Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
when the Princess said to her maid:
"Please go to my boudoir, Jellia, and get the white piglet I left on the
dressing-table. I want to play with it."
Jellia at once departed on the errand, and she was gone so long that
they had almost forgotten her mission when the green robed maiden
returned with a troubled face.
"The piglet is not there, your Highness," said she.
"Not there!" exclaimed Ozma. "Are you sure?"
"I have hunted in every part of the room," the maid replied.
"Was not the door closed?" asked the Princess.
"Yes, your Highness; I am sure it was; for when I opened it Dorothy's
white kitten crept out and ran up the stairs."
Hearing this, Dorothy and the Wizard exchanged startled glances, for
they remembered how often Eureka had longed to eat a piglet. The little
girl jumped up at once.
"Come, Ozma," she said, anxiously; "let us go ourselves to search for
the piglet."
So the two went to the dressing-room of the Princess and searched
carefully in every corner and among the vases and baskets and ornaments
that stood about the pretty boudoir. But not a trace could they find of
the tiny creature they sought.
Dorothy was nearly weeping, by this time, while Ozma was angry and
indignant. When they returned to the others the Princess said:
"There is little doubt that my pretty piglet has been eaten by that
horrid kitten, and if that is true the offender must be punished."
"I don't b'lieve Eureka would do such a dreadful thing!" cried Dorothy,
much distressed. "Go and get my kitten, please, Jellia, and we'll hear
what she has to say about it."
The green maiden hastened away, but presently returned and said:
"The kitten will not come. She threatened to scratch my eyes out if I
touched her."
"Where is she?" asked Dorothy.
"Under the bed in your own room," was the reply.
So Dorothy ran to her room and found the kitten under the bed.
"Come here, Eureka!" she said.
"I won't," answered the kitten, in a surly voice.
"Oh, Eureka! Why are you so bad?"
The kitten did not reply.
"If you don't come to me, right away," continued Dorothy, getting
provoked, "I'll take my Magic Belt and wish you in the Country of the
Gurgles."
"Why do you want me?" asked Eureka, disturbed by this threat.
"You must go to Princess Ozma. She wants to talk to you."
"All right," returned the kitten, creeping out. "I'm not afraid of
Ozma--or anyone else."
Dorothy carried her in her arms back to where the others sat in grieved
and thoughtful silence.
"Tell me, Eureka," said the Princess, gently: "did you eat my pretty
piglet?"
"I won't answer such a foolish question," asserted Eureka, with a snarl.
"Oh, yes you will, dear," Dorothy declared. "The piglet is gone, and you
ran out of the room when Jellia opened the door. So, if you are
innocent, Eureka, you must tell the Princess how you came to be in her
room, and what has become of the piglet."
"Who accuses me?" asked the kitten, defiantly.
"No one," answered Ozma. "Your actions alone accuse you. The fact is
that I left my little pet in my dressing-room lying asleep upon the
table; and you must hove stolen in without my knowing it. When next the
door was opened you ran out and hid yourself--and the piglet was gone."
"That's none of my business," growled the kitten.
"Don't be impudent, Eureka," admonished Dorothy.
"It is you who are impudent," said Eureka, "for accusing me of such a
crime when you can't prove it except by guessing."
Ozma was now greatly incensed by the kitten's conduct. She summoned her
Captain-General, and when the long, lean officer appeared she said:
"Carry this cat away to prison, and keep her in safe confinement until
she is tried by law for the crime of murder."
So the Captain-General took Eureka from the arms of the now weeping
Dorothy and in spite of the kitten's snarls and scratches carried it
away to prison.
"What shall we do now?" asked the Scarecrow, with a sigh, for such a
crime had cast a gloom over all the company.
"I will summon the Court to meet in the Throne Room at three o'clock,"
replied Ozma. "I myself will be the judge, and the kitten shall have a
fair trial."
"What will happen if she is guilty?" asked Dorothy.
"She must die," answered the Princess.
"Nine times?" enquired the Scarecrow.
"As many times as is necessary," was the reply. "I will ask the Tin
Woodman to defend the prisoner, because he has such a kind heart I am
sure he will do his best to save her. And the Woggle-Bug shall be the
Public Accuser, because he is so learned that no one can deceive him."
"Who will be the jury?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"There ought to be several animals on the jury," said Ozma, "because
animals understand each other better than we people understand them.
So the jury shall consist of the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Jim
the Cab-horse, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Wizard, Tik-tok the
Machine Man, the Sawhorse and Zeb of Hugson's Ranch. That makes the nine
which the law requires, and all my people shall be admitted to hear the
testimony."
They now separated to prepare for the sad ceremony; for whenever an
appeal is made to law sorrow is almost certain to follow--even in a
fairyland like Oz. But it must be stated that the people of that Land
were generally so well-behaved that there was not a single lawyer
amongst them, and it had been years since any Ruler had sat in judgment
upon an offender of the law. The crime of murder being the most dreadful
crime of all, tremendous excitement prevailed in the Emerald City when
the news of Eureka's arrest and trial became known.
