  The Stone Man of Oz Bob put his arm around Snorer's neck, and Nick, clapping his nose on its hook, prepared to fly from this new danger. Dangling from his end of the rope, Notta sighed mournfully to think he had not disguised himself, and the Cowardly Lion, after one look at the stone hand that held them, closed his eyes and began to tremble violently. The Stone Man was about three times the size of an ordinary man and carved out of a huge block of granite. His features, though rough hewn, were not unpleasant and Notta, after a few false starts, ventured a remark. "It was very kind of you to catch us," faltered the clown. "It wasn't kindness; it was curiosity," rasped the Stone Man frankly. "I've been watching you fall for some time, and I must say you're the oddest looking creatures I've seen in a stone age." As he said this, the Stone Man placed them on a flat rock that was on a level with his nose. And as he could not sit down, he leaned up against another rock and regarded them inquisitively. "Come on up here," he called gruffly to Snorer, "and bring that little fellow with you." Rather reluctantly, Nick flew up with Bob, and the four fallers tried to compose themselves and catch a bit of the breath they had lost on the trip down. The stone eyes of the Stone Man rested longest on the Cowardly Lion. "I like you best," he remarked presently. "You're better made than these others and not so likely to crumble. They look too soft to last long." He poked his stone finger experimentally into Notta's ribs, and only the clown's disguises saved him from serious injury. "Don't do that," growled the Cowardly Lion sharply. "What a lovely voice," mused the Stone Man almost to himself. "Tell me, what are you?" "I'm a Cowardly Lion," roared the big beast huskily, "so don't frighten me, for if you do I'll pound you to pebbles." "I don't believe he could do it," creaked the Stone Man, turning to Notta. "Do you?" "Well, he's a terrible fighter," admitted the clown, with a reassuring wink at Bob, "but let's not talk of such disagreeable things. Since you were kind enough to catch us perhaps you will tell us who you are." "Crunch is my name," answered the Stone Man, picking up a rock and crumbling it to powder in his hand. "I think we'd better be going," quavered Snorer tremulously. "We're late as it is." Nick had no desire to fall into the Stone Man's clutches. "Don't go," begged Crunch. "I haven't talked to anyone since I was excavated." "How long ago was that?" asked Notta, scratching his ear. "Oh, several ages ago," replied the Stone Man carelessly. "But I'm much older than that, for I was hacked out by a primitive Oz man to decorate his cave. But a landslide caved in the cave and I was buried for several centuries." "Who dug you up," roared the Cowardly Lion, "and how is it you are alive?" "A wizard named Wam dug me up," explained Crunch in his scratchy voice, "and brought me to life with a shaker of magic powder. I tried to thank him, but he ran away before I could catch him, so I've stood around ever since trying to find out what one does with a life." "Great Grandfathers!" choked the clown. "Fancy being alive for centuries and not knowing what to do. Why, there are hundreds of things to interest you, especially in a magic country like Oz. You could travel, and help other folks not so strong as yourself. You could offer your services to the Queen, or even build a city!" "Could I?" gasped Crunch. He stared off into space as if he saw himself doing all these things, and the idea was almost too amazing to believe. Then, bringing his stone heels together with a click, he announced determinedly, "I'll do it! I'll travel, I'll help people, I'll see the Queen and build a city!" "Hurrah!" cried Notta. "That's the way to talk. And since we are traveling, why not join us?" Crunch, he decided, might prove useful in a battle. "Can I walk beside him?" asked the Stone Man, pointing at the Cowardly Lion. "If you're steady on your pins," rumbled the Cowardly Lion, "and promise not to fall on me." "Where does the Queen of this country live?" asked Crunch, after he had promised not to fall on the Cowardly Lion. "In the Emerald City," piped up Bob, who had been listening to the Stone Man's conversation with deep interest. "Oh, that must be over there," said Crunch, waving toward the east, "for often at night, when I've climbed Stone Mountain, I've seen bright green lights twinkling in the darkness." "Why, of course it is," roared the Cowardly Lion in great excitement, "though why you have never gone over to find out I cannot imagine!" "That's because you were never a stone man," sighed Crunch solemnly. "Then we'll soon see Dorothy and the Scarecrow!" cried Bob, clapping his hands. "Come on, let's go to the Emerald City right away." Nick flew off to the top of the mountain to investigate for himself. "You forget Mustafa's enchantment," sighed Notta, pointing sadly to the rope that still bound him to the Cowardly Lion. "I daresay if we took a step toward the Emerald City, Mustafa would ring us up again." "Who is Mustafa and why has he enchanted you?" demanded Crunch, rubbing his stone forehead noisily. Notta explained as much of their story as he thought the Stone Man would understand, and when he had finished Crunch gave a little spring that almost knocked them from the ledge. "Why, it is as clear as cobbles," he roared, bringing down his fist upon a rock and splintering it to fragments. "You are weaker than I and, as I have fully determined to help someone, let me help you. Where is this Mustafa of Mudge? Take me to him and I will pound him to powder and disperse him to the winds." Before Notta could answer Nick came flying back to assure them that he had really seen the Emerald City from the mountain top and that it lay scarcely a half day's journey away. "Then it seems to me," said Notta, who had been doing some quick thinking, "that the time has come for us to separate. Bob, Nick and I will hasten to this Emerald City and appeal to Ozma, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile the Cowardly Lion can start toward Mudge and thus Mustafa's