Free L. Frank Baum_Oz 12 by The Tin Woodman of Oz Page A

home of my friend Jinjur."
    "Who is Jinjur?" asked Woot, the Green Monkey.
    "Haven't you heard of Jinjur?" exclaimed the Scarecrow, in surprise.
    "No," said Woot. "Is Jinjur a man, a woman, a beast or a bird?"
    "Jinjur is a girl," explained the Scarecrow Bear. "She's a fine girl,
too, although a bit restless and liable to get excited. Once, a long
time ago, she raised an army of girls and called herself 'General
Jinjur.' With her army she captured the Emerald City, and drove me out
of it, because I insisted that an army in Oz was highly improper. But
Ozma punished the rash girl, and afterward Jinjur and I became fast
friends. Now Jinjur lives peacefully on a farm, near here, and raises
fields of cream-puffs, chocolate-caramels and macaroons. They say she's
a pretty good farmer, and in addition to that she's an artist, and
paints pictures so perfect that one can scarcely tell them from nature.
She often repaints my face for me, when it gets worn or mussy, and the
lovely expression I wore when the Giantess transformed me was painted
by Jinjur only a month or so ago."
    "It was certainly a pleasant expression," agreed Woot.
    "Jinjur can paint anything," continued the Scarecrow Bear, with
enthusiasm, as they walked along together. "Once, when I came to her
house, my straw was old and crumpled, so that my body sagged
dreadfully. I needed new straw to replace the old, but Jinjur had no
straw on all her ranch and I was really unable to travel farther until
I had been restuffed. When I explained this to Jinjur, the girl at once
painted a straw-stack which was so natural that I went to it and
secured enough straw to fill all my body. It was a good quality of
straw, too, and lasted me a long time."
    This seemed very wonderful to Woot, who knew that such a thing could
never happen in any place but a fairy country like Oz.
    The Munchkin Country was much nicer than the Gillikin Country, and all
the fields were separated by blue fences, with grassy lanes and paths
of blue ground, and the land seemed well cultivated. They were on a
little hill looking down upon this favored country, but had not quite
reached the settled parts, when on turning a bend in the path they were
halted by a form that barred their way.
    A more curious creature they had seldom seen, even in the Land of Oz,
where curious creatures abound. It had the head of a young
man—evidently a Munchkin—with a pleasant face and hair neatly combed.
But the body was very long, for it had twenty legs—ten legs on each
side—and this caused the body to stretch out and lie in a horizontal
position, so that all the legs could touch the ground and stand firm.
From the shoulders extended two small arms; at least, they seemed small
beside so many legs.
    This odd creature was dressed in the regulation clothing of the
Munchkin people, a dark blue coat neatly fitting the long body and each
pair of legs having a pair of sky-blue trousers, with blue-tinted
stockings and blue leather shoes turned up at the pointed toes.
    "I wonder who you are?" said Polychrome the Canary, fluttering above
the strange creature, who had probably been asleep on the path.
    "I sometimes wonder, myself, who I am," replied the many-legged young
man; "but, in reality, I am Tommy Kwikstep, and I live in a hollow tree
that fell to the ground with age. I have polished the inside of it, and
made a door at each end, and that's a very comfortable residence for me
because it just fits my shape."
    "How did you happen to have such a shape?" asked the Scarecrow Bear,
sitting on his haunches and regarding Tommy Kwikstep with a serious
look. "Is the shape natural?"
    "No; it was wished on me," replied Tommy, with a sigh. "I used to be
very active and loved to run errands for anyone who needed my services.
That was how I got my name of Tommy Kwikstep. I could run an errand
more quickly than any other boy, and so I was very proud of myself. One
day, however, I met an old lady who was a fairy, or a witch, or
something of the sort,