<h2 id="c13"><span class="smaller">Chapter 13</span> <br/>On The Road To Ev</h2>
<p>In their journey to Ev, Peg and Wag had a night’s
start of Kabumpo and Prince Pompadore, but
towards morning Wag’s ears began to droop with
sleep.</p>
<p>“Gotta natch a sap, Peg,” Wag muttered thickly, as
they halted on a little hill.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</div>
<p>“Natch a sap? What’s that?” asked the Wooden
Doll anxiously. Wag made no answer—just flopped
on his side and in a minute was asleep and snoring
tremendously.</p>
<p>“Oh!” whispered Peg, pulling herself gently from
beneath the sleeping rabbit. “He meant snatch a
nap.”</p>
<p>She laughed softly and seated herself under a small
tree. The birds were beginning to waken and their
singing filled Peg Amy with delight. “How wonderful
it all is,” she murmured, gazing up at the little
ruffly pink clouds. “How wonderful it is to be alive!”</p>
<p>“Hello! Mr. Robin!” she called gaily, as a bird flew
to a low bush beside her. “Are your children quite
well?”</p>
<p>The robin swung backward and forward on his
swaying branch; then burst into his best morning song.</p>
<p>“Oh!” cried Peg Amy, clasping her wooden hands,
“I’ve heard that before! But how could I?” she reasoned,
“I’m only a Wooden Doll and this is the first
morning I have been alive. But then, how did I know
it was a robin?”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</div>
<p>Peg rubbed her wooden forehead in perplexity, for
it was all very puzzling indeed. Below their little
hill stretched the lovely land of the Winkies, with its
great green forests and little yellow villages. The
wind sent the leaves dancing above Peg’s head and the
early sunbeams made lovely patterns on the grass.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen it before!” gasped the Wooden Doll
breathlessly. “The trees, the birds, the houses and
everything!” Springing to her feet she ran awkwardly
from bush to tree, touching the leaves and
bending over the flowers as if they were old friends.
Had it not been for the squeaking of her wooden
joints, Peg would almost have forgotten she was a
Wooden Doll, for at the sight of the lovely green
growing things something warm and sunny seemed
to waken in her stiff wooden breast. “I’ve been alive
before,” said Peg Amy over and over.</p>
<p>Suddenly, through the still morning air, came a
loud, shrill laugh. Peg, who had been standing with
her cheek pressed closely against a small tree, swung
around quickly—so quickly in fact that she fell over
and lay in a ridiculously bent double position before
the new-comers.</p>
<p>It was Kabumpo and the Prince of Pumperdink.
Traveling by the same road Wag had chosen but much
more rapidly, the Elegant Elephant had come at sunrise
to the little hill. He had been watching Peg for
some time, and when he saw her dance awkwardly
over to the tree, he could no longer restrain himself.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</div>
<p>“Get out your mirror!” roared Kabumpo, shaking
all over with mirth. “Here is your Proper Princess,
Pompa, my boy—as royal a maiden as the country
boasts. Ho, ho! Kerumph!”</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_187.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="600" height-obs="408" /></div>
<p>“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Pompa, looking
down curiously at the comical figure of Peg Amy.</p>
<p>“But she’s so funny!” gasped Kabumpo, the tears
rolling down his big cheeks.</p>
<p>“Who’s funny?” demanded an angry voice and Wag,
who had been awakened by Kabumpo’s loud roars,
hopped up, his ears quivering with rage.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</div>
<p>“I’ll pull your long nose for you!” cried Wag, advancing
threateningly. “Don’t you dare make fun of
Peg. What are you, anyway?”</p>
<p>“Great Grump!” choked Kabumpo, without answering
Wag’s inquiry. “What kind of a rabbit is this?”</p>
<p>“A clawing, chawing, scratching kind—as you’ll
soon find out!” Wag drew himself up into a ball and
prepared to launch himself at Kabumpo’s head, when
Peg straightened up and caught him by the ear.</p>
<p>“Don’t, Wag, please,” she begged. “He couldn’t
help laughing. I am funny. You know I am!” she
sighed a bit ruefully.</p>
<p>“You’re not funny to me,” blustered Wag, still
glaring at Kabumpo. “Who does he think he is?”</p>
<p>“I?” sniffed Kabumpo, spreading out his ears complacently,
“I am the Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink.
Notice my pearls; gaze upon my robe.”</p>
<p>“You don’t look very elegant to me,” snorted Wag.
“You look more like a tramp. Says he’s a lelegant
nelephant from Dumperpink,” he whispered scornfully
to Peg.</p>
<p>“And what’s that you’ve got on your back?” he
called, with a wave of his paw at Pompa. “A dunce?”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</div>
<p>“Dunce!” screamed Kabumpo furiously. “This is
the Prince of Pumperdink, you good-for-nothing
lettuce-eater! What do you mean by laughing at
royalty?”</p>
<p>“Royalty! Oh, ha, ha, ha!” roared Wag, rolling
over and over in the grass. “But he’s so funny!” He
paused to take another look at the Prince. At this
Kabumpo lunged forward, his eyes snapping angrily.</p>
<p>“Stop!” begged the Prince, tugging Kabumpo by
the ear. “You were rude to his friend that—er—doll,
so you must expect him to be rude to me. It’s all
your fault,” he added reproachfully.</p>
<p>“Are you a Prince?” asked Peg Amy, staring up at
Pompa with her round, painted eyes.</p>
<p>“Of course he’s a Prince. Didn’t I say so before?