ring will not betray us. But before he reaches there we will have found a way to help him." "And I will go with the Cowardly Lion," declared Crunch promptly, "for I would rather help him than any one else." "Hurrah!" cried Bob Up, and so it was all decided. Then Notta sat on the Cowardly Lion's back and he sprang down from the ledge. Next Snorer flew down with Bob, and the clown untied the rope that tied him to the lion. Immediately he and Bob turned blue, but when the Cowardly Lion took a few steps south, the blue quickly faded out. Notta was so relieved to be free that he turned six somersaults, stood on his head, and ran several paces on his hands, while Bob and Nick shouted with glee. "Crush and crumble me!" rasped the Stone Man, eying the clown in alarm, "is that the way men get about nowdays? The men I watched in the stone age never did that and I simply could not manage it, you know." "Don't try," begged Notta, and Nick hastened to assure him that most men walked in the usual fashion—one foot before the other. "Mudge should be exactly southwest from here, so come on, old Cave Man, let's be moving. Together we'll conquer the whole tribe of Mudgers," said the lion. "You won't have to," cried Notta, giving the Cowardly Lion an affectionate hug, "if this Wizard of Oz is as clever as he's said to be." Crunch waited impatiently while Nick and Bob bade the Cowardly Lion good-bye. Having stood around for seven centuries, he could not bear to waste another second, and when the Cowardly Lion at last declared himself ready to go he tramped off joyfully, each step shaking the ground like a small earthquake and enveloping the poor lion in a cloud of dust. "Good-bye!" called Bob Up shrilly, as they turned into a narrow rocky path and disappeared behind a small mountain. "Good-bye!" roared the Cowardly Lion, bravely waving his tail in farewell. So much had happened since their flight from Un that Notta had forgotten all about the time of day, but when he started up the mountain, he grew so faint, he had to sit down on a rock. Bob, too, looked pale and weary, and every few hops Nick would close his eyes and indulge in a tremulous snore. "Great Elephants!" puffed Notta at last, squinting up at the sun. "It must be nearly five o'clock and we've had nothing to eat since morning. Have you still got those eggs, Bob Up?" Bob felt hurriedly in his blouse and, with a triumphant smile, produced the eggs they had picked from the travelers' tree. They were somewhat squashed, but when the shells had been removed they tasted delicious to the famished travelers. Washed down with some water from a little spring, the food renewed their strength and courage for the journey ahead. "I hope nothing happens to the Cowardly Lion," said Bob, as they started up the mountain again, "for I love him." "So do I," croaked the Snorer, who was flying a little ahead, "and I shall miss him very much when we go to America to make our fortune. But, of course I could not leave that beautiful person." He rolled his eyes proudly at Notta, and the clown quite unconsciously sighed. Life in a circus would seem terribly tame after this marvelous trip through Oz. "We ought to be home to-morrow, if everything works out," he remarked soberly, with an anxious glance at Bob. At the word "home" the little boy shivered slightly, for home to him meant a great, dreary institution where little boys whom nobody wanted were grudgingly sheltered and eternally shaken. In his heart he hoped the magic of this Wizard of Oz would not be strong enough to send them back. Notta was wondering to himself whether the managers of the home would trust a little boy's future to a clown and resolving darkly that, if they wouldn't, he'd take him anyhow. But he said nothing of this to Bob Up, and presently broke into such a comical song Bob forgot all about going back. This was the song: "A goblin's ears are very long, A goblin's nose goes wabble, But what I'd really like to know Is what makes goblins gobble? "Perhaps they gobble 'cause they're imps— And dreadfully imp-olite! Pshaw, all they do is squabble hobble, Gobble through the night!" "Speaking of night," chuckled Snorer, balancing on the branch of a low tree, "we'll probably have to spend it in that forest below, for it would hardly be safe to travel in the dark and it'll be dark by the time we're down this mountain." "Well," laughed Notta, "it wouldn't be the first time Bob and I have slept in a forest, and your snores ought to scare off any wild animals." "That's so," sighed Nick, adjusting his nose, and quite satisfied he flew on ahead. The path was rough and uneven and, though Notta and Bob frequently slipped and slid, in another hour they were safely down the mountain. It was dusk as they stepped into the strange forest, and Bob fancied the trees were peering down at him kindly. They were so tired Notta paused under an immense maple tree and Nick leaned up against the trunk and fell instantly to snoring and stamping, while Notta began gathering branches and leaves for beds. The clown spread his old lion disguise over Bob's pile and the little boy, stretching out comfortably, gazed up at the first star twinkling merrily in the evening sky and thought how strange his narrow bed at the home would seem after this. The wind sighed in the tree tops with a gentle and soothing sound, and even Nick's snoring seemed comforting and pleasant to Bob Up. "Bob," said Notta, as he dropped down beside him, "this is the friendliest forest I was ever in." Bob nodded, and at this a little rustle went rippling through the forest as if the trees had actually heard him, and in the same instant each tree quietly opened its trunk and drew forth a fiddle. Before Notta and Bob had recovered from their surprise a wave of music swept through the wood, now soft, now loud, but more entrancing than any they had ever heard. And the trees, swaying and bending in the dim starlight, plied their bows with more skill than any orchestra in the mortal world. For Bob and Notta, you see, had come to the Fiddlestick Forest of Oz. |
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