Tik-Tok of Oz | Page 2

children of America
as any story writer alive; and this, of course, makes me very proud and
happy.
L. Frank Baum.
"OZCOT" at HOLLYWOOD in CALIFORNIA, 1914.

LIST OF CHAPTERS 1 - Ann's Army 2 - Out of Oogaboo 3 - Magic
Mystifies the Marchers 4 - Betsy Braves the Bellows 5 - The Roses
Repulse the Refugees 6 - Shaggy Seeks His Stray Brother 7 -
Polychrome's Pitiful Plight 8 - Tik-Tok Tackles a Tough Task 9 -
Ruggedo's Rage is Rash and Reckless 10 - A Terrible Tumble Through
a Tube 11 - The Famous Fellowship of Fairies 12 - The Lovely Lady of
Light 13 - The Jinjin's Just Judgment 14 - The Long-Eared Hearer
Learns by Listening 15 - The Dragon Defies Danger 16 - The Naughty
Nome 17 - A Tragic Transformation 18 - A Clever Conquest 19 - King
Kaliko 20 - Quox Quietly Quits 21 - A Bashful Brother 22 - Kindly
Kisses 23 - Ruggedo Reforms 24 - Dorothy is Delighted 25 - The Land
of Love

TIK-TOK of OZ
Chapter One
Ann's Army
"I won't!" cried Ann; "I won't sweep the floor. It is beneath my
dignity."
"Some one must sweep it," replied Ann's younger sister, Salye; "else
we shall soon be wading in dust. And you are the eldest, and the head
of the family."

"I'm Queen of Oogaboo," said Ann, proudly. "But," she added with a
sigh, "my kingdom is the smallest and the poorest in all the Land of
Oz."
This was quite true. Away up in the mountains, in a far corner of the
beautiful fairyland of Oz, lies a small valley which is named Oogaboo,
and in this valley lived a few people who were usually happy and
contented and never cared to wander over the mountain pass into the
more settled parts of the land. They knew that all of Oz, including their
own territory, was ruled by a beautiful Princess named Ozma, who
lived in the splendid Emerald City; yet the simple folk of Oogaboo
never visited Ozma. They had a royal family of their own--not
especially to rule over them, but just as a matter of pride. Ozma
permitted the various parts of her country to have their Kings and
Queens and Emperors and the like, but all were ruled over by the lovely
girl Queen of the Emerald City.
The King of Oogaboo used to be a man named Jol Jemkiph Soforth,
who for many years did all the drudgery of deciding disputes and
telling his people when to plant cabbages and pickle onions. But the
King's wife had a sharp tongue and small respect for the King, her
husband; therefore one night King Jol crept over the pass into the Land
of Oz and disappeared from Oogaboo for good and all. The Queen
waited a few years for him to return and then started in search of him,
leaving her eldest daughter, Ann Soforth, to act as Queen.
Now, Ann had not forgotten when her birthday came, for that meant a
party and feasting and dancing, but she had quite forgotten how many
years the birthdays marked. In a land where people live always, this is
not considered a cause for regret, so we may justly say that Queen Ann
of Oogaboo was old enough to make jelly--and let it go at that.
But she didn't make jelly, or do any more of the housework than she
could help. She was an ambitious woman and constantly resented the
fact that her kingdom was so tiny and her people so stupid and
unenterprising. Often she wondered what had become of her father and
mother, out beyond the pass, in the wonderful Land of Oz, and the fact
that they did not return to Oogaboo led Ann to suspect that they had

found a better place to live. So, when Salye refused to sweep the floor
of the living room in the palace, and Ann would not sweep it, either,
she said to her sister:
"I'm going away. This absurd Kingdom of Oogaboo tires me."
"Go, if you want to," answered Salye; "but you are very foolish to leave
this place."
"Why?" asked Ann.
"Because in the Land of Oz, which is Ozma's country, you will be a
nobody, while here you are a Queen."
"Oh, yes! Queen over eighteen men, twenty-seven women and
forty-four children!" returned Ann bitterly.
"Well, there are certainly more people than that in the great Land of
Oz," laughed Salye. "Why don't you raise an army and conquer them,
and be Queen of all Oz?" she asked, trying to taunt Ann and so to anger
her. Then she made a face at her sister and went into the back yard to
swing in the hammock.
Her jeering words,