Mombi

Certainly not what happened, for, from the other end of the instrument, a composed voice began making announcements proudly and impressively as a radio speaker.

you are now looking at oscar zoroaster phadrick isaac norman haenkel emmanuel ambrose diggs it informed them crisply calls himself oz after the first letters of his first two names as his other initials spell pinhead born in omaha diggs ran away as a young man to join a circus where he made balloon ascensions to amuse the crowds his balloon bearing his initials o z one day in a storm oscar's balloon was carried to our wonderful land of oz at that time the rightful king of the country and his son had been destroyed by mombi the witch who had also enchanted and hidden away ozma the little granddaughter of this unfortunate monarch and four witches had divided the country between them when the balloon bearing the name oz on its side sailed out of the clouds the inhabitants instantly hailed the traveler from america as their ruler supposing him to be another member of the famous fairy family of oz unable to return to america oz accepted the people's decision with good grace and ruled the realm for many years under his wise direction the people built this castle and the famous city of emeralds and the four witches thinking oz was more powerful than they did not question his rule or authority later when little dorothy from kansas arrived in oz the wizard decided to return with her to the united states leaving the scarecrow to rule in his place The scarecrow was deposed by Ginger and her army of girls.

Ginger in turn was conquered by Glinda the Good Witch of the South, who also forced Momby to disenchant Ozma, the young and rightful girl ruler of the realm.

Ozma has ruled over Oz ever since.

Not long after Ozma was restored to her throne, the wizard returned to Oz and our clever girl ruler made him chief magician of the realm.

TIP MANUFACTURES A PUMPKIN HEAD In the country of the Gillikins, which is at the north of the land of Oz, lived a youth called Tip.

There was more to his name than that, for old Momby often declared that his whole name was Tipetarius, but no one was expecting to say such a long word when Tip would do just as well.

The boy remembered nothing of his parents, for he had been brought when quite young to be reared by the old woman known as Momby.

whose reputation i am sorry to say was none of the best for the gillikin people had reason to suspect her of indulging in magical arts and therefore hesitated to associate with her Mamby was not exactly a witch, because the good witch who ruled that part of the land of Oz had forbidden any other witch to exist in her dominions.

So Tip's guardian, however much she might aspire to working magic, realized it was unlawful to be more than a sorceress or at most a wizardess.

tip was made to carry wood from the forest that the old woman might boil her pot he also worked in the cornfields hoeing and husking and he fed the pigs and milked the four-horned cow that was mombi's especial pride but you must not suppose he worked all the time for he felt that would be bad for him When sent to the forest, Tip often climbed trees for birds' eggs, or amused himself chasing the fleet white rabbits or fishing in the brooks with bent pens.

Then he would hastily gather his armful of wood and carry it home, and when he was supposed to be working in the cornfields, and the tall stalks hid him from Momby's view, Tip would often dig in the gopher holes, or if the mood seized him, lie upon his back between the rows of corn and take a nap.

so by taking care not to exhaust his strength he grew as strong and rugged as a boy may be mombi's curious magic often frightened her neighbors and they treated her shyly yet respectfully because of her weird powers but tip frankly hated her and took no pains to hide his feelings indeed he sometimes showed less respect for the old woman than he should have done considering she was his guardian there were pumpkins in mombi's cornfields lying gold and red among the rows of green stalks and these he had planted and carefully tended that the four-horned cow might eat of them in the winter time but one day after the corn had all been cut and stacked and tip was carrying the pumpkins to the stable he took a notion to make a jack-lantern and try to give the old woman a fright with it so he selected a fine big pumpkin one with a lustrous orange-red color and began carving it With the point of his knife he made two round eyes, a three-cornered nose, and a mouth shaped like a new moon.