The Marvelous Land of Oz
She seemed very sweet and modest, having a pretty face and beautiful
green eyes and hair. A dainty green silk skirt reached to her knees,
showing silk stockings embroidered with pea-pods, and green satin
slippers with bunches of lettuce for decorations instead of bows or
buckles. Upon her silken waist clover leaves were embroidered, and she
wore a jaunty little jacket trimmed with sparkling emeralds of a
uniform size.
“Why, it’s little Jellia Jamb!” exclaimed the Scarecrow, as the green
maiden bowed her pretty head before him. “Do you understand the
language of the Gillikins, my dear?”
“Yes, your Majesty,” she answered, “for I was born in the North
Country.”
“Then you shall be our interpreter,” said the Scarecrow, “and explain
to this Pumpkinhead all that I say, and also explain to me all that
_he_ says. Is this arrangement satisfactory?” he asked, turning toward
his guest.
“Very satisfactory indeed,” was the reply.
“Then ask him, to begin with,” resumed the Scarecrow, turning to
Jellia, “what brought him to the Emerald City”
But instead of this the girl, who had been staring at Jack, said to
him:
“You are certainly a wonderful creature. Who made you?”
“A boy named Tip,” answered Jack.
“What does he say?” inquired the Scarecrow. “My ears must have deceived
me. What did he say?”
“He says that your Majesty’s brains seem to have come loose,” replied
the girl, demurely.
The Scarecrow moved uneasily upon his throne, and felt of his head with
his left hand.
“What a fine thing it is to understand two different languages,” he
said, with a perplexed sigh. “Ask him, my dear, if he has any objection
to being put in jail for insulting the ruler of the Emerald City.”
“I didn’t insult you!” protested Jack, indignantly.
“Tut—tut!” cautioned the Scarecrow “wait, until Jellia translates my
speech. What have we got an interpreter for, if you break out in this
rash way?”
“All right, I’ll wait,” replied the Pumpkinhead, in a surly
tone—although his face smiled as genially as ever. “Translate the
speech, young woman.”
“His Majesty inquires if you are hungry,” said Jellia.
“Oh, not at all!” answered Jack, more pleasantly, “for it is impossible
for me to eat.”
“It’s the same way with me,” remarked the Scarecrow. “What did he say,
Jellia, my dear?”
“He asked if you were aware that one of your eyes is painted larger
than the other,” said the girl, mischievously.
“Don’t you believe her, your Majesty,” cried Jack.
“Oh, I don’t,” answered the Scarecrow, calmly. Then, casting a sharp
look at the girl, he asked:
“Are you quite certain you understand the languages of both the
Gillikins and the Munchkins?”
“Quite certain, your Majesty,” said Jellia Jamb, trying hard not to
laugh in the face of royalty.
“Then how is it that I seem to understand them myself?” inquired the
Scarecrow.
“Because they are one and the same!” declared the girl, now laughing
merrily. “Does not your Majesty know that in all the land of Oz but one
language is spoken?”
“Is it indeed so?” cried the Scarecrow, much relieved to hear this;
“then I might easily have been my own interpreter!”
“It was all my fault, your Majesty,” said Jack, looking rather foolish,
“I thought we must surely speak different languages, since we came from
different countries.”
“This should be a warning to you never to think,” returned the
Scarecrow, severely. “For unless one can think wisely it is better to
remain a dummy—which you most certainly are.”
“I am!—I surely am!” agreed the Pumpkinhead.
“It seems to me,” continued the Scarecrow, more mildly, “that your
manufacturer spoiled some good pies to create an indifferent man.”
“I assure your Majesty that I did not ask to be created,” answered
Jack.
“Ah! It was the same in my case,” said the King, pleasantly. “And so,
as we differ from all ordinary people, let us become friends.”
“With all my heart!” exclaimed Jack.
“What! Have you a heart?” asked the Scarecrow, surprised.
“No; that was only imaginative—I might say, a figure of speech,” said
the other.
“Well, your most prominent figure seems to be a figure of wood; so I
must beg you to restrain an imagination which, having no brains, you
have no right to exercise,” suggested the Scarecrow, warningly.
“To be sure!” said Jack, without in the least comprehending.
His Majesty then dismissed Jellia Jamb and the Soldier with the Green
Whiskers, and when they were gone he took his new friend by the arm and
led him into the courtyard to play a game of quoits.
Gen. Jinjur’s Army of Revolt
Tip was so anxious to rejoin his man Jack and the Saw-Horse that he
walked a full half the distance to the Emerald City without stopping to
rest. Then he discovered that he was hungry and the crackers and cheese
he had provided for the Journey had all been eaten.
While wondering what he should do in this emergency he came upon a girl
sitting by the roadside. She wore a costume that struck the boy as
being remarkably brilliant: her silken waist being of emerald green and
her skirt of four distinct colors—blue in front, yellow at the left
side, red at the back and purple at the right side. Fastening the waist
in front were four buttons—the top one blue, the next yellow, a third
red and the last purple.
The splendor of this dress was almost barbaric; so Tip was fully
justified in staring at the gown for some moments before his eyes were
attracted by the pretty face above it. Yes, the face was pretty enough,
he decided; but it wore an expression of discontent coupled to a shade
of defiance or audacity.
