<h2 id="c10"><span class="smaller">Chapter 10</span> <br/>Peg and Wag To The Rescue</h2>
<p>For a long time after the terrific bang following
Ruggedo’s final expansion, Wag and Peg Amy had
been too stunned to even move. Crowded together in
the little rock room, they lay perfectly breathless.</p>
<p>“Umpthing sappened,” quavered the rabbit at last.</p>
<p>“That sounds rather queer, but I think I know what
you mean,” said Peg, sitting up cautiously.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</div>
<p>“Something has happened. Ruggedo’s been blown
up, I guess.”</p>
<p>“Mixed Magic!” groaned Wag gloomily. “I knew
it would explode. Say, Peg, what makes this room so
small?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” sighed the doll in a puzzled voice,
for neither Peg nor Wag realized how much they had
grown. “But let’s go above ground and see what has
become of Ruggedo.” One at a time and with great
difficulty they got through the door.</p>
<p>“Why, there are the stars!” cried Peg Amy, clasping
her wooden hands rapturously. “Real stars!”
The top of the cave had gone off with the old gnome
King and the two stood looking up at the lovely skies
of Oz.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t seem so high as it used to,” said the
rabbit, looking at the walls. “Why, I believe I could
jump out if I took a good run and carry you, too.
Come ashort, Peg!”</p>
<p>“Aren’t you mixed, Wag dear? Don’t you mean
come along?” asked Peg, smoothing down her torn
dress.</p>
<p>“Well, now that you mention it, my head does feel
queer,” admitted the rabbit, twitching his nose, “bort
of sackwards!”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</div>
<p>“Sort of backwards,” corrected Peg gently. “Well,
never mind. I know what you mean. But do let’s try
to find that awful box of magic. You know Ruggedo
brought me to life, Wag, with something in that box!”</p>
<p>“Only good thing he ever did,” said Wag, shaking
his head. “But I think you were alive before,” he
added solemnly. “You always seemed alive to me.”</p>
<p>“I think so, too,” whispered Peg excitedly. “I
can’t remember just how, or where, but Oh! Wag! I
know I’ve been alive before. I remember dancing.”</p>
<p>Peg took a few awkward steps and Wag looked on
dubiously, too polite to criticize her efforts. He didn’t
even laugh when Peg Amy fell down. Peg laughed
herself, however, as merrily as possible. “It’s going
to be such fun being alive,” she said, picking herself
up gaily, “such fun, Wag dear. Why, there’s Glegg’s
box!” She pounced upon the little shining gold casket.
“Ruggedo didn’t take it after all!”</p>
<p>“Is it shut?” asked Wag, clapping both paws to his
ears. “Look out for explosions, say I.”</p>
<p>“No, but I’ll soon close it,” said Peg and, shutting
Glegg’s box, she slipped it into pocket of her dress.
It was about half the size of this book you are reading
and as Peg’s pockets were big and old fashioned, it
fitted quite nicely.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</div>
<p>“Come ashort,” said Wag again, looking around
uneasily, for he was anxious to get out of the gnome’s
cave. So Peg seated herself carefully on his back and
clasped her wooden arms around his neck. Then Wag
ran back a few steps, gave a great jump and sailed
up, up and out of the cave.</p>
<p>“Ten penny tea cups!” shrieked the Soldier with
the Green Whiskers, falling over backwards. “What
next?” For Wag with Peg on his back had leaped
straight over his head.</p>
<p>Picking himself up, and with every whisker in his
beard prickling straight on end, the Grand Army of
Oz backed toward the royal stable. When he had
backed half the distance he turned and ran for his
life. But he need not have been afraid.</p>
<p>“What a funny little man,” chuckled Wag. “Why,
he’s no bigger than we are. He’s no—!” Then suddenly
Wag clutched his ears. “Oh!” he screamed,
beginning to hop up and down, “I forgot all my
treasures—my olden goop soons. Oh! Oh! My urple
sool wocks! I’ve forgotten my urple sool wocks!”</p>
<p>“Your what?” cried Peg Amy, clutching him by the
fur. “Now Wag, dear, you’re all mixed up. Perhaps
it’s ’cause your ears are crossed. There, now, do stop
wiggling your whiskers and turn out your toes!”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</div>
<p>But Wag continued to wiggle his whiskers and turn
in his toes and roar for his urple sool wocks.</p>
<p>“Stop!” screamed Peg at last, with both hands over
her wooden ears. “I know what you mean! Your
purple wool socks!”</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_142.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="600" height-obs="394" /></div>
<p>“Yes,” sobbed the rabbit, slumping down on a rock
and holding his head in both paws.</p>
<p>“Well, don’t you think”—the Wooden Doll shook
her head jerkily—“Don’t you think it’s just as well?