Who is that hoppy creature?”</p>
<p>“That’s Wag—such a dear fellow.” Peg smiled
confidently at Kabumpo and he was suddenly ashamed
of himself for laughing at her.</p>
<p>“Well, he needn’t get waggish with me,” grumbled
the Elegant Elephant in a lower voice.</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t quarrel!” begged Peg. “It’s such a
lovely morning and you both look so interesting.”</p>
<p>Kabumpo eyed the big Wooden Doll attentively. It
was smart of her to think him interesting. He cleared
his throat gruffly.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</div>
<p>“You’re not as funny as you look,” he admitted
grandly, which was the nearest to an apology he had
ever come. “But what are you doing here and why
are you alive?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” explained Peg apologetically. “It
just happened last night.”</p>
<p>“It did? Well, where are you going?”</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_190.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="600" height-obs="347" /></div>
<p>Wag still looked cross and his nose was twitching
violently, but Peg politely answered Kabumpo’s
question.</p>
<p>“We’re on our way to Ev to try to help Ozma,”
said the Wooden Doll, folding her hands quaintly.</p>
<p>“Why so are <i>we</i>!” cried Pompa, sliding down Kabumpo’s
trunk in a hurry.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</div>
<p>“How do <i>you</i> expect to help her?” grunted Kabumpo,
looking at Wag and Peg contemptuously.</p>
<p>“Don’t mind him,” begged Pompa, running up to
Peg Amy. “Tell me everything you know about
Ozma. Is she pretty?”</p>
<p>“Beautiful,” breathed Peg, looking up at the sky.
“Beautiful and lovely and good. That’s why I want
to help her.”</p>
<p>“Then I sha’n’t mind marrying her at all,” said
Pompa, with a great sigh of relief.</p>
<p>“Gooch!” roared Kabumpo angrily—“Telling
everything you know!”</p>
<p>“Do you mean to say you think Ozma would marry
<i>you</i>?” gasped Wag, sitting up with a jerk. “Oh, my
wocks and hoop soons!” His ears crossed and uncrossed
and with a final gurgle of disbelief Wag fell
back on the grass.</p>
<p>“Well, is there anything so strange in that?” asked
Pompa in a hurt voice. “I’ve <i>got</i> to marry her,” he
added, desperately appealing to Peg Amy. And
while Kabumpo stood sulkily swinging his trunk the
Prince told Peg the whole story of the magic scroll.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</div>
<p>“I said you looked interesting,” breathed Peg, as
Pompa paused for breath. “Did you hear that, Wag?
Unless he marries a Proper Princess in a proper time
his whole Kingdom will disappear—his Kingdom and
everyone in it!”</p>
<p>“But how do you know Ozma is the Proper Princess?”
asked Wag, chewing a blade of grass. “The
scroll didn’t say Ozma, did it?”</p>
<p>“Kabumpo thinks Ozma is the Proper Princess,”
explained Pompadore, nodding toward the Elegant
Elephant, “and he’s usually right!”</p>
<p>“Humph!” sniffed Wag. “Well, maybe you are a
Prince. You’re not really bad looking if you had
some fur on your head,” he remarked more amiably.
“What happened? Somebody pull it out?”</p>
<p>“Oh, Wag!” murmured Peg Amy, in a shocked
voice.</p>
<p>“Burned off,” sighed Pompa, and proceeded to tell
of their fall into the Illumi Nation. He even told them
about the Soup Sea and of their meeting with Glinda,
the Good.</p>
<p>“Don’t you care,” said the big Wooden Doll, as
Pompa mournfully rubbed his scorched head. “It
will soon grow again and I don’t see how Ozma could
help loving you—you’re so tall, and so polite.” This
kind little speech affected Pompa so deeply that he
dropped on one knee and raised Peg’s wooden hand to
his lips.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</div>
<p>“The creature has a lot of sense,” mumbled Kabumpo,
with his mouth full of leaves.</p>
<p>“Creature!” exclaimed Wag, sitting up straight
and opening his eyes wide. “Her name is Peg Amy,
Mr. Nelegant Lelephant.”</p>
<p>“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo hastily. “But
you’ll have to admit she’s curious.”</p>
<p>“Of course she is,” said Wag complacently. “That’s
why I like her. She wasn’t cut out to be a beauty,
but to be companionable, and she is. When you’ve
known Peg as long as I have”—Wag paused impressively—“you’ll
be proud to carry her on your
back, Mr. Long Nose!”</p>
<p>“I’ve only known her a few minutes and I adore
her!” said Pompa heartily. “Mistress Peg and I are
good friends already.” Peg curtseyed awkwardly.
