous suit. "It is the law here that whoever picks a dinner-pail
without our permission must die immediately."

"Don't you believe him," said Billina. "I'm sure the trees do not belong
to these awful creatures. They are fit for any mischief, and it's my
opinion they would try to kill us just the same if you hadn't picked a
dinner-pail."
"I think so, too," agreed Dorothy. "But what shall we do now?"
"Stay where we are," advised the yellow hen. "We are safe from the
Wheelers until we starve to death, anyhow; and before that time comes
a good many things can happen."

4. Tiktok the Machine Man
After an hour or so most of the band of Wheelers rolled back into the
forest, leaving only three of their number to guard the hill. These curled
themselves up like big dogs and pretended to go to sleep on the sands;
but neither Dorothy nor Billina were fooled by this trick, so they
remained in security among