Ruggedo stole all those things and you wouldn’t want
stolen soup spoons, now would you?”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</div>
<p>Wag took a long breath and regarded Peg uncertainly.
Then something in her pleasant wooden face
seemed to brace him up.</p>
<p>“No!” he sighed solemnly—“I s’pose not. I ought
to have left Rug long ago.”</p>
<p>“But then you couldn’t have helped me,” said Peg
brightly. “Let’s don’t think about it any more.
You’ve been awfully good to me, Wag.”</p>
<p>“Have I?” said Wag more cheerfully. “Well,
you’re a good sort, Peg—a regular Princess!” he finished,
puffing out his chest, “and anything you say
goes.”</p>
<p>“Princess?” laughed the Wooden Doll, pleased nevertheless.
“I’m a funny Princess, in this old dress.
Did you ever hear of a wooden Princess, Wag?”</p>
<p>“You look like a Princess to me,” said the rabbit
stoutly. “Dresses don’t matter.”</p>
<p>This speech so tickled the Wooden Doll that she
gave Wag a good hug and began dancing again.
“Being alive is such fun!” she called gaily over her
shoulder, “and you are so wonderful!”</p>
<p>Wag’s chest expanded at least three inches and his
whiskers trembled with emotion. “Hop on my back
Peg and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” he
puffed magnificently.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</div>
<p>But the Wooden Doll had suddenly grown sober.
“Wherever is the castle?” she cried anxiously. She
remembered exactly where it had stood when she was
an unalive doll and now not a tower or turret of the
castle was to be seen. “Oh!” groaned Peg Amy,
“Ruggedo has done something dreadful with his
Mixed Magic!”</p>
<p>Wag rubbed his eyes and looked all around. “Why,
it’s gone!” he cried, waving his paws. “What shall we
do? If only we weren’t so small!”</p>
<p>“We’ve got the magic box,” said Peg hopefully,
“and somehow I don’t feel as small as I used to feel;
do you?”</p>
<p>“Well, I feel pretty queer, myself,” said the rabbit,
twitching his nose. “Maybe it’s because I’m hungry.
There’s a kitchen garden over there near the royal
stables and I think if I had some carrots I’d feel
better.”</p>
<p>“Of course you would!” cried Peg, jumping up. “I
forgot you had to eat.” So, very cautiously they stole
into the royal cook’s garden. Wag had often helped
himself to carrots from this garden before, but now
sitting on his haunches he stared around in dazed
surprise.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</div>
<p>“Everything’s different!” wailed the rabbit dismally.
“You’re the same and I’m the same but
everything else is all mixed up. Look at this carrot.
Why, it’s no bigger than a blade of grass.” Wag held
up a carrot in disgust. “Why, it will take fifty of
these to give me even a taste and the lettuce—look at
it! Everything’s shrunk, even the houses!” cried the
big funny bunny, looking around. “My wocks and
hoop soons, sheverything’s hunk!”</p>
<p>Peg Amy had followed Wag’s gaze and now she
jumped up in great excitement. “I see it now!” cried
Peg. “It’s us, Wag. Everything’s the same but we
are different. Some of that Mixed Magic has made us
grow. We’re bigger and everything else is the same.
I am as tall as the little girl who used to play with me
and you are even bigger and I’m glad, because now we
can help find the castle and Ruggedo and try to make
everything right again.”</p>
<p>Peg clasped her wooden hands. “Aren’t you glad
too, Wag?”</p>
<p>The rabbit shook his head. “It’s going to take an
awful lot to fill me up,” he said doubtfully. “I’ll have
to eat about six times as much as I used to.”</p>
<p>“Well, you’re six times as large; isn’t that any
comfort?”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</div>
<p>“My head doesn’t feel right,” insisted Wag. “As
soon as I talk fast the words all come wrong.”</p>
<p>“Maybe it didn’t grow as fast as the rest of you,”
laughed the Wooden Doll. “But don’t you care, Wag.
I know what you mean and I think you’re just splendid!
