The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-12-03

Ssat:-a.A IN = asysAa.s ~ vans
De TO-"
Our frsssAs Ieatsd sG hiu 4. sur.
Prise and 1isDay.
Il thought O. vaS Q ereat Head
sail Dorothy.
-A1A tAosght O. vas Q lovely
Lady, saiA ths Searserov.
And I thoaght o. vas Q ssrrihls
Beast" said ths Tia WeeAnas.
-AsA I thought o. vas . Ball Of
Fire." exclaimed tAs Hoa.
| No; you are all vroag," sah the
little man. meekly. Il have bssn ma
king believe"
Making believe!" cried Dorothy.
Are you not . great Wixard.''
Hush. my dear" hs said; don't
speak SO loud Or you will be over
heard-and ! should be ruined. I'm
supposed to be . great WIZARD
And aren't your" she asked.
Not = bit Of 1t. my dear: In Just
I . common man."
You're more than that" said the
scarecrow. in = grieved tone: you're
! . humbug."
Exactly .o!" declared the little
man. rubbing his hands together as If
1t pleased him: Il am = humbug."
But this is terrible" said the Tin
Woodman: how shall I ever get my
hearth"
| "Or I my courage?" asked the Lion.
"Or l my brains?" walled the Scare
crow. wipins the tears from his eyes
with his coat-sleeve.
My dear friends" said Or. Il
pray you not to speak Of these little
things. Think of me. and the ter
rible trouble I'm In At being found
out"
Doesn't any one else know you're
. humbug?" asked Dorothy.
NO one knows 1t but you four-and
myself" replied Oz. Il have fooled
every one SO long that I thought
should never be found out. 1t was
great mistake my ever letting you into
the throne room. Usually will not
see even my subjects. and SO they be-
lieve l am something terrible"
But. don't understand" said Doro-
thy, in bewilderment. How was il
that you appeared to me a. . great
Head?"
THAT was one Of my tricks" an.
swered Or. Step this way. please.
and will tell you all about it."
He led the way to q small chamber
in the rear of the throne room, and
they all followed him. He pointed to
one corner. in which lay the Great
Head. made out of many thicknesses
InRv Nd . R,sI1v
face.
This I hung from tho ceiling by
WIRE" said Oz: Il stood behind the
screen and pulled q thread. to make
the eyes move and the mouth open"
But how about the voiee?" she in
quired.
"Oh, I am . ventriloquist," said the
little man, and can throw the sound
OF my voice wherever wish: 20 that
you thought 1t was coming out Of the
Head. Here are the other things
used to deceive you" He showed the
scarecrow the dress and the mask he
had vorn when he seemed to be tho
lovely Lady; and the Tin Woodman
saw that his Terrible Beast was moth.
ing but lot of skins, sewn together,
with stats to keep their sides out. AZ
for the Ball of Fire, the false Wizard
had hung that also from the ceiling.
1t was really . ball Of cotton, but
when oil was poured upon 1t the ball
burned fiercely.
Really" said the Scarecrow. you
ought to be ashamed Of yourself for
being such . humbug."
i Il AMI certainly am" answered
the little man, sorrowfully; but it
was the only thing 1 could do. Sit
down, please. there are plenty Of
chairs, and will tell you my story"
80 they sat down and listened while
he told the following tale:
II was born in Omaha"
"Why. that isn't very far from Kan
sas!" cried Dorothy.
mo; but it's farther from here" he
said, shaking his head at her, sadly.
when l grew up I became a ventrilo-
quist, and at that was very we'll
trained by a great master. l can imi.
tate any kind Of q bird or beast"
Here he mewed 30 like kitten that
Toto pricked up his ears and looked
everywhere to see where she was.
After a time." continued Or, Il tired
Of that, and became 4 balloonist."
What is that?" asked Dorothy.
"A man who goes up in a balloon
on circus day, so as to draw a crowd
Of people together and get them to
pay to see the circus" he explained.
"Oh," she said; Il know"
We'll. one day went up in q bal
loon and the ropes got twisted, 20
that I couldn't come down again. 1t
went way up above the clouds. 80 far
that = current Of air struck it and
carried 1t many, many miles away.
For . day and = night Travelled
through the air, and on the morning
Of the second day I awoke and found
the balloon floating ovar . .<r.r~>