The Road to Oz. Baum Lyman Frank

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СКАЧАТЬ were dancing," remarked Dorothy, in a puzzled tone of voice.

      "Oh, that was just to keep warm," explained the maiden, quickly. "It was not because I felt happy or gay, I assure you."

      Dorothy looked at her closely. Her gauzy flowing robes might not be very warm, yet the weather wasn't at all chilly, but rather mild and balmy, like a spring day.

      "Who are you, dear?" she asked, gently.

      "I'm Polychrome," was the reply.

      "Polly whom?"

      "Polychrome. I'm the Daughter of the Rainbow."

      "Oh!" said Dorothy, with a gasp; "I didn't know the Rainbow had children. But I might have known it, before you spoke. You couldn't really be anything else."

      "Why not?" inquired Polychrome, as if surprised.

      "Because you're so lovely and sweet."

      The little maiden smiled through her tears, came up to Dorothy, and placed her slender fingers in the Kansas girl's chubby hand.

      "You'll be my friend – won't you?" she said, pleadingly.

      "Of course."

      "And what is your name?"

      "I'm Dorothy; and this is my friend Shaggy Man, who owns the Love Magnet; and this is Button-Bright – only you don't see him as he really is because the Fox-King carelessly changed his head into a fox head. But the real Button-Bright is good to look at, and I hope to get him changed back to himself, some time."

      The Rainbow's Daughter nodded cheerfully, no longer afraid of her new companions.

      "But who is this?" she asked, pointing to Toto, who was sitting before her wagging his tail in the most friendly manner and admiring the pretty maid with his bright eyes. "Is this, also, some enchanted person?"

      "Oh no, Polly – I may call you Polly, mayn't I? Your whole name's awful hard to say."

      "Call me Polly if you wish, Dorothy."

      "Well, Polly, Toto's just a dog; but he has more sense than Button-Bright, to tell the truth; and I'm very fond of him."

      "So am I," said Polychrome, bending gracefully to pat Toto's head.

      "But how did the Rainbow's Daughter ever get on this lonely road, and become lost?" asked the shaggy man, who had listened wonderingly to all this.

      "Why, my father stretched his rainbow over here this morning, so that one end of it touched this road," was the reply; "and I was dancing upon the pretty rays, as I love to do, and never noticed I was getting too far over the bend in the circle. Suddenly I began to slide, and I went faster and faster until at last I bumped on the ground, at the very end. Just then father lifted the rainbow again, without noticing me at all, and though I tried to seize the end of it and hold fast, it melted away entirely and I was left alone and helpless on the cold, hard earth!"

      "It doesn't seem cold to me, Polly," said Dorothy; "but perhaps you're not warmly dressed."

      "I'm so used to living nearer the sun," replied the Rainbow's Daughter, "that at first I feared I would freeze down here. But my dance has warmed me some, and now I wonder how I am ever to get home again."

      "Won't your father miss you, and look for you, and let down another rainbow for you?"

      "Perhaps so; but he's busy just now because it rains in so many parts of the world at this season, and he has to set his rainbow in a lot of different places. What would you advise me to do, Dorothy?"

      "Come with us," was the answer. "I'm going to try to find my way to the Emerald City, which is in the fairy Land of Oz. The Emerald City is ruled by a friend of mine, the Princess Ozma, and if we can manage to get there I'm sure she will know a way to send you home to your father again."

      "Do you really think so?" asked Polychrome, anxiously.

      "I'm pretty sure."

      "Then I'll go with you," said the little maid; "for travel will help keep me warm, and father can find me in one part of the world as well as another – if he gets time to look for me."

      "Come along, then," said the shaggy man, cheerfully; and they started on once more. Polly walked beside Dorothy a while, holding her new friend's hand as if she feared to let it go; but her nature seemed as light and buoyant as her fleecy robes, for suddenly she darted ahead and whirled round in a giddy dance. Then she tripped back to them with sparkling eyes and smiling cheeks, having regained her usual happy mood and forgotten all her worry about being lost.

      They found her a charming companion, and her dancing and laughter – for she laughed at times like the tinkling of a silver bell – did much to enliven their journey and keep them contented.

      The City of Beasts

      WHEN noon came they opened the Fox-King's basket of luncheon, and found a nice roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and some slices of bread and butter. As they sat on the grass by the roadside the shaggy man cut up the turkey with his pocket-knife and passed slices of it around.

      "Haven't you any dewdrops, or mist-cakes, or cloud-buns?" asked Polychrome, longingly.

      "'Course not," replied Dorothy. "We eat solid things, down here on the earth. But there's a bottle of cold tea. Try some, won't you?"

      The Rainbow's Daughter watched Button-Bright devour one leg of the turkey.

      "Is it good?" she asked.

      He nodded.

      "Do you think I could eat it?"

      "Not this," said Button-Bright.

      "But I mean another piece?"

      "Don't know," he replied.

      "Well, I'm going to try, for I'm very hungry," she decided, and took a thin slice of the white breast of turkey which the shaggy man cut for her, as well as a bit of bread and butter. When she tasted it Polychrome thought the turkey was good – better even than mist-cakes; but a little satisfied her hunger and she finished with a tiny sip of cold tea.

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