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Captain Salt in Oz (Version 2)

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<div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus99.jpg" width-obs="472" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <h2>CHAPTER 21 A Voyage Resumed</h2> Anxious as Tandy was to return to the Crescent Moon and continue the voyage, it was a whole week before they finally shoved off. Chunum, true to his word, had rounded up the frightened citizens of the capital and explained to them the wicked plots of the Ozamandarins and their punishment by Boglodore, the Old Man of the Jungle. Then Tandy, addressing them from the castle balcony, called upon them to consider Chunum as their King until he himself should have completed his education in foreign parts and aboard the Crescent Moon, during which time he promised to keep them always in mind and have their welfare always at heart. Next, Tandy explained how Ozamaland was now a province and under the general rule and protection of Ozma of Oz, how settlers from that famous fairyland would soon arrive to help them build new cities and towns, tame the wild jungles of the interior and repel the dangerous invasions of the Greys. Here Chunum rose to declare he himself would be responsible for peace along the border between Amaland and Ozamaland, that the Greys had long desired to be friends with the Whites, but trouble had been stirred up by the Ozamandarins so they might have the credit of protecting the country. Then Tandy spoke again of all the advantages that would be enjoyed from their association with the Kingdom of Oz. It was a long and splendid speech, Roger and Tandy having spent the whole morning in its preparation, and delighted and surprised by the energy and ambition of their young Ruler, Tandy's subjects cheered him long and vociferously, greeting each new plan and proposal with loud acclaim and enthusiasm. The royal aunts and relatives, already released from the castle dungeons and restored to their royal dwellings, could not speak highly enough of their young relative's bravery and cleverness and the bravery and cleverness of all of his new friends. They quite wore Nikobo out with their questions and petting and the hippopotamus sighed hugely for the time when they would all be at sea. "Was I right or was I wrong?" questioned Roger on the third afternoon as Tandy, resplendent in his court suit of white velvet, reviewed the vast parade of Loyal Nobles and Natives, and the long lines of elephants and camels went sweeping by the palace. "They love you just as much for going away as they would if you stayed. And Chunum is a Man in a Million." "Right!" Tandy nodded, waving happily to the crowds that in a high holiday mood thronged the walks and parks of the beautiful White City. <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus100.jpg" width-obs="469" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> Chunum had taken Samuel Salt and Ato on an expedition into the jungle so that the Royal Explorer of Oz could procure a creeping bird and flying reptile for his collection. Nikobo, old jungaleer that she was, had gone along to see that no harm came to them. To Tandy a snake with feathers and a bird with scales and fangs was no novelty, but Samuel, returning with a pair of each, considered them the most peculiar and precious of his queer specimens. He carried their cages everywhere he went and spent long rapt hours watching the snakes fly and the birds creep about their new cages. Ato had discovered a new and rare fruit and had brought along several slips to plant in the rail boxes he had outside the galley. Nikobo had swum to her heart's content in a green and muddy jungle stream and all three were now quite ready and anxious to continue the voyage. Aboard the Crescent Moon one of the Guards had been established to feed the monkey fish and water boy and tend to the plants in the hold and serve as watchman. And early one bright morning, just a week after they had landed, the members of the Royal Exploration Party of Oz set forth from the palace. Oz flags fluttered and snapped in the fresh morning breeze, mingling with the white banners of Ozamaland, and the streets and avenues were lined with Tandy's cheering and now quite cheerful subjects. Riding Nikobo, accompanied by Chunum on a white elephant and the entire camel corps and elephant guard, the party made their way down to the water's edge, feeling exactly, as Ato whispered in a laughing undertone to Roger, like a whole circus and a zoo. Besides Roger, Tandy, Samuel Salt and Ato, Nikobo carried two large cages and two small cages. In the small cages were the flying reptiles and creeping birds. In the large cages a baby white camel and a baby white elephant. "You'll sink, my Lass," worried Samuel Salt, as Nikobo, having safely made her way down the rocky cliff road, waded confidently out into the sea. "Not me," murmured the hippopotamus comfortably. "You may get wet, but I'll get you safely out to the ship. Trust me." "Goodbye! Goodbye, all!" cried Tandy, standing up on her back to wave to the crowds collected on the cliffs. Now that he was leaving, he felt a strange fondness for them. "Goodbye, Chunum! I'll be back, never fear!" "Goodbye, Little Fellow! Goodbye, Little King! A fair and far-away voyage to you," called the tall old desert chief, standing up in his stirrups to wave his long lance. "To the sun—the moon—the stars I commend you! Go in happiness and return in health and live long to rule over Ozamaland." "You take care of the country and we'll take care of the King," shouted Samuel. "Goodbye! Goodbye! Be watching, all of you, for the ships from Oz!" "Goodbye! Goodbye!" called the Nobles, the natives, the guards; even the elephants and camels raised their shrill voices in farewell as Nikobo swam strongly away from the shore and toward the Crescent Moon. The guard left in charge of the ship thankfully turned the vessel over to its rightful owners and, shaking Tandy feelingly by the hand, climbed down the ladder and dropped nervously on the back of the hippopotamus, who was to carry him to shore. "Here, Brainless, lend a hand with the freight," yelled Roger as Tandy stood gazing rather thoughtfully toward the cliffs. "The King's ashore! Long live his cabin boy! I'll carry these pesky reptilia if you take the camel." Roger winked at Tandy as Samuel Salt, bent double under the baby elephant's cage, started carefully down to the hold. The baby camel and its cage were so small Tandy could manage them quite easily, and with a little laugh he hurried after Samuel and Roger. By the time they had finished Nikobo had returned from her shore trip and climbed thankfully back on her raft. "All hands stand by to heave up the anchor," bellowed Samuel, stepping cheerfully over to his sail controls. "Anchors aweigh! and away we go, boys, and the hippopotamus take the hindmost!" "Ho, ho! Well, she's built for it," roared Ato, bending his weight to the cable as sail after sail rattled up the masts and bellied out from the yards. "Where to now, Sam-u-el? Oz?" "OZ, I should say not! We've a lot of geography to discover before we go back to Oz. We'll need a roc's egg before we go there, eh, Tandy? A roc's egg and sixty more islands for Ozma's Christmas stocking." <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus101.jpg" width-obs="266" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> "Oh! Will we really spend Christmas in Oz?" cried Tandy, skipping up and down the deck, and forgetting all about his subjects waving from the cliffs. "Why not?" demanded Samuel Salt, letting his hands fall happily upon the wheel. "Oz is as merry a place as any to spend Christmas, eh, Roger?" "Merry as eight bells!" cried Roger, flying joyfully into the rigging. "Ahoy! Ahoy! Nothing but sea t'seaward!" And when the Crescent Moon flies over Ev and drops down the Winkie River on Christmas morning with its chart full of islands and curious continents and its hold full of strange beasts, plants and treasure, I for one should like to be there, shouldn't you? <div class="image-center"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus102.jpg" width-obs="325" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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