The Wizard, when he returned to his own room, was exceedingly
thoughtful. He had no doubt Eureka had eaten his piglet, but he realized
that a kitten cannot be depended upon at all times to act properly,
since its nature is to destroy small animals and even birds for food,
and the tame cat that we keep in our houses today is descended from the
wild cat of the jungle--a very ferocious creature, indeed. The Wizard
knew that if Dorothy's pet was found guilty and condemned to death the
little girl would be made very unhappy; so, although he grieved over the
piglet's sad fate as much as any of them, he resolved to save Eureka's
life.
Sending for the Tin Woodman the Wizard took him into a corner and
whispered:
"My friend, it is your duty to defend the white kitten and try to save
her, but I fear you will fail because Eureka has long wished to eat a
piglet, to my certain knowledge, and my opinion is that she has been
unable to resist the temptation. Yet her disgrace and death would not
bring back the piglet, but only serve to make Dorothy unhappy. So I
intend to prove the kitten's innocence by a trick."
He drew from his inside pocket one of the eight tiny piglets that were
remaining and continued:
"This creature you must hide in some safe place, and if the jury decides
that Eureka is guilty you may then produce this piglet and claim it is
the one that was lost. All the piglets are exactly alike, so no one can
dispute your word. This deception will save Eureka's life, and then we
may all be happy again."
"I do not like to deceive my friends," replied the Tin Woodman; "still,
my kind heart urges me to save Eureka's life, and I can usually trust my
heart to do the right thing. So I will do as you say, friend Wizard."
After some thought he placed the little pig inside his funnel-shaped
hat, and then put the hat upon his head and went back to his room to
think over his speech to the jury.
CHAPTER 19.
THE WIZARD PERFORMS ANOTHER TRICK
At three o'clock the Throne Room was crowded with citizens, men, women
and children being eager to witness the great trial.
Princess Ozma, dressed in her most splendid robes of state, sat in the
magnificent emerald throne, with her jewelled sceptre in her hand and
her sparkling coronet upon her fair brow. Behind her throne stood the
twenty-eight officers of her army and many officials of the royal
household. At her right sat the queerly assorted Jury--animals, animated
dummies and people--all gravely prepared to listen to what was said. The
kitten had been placed in a large cage just before the throne, where she
sat upon her haunches and gazed through the bars at the crowds around
her, with seeming unconcern.
And now, at a signal from Ozma, the Woggle-Bug arose and addressed the
jury. His tone was pompous and he strutted up and down in an absurd
attempt to appear dignified.
"Your Royal Highness and Fellow Citizens," he began; "the small cat you
see a prisoner before you is accused of the crime of first murdering and
then eating our esteemed Ruler's fat piglet--or else first eating and
then murdering it. In either case a grave crime has been committed which
deserves a grave punishment."
"Do you mean my kitten must be put in a grave?" asked Dorothy.
"Don't interrupt, little girl," said the Woggle-Bug. "When I get my
thoughts arranged in good order I do not like to have anything upset
them or throw them into confusion."
"If your thoughts were any good they wouldn't become confused," remarked
the Scarecrow, earnestly. "My thoughts are always----"
"Is this a trial of thoughts, or of kittens?" demanded the Woggle-Bug.
"It's a trial of one kitten," replied the Scarecrow; "but your manner is
a trial to us all."
"Let the Public Accuser continue," called Ozma from her throne, "and I
pray you do not interrupt him."
"The criminal who now sits before the court licking her paws," resumed
the Woggle-Bug, "has long desired to unlawfully eat the fat piglet,
which was no bigger than a mouse. And finally she made a wicked plan to
satisfy her depraved appetite for pork. I can see her, in my mind's
eye----"
"What's that?" asked the Scarecrow.
"I say I can see her in my mind's eye----"
"The mind has no eye," declared the Scarecrow. "It's blind."
"Your Highness," cried the Woggle-Bug, appealing to Ozma, "have I a
mind's eye, or haven't I?"
"If you have, it is invisible," said the Princess.
"Very true," returned the Woggle-Bug, bowing. "I say I see the criminal,
in my mind's eye, creeping stealthily into the room of our Ozma and
secreting herself, when no one was looking, until the Princess had gone
away and the door was closed. Then the murderer was alone with her
helpless victim, the fat piglet, and I see her pounce upon the innocent
creature and eat it up----"
"Are you still seeing with your mind's eye?" enquired the Scarecrow.
"Of course; how else could I see it? And we know the thing is true,
because since the time of that interview there is no piglet to be found
anywhere."
"I suppose, if the cat had been gone, instead of the piglet, your mind's
eye would see the piglet eating the cat," suggested the Scarecrow.
"Very likely," acknowledged the Woggle-Bug. "And now, Fellow Citizens
and Creatures of the Jury, I assert that so awful a crime deserves
death, and in the case of the ferocious criminal before you--who is now
washing her face--the death penalty should be inflicted nine times."
There was great applause when the speaker sat down. Then the Princess
spoke in a stern voice:
"Prisoner, what have you to say for yourself? Are you guilty, or not
guilty?"
"Why, that's for you to find out," replied Eureka. "If you can prove I'm
guilty, I'll be willing to die nine times, but a mind's eye is no proof,
because the Woggle-Bug has no mind to see with."
"Never mind, dear," said Dorothy.
Then the Tin Woodman arose and said:
"Respected Jury and dearly beloved Ozma, I pray you not to judge this
feline prisoner unfeelingly. I do not think the innocent kitten can be