Now hurry and finish your carrots so we can
decide what to do.</p>
<p>“If Mixed Magic caused all this trouble,” added
Peg half to herself, “Mixed Magic’s got to fix it. I’m
going to look at that box.” Wag, nibbling industriously,
had not heard Peg’s last speech or he would
doubtless have taken to his heels.</p>
<p>Sitting unconcernedly in a cabbage bed, the Wooden
Doll took the gold box from her pocket. Fortunately
she had not snapped the magic snap and it opened
quite easily. Her fingers were stiff and clumsy and
the moon was the only light she had to see by, but it
did not take Peg Amy long to realize the importance
of Glegg’s magic.</p>
<p>“I wonder if he rubbed this on the castle,” she murmured,
holding up the bottle of Vanishing Cream.
“And how would one bring it back? Let me see,
now.” One after the other, she took out the bottles
and boxes and the tiny tea set. The Re-animating
Rays she passed over, without realizing they were
responsible for bringing her to life, but the Question
Box, Peg pounced upon with eager curiosity.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</div>
<p>“Oh, if it only would answer questions!” fluttered
Peg. Then, holding the box close to her mouth, she
whispered, “Where is Ruggedo?”</p>
<p>“Who are you talking to?” asked Wag, looking up
in alarm. “Now don’t <i>you</i> get mixed up, Peg!”</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_147.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="600" height-obs="390" /></div>
<p>“It’s a Question Box,” said the Wooden Doll, “but
it’s not working very well.” She shook it vigorously
and held it up so that the light streaming down from
the stable window fell directly on it. In silver letters
on the lid of the box was one word—Ev!</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</div>
<p>“Ev—Ruggedo’s in Ev!” cried Peg Amy, rushing
over to the rabbit. “Can you take me to Ev, Wag
dear?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” said Wag, nibbling faster and faster at
his carrots. “I’ll take you anywhere, Peg.”</p>
<p>“Then it’s going to be all right; I know it,” chuckled
the Wooden Doll, and putting all the magic appliances
back into the box she closed the lid with a snap. And
this time the magic catch caught.</p>
<p>“Is it far to Ev?” asked Peg Amy, looking thoughtfully
at the place where the castle had once been.</p>
<p>“Quite a long journey,” said Wag, “but we’ll go a
hopping. Ev is near Ruggedo’s old home and it’s
across the Deadly Desert, but we’ll get there somehow.
Trust me. And when I do!” spluttered Wag, thumping
his hind feet determinedly, “I’ll pound his curly
toes off—the wicked little monster!”</p>
<p>“Did you ask the Question Box where the castle
was?” he inquired hastily, for he saw Peg was going
to tell him he must not pound Ruggedo.</p>
<p>“Why, no! How silly of me!” Peg felt in her
pocket and brought out the gold box. She tried to
open it as she had done before but it was no use. She
pulled and tugged and shook it. Then Wag tried.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</div>
<p>“There’s a secret to it,” puffed the rabbit at last.
“Took Rug a whole night and day to discover it.
Can’t you remember how you opened it before, Peg?”</p>
<p>The Wooden Doll shook her head sadly.</p>
<p>“Well, never mind,” said Wag comfortingly. “Once
we find Ruggedo we can make him tell. We’d better
start right off, because if any of the people around
here saw us they might try to capture us and put us
in a circus. We are rather unusual, you know.” The
rabbit regarded Peg Amy complacently. “One doesn’t
see six-foot rabbits and live dolls every day, even
in Oz!”</p>
<p>“No,” agreed Peg Amy slowly, “I s’pose not!”</p>
<p>The moon, looking down on the strange pair,
ducked behind a cloud to hide her smile, for the giant
funny bunny, strutting about pompously, and old-fashioned
wooden Peg, in her torn frock, were enough
to make anyone smile.</p>
<p>“You think of everything,” sighed Peg, looking
affectionately at Wag.</p>
<p>“Who wouldn’t for a girl like you? You’re a Princess,
Peg—a regular Princess.” The rabbit said it
with conviction and again Peg happily smoothed her
dress.</p>
<p>“Hop on,” chuckled Wag, “and then I’ll hop off.”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</div>
<p>Seating herself on his back and holding tight to one
of his long ears, Peg announced herself ready. Then
away through the night shot the giant bunny—away
toward the western country of the Winkies—and each
hop carried him twelve feet forward and sent up great
spurts of dust behind.</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_150.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="600" height-obs="329" /></div>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</div>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_151.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="500" height-obs="488" /></div>
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