The Emerald City of Oz | Page 4

round body,

and soon the Chief Counselor entered the cavern. The King scowled
and said to him:
"I'm in great trouble over the loss of my Magic Belt. Every little while I
want to do something magical, and find I can't because the Belt is gone.
That makes me angry, and when I'm angry I can't have a good time.
Now, what do you advise?"
"Some people," said the Chief Counselor, "enjoy getting angry."
"But not all the time," declared the King. "To be angry once in a while
is really good fun, because it makes others so miserable. But to be
angry morning, noon and night, as I am, grows monotonous and
prevents my gaining any other pleasure in life. Now what do you
advise?"
"Why, if you are angry because you want to do magical things and can't,
and if you don't want to get angry at all, my advice is not to want to do
magical things."
Hearing this, the King glared at his Counselor with a furious expression
and tugged at his own long white whiskers until he pulled them so hard
that he yelled with pain.
"You are a fool!" he exclaimed.
"I share that honor with your Majesty," said the Chief Counselor.
The King roared with rage and stamped his foot.
"Ho, there, my guards!" he cried. "Ho" is a royal way of saying, "Come
here." So, when the guards had hoed, the King said to them:
"Take this Chief Counselor and throw him away."
Then the guards took the Chief Counselor, and bound him with chains
to prevent his struggling, and threw him away. And the King paced up
and down his cavern more angry than before.

Finally he rushed to his big gong and made it clatter like a fire alarm.
Kaliko appeared again, trembling and white with fear.
"Fetch my pipe!" yelled the King.
"Your pipe is already here, your Majesty," replied Kaliko.
"Then get my tobacco!" roared the King.
"The tobacco is in your pipe, your Majesty," returned the Steward.
"Then bring a live coal from the furnace!" commanded the King.
"The tobacco is lighted, and your Majesty is already smoking your
pipe," answered the Steward.
"Why, so I am!" said the King, who had forgotten this fact; "but you
are very rude to remind me of it."
"I am a lowborn, miserable villain," declared the Chief Steward,
humbly.
The Nome King could think of nothing to say next, so he puffed away
at his pipe and paced up and down the room. Finally, he remembered
how angry he was, and cried out:
"What do you mean, Kaliko, by being so contented when your monarch
is unhappy?"
"What makes you unhappy?" asked the Steward.
"I've lost my Magic Belt. A little girl named Dorothy, who was here
with Ozma of Oz, stole my Belt and carried it away with her," said the
King, grinding his teeth with rage.
"She captured it in a fair fight," Kaliko ventured to say.
"But I want it! I must have it! Half my power is gone with that Belt!"
roared the King.

"You will have to go to the Land of Oz to recover it, and your Majesty
can't get to the Land of Oz in any possible way," said the Steward,
yawning because he had been on duty ninety-six hours, and was sleepy.
"Why not?" asked the King.
"Because there is a deadly desert all around that fairy country, which
no one is able to cross. You know that fact as well as I do, your
Majesty. Never mind the lost Belt. You have plenty of power left, for
you rule this underground kingdom like a tyrant, and thousands of
Nomes obey your commands. I advise you to drink a glass of melted
silver, to quiet your nerves, and then go to bed."
The King grabbed a big ruby and threw it at Kaliko's head. The
Steward ducked to escape the heavy jewel, which crashed against the
door just over his left ear.
"Get out of my sight! Vanish! Go away--and send General Blug here,"
screamed the Nome King.
Kaliko hastily withdrew, and the Nome King stamped up and down
until the General of his armies appeared.
This Nome was known far and wide as a terrible fighter and a cruel,
desperate commander. He had fifty thousand Nome soldiers, all well
drilled, who feared nothing but their stern master. Yet General Blug
was a trifle uneasy when he arrived and saw how angry the Nome King
was.
"Ha! So you're here!" cried the King.
"So I am," said the General.
"March your army at once to the Land of Oz, capture and destroy the
Emerald City, and bring back to me my Magic Belt!" roared the King.
"You're crazy," calmly remarked the General.
"What's that? What's