The Glenwood post., 1909-12-04

| me to-.
Our friends. looked at him In sur
prise and dismay.
81 thought Or was . great Head"
said Dorothy.
And l thought Oz was . lovely
Lady" said the Scarecrow.
And l thought OE was a terrible
Beast said the Tin Woodman.
|And l thought Or was q Ball OF
| Fire" exclaimed the Lion.
mo; you are all wrong" said the
little man, meekly. Il have been ma
king believe"
Making believe," cried Dorothy.
Are you not great Wizard?"
Hush, my dear" he said; don't
speak so loud or you will be over
heard-and l should be ruined. I'm
| supposed to be great Wizard"
And aren't you?" she asked.
Not a bit Of it, my dear; I'm Just
common man"
You're more than that" said the
Scarecrow. in grieved tone; you're
humbug."
Exactly so!" declared the little
man, rubbing his hands together as il
it pleased him; Il am humbug"
But this is terrible" said the Tin
Woodman; how shall ever get my
heart?''
"Or 1 my courage?" asked the Lion
"Or.I my brains?" walled the Scare
crow, wiping the tears from his eyes
with his coat-sleeve.
MY dear friends" said Or, q
To 80
things. Think of me, and the ter
rible trouble I'm in at being found
out
Doesn't any one else know you're
a humsug?" asked Dorothy.
mo one knows it but you four-and
myself" replied Or. Il have fooled
every one SO long that l thought
should never be found out. 1t was
great mistake my ever letting you into
the throne room. Usually l 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 it
that you appeared to me as 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 a 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
of paper, and with carefully painted
face.
This I hung from the ceiling by
wire said Or; Il stood behind the
screen and pulled a thread. to make
the eyes move and the mouth open"
But how about the voice?" she in
quired
"Oh, l am ventriloquist," said the
little man, land l can throw the sound
Of my voice wherever l wish; SO that
you thought it was coming out of the
Head Here are the other things l
used to deceive you" He showed the
Scarecrow the dress and the mask he
had worn when he seemed to be the
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. AS
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 it the ball
burned tiercely.
Really" said the Scarecrow, you
ought to be ashamed Of yourself for
being such humbug."
/ Il AMI certainly am," answered
the little man, sorrowfully; but it
was the only thing l could do. Sit
down, please, there are plenty of
chairs. and l will tell you my story"
| So they sat down and listened while
he told the following tale:
81 was born in Omaha"
why, that isn't very far from Kan
sas!" cried Dorothy.
No; but it's farther from here" he
,, said. shaking his head at her, sadly.
When l grew up l became a ventrilo-
quist, and at that l was very we'll
trained by great master. l can imi-
tate any kind of bird or beast"
Here he mewed SO like kitten that
Toto pricked up his ears and looked
everywhere to see where she was
After time" continued OF, 81 tired
OF that, and became 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"
| Well one day / went up in a bal
loon and the ropes got twisted, so
that l couldn't come down again. It
went way up above the clouds, so far
that current of air struck 1t and
carried it many, many miles away.
For day and a night l Travelled
through the air, and on the morning
of the second day I awoke and found
the balloon floating over strange
and beautiful country"
(TO BE CONTINUED)
from Dickens