“I’ve done this before,” she reflected curiously to
herself.</p>
<p>“Shall we tell them about Ruggedo?” Peg asked
aloud, turning to Wag.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</div>
<p>“Yes, do!” begged Pompa. “Tell us something
about yourselves. I never saw so large a rabbit in my
life as Wag and as for <i>you</i>!”—Pompa paused, for
Wag was eying him resentfully—“you are the largest,
most delightful doll I have ever met, the only
alive one, I might say. How did you know about
Ozma’s disappearance and how were you going to
help her?”</p>
<p>“Mixed Magic!” whispered Wag, crossing his ears
and his eyes as well. “Mixed Magic!”</p>
<p>“Magic?” gulped Kabumpo, swallowing a branch
of sticky leaves whole. “Have <i>you</i> any magic?”</p>
<p>“A whole box full,” sighed Peg Amy, patting her
pocket softly.</p>
<p>“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!”
shrilled Wag, pointing a trembling paw. “In that box
is the magic that made us grow. In that box is the
magic that caused Ozma’s castle to disappear—!”</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_191.jpg" alt="“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” shrilled Wag" width-obs="583" height-obs="799" /> <p class="caption"><span class="sc">“In that box is the magic that brought Peg to life!” shrilled Wag</span></p> </div>
<p>“Great Grump!” whistled Kabumpo. “How fortunate
we fell in with them, Pompa.” He held out his
trunk. “Give me the box, my good girl, and you shall
be fittingly rewarded when Pompa is King of Oz.”</p>
<p>“That’s a long time to wait,” chuckled Wag, tickled
by Kabumpo’s outrageous impudence. “No, Peg and
I will just keep the box, thank you.”</p>
<p>“Of course you will,” said Prince Pompadore,
frowning at Kabumpo. “But as we are both bound
on the same errand, let us travel together. Kabumpo
and I are going to kill the giant who ran off with the
castle.”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</div>
<p>The Prince held up his long sword. “And if you
can help us, I shall thank you from the bottom of my
heart.” Pompa stretched out his hand impulsively.</p>
<p>“Well, that’s more like,” said Wag, pulling his ear
thoughtfully. “And four heads are better than two!”</p>
<p>“Of course we’ll help you!” cried Peg Amy. “The
trouble is, we don’t know ourselves how to open the
magic box, but we do know that Ruggedo is in Ev and
when we get there we will make him open the box
and undo all this mischief.”</p>
<p>“You mentioned him before,” said Kabumpo, holding
up his trunk. “Who is Ruggedo and what has he
to do with Ozma?”</p>
<p>“Ruggedo is a wicked little gnome,” explained Peg
Amy gravely. “He used to be King of the Gnomes
but he was banished from his Kingdom and Ozma
gave him a little cottage in the Emerald City. He
pretended to live there, but instead he tunneled a cave
right underneath the palace. Wag helped him dig.”
Peg waved her hand at the rabbit. “And he was the
only one who would stay with him. Then Ruggedo
stole me. I was only a small, unalive doll, belonging
to Trot, a little girl who lives with Ozma. Ruggedo
stole me just to shake,” continued Peg shuddering.</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</div>
<p>“That’s why I’m going to pound his curly toes
off!” screamed Wag, beginning to hop about at the
very thought of Ruggedo.</p>
<p>“But how did you come to be so large and alive?”
asked Kabumpo, who was growing more interested.</p>
<p>“Well, one night”—Peg dropped her voice to a
whisper—“One night Ruggedo found this box of
Mixed Magic hidden in the cave and then—”</p>
<p>“Then,” screamed Wag hoarsely, “in some way we
don’t understand, Peg and I grew big, Peg came
alive, the top blew off the cave—and depend upon it,
whatever’s happened to Ozma and her palace happened
from something in that box. It’s all Ruggedo’s
fault. When I catch him”—Wag began to wiggle his
nose and paw his whiskers—“my wocks and hoop
soons! I’ll pound his curly toes off!”</p>
<p>“And I’ll help you!” cried Kabumpo heartily. He
could not help but admire such spirit. “Come on—let’s
start. You may ride on my back with Pompa if
you care to,” finished the Elegant Elephant with a
sidelong glance at Peg.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank you,” smiled the Wooden Doll, “but
Wag will carry me.”</p>
<p>“I always carry Peg,” said Wag jealously. “I’ve
known her the longest.”</p>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</div>
<p>“Oh, all right,” sniffed Kabumpo, lifting Pompa up,
“but if she ever <i>wants</i> to ride on my back she may.”</p>
<p>“Humph!” grunted Wag, as the Wooden Doll settled
herself on his shoulders. “Isn’t he generous!”</p>
<p>Peg pulled down one of Wag’s long ears. “It was
kindly meant,” whispered the Wooden Doll merrily.</p>
<p>“Ready?” puffed Kabumpo, backing out into the
road. “We’ve no time to lose, for if we lose time we
lose our Kingdom too. Forward for Pumperdink!”</p>
<p>“All right!” cried Wag, giving a great leap. “Follow
me!” And off hopped the giant bunny so fast
that Kabumpo had to stretch his legs even to keep
him in sight.</p>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_197.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="557" height-obs="600" /></div>
<div class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</div>
<div class="fig"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_198.jpg" alt="(unlabelled)" width-obs="500" height-obs="482" /></div>
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