Several days of festivity
and merry-making followed,
for such old friends did not
often meet and there was much
to be told and talked over
between them, and many amusements
to be enjoyed in this delightful
country.
Ozma was happy to have Dorothy
beside her, for girls of her
own age with whom it was proper
for the Princess to associate
were very few, and often the
youthful Ruler of Oz was lonely
for lack of companionship.
It was the third morning
after Dorothy's arrival, and
she was sitting with Ozma and
their friends in a reception
room, talking over old times,
when the Princess said to her
maid:
"Please
go to my
boudoir,
Jellia, and get the white piglet
I left on the dressing-table.
I want to play with it."
Jellia at once departed on
the errand, and she was gone
so long that they had almost
forgotten her mission when
the green robed maiden returned
with a troubled face.
"The piglet is not there,
your Highness," said she.
"Not there!" exclaimed Ozma. "Are
you sure?"
"I have hunted in every part
of the room," the maid replied.
"Was not the door closed?" asked
the Princess.
"Yes,
your Highness;
I am sure
it was;
for when
I opened
it Dorothy's white kitten crept
out and ran up the stairs."
Hearing this, Dorothy and
the Wizard exchanged startled
glances, for they remembered
how often Eureka had longed
to eat a piglet. The little
girl jumped up at once.
"Come, Ozma," she said, anxiously; "let
us go ourselves to search for
the piglet."
So the two went to the dressing-room
of the Princess and searched
carefully in every corner and
among the vases and baskets
and ornaments that stood about
the pretty boudoir. But not
a trace could they find of
the tiny creature they sought.
Dorothy was nearly weeping,
by this time, while Ozma was
angry and indignant. When they
returned to the others the
Princess said:
"There
is little
doubt that
my pretty piglet has been eaten
by that horrid kitten, and
if that is true the offender
must be punished."
"I don't b'lieve Eureka would
do such a dreadful thing!" cried
Dorothy, much distressed. "Go
and get my kitten, please,
Jellia, and we'll hear what
she has to say about it."
The green maiden hastened
away, but presently returned
and said:
"The
kitten
will not
come. She
threatened
to scratch
my
eyes out if I touched her."
"Where is she?" asked
Dorothy.
"Under the bed in your own
room," was the reply.
So Dorothy ran to her room
and found the kitten under
the bed.
"Come here, Eureka!" she
said.
"I won't," answered
the kitten,
in a surly voice.
"Oh,
Eureka!
Why are
you so
bad?"
The kitten did not reply.
"If you don't come to me,
right away," continued Dorothy,
getting provoked, "I'll take
my Magic Belt and wish you
in the Country of the Gurgles."
"Why do you want me?" asked
Eureka, disturbed by this threat.
"You
must go
to Princess
Ozma. She wants to talk to
you."
"All right," returned the
kitten, creeping out. "I'm
not afraid of Ozma--or anyone
else."
Dorothy carried her in her
arms back to where the others
sat in grieved and thoughtful
silence.
"Tell me, Eureka," said the
Princess, gently: "did you
eat my pretty piglet?"
"I won't answer such a foolish
question," asserted Eureka,
with a snarl.
"Oh, yes you will, dear," Dorothy
declared. "The piglet is gone,
and you ran out of the room
when Jellia opened the door.
So, if you are innocent, Eureka,
you must tell the Princess
how you came to be in her room,
and what has become of the
piglet."
"Who accuses me?" asked
the kitten,
defiantly.
"No one," answered Ozma. "Your
actions alone accuse you. The
fact is that I left my little
pet in my dressing-room lying
asleep upon the table; and
you must have stolen in without
my knowing it. When next the
door was opened you ran out
and hid yourself--and the piglet
was gone."
"That's none of my business," growled
the kitten.
"Don't be impudent, Eureka," admonished
Dorothy.
"It is you who are impudent," said
Eureka, "for accusing me of
such a crime when you can't
prove it except by guessing."
Ozma was now greatly incensed
by the kitten's conduct. She
summoned her Captain-General,
and when the long, lean officer
appeared she said:
"Carry
this cat
away to
prison,
and keep her in safe confinement
until she is tried by law for
the crime of murder."
So the Captain-General took
Eureka from the arms of the
now weeping Dorothy and in
spite of the kitten's snarls
and scratches carried it away
to prison.
"What shall we do now?" asked
the Scarecrow, with a sigh,
for such a crime had cast a
gloom over all the company.
"I will summon the Court
to meet in the Throne Room
at three o'clock," replied
Ozma. "I myself will be the
judge, and the kitten shall
have a fair trial."
"What will happen if she
is guilty?" asked Dorothy.
"She must die," answered
the Princess.
"Nine times?" enquired
the Scarecrow.
"As many times as is necessary," was
the reply. "I will ask the
Tin Woodman to defend the prisoner,
because he has such a kind
heart I am sure he will do
his best to save her. And the
Woggle-Bug shall be the Public
Accuser, because he is so learned
that no one can deceive him."
"Who will be the jury?" asked
the Tin Woodman.
"There ought to be several
animals on the jury," said
Ozma, "because animals understand
each other better than we people
understand them. So the jury
shall consist of the Cowardly
Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Jim
the Cab-horse, the Yellow Hen,
the Scarecrow, the Wizard,
Tik-tok the Machine Man, the
Sawhorse and Zeb of Hugson's
Ranch. That makes the nine
which the law requires, and
all my people shall be admitted
to hear the testimony."
They now separated to prepare
for the sad ceremony; for whenever
an appeal is made to law sorrow
is almost certain to follow--even
in a fairyland like Oz. But
is must be stated that the
people of that Land were generally
so well-behaved that there
was not a single lawyer amongst
them, and it had been years
since any Ruler had sat in
judgment upon an offender of
the law. The crime of murder
being the most dreadful crime
of all, tremendous excitement
prevailed in the Emerald City
when the news of Eureka's arrest
and trial became known.
The Wizard, when he returned
to his own room, was exceedingly
thoughtful. He had no doubt
Eureka had eaten his piglet,
but he realized that a kitten
cannot be depended upon at
all times to act properly,
since its nature is to destroy
small animals and even birds
for food, and the tame cat
that we keep in our houses
today is descended from the
wild cat of the jungle--a very
ferocious creature, indeed.
The Wizard knew that if Dorothy's
pet was found guilty and condemned
to death the little girl would
be made very unhappy; so, although
he grieved over the piglet's
sad fate as much as any of
them, he resolved to save Eureka's
life.
Sending for the Tin Woodman
the Wizard took him into a
corner and whispered:
"My
friend,
it is your
duty to
defend
the white
kitten
and try to save her, but I
fear you will fail because
Eureka has long wished to eat
a piglet, to my certain knowledge,
and my opinion is that she
has been unable to resist the
temptation. Yet her disgrace
and death would not bring back
the piglet, but only serve
to make Dorothy unhappy. So
I intend to prove the kitten's
innocence by a trick."
He drew from his inside pocket
one of the eight tiny piglets
that were remaining and continued:
"This
creature
you must
hide in
some safe
place,
and if
the jury decides that Eureka
is guilty you may then produce
this piglet and claim it is
the one that was lost. All
the piglets are exactly alike,
so no one can dispute your
word. This deception will save
Eureka's life, and then we
may all be happy again."
"I do not like to deceive
my friends," replied the Tin
Woodman; "still, my kind heart
urges me to save Eureka's life,
and I can usually trust my
heart to do the right thing.
So I will do as you say, friend
Wizard."
After some thought he placed
the little pig inside his funnel-shaped
hat, and then put the hat upon
his head and went back to his
room to think over his speech
to the jury.
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