Fantasy fiction; Oz (Imaginary place) -- Juvenile fiction
Alarmed and disgusted, and protecting himself as well as he could with
the old lady's umbrella, the Public Benefactor decided to return to
his pedestal. But in the excitement he took a wrong turning. Then he
began to run and the crowd to run after him--faster and faster and
faster. His stone feet, thudding upon the asphalt, shook the houses on
both sides and, dodging as best he could the sticks, stones and other
missiles of his pursuers, the poor bewildered statue ran on. Being very
large and perfectly tireless, he soon out-distanced them and, looking
over his shoulder to make sure, failed to notice the steep embankment
ahead, till it was too late. The workmen themselves had not intended to
blow such a terrific hole in the earth; a thin crust of earth at the
bottom hid the yawning cavity from view. But the stone man, tumbling
head over heels down the steep sides, crashed through this crust as if
it had been paper and plunged into a damp darkness.
"What now?" groaned the statue dismally, clutching his umbrella. "Am
I a bird? Why, Oh why did I ever leave my pedestal?" But wishing made
no difference at all and down he dropped to the very bottom of no
where. Then all at once he crashed through a crust of blue sky out into
the blazing sunlight and thumped down in the middle of a broad green
field. Luckily he landed upon his feet, but so hard and so heavily that
he went down to his knees in soft earth. For a few moments he stood
perfectly still. Then, closing his umbrella, he pulled one leg and
then the other out of the mud and took a few steps to shake the stuff
from his stone shins.
"It was night and now it is day. I was there and now I am here. What
next?" he muttered uneasily. The country into which he had fallen so
suddenly seemed safe enough. Green fields, dotted with feathery trees,
stretched to the right and left. But after the dusty Boston park it
seemed large and lonely. As he gazed about uncertainly, he noticed a
blue figure, walking briskly along a yellow highway that ran through
the center of the fields. He had never in his whole carved career
seen a fellow like this and as the figure drew nearer he grasped his
umbrella firmly and made ready to fight or run.
It was a Scarecrow, a live, jolly, sure enough straw stuffed Scarecrow.
As he came opposite he took off his hat.
"Good after-night," said the Scarecrow politely. The Public Benefactor
made an unsuccessful effort to remove his own hat, but he had jammed it
down too hard.
"I suppose you mean good morning," he remarked stiffly, returning the
Scarecrow's bow.
"Have it your own way," smiled the Scarecrow, with a care free wave,
"and speaking of ways, where are you going?"
"I'm not going, I'm coming," announced the Public Benefactor sulkily.
The experiences of the past few hours had made him suspicious of every
place and everybody. The Scarecrow considered his answer for a few
seconds in silence, then stepping closer inquired earnestly, "Tell me,
are you a person?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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