While the boy stared the girl looked upon him calmly. A lunch basket
stood beside her, and she held a dainty sandwich in one hand and a
hard-boiled egg in the other, eating with an evident appetite that
aroused Tip’s sympathy.
He was just about to ask a share of the luncheon when the girl stood up
and brushed the crumbs from her lap.
“There!” said she; “it is time for me to go. Carry that basket for me
and help yourself to its contents if you are hungry.”
Tip seized the basket eagerly and began to eat, following for a time
the strange girl without bothering to ask questions. She walked along
before him with swift strides, and there was about her an air of
decision and importance that led him to suspect she was some great
personage.
Finally, when he had satisfied his hunger, he ran up beside her and
tried to keep pace with her swift footsteps—a very difficult feat, for
she was much taller than he, and evidently in a hurry.
“Thank you very much for the sandwiches,” said Tip, as he trotted
along. “May I ask your name?”
“I am General Jinjur,” was the brief reply.
“Oh!” said the boy surprised. “What sort of a General?”
“I command the Army of Revolt in this war,” answered the General, with
unnecessary sharpness.
“Oh!” he again exclaimed. “I didn’t know there was a war.”
“You were not supposed to know it,” she returned, “for we have kept it
a secret; and considering that our army is composed entirely of girls,”
she added, with some pride, “it is surely a remarkable thing that our
Revolt is not yet discovered.”
“It is, indeed,” acknowledged Tip. “But where is your army?”
“About a mile from here,” said General Jinjur. “The forces have
assembled from all parts of the Land of Oz, at my express command. For
this is the day we are to conquer His Majesty the Scarecrow, and wrest
from him the throne. The Army of Revolt only awaits my coming to march
upon the Emerald City.”
“Well!” declared Tip, drawing a long breath, “this is certainly a
surprising thing! May I ask why you wish to conquer His Majesty the
Scarecrow?”
“Because the Emerald City has been ruled by men long enough, for one
reason,” said the girl.
“Moreover, the City glitters with beautiful gems, which might far
better be used for rings, bracelets and necklaces; and there is enough
money in the King’s treasury to buy every girl in our Army a dozen new
gowns. So we intend to conquer the City and run the government to suit
ourselves.”
Jinjur spoke these words with an eagerness and decision that proved she
was in earnest.
“But war is a terrible thing,” said Tip, thoughtfully.
“This war will be pleasant,” replied the girl, cheerfully.
“Many of you will be slain!” continued the boy, in an awed voice.
“Oh, no”, said Jinjur. “What man would oppose a girl, or dare to harm
her? And there is not an ugly face in my entire Army.”
Tip laughed.
“Perhaps you are right,” said he. “But the Guardian of the Gate is
considered a faithful Guardian, and the King’s Army will not let the
City be conquered without a struggle.”
“The Army is old and feeble,” replied General Jinjur, scornfully. “His
strength has all been used to grow whiskers, and his wife has such a
temper that she has already pulled more than half of them out by the
roots. When the Wonderful Wizard reigned the Soldier with the Green
Whiskers was a very good Royal Army, for people feared the Wizard. But
no one is afraid of the Scarecrow, so his Royal Army don’t count for
much in time of war.”
After this conversation they proceeded some distance in silence, and
before long reached a large clearing in the forest where fully four
hundred young women were assembled. These were laughing and talking
together as gaily as if they had gathered for a picnic instead of a war
of conquest.
They were divided into four companies, and Tip noticed that all were
dressed in costumes similar to that worn by General Jinjur. The only
real difference was that while those girls from the Munchkin country
had the blue strip in front of their skirts, those from the country of
the Quadlings had the red strip in front; and those from the country of
the Winkies had the yellow strip in front, and the Gillikin girls wore
the purple strip in front. All had green waists, representing the
Emerald City they intended to conquer, and the top button on each waist
indicated by its color which country the wearer came from. The uniforms
were Jaunty and becoming, and quite effective when massed together.
Tip thought this strange Army bore no weapons whatever; but in this he
was wrong. For each girl had stuck through the knot of her back hair
two long, glittering knitting-needles.
General Jinjur immediately mounted the stump of a tree and addressed
her army.
“Friends, fellow-citizens, and girls!” she said; “we are about to begin
our great Revolt against the men of Oz! We march to conquer the Emerald
City—to dethrone the Scarecrow King—to acquire thousands of gorgeous
gems—to rifle the royal treasury—and to obtain power over our former
oppressors!”
“Hurrah!” said those who had listened; but Tip thought most of the Army
was too much engaged in chattering to pay attention to the words of the
General.
The command to march was now given, and the girls formed themselves
into four bands, or companies, and set off with eager strides toward
the Emerald City.
The boy followed after them, carrying several baskets and wraps and
packages which various members of the Army of Revolt had placed in his
care. It was not long before they came to the green granite walls of
the City and halted before the gateway.
The Guardian of the Gate at once came out and looked at them curiously,
as if a circus had come to town. He carried a bunch of keys swung round
his neck by a golden chain; his hands were thrust carelessly into his
pockets, and he seemed to have no idea at all that the City was
threatened by rebels. Speaking pleasantly to the girls, he said: