Fantasy fiction; Gale, Dorothy (Fictitious character) -- Juvenile fiction; Oz (Imaginary place) -- Juvenile fiction
After a few regretful sniffs out of the window, a few short turns up
and down their immense and elegant sleeping apartment, Chalk leaped
lightly on one of the large green beds and settled himself gracefully
for the night. Covering Chalk tenderly with a green satin quilt,
Skamperoo hastily disrobed, and clutching his precious necklaces,
climbed wearily into the other bed. There, without even stopping to
wish himself goodnight, he fell into a deep and tranquil slumber.
Indeed both, in spite of the strangeness of their surroundings, slept
soundly till morning.
About eight o'clock, Chalk, lifting his head from the embroidered
pillow, looked indulgently across at the new Emperor of Oz. Sitting
up in bed, Skamperoo was busily counting the gems in his three magic
chains.
"Ho, throw those silly beads away!" advised the white horse, jumping
out of bed with a gay toss of his golden mane. "You have nothing else
to wish for, Kingaling, nothing more at all! M--mmm, this green carpet
looks good enough to eat, but I've a fancy to nibble the clover in Your
Majesty's garden while it is still fresh with dew."
"Say it again," begged Skamperoo, closing his eyes and clasping himself
blissfully around the middle.
"Your Majesty's garden! Your Majesty's Palace, Your Majesty's Kingdom
of Oz!" whinnied the white horse, rising on his hind legs and
pirouetting round with mischievous little prances. "But come, Emp! What
are your wishes for today? I think we will have to use the necklaces
after all. You must certainly have some new clothes. It would never
do to appear this morning in the suit you wore last night. You had
better have some sleeping garments, too. I've a notion that Emperors
do not sleep in their raw hides like horses." Skamperoo, giggling
self-consciously, dragged the satin sheets up to his chin, for to tell
the truth, he had arrived in the Emerald City with only one suit to his
back, and an extremely shabby one at that.
"Maybe I'd better change my face, too," he murmured, "to go with all
this, you know." Dreamily Skamperoo waved his hands about, and then,
leaning forward, slipped the chains over Chalk's ear.
"What's the matter with the face you have?" demanded Chalk, gazing
fondly at the red, rotund countenance of his Master. "I like you just
as you are, and if you change I wouldn't even know you, but I'll
tell you what you _can_ wish after you've ordered yourself some new
clothes--wish yourself a seasoned rider and then we can go far and
wide, Kingaling, far and wide at a furious gallop and none shall say us
nay--hey, hey!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account