Handy Mandy in Oz

by Ruth Plumly Thompson

"Yes, what's to be done with Wutz?" echoed the Scarecrow wrinkling up his cotton forehead. And now the little sitting room began fairly to buzz with excited questions and suggestions, for there was still a lot to be explained and settled. The Ozites could hardly keep their eyes off the seven-armed Goat Girl, the handsome young ruler of Keretaria and his Royal Ox. Dorothy longed to unscrew his horn and test its magic power for herself, but Ozma, anxious to repair all the damage done by the wicked wizard, now raised her scepter for silence.

Clasping on the Gnome King's belt, Ozma first brought back her magic picture and with a quick wish returned Glinda's book of records to her castle in the South. Next, though she knew neither the extent nor the nature of the wizard's other thefts she caused to be restored to their rightful owners all the magic appliances in the Silver King's den. The Scarecrow had already reported the stupefied condition of the other occupants of the palace, so Ozma's next thought was to restore them to their accustomed selves. No sooner was the Cowardly Lion released than he crawled under a table, but the Hungry Tiger rushed out on the balcony, growling and lashing his tail, as he thought of the indignity he had suffered.

After a short conference with Handy Mandy, Ozma freed all the potted prisoners of the wicked wizard, and made Nifflepok King of the Silver Mountain. She moved the cliff dwellings of the people to the outside of the mountain so Wutz's pale subjects could enjoy with the rest of the Gillikins, the bright sunshine and beneficent climate of Oz. The Magic Mountain itself, with all its dark pits and jeweled caverns, Ozma sealed up tightly and forever. The wizard's agents were turned to moles, for they were already more like these boring little animals than men. After each magic wish or transformation, the little group in the royal sitting room would look in the magic picture, which Ozma had immediately repaired. And in each case Handy felt that the ruler of Oz had used both wisdom and good judgment. Nox, as they were watching the wizard's agents turn to moles, gave a snort of surprise, for the first figure shown was old King Kerr, who was really Number Nine. As the wicked impostor changed quickly from a man to a mole and scurried off the throne and away to bury himself in the blue forest, Nox and Handy both heaved a sigh of relief and satisfaction.

While Ozma was working on the magic safe, Handy, deciding to try a little of her own magic, softly tapped the silver hammer on the arm of her chair. At once, and to the delight and interest of everyone, Himself, the elf, appeared astride the arm, holding a small cactus plant in each hand.

"I wish you in the future to obey the summons of her Majesty, Ozma of Oz," smiled the Goat Girl, placing the silver hammer as she spoke, in Ozma's lap. "This young fairy is more experienced in magic than I, and will know how to use the hammer to best advantage."

"Oh, all right! But I rather liked working for you," grinned Himself. "And say, I tried to turn these rascals to plants but this was the best I could do." Setting the two pots of cactus down on a small writing desk, the hammer elf bowed first to Handy and then to Ozma. "Wait! Don't go!" begged the little Fairy as Himself showed unmistakable signs of disappearing. "Do tell us about this silver hammer and who owned it first."

"It belonged to Wunchie, a witch of the West, who's lived in the Munchkin Mountains for about a thousand years, and used it to control as many of the Munchkin Kings as she could," explained the dwarf balancing himself cleverly on an ink well.

"Then I suppose Wunchie was responsible for the prophecy in Keretaria?" surmised Nox, blinking his eyes at the hammer elf. The dwarf nodded cheerfully. "Yes, Wunchie invented that prophecy," he told them, "and placed her own white oxen in the country. Each time she had trouble forcing the King to do as she wished, she tapped him and the ox on the head with her hammer. But I took rather a fancy to you," admitted Himself looking fondly at Nox. "So, when she ordered me to tap you off and traded little King Kerry to Wutz for a basket of jumping beans and put Wutz's agent on the throne of Keretaria, I decided to take a hand myself. So I gave you only a light tap and at the same time, I stored enough magic in your horns to help you find Kerry—and with the help of this handy Goat Girl you DID find him!" beamed the hammer elf. "I knew my magic was good. You can't work for a witch without learning good magic. But now, since everything is turning out so splendidly, I'll just go back to my tree stump. One, two—three, back—to—my—tree!"